Jay20016

How about Maverick: Our bad about the Heartline Cedar Fair --- BITCHES!

Name leaves a bit to be desired, but I really think that this new habitat around the coaster will be one of their best. There is a ton of land they can work with around it, so I'm excited for that as well as the coaster. Honestly, I think if you cut out inversions and went with something that hugged the terrain, used the woods to its advantage, it would be more intense than something like Griffon. Low and fast can be pretty wicked...

Whoa now, no need to bring up that name.

Thank you very much for taking the time to comment on it. One thing I notice a lot of people talk of is the "newton pump" and I've never quite grasped what it is they're really talking about. Are there specific areas that you notice it badly in this design? If so, which sections. As for playing with the multi-zone forces and what not, I do try to usually keep a long roll/lateral with smaller normal forces, though sometimes it seems to be almost too smooth in how large the turns can come out. Some of the hills vary between what I thought would be "floater" air and "ejector" air. And some of the valleys I really did mean for it to really press you into the seat. Once again, this could be my mind thinking I'm doing one thing, but the real forces saying something else. I'm still working with the program and I know I have a long way to go before really having a good handle on it, but once again, thanks for the comments! Edit: So the PoV is up, but it looks like the upload cut off a section of the ride. Trying again. Also, how is the quality of the video? I'm using FRAPs to record and then compress in Windows Movie Maker (Yeah... I know.... )

Hey guys, So this is something I've been working on for a few days. It is my first real attempt at creating a wooden coaster using Newton2 and also the first I've posted here to show you guys, so be gentle. I'm a criticism virgin. Anyway, a bit about the ride. It is about 4500 ft long, has a ride time of around 2.5 minutes, and features a MCBR to allow for a 3 train operation. Passes all E-Stop tests, and has forces that aren't too crazy. Towards the end, there is a fraction of a second .6/7 lateral forces that I have tried to get rid off, but expanding the turn is a bit harder than it should be. I've tried adding a small trim brake just before the turn to slow the train a bit before entering said turn. Also, forgive the auto-supports. I'm not that patient to do custom ones for a woodie. Here is a quick over-view shot: Sorry for the compression -- was taken at 1600x1200... EDIT: Now with a PoV! About the ride: I tried to have fun with the layout. The block brake at the beginning of the lift hill was to simulate transfer track but I couldn't get the scenery items to line up just right, so they're missing at the moment. I'm aware of the small pop in the over bank turn just after the first major air-time hill, still working out the correct way to go about those things in newton2 smoothly. Curious what you guys think of the coaster. Thanks! Wood03 - Final.nltrack

Is it possible to have anti-rollbacks on a flat section of track? If the train rolled back, it seems like there would be a lot of stress on the train, as well as the riders. When we're saying "anti-roll back" we're not talking about what you'd find on a normal chain lift. It is more of a "anti-roll back into the station via some form of braking" TTD, Kingda Ka, any launch coaster for that matter all have some method of slowing the train in the event that it does not crest the top hat, Pony Express should be no different.

Yeah, I always thought the failsafe on any of the brakes was that their normal state of being was closed, and that it requires some other force (air, electrical, spring, etc.) to open them to allow the train to pass. In the instance that whatever system you have goes bad, you still can stop the train.

I'm sorry, what exactly is happening again? I think I missed some details. If you don't mind elaborating a bit more, it would really help all of us. I put on my robe and wizard hat.

Really? Child porn? Are they fucking serious?

let's not be crazy Shh!!! You never know who is listening, and who might have another $9000.......

Forget all of the "Twenty Ten" and "Thousand and 10" talk of this year... I propose we just start calling it "Swing is in!" because by god, every park is seemingly getting one.

Look I get that we've not necessarily been the nicest of people to these two, but the comedy comes at the expense of the ineptness of what they have done up to this point. If they do not like people having criticisms of their plans (or rather lack thereof) that is their prerogative and maybe they should seek out ways to rectify those complaints and negativity in a productive manner. They must also understand that in buying this thing, they've opened themselves up to a section of their life being very public. Hell, going into it I'd hoped they would understand that as if it were me in their shoes, I'd know that any big fund raising plans would require me to go everywhere humanly possible to secure interest/awareness/funds for the large and daunting project ahead... Not everyone will agree with you or support you, it isn't anything personal. It goes with the territory of being out in the public eye and a spokesperson for the group you represent. But, going around talking about a man's children as well as the low-blow jab at someone being "fat" in direct response to reasoned critique of your organization/plans just smacks you in the forehead of everything that we've said up until this point as being 100% correct. The childlike naivety and response just further hurts whatever support you could muster... It is unprofessional and completely misses the point of what we've been saying since news broke of the deal. An idiot and their dollar are often easily separated, however, when you cannot convince a group of enthusiasts (some of who spend thousands upon thousands of dollars a year on riding these wonderful machines) as to the merit and worth of your endeavor, then a trip back to the drawing board might be in need as how can you convince average citizens to spend their money on a bonfire-in-the-making?

