Coaster Design Help, Tips, and tricks

pollux1 · Nov 17, 2016

Hi all, I played a lot of RCT 1/2/3 but never delved into the actual coaster design. I would just use the pre-made tracks because I didn't have much luck with my own designs. I've grown up a bit since then and I like a challenge, so I'm looking to get some information about how to design successful coasters.

I've searched , but haven't found any good guides about how to balance Excitement, Fear, and Nausea. I can make what look to me like fun coasters, but it's obvious to me that what looks good, might not actually be good.

If anyone knows a good guide, or youtube channel, etc.. I'd really enjoy upping my design game.

Bitter Jeweler · Nov 17, 2016

Look at real coasters (google images/videos) and pay attention to how they combine elements and transitions.
Bank fast curves. The faster they are the bigger they *should* be.
Give "rests" between exciting elements like loops. A chance for peeps to catch their breath before you flip them over again.

Ramm · Nov 17, 2016

try understanding real coasters first

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1UmCdFTdeY

its pretty simple once you look at it

good luck

pollux1 · Nov 17, 2016

Ramm said:
try understanding real coasters first

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1UmCdFTdeY

its pretty simple once you look at it

good luck

Oh thanks, yeah that's exactly what I'm realising, I'm going to have to understand how they really work.

EDIT: I do appreciate the video, but it's pretty basic. Does anyone know of any guides for explaining specifically what increases excitement, what causes nausea and fear ratings? I've seen the heatmaps and tried to adjust accordingly, but I haven't been able to make a successful coaster in terms of excitement levels.

-- Posts merged --

Bitter Jeweler said:
Look at real coasters (google images/videos) and pay attention to how they combine elements and transitions.
Bank fast curves. The faster they are the bigger they *should* be.
Give "rests" between exciting elements like loops. A chance for peeps to catch their breath before you flip them over again.

Thanks, I've been doing a bit of that but I'll do some more research. Is the excitement tied to the scenery at all? Or is it entirely based on the physics of the ride?

Not sure how this got double posted, maybe a mod can combine them. Sorry about that.

The Judge1 · Nov 17, 2016

Bitter Jeweler said:
Look at real coasters (google images/videos) and pay attention to how they combine elements and transitions.
Bank fast curves. The faster they are the bigger they *should* be.
Give "rests" between exciting elements like loops. A chance for peeps to catch their breath before you flip them over again.

Many people don't understand what MCBRs are for on real coasters. Everyone understands that it is a safety to not allow 2 trains on a section of track. But the other purpose is what Bitter said. It is to split the coaster into 2 separate parts to allow riders a chance to catch their breaths. This is extremely important when building coasters with a ton of inversions!

And no, scenery dose not impact the coasters stats at all. Its a shame really, because in the real world, flying by close theming can change the way a ride feels 100%!

Harbinger · Nov 17, 2016

pollux said:
Not sure how this got double posted, maybe a mod can combine them. Sorry about that.

Merged dupe topics into a single one.

Brett C · Nov 17, 2016

The Judge said:
Many people don't understand what MCBRs are for on real coasters. Everyone understands that it is a safety to not allow 2 trains on a section of track. But the other purpose is what Bitter said. It is to split the coaster into 2 separate parts to allow riders a chance to catch their breaths. This is extremely important when building coasters with a ton of inversions!

And no, scenery dose not impact the coasters stats at all. Its a shame really, because in the real world, flying by close theming can change the way a ride feels 100%!

Will send in the feedback on the scenery not changing general stats of the coaster. Thanks.

The Larke · Nov 17, 2016

I've managed some good stats on the coasters I've designed with the restrictions I've put on myself. The overlays are key for getting good stats in PlanCo, I have the excitement overlay up almost the entire time and concentrate on keeping it almost always in the green. On block breaks turn up the release speed all the way. After tweaking excitement then I will switch to fear and nausea.

Coaster Mind · Nov 17, 2016

pollux said:
Hi all, I played a lot of RCT 1/2/3 but never delved into the actual coaster design. I would just use the pre-made tracks because I didn't have much luck with my own designs. I've grown up a bit since then and I like a challenge, so I'm looking to get some information about how to design successful coasters.

