Ask the Experts / Basic Shoestring Tutorial

Howdy All

I have been meaning to write this guide for some time. Shoestring Coasters are one of the hardest hacked coaster types to build. However I find they can be some of the most spectacular and most rewarding rides to complete.

Shoestrings work by splitting a coaster train into 2 or more parts and using a quirk of the game where both halves of the train must always travel at the same speed and direction. This allows us to manipulate one part of that train using the other part.

Shoestrings came about when after seeing Erwindale Forest i tried to make a 4 way splitting coaster (which ended up as Dimensions Gate in the Insania pack of rides). Once I did this I noticed that the separate sections of the trains were all linked speed and momentum wise.

There have been several excellent uses of shoestring coasters recently including Loopys Mine train in XLapak, The Water Coaster in Sea World Sydney and my own design Zero. I would advise taking a look at these 3 rides to see what different things can be done once you get going.

In essence there are 2 types of Shoestring ride.

1) Both tracks are visible. These tend to use 2 similar train sizes and require at least 2 viewings to see both trains. A good Example of this is Anti-Newton which is also found in Insania.

2) One hidden track controls the surface track. The more common type, These tend to split the train into unequal parts with the smaller part hidden underground and controlling the larger surface train. For example the lift hill on Zero and The Curse in Insania

For this very simple example I shall use LL as it is the game I am most familiar with. I shall also use The Beast Trainer for the merging and ride properties. However as this will work in both LL and RCT 2 you may use whichever game/trainer you are most comfortable with and achieve the same results

Part 1: Splitting The Train

I am going to assume you know the basics of how to merge track within your game. So to start with set up three coasters like this. I am using Corkscrew Track as it allows the use of booster segments later on. In practice this works with any coaster type and I have even used it on water coasters and river rides.



You then need to merge the White Station track backwards into the Blue Escape Track, Which should look something like this.



Next up perform the same trick by merging the Blue Escape Track backwards into the Red Escape Track, This should give you a weird looking track section like this



The 2 merged sections of track are highlighted in this image



Now we need to set up the coaster to use this splitting section. I used beast to set the settings like so.



Make sure the ride system is set to Downwards Launch Mode. Although Reverse incline will also work if you use lift chains.
I use floorless trains mainly because both sections of the train look the same when split. If you use a train like the corkscrew or stand-up trains you will always have a zero car on one of the trains.

Now it’s time to test the ride, The train should reverse out of the station and stop at the end of the track, The restraints with then open and close before rolling forwards and hopefully splitting.



In this example I have a 7 car train which splits into 2 segments of 2 and 5 cars. But you have some control over how many cars go which way. By removing the last piece of the red coaster track and setting the train to only 6 cars the ride now splits into 2 equal segments of 3 cars each.



That’s all there is to splitting a train. Now let’s start the magic.

Part 2: Manipulation

Simple Speed Manipulation:

Here’s the bit where you can mess around a bit. Now the train is split in 2 they are still linked by speed and direction (forwards or backwards along the track) For example if you set up the track like so



The Train on the Red Track would normally never be able to make it over the hill. But as it is shoestringed (yes that is a word OK) when the blue track car hits the boosters (set at 67mph in this case) the red car will speed up too and magically make it over the hill.



This can be used to defy gravity in a variety of ways. I shall leave you to explore the options

Direction Manipulation:

This allows you to create more complex rides by switching tracks at will. This allows for some useful tricks when you want to turn a car around without adding in a hill.

For this section I have removed the hill and the boosters from the previous section and merged in one more Corkscrew coaster. In this example the red track has a little dip at the end simulating the end of a track over a cliff edge. The Blue track merges into the yellow track which has a slight hill at the end.



If you now test the trains the red car will appear to tip over the edge of the cliff and then reverse. The Blue track train will reach the slope and reverse back down the yellow track and round the corner



In practice you would merge a new track into the Red track too so that the car doesn’t just reverse down the same track again. But I’m lazy so sue me.

I will again leave you to experiment with these but there is plenty of fun to have. I would advise looking at previous shoestring rides to get some ideas.

Part 3: Joining

Perhaps the hardest part of shoestrings is getting them to run repeatedly without crashing. This involves getting the trains to sync perfectly when you join them up at the end of the ride. The problem is that any small error with the rejoining of the trains will be amplified and get worse every time the train completes a circuit
In our little test example I have built the following layout



The ending is pretty much the reverse of the way we split them. The red track merges into the blue and the blue into the white as seen here. It is important to note that the train needs to reverse back into the station, which is why the White track has a hill at the end to reverse the train’s direction of travel.



In this example both tracks are exactly the same length so they will join up perfectly at the end like so




Obviously with complex coasters this is not always going to happen. If you have the trains pretty close to being joined but only just out, then there a few little tricks to get them perfect
For example: In this image the blue train has arrived slightly too early and if you look closely the 3rd and 4th cars are separated by a larger gap.



By adding a small hill into the blue track we make that track slightly longer, delaying the arrival of the blue train at the rejoining position slightly.



