Theme Hospital

2007-07-04 12:42:45 am

I love YaBB 1G - SP1!

I was just wondering whether one of my favourite sim games (not counting sims obviously) could even be speedruned (or spedrun). It's something that I have no intention of doing, but would love to see someone with total mastery of the game just acheiving perfect hospitals in each level and winning the final level. Also, it's one of the most win-able Sim games I can think of.

Any ideas or suggestions on the matter please.

Thread title:

VippiN

2007-07-04 02:26:19 am

FF8 & FF12.. Long awaited runs.

I think it could be, it's about curing people as fast as possible.

+1 to support.

ymh

2007-07-04 03:07:23 am

Wow, this is one of myfavorite games, too. But I think a run would be boring.

boxie

2007-07-04 05:44:30 am

I love YaBB 1G - SP1!

i think of the game as being very slow... i would be very interested in watching it beaten in under 2 hours.

Cmon

2007-07-04 01:16:35 pm

-_-"

Please do it, I want to see how to make a speed run out of this game Cheesy

1 of my favorite game of all time Tongue

It usually takes a couple years for me to finish the game, maybe it would be faster if you set the speed to the fastest, but it will be hard to manage your hospital

Goggen

2007-07-04 07:18:08 pm

"Time to go to work..."

I'd watch it.

As for it being possible:
Just look at the StarCraft runs, and what other RTS runs there are. Uhm...
Just look at the StarCraft runs.

I don't know if there are any tricks for this game worth mentioning, just endless endless management.
Once again, watch StarCraft.
I think there's a few small ones though. Like shutting down heating (and maybe wages) on the last day before payday, and back up again the day after.
Maybe it's possible to set the prices for treatments as low as possible to draw in patients, and then outrageously increase prices once that treatment is underway?

But, anyway, I figure someone is going to have to come along and actually *do* it for this to be any good.
I hope they do!

Cmon

2007-07-04 09:54:49 pm

-_-"

Quote:

I think there's a few small ones though. Like shutting down heating (and maybe wages) on the last day before payday, and back up again the day after.
Maybe it's possible to set the prices for treatments as low as possible to draw in patients, and then outrageously increase prices once that treatment is underway?

If you know the payday, maybe it would work, I think they charge it a couple times in a month

If you increase the payment when the treatment is underway, the patient won't like it & it will make the reputation drop imo, & on later level, I doubt you have that micro to do that since the patient is in large amount

The only thing that I can think of is just increasing the speed to max, also if you know where to build/how big it is & stuff, it would help the cost a lot, like building cost/efficiency

I really love to see someone make this speed run Cheesy

Goggen

2007-07-05 10:18:43 am

"Time to go to work..."

Hm, it just came to me that the easiest way to make timing fair, would be to go after the number of in-game days, rather than minutes-of-video. I'm pretty sure that a game this old doesn't have reliable timers otherwise, possibly tying the game speed to the speed of the CPU.
Does this game *have* a timer, by the way?
If it lists the amount of time you spent on a level, either in days or in minutes, that would be handy.

Cmon

2007-07-05 10:24:20 am

-_-"

Yea, you can see how many days in this game, even if you use old pc, I think the speed is the same since it's an old game

dEr_RiNkE

2007-07-05 11:16:27 am

Yea.

this sounds like a bunch of work to me ... the problem is, that my micromanagement absolutely sucks. Otherwise i would really try to make this one ... But try ... it will be absolutely fascinating if anyone can beat this under 2 hours...

Bistromaths

2007-07-05 11:58:32 am

I love YaBB 1G - SP1!

Quote:

this sounds like a bunch of work to me ... the problem is, that my micromanagement absolutely sucks. Otherwise i would really try to make this one ... But try ... it will be absolutely fascinating if anyone can beat this under 2 hours...

And this is the reason why I will not be doing it. My micro-management is crap. I enjoy this game on a purely enjoyment level, and have never gained the pleasure from doing everything "perfectly". For example, I have never been able to play Sims without killing them one way or another (not played any sims2 yet though), and yet I still enjoy it.

