prefabs and teraforming

I see one particular reviewer repeatedly critique the use of prefab elements and the lack of terraforming and I was wondering how the rest of the people here feel about such things.

I like using buster's corks and such because they are easily scaled to fit whatever track I'm working on, and at the same time, they don't require a ton of riding/editing/riding/editing etc. to get the pumps and bumps out as they are about as perfect as elements can be made. when making a complex coaster, they not only save time, they improve the overall quality of the ride, so when I see criticism that they are being used, I have to wonder what is more important here.

As for terraforming, I don't add points for it unless it is particularly well done, something very few people achieve. Most of the time, it just helps kill the framerate rather than improve the realism of the ride. Killing the framerate is an important factor to me, my comp isn't that fast and I really hate to ride a coaster that is being compromised by a 3 fps view of it. Those who know how to use the terraformer properly, usually chose the lowest detail setting and apply lots of filtering to smooth the features out, and they also know how to optimize the polygons...everyone else just adds terrain like it was an afterthought and it tends to detract more than add to a ride.

Just thought I'd throw these questions out there.

[gouldy]

I think you are rpobably right on both counts. With the prefab elements, I have nothing against a good prefab being used once in a ride, but its just when all the elements are completely prefab, thats when I rate the ride down for it. I suppose it just shows a lot more time has been spent on a ride if the elements are 'home made'[lol]. Most of the elements I am using in my rides now though are elements that I have made up myself anyway so there are no prefabs of them [;)][lol].
As for the terraforming, I think I have only ever seen a couple of people use it and make the ride better. If I use it, all do is add a lake or something which is ok as it hardly affects framerate at all. But I won't rate someones ride down for using it, nor will I rate a ride up for using it unless of course it actually does add to the ride, then I think the member should be praised very well as it is very hard to use the terraformer succesfully.

I guess on the prefab thing I cant really say much because I have only been using NL for abour 4 days now and I am using the prefab pieces for the inversions only, just to get used to it, and to get a general idea on what is the best way to construct them.

as for scenery and terraforming, last time i checked this was a coaster simulator, not a landscape simulator. I think the thrills should come from the ride, not from trees or going into a ravine. If you dont have any I dont think that should deduct from a rating but if you do have some, well all the better to you.

I personally cant use the terraformer because any track that has terraforming in doesnt work for some strange reason...

I don't care about using prefabs, but I might get picky about terrain. Those type of things should be there to enhance the ride. Without terrain, it gets boring. But people complain that terraforming take a long time, but there are a few tricks to speed it up.

I dislike terraforming more for the way it kills framerates more than any other reason. If its done right, it doesn't commit any crimes, but it rarely is done right. Low key seems to be the best way to go, its the radical over-sculpted terrains that turn me off right away.

Unless I'm in a really special working mood, I usually insert all my special elements as prefabs and then spend the time smoothing them out....but *whacks head* I never thought of saving the good ones untill now!!