This whole situation is just far too comical for words.. What is that supposed to mean? I'm guessing they think that $10 for a domain and some quick HTML + horrendous Google image searches = child endangerment.

I think the best lesson to be learned is at the very bottom of http://www.savethebigdipper.com But... .ORG sounds soooooooooo much more professional!!!!

re-posted due to its awesomeness. I mean, c'mon, an animated .gif cat, pictures of the wrong Big Dipper(s), and the necessity to highlight text to actually read it? My favorite prank in a long time, for sure. A nice throwback to the pavesfmm, 41190 and other awesome sites I salute whoever did that Honestly, I got more of a chuckle of the spoon and John Hamm....plus the oh-so-subtle "URL not found" when trying to click on their "Plans"

I completely agree with everything posted before! Also, follow the rules. Do not try to get around them or fight them. Many people are sent home every semester for breaking rules, even the simple ones. There are 2 simple rules to stay employed: 1) Actually go to work... 2) Don't be an idiot in your apartment.

You mean the Dip n Dots guy is not a good source of info?!

I'm curious what state the Dipper truly is in after 3 years of in operation and no maintenance. And what these two plan to do to rectify it.

I never said longer = higher capacity. My point was more that adding the tower isn't useless... and can have a positive effect on capacity and overall flow of the ride. From the plans linked before, it looks as if they're having two trains loading in the station at a time similar to Sheikra, there is also the pre-launch block right out of the station. Assuming the 2nd launch is like other LSMs it too is a block, as is the 3rd (haven't seen any of the blue prints for it yet so I have no idea if it is just the launch or a pre-launch brake + launch track) You can only move as fast as the car in front of you allows. Without the tower element, you're looking at a small launch, banked turn, some other type of verylandlocked element that points the coaster in the right direction, then a second launch down the veld. Sure, it takes a matter of seconds, but how long is the section after that second launch? Even with it staying low to the ground and blazing through a sizable chunk of real estate, you're looking at something much longer in time. If that is the case, when do you launch the second train? As soon as Train #1 clears the 2nd launch? Wouldn't that require it to now wait at the second launch before proceeding, as it will surely complete the Station -> Second Launch section of course before the first train can complete Second Launch -> Mid course? If you have it wait longer on the pre-launch, are you then not hindering what you can do with a 3rd or 4th train pulling out of the station? How about a 5th or 6th waiting behind that? Looking at what the blue prints show there are 7 blocks in the station alone (if not more outside of the image boundaries in the form of a separate brake section) Adding the tower lets Train #1 do its thing, pass through the second launch and let Train #2 leave a bit earlier to do its turn on the tower and continue on seamlessly through to the mid course. Ironically, none of this will matter though because guests will continue to screw up theoretical hourly capacities with their bags, flip-flops, refillable drinks, etc. and just in general slow loading procedures... As for Rip, Ride, Rockit, you've said everything that I did in a different manner, only in reverse. My post was dealing with the problem of short blocks and their tendency to create a larger problem through cascading stops. I've ridden it 3 times now that we never once rolled through to the next element and hard stopped at each for a solid 5-10 seconds--- it isn't 1/2 as fun as it sounds. Though I guess I can't complain as it made the ride closer to a "real" coaster's length *instant rim shot* There are give and takes with each style. That dual-load stations, shorter train lengths, etc. are being tried as means to 'solve' these problems shows just how much can change in the industry and that there isn't a singular "right" answer.

Adding, that with certain maneuvers getting more and more complicated on wooden coasters, it is there to keep you in place while going through some of the crazier banking...

Very carefully?

Newton is a crazy beast to learn because a lot of the time you're uncovering how to make what it is you want to make by trial and error. Save early, and save often. Many times under different file names to help give you outs if you screw up on the current on. Many of my newton coasters have (RideName)1 through 30 depending on size and the amount of elements. For the curved lift hill, do you have a small straight section to give it the right amount of pitch, followed by the two curved pieces of geometry, or do you have the two curves use the "direction" box to gain altitude? Also, 4.5-5g at the base of the drop is quite a bit for a valley... If you're using it to also help direct the curve of the decent, you might want to play with lower forces throughout as any banked element will be "looser" with lower forces, and tighter with higher ones. Also, what amount of Roll value you have will also help with this. I'm sorry if that isn't much help, I'm not keen on what a Psycho Drop should look like... and Google is just showing me some still images of a certain Hitchcock movie. Edit: Is the drop after the 2nd block brake what you're talking about?

