Joe R's B&M Designing Guide!

[Joe R]

Hi there! This here will be a guide that will help you to better understand and build any B&M Coaster currently available and a quick shot at the Dive, Flyer and Wing using Floorless, Invert and Floorless (in order). For now though, we will start with the standard B&M Hyper. Throughout this tutorial, and all future ones, I will have my settings set up like as follows underneath the Options > Preferences... menu within the Editor itself:

http://img835.imageshack.us/img835/5295/defaultvalues.png

So please, when using my tutorials, please make sure your setting are set to this so that everything will be on track! A couple things to note as well
1.) While I may be making a tutorial, this means in no form that I consider myself an expert within the simulator. Just like all of you, I am still learning as much as I can while giving out what knowledge and helpful hints I do know.
2.) I am a Hand-Builder. As such, I use a LOT of nodes to get the most accuracy as possible within my designs to help keep them as realistic as shown in Real Life designs from the company I may be making a tutorial for.

What this means is that while I am giving you a basic "block" format to use, you can vary this in any shape, way or form. If you find something that I've done wrong, don't hesitate to bring it to my attention and I will correct it. You don't HAVE to build along with this tutorial, but for now, I'm going to go like I'm teaching a class hahaha. Now, ONTO THE SHOW!

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Since I have decided to start with just a basic B&M Hyper, I would like you to open up the editor, set the values to what I have shown above, set up the ride parameters to show that it is a Hyper (4-seat), set to shuttle mode with 8 cars per train and set the view to Left. When it is on the left view, I would like you to take the starting marker and move it so that it is 35' in the air while still in the center point:

http://img94.imageshack.us/img94/5073/startjo.jpg

Next, I would like for you to build a station that is 60 feet. Since most of the B&M Hyper rides that I have ridden start from the station, I will go with that for the time being. After we have our Station, Lift, Pre-drop section and first drop done, I will go into a few variations of a pre-lift section I have seen in my life. For now though, we shall go with Lift hill right after the station. So select the Lift Hill Segment and let us begin the journey upward!
An interesting thing to note about the B&M Hyper is while a hypercoaster is any ride over 200ft, B&M have a few that while they hit the 200ft mark or just below it, the drop themselves is actually less than the true height (Example being Goliath at Six Flags over Georgia. 200ft tall but has a 176ft first drop). So, I believe that the Hyper category from the B&M ordering catalog is actually in reference to the style of the layout used for said ride. Knowing this info, we are going to keep this more or less on the shorter side of things, and go with a standard lift up to 200ft, with a 5ft pre-drop that is 20ft in length, that will go for an additional 25ft before starting down the first drop. When creating the lift hill, in order to keep with a realistic looking lift, make sure the lift hill is no longer than 300ft, but no shorter than 175ft. For this, the lift will be 200ft high, and 250ft long. When all is said and done, it should look something similar to this:

http://img651.imageshack.us/img651/1875/lifthillwithpredrop.jpg

Keep in mind that I use a LOT of nodes. The lift hill for me has 4, with the pre-drop portion being 2 alone. With the lift and pre-drop done, we enter the best part of the ride, and the one piece that sets the pace as well...the first drop. This drop (for demonstration purposes) will use exactly 3 nodes. One to set the angle, one that is the descent, and the last one being the bottom. For me, I use a very "blockish" method to get my nodes as proper as possible, which usually gives me the end result that I want when designing a B&M ride. For the first part of the drop, I went down 20 ft, and traveled 30ft. For the second one, I went 60ft down, and traveled 45ft. For the third and final part of the drop, I went 60ft down, and traveled 75ft. The reason I have colored these past 3 sentences is to coincide with the provided picture:

http://img31.imageshack.us/img31/2129/firstdrop.jpg

Using the built in smoothing method SHOULD get you something close to how this drop looks. It WILL STILL REQUIRE some tweaking to get the forces in check. For reference, this is what it should look like in the Simulator itself:

http://img407.imageshack.us/img407/2200/farview.jpg
http://img193.imageshack.us/img193/2856/sidentp.jpg
http://img820.imageshack.us/img820/8316/anglepg.jpg
http://img842.imageshack.us/img842/915/povp.jpg

Now, I did promise that I would go back and show you how a ride could start with a pre-ride area before the lift hill begins, so I have taken the liberty to show you a standard:

http://img545.imageshack.us/img545/2061/53351298.jpg
http://img7.imageshack.us/img7/4473/41069296.jpg

And more advanced:

http://img198.imageshack.us/img198/6536/33190374.jpg
Look familiar? :3
http://img268.imageshack.us/img268/1334/45789983.jpg

The reason why these have the portion before the ride is to allow a more manageable ride and allow more trains. Hence higher capacity!

