User Guide

Powered Launch
Most gravity rides use a pulling chain to give the train the initial propulsion that carries it along
the rest of the track. Some types of ride also have a Powered Launch option (in the Operating
Options). To achieve this effect, the train is either catapulted out of the station by hidden
machinery or towed backward (via pulling chain) up an initial incline and then dropped.
Propelled Launch is not available for many rides, and you shouldn’t use it unless it’s the best
option for what you want to achieve. This form of propulsion has much higher operating costs
than the typical chain-gravity system, and is less reliable in the long run.
To give the next section of track a tilt to one side or the other, use the Roll and
Bank buttons. A bank or roll must begin on a straight piece of track before the
turn, so that the tilt is carried through the turn. Generally, you’ll use banked
turns to reduce the G forces and, therefore, the intensity of the ride. These
options are not always available, depending on the ride and the situation.
When you’re working on some types of water rides, there’s more than one
possible shape for the tubes your guests ride through. Use the Open button or
the Enclosed button to select the one you want for the next section of track.
You probably noticed that as you made your selections, some of the choices in the other areas
changed from available to unavailable or vice versa. What you can do at any point in the design
of a track depends on the structural limits–and the safety regulations–appropriate to the type of
ride you’re designing.
At this point, if you do not see a ‘blinking’ next section (you see only the pointer arrow), that
means that you cannot build the section with the settings you have selected. You must either
change your settings or remove the obstacle to your progress–destroy a tree, raise or lower the
land, or whatever is necessary.
• When you’re satisfied with the ‘blinking’ (potential) next section of track, click the Add This
button to actually build it. Again, check the cost before you build. In general, the more
complex a section is and the more support it needs, the more expensive it is to build.
If you change your mind about a section,
use the Demolish button to undo construction.
At this point, it might be helpful to know that, even though funds are coming out of your total,
you have not irretrievably spent any money yet. Until the ride is completed and has been opened,
you can undo the design (one piece at a time) and recoup everything you’ve spent. Once the
ride’s been run, however, that is no longer true.
48
Tunnelling
You can build track that goes underground, and it’s not too difficult to do. The key is to
prepare the land ahead of time, because tracks, like footpaths, can only lead underground
through a vertical land face that is at least two levels high. This rule applies to both the path
section tunnelling into the ground and the one emerging out of the ground.
When your track approaches a vertical face like this, simply continue building as if the wall
were not in the way; tunnelling take place automatically.
Once you begin building underground, the landscape switches into the Underground View. (If
you need to get into this view later, use the Underground View option on the View Options
menu–the eye button on the Toolbar.) Except for the sections where the track enters and exits
the subterranean world, you build underground sections of track in the same way as you
would any other.
Here are a few rules to keep in mind as you build your custom track. This is not a complete list,
but it covers the most common issues.
• You can only add track to existing track. That is, you cannot build in mid-air.
• In order to switch from a rising track to a dropping track, you must have at least one piece of
flat (usually straight) track in the middle.
• There is a limit to how high above the land you can safely raise track using supports. If you
need to go higher, you must raise the land beneath the track.
• There is also a limit to how deep you can safely go underground.
• Track can be run under or over existing track, provided there is enough room (vertical
clearance) for the cars to pass through. However, it is a violation of the safety code to build
intersections, so you cannot have the track cross itself at the same level.
• With the exception of rides that have a shuttle mode (they go back and forth between end
stations on a single line), every track must form a closed loop–the last section must connect
to the first section. The height marks visible on every section of track help you to line things
up. (If they’re not visible, use the Height Marks on Ride Tracks option on the View Options
menu to make them visible.)
Making Changes
When you modify an existing ride, you use essentially the same procedure as you do when
you’re creating a new ride, with the exception that you must first remove a few sections of
track, then replace them with your changes.
A ride must be closed before you can begin modifying its track.
49