[NL2] Kingda Ka recreation

This is not intended to be a 100% accurate recreation, but rather to make some small changes to improve operation and capacity while keeping the ride as accurate as possible. The biggest difference is in the station: the trains unload at the rear platform then move up to the front platform to load. The trains dispatch one at a time from alternating sides, rather than both trains from one side dispatching at once. There's also an additional block before the fork switch track, this allows the next train to launch as soon as the previous train clears this block, rather than having to wait until the previous train is in the station and the switch track has moved. The turnaround at the end of the ride is much closer to the station than on the real thing. It also only launches at 116 MPH, as 128 MPH resulted in it going over the top WAY too fast. Lastly, there are no trim brakes on top of the tower.

The coaster itself is 100% complete, including supports and flanges that are crazy accurate. I don't plan on adding the elevator tower, the intermediate-level catwalks on the tower, the catch-car and its track, or Zumanjaro. The station (built entirely out of supports) is getting close to completion. Pretty much all that's left is the control booth and its stairs, and finishing all the fences. The stairs are different from the real thing in order to accommodate the different loading and unloading pattern. Accurate station music is in place, which is why the download is unusually large. There's also a VERY crude launch motor building, make sure to peek inside it! I haven't started on the queue or any sort of scenery yet.

Everything's extremely well timed, keeping in mind that the train must sit on the launch track for 5 seconds before actually launching. The trains will stack at the launch when you first start it, but after each train has launched once the timing will be perfect.

Track Length w/o storage: 3241.83 ft
Max Height: 456.204 ft
Max Speed: 116 MPH
Load time: 40 sec
Unload time: 20 sec
Launch interval: 36 sec
Hourly capacity: 2000 guests

Track download link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BywnRPG-G-i7SlZRVUM0WGFIRkE/edit?usp=sharing

Looking forward from what will be the control booth:


The merge switch track:


Trains on the storage tracks:


One ready to launch, one waiting on the transfer track:


Hitting full speed:


A-frame supports to accommodate the launch cables:


Looking up at the tower from on top of the motor building:


The train goes through the upward twist:


Cresting the top:


The downward spiral:


Almost full speed again:


Cresting the second hill, almost to the brakes:


At the end of the brake run, as seen from the exit:


Looking backward from what will be the control booth:


Station beams and roof:


Loading platform with front row queue:


The queue split, entrance stairs and ramp, and the other loading platform:


The unloading area. The stairs allow trains to unload from both sides at once:


The exit stairs:

[Oscar]

ohhhh this is interesting and it will be even more interesting once you are fully done with it! Congratz on taking on this recreation I'm sure many of us will look forward to it.

[TTD03]

I gotta say, thank god someone is making an NL2 version of KK.
More good news, so far, you are the best I have seen making this in NL2.
Even more good news, not sure when the last time you went to Great Adventure if ever, they stopped using both sides and they run 3 train operation. The train unloads and loads in the front station on the right, the back station on the right is used as a holding brake, and they modified the magnets before the switch into the station to make it a block, as you described in your OP. The one thing I wish they did that you nailed here is to use the back station to unload, and then the front station to load, rather than the front to load and unload. Overall, the line moves much faster because of this and I think it was a great move by Six Flags.
I give you props for doing this as I have wanted someone to make an updated version for a long time.

Have you checked out this guy's version, his was the best I've ever seen, but who knows, you could make yours even better! Good luck!

Will put link when I can find it.

TTD03 wrote:

Even more good news, not sure when the last time you went to Great Adventure if ever, they stopped using both sides and they run 3 train operation. The train unloads and loads in the front station on the right, the back station on the right is used as a holding brake, and they modified the magnets before the switch into the station to make it a block, as you described in your OP. The one thing I wish they did that you nailed here is to use the back station to unload, and then the front station to load, rather than the front to load and unload. Overall, the line moves much faster because of this and I think it was a great move by Six Flags.

Yeah, I've been there since they've made this change. It's my home park and I'd never be able to do this accurate a recreation if I wasn't really familiar with it. It's just a shame that they don't unload at the back or use the other side of the station at all. My setup is basically this, but using both sides at once. It really runs incredibly well, once it gets going the gates in one load station close right as the gates in the other are opening, and the track clears for launch less than a second after the 5-second launch hold ends.

Also, a fun thing to try: Set the launch speed to exactly 115.46 MPH. It will randomly make it over, roll back, and sometimes even get stuck on top!

[TTD03]

Will do, its all about the fps, been that way since NL1

[Coasterkidmwm]

Looks great so far! Big station is big lol

[TTD03]

Sweet, you even got the theme music in there.
I am PM'ing you the entire list of all the songs that are known to play in there.

TTD03 wrote:

Sweet, you even got the theme music in there.
I am PM'ing you the entire list of all the songs that are known to play in there.

I have Safri Duo's entire Episode II album, but I don't want to add too much music because it'll make the download too large. What I have now is Played-A-Live and Samb-Adagio put together.

Perhaps a good idea would be to figure out how long someone would normally spend playing the track, and put that much music on it.

[TTD03]

There's one more track you should add, this was my all time favorite, I am PM'ing you for real this time.

Update: Control booth supports, floor frame, roof beams, and control panel done. Added another song to the station music (thanks TTD03!). Track download link is updated with the latest version.

