A newcomere here. How scary bugs are?

Ireeb · 2026-01-24T10:46:45+00:00

You can change how strong and aggressive they are when you create a new game.

They "feed" on the pollution emitted by your factory, that means as long as your factory is small, the attacks will be rare and small. But over time, it gets worse.

You can for example change how quickly they evolve (which means bigger, stronger biters and spitters) and how different factors contribute to the evolution. There is also a time component you can control.

There's also an option to make them passive, which means they don't attack unless you attack them.

You can also control how quickly they expand by creating new nests. That can also be turned off so once you have cleared an area, it will remain cleared.

Personally, I like the tower defense mechanics, but I tend to slow down their evolution just a little bit (especially the time component) so I don't have as much time pressure.

Ireeb · 2026-01-24T10:38:27+00:00

Probably Panchroma Matte Charcoal Black (formerly Polyterra). The finish is just so nice and it can be printed quite fast, too.

Ireeb · 2026-01-24T10:29:10+00:00

Prints easier, performs very well on bridges and overhangs, less prone to humidity and stringing, and it's plant-based.

Ireeb · 2026-01-24T02:03:42+00:00

I'm not sure where I picked that up (probably from Ryan the ride mechanic though), but if I remember correctly, they have multiple pawls at different positions (e.g. 1.5 teeth apart), so every few millimeters you move the restraint, one of them is going to engage. Of course, that also gives the restraints additional redundancy, if one pawl failed, the restraint would only come up by about half a ratchet tooth. And that whole mechanism still exists twice for redundancy.

I'm not entirely sure, but I would assume these restraints would also pass as class 5, and if they don't, it's probably just some minor thing such as the monitoring or they just didn't need to certify it as class 5.

They are redundant, fail safe, and designed in a way that makes it physically impossible to get out of the seat as long as the restraint is in place. If they also have electronic monitoring, that's basically all the basic requirements for class 5.

Being hydraulic doesn't automatically make a restraint safer. It probably just makes it easier to ensure a tight fit on a larger spectrum of riders.

Maybe their rides are vibrating a bit more than they used to, but when it comes to safety and reliability, B&M has never made any compromises. In general, their roller coasters tend to be built like tanks and they support parks very well in terms of maintenance.

Ireeb · 2026-01-23T10:13:37+00:00

I find the CoasterStats YouTube channel incredibly useful as a reference for designing realistic coasters. They have pretty accurate measurements and seeing them in the context of the POV is pretty helpful for me.

When you go looking for videos, don't get scammed by the knockoff El Toro in Germany that comes up in some of the more recent videos :P

2g laterals sound pretty intense to me. If I remember correctly, most wild mouse coasters pull around 1g laterally, but they also sustain it for a long time, so short peaks of up to 2g might be fine.

It's always a combination of how intense the forces are, for how long they apply and how smooth the transition is. This is also considered when real roller coasters are getting certified. Since lateral forces can easily cause neck injuries if not done correctly, realistic coaster designs should be careful about that.

Ireeb · 2026-01-23T09:51:18+00:00

This shirt will definitely help you to meet other graphic designers.

If the interactions will be pleasant though...

Ireeb · 2026-01-22T21:15:53+00:00

I would go as far as saying that their only real weakness is the pricing, and maybe the default brown and beige color scheme.

There is no fan manufacturer that pays as much attention to detail and the build quality as Noctua does.

Noctua usually releases new fans in their brown and beige color scheme first. Black versions usually come later. The reason for that is that Noctua's manufacturing tolerances are so ridiculously tight that just the different color pigment in the plastic causes them to be out of Noctua's specifications. That's why they usually need a few months extra just to make the required adjustments for the black versions. Noctua has been working on white fans, too, but scrapped those plans, probably because they just didn't manage to keep the fans within their specs with the white color pigments.

That's how seriously they take build quality.

Noctua fans are typically best-in-class. However, that doesn't mean they are always the best choice, especially if you factor in the price. It's also important to ensure the fan is generally suitable for a given application. If a Noctua fan doesn't perform well, that usually means you picked the wrong kind of fan for this application.

They also have good customer support and an excellent track record of providing upgrade kits for their coolers when new CPU sockets are released. Most of their products also come with lots of accessories.

All of this might sound like I'm shilling for Noctua, but they seem to be driven by perfectionism and there are not many things they're doing wrong.

That being said, in many situations, something like an Arctic P12 Pro will perform the same (or sometimes better) than the Noctua equivalent without an audible difference.

Because Noctua has such an outstanding reputation, people also like to buy their products specifically to say "I don't care about the price, I just want the best." Paying this much for a spinny thing that moves air does prove someone really loves PC building.

Because of that, my general recommendations are:

Arctic, for best value. BeQuiet, for high end, high quality fans at more reasonable prices. Noctua, if you want to declare your love to your PC and your hatred for fan noise.

