Ask the Experts / Basic Hacking Tips and Tricks

Roomies Hacking Tips and Tricks

In this post I will go through some of my various hacks I have used or created within RCT over the years. If you want to see the Shoestring Tutorial I created a separate post for this ( http://forums.nedesi...view=getnewpost ). The following hacks are all performed in LL but I see no reason why any of them won’t work in RCT2.

I shall be updating this as and when i get time. so check back when you can. A few hacks are already written but i dont want to release them until my current park is released (its in beta testing so not long now)

Basics
In both this and the shoestring post there are a few reoccurring themes. This is mainly to do with the type of merging. Although most players will be able to skip right over this part it should be handy for the new guys.

Directional Merging:
When referring to merging forwards and/or backwards this is what I mean.



Forwards merging in this case is simply selecting the red track and merging into the yellow track. This allows a train to travel from top right to bottom left but not the other way. (It would crash)



Conversely a backwards or reverse merge would be achieved by selecting the yellow track merging the yellow track into the red track. As you have to select the backwards edge of the yellow track you are building backwards into the red track. This will allow a train to travel backwards from yellow to red but not forwards from red to yellow.

This is useful because it allows you to do this.



A train travelling in any given direction will follow the arrows. Think of it as a T junction from a one way road to a 2 way road. In the top image Trains can travel either way along the yellow track but can only enter from the red track.

How Not To Merge:
Sometimes it’s useful to have tracks that overlap but don’t merge. The easiest way to do this is to build the second track over the first using a different track piece. For example the second track can be comprised of boosters or brakes instead of normal track. Note: the game does NOT class a chainlift as a different piece of track and this will merge with normal track
.
In this example the Orange Track is comprised of boosters while the Pink Track is comprised of normal track. Test it and the trains will stick to their own tracks.



This principle also applied if you have 2 tracks crossing at 90degrees, At the point the tracks cross one of the tracks should use a booster or a brake. (there is an example of this in the coaster bowl tutorial below)

Trams and Cable Cars
This is the simplest hack in the book but for beginners it opens up a whole world of possibilities. All it requires is the use of a trainer and about 30 seconds. I used this in my up-and-coming park and now have a large cable car over the canyon.



In this case all I did was build a normal cable car track over a canyon but kept it flat with no turns. Then use a trainer like SOB to switch the train type to suspended monorail and the operating mode to “shuttle mode”. Now you have a completely new ride type... Easy

However, this won’t always work. Sometimes you will want to use a car type like a suspended monorail on a non suspended coaster track or tracked ride. If you use the above hack this leads to a problem where this happens.



The solution to this is to use a merge. Build a suspended monorail station as you normally would but simply merge it into a normal non suspended track once it has left the station. Once the operating mode has been set to “Powered Launch” the ride should run something like this.



Obviously this exact hack is useless in RCT 2 because you have trams anyway. But use your imagination and you can create something shiny and new using the same technique

Anti-Gravity Rides

This is simply an extension of the above simple hack. If you use a non suspended train type (in this case a steam train) with a suspended station such as an inverted coaster you can do this.



This gives the illusion of a floating train. In the top example I have used a suspended monorail to place the train 2 height points above the track. Using a rapids station in the same way provides a height change of just 1 height point.

If you want the train to be floating without a ride track underneath you can use a trainer to change the track type to crooked house. However this has major limitations on ride pieces you can use, which are explained in other tutorials on this board.

Lift Hill Walkways

A Very common one this, and it’s really simple to do. In real life all rollercoasters have stairs for access on the lift hills. It’s possible to duplicate this in RCT as well and it can add a lot of authenticity to a ride.

To start with just build a lift hill as you normally would.



Then using a trainer to zero clearance the map use a wooden rollercoaster to build a duplicate track going in the opposite direction to the lifthill. (shown by the arrow). If you build it in the same direction as the lift the wooden track will replace the corkscrew track and that’s just stupid.



Then if your feeling adventurous you can use the Codex trainer (LL) or the RCT 2 Equivalent to lower the wooden track by 1 point.



This will remove the glitching you get with the 2 tracks on top of each other and provide a much more professional feel to the whole thing



Medium:

This section is for people who have mastered the general idea of merging and trainers. Rides like the Tower coaster below are easy to build and provide some nice hacking eye candy for the masses

The Tower Coaster:
Based on an old patent design by Setpoint (didn’t these turn up in RCT 3 in the end?) the Tower coaster concept uses a rotating tower to deposit a coaster train backwards on to a separate track. I first used this system in a competition entry on NE but the concept found its form with “Merlin” in the spotlight Snow Drop.

The reversing system is actually really easy and doesn’t even involve any merging.

First up build a tower forwards out of the station of a vertical coaster like this and mark the position of the vertical spike.



Next up use the coaster you have already built to build a station pointing to the side of the spike



Next remove the link between the new station and the first spike you built. Using this new station build a second spike on the same square as the first.


Note: The height numbers on the tower must match in order for this to work.

And that is pretty much it. Change the coaster to a powered launch and watch the train as it reaches the spike. If all has gone correctly the train should switch to the first track you built and reverse down the track.



