Beginner's Coaster Building Guide | Planet Coaster Tutorial

[@Botis18]

I'm gonna be honest, your level of clarity and professionalism is great in this video. Frankly I was shocked when I looked down to see you've only 550 subscribers. Keep putting out content this good and you could have the makings of a very successful channel.

[@Geekism]

Thanks very much! Whilst the channel has been around for a while, I've only really starting working on it properly with Planet Coaster content. Glad you're enjoying it :)

[@amalija11]

1160 now! :)

[@alyshakhan5909]

4392 Woop

[@zaddasz5210]

Botis 10k

[@Mopsie]

It certainly grow the past 7 months, it's gone to 10.000 now!

[@Heathers_Crochet_Designs]

i wish the game explained it as well as you.

[@Geekism]

+Heather Gibbs Thanks Heather, glad you found it useful :)

[@jonahb2939]

So true

[@jonahb2939]

@@Geekism you are best youtuber

[@LABullDaddy]

I actually found this when I was looking for any tutorial on how to straighten out train tracks. I could find no explanations anywhere on how to use those four controls (Up/Down, Side-to-Side, Banking, and Stretch) for the tracks until I watched this. What's even better is your discussion on the simple mechanics of how a good coaster works. And now you've got me wanting to try my own hand at designing a custom coaster! Thanks for the great tutorial!

[@vladfokof]

Thanx for advices ! I didn't know how to use the smooth tool ! I used to click just once and didn't understand what changes it made.

[@Geekism]

Glad I could help :)

[@bcket]

Hi, loved the video. Quick question for you are there different customers for different coasters? For example is a really high excitement always the best or is that too much for some people and they will actively look for a gentler one? Do some people like high fear? etc.

[@Geekism]

+bcket I'm still a working on the numbers, but it seems that the excitement is higher the better and guests have 'fear tolerance' you can see this if you click a guest. Teens seem to prefer higher fear thresholds. Nausea doesn't seem to affect ride section, just possibility of throwing up :)

[@bcket]

Geekism thanks very much, keep up the great videos

[@tiantian329]

My tip (to add to everything in this video) is to use heat maps. They tell you which parts of the Coaster get the riders most excited, scared, nauseous, etc. If you find a part that doesn’t have good stats (example: too much fear), rip that part out and replace it with a better track layout (example: too much nausea on inversion, delete inversion and replace it with airtime hill or banked track). That is how you get a good rating.

[@dotdankory]

im never using the overbanked turn again, 9 fear on the freaking "drop"

[@RogueNewbie]

Thank you so much! Just bought Planet Coaster on sale, and while I'm loving creating themes, I just couldn't get my "intensity" numbers down when building coasters. Here's trying again.

[@weirdguy_0514]

I didn't know how to use block sections,but now I do!😄

[@Geekism]

Woo!

[@weirdguy_0514]

Geekism so thanks! Love ur vids too😄

[@MikeWeiner]

Agreed...I saw them, didn't know what they were, so I didn't bother. But you explained them really well and the affect on your coaster was exactly what I, and I'm sure many others, really needed to know. Thanks again!

[@nisufilm243]

I just dicovered your channel today. allready love it! can't wait to get home and try a few of your tips out! :D

[@Geekism]

+Polt3rg3ist awesome! Welcome aboard :)

[@hughanthony2001]

This is one of the best guides I've seen. Nice one.

[@Geekism]

Wow thanks :D

[@Talewhipforge]

Apparently I have been using the smooth banking and smooth all tool wrong this whole time. I didn't realize you were supposed to keep clicking the button over and over. I just clicked it once and assumed that would do it. >_< No wonder all my coasters had terrible ratings.

[@Geekism]

It really is a bit unclear, glad I've been able to help though :D

[@Talewhipforge]

Yes this video was more helpful than I thought it was going to be. I also didn't know about the spacebar thing. So thanks :D

[@MikeWeiner]

Same here! I see how it benefits and why you'd want to keep clicking... NOW... but I always thought "Smoothing? Yeah, that sounds like a good thing." Click! And moved on...this is going to make a nice difference in my coasters.

