***************************************************************************** * * * Mall Tycoon FAQ * * * ***************************************************************************** This short FAQ will give some gameplay tips for Mall Tycoon. Mall Tycoon was developed by Holistic Design and published by take2games. Many tycoon games do not have an FAQ for them and because I am constantly adding tycoon games to my collection i felt as if i should write a short and simple guide to the game, maybe for a reference if people were going to buy these games. ****************** * 1.0. Contents * ****************** 1.0. Contents 1.1. Copyright Notice 1.2. Version History 1.3. Credits 2.0. System Requirements 2.1. Options Menu 3.0. FAQ 3.1. Toolbar Navigation 3.2. Build Menu 3.3. Stores 3.4. Scenery 3.5. Finance, Research and Marketing 3.6. Hints and Tips 4.0. Hotkeys 4.1. Mouse Controls 4.2. Keyboard Controls 4.3. Camera Bookmarks 4.4. Miscellaneous Hotkeys 5.0. Contact Information *************************** * 1.1. Copyright Notice * *************************** This FAQ/Walkthrough may be not be reproduced under any circumstances except for personal, private use. It may not be placed on any web site or otherwise distributed publicly without advance written permission. Use of this guide on any other web site or as a part of any public display is strictly prohibited, and a violation of copyright. Copyright 2006 Mark Eastaugh The following websites may host this guide : www.gamefaqs.com and websites that it permits. www.absolutcheats.com www.neoseeker.com If you see any other websites hosting the whole or part of this guide please let me know. If you would like to host this FAQ please email me and give me the address of the site. I will only let you host this guide if your site is not full of advertisements ect and that this faq is hosted without any ads and banners on the same page. ************************* * 1.2. Version History * ************************* 11/2/06 - Started work on this FAQ. ************************* * 1.2. Credits * ************************* All the information from the following sections has been taken from the games manual and some of it put into my own words. System requirements Hints and tips Options menu Hotkeys ***************************** * 2.0. System Requirements * ***************************** Minimum Requirements: - Pentium II 300 MHz or higher - Windows 98/ME/2000/XP - 64MB RAM - 8X CDROM drive - 300MB free hard drive space - DirectX 8.1 16MB Video Card - DirectX 8.1 Sound Card - Keyboard and Mouse Recommended Requirements: - Pentium III 500 or higher - 128MB RAM - 32MB Video Card ***************************** * 2.1. Options Menu * ***************************** This section is split into two parts: Free Play Menu and Options. ******************** * Free Play Menu ******************** Build New Mall - Click this to build a new mall. Tutorial - Click to play the tutorial Load Game - Load a previously saved game Demographics options - Use this to change several things including ratio of male to female customers, age of customers, low income to middle income to middle income to high income customers. You can also select the ammount of money you start with. Difficulty - Changes ammount of money you start with. Return to main menu - Click to return to the main menu **************** * Options **************** Autosave toggle - Enables and disables the autosave feature. When enabled the game will automatically save every month. Video Options - Changes the quality of graphics. Render all floors - Click this button to switch between rendering all floors or just the current level. Grid - Turns the grid lines on and off. Shadows - Turns shadows on and off. Bit Mode - Switches between 16-bit and 32-bit. Game must be restarted before this changes. Audio Options - Click this to change anything to do with the games audio. Load Game - Loads a previously saved game. ******************** * 3.0. FAQ * ******************** This is the main section of the guide and will give simple information to get your game of mall tycoon started. ***************************** * 3.1. Toolbar Navigation * ***************************** Build Menu - For building stores, stairs, floors, walls, entrences, atriums and special structures. Scenery Menu - Shows a list of all avaliable scenery and lets you place them in your mall. Mall information screen - Shows information such as total shoppers, number of stores, level of security, mall attractiveness and customer appeal. Financial Information window - Shows graphs and balence sheets. Customer information window - Shows breakdown of various shoppers in you mall, such as gender, age and class. Employee information screen - For hiring and firing employees. Research Window - Research new products and promotions and also employee, mall and product upgrades. Marketing and promotions screen - Run promotions and marketing campaigns. Options Menu - To change video and sound options Up one floor - Go up a floor Down one floor - Go down a floor Demolish Button - Use for deleting shops, ornaments ect. This costs extra money. Date - Shows current date Cash on hand - Shows your current cash levels Current floors - Shows what floor of your mall you are currently on Current Shoppers - Shows how many customers are currently shopping at your mall. Customer Approval - Ratings vary demending on the overall happiness of your customers and whether they think your mall is good or not. Game Speed - Toggles the game speed. Choose from Pause, Slow, Normal and fast Previous message - Shows previous message Next Message - Shows next message All Messages - Shows a list of all recent messages *************************** * 3.2. Build Menu * *************************** The build menu is quite simply where all the tools are for building your mall. You can build stores and place products inside of them and also build walls, floors, entrances, stairs and atriums. Floors and walls - Click the wall and floor button to open the texture window. Use the scroll bar to look at all avaliable walls and floors. Select which one you want and