Basic Guide to Roller Coaster Creation

Have you ever wanted to build a roller coaster but didn't know how? Well then this guide is for you!

Foreword

Roller coaster are fun. That's just an undeniable fact of life. Naturally, it's also fun to make roller coasters in Garry's Mod. Although it may seem daunting, it's actually pretty easy. This guide will take you through the basic steps of make a coaster, but you still need to do a bit on your own.

Making Your Car

The first step to making a roller coaster is to make a car for it. Most of the things you need are in Builder/Rails. At it's simplest level, it's just a mountable chair and a track guide, but you're probably going to want something more complicated. For example, I'm going to describe how to build a car using one of the prefabricated vehicles (coastertrain2seat, which I will now call "the car"):

First, spawn the car, two track guides (found in Rails/Rail Parts), and as many seats you want. Then attach the track guides to (hopefully the bottom of) the car. I like to make them swivel, but I'm pretty sure it makes the ride bumpier. Next, no collide the seat(s) and the car, and put it/them so that the top is sticking out of the car's hitbox but look like they're in the car's seats. Lastly, attach thrusters to the completed vehicle with whatever control scheme you see fit (make sure to tell people what it is if you upload it). It's very convenient to save a dupe of your car, so you don't need to make a new one every coaster.

Lastly, to get the car on the track, just slide the track guides of the car onto the end of the track; it's really that simple.

Building the Track

Again, mostly everything you need is in Builder/Rails. To start, place the special_station track piece*, slide your car onto the rails, then freeze the car and the station track. Then, add the next piece. A simple way to do this is with the basic weld tool; aim at the white spot in the center of the track, easy weld, aim at the previous track piece's white spot, and weld it to that. If you have a smart weld or something you can just use that; I use Smart Snap for this. Repeat that proccess until you're satisfied with your coaster, but remember to test it every once in a while. Don't forget to freeze each track piece.

Track Assembly Tool

Someone made a nice tool specifically for placing track pieces. You can find it here:
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=287012681
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*It can be any piece, but this one makes it more obvious where it begins.

Finishing the Track

There are two ways to finish a track, looping it and just ending it. To just end it simply stop putting down more track. Attaching some prop to the end so the car doesn't just fly off is advisable. Remember that looping tracks are a lot nicer, though.

Looping a track is a lot more difficult, as it usually can't be cleanly looped with a single piece. A simple way is to lower the track to ground level, build backward from the track's start to get as close as possible to the end, fit a no-collided piece in between the two track peices, wiggle it around until the car can run smoothly over it, then weld the no-collided piece to the rest of the track.

Miscellaneous Tips and Tricks

• Put a ramp or stairs up to the track's start, as it makes getting on a lot easier.
  
• The car will go faster while and after going downwards; use this to your advantage.
  
• Make sure to work out all the kinks and snags.
  
• Try to use banks instead of plain turns; it's a little more exciting.
  
• Don't have too much of one thing, as it'll make it boring.
  
• You can use invisible track pieces to give the illusion of a break in the track (an actual break would send the car flying).
  
• Be creative. I know it's obvious and downright clichéd, but I have to say it anyway.

Odds and Ends

Here are some things you can do to "spice up" your coaster. Obviously, I can't list them all, but here are some general ideas:

• Decorating the start.
  
• Putting props around the track.
  
• Adding beams or pillars so the track doesn't look like it's floating.
  
• Having an RT screen somewhere with an RT camera on the car.

Uploading Your Roller Coaster

Once you have finished your roller coaster, you may want to upload it to the workshop. There are two ways you can do this: uploading as a save, and uploading as a dupe.

Uploading as a Save

Just upload a save with your coaster in it. This is the best option if your coaster relies on the map heavily. Make sure the controls are in the description.

Uploading as a Dupe

Assuming everything is welded together, attach the car using any constraint you like, but make sure it has a very low force limit. This will make it so the car will dupe with the track, but can move freely on it. Then you simply take out the duplicator tool and right click the coaster somewhere (preferably at the start). Finally, you upload the dupe like any other. Again, make sure the controls are in the description.

[Cool hedgehog]

I used a cart

[Caffe]

how do i add the seats cause when i no collide them the car leaves without them and i tried welding it but then it dosent move plz answer

[Obelisk Twister]

how do i make the track guides swivel? i put down a 90 degree tight turn and the only way to get it past is with excessive force. i want it to be swiveling so i can have it be as smooth as possible

[WebCrawler]

how do u make it go?

[Royalcariben]

how do you put the car on the track?

[bapboi]

Alright. Thank you!

[Qwerbey]

@DaPwnzer125 The prop's collision is just a rectangular prism, so you have to make the seat visually appear to be in the prop, but still outside of its collision mesh so that you can still use the seat. If it's still too confusing, you can always just use a different prop.

[bapboi]

The part where you add the chair confuses me. What do you mean when you say "so that the top is sticking out of the car's hitbox but look like they're in the car's seats?"

[Melvin8D]

My car falls off the track

[Caffeine Addict]

Thanks, this really helped :)