What is your designing style?

I had this idea, so I'll throw it out and see if it sticks.

So what kind of process do you go through when designing and advertising a coaster in Nolimits 2? This is the whole proccess (with several coasters thrown together because I perfected the process since getting NL2) I use:

- Pick which idea I'd like to work on (I actually have about 7-8 different projects in mind right now)

- Pick a song that will play in the POV video. This helps me get an idea of how the ride's pace and where to put certain elements. For Iditarod II, I used an orchestral piece, aptly titled "Iditarod" (POV starts at 2:45) - http://www.fjhmusic.com/68246512-2010st/st6221.mp3

- Get a solid idea of the layout in my head after repeatedly listening to the song between school periods I'll occasionally jot down the idea on paper to get it down as well, for example, the first concept of Iditarod II:

- Over to the editor! I usually prefer to keep a single-block view, it makes it easier to focus on certain aspects. I may switch over to double view L/B for supports, but only occasionally.

- If the ride is one of my pre-existing ones (my first two NL2 coasters), I tear down what is going and leave what is staying. Here's what Iditarod II (was playing around with a realistic construction update idea) and Renegade looked like:

- If the ride is completely custom (in the case of LiveWire, my first completely custom NL2 coaster) I jump right into designing the track. I always go Terrain ---> Track ---> Supports ---> Scenery

- This is where I begin to advertise the track. If you follow my "New coaster! - RCT3rox files" thread, you have an idea of how that works. As the ride is built, I periodically post updates to keep interest. The goal to making a successful ride is to build the excitement similar to a company teasing a new movie . Recently I've been trying that realistic construction update style and it's pretty fun!

- Once the ride is mostly finished (or not, but that's a future idea ) I will post a teaser video to get viewers even more excited for the release! And looking back on LiveWire, it seems that has worked nicely

- After the teaser is posted and a date is set, the scenery and minor details are all fixed up and the coaster is released with a YouTube video highlighting the ride, and is made downloadable here on the site.



So, that's my process. How do you guys do it? Figured this could be place to kickstart those who don't really know what they're doing and share tips/tricks about designing!

[Coasterkidmwm]

I don't really plan much beyond "make biggest standup" because things never seem to work out like how I want them to in my head.

There's not really any one process I go through but for building rides, it's a combination of:
-Prioritizing creativity and fun factor over mimicking manufacturing style and theming.
-Thinking of a particular element, gimmick, or unique arrangement of interacting elements, and from there, usually some degree of improvisation because for some reason sketching the layout first usually does not work for me.
-Taking real rides that I've ridden or that have been announced or rumored, and make a better or different version of them with amplified versions of positive traits that I or other enthusiasts value. Or just rides that take inspiration from a whole bunch of different rides at once.
-My videos generally focus mostly on the coaster and POV rather than making it into a mini-movie, and the videos often have generic editing. I usually don't put music because of laziness, and because I'm extremely self-conscious and concerned that someone might be vocal about the music sucking. Also, I kinda like the idea of if it was a real person holding a mounted camera in the ride.
-Take a contest or terrain template or some form of constraint and try to build around it.
-Start umpteen plus one rides and find out which one(s) I will have most fun designing, and the ones I don't have as much fun designing are left on the back burner, possibly left to rot for all eternity.
It just so happens that the ones I have less fun designing are the ones I had advertised in the threads. I also rarely update my construction thread(s) because of feeling this extreme need to be careful what I show, and constantly forgetting I have one.
-If I am fixing up one of my NL1 coasters, I will either remake it from scratch using the same layout but smoother and/or have it interact with another custom made from scratch coaster.
-I also do not set trailers or release dates for my rides. I don't think a trailer is needed since my rides generally aren't heavily themed and I lack the resources and skills. I also don't come up with release dates for very much the same reason the NL Dev Team doesn't.

[Coasterkidmwm]

Forgot to add, I always do:

coaster > terrain > supports > everything else > name

I just get a random idea in my head, sometimes by watching POV's, and head right into newton 2. After that I theme the ride to whatever feeling I get from the transitions; like if it has loooong, flowing transitions, I usually name it something Energy related, if it has intense pacing, it's usually red and heat themed XD.

