March 2006 Unofficial NoLimits Contest

**Erik Leppen** · #1 03-07-2006, 10:37 AM

Some of the previous contests got very few entries, and a lot of the entries didn't follow all rules. Because of this, parks have had a discussion whether to continue this way or to start a free form contest for March. This discussion has cost some time, therefore there was some delay before the contest could be started. The outcome of the discussion was that a free form contest was useful, because different parks want different coasters and can then better pick their best out of the participants' entries. So, for March, there will be very few limitations, most of which regarding safety.

Vertical G's must be between -1.5 and +5.
Lateral G's must be between -1.5 and 1.5.
In case of a launch, accelerational G's must be below 2.
Track can be steel or wood, your choice.
Multiple stations and dueling coasters (Mobius coasters) are allowed
Trees are allowed, but will not be judged.
3ds are allowed, but will not be judged and the ride should work without them (i.e. not depend on 3ds for supporting).

There is one important rule however, with respect to capacity.

Your coaster must run at least three trains and the total number of seats must be at least 60.

The parks will judge the ride on

Building technique such as G-forces, smoothness, blocking, supports, track shaping.
How fun the ride is.
Original or unique ideas.

This is an unofficial contest, there is no prize.
The deadline is March 31, 11:59 Eastern Time (US). Let your creativity flow and make something of it. In the first week of April, judges might be busy, but we hope to get the results in before the 10th.

Use this thread for questions.

dukeandPCfan · #2 03-07-2006, 06:16 PM

is terrain allowed?

Nightmare500 · #3 03-09-2006, 07:28 PM

ugh, I was excited to see "Free Form", because my coaster was very unique and doesnt fit many contest rules. But it doesnt meet the capacity rule

W/e, i might make a woodie for the heck of it...

Matt M · #4 03-13-2006, 07:55 AM

Dang, the Schwarzkopf I started yesterday has a tad too many vertical G's (5.2)

.

Nightmare500 · #5 03-14-2006, 10:29 PM

http://thrillnetwork.com/speedzone/view.php?file=1913

Thare ya go...

icedog7 · #6 03-16-2006, 02:09 AM

hey, check out my entry in the March contest:

http://www.thrillnetwork.com/speedzo...php?file=1916#

Matt M · #7 03-16-2006, 07:59 AM

Any ideas when February winners will be announced or if they have been?

**Erik Leppen** · #8 04-03-2006, 11:55 AM

Hmmm.. I was kinda forgetting about these contest due to some other things taking my time, I am glad there were no questions which would have been unanswered

Normally I warn before contests close, I didn't do that this month...sorry guys. Well I hope everyone sent in their coaster, because the most recent one I got was from March 15.

EDIT 04-04-2006: I don't have time for judging until April 9, too busy preparing a meet with someone.

**Erik Leppen** · #9 04-13-2006, 11:33 AM

Sorry I let you wait for so long, but here the results.

Mars at 75 points
This was the coaster with the most points, however the score was not super high. However I encountered a 5.5 positive vertical G-force, officially disqualifying the entry. But my greatest fear of this coaster is it simply collapsing when a train runs over the cobra roll. Please support your coaster a bit less creative but just with stronger supports. Other than that, you could (and should) have done something with the height you had when enterin the brake right after the pretzel loop. A cool helix and some bunny hops or something like that. As for the rest, you was the only one to even build supports, the other three contestants did no more than executing Wood Magic.

Desperado at 61 points
Having the simplest possible layout, this short out and back wooden coaster isn't exactly bad, but it is nothing special either. Having too many nodes in the hills resulted in unsmooth track. It is best to not place a Vertex at the steepest part of a hill, I suggest trying it out. Further, I noticed a sustaining 1.4 lateral G's in the turnaround. This is inside the limits, but very painful. You should have banked the turnaround a bit more than five degrees. Actually, to completely remove laterals, the banking should be around 55 degrees. Supports were built using Wood Magic only, but lift hill supports are still too weak. Compare with real wooden coasters and you'll notice you need wider supports.

Copy of Giant at 70 points
The coaster gave me a rct-ish feeling because of some large horizontal parts, strange transitions and parallel tracks (in top view). I have the idea that you are not a builder for a very long time yet, because these little things are very common to less advanced builders. Just keep practicing and you will find your way. I do think the speeds of the ride were very good, and on one of the hops I saw very strong ejector air: -1 vertical G. Supports should have been tweaked after hitting the Build Final button, check the bottom of the lift hill support structure with another track going underneath it.

Avocado Wonderland at 71 points
It's a question of luck you won, because the difference is no more than one point. However I liked the layout a lot more than that of the others, it is a bit more compact, which is good. Still there is paid almost no attention to supports, this is to be seen in the first turnaround after the lift hill: supports are completely going through each other. I was glad encountering some S-curves making the layout a bit more insteresting by not having too long straight sections. Track was not super smooth, but nothing really bad happened. One thing I want to say just because I love being nitpicky: check the cars of your train in the very last curve, returning to the station. The cars collide because the bend is just a bit too sharp. No deduction of points for this.

I have the feeling there is a misunderstanding about the Wood Magic support generator, namely the following: Wood Magic isn't magic, it's a tool for helping you to build wooden supports. Therefore, a bit of tweaking will always be needed after building the automatic supports, by adding extra braces, constructing extra wide supports or removing and reconnecting stuff. Too bad this isn't done, I rarely get the chance of giving high marks for supporting.

Nonetheless, I want to thank all participants to the contest, and see you back next month.

Nightmare500 · #10 04-17-2006, 09:57 PM

Wew, i throw a track together in a couple hours, put it out thare as soon as I can, and then you guys just get yourselves DQed...lol

Well it was fun...I'll put something more worthwhile together next time.