Note: The track the train enters on should always be built second or this trick will not work. The car will always leave on the track that is built first.

Luge Coasters

A rarely used coaster type, the luge is a great way to add something different to any park. The essence is pretty simple, Its a flying coaster where the train travels backwards around the course giving riders the sensation of a feet first luge experience.
It is actually a really easy thing to pull off as well with minimal hacking required.

First build two separate corkscrew coasters next to each other and facing the same direction like this. One should be a station and the other a set of boosters set to maximum speed. they don't have to be right next to each other but for the purposes of this tutorial its just easier.
(Note Corkscrew coasters are required as they have boosters)



Next build a few sections of flat track at the end of the launch so we have room too merge in the station track and build hills at either end. It is important the hill at the front end of the launch track is larger than the one at the back end as shown.



Then simply merge in the station track into the launch track. This should allow the train from the station to move onto the launch track but not back into the station.



Set your station track to powered launch mode and set a low launch speed, Then test the ride. What should happen is the coaster car will only respond to the boosters while traveling forwards so it will shuttle up and down the launch track building up speed and eventually head backwards over the lower rear hill as shown. If it doesn't you may need to adjust the length of the launch track or the height of the hills until it works.



Once this has worked you can build the rest of your layout from the rear hill (you will be building backwards but its fairly easy. However we need to add a spike at the end of the layout to turn the ride train back around. This is done by using the station track and merging in the layout track like so. (Note: Trains traveling backwards like a luge train will NOT respond to brakes so keep this in mind when designing your reversing spike so the train doesn't fly off the end)



Once this has merged in, you can set the train to flier if you haven't already done so and begin a test. You can also now tidy it all up so the ride looks like one coaster.



The ride should traverse the layout backwards and add a lovely twist to a normal flying coaster.



If you are still having trouble, you will find the saved game of this tutorial below.
 luge_tutorial.zip (67.37KB)
downloads: 21

Updates
2nd Sept 09 - Added Antigravity, Lift Stairs & Trams to Basics
30th Sept 09 - Added Test Area Download
18th Feb 10 - Added Eurofighter Drop
19th Feb 10 - Added Luge Coasters

mmm...seems I dont have to make tuts anymore now everyone does it .

^IMO you could join those guys :]
C'mon Levis!

"MFG"

Ok added my first major update to this. Mostly basic stuff for any new guys around

i love love love love the tutorials, and that cable car is so clever. i will definitely be trying some of these sometime.

This is really good stuff, thanks for posting.

Very good work Roomie. At some point in the far far future, I'd like to turn this into a section of the site, with your permission.

even though i know about all of this stuff, youve put it into a way thats easy to understand, and thats a massive pro, as alot of this hacking stuff can easily come out as jargon.

btw im never going to forget you telling me how to stack fences, that is all i've ever needed. thank you so much, haha. Its all logic from there. perhaps put that in the Tutorial? it opens infinite doors in terms of LL. i think it would be a good idea. I could easily make a short tut on stacking/ cloning. Just a suggestion, dont think im forcing you to do all my shitty ideas .

anyway, great job.

Yes a tutorial on stacking fences and cloning would be brilliant. This was something I had to work out for myself so for others to have it in a place they can easily access would be fantastic.

Indeed I shall add a tutorial on stacking fences and such too.

I have just attached the Test Area.sv4 file to the main post for those of you with LL. This contains examples of almost all the hacks in this thread so you can see them working.

These tutorials are great! They really helped me out with a hack I managed to do in epws last week, especially the tower coaster hack

Are there coming more tips? Like maybe more about custom working flat rides, or more about hex editing?

Oh, and levis, it would be awesome to see more tutorials from you too! The hex editing one you made really helped me out in more instances!

Thanks for the good work roomie,

SF

yup i plan to expand this much more. from simple things like fence stacking to some of the more complex hacks I have in yet to be released parks

just not got the time with work for a couple of weeks

glad I could be of some help though
anyone has any questions or suggestions let me know

When will you expand the tutorial, Roomie?

Hey guys

Sorry been a bit bogged under with work at the moment.
But it is coming

Cheers
Dave

great stuff roomie.

one question about the tower coaster though. the final outcome of the one you showed and the one Loopy has is different...? maybe i'm just looking at it wrong but i can't seem to look at your example for that and make it into the way Loopy has it.

the point is, the order in which you build the tracks.
its the concept thats carried, not the same method.

Yeah i shall try and explain it better in the next update which will include eurofighters. They use the same hack just in a new way

Ok guys. Sorry it took so long but I have uploaded a quite extensive tutorial on making eurofighter style beyond vertical drops. I have also jigged a few descriptions around. Let me know if you guys have issues with any of this.

Cheers
Dave

Cool, thanks for that. I managed to work it out after messing around with the 4D coaster to create raven turns etc. It's just like merging for a Top Hat, pretty cool.

Cheers Louis. It is exactly the same as a top had merge just shifted round 90degrees.

Just updated again with Luge Coasters in the Medium Section.