1. A) Get basic idea in my head of style and general layout and element progression --OR-- B) decide I want to make a [insert style] and completely wing it from the top of the lift. I've employed both methods in my past and they both work very well for me. It's neat to have the vivid idea in my head and then have it realized in the editor, and it's also just as exciting to see what my brain comes up with on the spot. For NL1 I would exclusively use Newton2, and for NL2 I'm enjoying the in-editor Force Vector element.
2. Terrain with trackwork progression (sometimes terrain-work beforehand if I already have an idea imagined as in 1A).
3. Supports, and some additional terrain-work.
4. Trees, and other scenery if I'm capable of it.
5. Colors.
6. Name (difficult step).

^Yes. Names are nearly impossible for me. Im running out of them

I actually have a long list of names in a notepad that I come up with - most of them pop into my head at school depending on the subject, like in English during a vocab lesson "Oh hey, myriad is a fun word to say, it'd be a cool coaster name!", or even in Physics "I don't think there's a 'Chaos Theory' coaster out there..."

[Turbo]

Well mine varies.

On one hand I'll do as CK said and I'll just say "tallest stand up" or something.

On the other I just build what I want in a ride which people seem to like. Too many people are concerned with how tall their ride is or how long or whatever it is even among us enthusiasts. My personal philosophy says that a smaller detailed ride is much better than the bigger detailed ride. I love nothing more than creating an atmosphere in which you feel aspects of the ride. This is why my top three roller coasters are Kanonen, Nemesis, and Black Mamba. When I went on them I LOVED them. They could fit so much into their respective spaces and feel much more complete than most giant rides. So I try to create that feeling whenever I build.

When I start usually I have an idea of what I want, but sometimes all I have is an element that I'd fangirl over directly out of the gate (looking at you Fenrir). When I build I just build. 9 times out of 10 I will have no clue what I'm doing with the track other than shaping it to fit two criteria: Top Comfort and What I Would Enjoy. Keep in mind that you should never feel forced to stick to the current layout. I've completed some supports and had everything smoothed, looked at it and said to myself "Eh, This one's not really worth my time." What I mean by that is the ride failed to meet my criteria for a "Great Coaster."

A "Great Coaster" is a coaster in which you build and not only does it do everything you want but it also has lasting power to YOU. I can't tell you how many rides I've made because I deleted a folder filled with an uncountable number of incomplete rides from NL1, however the ones I do complete usually stay with me.

If I'm giving tips to people when they upload usually it'll be something like this: Don't let a bad rate get to you. Bad rates aren't a lasting bad, they're a thing to improve upon. Take the words of your peers and don't take things too harshly because if you do then it'll affect your building. Never let what people tell you stop you from building because in the long run making rides is about fun.

Back to topic: after I get a layout I like I usually build terrain around it then support it. Terrain should always come before supports. Once the entire ride is set up I start building my theme around the ride such as dense trees or a spread forest, mountains or rivers, buildings and pathways. Once the ride is complete I usually upload it and a video on youtube much later haha (yay laziness!). Oh yeah, naming usually comes to me naturally. Sometimes I'll know what I want from the start, other times I'll build the ride then sleep on it.

Now then, there is one more thing to consider. Sometimes I'll make myself a constricting template and force myself to build on that for more fun. It's nice to challenge yourself every now and then and not wait for contests or something similar to emerge.

I think that's it though I could be forgetting some stuff. Now that I think about it I also usually try to keep my rides within the basis of reality.

[TTD03]

I can't build for my life in NL2, so I don't have a process like this

[Blase Rhine]

I plan out several ideas at a time. I then go on Youtube and search for inspiration (songs, rides, Etc.) After I jot a rough draft of the layout out and during which I choose the coasters style. After I come up with a layout that makes me happy I begin building. After building the track I plan out some 3d's and about 99% I scrap because I can't model to save my life. I place the 3d objects and do some terrain work and then I come up with a final product which I release.

[TallonD83]

I'm pretty sure everyone is seeing my seemingly bizarre and completely scatterbrained process in my build thread. But mine is usually a theme, or a feel. Or even just a name that evokes something, and that gets the wheels working were I start going and see where it takes me. or, in the case of my park, something that I have been doing for years in different programs, and never to the point of realism until NL2.

[mkingy]

3 step process for me:

1) Draw an idea down whilst at work
2) Start building trackwork but never finish to a high enough standard
3) Repeat

I totally wing it to relax before bed. Most of the time I don't save what I design but if I like what I have I'll finish it. I don't really advertise much because I don't post a lot. I do like to random generate terrain and see what I can build.

