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Thekingin64's dev topic.

Hixee

Flojector
Staff member
Administrator
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^What's wrong with using the Auto-Support generator? It's no different to using tools. :roll:
 

Thekingin64

Strata Poster
This coaster is as finished as it's ever going to be. I still haven't thought up a good name for it.

wood-110904174147000.jpg

Most of the layout.

wood-110904174214001.jpg

Lifthill and airtime hills.

wood-110904174248002.jpg

First drop.

wood-110904174327003.jpg

Overbank over the station.

Download: http://www.mediafire.com/?vkb8al54wyw3cni
 

Hixee

Flojector
Staff member
Administrator
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I think you're gradually getting the hang of NL. You've got the right idea, it's just the exceution that needs a bit of work. I'll break it down a bit:

1. Lift Hills - You've got the right idea with having it in three sections. I think you just need to tighten up the radii on the entrance and exit pieces. They're a bit too open.
2. Segments - Up to a point, more segments means better track. It allows you to control the shaping of the track much better and can help prevent bumps and jerks. I generally use one segment to get the rough shape of the section I want, then use the 'split' tool to break it down and get more control over specific areas of the section.
3. Smoothing - Truth be told, most of the transitions were pretty jerky. You've got two options to try and fix this. Firstly you can use the simple Ctrl+G method when you've got one (or a few adjacent) segment(s) selected. This works better with more segments and the track won't distort too much and will keep the shape you want whilst also smoothing out the transitions. The other option is the so-called 'I-smooth' method. For this you select each segment in turn and press 'I' to straighten the segment. You then work through a bit of the ride segment by segment doing this. At first it'll completely **** the whole thing up, but then if you select all the pieces and press Ctrl+G then you end up with a pretty smooth section of track.
4. Banking - There's an easy way, and a hard way (well, not hard, but in comparison) and a way that's kinda in between. The easy way is to simply guess. Look at the bit of track, think about the speed of the train, the direction its travelling and the forces on the riders and just bank the track until it looks right. You'd be surprised how close you'll get by using a bit of sense. ;) The hard way is to sit down with a pen and paper and work out the bankings. This seems like hard work and I think you might as well just use Newton or AHG if that's how you want to build. The way in between is to guess, then ride in the simulator and correct. It's fairly quick and should get you pretty close.

I've taken your track and had a bit of a play (I hope you don't mind!) to show you what can be done in a short space of time. All these changes can't have taken more than about 10 mins.

-Cleared supports
-Used the I-smooth method to get most of the transitions looking a bit better
-Went round and corrected some of the banking issues
-Had a bit of a play with the shape of the entrance to the brake run
-Re-applied the auto-supports.

Now I'm not claiming that this is the best I could've done. I'm sure given longer I could've sorted a few more of the pumping issues out, but it shows what can be done:

http://www.mediafire.com/?jtue7dudsx5thpy

Hope this gives you some pointers, and sorry to seem like I'm taking the whole thing apart. Like I said, you've the right idea, but just needs some practice. :D
 

Thekingin64

Strata Poster
When I was making that coaster I was aiming for something like that. So many bits are much better in your version, e.g twisty bit and the Flat corner up in the air.

Thanks. :D All advice is appreciated.
 

Thekingin64

Strata Poster
I started on my first coaster with a good name, Speed Shock. It is a Intamin Giga thats roughly about 300ft and about 90mph top speed.

SpeedShock-110913185740000.jpg

Overview

SpeedShock-110913181128000.jpg

Most of the hills

SpeedShock-110913182316000.jpg

Layout from behind station

SpeedShock-110913182420001.jpg

Layout from above. To show how much space this thing takes up, this photo was taken when fully zoomed out.
 

Shubinine

Mega Poster
Your hills look too circular. Especialy in the first picture, second from right to left. Also they seem too tall to be able to get thet intamin ejector while keeping a good speed. Try to lower the hills. Also in the last picture the top-right turnaround looks bad. Try and make it like a circle. And dont use red :p looks too much like I305
 

Kebab

Giga Poster
I love seeing your progress kingin. Honestly, I'm still getting the hang of NoLimits and I've had it for nearly 2 years now, it's easy to learn, but trust me it's far from easy to master.

I started here: http://coastercrazy.com/track_exchange/default.asp

The best thing to do at this stage is download some tracks (preferably highly rated), open them up in NoLimits editor and take a look how they've been made. Don't be intimidated by custom scenery, and often a mass of nodes (these are normally created through other programs), they're the last thing you should be worrying about. Just take note of the shaping and the use of MCBR's, and even play about by changing the coaster type and seeing how a Vekoma rides if it was a Floorless B&M, it's quite fun!

In my opinion, the best coaster type to start with is a Euro-Fighter, it really tests your shaping skills and you can make a variety of layouts, be creative as you want.

In fact I have a scenario for you, you don't have to do it, but it's there for an experiment. You have a few set rules to take in however :)

Mission: You're the owner of a small family park in the countryside (e.g. Lightwater Valley), and you're looking to build an affordable yet exciting Gerstlauer Euro-Fighter. Due to limited funds however, you're restricted to 2500' length. As you're located by a nearby farm-town, you're restricted to 100' height. Safety laws have also told you, that no red G's in any area will be tolerated.

Feel free to make use of LIM launches, over-vertical drops, inversions etc. normally scenarios like this come with a pre-made map and station, but that narrows down the possibilities. So have fun if you do try this out :)

Also, try setting your own scenarios when designing coasters, it makes it feel more realistic and exciting to do.
 

Thekingin64

Strata Poster
Thanks everyone. Unfortunatly progress on this has been delayed due to school and the competiton.

Kebab, I'll do your scenario after finishing this.

Shubinine, the reason why it's red is it is very I305 inspired. What other colour do you recomend?
 

Ethan

Strata Poster
^ Keep it red. It's your coaster, and the colours look fine as they are, so do what you want with it :)
 

Thekingin64

Strata Poster
Own design. I was thinking along the lines of I305's suports but I couldn't be bothered with all the detail in them.
 

reddude333

Giga Poster
I see what you were going for with the lift supports. Otherwise I'd say you need some practice with smoothing out the track and working on your laterals because they are killer right now. Also, the lift hill curves a bit to the left which is an easy fix and on the second to last turn you should probably add another support. I understand it can be tough working with NL early on and you have made progress. But I suggest fixing your current design before moving on.
 

Thekingin64

Strata Poster
To pick this up again, I've worked for ages on Speed Shock but I just cannot fix the lat g's on it. From that I've given up and started on Kebab's Scenario. So far have done lift hill, over vertical drop, loop, overbank and airtime hill that was originally meant to be a zero g.

Get pics in a bit.
 

Thekingin64

Strata Poster
Right, I've finished the trackwork and I just need to smooth a little in some places and support.

Eurofighter-111224222337000.jpg

General Overview

Eurofighter-111224222442001.jpg

100° Overbank and Immelman.

Eurofighter-111224222516002.jpg

Airtime hill, twist and final corners.

Eurofighter-111224222647003.jpg

Another Overview from further off.
 
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