[@MohanKarulkar]

same here!

[@computerkid1416]

I'm loving this game so far, as it reminds me a lot of RCT3 which I grew up with. However, it can be very complicated at times, which I guess isn't a bad thing. Thanks for this tutorial.

[@Geekism]

It's depth can be a little daunting to begin with... I'm glad this video has helped :)

[@Gogeta2501]

The logic of making rollercoaster makes no sense man reallly anoying

[@jamesmorrison4797]

Thanks this really helped me build great coasters. Just one thing, why didn’t you ride it in first person? That would’ve been really nice as I love seeing POVs as well.

[@rekunta]

I just bought this game and am WAY over my head. I don't even know where to begin. The tutorial system is woefully inadequate. I appreciate this video, but are there others you can recommend that cover basic layout, how to use tools, hot key shortcuts, etc?

[@Geekism]

Check out the tutorial playlist on my channel, I have specific videos on building, pathing, triggers and other areas... and I'm working on a complete beginner's guide that will be hopefully up tomorrow :)

[@jacksoniavaroni4369]

Totally in the same boat as Kale P... I love the open nature of the game but feel the devs should have included a more in depth tutorial part.

[@rekunta]

Yea, 4 videos is absurd. I can learn the basics of the UI through experimentation, but the best of creations lie in utilizing the nuances and intricacies of that UI. If any game necessitates a proper tutorial, it is games such as these. It should be a priority for the devs, not an afterthought.

[@SherrifOfNottingham]

Best tip I can give you is to avoid using the premade sections, you can use them for reference sure, but I'd build them out yourself for two reasons, one you will improve your ability to manipulate the track if you work on replicating things, and second you'll have more freedom and not get hung up with sharp sections because the prebuilt sections don't want to be edited. MOST of the prebuilt sections are just miniature blueprints, some of them are unique pieces so don't be afraid to browse and see them (one track has a loop with a track piece that goes over the loop. Another tip is to keep in mind the block brake sections of the track, it can increase the throughput of a ride, keeping the track as packed with trains as is safe is usually a good bet. The ride shown here in a real theme park would run three trains, even though it would mean one train has to sit and wait to enter the station. (Most real coasters have two block brake sections behind the station so the middle of the track sections are just for emergencies) If you want to improve download some workshop rides, simple ones without scenery, then attempt to recreate them. And use the workshop for building shops and scenery installations too. Nothing is set in stone with those, you are free to edit them all you like so if you download. Getting good stats on a ride is a difficult thing to do, just remember the "perfect" ride, score wise, is actually really boring looking.

[@burneduplikefire]

Can you test a roller coaster in Career mode/Challenge mode like you did, or will clients don't wanna ride because "it's too dangerous". I mean, how many trains had to fail?

[@aerrye]

Thank you for this wonderful video! I was about to give up on building my own coasters because I was getting so frustrated.

[@Geekism]

You're very welcome, glad you found it useful, be sure to check out 'part 2' that covers heatmaps and g forces in more detail :)

[@23ChickenWings]

Great Video! All of your videos help so much! I would also add that after testing you can look at heat-maps to troubleshoot problematic areas of your coaster. I just built my first real coaster, and all was good except for the fear rating being way too high. In the fear heat-map, I found that the area of my coaster that went underground was causing the problem. Sadly, I got rid of it, but all three ratings went into the green. There was a flock of seagulls... err, i mean people.... to my ride after that and I started rolling in cash. Edit: Just realized you have a separate video on heat-maps :) They should just pay you and put your videos up as the proper tutorial.

[@MauroC74]

As a beginner I found that nausea heatmap is a good indicator of bad tracks, I run a test ride and I can see where tracks need smoothing (or tweaking) because of line changing color from green to red in a second.