By chance do you happen to be taking that at University of Central Florida? I only ask because I've been looking at the place myself for the future. And while I agree that the tower element seems a bit silly, the idea that the tower would increase capacity is even worse! Rosen School of Hospitality management is here in Orlando, and one of very few that offer that degree... so I think he probably does go there... As for the tower element adding capacity... you guys aren't being 100% fair to him. It is easy to scoff at, but, it is true. If you have multi-train, multi-block segments of a ride, they need to have a certain average time frame in order to prevent stacking/cascading. One look at RIp, Ride, Rockit! and you can see what I'm talking about. There are what, like 9 blocks on that ride, and if one happens to take just a second or two too long, the whole thing backs up and those fun little airtime moments into each element are now slow crawls over the hills. So, by having something in the first section that "soaks" up a bit of time, you start to lengthen each segmented block to a closer average time (as the load block is usually your longest) Not as crazy as you guys are making it out to be.... My $.02

I will say that it was kind of a shock to just see those track pieces lying in a practically unfenced field, right up to the back of the condos when I was at Adventure Island on Saturday....

Just got back from HoS and the Steelers vs. Bucs game this past weekend.... Game was good, far more Steelers fans at Tampa than Bucs fans, which isn't saying much for how "well" the team has been doing. HoS on Saturday was a good night. It was the first time I was able to do the majority of the coasters + houses in one night as in years past on the first two nights it was a choice of seeing the houses or doing the rides. Rating of the Houses: How these things come about... I'm not trying to sound like a big, bad-ass motha f.... who is impervious to being scared, I just have a history of working within the same parameters as the designers. For ~5 years my friends and I were responsible for setting up a volunteer fire fighter's station haunted hayride. I get how these things work, and I've got a pretty sick sense of humor. I often am more impressed with things being "cool" than scary. If people jump out I laugh more than "scream" just because it is all in good fun and I'm more impressed that I couldn't see it coming that I tend to clap/congratulate them. My girlfriend? Completely opposite case... she is a wimp. I could squeeze her hand and make her jump.... She likes the houses, but is very jittery throughout them. Thus, the technical side of things are my opinions. The "scare factor" is how bad my hands hurt from her squeezing them... tightly. Sorry for the lack of pictures. Our wonderful water proof camera bit the dust at Adventure Island Saturday morning, so... no photos, just a wall of text. My X House: The new house is pretty cool. You can tell they gave this thing a pretty sizable budget. Lots of good scenes throughout, including how they pull off the 'stage' effect. The hecklers in front were a nice touch, as well as the multi-level scares. This one suffered from too much ambient light though... you often could see the actors coming well before they "startle" you. And hey, the music isn't all that bad. We did this one first, and the line was pretty long. A consistent stream throughout in front of us... Technical: 3.5 out of 5. Too much ambient light really holds it back. Lots of actors, but many not doing much but asking for help.... Scare Factor. 1 out of 5 fingers had lost feeling. A couple good jump outs plus loud noises, but... a lot of actors doing little throughout. Sorority House: I don't recall much being different from last year to this year. It always struck me more as a darkly comical house than a scare fest, so a good deal of laughing with these naughty Co-Eds. I will give props to a bunch of the girls because the ones who were there were very witty with some sexually charged comebacks to my groups' drunken debauchery. Technical: 3 out of 5. Some good details throughout. The ceremonial room is pretty cool and sticks out in my mind as being cool to see. Scare Factor: 1 of 5 fingers had lost feeling. Taste of Blood: I've always liked this house for some reason. The new queue for it is SOOOOOOO much better than years past when you've had to walk from the bumper cars, all the way around Kumba back to the Congo River rapids just to enter the line.... and then backtrack while in line... The reverse of the path also seemed to help it move faster. I didn't notice that much different throughout. I think they got rid of the lifting platform as I didn't see it work in 2 different passes. Technical: 4 out of 5. Good ambient sounds. Good amount of details in the scenes. Scare Factor: 3 of 5 fingers had lost feeling. They had a couple of areas that made great use of people coming from below and it got nearly everyone in the group to jump. Lots of loud noises and fake wall sections. The line paused for a bit and I think we actually gave one of the actors a bigger scare because we were all huddled around her window just looking at it because it was a pretty cool poster. Trapped in the Walls: The beginning hallway or two is really the only thing I noticed that was different, and that just set up this paranormal investigation that seemingly dissipated after those areas as nothing else kept it up throughout. Good amount of scenes. Some nice hallways with that claustrophobic feel... Technical: 3 out of 5. Compared to some of the newer houses, the effects are a bit quaint and seem small scale. Wouldn't be surprised to see this one not return next year. Scare Factor: 3 out of 5 fingers had lost feeling. Good ambiance music throughout. A few good jump scares, lots of loud noises throughout that got us a few