Website Version
This is going to another difficult hack to do, and uses the same techniques to merge tracks as in the Intamin Freefall ride, so instead of taking up massive space, I'm just going to direct you to the two different ways to merge tracks on an incline: My Version or DeDevil's version(both will work, and this merger will be just like the FRONT spike)
Many people think that all you have to do to make a working skycoaster is to have a half-pipe shaped track, put it on freefall drop mode, and make the track invisible. This is not true, as the car will not swing, it'll just stop at the station. Instead this hack involves another complicated track merging process. It may look wierd at first, but after the hack is done you will understand.
Here is our initial setup:
As you can see, there are three tracks in this hack. The top track (teal) will be going towards the front tower, the middle track (green) goes towards the back tower, and the bottom track (black) faces towards the front, but is built backwards to go to the back tower.
The easiest merge will be the front tower, so I suggest starting with that first. Refer to the freefall hack pages on top to see how these merges are done. Once again, this is done the same way as the FRONT spike of the freefall. When finished with the merge, it should look like this:
Check to make sure that the hack worked (right click on top, go forward to the top, then go backwards to bottom track). If it didn't work, delete all merged track and try again. If it did work, we move on to the back part of the ride.
Click the links above to see the freefall hack again, and this will also be the same way as the FRONT tower. The pieces that you will be lowering into place for the back tower should look like this:
Here is the final view of the back tower:
Test this out before you continue (right click on bottom track, go backwards to the top, go forwards {you should be on the top level now} to the top of the other spike, go backwards {you should be on the middle level} to the top of the spike, and repeat) If that test worked, then go on to test #2 for the back tower (right click on middle track and go towards back tower, stop at the piece labled "End bottom Here", and then switch directions, it should lead you back to the station.) This is the toughest part of the hack, so don't get frustrated if it doesn't work the first time.
When all tests work, the movement of the car should be something like this:
This design uses the game's physics engine and friction to return the car to the station after it loses a lot of momentum.When the car doesn't have enough speed to make it back up to the top track, if the hack was done correctly, it will return to the bottom track and the station.
Test out the hack with a car now, use the 8 cars trainer to do the following:
#Trains: 1
#Cars: 1
Ride Mode: Freefall Drop Mode
Car Type: Vertical Drop RC
This is probably the point in the build where you'll want to add the suppports and any other scenery you will want near it, as the track will be invisible after the next step.
Before making the ride invisible, SAVE THE FILE if it is in a park, because this has been known to cause the "Error Trapper" problem. In order to make the track invisible, the car must be running on the track. Now, go back to the 8 cars per trainer, and find each track that you used in making the skycoaster, and make it's track type ATM Machine, which should be right below the Vertical Drop RC. Go back into the game, and see if it worked.
If the hack didn't work, you can post questions in this topic, and I or another person who succeeded in this hack can answer them for you. I'm sorry that I cannot make it simpler than this, but this is a difficult hack, and is extremly hard to explain. Just as in the last hack, if you have a different way to do this hack or can make this one simpler, please make it known so everyone can benefit.
Thanks to:
Ja227 for making the 8 cars trainer
Phatage for showing us that this hack is possible
Tutorial created and written by marinersfan59 for RCT2.com and the RCT2.com Tutorial Team.
Edited by marinersfan59, 05 January 2006 - 01:30 AM.
