Coaster Dynamics: Help



Coaster Dynamics
Help about:

How to change the View
To change the view of the roller coaster track, select "Change View" from the Coaster Dynamics Main Menu.

This will display the "Change View" window.



To change the view of the track, first select one of the 3 options, using the Left Mouse button:
  1. Pan
  2. Rotate
  3. Zoom.
To pan the viewpoint (move it to the left, right, up, or down), move the mouse cursor into the
Coaster Dynamics main graphics window, press and hold down the Right Mouse button, and move the mouse to the left, right, up, or down. The viewpoint will move in the direction you move the mouse.

To zoom the viewpoint in or out, place the mouse cursor in the
Coaster Dynamics main graphics window, press and hold down the Right Mouse button, and move the mouse. If you move the mouse up or to the right... the view of the track will zoom in. If you press and hold down the Right Mouse button, and move the mouse down or to the left... the view of the track will zoom out.

To rotate the 3D viewpoint of the track,
Coaster Dynamics uses an interactive "Virtual Trackball" interface.

To understand the "Virtual Trackball" interface, imagine that the main graphics window of the
Coaster Dynamics screen contains a large trackball device.



As illustrated above, if you were to place your fingertip on the center of the imaginary trackball, and you moved your finger directly to the right... in response, the view of the track would move to the right. Similarly, the track would move to the left, up, or down, as you moved your finger.

However, if you placed your fingertip at the right edge of the imaginary trackball, and moved your finger up... in response, the view of the track would spin counter-clockwise. If you moved your finger down, the view would spin clockwise. Similarly, if you placed your fingertip at any point along the edge of the imaginary trackball, and moved your finger... the view would spin in the direction of movement.

If you placed your fingertip at any point in between the center and edge of the imaginary trackball, the movement of the viewpoint would be a combination of the lateral and spin motion.

The
Coaster Dynamics "Virtual Trackball" interface works the same way. If you place the mouse cursor at the center of the main graphics window, press and hold down the Right Mouse button, and move it left, right, up, or down... the viewpoint will move in the same direction. If you place the mouse cursor near the right edge of the main graphics window, press and hold down the Right Mouse button, and move the cursor up, the viewpoint will spin counter-clockwise. If you move the cursor down, the viewpoint will spin in a clockwise rotation.

By combining the lateral and spin movements -- with a little practice -- you can easily orient the 3D viewpoint of the track in any position you want.

For more help about how to design your track, select one of the following topics:

  1. How to Design a Roller Coaster Track
  2. How to Build a New Track
  3. How to Modify the Track.