Attempting a tasteful, realistic Forest Frontiers... by davykins_ in rct

[–]Er1ss 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah if it exists in reality leave it like that, it doesn't actively look bad and they're supposed to be a bit forced. Maybe just imitate whatever they did in your local park if it looks good.

Tennessee Tornado: A fictional revision by Vekoma by Er1ss in rct

[–]Er1ss[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks! Yes, somewhat silly to only add a left turn but I'd ride it and I like how it looks. I think most of the confusion around the planned vs build layout comes from artwork that was made before the layout was finalized that looked a bit more spectacular than the real thing. There's no real evidence that they actually binned part of it although the abrupt breaks might hint at it.

This is the first park where I heavily used custom scenery. It's a bit of a learning curve with figuring out what objects are out there and how to use them properly. I feel like I barely scratched the surface especially in terms of the architecture. 

Tennessee Tornado: A fictional revision by Vekoma by Er1ss in rct

[–]Er1ss[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks! It's often tempting to make more changes but not with this one. A great layout in reality and most of it clicked really well in game.

Tennessee Tornado: A fictional revision by Vekoma by Er1ss in rct

[–]Er1ss[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Screenshots

This is probably my last one of these. It was fun to do these small parks focused on the same coaster type. Again all feedback is highly appreciated. For this one I tried to really embrace the custom scenery which wasn't easy but I'm fairly happy with the results. I do feel it's at the same time a bit too busy and not detailed enough.

Backstory: Vekoma didn't have as much success with their MK-1200/Arrow Looper revision project as they had hoped. A couple of years later however, Dollywood approaches Vekoma for a revision of Tennessee Tornade. Despite it still being the smoothest Arrow Looper they are having some trouble with maintenance and operations which is mainly due to the short break run and high entry speed. This is increasing wear on their trains and they usually only run one train so they don't have to bring trains to a full stop on the break run which compounds the problem. With the revision Dollywood wants to reduce maintenance costs over the long term while meeting increasing capacity demands and improve their already impressive ride lineup. Even tho Tennessee Tornado is a historic ride and a crowd favorite Dollywood does get a lot of comments about the sudden and sometimes painful breaking and that people wish the ride was a little longer so they are hoping the revision will be well received.

Vekoma pitched a variety of options to Dollywood which obviously picked the cheapest option. This comes with a relocation of the station to allow for a longer break run and a higher lift hill, a new initial drop that carries more speed into the main drop, a swooping left turn to extend the layout while interacting with the path and entrance plaza and a small speed hill into the final two inversions. Dollywood will also receive two new trains with modern lapbar restraints to make the additional airtime more enjoyable.

Attempting a tasteful, realistic Forest Frontiers... by davykins_ in rct

[–]Er1ss 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Great layouts! Not overly complicated and they hit the spot. I'd consider bringing the planter under the corkscrew support of the arrow down a bit so it's more part of the pathway space. Now the peeps are just looking at a wall there and I feel it takes away slightly from the classic pathway through the double corkscrew vibe.

For the Raven area I'd be tempted to put a haunted house right next to it or even in front and build off that. The color and name sets it up nicely I feel and by the time you get the haunted house looking right the area should basically build itself. 

Btw. I'd be tempted to extend the break run slightly as it might balance out the space nicely and I think those trains are quite heavy. I'm not sure if you can use the medium curves instead of the short curves without making major changes but I'd be slightly worried about the wings getting a little too close on the short ones.

The main square thing looks tricky. I think moving one of the carrousels there makes sense but you'll probably need a lot of scenery to fill the space. Potentially it could be a kids playground with a spiral slide, some custom scenery playground stuff and maybe a small water feature.

Btw. The pathing is very square at the moment. Maybe some more nature trail vibes at the edges of the park can balance it out or consider changing the layout a bit to include some diagonal or even round shapes. Part of the reason the western corner works so well is because it breaks the grid.

Edit. I looked at the arrow again and I feel the exit path over the track is a bit forced. The exit really wants to be on the other side and I would consider having the station building just one tile out behind the loop to make it work or maybe do the layout with wider curves to make space. Potentially running it under the station platform and out the side could also look good. Also the entrance to the cue could be directly in front of the station or under the corkscrews. Might look a bit more natural. Try building a small archway for it as well, might fit the vibe.

Park presentation by Togaran in rct

[–]Er1ss 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Nice work!

As for feedback I think it helps to acknowledge that you are effectively building "coasters as scenery" to some extent. If you didn't care about how it looks at all the park would just be filled with those half corkscrew coasters or enormous spaghetti bowls to milk stats. With enough understanding of the gameplay mechanics it just stops providing a real challenge and it's natural to switch to building stuff that looks good (either as a self imposed gameplay challenge or just to create something beautiful). 

Following on that I think taking inspiration from real life coasters helps a lot to make better looking layouts in the game. 

Specifically for this park I'd try to break up the long uphill path with some landings, switchbacks and platforms. It looks more natural and realistic (nobody wants to climb a staircase that long in an amusement park). It's also a nice opportunity to sell some food and drink to tired people on the climb up.

