Roller Coasters The Crater Lake coaster - by tquat

Tquat

T
I dug a large pit... er, crater!, added a lake at the bottom and grew an island topped with castles, then ran a roller
coaster down and up the walls of the crater. The terrain is rather rugged down in the crater. Because the coaster follows the crater topology it's more spread out than
many found packed into a theme park.

After adding about half a gazillion trees, bushes, rocks, etc., the result seemed rather scenic so I added a monorail
around the rim of the crater so the NPC peeps could check it out.

Here are some pix and a YouTube video.

I'd be interested in comments if you have any thoughts...

Cheers,

TQ

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[video=youtube_share;FMN-AKiechU]https://youtu.be/FMN-AKiechU[/video]
 
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Bullethead

Bullethead
You're really pursuing the science of fitting coasters to extreme terrain. Yet another beautiful job and an unusual experience.
 

Tquat

T
Would it have been better to have the queue lead down to the bottom of the crater - long queue! - or the way it is where the coaster starts at the rim and the lift returns the riders to the rim?

When I did the Avatar coaster (https://youtu.be/gTMicv9FfU0), there were very few restrictions on which way the tracks were laid out which opened up myriad possibilities. The Crater Lake coaster was rather restricted in how I could tangle the track unless I wanted LOTS of crossings of the lake at the bottom. I had toyed (briefly) with the idea of placing a tight radius spiral down under the island (starting at one of the castles) then traversing under the lake before tunneling back up toward the rim. I guess that seemed like too much work and too much tunnel track for a coaster that was supposed to be about enjoying scenery while riding.

It's funny though you metioning fitting coaster to extreme terrain. With Avatar it was the other way around - build the coaster first then lovingly craft all the floating rocks. But with Crater Lake being in a confined pit, the process was much more iterative. Dig the basic hole. Run some track. Adjust hole and track. Run some more track. Adjust hole and track again....

TQ
 
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Bullethead

Bullethead
I think having the lift at the end is the only sensible option for this model of coaster. If you had one with in-track launchers, you could launch back up in several steps with more elements that just a chain lift.

It would be interesting to try this again with one of the boomerang coasters on the horizon. If you started out high enough behind the station, it might just coast back into the station in reverse :)
 

Tquat

T
Bullethead said:
I think having the lift at the end is the only sensible option for this model of coaster. If you had one with in-track launchers, you could launch back up in several steps with more elements that just a chain lift.

It would be interesting to try this again with one of the boomerang coasters on the horizon. If you started out high enough behind the station, it might just coast back into the station in reverse :)
Click to expand...

Well, I might just do that.

One thing about all the terrain modification, I really like the sound effects that play while moving the dirt/rock around. Verry appropriate and good feedback.

TQ
 

Anth08

Anth08
I enjoyed that a lot, good work.

I agree with Bullethead and think that the entrance is good where it is. I'd much rather sit at a chain lift for a minute than walk up and down a thousand steps
 
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