This is just part 1 of this tutorial folks. I will hopefully get two parts out a week, with a full ride done within 3 weeks if all goes according to plan! Just think, we have inversions to cover coming up in the next one, and the Inverted and Flyer types I will leave for last.

Thank you for reading through all of this and I hope that you have a better time building a more realistic lift hill for B&M based rides! Please leave comments below and stay tuned for part 2!

[Daniel Barto]

Love the tutorial! Ever thought about doing one on inversions and such?

[Joe R]

That will come after I do the hyper tutorial. Each tutorial set will make a near complete ride. Not sure currently lol.

But yes, B&M Floorless/Sit-down looper will come next after the Hyper set is done.

Edit: Just realized something...the coaster is only 150 feet tall, not 200 like I had wanted too....so yea, we will work with the 150 foot tall one for now. Expect the second part of the tutorial later on today folks!

[Joe R]

All right folks, here it is...PART 2, and most likely final part, to my infamous B&M Hyper Tutorial! Anybody excited out there? I BET YOU ARE! Let's begin shall we?!

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Alright, since I am apparently BLIND and cannot count either, the actual height of this ride is 150ft tall (not exactly a true Hyper Height, by enthusiasts’ standards, but well within the Mega Coaster category of height). A B&M Hyper is classified by layout alone, not by height in my opinion, so this is still a classified B&M Hyper. Now, please open up your file and get ready to add on a speed hill, an airtime hill, the turnaround, a couple more airtime hills, Mid-Course Brake Run, and the finale into the actual Brake-Run to the station.

Now, before we begin, make sure you move your entire ride back till you are about one and a half blocks off the screen (as in, 75ft from the edge). Make sure you keep the station at the starting height of 35 as well! Got it? GOOD! After you have completed that, select the Add Track option and go under your left view. Place a node 100ft out from the last node placed, and make it 15ft higher, so a total of 30ft off the ground itself. Follow that up with another node 100ft out, and 20ft lower than the node. Before highlighting the whole segment, separately select the two new nodes and level them out, then highlight the whole segment use the in-game "Smooth" command (Ctrl+G for PC users, and I don't have it on MAC, so yea...use the in-game smoother (please tell me in a comment if you will)) to get it all set and ready. When you are done, the portion you just created should look a close to this:

http://img829.imageshack.us/img829/5572/speedhill.jpg

With the Speed Hill done, now we jump on into the B&M Airtime Hill! Please note that B&Ms are famous (or infamous, depending on how you view Beemers) for their precise and highly calculated rides. The hills generally give anywhere to .5/-.5 Gs at the apex, so anything more for a Hyper is considered to be unrealistic to B&M standards. Yes, there are the occasional odd cases, but these are the general forces we see today. We shall design an airtime hill within the standards. Select the add track button, and place a node 100ft out and 55ft higher, followed by a second node 70ft out and 55ft higher. When all is said and done, you should have half a hill segment that is 170ft long, and a total height of 120ft off the ground (as the beginning node should be 10ft off the ground, and the two nodes height added together equals 110ft height difference). Now, to finish off this hill, follow the same pattern, but in reverse (70ft out and 55ft down, followed by 80ft out and 55ft down again). The whole airtime hill should be 350ft long and a grand total of 120ft off the ground. Should look like this:

http://img641.imageshack.us/img641/7381/airtimehill.jpg

Before we hit the helix, we need to make half of an airtime hill. Place one node 100ft out, and 50ft higher than the previous node (a total of 60ft off the ground). Place the apex node a further 70ft out and 40ft higher (a total of 100ft off the ground). Note that this will be shown in the Sideview Picture for the Helix.