I've searched , but haven't found any good guides about how to balance Excitement, Fear, and Nausea. I can make what look to me like fun coasters, but it's obvious to me that what looks good, might not actually be good.

If anyone knows a good guide, or youtube channel, etc.. I'd really enjoy upping my design game.

To know how to design a coaster. Depends on what level you want to know.
http://www.physicsclassroom.com/class/circles/Lesson-2/Amusement-Park-Physics Goes pretty deep in the understanding of coasters.

And yes, coasters are big mathematical things.

Want to understand the level that is required for the game is well, minium. Ride coasters in real life and experience what it feels. That also gives a better respective of what is fun and what is not fun. Lots of videos are also good to watch.

Want to take a step further? Then this game won't do it. Then you need Nolimits 2.

pollux1 · Nov 17, 2016

Harbinger said:
Merged dupe topics into a single one.

Thanks!

Coaster Mind said:
To know how to design a coaster. Depends on what level you want to know.
http://www.physicsclassroom.com/class/circles/Lesson-2/Amusement-Park-Physics Goes pretty deep in the understanding of coasters.

And yes, coasters are big mathematical things.

Want to understand the level that is required for the game is well, minium. Ride coasters in real life and experience what it feels. That also gives a better respective of what is fun and what is not fun. Lots of videos are also good to watch.

Want to take a step further? Then this game won't do it. Then you need Nolimits 2.

I'll check that site out, I am interested in getting more in depth than I have been, but probably not so in depth I need to buy a different game at this point.

I haven't had a chance to ride many coasters lately but I've been watching some videos and trying to find layouts for some of the coasters I've ridden in the past.

Thanks everyone for the replies and help, it's a good start.

OrganicKobze · Nov 17, 2016

Another helpful trick is to test ride your coasters as you're building them...
If you're in the 'seat' view and think 'there's no way I would ride that' chances are somethings wrong lol.

Try banking turns in relation to the speed of the coaster as suggested above, not to enter a drop to quickly at a high speed. Don't throw your peeps round loops at break-neck speeds. Of course the incredible smoothing feature that Planet Coaster offers can help with all of this.

I think just use a little bit of common sense [happy]

pollux1 · Nov 17, 2016

Chrome has a mind of it's own today for some reason. Wrote out a reply but it disappeared into the ether apparently.

Just wanted to thank everyone for the replies, and the mod for merging the thread!

Love that site Coaster Mind, that's some great information. Is it a bit weird that I got excited that there's math homework involved? [happy]

Bitter Jeweler · Nov 17, 2016

Pollux, feel free to post up steam links to coasters you build to get help and feedback on. There are a lot of people here that really like to help with things like making better coasters. It's much easier to suggest things after seeing what you are trying to do. [up]

pollux1 · Nov 20, 2016

Thanks I just might do that when I start getting serious. I've been just entranced by scenery and building so far.

I did find a video tutorial that really answered some core questions that I had. [video=youtube_share;W9k2zYAbS3k]https://youtu.be/W9k2zYAbS3k[/video]

I honestly didn't know what block brakes were for lol, that you could change the speed of the chain lift, or how to smooth properly ( I was just clicking it once ). I also didn't know how to use the slider to select sections of track to manually deform and I'd been ignoring the angle snap settings so anytime I introduced bank there was a jarring change.

Having a lot more success now!

Bitter Jeweler · Nov 20, 2016

Awesome!

Krux1 · Nov 20, 2016

Brett C said:
Will send in the feedback on the scenery not changing general stats of the coaster. Thanks.

while your doing that, can you suggest to them to rework excitement values, brake runs and chain lifts ANNIHILATE your excitement ratings because they are large percentages of your coaster, however, realistically, your still drowning in excitement on the brake runs once the coasters finished and the chain lift excitement/fear is massively larger than the game seems to think, chain lifts and brake runs give you a 1-2 excitement rating which just doesnt make sense. these 2 things should have much higher values than they actually do. the roll off and build up of these 2 elements need increasing.