Gouldy - Attempt at a B&M Giga

[gouldy]

I've half finished the trackwork on some big projects on NL2, well, about 30 of them. This is one of them, and I've picked it as the one that I'm going to make sure I finish this year. It's my attempt at a B&M giga coaster, however, I doubt I'll achieve the bang-on B&M shaping. I'm at a stage where I'm happy to share some images and ask for some advice etc.

Mainly for the drop. I've compared my drop to the drop of Leviathan, and it's clear that my drop is nothing like Leviathan's, which is much much more gradual than mine, and seemingly not as steep. However, I really love the way my drop rides and how the g's are in each seat. So, what do you guys think of it:

This is the layout so far. As usual, the rest of the layout is already planned out on paper, it's just not on NL2 yet. I've tried to get a bit of mix between the low-to-the-ground high speed stuff, and big airtime hills.

The top of the 270ft Airhill (gives you an idea of the height of the drop ), with the top of the drop in the background.

Some images of the first turnaround element, because I'm very proud of the way it turned out - it rides so nicely!

Some quick stats:

Height from floor (once I've finished the terraforming): 360ft
Height of drop: 350ft
Total height difference of ride: 368ft
Max speed: Exactly 100mph


Comments and advice greatly appreciated, especially concerning the drop shaping!

[afro85]

I love the colors but I'm sure you could find something more original to differ from Fury! I like the drop and I know many would complain that is not extremely accurate for a B&M but if your forces are good and you like how it rides I'm on your side and I wouldn't change it. The turnaround tho seems a bit too vertical (or beyond) but could easily be the picture.. Can you post a better one maybe more far away with different angles?
I also like the layout, looks fun to ride!
Last thing... Are you gonna add custom scenery? If yes what theme are you looking for?

[gouldy]

afro85 wrote:

I love the colors but I'm sure you could find something more original to differ from Fury! I like the drop and I know many would complain that is not extremely accurate for a B&M but if your forces are good and you like how it rides I'm on your side and I wouldn't change it. The turnaround tho seems a bit too vertical (or beyond) but could easily be the picture.. Can you post a better one maybe more far away with different angles?
I also like the layout, looks fun to ride!
Last thing... Are you gonna add custom scenery? If yes what theme are you looking for?

It's kind of difficult to take a picture of the whole thing where there's still enough detail for you to see what's going on, because it's bloody huge!

It is steep, but it's definitely not vertical or over vertical - it's certainly not as steep as the first drop is, which is about 85 degrees at the steepest point.

With regards to the drop. I may move the station backwards and make the drop slightly shallower than it is at the moment. As awesome as it is to ride, I really don't think it's particularly B&My. I'll keep it for now, I think. I see how my mind changes over time.

The colors look a lot like Fury 325. Is that intentional?

[afro85]

I can't tell what it is but looks a bit weird.. Maybe the rotation start a bit too late, maybe the top is too narrow, maybe it reminds me of the intamin blitz curve close to the ground.... But I'm curious to see more!

[Coasterkidmwm]

That is a steep air hill lol. Just make sure the NL auto-banking isn't too vicious. I can tell I screwed something up when the auto banking decides to start being weird. Looks good so far though. Kind of reminds me of Speed Rusher or whatever it's called (red S&S in China).

And damn that lime green spine and whoever decided that would be a good idea on Fury 325 lol.

[afro85]

Coasterkidmwm wrote:

And damn that lime green spine and whoever decided that would be a good idea on Fury 325 lol.

Lol everybody loves it, but again, gouldy, I'd change that if I was you.

[gouldy]

afro85 wrote:

Coasterkidmwm wrote:

And damn that lime green spine and whoever decided that would be a good idea on Fury 325 lol.

Lol everybody loves it, but again, gouldy, I'd change that if I was you.

Colours are definitely not final. It's pretty early in the project yet, haven't even tried it to see what it looks like with support colours etc. so I imagine the colours will change a lot before it's finished

Coasterkidmwm wrote:

That is a steep air hill lol.

It is very steep, but even in the first image (perpendicular to the drop), the view on the air hill isn't actually side on, so it does look slightly steeper than it actually is.

You can reference the heartline distance and easily tell how offset that screenshot is, and I have to say honestly, all originality or creativity aside, that airtime hill looks absolutely abysmal.

