There is a problem with the coaster physics that means intensity is too high (the g-forces are way off), which means nausia is also high and excitment is low. Just build the pre-made coasters and look at their stats - same issue. Hopefully this is high on the priority list for fixing as I'm not playing at the moment due to this.
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In the last few sections, we looked at the forces and machinery that send roller coasters rocketing around their tracks. As the trains move over the hills, valleys and loops of the track, the forces on the riders change constantly, pulling them in all directions. But why is this rollicking movement so enjoyable (or, for some people, so nauseating)?
To understand the sensations you feel in a roller coaster, let's look at the basic forces at work on your body. Wherever you are on Earth, gravity is pulling you down toward the ground. But the force you actually notice isn't this downward pull, it's the upward pressure of the ground underneath you. The ground stops your descent to the center of the planet. It pushes up on your feet, which push up on the bones in your legs, which push up on your rib cage and so on. This is the feeling of weight. At every point on a roller coaster ride, gravity is pulling you straight down.
The other force acting on you is acceleration. When you are riding in a coaster car that is traveling at a constant speed, you only feel the downward force of gravity. But as the car speeds up or slows down, you feel pressed against your seat or the restraining bar.
You feel this force because your inertia is separate from that of the coaster car. When you ride a roller coaster, all the forces we've discussed are acting on your body in different ways.
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Newton's first law of motion states that an object in motion tends to stay in motion. That is, your body will keep going at the same speed in the same direction unless some other force acts on you to change that speed or direction. When the coaster speeds up, the seat in the cart pushes you forward, accelerating your motion. When the cart slows down, your body naturally wants to keep going at its original speed. The harness in front of you accelerates your body backward, slowing you down. We'll talk more about the forces on your body on the next page.
Rollercoaster Tycoon G Forces 2
By now, we know that the new coaster editor is in the designing phase. But that doesn't mean it's too late to throw ideas around for it.
One of my concerns for the new coaster editor is that it'll be too much like No Limits. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, because No Limits is a powerful program that can build darn near anything you can imagine a coaster to do. However, I feel that implementing such an advanced program into a game like RCT might be a little too much for some of the newer players to handle. Here are a few of my ideas to ensure that making a coaster can be easy for newcomers, powerful for advanced tycoons, and generally fun for everyone.
Auto zero-lateral banking by default - As a coaster travels around a turn, it experiences lateral g-forces. Modern coasters are designed with banked turns and curves to reduce lateral forces. My first idea is to make the coaster editor 'smart enough' to automatically bank your turns and curves to generate zero lateral forces by default. This means you'll get the perfect amount of banking every time. And you can always go back to manually edit the banking of any curve if you wish. Especially for RMCs and ElLocos.
G-force visual layer - An idea taken straight from No Limits 2. Click a toggle button, and you get a visual representation of the g-forces experienced throughout the ride.
Placeable real-time testing points - Remember in RCT3 how we could test a ride mid-construction with the 'ghost train'? And it would automatically reset when it reached the end of the layout? I'm proposing the same thing here, but with one addition: With the press of a button, you can place a 'start/end point' along your layout, and the 'ghost train' will start it's trajectory at that point, at the same speed it would've had if it had gone full-circuit. With this, you'll no longer have to wait for your train to get to the point of the layout that you're currently working on.
Force vector design nodes - A separate tool in the editor. Another idea taken from No Limits 2 but, for the love of God, a little easier to use. Probably more along the lines of Newton2. But like, very basic. Wanna make a perfect airtime hill? Set the G value to zero, and set how long this value is true. Bam, perfect airhill. Add a roll to it to make a perfect zero-g roll. Wanna go for ultimate realism? Set your G value to 4 g's to achieve the perfect pull-out for drops, no more guessing.
Auto-Heartline by default - Because why not? Every modern coaster built in the last two decades have been designed with this philosophy. By default, rolls and banking transitions are auto-heartlined for your convenience.
Stalling indicator - No more guessing if your trains will make the complete circuit or not. In the editor, if an element in your layout will be too tall for the train to make it without a lift, it turns red. Sim Theme Park had this.
Collision detection - Cannot place this piece because Rollercoaster 1 is in the way? Instead of a pop-up, a simple visual: it turns red.