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(More customer reviews)I've been hearing about this software from various coaster fan sites for several weeks prior to its release. The website promoted graphics right out of real life, thanks to some well-done models of some other famous coasters. Of course, those models were prepared by people who were much more familiar with the program ... how would I, a rank novice at coaster design (but expert at riding them), be able to duplicate their efforts?
When you first start the program, be sure to take a look at the three sample "parks" (with a total of four coasters) before you get underway with your own design. This is for two reasons: (a) it shows off the more-than-capable 3D engine, which produces amazing true-to-life renditions; and (b) to show yourself that you, too, can come up with stuff like this.
The documentation does hit the major points of how the program operates, and it does include a simple tutorial coaster that you can put together and ride in a short time (under 30 minutes). However, the manual isn't written in the most user-friendly manner. Some key concepts (such as how to add brakes) aren't explained well when compared against the software's interface, i.e. it explains the theory, but not the practice.
Also, the interface leaves something to be desired in the way of starting a new ride. Of the features it does and doesn't have, I have yet to find a "New" command ... I've had to exit the game and restart if I wanted to start a new project. It may be better to set up a dummy project you can start whenever you want to begin a new ride, then save your new ride as another filename when you're done.
If your first attempt is to try and recreate your favorite ride, you'll come off more than a little disappointed in the results, possibly enough to stop using the program. That's the situation I found myself in, actually ... however, I came back and tried again, with much better results with each project. I tried my method for creating coasters in another popular program, Chris Sawyer's "RollerCoaster Tycoon" ... building with no preconceived ideas in mind, just going where the steel was pointing at the time.
Speaking of steel, that's all you can build with, so woodie fans will be disappointed by this oversight. The game allows for six different coaster formats: two inverted types (one lift-based and the other launched); standard looping; stand-up; hypercoaster; and the new 4D coaster. Each is modeled to the smallest detail, faithfully recreating the designs of world-famous manufacturers like Bolliger & Mabillard and Arrow.
Now having learned (pretty well) how to get the coaster track to actually go together, I can concentrate on detailing it. This step is purely optional, as your coaster will work fine without the first support or tree added to it. Once again, patience pays off ... play around with it, and you'll get better. Most everything has "grips" that can be manipulated by mouse, allowing you to place it where it looks best.
After all your hard work and practice, reward yourself with a ride on your creation, something RCT and RCT2 simply cannot do. The software lets you ride in any seat of any car on your coaster, and a recently released patch makes it easier to move the camera from place to place. You can even experience your ride at night! On a fast machine, the graphics are ultra-realistic, worth the price of admission (or the software) alone.
Is the software well built? Generally, yes. I've only documented one crash since I have had the game, and even that was caused by being a bit too impatient with it. Is it easy to do what you want? Initially, no. However, nothing truly worthwhile is easy ... I mean, why buy a game if you already know how to beat it? A good portion of the fun is learning, then implementing what you learned. "Hyper Rails" will definitely make the long winter offseason that much more bearable.
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