[gouldy]

GerstlCrazy wrote:

You can reference the heartline distance and easily tell how offset that screenshot is, and I have to say honestly, all originality or creativity aside, that airtime hill looks absolutely abysmal.

there is much work yet to be done!

Gigas are definitely not my bread and butter, this is genuinely the first one I've even attempted and I've certainly never seen one with my own eyes, so there are bound to be a fair few oddities in these first few screenshots while I'm getting the layout down. That's why the thread is here, so hopefully with your advice and such, I might end up with something partway realistic


How I arrived at the shape of that air hill was by putting in a basic hill shape (which was originally shallower and not as tall), and then tweaked and rode and tweaked and rode until I arrived at a point where the track was smooth and the g's were almost constant from inflection point to inflection point. It rides very nicely, but obviously based on the reaction, it looks like poop haha.

Pointers, please!

The airtime hill just has way too steep of an entrance and exit, if you just make it a bit more stretched out, it should look fine.

[gouldy]

How about this:

It's now 264ft tall, rather than 270ft, and it's a fair bit wider at the base!
It still looks like it's very steep, but I'm finding a little hard to say whether it's ok or not compared to other B&M hills, because this is 260+ft tall - there's not a hill (I can think of) to directly compare it to.

Pretty sure I'm going to make the drop less steep also, to bring it more in line with Leviathan's drop. It is awesome and everything, but... look at it in that picture

[mkingy]

Woop a Gouldy project That is all I have to say for now :< (Just got back from Yorkshire)

[Blase Rhine]

It looks a lot better! As you said it does still look a little steep but I think it will be fine considering how tall the hill is. Make sure your G forces are fine.

[gouldy]

The hill is built entirely based on the g-force (which I believe is how B&M does it), so it's the g force that has given the hill its shape.

That particular hill has a fairly stable 3.5g pull up at either side, and then the whole hill stays at a fairly constant 0g (in the middle seat) between the two inflection points. I'm really happy with the way it turned out in terms of how it rides. I'm finding NL2 much much better at NL1 for producing decent force based rides using only handbuilding, and still having a really smooth track.

Edit:

This giga has an MCBR... and an MCBR means length

[TTD03]

Great stuff Gouldy!
There are now at least 2 Large Giga coasters being made on the site! Can't wait for both!

[Coasterkidmwm]

gouldy wrote:

and an MCBR means length

B-b-b-but length isn't everything!

[TTD03]

^ In Giga world, it is

mcbr is time.

[mkingy]

Better not be a shambhala mcbr.

[gouldy]

It's not

Track length wise, there is less track after the MCBR than before it, but time-wise, there is more time between the MCBR and the end brakes than there is between the lift and the MCBR. There's around 4,500ft of track before the MCBR (including the lift). Although it's not finished yet, I'm thinking there'll be around 3,500ft of track after the MCBR, based on my paper layout.

Your fine with it being so long? Your coaster, your rules, but I feel no one makes realistic track lengths when it comes to Giga's.

[mkingy]

Helo9797 wrote:

Your fine with it being so long? Your coaster, your rules, but I feel no one makes realistic track lengths when it comes to Giga's.

Steel Dragon is about the length that Gouldy is expecting his ride to be. It may be further than B&M have ever created but I don't think it's unreasonable given the correct financial backdrop (ie. not when everyone is in recession)

[gouldy]

Helo9797 wrote:

Your fine with it being so long? Your coaster, your rules, but I feel no one makes realistic track lengths when it comes to Giga's.

B&M coasters are bloody expensive, I doubt any park in the world could justify the cost of building 8,000ft+ of B&M coaster with regards to the return on their investment. This is why all current B&M Gigas are as short as they are. But on NL2, there is no investment.

This is the Giga I would want a park to build if it was run by Bill Gates for nothing but his own entertainment, instead of Cedar Fair, who have budgets, investors, and shareholders to keep happy.

I enjoy building coasters to real life constraints of that nature, but I also love to just build what I would want built were money no option.

The coaster is realistic in the physical sense, but I am willing to accept that no park in the world could possibly justify the construction of this thing, currently.

Well then, let's get bill gates on the phone
I want to see this in real life!
Good explanation, glad you get it! I feel most people don't!