[@DiaborMagics]

i havent seen all of the video yet and will skim through it a bit, but i while i have already built 2 coasters in career, i wanted to make one from scratch in sandbox and add it to my blueprints. My problem is, I cannot cutomize the 'base' of the coaster. I want to change the name, color scheme, music, etc, but if I click in where you have the text: 'editing The American Arrow 4', I cant change the name, colors, nothing, while I believe that in career, there was a tab for that. I'm at a loss here. I just saw that at 13:38-13:39 you changed between those views/tabs. How did you do that? Nvm, just saw it in-game.... click Done before you can edit that stuff. Thats very strange to me. Its far from done if it hasnt been customized :P Also, I found some carts I really like, the prototype Wing in the custom section, but I dont want to have a cable lift, I want a Chain Lift. Is there a way for me to build a coaster with Chain Lift, but to have the cart design to look like those of the Prototype Wing? I just love their design.

[@guff5364]

I used to play RTC Classic for a while and I got so annoyed because if I built even a single drop then the people would say that it looks to intense for them

[@ytp6965]

4:40 Literally building a hypercoaster* *Then proceeds to kill the hypercoaster vibe

[@BigDavos]

Geekism: I’m not an engineer Geekism: Proceeds to break down roller coaster mechanics

[@qwerky7636]

How do I build roller coaster I don’t see the stations in my blueprints

[@justpur33xposur35]

When I build a track though, when I go to make it go up or rotate, it gives me a set of numbers on the angles like 30,60 or 90. How do I free angle like you in the gameplay?

[@jakehopkins6989]

In the details panel on the bottom right, uncheck "snap angle"

[@egg7338]

How do you get the track on the other side of the station (or the working from the back)

[@tiantian329]

You mean changing the direction of the Coaster? Sorry, but if that’s the case, then you’re gonna have to delete the whole Coaster just to build the station again in an opposite direction. If you talk about connecting the track, it’s quite easy. Just build your track until it’s close enough to the back, then a button on the edge of the edge of the station should appear. Then just click the button to connect. However, this can’t be done with every track piece type. For example, a wheeled track needs to be absolutely straight in order to connect.

[@CityoFun]

please do more coaster building tutorials. but with more in depth analysis by turning on the heat maps and trying to bring a fearful zone to a safer one, for example... one of the challenges in the game asks to build a 8.0 min. excitement coaster. which i never been able to do. everytime i increase excitement i also increase fear and this reduces my overall score. can you provide with some tips on this matter? thank you in advance :)

[@Geekism]

Check out my 'Heatmaps and G-Forces' it might give you a good starting off point :)

[@reformedrx]

hey man you seem like a great lad, i am from us but i wish i live in UK and wish i had your accent i know that is weird but ive noticed i get along with UK people alot better than i do US friends ive had or have do you still play planet coaster mate?

[@gladiator_117]

How,do you lift the station up I am a nub

[@danielb.5361]

Great tutorial! I just spent an hour blowing my budget on a low excitement, terrifying, vomit comet of a coaster before finding this video.

[@Geekism]

Glad it was useful... Happy New Year!

[@ceeinfiniti1389]

Can someone help me out? I just bought this game and went into sandbox. Whenever I placed the beginnings of a custom coaster, not only were the tools way different than in this video, but the only thing I could create was a reverse chain lift that elevated behind the coaster cars. Once i figured out how to delete that, it gave me more options on the correct side of the track. After building a horizontal chain pull and ending it, I could do nothing else. Help would be appreciated, because the game did nothing to teach me how to build coasters, and the tool options I see are different than any other video I have seen on youtube so far. Thanks!

[@prolific6773]

7:08 Gotta love that *WOOOOOH* feeling.

[@jojorickful]

Amazing video! The first coaster I built after seeing this was amazing!

[@NotTheBomb]

My favorite way to build it a coaster is to have the chain lift at the slowest speed possible. Then let’s say after you have filled a majority of your track with ‘green’ levels of excitement, then you speed it up just 1m/s and watch your overall excitement skyrocket. It turns the chain lift into an excitement gauge.

[@apollofell3925]

Thank you for saying exactly what aspects of coaster design you go over within the first 60 seconds of this video. That small detail saves SO much fkin time for people watching tutorials.