The reason I started this topic is that I would LOVE to see someone just have a Zen-like understanding of this game, to know what to do and when. This is why I would quite like to see someone very skilled playing AoE (prob 2), because although I love the game so much, I am crap at it, and would love to see someone play it well, although it would be far too long to do here...I think.

I'm thinking that it would be multi-segment for whomever does it, because it just wouldn't be enjoyable being prolonged as a single segment.

Also, just to make it finally clear, although I own a couple of dozen games, I hardly play games at all, and have actually finished maybe 3 or 4 games in my life, so I just don't have the skillset there either.

Well, I can't think of anything else, except maybe, if people cannot do the run, but still are great at the game, please contribute ideas, tips, or help (or links to previous) until there is enough information to let someone have a damned good crack at it anyway. Smiley

[quote]this sounds like a bunch of work to me ... the problem is, that my micromanagement absolutely sucks. Otherwise i would really try to make this one ... But try ... it will be absolutely fascinating if anyone can beat this under 2 hours...[/quote]

And this is the reason why I will not be doing it. My micro-management is crap. I enjoy this game on a purely enjoyment level, and have never gained the pleasure from doing everything "perfectly". For example, I have never been able to play Sims without killing them one way or another (not played any sims2 yet though), and yet I still enjoy it.

The reason I started this topic is that I would LOVE to see someone just have a Zen-like understanding of this game, to know what to do and when. This is why I would quite like to see someone very skilled playing AoE (prob 2), because although I love the game so much, I am crap at it, and would love to see someone play it well, although it would be far too long to do here...I think.

I'm thinking that it would be multi-segment for whomever does it, because it just wouldn't be enjoyable being prolonged as a single segment.

Also, just to make it finally clear, although I own a couple of dozen games, I hardly play games at all, and have actually finished maybe 3 or 4 games in my life, so I just don't have the skillset there either.

Well, I can't think of anything else, except maybe, if people cannot do the run, but still are great at the game, please contribute ideas, tips, or help (or links to previous) until there is enough information to let someone have a damned good crack at it anyway. :)

Rake

2007-07-05 01:07:32 pm

It would be an interesting game to try and speedrun although I think the micro management aspect would be ignored a little bit. It would mainly be focusing on build/research planing insuring proper staff are hired and stuff like that. It would require that you make sure you know exactly what to do and when to do it so good planning and a bit of luck with the staff your able to hire and obviously would be played at full speed which makes it even more difficult

Bistromaths

2007-07-08 04:46:46 pm

I love YaBB 1G - SP1!

Mmmm, maybe someone who is good at the game can maybe post on YouTube a go at the first coupla levels, just so we can see what sort of times we will be looking at.

Siyko

2007-07-08 05:44:05 pm

I used to be athiest until I realized I was God.

Theme hospital - everybody loves it, nobody is good at it

Tongue

Bistromaths

2007-07-08 06:24:08 pm

I love YaBB 1G - SP1!

Quote:

Theme hospital - everybody loves it, nobody is good at it

Tongue

Um, I'm kinda hoping there are Smiley

Looking at the reaction from people re: Hospital Tycoon on the codemasters forums, it seems that there are several real diehard fans, and one of those must be good, surely?

ing

2007-07-13 12:46:24 pm

deet

i can barely remember this game cause it was so long since i played is but i'd love to see this. someone should go for it >_>

TheLongshotLegend

2011-09-14 12:45:50 pm

Give me money or I shoot you in face

My My. What a properly old game. One of my favourites though, I could say. I have always loved playing this one ever since I was a bloody kid. Nothing has really compared to it, for me anyway, in terms of being fun, arcade-like, and strategic. Now, strategy games have never massively been my strong point, but I really would like some feedback or some information regarding time savers etcetera, especially considering missions 8-12. Anyone got some cards to bring to the table? Wink

Cmon

2011-09-15 07:19:29 am

-_-"

I don't have any tips but please please do a run on this Cheesy

I would love to see this speedrun Cheesy

TheLongshotLegend

2011-09-15 07:24:35 am

Give me money or I shoot you in face

Yeah... something told me it was long overdue for completing... I will need to do my homework on this one Cheesy

Creaphis

Edit history:

Creaphis: 2011-09-15 12:05:21 pm

2011-09-15 08:48:20 am

I think I remember reading a Theme Hospital thread in these boards before. The conclusion was that "everybody loves Theme Hospital, nobody is good at it." I guess that with most strategy games it's the competitive multiplayer crowd that devises the best strategies and reverse-engineers the game mechanics, and, since Theme Hospital is single-player-only, there's no existing community that could help you with a run. You'll pretty much have to figure out all your own strats.