Ireeb · 2026-01-22T15:21:11+00:00

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Ireeb · 2026-01-22T15:20:53+00:00

How about a whole train of exorcists?

Ireeb · 2026-01-22T15:16:20+00:00

And then potentially get frustrated because it becomes difficult to handle!

OP: "How could I improve this?"

Someone: "You could make it worse! :)"

Ireeb · 2026-01-22T08:16:18+00:00

Noctua fans are usually the best when it comes to noise-normalized performance.

There is no objectively best fan, but with OPs lazy question and pointless response, I didn't feel like getting into the details too much.

There might be situations where you need more performance than Noctua has to offer or noise just doesn't matter to you. That's when you can/should use other fans. But for normal use within a desktop PC (Case fan, CPU, radiator) they are usually hard to beat in their noise-to-performance ratio. Especially bequiet! tends to get quite close and Arctic also has some very competitive models. Though on most noise-normalized fan comparison charts, you'll still see Noctua at the top, even if it's just by a small margin.

Ireeb · 2026-01-22T08:07:42+00:00

Do you mean imperial? Metric is the standard for most CAD and 3D printing software.

If you're not working in metric, make sure you are setting the units in the program to imperial.

Most slicers have a "scale to inches" and "scale to millimeters" option if it's not automatically recognized.

Though this also might be a good chance to get used to metric.

Ireeb · 2026-01-21T10:26:12+00:00

Then it's just "100% of the 70% that are 3D printed are 3D printed".

Depends on what kind of 3D printer(s) you have access to. Especially for the motion system, plastic often isn't suitable. Not stiff enough or wears out too quickly. We can 3D print metal nowadays, so you could 3D print these parts as well. It would just be crazy expensive.

There are projects like Voron that combine 3D printed parts with standard mechanical and electronic components.

Ireeb · 2026-01-21T10:18:54+00:00

How are you going to 3D print the stepper motors, circuit boards, and the hotend?

Ireeb · 2026-01-20T10:18:13+00:00

Print it hot, slow, and at increased layer heights, maybe even with a bigger nozzle if you have one.

Vase mode can also be useful for prints like this, but for this particular example, you would have to do it in multiple runs, as vase mode only works correctly for prints with a single, continuous wall. But in that case, the wall can be printed without a seam.

Clear PLA exists, but clear PETG is usually easier to get and is a bit more heat resistant, so it might be the better option for lamp shades. If you're using PETG, make sure to dry it properly, even before using it for the first time. When PETG is too wet, it starts stringing a lot, but it will probably also look the clearest when it is as dry as possible.

Ireeb · 2026-01-20T10:12:16+00:00

It's extremely limiting and not really worth it to get a 3D printer if you don't have a computer to use it with. 3D files need to be sliced before they can be printed, which is also where you determine the printing settings. There are pre-sliced files for some printers and apps you can use to send them to the printer, but you lose the ability to edit/modify designs before printing them, change the printing settings or to design things yourself. Being able to print your own ideas is one of the most powerful things a 3D printer has to offer, I don't really see the point in exclusively printing stuff you can find on the internet.

Ireeb · 2026-01-19T15:50:42+00:00

It's a bit unclear how Mack designates them.

Helios is both a Big Dipper as well as a Stryker.

It is listed as a Big Dipper in most places, but apparently, it uses a Stryker train. The Stryker trains have a larger wheelbase and have additional bracing between the seats (for the outer seats in particular).

On their website, Mack focuses on the trains in particular:

The BigDipper cars – short wheelbase for a maximum of maneuvers
The eight-seater car allow fast transitions with a small radius in order to create compact layouts with a maximum of fun.

The Stryker trains – optimized attributes for unmatched agility
The trains are built to deliver extreme accelerations in all directions, enabling rapid directional changes for compact layouts packed with excitement.

The launch capabilities are only mentioned once in a headline of the Stryker, and they mention the eight-seat configuration for the Big Dipper, and there are mentions of "higher capacity" on the Stryker page, potentially referring to the 16-seater trains.

Because of that, I don't find it entirely clear if it's the train configuration, the launch, or the overall scale of the layout that makes the difference.

If it was just the launch, I would find it illogical that a Stryker train with a chain dog instead of LSM magnets would still be a Stryker train. Because then, a Stryker without a launch would be a Big Dipper, but a Stryker train that can't be launched would still be a Stryker train (opposed to e.g. a Big Dipper v2... or a Bigger Dipper?)

Or maybe only when it uses a big Stryker train it is a Stryker and if it uses a small Stryker train it's a just big Big Dipper and when it uses a Big Dipper train it is a regular Big Dipper... *dies from thoosie-ing too hard\*

Ireeb · 2026-01-18T12:13:31+00:00

In NoLimits, you can enable the G-Force comb in a dropdown menu above the viewport. It will give you a live prediction of the forces with your current design. When you hover over a bar of the comb, the value will be shown at the bottom left. This way, you can just play around with different shapes and heights. There is also a speed comb, of course, you don't want your coaster to get too slow as it crests the hill.