[@Crypticlazr]

ok so is there no way to play this game like roller coaster tycoon where i dont have to click and drag every single piece of rollercoaster? its cool that the option is there but i absolutely hate having to drag every single piece for a 90 degree bend or drag it down or drag it up. yuck

[@Robbbbb1011]

Very insightful, has helped me a tonne thank you very much

[@Geekism]

You're welcome! Glad it was useful :)

[@interstateruler]

Last year I got me the planet coaster and the most difficult are the track rides and roller coasters. If I just learn the basics of the rides, then I would understand it better

[@DavesAdventures]

I have been looking at planet coaster videos and ive subscribed to your channel, ive not long got planet coaster on my laptop but you need a lot of patience but i find creating custom coasters that i get roll backs

[@LDeeWalker]

Before watching this video, I couldn't create a coaster to save my life. My poor Sims would never have survived - according to the biased tester. Rumor has it his mother had a freak accident on a coaster so he's a bit of a coward. Or so they say. Anyway... after watching this, I am now a creating fool! My first one (that doesn't quite look like yours, but close) had almost the same ratings. Orange - 5.63, Orange 3.87, Green 1.33. However, thanks to your tutelage (this video), the second one was: Orange 5.60, Green 4.69, Green 2.92. The third one was: Green 8.06, orange 6.08, green 2.85... and... wait for it... The fourth one was: Green 6.27, Green 4.32, Green 2.40. My Sims (and I) owe it all to you!! Thank you! You rock!

[@althaz]

Thank-you so much for a really great video! This is the perfect place to start for a relatively newb person.

[@mpschafer]

Geekism: I don’t know how they’re built. Me:how they’re built is... they’re built

[@BluJayMC]

About to get this game on my new PC tomorrow! Really enjoyed this tutorial to help me learn some of the basics before jumping in! Fantastic work! 👍🏻

[@extremelylongwords]

I got this game a while ago just to make some roller coasters to fill the lockdown void but it was More Difficult Than I Expected It To Be and I was juuuuust about to give up until I found your video. Thanks!!!

[@laineywright2696]

Not exactly helpful to suggest us to use the snap on our first coaster, then proceed to demonstrate by turning it off... rather like a skilled player making fun of a layman, aye? Also, I tried this particular coaster and found out it is vital to pay attention to the direction of loading and unloading passengers can be, however, not mentioned. I will plod my way through, LOL. Still informative all in all.

[@martin9354]

this video helped me a lot to understand where i have been going wrong thank you so much :)

[@vFuSiion]

I just bought the ps4 edition and just really wanted to know how you can make a ride accelarate in a pinch like for example like King da kha and incredible hulk

[@upnorthbreaks9682]

THANK YOU, I have had this game for over a year and have not played it because it was so confusing

[@cuteandfluffypikachu3405]

I struggled with building rollercoasters in the sandbox I raged quit then uninstalled the game after quitting the game and restarting 5 times but I reinstalled again to give it another try I also used the already made ones I struggled with deleting paths and making the paths meet as for some reason they were not the same level 😆😆😆

[@player--zero]

my first couple were getting terrible numbers aswell because I was trying to build too big too soon. once I learned to use the smoothing and banking with less extreme drops turns n rolls. once you start to learn you will get better.

[@emilia123zz]

Do I have this game? No. Do I plan on buying this game? Most likely not. Is this still entertaining. Yes

[@xiaolafy]

the game just came out on console because i never had a pc. and it just wasn’t beginner friendly like cities skylines was

[@tgames4292]

thank you i can build a good coaster now

[@Geekism]

Awesome! Glad it was helpful :)

[@isaklurvis]

why dont you bank the ride while ur making the coster so u dont need to do it afterwards (bad inglish srry)

[@MuhName]

Thanks! Keep up the good work

[@Geekism]

Thank you! Will do :)

[@trippy_bri]

OMG THANKS! I wasn't smoothing the coaster and that was my issue.

[@igotouf]

Question. Why not just click smooth all and smooth banking with the whole coaster selected?

[@WouterPlanet]

20:36 you just made that one block brakes section redundant as the train will never stop there with 2 trains...