Personally, I don't even understand what triggers a level to end (but I haven't looked at the game in quite a while).

EDIT: Derp, I just found out that a multiplayer mode was added in a patch.

Jay

2011-09-15 11:59:33 am

For what it's worth I went to university with a guy who wrote a clone of Theme Hospital (www.openth.org). His website is www.corsix.org. He may know something of existing glitches in Theme Hospital etc. Sadly I can't offer any advice as I haven't played the game myself.

TheLongshotLegend

2011-09-15 02:42:13 pm

Give me money or I shoot you in face

Well, I was able to clear the tenth level legit back in the day, when I used to whore this game like a beast as a kid.

- I do believe the level ends at either the end of March, end of June, end of September or end of December, provided your win conditions are fulfilled - number of cures, number of patients treated to, reputation etc.

- I need to fulfil all the conditions for queuing. Sometimes one GPs office will become massively crowded and queues too long. I can set the queue length to a maximum and then allow the rest of the patients to queue at the next office. Same with reception. I never knew that till today, and I've been playing it for 5 years.

- Consultants also make diagnosis machines useless. By this I mean the Ultrascan, Blood machine and one other I can't remember are not needed. A consultant can diagnose a patient much faster in a GP office, and also makes more progress when diagnosing from a core diag facility, these being the scanner, x-ray, general diagnosis and the psychiatric unit. So if I can get an excess of consultants, it might cost more, but could cure more heads per month, and ultimately make more money and needing less time.

- Always build corridors 3 squares wide, to stop bottlenecking.

- I can train extra consultants in a production line style with the correct facility. Place a tiny training room, with three bookcases and a skeleton, and leave a consultant in charge. he will be able to train a consultant out of a junior doctor within around 2-5 months I think. Not too sure on this however.

- When building two rooms, and having an "island" in the centre, it causes and equal distance to the rooms on the other side. this causes patients to take a random route and takes more time, and also loses you money.

- Be ruthless with patients. There are some patients who stand outside the GPs office with the decision making. It is nearly always the best idea to send them away. Problem is, the loading time it takes to move to the typewriter is a little much.

- There should be one individual plot of land devoted entirely to operating theatre, and one devoted entirely to research. This is ideal because I can train my Juniors into doctors in the research lab, and leave a seperate staff room. Also, when times are busy, I can requisition them to help out if the hospital gets really busy, and move them back when demand for doctors has lowered again.

- Drug research and cure equipment should be a research priority, as the core diagnosis is all we need. Scanner, Xray, Gen Diag etc. Improvements should be on the agenda when Diagnosis is done, perhaps some on specialisation. But, can anyone share some light on what Specialisations actually does from the research department? I would be really interested to know...

Well, I was able to clear the tenth level legit back in the day, when I used to whore this game like a beast as a kid.

- I do believe the level ends at either the end of March, end of June, end of September or end of December, provided your win conditions are fulfilled - number of cures, number of patients treated to, reputation etc.

- I need to fulfil all the conditions for queuing. Sometimes one GPs office will become massively crowded and queues too long. I can set the queue length to a maximum and then allow the rest of the patients to queue at the next office. Same with reception. I never knew that till today, and I've been playing it for 5 years.

- Consultants also make diagnosis machines useless. By this I mean the Ultrascan, Blood machine and one other I can't remember are not needed. A consultant can diagnose a patient much faster in a GP office, and also makes more progress when diagnosing from a core diag facility, these being the scanner, x-ray, general diagnosis and the psychiatric unit. So if I can get an excess of consultants, it might cost more, but could cure more heads per month, and ultimately make more money and needing less time.

