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GAME INFO HINTS AND TIPS - Managing Ride Intensity Chris Sawyer is the designer and programmer behind RollerCoaster Tycoon as well as major roller coaster fan. As such, he knows all the ins-and-outs, or rather ups-and-downs, of ride design. To assist budding ride designers, he has put his tips on managing your ride's intensity with examples below. |
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Basic Guidelines An intense ride can be fun, but there's a thin line between pleasure and pain, and if your ride is too intense you'll find that nobody will want to ride it. As a general rule, if the 'intensity' rating is over 10, the ride is probably painful rather than pleasurable, and you'll have to do some re-designing work. Many things can make the ride too intense, but the usual culprits are the vertical (up-down) and lateral (side-to-side) accelerations (G forces). The peak values can be viewed on the statistics page on the ride information window, and if the lateral G's are above about 2.5, or negative vertical G's exceed -2 then the ride will be seriously uncomfortable for the riders. Excessive positive vertical G's can be a problem as well, but short peaks of +6 or +7G can be tolerated by the riders. If you need to reduce the intensity of a ride, use the acceleration graphs to locate the problem areas, and then re-design the track to reduce the lateral or vertical G forces. Here are some examples of how to reduce intensity in some situations:- |
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Tip Number One
Here we see a steep drop followed by a sharp banked turn which the train will traverse at speed. Although the sharp banked corners can be very useful in a confined area, and to add excitement towards the end of a ride, using them straight after a long drop will result in high G forces pushing the rides sideways and into their seats. To reduce these forces, try to use larger radius curves where the train will be travelling at higher speeds.
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Tip Number Two
The entry speed to a vertical loop (or other inversions) is quite critical, and can make the difference between the ride being great fun or being painfully uncomfortable. If the speed is too high, try re-building the loop at a higher level, so that the train loses enough speed climbing the approach hill before entering the loop.
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Tip Number Three
Un-banked curves taken at speed can be uncomfortable, so where possible, try to use banked curves, or design the track so that the curves are taken slowly.
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Tip Number Four
Sometimes the length of train can make all the difference to the intensity. A longer (and hence heavier) train will tend to run faster and produce higher forces, so try running shorter trains to reduce intensity. Be careful though, as a shorter train might run so much slower that it doesn't complete the circuit.
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Tip Number Five
On track types where it allows it, be careful how you use the sharp transitions between level and very steep slopes. If the speed is just a bit too fast, the positive and negative G forces can become far too high. Much better to use intermediate slope transitions to reduce the forces and provide a smoother ride.
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Final Advice
Your skills as a roller coaster designer will improve with practice, so don't despair if your first designs don't work well, or are far too intense. With a bit of practice you will soon know how to avoid the problems and build a fast, exciting, and fun ride for the guests in the park. And you don't need to avoid using loops, sharp turns, and steep drops in order to keep the intensity reasonable.
Click here to view a large steel rollercoaster with steep drops, tight turns, and 11 (yes, eleven) inversions which still has an intensity of less than 10.
©1999, Chris Sawyer. All Rights Reserved |
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