How do you make corkskrews??(good)

How do you design a corkskrew that is smooth. I cant do it.

[gouldy]

Well, make sure you are using "Con-roll" first, because if you are not using that then it is bound to be rough.

[coolbeans326]

- they're rediculously hard, especially inverted wingovers. Some times when I get fed up with the cork, I'll just go and stick in the prefab, but that's usually not until after I've spent 2 hours trying to make the cork (usually it takes longer)[:(]

I use the Elementary to bust out a nice one. Then I contort it with the Purg or the Construction Kit. Then, I use the AHG to heartline it, which usually brings out the true shape.

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Theres some pictures of REALLY quick wingovers I made. Yes, they are pretty much just prefabbed, but they are heartlined. Middle seats pull a cool 0.5 lats, outer seats in front and back reach up to 1 lateral but they are small, like a cross between Raptor and BTR wingovers which I know have some lats in the outer seats.

Because they are prefabbed that also means that you need straight entrance and exits, which are kind of boring. Youd have to do some hand tweaking and such to get the entrance and exits to work properly.


Got any questions, let me know.

[Kev]

my corkscrews usually don't turn out "perfect", but here's what i do. I start out with one straight piece with the handles on each end set exactly the same. I then move one end over, making a sort of S shaped piece of flat track (no banking yet). I then split the piece in half, and raise the center node up to make a hill. I then invert the center node, and adjust all of the handles to make a corkscrew shape (use the 'lock' option on the center node so that the handle lengths are equal on both sides. After fiddling with the handle lengths to get a fairly smooth cork, I then split the two pieces in half, making four pieces. Adjust the banking on the two new nodes just created to get a more fluid feel to the cork, and to better control the g-forces.

A few tips on doing it this way. Use the editor grid to its fullest so the the corkscrew is symmetrical. Also use the con-roll option as already mentioned. This method has never given me a perfect corkscrew, but they still turn out pretty good. I used this method on these coasters, in case your interested:

http://www.coastercrazy.com/track_excha ... p?tid=5730
http://www.coastercrazy.com/track_excha ... p?tid=2689

Well i just make an S shape on nolimits using only one section of track. It also has to be exactly flat. Then when you've got the base to be the exact size you want it, you split the segment, so it becomes to pieces. Then click on the middle joint (i hope you get what i mean) and raise it up to the hight you want it. Be careful to keep the height change realistic for the sixe of the corkscrew. Then you start banking the corkscrew, bank the middle joint to an angle of 180 degrees, and on the last joint, you press re roll, and then bank that another 180 degrees. Now you should have the "base" shape for your corkscrew. Now you have to make it smooth, so start by locking the control points on the middle joint. Make it to your desired shape (i hope you understand whta i mean). This will amke it more of a corkscrew shape. Now you press Con roll, on the middle joint, and the other joints that make up the corkscrew. You should still only have 2 sections of track that make up the element. Now you split each section that makes up the element so you are left with 4 sections in total and 5 joints. Bank joints 2 and 4 each way, so this means the top 2 sections of the corkscrew bank faster (i hope you are still with me!) Then click on Con roll for all joints!

I really hope you understand that. Im not very good at explaining. After practicing this technique it makes a smooth corkscrew, wingover, or barrel roll (depending on the shape and size you made your S at the beginning). It will make the element smooth, but NOT heartlined. It is very hard to make an element heartlined, especially a corkscrew, without using a tool.

I hope you understand what i mean. Let me know if you dont!

EDIT: Crap, Kev, you got there before me!

[Kev]

apparently, it's a popular way of making corkscrews. [:P]

[gouldy]

Yeah, I also use this method. I think you can get a very good corkscrew from this method, I think I just depends on the S shape that you use, perhaps someone should experiment to find the optimum 'S'

Depends on alot of factors like speed, entrance angle, exit angle and train types.

If you carrying alot of speed, a longer, more rolling S will work. If you have less speed, you can make the S sharper and pointier as well as shorter and with alot more snap.

[Brtnboarder495]

Someone who is excellent in the field of handmaking corks should write a guide for it, it would be greatyl appreciated and used!

^ Look about 6 posts up from yours Brtn ... someone just did.

What I do for SM (hopefully it's similar) is use the method described from Kev and the others to make the four pieces. Then I just make a Prefab of it and use that in my other coasters, modifying it to suit the other coasters. For wingovers (invert corks) I do the same thing, except I use more agressive banking on the 2nd/3rd nodes. Realistically that's what happens.

lmao i tried to make a custom cork, its alot harder then it looks lol

I pretty much do what real does. Make it in elementry and then use the purg or hand tweak it to make it fit into the track im working on.

[Brtnboarder495]

Ya but Real is using tools, no offense, but to those who do not have the tools or OS to run them on (like me), need a guide.

Dude, if it really bothers you so much, go spend $50 and go buy a old PC.

I use whats available. No sense in forcing myself to do it the extreme harder way, especially when my own standards are/have been too high untill we got these tools. Now I can at least get somewhere near my satisfaction. I apologize if it sounds cocky, Ive always had the "perfectionist" mentality and its both a good and bad thing, trust me. Some days I love it, some days I wish I never had it.

[Kev]

Nothing wrong at all with using tools. I've used them before on some of my coasters, mostly the track smoother, and I finally got around to trying out the heartline generator on a Schwarzkopf coaster that I made not long ago. My feeling is that so long as the end result turns out good, then who cares how it was done? On the flip side of that, I've seen a few people (a couple of members at coastersims come to mind, and no...I'm not talking about Buster or Hansixx) who brag about using the purgatorium program to do 100% of their trackwork, but their tracks really aren't any better than what I've seen done by hand.

Anyway, that's my few cents about that...as if anybody asked for my spare change.

Prefab, AHG, Track Smoother....I don't care either. If you need to use the tools to make a good smooth coaster than by all means do it. I have yet to use any of these tools (of course it's been almost 2 years since I published a track) but I do play around with them to see how they work.

Originally posted by Foreseerbut I do play around with them to see how they work.

Which is what you should do. I dont really reccommend people using the stuff untill they know what it does. Otherwise, it may mess your track up more than it fixes it.


I could make a few prefab corks that I think people could use and best of all, manipulate if you guys wanted some elements. I could make like a 4, 6 and 8 segment cork so you have some choices based on your skill level.

[Kev]

Originally posted by Real

I could make a few prefab corks that I think people could use and best of all, manipulate if you guys wanted some elements. I could make like a 4, 6 and 8 segment cork so you have some choices based on your skill level.

I bet that many people would appreciate that, myself included. [:)]

Actually Real, I've already made prefabs of a lot of your stuff on M3. Most of the time I don't use it though.
Is there a way to convert NL prefabs into SM prefab? I did a search and it returned nothing....I'm extremely interested in corkscrew prefabs.

[Dirk_Ermen]

Originally posted by overHypered Goliath

Is there a way to convert NL prefabs into SM prefab? I did a search and it returned nothing....I'm extremely interested in corkscrew prefabs.

All i can say is that NL and SM should work together with coding. such thing. It's now just impossible.

At one point I actually had a basically working NL > SM element converter. It created the geometry perfectly, but the way banking is handled is different between the sims, so that an element that is smooth in one isn't in the other.