What do you look for in a coaster?
There are several mini-discussion on the subject taking place in various ride downloads in games.coasterbuzz so I thought I'd try to start a thread to lump it into one place. Basically what do you look for in a coaster (or other ride) file when you download them? Let me explain my preference:
When it comes to coasters I like a combo of realism and imagination. On a scale of 1 to 10 with one being a coaster that you'd look at and say, "I see stuff like that all the time, totally realistic" and ten being a "450 foot giga that's 12,000 feet long and has a 13 intensity rating" - I look for somewhere around 5. I like things that could go in a park if the boundries of coaster design were stretched just a little. I always try to keep the length under 1 mile long (5280 feet) and if it's under 5000 even better. (a little over is acceptable if there no way to avoid it, but over 6000 is a no-no for the most part) I want to see imaginative designs rooted in reality. A B&M should run 3 trains smoothly in block mode - keep it real, use the blocks. A giga design could probably get away with two train operation. Just go by what you see at the local park (Unless you live near Six Flags - I don't need any ride running only 1 train ;) ) I lean favorably towards complex "spaghetti bowl" type layouts. Shows more creativity and work went into it. We can all do the out and back thing, we can all do the B&M "loop, other element, zero_g, turnaround, interlocking corckscrew" thing. Use realistic elements in new ways, catch my attention and make me say "Wow!", then make me look again and say, "You know, that could work".
As far as ratings go, the higher the excitement the better (obviously). Intensity should never be over 10...ever! In fact under 9 is preferred, but sometime unavoidable to go between 9 and 10. Nausea should be as low as possible. I'll deal with 7+ but I like to stay under 7 and under 6 is preferred. Anything beyond those numbers and you're losing me on the realism end.
With themeing again, creative but not over the top wins me over every time. Show me new ways of using the items in the game. Create something eye catching or unique. Something that would rival Orlando's best but keep it within the realm of what you could see at a park when you visit. If you're going to totally go off, don't bother, just give me a great realistic station.
The first thing I notice is the overall "look" of a ride. Some people do great, creative layouts that just look wrong. I can't explain it much better than that, something just doesn't click. It has to be visually pleasing overall to make any imapct whatsoever. This includes colors, building design, landscaping, etc as one big package. I tend to be more forgiving on station design if the ride is solid. I can pretty up a ride if I have to. I don't want to fix a so-so ride that looks great already.
Lastly, if it's a money maker that gets you bonus points. I tend to play scenarios more than do fantasy parks. If a ride costs little to build, takes up little space and has peeps flocking to it and dropping cash, then I'm in. But this is almost a given as any great ride with just do this by nature of being a great ride.
Thus ends the novel. :)
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www.coasterimage.com
Dorney Park visits in 2002: 19
All right, here is what I look for in a coaster design. Number one is how big is it? If it takes up half of my park I am not really going to be interested in the ride. I usually want something that takes very little land flattening and can fit into any little nook or cranny of a park.
Though many of the designs I have uploaded have been the bigger Beemers and woodies, my prefered types of coasters are the spiral and juniors and the powered mine trains because they are all capable of making a small compact coaster with a nice moderate excitement of around a 6 with very low intensity and very low nausea. Throw some theming together for it and you might be looking at a 7 for excitement and the small size, high moderate excitement, and if you can get a good pph out of it, make the best kind of coaster you can have in a park.
As for theming, I tend to look for stuff that is fairly realistic looking. Does it look like a building that could really be built or does it look like a building that someone stuck walls up on each side and through up a roof with the flat blocks and called it a building? I like buildings where the colors are varied in a tasteful manner giving the building graceful lines to deliniate the features of it. Also remember that many of the bigger coasters usually have other buildings besides the station building itself. Many have like an entry queue building. Examples of such coasters would be Raging Bull, Kraken, Montu, Kumba, and Screamin Eagle.
One can also overtheme a ride as well. Some coasters I have seen have like five pyramids and four sphinxes and a bunch of other stuff from the egyptian tileset. Sure it gives the coaster a higher rating, but it makes it look silly. Another one is adding a tree into every single nook and cranny around the coaster to get the highest rating. Not every coaster goes through a thick forest like that and it tends to look silly too. I actually think it is a way of cheating to get higher excitement ratings. Also, if you use trees, vary them up a bit. Using all the same tree is boring unless you are only using a few.
I really like rides that are a complete theming package. A perfect example of this is Lord Gonchar's Swashbuckler ride. You have the pirate theming but it isnt overdone and it overall makes the entire ride look good.
Lastly, show me something that hasnt been done before but is interesting. As Lord Gonchar pointed out and I am guilty of myself, a Beemer with the traditional layout is nice, but lets see something new. A great example of this, and I dont know who the designer was, but he made a large batwing without using the corkscrew pieces. The element was really sweet. That coaster got a 10 just for that one element because I had something to go and tear apart and figure out what he did.
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Bob Hansen
A proud CoasterBuzz Member
Wanna Ride A Woodie?
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Got Coasters?
You guys hit the point in what I like to see in roller coasters. I like a coaster that is realistic, and the major thing a realistic coaster has to have is block brakes(if it has more than two trains).
I like a coaster that has great theming with a good intesity, excitement rating. I love the coasters with a very high excitement, high intensity, and too me the more theming the better.
Off the topic I was wondering if you guys have ever gave anyone a 0.00 vote for there coaster. The reason I ask is the other day my fiance put her first coaster in the exchange(Jungle Fever on the 2nd page of the downloads). Someone downloaded it and gave it a 0.00 vote now she says she'll never put another coaster on. I personally would never give anyone a 0.00, but I guess others feel differently. What do you guys think.
*** This post was edited by coastertigger on 11/22/2002. ***
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Coming in 2003-The Spawn Of Magnum!
Ode to the offseason:
Offseason Offseason what shall I do? Who cares the sun is still shining the sky is still blue! GET A LIFE!
I like something realistic, but also unique. I also like something that looks good architecturally. I like spaghetti bowls but, would prefer they be enclosed like outer limits. The same old cookie cutter layout doesn't impress me. However in my view almost anything can win me over with appropriate theming.
In rct1 I never even bothered with theming. I think the capability of stacking scenery has got to be the single most important change in RCT2. Yes it can be overdone, I've even been guilty of that myself. It also takes a lot of practice and time to theme things well, much more than building the coaster.
I appreciate the inspiration from others creations, as well as comments on my own rides to help for future design.
coastertigger-- never would I give someone a 0. Just the effort of posting something for others to rate deserves more than that. I'd rather give a helpful comment and not rate at all if I felt something needed that much help.
*** This post was edited by coasterrod on 11/23/2002. ***
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