So, I've been out of the coaster game (both riding and designing) for at least a year and a half now, having perhaps burned out a tad on the whole thing, and plus, aren't I getting a little bit old for that sort of thing?
Anyhow, I seemed to have found myself with a month or six free and nothing to do, so I decided yesterday to get back up to speed on NoLimits, which at the time was the very best coaster simulator on the market, by a fairly wide margin. Since I'd been around, a major new update had been released, including such goodies as wooden coasters (*finally*), automating support generation, terraforming, and a whole slew of other bells, whistles, and toys.
And today, I spent the entire day using it. And any time I spend an entire day using a single piece of software, I think it deserves getting its name up in lights.
NoLimits is an extraordinary program in every respect. One half is the editor, which provides you every tool you could ever think of to design a track (and more that you wouldn't have thought of), and while getting the track just right is occasionally an exercise in aggravation, this is the price that you pay for ultimate flexibility. The other half in the simulator, which turns your creation into pretty 3D and lets you ride and watch and press the buttons on the ride operator's station. The attention to detail in this simulator is astonishing. Everything is modeled, right down to the upstop wheels on each car, underneath the track, the fin brakes, the safety systems... everything. YOU WILL BELIEVE A MAN CAN RIDE ON A ROLLER COASTER.
Anyway, if a lazy, moronic douchebag such as myself can, in just a few short (edit: VERY LONG) hours can create something like the ride shown below (which has to be ridden to be believed), then you know you are dealing with one hell of a gem of a program.
