Real

Ill have to look it up. Its not the banked hill itself, its all the transitions. If you supply no lead in, then its too sharp. Too much, and its not the right thing. I hand built up till virtually last year. I was one of the last ones. I used AHG, but since the AHG will only magnify your mistakes I dont count it as a tool. Ive seen what the AHG does to a good and bad track. Its not a "fixer" its a "multiplier" If good goes in, great comes out. If crap goes in, really crap comes out. So dont worry I understand the tool debate. I was on the other side for a long time. However, once I realized what I wanted to do wasnt capable by hand...thats when I started to learn. EDIT - Is freddie on another site? CoasterCrazy? He doesnt have a GCI out...only PTC's.

Deadman is done (I think). Working on Ledgers and such now in the first turn around. Ledgers are done from station to this point with a few needing tweaked. This support work is going to take longer than expected...lol Two new pics here http://www.nolimitsdevcenter.net/p5687

Eh, Id disagree. Have you ever noticed how intricate their transitions are? Most of them are taken with very small leadins aka sharp transitions. Its smooth, yes but very short. Then theres the issue where they use a lot of banked hills and on top of that, banked airtime transitions. By hand, just so hard to get just right. GCI is a weird breed. Their rides are unique in many ways when compared to others. Id almost venture to say TGG are easier to hand build than GCI but thats a toss up too. GCI's tend to be smaller and more intricate which means smaller, tighter transitions. Gotta understand the kind of perfectionist I am here...lol. It cant just look and feel right, it literally has to be right.

I dont think it usually varies, not as much as you think. See the heartline there wouldnt be very much anyways because its only banked like 15 degrees or so (someone could Photoshop that and figure out an angle im sure). But check out a section on the outrun where its clearly very heartlined. I think where it wouldnt be as heartlined (or not seem to be) is when a bunch of laterals are wanted because it would be underbanked. But doesnt mean it wouldnt be heartlined.

hahaha. True Story.

But seeing as it was clearly stated you could... Might as well tell a would be bank-robber hes free to loot the safe. But on that day, no one does.

This time, NO USING OTHERS PHOTOS! If I find someone using mine, im having it revoked. I put a lot of time and effort into getting my shots! Photographers hate that!

Maybe he means that second hill...and actually I think it is still heartlined. If you watch video from a walkback, youll see the track shifting laterally, not just banking. Which is a sign of heartlining. Especially since you can feel the track beneath you sway out, then sway back beneath you. Also the overbanks, because of the PTC limitation on how quickly it can bank to that severe of a degree, is heartlined but has a pretty long lead in and lead out from the actual elements themselves. Notice the catwalk in this picture. If it were just banking, the riders right (our left) the catwalk wouldnt be gone! Its gone because it becomes too narrow because the track is shifting. I could illustrate in NL if I needed to. But it may be hard to see, but its there. To add further. If it were just banked, the right catwalk would actually be the safest if a train were to pass since its banked AWAY from that catwalk. The right (riders left) would be more unsafe as the ride banks the train towards it. So the track has shifted right (as if you were on it) while it banks left which is trademark heartline. The track moves opposite of the banking but in the correct severity to coincide with the desired forces wanted.

Without hijacking this thread... I read the TOS. I can understand posting A picture when you upload a finished ride. Thats how every other site does it. But when youre showing progress, that can be 10, 20 or even 30 pictures long. Im sorry but posting all those here in a forum upload format is both silly and unpractical. First it looks tacky imo. Second, it tears up bandwidth - not for Robb, for me! Again, why should I load (and upload!) 20 or 30 photos to a page at a res of only 600width when I can load them to a page where full format is 800width AND itll show me thumbnails before I click presented in a neat format. So basically can I post a link to CONSTRUCTION pictures and then when I upload officially upload a final picture? Thats kinda how virtually every other site on the planet does it...

Yup and unfortunatly...that one doesnt exist anymore

Yea, if Im already linking to it on this site, Im already choosing this site to display my content. Id rather not have to dl a bunch of mid-large size pics. At least in NLDC its thumbnailed so I can view what I want in whatever order. If there was a way to do that in here, Id be all for it. But its a bandwidth issue. Im only on 2mb and here, thats like dial up. I actually have to let videos load, I cant stream! Netflix streaming is all it can handle and it does that at the lowest quality possible. So really its a bandwidth thing. I love high quality and larger pics, but I dont want to inundated with them. And only having 1 or 2 pics is lame. I cant see much from that. But 10-20, absolutely. Embracing a sister site like NLDC is nothing but a good idea. And to be quite honest, it would be a reason for me to pull all my stuff. Or, I can upload every single picture and destroy everyones experience with 20 or so 800x600 pics plus video. Nothing I hate more than waiting for pictures I could sift through in a cleaner format. This isnt a Trip report were talking about.

