NL2 a day in the life

*The following didn't really happen (duh), but it would be nice!*

I fired up my NL2 software to build a coaster that I had in my head. I clicked "new" then chose "Intamin Rocket Coaster" as the type. I chose to have trains of 8 cars, and to have two trains. I placed the cursor at the point where I wanted to start, then right-clicked and chose "Make Station" from the menu. A station track of exactly the right length was created at the cursor point. I decided to go ahead and choose the station building, and picked an elaborate futuristic design, left hand loading, with a zig-zag ramp down to the ground.
That done, I went to the "track" menu and chose "launch". A popup menu asked how fast I wanted the launch to get to, and how many seconds I wanted it to take. I chose (for fun) 200mph and 0.5 seconds. An alert box warned that the G-forces of that sort of launch would be unsafe. I of course had the option of overriding it and making it anyway, but I chose to pick other numbers instead: 100mph in 5 seconds. It created a launch track exactly the right length to achieve this. Now for the top hat element.
I chose "standard track" from the track menu, then "add vertex". I clicked a point and track was added from the end of the launch to the point I just clicked. It curved nicely, but I was afraid of the G-forces, since it looked rather abrupt. I highlighted the section of track I just made and chose "get info" from the segment menu. It showed that the track segment was 68ft long, the train would enter it at 100mph, exit it at 98mph, and the maximum G-force during that segment would be 6.4g. Too much. I left the segment highlighted, then chose "increase size" and slid the slider bar to the right. The segment maintained its ratio, but got larger. I increased the size until the G-force stat was less than 5 (where I wanted it).
On the way up the top hat, I decide to have the train do a 3/4 twist instead of the usual 1/4 twist. I selected "create element" then "heartline twist". I input that the speed going in would be 94mph (which I knew from the 'get info' after I resized the previous segment), and that it would twist 240deg clockwise. Since the previous segment ended with the train travelling vertically, the heartline was created to keep the train travelling in that same direction. After the hearline is created, I highlight that element, click "get info" and double-check that the G-forces are in check. They are.
A couple of clicks makes the hump over the top of the tophat. It doesn't look exactly smooth, though. I highlight the segment and click "Smooth it!". A perfect half-circle over the top of the element is created. I click to see the G-forces and WOAH! The G-forces are not nearly the airtime-laden wonder I imagined, and the speed exiting the segment is "0". The train isn't making it over the top. I resize the element with the slider again, this time going smaller. Pretty soon, there is an exit speed and the G-force rating is -0.8 - nice floaty!
For the 3/4 twist back down the other side, I highlight the first 3/4 twist I made for the trip up the tophat. Then I click "Copy". A menu box comes up and I select "keep current size", "reverse" (to make it go down instead of up), and "mirror" so it will be counter-clockwise. Click "OK" and I have an identical 3/4 twist to the first one, only heading down and spinning in the opposite direction. It is added to the end of my track. A similar set of moves copies the segment that led into the twist up to make a nice pull-out coming down.
Now the fun part: I want my rocket to have a loop. I choose "create element" then "vertical loop". I choose the diameter, the distance between the lead-in and lead-out tracks, and whether it loops right or left. Click and done. Highlighting the loop, I check the G-forces and am happy with it. I think that it would be even nicer if it were a leaning loop, though. While the loop is highlighted, I click "modify element" and "tilt". I love the Tilt feature, especially for helix work, but right now I'm getting loopy. I set my loop to lean at 45deg. Since the editor now has full-on graphics and not just wireframe (although you can opt for wire if you want), I can tell that my loop looks fantastic. There is the small problem of the terrain, however. I had chosen a hilly terrain to begin with and there is a hill right in the way now. No problem. NL2 allows underground tunnels, and everything is automatically tunneled when the track travels below grade. All I have to do is choose the material for the facing of the tunnel. I like a rock face for my tunnels here. I chose wood facing before when I did that cool mine train, but that's another story.
I bust out of the other side of that hill, make a wicked upward helix ("create element", "helix", then check boxes to set the direction, rotation, and height) and a MCBR.
I want to see how it looks with supports, so I click "auto supports". A box pops up saying "Intamin style supports are default with this track style. Is this OK?" I click "no" then choose "B&M style supports" and click "OK". The track is auto-supported as if B&M had designed them. It looks freakish, so I go back and choose "Arrow multi-looper" style supports. That looks freaky, too, but I like it. I click "test ride" and get a full-scale test as if I were in the simulator and can even slow down or speed up the time scale (10%-1000%) to watch the forces and such closely.
I notice that there was some pumping in my tunnel, so I go back and highlight those segments and click "Smooth it!". Done.
When the track is completed, NL2 does a quick check of the entire layout and highlights the segments in green, yellow, or red depending on the maximum G-forces attained on those segments. My whole track is green except for the pull-out of one drop that is red. Forgot to check that one while I was building... no matter. I click that segment, choose "quick fix" and get a menu that says it can be fixed either by raising the bottom of the drop or by lessening the steepness of the drop. I choose to lessen the steepness and it does it with one click.
I save the coaster, then click "Ride". The simulator is part of the editor now and I get a menu before the ride begins. Since I had installed floodlights along the layout while building (they were part of the "scenery" menu and were placed like trees), I choose to ride at night. There's my POV shot, I hear the people in the station, I hear the restraints lower and lock... looking ahead, there is barely visible a huge tophat element and a loop leaning at a 45deg angle, floodlit against a black, starry sky. It's just a matter of seconds now... my heart races and the train screams out of the station. All is well with the No Limits world.

