39 replies to this topic

[Luketh]

Lol, Commodore 64...

Yeah, good guess Shroomer. I'll go with bobsled, too.

[rct_noob]

We'll wait and see....

[Woodpecker]

"We're going to demolish the Coney Island Cyclone. It's too old now."
"The Belmont Giant Dipper will bite the dust on Tuesday, due to increasing age and maintenance costs."

Age doesn't always doom a coaster. Still, I know what you are getting at. The thing is, the Corkscrew was a classic in the UK. It was one of the first looping designs built here and for many, the first roller coaster which turned them upside-down. That's why it was kept by Alton for so long, not because it had the thrill and excitement factor to match Nemesis. In any case the ride was reasonably thrilling without having the intensity of the bigger coasters, so it was a good mid-point between the Junior "Beastie" and Oblivion.

As for the Commodore 64 and its ilk, don't knock them. 'Elite' for the BBC Micro (1984) was one of the most important and influential space games ever published, and was even ported to the PC! A pseudo sequel for the PC was written by the one and only Chris Sawyer of RCT fame. See the wiki article:

http://en.wikipedia....(computer_game)

It's a great game to play, too.

Edited by Woodpecker, 01 February 2009 - 07:20 PM.

[mushroomer]

I found a video of a concept ride they might put into AT

http://ca.youtube.co...h?v=gldjaUfS9jc

o_O It's a bit strange

[Wolfman]

Looks "grainy".

[rct_noob]

Add &fmt=18 to the end of the URL for high quality!

[Luketh]

Yeah, I'm just gonna say FAIL to that whole "robo coaster" idea.

FAIL!

[Woodpecker]

That doesn't seem right. Why go to the expense of building a robo-coaster when you could build a top scan and do almost all the same movements and pull the same G-forces within a much smaller space?

[Wolfman]

I made a half-way decent Robo-Coaster in RCT 3.

It was complicated as (The "F" word) It needs too much space around the track, like six times the space.
This is because the cars can take up that big a swath through the space surrounding the track.
So it's difficult to move the cars from room to room. Forget about narrow doorway openings.

And twice as hard to bring any surprise scenery to the rider.
Because you can't just pop around a corner "SURPRISE!".
It's more like point them in one direction,
(as the car comes up to the "scare",)
then rotate them around to see it.

The arm joints are difficult to position. You do it by numbers, with up & down arrows. w/small buttons.
You can see the positions change as you work. Would of been better if you just click on the arm segment
that you wanted to adjust, and drag it into position. There is no in-depth tutorial that explains
how to make the adjustments, It's all "explore on your own".

Nothing on what is the best way to move the arm in different action sequences.
It's test, test test. And when you're done. It's test test test some more.
It's extreamly time consuming. Seven fold if you want to interact or use scenery.

I made Wolfman's Castle II using the robot coaster, and I created another huge castle for it.
And it just got too complex to finish. And the park got laggy too.

Wolfman's Castle II - (Light's On Pre-View)

Wolfman's Castle II - Lights Out Construction Tour

Original Wolfman's Castle

[Jaguarkid140]

You're right, it's not a full circuit. That's why it's labelled as 'switch backs' . Some of the world's very first coasters used switch backs. Essentially, the ride ends in a cul de sac, and is then 'switched back' to the beginning.

You mean like the switchback railway from the late 1800s built in caoney island by LA thompson

Busch Gardens took out their Corkscrew coaster... Python. Maybe these things just don't last forever. But let me ask you. IF the coaster would soon become dangerous, because of lack of replacement parts, would you still want the attraction in the park? How about if it no longer brings in the people to pay for it's maintenance? Or it just doesn't have the patronage it used to? Wouldn't you start thinking that it's become a liability instead of an asset?

Anyway, for a park to remain on the cutting edge of their entertaiment style, it seems that they would, and should, remove attractions that have served their purpose and usher in a new sort of attraction. Don't you do the same thing in RCT? When something is broken down more than up and running? When it costs more to operate than the money it brings in? Even if I liked the coaster, I'd still replace it with a couple short lived flats, until their novelty wore off, then I'd bring the same coaster back.

If you ask me, be thankful that A.T. decided to replace a coaster with another coaster. Busch Gardens decided to replace Python with some sort of interactive/animal and children's playground instead. (As if they really need another children's interactive play area.) Not another coaster that was half-thrilling, dispite it's place in history.

Which tends to make me think, that the original Marriot's Great America parks have old Arrow coasters. Now Six Flags, Great America of Gurnee has the Demon coaster. Which I'll bet will soon be removed due to age. I mean, they tried to get rid of Wizzer, (originally named "Willard's Wizzer") but retracted the operation due to public outcry. C'MON! The things are over 30 years old by now. Arrow Dynamics don't even make them anymore. I mean, would you be caught dead with a Commodore 64?

But with so many Arrow Corkscrews on their way out. You'ld think someone would snap up the parts and start using them for maintenance of one of their own Arrow Coasters. (Because the track parts are like RCT's. Like a cookie-cutter track.) OR buy one at a deep discount price and put it in another fledgling park somewhere. Or put the cars on Ebay or something. (I still think that the front cars would make a cool body for a ATC or something. And use a second car, gut it for the seats and use it for a trailer to haul camping gear.)

Lol, I hate C64s, but they replace these arrows and schwartzkopfs because they are out of date. Arrow has gone bankrupt and was bought by S&S, and Anton Schwartzkopf died a few years back. These rides are 2nd generation steel coasters from the 70s, 80s, and 90s that just can't compete with modern manufacturers such as Vekoma, B&M, and The popular Intamin. Just think of it as if side-frictions were still being built, and wooden bobsleds still existed. Rides from the past are sadly being demolished because they don't stand a chance in safety, smoothness, height and speed. Well with arrows, don't vekoma and togo manufacture similar knockoff parts of arrow's design?