times. Intermission for some night time Kumba and it was awesome! The paint job/chemical treatment really makes her shine. She seemed to roar even more as the cars felt like they were flying through everything... Props on the ops team for running a < 5 minute wait even with nearly 20 of us all in the group vying to get on the same train. Always nice to remind oneself of just how awesome a good B&M is.... 2nd Intermission: Stumbled upon their new show "Blood Relations" at the Desert Grill(?). And it was mildly entertaining. A cheap knock-off of a Bill & Ted show but some good laughs were had throughout. Interesting show idea too in that the audience gets to pick who murdered someone, and I'm curious if on repeat viewings the ending changes. Our group chose the Justin Beiber character and it was hilarious/gratifying to see what happened to him after that. His ending song number was some Queen so that was pretty cool. Interested to know what the other characters do when they're chosen as the killer.... It was a great time to grab a drink, a snack, and sit down. We didn't really pay attention walking in to what was going on and the show sort of started on top of us... The place did get packed though and there was standing room only around the edges by the first few minutes of it... so might want to get there early if you want to sit and take a load off. Also, the show seemed a bit off balance. The opening 3 spoofs were pretty good. Lady Gaga, TIger Woods, and Justin Beiber.... the last ones just seemed to fall flat. Myley Cyrus and Brett Michaels... Death Row: I've really liked a lot of the things they've done in this house in the past, and this year it was pretty much just as I remember. Nothing really much different, so it sort of lessens the effects when you can remember what happens.... Technical: 3 of 5. The floating sections is still cool, but maybe darken it a bit more to hide how its done. Scare Factor: 2 out of 5 fingers had lost feeling. Some good areas where you know something will happen, but don't know who is real and who is fake. Nightshade Toys: Easily my favorite house last year. It might not have the sort of gross out effects that others do, but it surely makes up for that with ample doses of creepiness. The posters for the toys are nice and quite comical. The stuffed teddy bear hallways got a few of the girls. Baby dolls with glowing eyes? Creepy? Check. I will say that the new layout is nice, but it lacked some of the neater effects from the old location (namely the flying boxes) but they are a small price to pay for that sexy green track sitting in an empty field. Technical: 4 out of 5. Lots of unnerving scenes, but a lot of ambient light that let you see a lot of what was coming. Scare Factor: 2 out of 5 had lost feeling. The extra light made it hard for good scares, but it definitely is a house that sort of oozes an odd unnerving feeling... so it might be a bit better than I'm allowing it to based on the review criteria. Deconstruction: Last house of the night. Another repeat one, but... seemed better than I remember. The crowds had started to head out as it was getting late, so there wasn't the constant stream in front of us in it at all times and that might have helped, but it seemed to offer far more than it did in years past. Some great ambiance music/sounds throughout saws/screams/cries for help really kind of get you in the mood. Whether it was intended or not, a bunch of areas had all of the lights go dark a few times and provided some quick scares. A certain gurney also provided one of the best scares of the evening and I'm man enough to admit that I indeed did jump back. Technical: 3 out of 5. Same thing as some of the other repeat houses: a lot of the effects are looking cheap compared to the newer houses. Scare factor: 2 out of 5 still had feeling left. Night time at Montu, awesome as well. The trains really hauled ass through the course, its a pity that with 3 trains, the ops team was stacking for a solid 3-5 minutes at each block coming into the station. I think we waited for about 15 minutes to get onto the ride, and then another 10 to just get off of it. The scare zones were probably the weakest of the years I've been. I don't recall the names off hand.... but the section that is near the Seasame Street stuff was easily the best. The bungy corded actors were crazy good at their jobs. The jungala area was just plain dumb. It had something to do with a road/accident/whatever at first and then..... werewolves start popping out? Que? The lovers one was also weak. They had more (or they moved throughout the evening) of the people hiding in bushes it seemed this year. Quite a few times when we weren't expecting something.... Boo! The roving groupies were once again the best part. Metal plates on their shoes and knee pads just sound and look awesome at night when scraped against the concrete. All in all, had a really good time. The crowds seemed pretty large, but my group had a bunch of those "man I'm glad we got in line when we did" moments as we would enter a line only to exit the house and find it nearly double the length it was. Another complaint was the Front of the Line access passes. Two seperate houses they split our group up. Once wasn't too bad, 2 people, who then let the others meet us back up once inside.... The 2nd was worse as they put one of the guided tours between us. Twice. I understand we had over 20ish people at the largest but letting 3 or 4 of us go. Then stopping the rest, even when we say that we're with the ones they just let in. Putting about 20 people from the guided tour in front of us. Then allowing 3 more of us to go, then putting the rest of the guided tour (another 20 or so) in was just odd. Universal definitely needs to keep an eye out for Busch Gardens. If they aren't careful, HoS has the potential to be a serious contender to their title.