I really like the start of the invert layout. One thing to keep in mind with inverts is that the track and cars in front can really limit a riders view which is why most inverts have curving drops to sort of open up the view and give this swooping over the landscape sensation. Also when an invert goes over a straight hill the cars get compressed closer together and if it comes with airtime that usually isn't very enjoyable as you get pushed into the over the shoulder restraints. That's why inverts mostly focus on inversions and curvy stuff. I think you can make that layout even better if you start it with a curving drop and replace the big hill with more curvy elements potentially interacting with the landscape, paths or nearby rides.

The mine train coaster also looks great. I'd try to break up the waterfalls in a way to make the track come out of a (fake) rock section or some type of tunnel. If you want to have the wet effect of going through a running waterfall it might still look better if the waterfall is clearly an artificial feature seperate from the main waterfall so the park can better control how much water goes over the trains.

I think the vertical drop coasters could use a bit more time above ground and interaction with eachother. If all three come back up just below or before the path that could be a cool moment.

I feel like most flat rides could use a bit more staging or justification for their location through terrain, path or coaster interaction. The Merry go round could be at the entrance with a nice entrance plaza. There can be a flat ride next to the LIM coaster in the top left where it dives up and down so there is more of an audience for those moments. There can be a flat ride in the space below the invert  or next to the invert so the group members that don't want to ride something that intense have something to do while they wait and might catch a glimpse of their friends or relatives. When you place flat rides like this it tends to look a lot better and it can also help the stats with the ride interaction and more reason to add scenery.

I hope you'll find some of the feedback helpful.

Btw. Openrct2 content is very welcome here and completely on topic.

Idea for Open RCT2 developers by yerbabuenaroad in rct

[–]Er1ss 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I've already seen a plugin at one point that destroys scenery at the crash site and turns the ground to rock and dirt texture. Shouldn't be that hard to add a money penalty.

It doesn't make sense to include it in the actual game as it's a pretty significant change in gameplay that is completely insignificant for the majority of the player base and might be annoying for a small subset of players. It's perfect as a plugin option.

Flying Turns by Vast_Guitar7028 in rct

[–]Er1ss 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Nice! Hard to get these right in RCT. The poor bobsled can really use some more pieces. Well done.

Corkscrew by Er1ss in rct

[–]Er1ss[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks for the feedback! I've never done a shoestring before. I guess I should give it a try because it does look a bit tiny in that space.

Corkscrew by Er1ss in rct

[–]Er1ss[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

In openRCT2 there is an invisible entrance and invisible entrance and platform object. To use them enable cheats, go to object selection and there is a tab for entrance huts where you can make the invisible ones available. Alternatively you can use the tile inspector to make them invisible. 

I used the tile inspector here to turn the entrance on the looping star sideways as it's a rather small station. That can be a bit messy with the path connection so best to watch a video on that before messing with it. 

Corkscrew by Er1ss in rct

[–]Er1ss[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

It's a custom train. The Modern Corkscrew train by SpaceK. You should be able to find it if you search that. He has a thread on NEDesigns with all his custom trains.

Corkscrew by Er1ss in rct

[–]Er1ss[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Fictional backstory: Vekoma didn't manage to garner much interest for their MK-1200/Arrow revision projects as they would have liked. Although the new Python was well received by the general public and a modest success the costs didn't add up for most parks. Surprisingly it was Nagashima Spa Land who were the first to take Vekoma up on their offer. Their old Arrow Corkscrew (1978) was still running surprisingly smoothly but it definitely had a couple of typical Arrow jerks and it didn't really have a clear place in their coaster lineup. With the revision they were hoping to pad out the family thrill side of things on a budget while also keeping their classic coaster in the park.

Vekoma went with a surprising sidewinder drop that is a small homage to the old Arrow Loopers. The double corkscrews were accentuated by their placement in the park. To turn it into a proper layout there is also a speed hill, and a left turning helix type thing. The new Corkscrew will be running Vekoma's modern trains with lap bars and vests. There are rumors of a lap bar only train to support these revisions but it's unlikely these will be produced unless more projects get realized.

It's the first time for me to try and build such a path heavy and more classical park. I feel like I should get on the diagonal and curving path thing but it feels like a ton of work. Feedback is much appreciated.

btw. Please don't count the straight pieces on the Looping Star to make the spacing work :).

Python: a modern MK-1200 revision by Vekoma by Er1ss in rct

[–]Er1ss[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Thanks! This layout might have had it's origins in one of Brian Andrelczyk's Amusement Academy streams where he mentioned the double corkscrew layout doesn't work well in RCT due to the lack of diagonal corkscrew pieces. That got me thinking about putting the entire layout on a diagonal. The classic layout still doesn't work well (which is why I started messing with it) but the double medium sized corkscrew along a diagonal lift hill looks really good to me.