Sooo, other than a few things, you basically perfectly described Elementary.

Interesting read otherwise.

Originally posted by dcs221

Sooo, other than a few things, you basically perfectly described Elementary.

Interesting read otherwise.

Nope, IMO that's not at all what Elementary is about. I'd rather say "RCT3.5" [xx(]

Now go read and enjoy(?) these lines:

Originally posted by minicoopertx
...
Now the fun part: I want my rocket to have a loop. I choose "create element" then "vertical loop". I choose the diameter, the distance between the lead-in and lead-out tracks, and whether it loops right or left. Click and done. Highlighting the loop, I check the G-forces and am happy with it.

Anyone believing he could create a good loop with that few parameters should better totally keep off NL (any versions) and stick to RCT. There are (and would be) quite some more values to provide, for creating the right loop matching your ride and track style.

Now I do consider minicoopertx' ideas naive and lazy, in case executed in the described way. Doing so could *only* give uncreative and boring default elements, just like with RCT. On the other hand, in case the many required parameters were actually provided for user entry, most of you would start the biggest rant ever about "why the heck do you need so much math" for NL. I bet, you'd be quite annoyed...


So, go pick your poison! [:p]

[Brtnboarder495]

No need to wait! It's RCT3!

Man, you really need to get outside more often.

Originally posted by minicoopertx


I A station track of exactly the right length was created at the cursor point.

That is quite usefull..., i hope NL2, or even a next update of NL gets the right number of gates for the cars

Who cares if it's RCT3 or not? NL2 would have more realistic graphics than RCT3, and it's a real pain trying to smooth everything out and such, which is pretty much my only problem with NL. It would make it a lot easier to do, so then I could completely focus on the ride's layout and excitement, so I can let my ideas run wild. Well, technically, it wouldn't be RCT3, since you can only choose 3 loop sizes (but they of course are spread across different designs) IMO, the people who make NL really should read minicoopertx's ideas.

I think that just took all the skill out of nolimits.....

OK, I suppose I should've used smaller words or something, since a lot of you missed some key elements.
Just because there is a "create element" feature doesn't mean that you can't build one of your own. It also wouldn't mean that you couldn't tweak and alter the element once the program created it. I'm not talking about canned elements being strung together like RCT3... although you COULD do that if you wanted. I just like the idea of having a pretty good element to start with that I can modify from there.
Another thing that doesn't exist in RCT3 or elemental is the ability to resize a segment or element WHILE IT IS ATTACHED to the coaster and see how the forces are affected as you change the size.
Clicking on a segment and seeing the forces and speed that the train will encounter on that segment would be a HUGE help, IMHO. As it is now, you make the segment, connect the track, fire up the sim, ride it, note the forces, exit the sim, disconnect the track, change the segment, reconnect, fire up the sim, etc etc etc until it's right. Think how much time it would save NOT to have to go thru all that!
The same holds true for station and launch track length.

So no, it's NOT just elemental or RCT3. It would still have all the flexibility of NL, but for those of us who don't have tons of free time to tweak, re-tweak, and support a coaster, we would also have the ability to quickly build something that we imagine that was still fairly decent and not full of pumps, jerks, and insane g-forces. Power users could still make theirs perfect if they wanted. The best of both worlds, I think.