Now the trains are perfectly aligned. If you have a slightly bigger gap then a set of S-bends will slow the train slightly more. In the end its pretty much trial and error until your happy with your syncing.

More Coming Soon

Right I think that about covers the basics. I hope it helps those of you who are struggling with the whole shoestring idea. And I hope we see more of these rides in the future.

Feel free to post questions. I shall update this post with answers and more tricks when I get the chance

Note: if this post doesn’t work properly or look right. I’m currently working on it.


Examples

LL

Insania: The first set of shoestrings ever. Includes 3 different rides - http://www.nedesigns...ner-up/insania/

Zero: recent design using shoestring lifthill system. - http://www.nedesigns.com/design/zero/

Xlapak: Great LL H2H5 park featuring shoestring Mine Train by Loopy - http://forums.nedesi...showtopic=20330

Unfinished Adventure Ride: A ride I built years ago to see if I could get a non coaster NE design. Never finished it though. – Coming Soon

Test Area: This LL map contains almost all the hacks described on here and on the hacking post so you can see the rides running for yourself.  test_area_release_1.SV4 (302.44KB)
downloads: 22
RCT 2

Jack And Elizabeth: Levis' crazy minetrain shoestring in Majestic Paradise - http://www.nedesigns...estic-paradise/

Lord Straken: Tael Riverine A brilliant shoestring application lead to this thrill lift in Levis' Pro Tour 3 entry. - http://www.nedesigns...ers&a=dl&d=1079

^Another two shoestrings I know are the one Levis made in Majestic Paradise and one Geert and Ultratycoon did called Switchback (don't have a DL atm)

Thanks for the guide!
Stuff like this really helps keeping the community alive!

Will look at it more closely soon.

"MFG"

nice one.
this is going to be so useful
all hail Roomie.

log flume like a coaster train? awesome.

this is very well written and the screens are perfect. great job roomie.

one question though: wasn't the first split coaster in one of pawn's parks?

log flume like a coaster train? awesome.

this is very well written and the screens are perfect. great job roomie.

one question though: wasn't the first split coaster in one of pawn's parks?

it may well have been. if u can find the name ill add it in. i never saw it as far as i remember

Thanks for other Shoestrings too 5Dave. i shall add them in 2mo.
I have another post already written for 2mo on more general hacks like the tower coaster. Should have that up sometime 2mo afternoon

Another Shoestring where the train splits up in 4 individual cars is the one Levis did in his coaster, Lord Straken: Teal Riverrine (it is on his parkmakers page). 

Great job, Roomie. I really appreciate people like you who are patient enough to work out hacks, and then go one step further and share it with the world.

Wow, this is just crazy! The things you can do with this game...

Thanks Roomie!
This is great for people like me who are not really into hacking, but want to have some functional custom rides in the park..
Sure will use it!
I assume it's the same for rct2?

SF

well the rct2 shoestrings often have the problem its almost impossible to get them exactly right cause even banking makes a little change in the distance.

Levis its the same in LL actually. I shall update with a mention of that at some point soon

well in rct2 I've had it numerous times that I couldn't see the difference anymore with the bare eye. but I had to make a screenshot of the train to look. then I saw the difference was only 1 pixel. I dont know how to get the train 1 pixel more in front .
now I've got a train which is about 3 or 4 pixels to much. still figuring out the timing there .... maybe the hill is a sugestion.

yeah its the same in LL.
Although perhaps it is more pronounced in RCT2.

I tend to build in a little leeway with my shoestrings anyway. as long as it runs on a normal setting for 45mins it doesnt really matter as noone opens parks that long (well some might).

well that coaster I was talking about with the 1 pixel difference doesn't even make it the seccond time .... so I think its a bit different in LL .

u will have to show me this . Theres something different in the way we do things then as i have an RCT 2 shoestring somewhere that worked fine but went more and more out of sync.

If u look at Zero the shoestringed car underground will eventually crash as the 2 parts gradually get more and more out of sync.

well for example take a look at the lonely mountain (Micro Madness round 2 agains 5dave). that one has a shoestring which visually looks good. but the seccond go (I believe) it will conflict already.

Howdy all.

thanks for the comments

Updated the advanced section to include the master blaster waterslide

Next update will focus on making things clearer in some of the earlier sections.

Levis i cant download anything at the moment really as im still away, but will take a look and investigate when I can. i assume this only effects the type 1 shoestrings and not the type 2 (see first section for which i mean ) ?

Right. As with the hacking thread I have uploaded the example LLpark with examples of things like the General Splitting, The Master Blaster and The Log Flume as Coaster Cars.

Levis: I looked at the Micro Park... have you got one thats easier to see? so bloody tight and complicated I can't tell what the hell is going on. However I'm pretty sure that if you tried that exact coaster in LL you would have the same conflicts.. theres something to be said for the KISS (Keep it simple stupid) rule

Small updates to this. Plenty of little grammer and spelling changes as well as the inclusion of RCT2 Examples (thanks Levis) for your viewing pleasure.

Is there a coaster (default or custom) in RCT2 with the booster section? I noticed that it's not an option on the corkscrew and the only thing similar as far as I can tell is the launched lift hill on the twister.