[TTD03]

You're Welcome for the music!
I haven't downloaded the new version yes, so maybe this has been addressed.
I feel like the top hat is a bit weirdly shaped. I'm not sure how to describe it, but it feels a bit flat at the top and not the curved feeling like the real thing. I also feel the 270 degree spiral is the same way, it's a bit awkwardly shaped. Also, I changed the Extra Block Length on launch from 780 to 785 and I think it is a bit more realistic. The 2nd train waiting on transfer never starts moving immediately after the 3rd car makes it over the top on the launched train, there's always a bit of a delay.

TTD03 wrote:

You're Welcome for the music!
I haven't downloaded the new version yes, so maybe this has been addressed.
I feel like the top hat is a bit weirdly shaped. I'm not sure how to describe it, but it feels a bit flat at the top and not the curved feeling like the real thing. I also feel the 270 degree spiral is the same way, it's a bit awkwardly shaped. Also, I changed the Extra Block Length on launch from 780 to 785 and I think it is a bit more realistic. The 2nd train waiting on transfer never starts moving immediately after the 3rd car makes it over the top on the launched train, there's always a bit of a delay.

I agree about the top hat, but haven't found a way to fix it without screwing other things up. The only problem I've seen with the downward spiral is that there seems to be a bit of a bump at the end of it, haven't found a good way to fix that either. I found that 780 works best for the extra block length, the train on the transfer starts moving as soon as the launched train has cleared. I tested it out by using manual mode to stop a train on top, and the back of the train is just barely still in the launch block. Once I nudge the train far enough forward that it drops on its own, it clears the launch block. It seems like increasing the extra block length would just make it clear later.

Anyway, that should never even come into play after each train has launched once and it's running with proper timing. When each train reaches the transfer track, the previous train should already be on the final brake run.

[TTD03]

True true, the sync timed up surprisingly well, but would never work IRL cause of unexpected delays with people.

To show you what I mean about the extra block length being perfect at 780, I added a rail connector right at the block border to show where it is, and balanced a train on top. You can see that the launch block is still occupied, but just barely:


Here, the train is moved forward just enough to clear the launch block, but with Move Train still enabled so that it can't roll on its own. As soon as I turn off Move Train, the train rolls forward and completes the course.


With the extra block length set to 785 and the rail connector moved appropriately, the train doesn't clear the launch block until this point. That's overkill, since with the extra block length set to 780 it will still certainly make it over once the block clears, but it will clear earlier allowing the next train to advance earlier.

[TTD03]

Thanks for that, makes everything clearer, 780 is perfect!

[Coasterkidmwm]

Get rid of that connected track connector on the right unless it's supposed to be there. Looks great otherwise.

Coasterkidmwm wrote:

Get rid of that connected track connector on the right unless it's supposed to be there. Looks great otherwise.

That was only there to show where the block border is, in order to show that the best Extra Block Length setting on the launch is 780 ft. It actually looks like this:

[Coasterkidmwm]

Oh my bad sorry. Looks great

So, I've been looking at the timing of the stations again, and it kept bugging me that each loading station spends a significant amount of time empty before the train behind it finishes unloading and moves up. If the next train was able to finish unloading earlier, it would keep the loading stations from being empty at any point and make the operation more realistic. But how to do it? The unload time is already an unrealistically short 20 seconds, so I need to get a train into each unload station earlier. But I can't speed up the ride cycle significantly, so that leaves only one answer...

A fifth train.

Remember the promotional animation video for Kingda Ka that was then modified and re-used for Zumanjaro? Remember the yellow Kingda Ka train from it that never wound up materializing? This one...


...becomes this one:


Once I got the timing worked out, it runs better than ever and the stations (both loading and unloading) stay occupied. They're never waiting for a train. The loading and unloading times are longer and more realistic, while it still launches at the minimum interval. One interesting side-effect is that the trains no longer return to the same side of the station, they always return to the opposite side. I actually like it better this way. It's kind of like Tatsu with 2 side-by-side stations and 3 trains, or like how Storm Runner would run if it had a third train. It does take even longer for the timing to smooth out after you start it, you pretty much have to wait for each train to launch twice, which means 10 launches.

Also, I sped up the launch by half a MPH, so that it now goes over the top significantly faster, but not too fast.

The download link is updated with the new version: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BywnRPG-G-i7SlZRVUM0WGFIRkE/edit?usp=sharing

[TTD03]

Wow, wow, wow. What a great detail you noticed and incorporated. Have you considered incorporating this into it? I think it would really complete the project. Also, are you sure you want to have the train going over the top fast? I think Kingda Ka is known for its extreme slowness over the top throughout the day except in the morning.

[TTD03]

Forgive for double post.
I got bored so I combined your track and Projektion's Drop of Doom and made this! Credit to both of you for what each of you did. I used the YouTube enhancement to make the video brighter because this didn't occur until nighttime in NL2 so hopefully it looks alright!

WOW, Im actually really impressed by the quality of your work Dusso! Its funny your're calling out all the imperfections because to me it looks pretty spot on! Yea, okay... maybe a couple LITTLE things here and there but, nothing that'll hurt your ratings!

Looking GREAT man, keep up the work!!!

I have some questions here.
I made my own strata coaster and got it to have random roll backs. the problem is when it rolls back the launch stops it but then the next train comes and it launches both trains at once, ending in a crash around the apex.

Q - how do I configure the launch to reset a train after a roll back?
I'm pretty sure the answer is scripting so anyone want to help?

[Turbo]

top of top hat is too rounded. needs to be more parabolic

[TTD03]

Turbo wrote:

top of top hat is too rounded. needs to be more parabolic

Not my coaster