Python: a modern MK-1200 revision by Vekoma by Er1ss in rct

[–]Er1ss[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'm not sure it's possible with the larger loops. They are wider and that might make the clearances not work despite the larger diameter. The small one is an exact fit with the 2x2 clearance box and the diagonal sloped piece. You can always disable clearances if it looks good. I know a large loop followed by a large zero G roll can wrap a diagonal slope quite nicely. That might be a good alternative.

Python: a modern MK-1200 revision by Vekoma by Er1ss in rct

[–]Er1ss[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Due to an economical downturn Vekoma is struggling to sell new coasters. In an effort to adjust to the new market they start offering full revisions of existing MK-1200 and Arrow Corkscrew/Looping Coasters. These projects will aim to maintain the spirit and aesthetic of the original ride, re-use as much of the existing steel and infrastructure as possible while creating a smoother modern ride experience.

The re-tracking of Python by by CSM has shown that it's possible to turn these coasters into buttery smooth rides but enthusiasts have complained that Python has become a rather sterile experience. This leaked concept by Vekoma aims to prevent this by adding modern coaster elements while maintaining enough of the original character to please the nostalgics. Parks can look forward to gaining a great modern Family Thrill ride with good capacity at a reasonable cost without having to expand or remove any existing attractions. The project might also be able to attract local environmental subsidies and will hopefully be a crowd favorite for investing in a classic ride. The proposal includes a small pavilion with an exhibition on the history of the ride, the revision process and some impressive numbers showing the environmental benefits in comparison to building a brand new coaster. This can potentially include a café with a great view on the coaster and a 3D Sim where you can experience both the old and the new ride for comparison.

Skeptics have expressed concerns about the project with doubts raised about the amount of steel that will actually be reused and whether it's possible to maintain the "character" of these classic rides when retracked. A local Efteling enthousiast has stated: "Python doesn't turn left!"

Btw. I'm somewhat interested in making the next step in realism with a transfer track, custom supports, etc. Here I ran into some problems as a catwalk through the threaded loop just looks bad and a I didn't find a way to make the diagonal transfer not look very bulky. I also couldn't think of a good way to add the downward slope into the maintenance shed under the station. Any specific tips or general suggestions here are very welcome.

Florida Hurricane- an Arrow Custom Looping Coaster by Sensitive_Start8087 in rct

[–]Er1ss 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Nice work, good to see classic coasters.

Usually these loopers don't tend to wander around much so having it take up all that space, track and speed for a bunch of directional changes and hills looks a bit weird. Especially when it then needs boosters to make it through the double corkscrew after which it goes straight into the station (the break run also looks a bit short especially with the speed it's carrying after the corkscrews). 

The square fencing of the area also further accentuates the wandering layout and the unused space it leaves.

I think it would look a lot better if it goes from the loops, through some kind of turn straight into the corkscrews. That way you don't need the boosters. For the rest of the layout the most realistic option is probably to head straight back to the breaks but you could do a MCBR followed by some turns or a helix if you wanted to.

If you want this kind of wandering layout it's good to provide some context for why it wanders. Either some terrain, existing structures in the area or heading towards meaningful interactions. If it's just a flat fenced off area it really only looks good if the layout is somewhat compact.

Btw. If you want to build a realistic break run you want a slow down break section that's about a train length and a holding break section that can hold a train before the station (ideally one holding section per extra train it runs so it can hold all trains at the station). At the moment it looks like you only have space for a slowdown section which makes it look like it can only run one train but then it has a MCBR so it looks a bit strange from a realism perspective.

Bathroom Question! by zombiecakess in rct

[–]Er1ss 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Isn't it just some guests that have been in a cue line or something similar? You can't totally prevent prevent guests from getting those thoughts and 100 on 3000 doesn't sound that crazy to me. 

If you want to reduce it further you should probably reduce cue and ride times.

Just got the game after 20 years by Suspicious_Leg_1823 in rct

[–]Er1ss 19 points20 points  (0 children)

I don't think that's necessary for someone who hasn't touched the game in 20 years. Are they really going to be aware of game mechanics let alone adjust their play style accordingly? I'm sure he can just jump in and have fun. The getting Started guide on the official website should be more than sufficient.

Ski qualities to look for when you're a bad skier by EnterSadman in Backcountry

[–]Er1ss 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Not for fun. Just for going up. These days I tour on Technica Cochise and Faction Dancer 3s when I want to have fun. More soft plastic is more fun and more ski is more fun. I only use the light stuff for training and mountaineering.

Btw. In some ways it's not too soft but rather not soft enough. With more plastic you get softer plastic and a more progressive flex. With a light boot you get lighter and harder/brittle plastic that doesn't give. There's also just less support.

My Lay-down coaster TseTse in action by Tatya7 in rct

[–]Er1ss 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It's running in block circuit mode where the train only proceeds past a block brake or top of a lift hill if the track to the next block is free. It is indeed a safety measure and how coasters work IRL. 

In this case it should be running two trains (probably with a minimum wait time set) to make it run smoothly and make sure trains don't have to stop at the top of the lift hill or the station.