[@jonegan2416]

I am the same red all red sometimes orange 8.1 also orange sometimes then when i delete the coaster i lost most of my cash also i build lots of flats rides and make not much cash whats the best way to make money grow like mad made

[@Nyxocide]

This helped me sooo much? I was stuck on the coasters and them being too nauseating for so long 😂

[@sharkdrago8452]

To get the coaster OFF THE RAILS! No a pre drop get it off the chain. Lol

[@joost6994]

There are too many options when is comes to the length of a piece, the degrees it banks or angles and the amount of inversions.

[@joejoe4172]

My roller coaster does not have enough speed to climb up the slope. How to solve it?

[@261tallguy1]

Is there a cheat so you can build extreme coasters that people will go on?

[@dukeyys7701]

Everytimei build a coaster they all turn around before entering

[@spaghetti9845]

so clicking the smooth tool over and over will change the profile?

[@staringcorgi6475]

In my opinion the coaster building in this game is the best in my opinion

[@Joseph-uo3mx]

What Font is the Planet Coaster Font?

[@Geekism]

+Joseph no idea! The one I use (which is similar) is called Biko

[@martinbreen8823]

I'm having trouble connecting a Exit to my Coaster. It won't let me do it away from the que line. It is making me put it right next to my entrance which means people would be walking through the station bars.

[@Geekism]

Not really sure what you mean? If you can make a quick video/image and post it in the PlanCo sub reddit, we'll be able to help :)

[@noelpuig]

Heatmaps are also helpful if you need to know where to smooth

[@antonellaguerrieri-kost3898]

thanks so much i was getting all red for my coasters

[@conradfincher8876]

How do I even unlock coasters it only gives me pre made ones

[@gwen_gets_got]

My game doesn’t work. It won’t let me do anything.

[@nathansmiddy]

I just saw myself on the video at 4:46 yet I can't remember adding this user on my steam list >

[@MikeWeiner]

I already have down the basics of building a coaster, but you really opened my eyes on the finer points of making a GREAT coaster! There were so many tips, particularly in the second half of building, once you had it done (not to mentioning to start finishing the coaster by going backwards from the station), that I know my coasters will be a lot better for having watched you! I subscribed because I KNOW I'll be back to watch more of your videos...maybe someday I can make them as well as you do. :) Thank you for making these available. BTW, I'm curious...are you recording your video with OBS? Its extremely well done. :)

[@misty_lul]

I finally got hold of this game, and I can't even tell you how much I appreciate these kind of videos. I am going down your whole playlist and enjoying it so much. Your ability to explain things is just amazing. Although when you said this is a simple coaster, I thought, HUH, that would be the best thing I could ever build, haha. Thank you for the great content!

[@jesterday2222]

hey thanks a lot, I was wondering what those little diamond thingies were for, nice vid and nice voice :D

[@ethancooper3946]

3:48 ...

[@DiaborMagics]

What is 'track limit exceeded'? I had a big coaster all built, but I wanted to add a block section. I found a place where I could add one, tore off the piece that was there and replaced it with a block section. When trying to attack the block section part to the rest of the Coaster, I got the 'Track Limit Exceeded' message. Is that 1 block section piece thats a couple meters max, really a piece that makes the coaster too long?

[@wilsonsimons12]

I can’t even figure out how to start my coaster

[@randomhernicontentcz1523]

Thank you ive cant figure out how to do that shit

[@FoundationAfro]

I've been playing the genre since RollerCoaster Tycoon 1, and while I was never great at building coasters, the realisticness in Planet Coaster made me straight-up bad. This helped a lot, thank you.

[@DragonNuts]

Why the fuck would KZbin put 2 ads in a row

[@benjamincaravella3470]

Thanks, this video made my experience 100% better. The way you explained the things was so easy to follow. I made a roller coaster with your tips and I got a 6.03 in excitement a 3.49 in fear and 1,36 in nausea. Well deserved like and subscribe from me

[@saladbar3607]

I know I'm a bit late haha but this was an incredible video. Just stumbled upon your channel today, very informative and you present the information in a very nice and friendly way. You also explain in detail what you are doing. Hope you get more credit and grow in popularity! You earned a new sub today!