Now, for the turnaround, we shall do a 540 degree helix that only goes down a total of 90 feet. We will start by placing a node 35ft out and 5ft lower, making it 95ft off the ground. This will be the entrance to our helix. For the next part, switch to Overview and get ready to lay out a total of 6 nodes for the helix itself, with a seventh placed outside the helix formation. For the helix nodes, place the first one 60ft North, and 55ft West of the entrance node. Place the second node 60ft west and 60ft south from that node, followed by the third node 60ft south and 60ft east of that node. Place the 4th, 5th and 6th nodes in their corresponding places (4th = entrance, 5th = 1st, 6th = 2nd). Note that these don't have to be exact with the finished product as you will see in the corresponding picture. Now, place the 7th node (the exit for the helix) 55ft south and 25ft east of the 6th node. Now that we have where the nodes will be, we have to get it as circular as possible for the helix. Select each node separately and get it to form a circle. The track should overlap itself and not have much sticking out. When done, your project should look like this, minus the banking:

http://img16.imageshack.us/img16/7974/helixoverview.jpg

Now, before switching back to Left View, select all but the Entrance (which should be at 95ft off the ground) and Exit (this should be splitting off from the helix itself, and should be placed 5ft off the ground for now) node and switch on over to Left View. Now, these will either be 95ft off the ground, or on the ground itself. Regardless of where they lay, make sure they are at 95ft off the ground. For the mathematicians out there, we are doing a 90ft Downward Helix with 6 nodes. That means that each node will be 15ft lower than the previous node itself. When all is said and done, the last node will be 5ft off the ground, with the exit node being moved slightly. To do this, you will need to switch from Left View to get the nodes where they need to be, and 3D view to de-select a set node. So, hold down the Control button and select the 6 nodes being used for the helix while in 3D view. Switch to Left View, hold down the Shift button and press page down til the nodes are down 15ft from the entrance node. Switch over to 3D view, hold down control and de-select the 1st node, and then switch to Left View to continue the process. Repeat til the 6th node of the helix is 5ft off the ground, then select the Exit node and move it up 5ft, making it a total of 10ft off the ground. Now, Select ALL the nodes used for the helix (including the track itself), and use the in game smoother to get it all ready for you. When all is said and done, it should look relatively close to this:

http://img811.imageshack.us/img811/8415/helixside.jpg

Now, to set up the banking, the entrance and exit nodes should be at +45 degrees, with the 6 helix nodes themselves set to +70 degree banking. Now, your picture should look pretty close to what I have shown above. Next, we shall do the final bit for this tutorial (as I am busy and need to get none ThrillNetwork house work done) and create the hill that will return us to head back towards the station! Switch to overview and get ready to place 3 nodes. Place the first node 45ft south, and 55ft east from the Exit Node of the helix. Place the second node 45ft south and 45ft east from the first placed node. And place the third and FINAL node for this element 40ft south and roughly 15ft east from the 2nd node. These are color coordinated for use in the picture below, which is what you should roughly see when done:

http://img195.imageshack.us/img195/3899/exithilloverview.jpg

Now, switch on back to Left View to get these nodes in proper place height wise! The first node should be roughly 40-45ft off the ground (basically put it in the middle between the 40 and 45 foot nodes), the second should be roughly 75ft off the ground (just below the node to be honest, so about 74ft), and the final node should be exactly 65ft off the ground. Again, these are color coordinated to coincide with the picture provided. The first node placed will be of No banking, the second node will have a banking of -30 degrees, and the final node will have no banking either. Select the just placed segments, use the in-game smoother, and you should have something roughly similar to this:

http://img32.imageshack.us/img32/4006/exithill.jpg

Now that we have turnaround finished, Part 3 will be the final few airtime hills going into the brake run for the station. This will have no MCBR (Mid Course Brake Run) and finale as previously mentioned. Thanks for tuning in for the second tutorial and I hope to hear some feedback from you guys! Expect the final Part by Wednesday, as well as the first Part Tutorial for the Floorless or Sit-Down from B&M!

[Joe R]

Alright. I am SO sorry for the lack of update on this but these past two weeks have been HELL ON EARTH and hectic for me. Starting with Wednesday of last week I FINALLY got to meet my 2nd Nephew Austyn as my sister went to the hospital and they decided to take him out 2 weeks ahead of schedule. That Thursday started my closing of 5 consecutive days in a row, followed by sleeping on Tuesday, with working again since Wednesday of this week ><

I SHOULD be off all next week and will power out at least 2 more tutorial parts. The last of this one, and the starting of the Floorless/Sitting coaster models from B&M.

[Joe R]

*Still needs to edit in actual TEXT* Uploading Pics for now and will edit in the text during my downtime this weekend. ENJOY!

Pic links are in order of the way they are to be placed.

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/41/returntrip.jpg/

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/28/doubleup.jpg/

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/546/doubleturnedtriple.jpg/

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/407/finaltb.jpg/