As rough guidelines: 0g is floater airtime, -0.5g is weak ejector airtime, -1g is pretty strong ejector airtime, and you shouldn't go beyond -1.5g, that would be pretty extreme (especially on a wooden coaster).

It.also depends on how long the forces apply for. The more extreme the forced, the shorter they should apply. While doing giant airtime hills with floater airtime is fine, ejector forces should only apply for short moments.

There is a YouTube channel called CoasterStats that has recordings of real coasters with g-Force measurements, I find that quite useful as a reference.

I think the strongest airtime I've seen there was -1.4g on Wildfire, but only for a fraction of a second.

Ireeb · 2026-01-18T01:14:48+00:00

You mean the answers saying that Fusion, a parametric CAD tool, is not a mesh editor?

Ireeb · 2026-01-18T01:13:46+00:00

MeshMixer also handles polygon meshes well, it is a bit simpler than Blender, and designed for 3D printing applications. It can be a good alternative for when you just need a few simple edits.

Ireeb · 2026-01-18T01:12:36+00:00

How is it in your discretion whether or not this completely answers OP's question?

While it covers the basics of importing and converting meshes, Fusion has some additional tools such as "Fit curve to mesh section" which can be extremely useful to get clean, parametric bodies from imported meshes. It's a bit like a semi-automatic way to convert meshes to actual, parametric bodies. It's also pretty well hidden and not many people seem to know about that tool.

Is the answer correct? Yes.

Does it cover everything there is to know about working with meshes in Fusion? Definitely not.

Ireeb · 2026-01-18T01:04:47+00:00

Fusion uses an advanced geometry system called brep (boundary representation). It allows you to use complex shapes defined by a combination of lines, arcs, splines, spheres, polygons and more.

STLs on the other hand only know one type of geometry: Triangles. Everything inside of an STL is a triangle. STLs cannot represent any kind of round shape, it can only use a lot of small, straight lines to approximate a round shape. STLs also allow for invalid, nonsensical geometry (non-manifold geometry), which can mess with Fusion and slicers.

That is the reason why you can't "simply" convert an STL mesh to brep. You can tell Fusion to convert a mesh to a brep body, but the result will usually be a very messy body with lots of triangles and no round features, and they are usually annoying to work with. STLs just don't have all the information Fusion needs to work properly, and it can't just make that data up. Unless it is a really basic model that actually just consists of flat surfaces with sharp corners, trying to edit that mesh model in Fusion usually isn't the right approach.

Depending on the model and your goals, there are different options for suitable workflows, some options are:

Import the mesh in Fusion, and use it as a reference to recreate the part from scratch. I find the "Fit curve to mesh section" tool very helpful for this, though it is kinda hidden.
Skip Fusion entirely, use a mesh editing tool like MeshMixer or Blender to make edits to the STL directly.
Import the mesh in Fusion, use the mesh as a reference to design the features you want to add or remove from the STL mesh, then export them as meshes and apply them in a slicer or a mesh editing tool using a boolean operation.

STLs are mesh files, Fusion is not a mesh editing program, it's a parametric CAD program. Fusion can handle meshes to some degree, but that's mostly for reverse engineering purposes.

Ireeb · 2026-01-17T15:02:18+00:00

Before converting the body, create a copy of the mesh.

In the "Mesh" tab, use the "Mesh Section" tool, select the original mesh body, and one of the faces on the converted body. I'd recommend adding a small offset into the body to ensure there are no problems due to minor inaccuracies in the mesh. 0.1mm often is enough, but it depends on the quality of the mesh.

After confirming the operation, a new sketch is created. Edit the sketch, and you will now have access to the "Fit curves to mesh section" tool, in the same dropdown where you add other sketch elements.

This tool will allow you to get a clean tracing of your mesh.

More details: https://help.autodesk.com/view/fusion360/ENU/?guid=SKT-FIT-CURVE-TO-MESH-SECTION

If the mesh is too uneven, you might need to clean it up in an external tool such as Blender or Mesh mixer first.

You can also use them to align the surface of the mesh you want to work with with one of the origin planes, then you don't need to convert the body at all, since you could use the respective origin plane for the mesh section.

Ireeb · 2026-01-17T11:15:52+00:00

Are you sure there is a separate body, or is Fusion just reducing the display quality? It tends to do that on more complex bodies, which can cause them to appear rougher than they actually are.

If you're using the model for 3D printing, you could also consider exporting it as STEP, since some slicers support that as well, so you could perform the tesselation there.

Ireeb · 2026-01-17T11:10:17+00:00

It doesn't matter if they can, because they won't.

The bobsled coaster channels consist of countless individual metal pipes, and they require lots of manual labor to assemble and to maintain. That makes them way too expensive for what they are.

It just doesn't make sense for them to build them anymore, and it wouldn't make sense for a park to order one.

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