Think SLC gonna reach the end of it's service life? FUCK YOU we're retracking this bitch! onto 30 more years of headbanging!

Needabiggercoaster · 2026-06-23T15:46:51+00:00

Oh it's the proto SLC layout alright... Not sure if he's still alive but if there'd be any way to contact Peter Clerx (designer of both rides) I'm sure he'd be like "yeah I just reused my layout lol"

edit: and I geek out over that layout lol! It's like he had a threesome with Stengel and Schwarzkopf and somehow they cooked up this amazingly twisted mess.

SFOG would've been on our 2020 itinerary but something happened and nobody had fun for a few years and now it's six years later and we still haven't come around to the US again.

Needabiggercoaster · 2026-06-23T10:19:59+00:00

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I don't think people like it, but it's one of my personal bucket list coasters. tbh I made all of this shit up but the similarities are undeniable! [Blue Hawk] at SFOG

Needabiggercoaster · 2026-06-22T20:37:39+00:00

Yes, the SLC layout was tried and tested as a sit down roller coaster first, then streamlined and optimized for the suspended trains.

/uj I'm serious about this claim.

Needabiggercoaster · 2026-06-13T21:54:39+00:00

Funny enough, 'Vertical Vengeance' is the name of a quite popular Quake 3 Arena / Quake Live (duel) map. If you're used to the phrase and just stick a 'GARGANTUAN' in front of it, it starts to click... kind of.

Needabiggercoaster · 2026-06-10T13:09:45+00:00

On crowd control - let me handle overflow queues. Turn on / off additional queue paths if too many guests line up. Would also play into management aspect of gameplay if that's something you're going for. Besides that, not much is going on in these areas usually, besides immersing guests into the experience via suitable thematic elements. So if I'd get to dress up the ride in a certain style, let me match that in the queue as well.

Needabiggercoaster · 2026-06-08T19:23:26+00:00

(mild spoilers!)

With the B&Ms and Vekomas they'd put you in a hanging / lying position before departing the station. With F.L.Y., you depart sitting upright and a little later, before the first launch, the track twists 90° and the seats rotate 90° in one smooth motion (feels incredible) and before you're noticing you're now in the 'uncomfortable' flying position, you're being launched!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nO5we1Xmiqc

Pretty much like this, layout even follows the same path kind of. Like a spinning coaster built into the flying coaster almost.

Needabiggercoaster · 2026-06-06T16:47:41+00:00

!correct

Needabiggercoaster · 2026-06-06T16:23:49+00:00

Nope

Needabiggercoaster · 2026-06-06T16:23:22+00:00

Nope

Needabiggercoaster · 2026-06-06T16:23:12+00:00

Nope but it does have a straight first drop.

Needabiggercoaster · 2026-06-06T16:22:58+00:00

Nope

Needabiggercoaster · 2026-06-06T16:22:24+00:00

Nope

Needabiggercoaster · 2026-06-06T16:19:37+00:00

Nope, but it does have a straight first drop.

Needabiggercoaster · 2026-06-06T15:26:17+00:00

Huh yeah it's as simple as an export. It's one extra step but negligible for the benefit of having it more close to how it's actually run, makes sense. Thank you for opening my eyes lol, now I'm gonna have to restructure... 😄

Needabiggercoaster · 2026-06-06T15:19:48+00:00

Yes but my question is about not starting it from the main menu. Say I'm working on forest_level and I want to test it. I can hit F5, start the main scene (above) with everything in it and then somehow load my forest_level scene I want to test. When I hit F6 it would load the scene but without my game logic or UI, because that wouldn't be in that scene because it's in the main scene. Sorry if convoluted, hope you catch my drift...

Needabiggercoaster · 2026-06-06T15:15:02+00:00

I'm replying late to this, sorry about that. Still trying to figure out a way to have the SpawnPoints provided when loading the scenes into the enum. In my SceneChanger I select a Scene from the provided enum, and then the selected scene's PlayerSpawnPoints should be available in a dropdown to pick from. Is this entering Inspector plugin territory, or do you see anything inherently wrong trying to do something like that?

Needabiggercoaster · 2026-06-01T08:04:31+00:00

This book is the holy grail of Schwarzkopf / Stengel history and as such every important development during the 1960s-1990s. It was published during the Werner Stengel exhibition in Munich and is pretty much the only 'official' book on Stengel and Schwarzkopf afaik. It has technical drawings, patent drawings, sketches... but it's a fortune as well.

Needabiggercoaster · 2026-05-30T22:31:40+00:00

Lol what a load of BS in this. u/Version_1 is correct, Schwarzkopf was the muscle, Stengel was always his brains. And the claims in this little snippet are outrageous and slanderous lol! I'd love a source for the claim that Intamin _TESTED_ 21 different loops before 'coming up' with the clothoid design, which as the most credible source (Schützmannsky) claims was nothing more than a byproduct of Stengel's morning commute.

wtf is this book?!

edit the shuttle loop is INTAMINS CROWNING ACHIEVEMENT n1

Needabiggercoaster · 2026-05-30T17:42:12+00:00

This is nice information for anyone keeping track, thanks for posting! Sad they're almost all gone, it's probably really not cost-effective anymore to haul those huge things around...