[gouldy]

It seems that me and mkingy are exactly the same person with regards to this, so:

mkingy wrote:

3 step process for me:

1) Draw an idea down whilst at work
2) Start building trackwork but never finish to a high enough standard
3) Repeat

Is also my answer.

Usually I think of rides I see while browsing YouTube for onride and offride POVs, that really strike me as having creative and cool ideas or concepts. The rides I make try to emulate some of the ideas in the coasters I see. Usually I try emulating a certain ride manufacturer's style, but I do sometimes try doing things my own way (Gyrfalcon, for example). I really have a hard time naming rides, so that as well as making a video for my coaster both come last.

[Coasterkidmwm]

TTD03 wrote:

I can't build for my life in NL2, so I don't have a process like this

I don't really see why people find this so difficult. The new hand-building method is a vast improvement over the previous. I'm not thrilled with how you make straight track in the new editor or how it's difficult to jog track slightly over on an element like a vertical loop, but that can be solved with the track rotation tool and it just takes a tad more time than the previous method. Just skim the tutorials, they're in the game for a reason.

My first track has some pumps in it but it's pretty much as smooth as anything I've made previously, and I'm loving that I don't need to open the AHG or anything after I've built the track . I'll throw up a progress report when I'm happy with more of the layout I've got going. When I'm building and I make a construction thread, the ride needs to be "done" up until the MCBR or I'll never finish it. But really if my first track is about as good as what I'd whip up previously I'd call that a damn good improvement but that is just me.

Then again I can see how this would be traumatic for all of the wusses that relied on newton to make their track do the same things and feel the same as everyone else's track who used newton. Hate mail can be directed towards me in PM's.

[Turbo]

The new hand holding is infinitely easier for anything but straight sections. There are little tricks you can do to make them work correctly so it even still isn't the hat difficult

[TTD03]

^^ I think I just don't have the patience to move every inch of track to make one piece, too time consuming. They need a full RCT mode, then I would be good

[Mr. Freeze]

TTD03 wrote:

They need a full RCT mode, then I would be good

that would be nice of them. if only.

My designing style is a bit confusing:

Newton2 -> Nolimits 1 -> Construction Kit (Rail customisation) -> 3D Export -> Sketchup (scaling & basic object design) -> 3Ds Max (LOD, UVW Texturing, Element setup) & Positioning of the pivot to fit in NL2 -> Import NL1 Track into NL2 -> 2. 3D-Export (Track, Scene, Lights, Custom Cars) -> Importing SCO -> Creating Scripts -> Placing additional SCOs

The last 4 steps are more or less at the same time.
Because if something dosnt work correctly with the scripts, it had to be changed and exported again.

Newton2 takes the most time. I think, i would be better in FVD++ but if i learn one more script language, my head will explode...

1 - Create a section in FVD++

2 - Check in NL2 for clearance issues/overly snappy transitions

3 - Am I happy with how it turned out?
yes - create next section and repeat
no - redo section and repeat

4 - When the track is done, does the track require any scripting (Expedition Everest style/ launch sequences, etc.)?
yes - Do the scripting
no - skip this step

5 -Are there any elaborate support structures (i305 / goliath lift hill supports, etc.)?
yes - Do supports first, rotate the coaster till it's facing a way that looks good, then terrain
no - Rotate the coaster till it's facing a way that looks good, terrain, then supports

6- Scenery, environment (I usually work on these at the same time)

As for how I come up with layouts, I usually start the coaster in a way that copies another coaster in the world with small diferences (Vulture based on Goliath, I got 1 other RMC I'm working on where the start is similar to wicked cyclone and an arrow hyper where the start is similar to Titan), then I mostly just wing it and see if I like what I'm building.

[slosprint]

I've started to do the terrain first (usually randomized) then everything else secondary. I find the design process a lot more interesting when you have existing hills and valleys to work around, and it usually makes the designs better in the end. I usually put some arbitrary restrictions on myself as well, because imo rides that have to work around a specific rule-set often are the most unique. From there it's just rework, rework, rework, some minor and some from the ground up, until I get something I'm happy with.

^This. I love a challenge. I absolutely suck at supports... And everything that's not trackwork >_< but I love mapping the courses

I put my coaster in shuttle mode till it's a complete circuit so I can test how it rides in the simulator. I draw a rough sketch on a piece of paper, and work from there. I go, Track, Envirmoment, supports. Supports can be some big ol' beaches.