place it in your mall. You can place multiple wall and floor tiles at once by dragging the mouse. Entrances - You must build entrances if you want people to come and shop at your mall. Entrances must be placed near a wall. It is a good idea to build several entrances because customers come from all directions of your mall. Stairs, Escalators and Elevators - These work in a similar way to entrances. To add stairs, escalators or elevators place them near a wall and make sure you have an upper level or it won't work. Atriums and Special Structures - Atriums are large areas which act as the heart of your mall. This is where you can conduct seasonal promotions. If you have a promotion the atrium will change appearence to a christmas or easter theme, depending on what you have chosen. This menu also lets you build special stores such as play areas and a movie theater. Stores - You can build stores in several different sizes. You can build stores which can sell one, two or four products. Simply place which store you want and it will appear. You then need to add products or services to your store. To place products click on the category button. This will open a menu showing ots of different categorys such as clothing, electronics ect. *************************** * 3.3. Stores * *************************** The selection of stores is very basic. You will find yourself using the same stores over and over again to fill even some of the smallest malls. I don't think that repeating the same stores over and over have a negative impact on your customers. Atleast I haven't noticed this. Some of the stores avaliable range from food stores to gadget shops. *************************** * 3.4. Scenery * *************************** Scenery is important to all malls no matter what type of game you are playing as it attracts more customers to spend money at your stores. It adds attractiveness to your mall, overall customer appeal and also keeps customers in your store for a longer ammount of time which makes them spend more money. ****************************************** * 3.5. Finance, Research and Marketing * ****************************************** The financial window shows your financial progress. Click one of the four tabs in the upper left hand corner of the window to see various financial info. The first tab opens the value report. The second opens the Profit report - White line give profit, green line gives income and red line indicates expenditures. The third opens the cash report. The fourth tab opens the Financial Information Window, good for checking where your money is coming from and where it is going. The research button takes you to the research screen. You can research new items, promotions as well as employee and mall upgrades. Clicking one of the four buttons at the top shows the items avaliable for research in each category. Merchendise, Mall Improvements, Employees and Marketing and Promotions. Left click on an item to see its price and description. Double click on an item to research it. The marketing and promotions screen is for setting up special events in your atrium. As the game progresses more choices will become avaliable and there will be a special event for every month. Some examples include Christmas, Easter, Halloween and also St Patricks day. Promotions keep your customers happy but they are also fairly expensive. *************************** * 3.6. Hints and Tips * *************************** - Switch out themed scenery with each new season. Shoppers get bored of seeing the same scenery for long periods of time. - Be sure to place trashcans and bathrooms. These contribute to the cleanliness of your mall. - You must research employees before being able to hire them. - Dont let your mall get too trashy. You're sure to get some uninvited guests. - Increasing your percentage cut of a stores sales will bring in some quick cash, however it also drives up the cost of the goods and/or services provided by that store, driving customers away. - Increasing a stores rent also brings in some much needed cash, however if a stores sales do not meet the rent requirements, you will not get paid for the month, and there's the possibility of more crime. *************************** * 4.0. Hotkeys * *************************** Hotkeys help you navigate around the game in an easier way. Here are all the hotkeys for mall tycoon. *************************** * 4.1. Mouse Controls * *************************** Left mouse button - Select/place object Middle Mouse Button - Rotate objects right (90 degrees) Mous wheel Up/Down - Zoom camera in/out Right mouse button HOLD + drag forward/back - Zoom camera in/out Right mouse button HOLD + drag left/right Rotate camera left/right Double click right mouse button - Remove demolish cursor (return to default) Move cursor to the top/bottom/left/right of the screen - Move camera forward back left or right. *************************** * 4.2. Keyboard Controls * *************************** Page up/down - Zoom Camera in/out CTRL + Up/Down arrow - Zoom camera in/out CTRL + Right/Left arrow - Rotate camera left/right Up/Down/Left/Right arrow - Move camera accordingly CTRL + 1-8 - Set Camera Bookmark 1-8 - Go to Camera Bookmark F1 - Quick Save F4 - Quick Load ,or< - Rotate objects left .or> - Rotate objects right ; - Prev Sim ' - Next Sim DELETE - Demolish Mode ESC - If object is selected, deselect, else exit game or exit mall SPACE - Pause Game + - Increase game speed - - Decrease game speed B - Build Screen E - Employee info Screen CTRL-E - Random events toggle F - Financial Screen G - Grid Toggle H - Message History I - Mall Info Screen M - Marketing Screen O - Options Screen P - Place Map objects Screen R - Read Scenario Objectives S - Shopper Info Screen T - Tech Screen U - Undo V - Mall Rating Screen W - Autowall X - Move camera to centre of map [ - Down one floor ] - Up one floor ************************** * 5.0. Contact Info * ************************** Email me if you have any questions or would like to contribute anything to the guide! My email address for emails about the guide is Mark_Eastaugh@fsmail.net