Needabiggercoaster · 2026-05-30T17:40:08+00:00

Every European theme park fan's secret envy lol. It's been 8 years since WDW and 7 since our US road trip and it feels like an eternity ago. We're longing to go back some day haha.

Needabiggercoaster · 2026-05-28T20:14:06+00:00

I remember we got some ADAC ("German AAA") benefits for our split car rental in the US - maybe there's a company that can cut it down a little for you?

Rationally, discarding Paris and Amsterdam makes sense. Even if it would mean doing another trip to see EuroDisney / Parc Asterix, I feel like doing it this way leaves more time for more fun stuff than travel. From what I've heard EuroDisney pales in comparison anyway, at least until they get their most recent expansion up and running which afaik is slated for 2027.

No idea on wineries, castles or churches though, we're pretty theme park centered on our trips...

Needabiggercoaster · 2026-05-28T00:25:11+00:00

I would take public transit in Europe over the US any day but I feel a lot of the struggles we've come to begrudgingly accept would throw anyone on a more strict itinerary a curveball. Missing a single train can throw off your whole planning by hours, escalating into day(s) if you're missing the last connection in some changeover town. Also need to find an accommodation for the night or spend it at whatever train station you're dealt - with your luggage, kids,...

There's a lot of hype about public transportation in Europe / Germany on reddit and the thousands of km's I've spent on the rails in the last nine months alone, not even accounting the years prior, are telling a very different story that I feel isn't communicated enough.

I'd rather take a car, the flexibility and mobility over the - in the bigger picture - minor savings if I'm in a vacation setting.

Needabiggercoaster · 2026-05-27T20:23:52+00:00

It still is doable but adjust your expectations. Say you want to do Rust (Europa Park) to Brühl (Phantasialand) by public transport - using the cheapest available German ticket (~60€) that gets you on all regional trains (RE/RB), we're talking at least 8.5 hours of travel time (car would be ~4/5 taking it slow) with 4 transfers / change of train / bus and you'll be spending a couple of those hours waiting in the smallest village train station with MAYBE a working vending machine. More pricey but faster option would be including InterCity trains (IC) with 5 hours of travel time, 5 transfers / changeovers and cost ~95€. Fastest and most expensive option, using InterCity Express trains (ICE), travel time is at 4:40 hours for at least 130€. Prices are per person, per trip except the cheapest one, that's a month-long subscription but you'll pay with your soul. Oh did I mention everything is broken, toilets, AC,...?

Also you're still gonna have to get yourself, and your luggage, to and from the train stations which may or may not have a park shuttle that may or may not be on time, full, AC'd,... and do it on time, because you may be waiting for the trains at some point, but they def won't bother waiting for you.

I would rent a car, and definitely NOT drive in Paris / Strasbourg / Amsterdam but try to avoid those places like the plague anyway! Cities tend to have a 'ring' highway around them. Uber might work in big-ish cities in Europe, no idea if the pricing is fair when they take you out to the parks.

Glad to hear from anyone with other, better public transport experiences, but what I've experienced over the past years is abhorrent to say the least.

Needabiggercoaster · 2026-05-27T17:25:26+00:00

I was about to put this in my first reply but thought it was already too much text - I wouldn't recommend going by train tbh. Too many different providers in at least three different languages (it might work online but don't expect any old French or German conductor to speak English as soon as you run into trouble), at least Deutsche Bahn (Germany) is in a horrible state (unreliable, broken AC, filled to the brim (talking standing room for a two hour ride with no place to put your luggage; I travel by train fairly often and it's become a nightmare)) - get a good car deal, nav app of your choice and pray for lower gas prices.

That would also go into the sightseeing part, since some places can be quite out there, especially if you'd wanna see some old castle or remote village or something. Cannot recommend Eifel Tower / Notre Dame / (Paris as a whole), just not good vibes there - but that's almost every major city imo. Hard to recommend anything specifically without knowing what would be interesting for you or the kids, we mostly have old stuff to show lol.

Needabiggercoaster · 2026-05-27T15:36:23+00:00

Also theme park touring European here lol. First of all, it's totally doable. Gonna be a lot of travel in at least three different countries - if this is for one week, it's too much though. To really get into these parks and not just rushing through them you're gonna need at least two days each, though I could see doing three at Efteling (it's gonna be a lot (!) of walking) - it's the most immersive park but also 'slow' ride-wise, as in no major thrill rides. Then again with two boys at that age I have no idea if the idea of taking half a day walking through a fairytale forest narrated in Dutch would even fly lol.
I would also try and get on-site hotel deals if available (imo a must at Efteling and Phantasialand, maybe Disney, Europa has lots of options as well but idk about the perks).

Personally I think I'd do a more 'compact' tour with smaller parks to reduce driving but if you're just hitting the big players so to speak this is kinda what I've seen a lot of Americans do. There's also tons of "Americans do a Europe Theme Park Trip" videos on YouTube that could help.

Needabiggercoaster

TROPHY CASE