Levelling off with Newton

How do I level off with Newton? I just did a half loop and I want to twist it back into a straight line however the loop just carries on when I use Add New Section and I no matter how much I modify the variables, the track either disappears and it says NaN or it doesn't change enough. Any help would be greatly appreciated and I would happily send you the file if required.

Get Newton drunk and then he'll start to negotiate with you. It's hard to level him off he's so stubborn.

It's difficult to answer the question without knowing specifically what kind of element you wish to create. Perhaps a picture would be helpful....

Regarding the "NaN" issue, that is explained in the pdf file that accompanies the program. I would suggest you start there, and if you need more of an explanation than that, feel free to ask.

I think he might mean how to make bank from 180 to 0?

Make sure you are using the quanternion method then when you create a new segment add 180 degrees of banking, this will twist the track round so it's "levelled off"

NaN usually occurs when you're trying to pull too many G's while you don't have enough speed. Make the G's lower and the segment time shorter until track appears.

Thanks, I didn't know about the quanternion function. That sorted it out.

what is the the quanternion function? and where is it in the program?

Originally posted by deek92

what is the the quanternion function? and where is it in the program?

Quaternions avoid the gimbal-lock issues that arise (for looping coasters) when working with yaw/pitch/roll values. They are slightly more difficult to work with, but much more powerful, and produce track solutions with a different (and smoother, IMHO) flow than when using Eulers. You toggle between them in the bottom left corner.

After looking around, I'm quite surprised by the amount of people saying that using Quaternions is harder than Eulers. Strangely I found it much easier as you have more possibilities and thus it is easier to design the track that you want.

Originally posted by vampire

After looking around, I'm quite surprised by the amount of people saying that using Quaternions is harder than Eulers. Strangely I found it much easier as you have more possibilities and thus it is easier to design the track that you want.

The only reason I say "more difficult" is because roll rotations occur relative to the body-centered axes instead of the global axes, much like relroll in the editor. Glad you like them, though!