Lynx, my first go at NoLimits

[Inverse]

I've often browsed this forum and been very impressed by the work done by CFers. So I thought I'd give it a go.

I'm looking for criticism of my track work and shaping, and to a lesser extent realism of supports. I'm not too interested in scenery, colours and whether you enjoyed the layout, although by all means tell me what you think.

I found the Corkscrew particularly hard to get smooth and the zero-g seems to be a bit fierce. I made a couple of great smooth loops when I was practising some basics, but found this one a lot harder as it's on the angle and not on grid. Any tips on working off grid?


It's 120ft high and supposed to be a relatively compact thrill ride option, I see this as a large investment for a medium sized park. Seems like it'll fit nicely in a British or smaller European park.

Here are the pictures, video to follow, at the moment I can't get it to record smoothly even though it runs great when not recording.

Thanks

 

[Treeis]

A tip I use to create good loops is to make a perfect loop on its own. Make sure its symetrical and use the grid to help you as well. When you have made that, save the element under "File-save element" or something like that, so you can use it again

 

[Ethan]

Well if thats your first go at a NL coaster thats pretty good, my first coaster was a warped circle with a hump in it
Layout is kinda nice as well. Obviously the shaping isn't that great, but hey it's your first coaster so whatever. However it does look like the airtime hill after the first inversion is a tad sharp...

 

[Inverse]

Thanks,

That airtime hill sends the G meter yellow (negative, of course). I guess that that means it's forceful, but not unbearable? I was hoping for an air-time hill a little like colossus's; definitely strong and fast, but obviously not over stepping the mark of being intolerable. Does anyone know the right kind of reading I should be getting off the meter?

And thanks too to Treeis, I'm unaware of that feature and will look into it.


P.S: strictly speaking, I guess my FIRST coaster was an out-and-not-quite-back hyper, then I removed most of it and tried a few loops and things. This is my first attempt at a full circuit coaster with a plan and proper layout.

 

[Ethan]

Ok it's great for a second coaster Anyway, my airtime hills usually go up to -0.5 and sometimes slightly more, perhaps up to -1. I think both those figures are in the green zone. If i'm not mistaken, yellow Gs are fine as long as they are positive... I think.

 

[Inverse]

Cool. I've tweaked the airtime hill to produce -0.9g, -1g goes yellow. It takes a lot more to make positive Gs go yellow.

I'm uploading a video now. Will post it as an edit or new post here when it's done. I very much would like your criticisms please...

 

[Thekingin64]

I just filmed a POV of my new coaster which was filmed very juttery but the video turned out fine. It even had sound!

Otherwise, very nice coaster especcialy for a first.

 

[Inverse]

Thanks.

Here's the POV, I hope you enjoy it.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JDpwc6nHkGk[/youtube]

 

[Inverse]

Sorry, double post. But you can now download it here: http://www.mediafire.com/?2rjyrdqk666j4sm

 

[Hixee]

Right, my first pointer would be to use more segments. It'll give you a lot more control over shaping, smoothing and banking. I would suggest using segments about half/third as long as what you've got at the moment. You can use a big segment to get the overall shape of a section, but then break up the segment and adjust, tweak and refine each point from there.

As for this track specifically, nice work on the corkscrew. I'm impressed at how well you managed just with two segments. My advice for the zero-g would be to try and remember to roll the track around the heartline (you can turn this on in each view in the Display menu) that will give you that funny sideways shuffle thing that zero-gs do. It looks like it shouldn't work, but because the heartline is right they ride really well. That goes for most elements really, keep an eye on the heartline to make sure you've not got any big kinks and jerks. Often the track will look smooth, but the heartline will be all over the place.

That's just about all I can think to say now. Feel free to ask if anything is unclear or if you want more specific feedback on a part/method.

 

[Inverse]

That's interesting. I deliberately used as few segments as possible as I figured that they would make smoother curves using auto smoothing. I'll defiantly try to use more on my next coaster. I did use the heart line display when building this, but I did struggle to get the zero g to fel right.

How is my supporting? I didn't really spend very long on it, but I did look at a few pictures to get the right placements on the elements.

 

[Hixee]

That's interesting. I deliberately used as few segments as possible as I figured that they would make smoother curves using auto smoothing.

Yeah, you'd think that, but actually it tends to make the track quite pumpy. You're better using the nodes to force the path of the track, then using the smoother to make the connections smooth. That's not quite right, but it's a good enough description.

How is my supporting? I didn't really spend very long on it, but I did look at a few pictures to get the right placements on the elements.

Well you've used pre-fab supports. Really there's not a lot wrong with them, but generally using custom supports is a bit better. It allows you to place nodes and connect them with supports (different wooden beams, metal poles with different diameters/cross sections). It generally means you can have a lot more control over where the supports go, how they connect to the track etc. They can be a bit of a burden to do sometimes, but they can also be equally as satisfying. So yeah, supports are another thing to learn!

 

[Xpress]

That's interesting. I deliberately used as few segments as possible as I figured that they would make smoother curves using auto smoothing.

No, that's actually the exact opposite of what you want. More segments = more control. Graph a line, and try to make it perfectly parabolic. You will soon find out that the more points on the graph you place, the more control you will acquire over the parabola. NoLimits operates in a similar manner. The more segments you use, the more control you will get over shaping as well as having more control over your banking transitions.

This of course is not entirely necessary. NoLimits has become simplified over the years with the addition of the built in Auto Smoother- used properly it can make incredibly smooth and flowing rides. If you want a humbling experience however, download Thunderhead Falls and ride it. It's basically among the top 10 of the smoothest handbuilt creations, even today. For an even more humbling experience, consider that it was built before smoothing tools existed.

 

[Uncle Arly]

^ Link to Thunderhead Falls?

 

[Snoo]

Pumpy, a bit thrown together, but not bad. Coulda used a longer brake run as well.. and I pretty much echo the former sentiments of everyone else.

It takes a bit to make it perfect, but you are well on your way.