You have too much free time. . . Get a boyfriend

Originally posted by minicoopertx

...I just like the idea of having a pretty good element to start with that I can modify from there.

Another thing that doesn't exist in RCT3 or elemental is the ability to resize a segment or element WHILE IT IS ATTACHED to the coaster and see how the forces are affected as you change the size.

You still completely neglect the fact that changing an element's size will severly affect the transitions between the existing track and that element you're "working on" (in the way you described it).

What you are talking about is just another convenient way of creating jerks in the track. And that can easily done with the existing NL version already.

You are thinking way too shortsighted... [flush]

Whats your address? I need to send you one of those Stables "Easy" buttons, that when you press it, it says, "THATS EASY!"

Unfortunatly No Limits is hard. Its very hard. Theres a reason why so many assist programs that create objects, terrain, supports, heartlines and elements have all made their way into the core NL program or are often used. Its difficulty rests in the 3d world and use of bezier curves. ALL 3d apps arn't easy to learn. You just can't truncate it to simple inputs.

Originally posted by SFMM homie

You have too much free time. . . Get a boyfriend

Got one, thanks.

Ooooo He toooold you SFMM.

Lol, okay so now he's calling himself a fag which I doubt he is. Either way I win.

Actually, I thought he was? Something about his name rings a bell from a previous thread about that discussion? Hmmmm ...

Somebody HAS to teach me how to use elementry like that. I've heard of people making entire coastersin elementry and not touching a single node. Is this even possible?

Yup .

Of my 7 rides released here, the last 6 were done without touching a node, other than moving the first one to the starting position. The other was made before Elementary came out.

Elementary is very confusing to me. For some reason I always stick to moving nodes around (Unless it comes to heartlines which is when I either use Elementary or AHG) but nonetheless NL is a fudgin hard thing to learn..

Originally posted by tiepilot35

Somebody HAS to teach me how to use elementry like that. I've heard of people making entire coastersin elementry and not touching a single node. Is this even possible?

http://www.coastercrazy.com/articles/arti ... 10&aid=150

Originally posted by italianpnoy112

Elementary is very confusing to me. For some reason I always stick to moving nodes around (Unless it comes to heartlines which is when I either use Elementary or AHG) but nonetheless NL is a fudgin hard thing to learn..

Most likely because you are making it harder on yourself than it has to be. The trick to Elementary is summed up in one word: math. Remember when you did not pay attention in basic math classes and learning the fundamentals of geometry? Well, here is the irony of you thinking "I'll never need that stuff" which has come back to haunt you. [approve]

Originally posted by SFMM homie

Lol, okay so now he's calling himself a fag which I doubt he is. Either way I win.

I said I had a boyfriend, I did NOT say I was a fag. Interesting how WWS and other forum moderators tend to let people throw around that word as an insult, but would NEVER allow such words as "Ni...." for black people or "Sp.." for Hispanics in their forums. The poster of that sort of slur would most likely be banned. Not so with "fag", though, even though it is just as insulting to the person it's used against.

So, no. I am not a fag. I am gay and I am dating a former Navy captain who flew F-18 fighter jets. Neither of us is someone you'd look at and guess that we're gay.

I *do* find it rather funny that you didn't think I was gay, though. I'm just not sure why the comment about "either way, I win". Win what? Embarassment and ridicule?

Hey, join in Jpecool.

*sings

In the Naavy [:P]

Nice guide, but it reminds me of Rct3. It would be cool to make your dream track in seconds, but unless your Tyler, I don't think you have a chance of doing that.

Hey.......................... i dont find the word fag insulting...... But thats only cos im from the UK and it isnt as bad a insult here. Anyway i dont find many "other words" for gay insulting, because i am gay so whats the problem? They call you it, you say "yes....and?" because it hasnt insulted you at all, and they look stupid. [:)] Thats my tactic. [:D]

Anyway, im sure SFMM homie didnt mean it as bad as it may have sounded. But....i understand what you mean when you say:

I'm just not sure why the comment about "either way, I win". Win what? Embarassment and ridicule?

I dont get it either.

We're all one big slap'n family, come on ppl , get along. this thredz about minicoopertx cool yet insane NL2 ideas.