realism

Am I right in thinking that a 7 car coaster train should have more chance of completing a circuit as apposed to a 2 car train

yeah, NL doesn't have good physics for the train lengths. The only ones that seem to work right for me are the 6 seater PTCs

I've made the same expriences.

thought so I am in the process of making a skate park themed ride
using two car trains( Ole) sort the physics out!!!

[gouldy]

I don't think that you can have to much to complain about with the physics on NL, to be honest it is the most realistic of the coaster sims, physics wise. And i am sure that the physics angine will slowly get better as the new versions of NL, come out. So for now, just wait

( Ole) sort the physics out!!!

Shh he's just one guy. Think how many man hours it took him to learn all the physics to put into the game.

[bockzilla]

There are a great deal of factors which go into the fact that a train will complete a circuit. The number of cars is part of it but so it weight, friction, ect. A longer train has more wheels and weight so the friction will be higher and will slow down the train going up hill faster. You can see this when you create your coaster with lets say 6 cars. Watch the speed of the train through out the ride, now add a 7th car and you will see a difference in speed and time. This fact is very evident with woodies. If you switch train styles (3 seat rows vs. 2 seat rows) with the same seat count you will get different ride and speed due to friction and weight of the trains. NL may not be 100% accurate but it is realistic and will get better as new versions are released.

bockzilla - you make sorta the right point there, but the extra weight of the coaster car greatly outweighs the friction increase of extra wheels. Remember that almost all of the friction in a coaster wheel assembly is in the bearings that rotate the wheels. These are most likely graphite-lubricated. The molecular structure of graphite is such that there is almost NO friction in it. Graphite is made of one-atom thick sheets of the substance in a hexagonal lattice. So, they can slide against eachother at the atomic level to reduce friction. The primary thing that changes speed is the weight of the cars. Howrever, more weight = slower uphill time, BUT more weight ALSO = less downhill time. In any case, the probability of a train to complete the track is a function of the train's weight, NOT the physics of the track. If you want a two train car to complete the track, don't design and test with a 6 car train. You have to design the track around the train.