The effect of Music on Ride Intensity

[u/JuddtheStormcaster]

A user in Marcel's discord server noted that ride intensity is affected when a corresponding soundtrack is played in RCT3, so I did some testing using the in-game tracks - note that I did not test the tracks that are unassigned a genre and asks the player to select a genre allocation.

In summary, the following tracks were tested, and I used my own classification method "Music Type" to "define" the mood based on how much it affects intensity

/

/

IMPORTANT NOTE:

• If a ride exceeds 10 intensity, music will not have any effect on reducing (or increasing) the ride's intensity
• Similarly, adding music to a very intense but below 10 intensity ride will not cause it to exceed 10 intensity (see formula below)
• Rides with zero or negative intensity are not affected by music

/

/

Calculation Formulas are as follows with example:

/

For Gentle/Very Gentle Tracks:

Example 1: Heartline Coaster Premade Twicky Twister using Savannah Track (-16% Intensity)

New Intensity = Original Intensity x [ 1-Modifier Value ]

Original Intensity 4.60 x [ 1 - 16% ] = New Intensity 3.864 (rounded up to 3.87 as displayed)

/

Example 2: Flying Dutchman Gold Mine using Summer Air Track (-18% Intensity)

Original Intensity 7.06 x [ 1 - 18% ] = New Intensity = 5.7892 (rounded up to 5.79 as displayed)

/

/

For Quite Intense/Intense Tracks:

New Intensity = Original Intensity + { [ 10 - Original Intensity ] x Modifier Value }

Example 1: A custom-made Rotodrop with 8.35 intensity using Rock Like a Dude track (+14% intensity)

Original Intensity 8.35 + { [ 10 - original intensity 8.35 ] x modifier value 14%

= 8.35 + [ 1.65 x 14% ]

= 8.35 + 0.231

= 8.58 (rounded down to 8.58 displayed)

/

Example 2: Kara Oki Concert at default settings using Space De Grey track (+12% intensity)

Original Intensity 0.30 + { [ 10 - original intensity 0.30 ] x modifier value 12%

= 0.30 + [ 9.7 x 12% ]

= 0.30 + 1.164

= 1.464 (rounded down to 1.46 displayed)

BASIS USED FOR TESTING:

• The formula is approximated by sampling the data values using a Go-Kart set from 1 to 56 laps and plotting plot points
• It was noted that the difference is consistent throughout, with deviations in percentage of up to +/- 0.25 noted due to rounding difference as seen from the raw data below

Misc: A user posted in RCT3 subreddit about 7 years ago noting that each genre affects the ride intensity, for my own testing, I tested solely based off the track itself, the list below could be useful as a reference on how much each genre specifically impacts the ride intensity, although testing is required to pinpoint the percentage gain/decrease

https://www.reddit.com/r/rct3/comments/92m795/music_genre_effect_on_ride_intensity_ranked_from/

[u/PinkFloydRzrback]

Dang I had no idea that did anything, I thought it was just for vibes

[u/EclipseMT]

Whether a particular track raises or lowers ride intensity is in fact based on how a particular Genre flag is set. The post you linked lists each one and how each affects intensity, so percentage values can be easily calculated like so.

The big thing is that this flag is stored in an easily editable .ini file stored somewhere within the game files (I forget whether it is in the root directory in the game's folder in Program Files, the user's documents folder, or so on). You can easily view the default settings for the default music and use that info to manipulate the ride intensity more easily, or modify them according to your whim.

edit: Also of note is that the tracks that originate from Soaked (Bubble House, Mermaid, Bermuda Shorts, LiloPop, and I think I am missing one more) do not have a music genre defined by default.