- Always build corridors 3 squares wide, to stop bottlenecking.

- I can train extra consultants in a production line style with the correct facility. Place a tiny training room, with three bookcases and a skeleton, and leave a consultant in charge. he will be able to train a consultant out of a junior doctor within around 2-5 months I think. Not too sure on this however.

- When building two rooms, and having an "island" in the centre, it causes and equal distance to the rooms on the other side. this causes patients to take a random route and takes more time, and also loses you money.

- Be ruthless with patients. There are some patients who stand outside the GPs office with the decision making. It is nearly always the best idea to send them away. Problem is, the loading time it takes to move to the typewriter is a little much.

- There should be one individual plot of land devoted entirely to operating theatre, and one devoted entirely to research. This is ideal because I can train my Juniors into doctors in the research lab, and leave a seperate staff room. Also, when times are busy, I can requisition them to help out if the hospital gets really busy, and move them back when demand for doctors has lowered again.

- Drug research and cure equipment should be a research priority, as the core diagnosis is all we need. Scanner, Xray, Gen Diag etc. Improvements should be on the agenda when Diagnosis is done, perhaps some on specialisation. But, can anyone share some light on what Specialisations actually does from the research department? I would be really interested to know...

Creaphis

2011-09-15 03:42:00 pm

This thread inspired me to give this game a bit of a try again so I've been playing a couple levels and reading this website:

http://www.eudoxus.demon.co.uk/thc/index.htm

My best guess on what "specialization" research is for is when you enter your casebook and click the "concentrate research" button below a treatment, your "specialization" research will then be devoted to researching improvements on that one treatment.

Your strategies sound very good for making hospitals that are effective in the long-term. What I'm curious about though is whether it would be possible to quickly reach a level's winning criteria with a hospital that would almost certainly fail after the level ends. Training doctors, buying extra plots of land, researching diagnosis and cure rooms, building clinics - these are all long term investments. Can you win any of the levels by just milking as much cash as possible out of your first few patients and calling it a day? Treat patients even if it'll kill them, raise your prices to max in the casebook, and fly to safety on your golden parachute before your ruined reputation comes around to bite you.

This thread inspired me to give this game a bit of a try again so I've been playing a couple levels and reading this website:

http://www.eudoxus.demon.co.uk/thc/index.htm

My best guess on what "specialization" research is for is when you enter your casebook and click the "concentrate research" button below a treatment, your "specialization" research will then be devoted to researching improvements on that one treatment.

Your strategies sound very good for making hospitals that are effective in the long-term. What I'm curious about though is whether it would be possible to quickly reach a level's winning criteria with a hospital that would almost certainly fail after the level ends. Training doctors, buying extra plots of land, researching diagnosis and cure rooms, building clinics - these are all long term investments. Can you win any of the levels by just milking as much cash as possible out of your first few patients and calling it a day? Treat patients even if it'll kill them, raise your prices to max in the casebook, and fly to safety on your golden parachute before your ruined reputation comes around to bite you.

TheLongshotLegend

2011-09-15 03:49:29 pm

Give me money or I shoot you in face

You could do that for levels 1-5 I reckon. However, after level 5 the success criteria would become a little too high to simply rush. However, if you are reaching the end of the quarter for winning the level, you could in theory destroy your budget to win in the last three months. But for levels like Battenburg and Croaking Hospital, 12 and 11, the death quote is really low and you can lose quite easily if you don't do enough in one year. I've failed on that level a lot. And thanks for that research finding... that'll be really effective to treat some of the advanced illnesses quickly, I'll bear that in mind. As for rushing, I think it would be achieveable to a certain degree, but after a certain point rushing becomes impossible with the stricter winning criterias, possibly levels 6 and onwards.

jera

2011-09-15 04:59:38 pm

procrastenating

I forgot about this game, but damn do a run! It is such a fun thing to play and funny at times :-) (the giant tongues rock!)

GL! I can't really help with tactics or so, just remember playing it years ago.

P.S.:

Quote:

The conclusion was that "everybody loves Theme Hospital, nobody is good at it."

hahaha :-)