What is your construction process for NL?

I'm in awe of the wooden designs that came with this game. I'd like my own tracks to be comparably realistic and graceful. I'm interested in finding out how other users fine-tune their designs.

I usually start at the station, build a lift along one of the bold gridlines, then build simple hills and turnarounds with one node per crest or valley. I treat this first version as a rough draft, then go back and split sections to smooth out the turns. Unfortunately, my efforts to refine the curves usually end up making the design look worse.

Experienced builders, what is your prefered process? Do you refine as you build, or build a rough model that you refine later? Do you prefer to paste and customize saved track sections for most of the ride, or to build it from scratch?

-Ben
*** This post was edited by Railshark 5/19/2003 5:33:22 PM ***

I usually build the first version as amooth as I can, but then I go back and do more work on turns and stuff. One thing I would recommend is instead of putting one vertex at the top of and bottem of each hill, put one on each incline about half way up. Then you can have those perfectly parabolic hills with smooth floater air, and the drops will have constant G's. Hope that helps!
------------------
I hate it when "cooaster enthusiasts" put down coasters. Why can't we just have fun on all of them?

I build the ride.. As I go I make sure its smooth as possible.. Only going back at the end to make banking corrections and whatnot. Never do rough drafts!
------------------
Six Flags Worlds of Adventure Online

I always perfect(or atleast until im satisfied)every element before i move on to the next section. The station and lift are usually very easy, but it still takes planning. I found that its also best to place extra blocks even where you think they are not needed for the future.

As for design, ill build a section, and tune in the editor. Once its looking the way i want, i ride it in the simulator to make sure the G's are in check, and that it runs smoothly. If not, ill make adjustment until it runs correctly.

Although this process may take time, i find it alot easier than splitting up all the track at the end and trying to make it smooth later. By doing that, you just bring more work for yourself.

NL is really a very hard program and everyone needs to find their own solution. Im sure everyone that builds does atleast 3-5 things different than everyone else...thats just how complex this game can be.

------------------
G-Forces: The only positive addiction out there!
CoasterCount: 42

Thanks for the tips. This should help.

I've solved some of the problems by widening my turns and spacing the "lanes" on wooden coasters farther apart. I've also created and saved a few "basic" elements that I can paste and tweak for custom rides.

I'd like to create my own elements instead of just copying them from existing rides. What elements were the hardest for you to make from scratch? It took me a while, but I finally made a couple of decent-looking vertical loops.
*** This post was edited by Railshark 5/21/2003 4:51:52 AM ***

I make the entire layout then go over it and see where the rough vertecies are and fix them. If it's a tough transition though, then I make sure it works before I add more track.

------------------
"If it's just us...seems like an awful waste of space." -Contact