[@trackmaster152002]

Another piece of advice: the chain counts as a block too. So really, you never need a MCBR to run two trains. You can even get away with three trains if there's a chain with no MCBR if you're OK with a little stacking. I'm not sure if the ratings factor in pacing or not. In real life, mid course brakes take away from the ride slightly.

[@stephenmartinez96]

barely found out about this game like a week ago, so i’m now playing it on a PS5 & this video was very helpful, thank you 🔥🙏🏻

[@kawazy9528]

Great video! Learned a lot from this!

[@24NIEMAND]

why only 1080p? #2mb line problems

[@tobyy2418]

I just want to point out, if you want more excitement/intensity then add a hill that goes up to a side. On Hyper/Giga/Strata/Mega/arrow/Loony Turns or any coaster really. Even if you are going a high speed you can bank it. Try it and see ur results.

[@Cassandra112]

my quick experience with not making a death coaster. Watch G forces. Using that heatmap tab pinpointed exactly where I went wrong. Smoothing may in some cases help reduce G, due to less whiplash. But, at the same time, smoothing, may also increase car speed, increasing G.

[@Geekism]

Yes! It really is all about the G's, part two of this will look into G forces and the feedback the game gives you... unfortunately I'm colour blind and the heat maps all just look like murky brown lines to me! lol

[@Cassandra112]

Ah interesting. It boggles my mind, not all games have colorblind options. They do all have numerical readouts at least. excitement, fear, and nausea have red-green heat map scale. Red being "bad", green being "good". Which.. yeah. Must be TERRIBLE if you are red/green colorblind. Excitement- Purely higher is better. Fear- 5 is ideal. Higher is too scary, lower is boring. Nausea- lower is better. Speed uses white-blue heatmap. This should be visible regardless of colorblind right? The darker the "blue" , the faster. Its a light/dark comparison, regardless of form of colorblindness. G forces use White-Blue-Purple heatmap. Again, you should be able to see this. Blue is negative G, Purple is positive G. White is neutral. Again, comparing a color to white. So should be visible. the darker the color, the stronger the G. Readouts for G can be hard to read. white text, on white overlay, over White heatmap... However, the important values will be when the white text is over a DARK purple or blue area. A dark purple area is 7-10 G, and probably fatal. haha. Should leave feedback on colorblind options for the game. Start/stop a ride is also red/green.

[@Riotlight]

Very surprised there was no mention of using the heatmaps to see problem areas. It is the best way to see what is wrong with a coaster.

[@Geekism]

We cover heatmaps in depth on the next episode

[@chronically_funnyemma4214]

I know this video is very old but oh my goodness, I was having so much trouble making coasters functional at all and it was so helpful!!!

[@icannotthinkofaname6248]

Unfortunately it will fly off the edge 🤣

[@86health_1]

I dont like tutorials with talking they take too long and some arent even tutorials btw some are fake too

[@86health_1]

Well this ones good

[@gdhyp3rsqu1d59]

Another tip. You can use the banking offset setting as a sort of headline system. It's really rough before you smooth it but once you do it just makes your banking very smooth. It can also make rolls smoother. I like to add zero g rolls and banking offset really helps

[@PsychodelicKitten]

I can't get the Ghostbusters coaster to get out of the red and plant itself down lol I'm new so anything I find right now is helpful

[@diddy5814]

is it only console players that don’t have much space? or is it about the same with pc?

[@Geekism]

There isn't a 'hard limit' on PC like there is on console, but eventually every park gets to a size where it's just unplayable

[@avinkhatam4853]

help mine say coming soon in rollercoasters

[@karlmanning2603]

I feel like there is WAY more freedom building roller coasters in this game compared to previous tycoon installments because you are not confined to grids. I can’t wait to try it out!

[@kevingreiner2022]

Hi, how did you get rid of the decimal numbers when you lift the or bank the track? I personally get too distracted by those numbers because I can't get even numbers.

[@Geekism]

+Kevin Greiner use the 'snap' feature to give you nice round numbers :)

[@kevingreiner2022]

Geekism thank you!

[@monikajaksik3708]

You’re gonna be a great help for me! I bought the game today and immediately search for some gameplay and tips and you were pretty much on the top of my search! So glad I found you ❤️