TGG heartlines their rides. You didnt notice on Voyage? So does GCI. Really depends on style. I usually heartline to 0.5. It provides the right feel and look and produces realistic G forces. If I want more lats in the transitions Ill heartline like 0.25.

LOL! Ledgers arent a NL thing, its a wooden coaster thing. The main brace at the top of each bent (a bent is a single vertical section of support) Normally twice the width vertically of the other boards. They jut out past the width of the track. I re-read your post, misunderstood your bolding (actually didnt see it) and wondered if you meant the ledgers you created that angled out past the width of the track as a brace. But then I saw you meant station fly by. I knew those existed. Heck, Ive seen a few myself. Im not naive to think they arent all over

Just make sure your top hat isnt perfectly vertical. AHG cant heartline vertical track. Gotta be at like a 89.5 degree angle or less.

Really? So basically a tool creates a perfect, interesting, original track every time? Does it hook up to my brain too and instantly complete the entire track? You guys gotta get your heads outa your you know where. Tools dont make it a ton easier. It gives you a desired effect. Newton? Its NOT easy to create something realistic. I actually put far more work into my trackwork now than hand building. However, I can pull off a MUCH more realistic track. So much so you could never do with hand building. And the AHG? It doesnt make anything better. Infact, if you input crap into it, youll get heartline crap out of it. This debate is old and futile. And if youve ever been on a GCI, Intamin Plug and Play or a TGG, theres no way handbuilding will get you a ride even slightly resembling one of those. So whats the point in having a competition in which no ride will be realistic? Fantasy rides? Anyway, rant over

Or click on the link that has like 30 pictures of the coaster. That NoLimitsDevCenter website is a great tool so you dont have to clog other websites with a million photos. Just click the project and wham, tons of pics.

Haux worked there for a couple years, I think his knowledge would be little more vast than a park goer. It did have stacking issues when the seat belt crap came into focus. But for the majority before and after, the average was that it didnt stack.

Your 10 ledgers dont count against my every single ledger on the entire coaster! Plus yours are nice and level. Try doubling up 2 support beams on 2 different axies. Then get back with me! I was listing everything too. I know station fly bys have been done. Its the other support work stuff I am most proud of.

Heres a little about the track, a few things I dont think have ever been done. Not that Ive seen anyways: All ledgers (both Y ledgers and angle ledgers)are handbuilt to spec the real thing. All Wide Supports are built exactly to GCI (that I can tell) Station Fly Through (just gotta have one) Thinned all the supports to replicate the structure of GCI (also increases frame rates) Lots of air Lots of turns Lots of fun transitions Typical airtime / turning transitions of GCI both on entrance and exits to some elements Nothing particularly crazy. More of an experiment in Newton1 for me. Also decided since the track came out well to spruce it up with the most realistic supports Ill have ever done on a wooden coaster. Project Link: http://www.nolimitsdevcenter.net/p5687

Voyage like 20 or so times? I lost count... I ended that streak (this years Holiwood Nights) with 3 straight back seat rides on friday night. Last 3 rides of the night and then we got kicked outa the park to go sleep for day 2. It was already at Defcon 4 mode...prolly wasnt the wisest choice for sure. I hurt getting back to the hotel.

Ditto. Generally I dont kill them in the house. I scoop them into something and put em outside so they can feast on all the insect by my porch, keeping my porch clearer of flying annoyances.

First of all, that picture Elissa showed is again, a close up making it appear WAY bigger. Yes, the spider is obnoxiously huge, but in this picture its eating this A A Chestnut Breasted Mannikin. A Finch. Which now it doesnt make the spider SO huge. "Shakespeare, head spider keeper at the Australian Reptile Park, said the spider was a Golden Orb Weaver. “Normally they prey on large insects… it’s unusual to see one eating a bird,” he told ninemsn.com. Mr Shakepeare said he had seen Golden Orb Weaver spiders as big as a human hand but the northern species in tropical areas were known to grow larger. Queensland Museum identified the bird as a native finch called the Chestnut-breasted Mannikin." So as already posted, its a Golden Orb Weaver. The one in the picture is probably about the size of the bird, a little smaller body to body. Then its legs obviously cast a larger radius. Impressive animal!

waking up to roller coasters IS the life. Well stated!

Mmm. Ive climbed Laurel Falls so many times...my grandma lives in Andersonville TN. You should climb Abrams then get back to me...ugh its like 2 miles both ways. Not as fun as youd think. GREAT falls, horrible climb.

Yea, Stingray City was by FAR the best part of trip. Apart from all you can eat pizza and ice cream. Man its a good thing I walked everywhere I went. If you go to Grand Cayman, you HAVE to do Stingray city. AWESOME experience.