Track Basics
Your vehicle follows the tracks provided in the package. There are enough track segments to make a number of interesting routes, and additional segments can be purchased if you need them.
We offer two-prim tracks with actual rails. We think these look great. If, however, you need to save prims, you can unlink your tracks and use just the trackbed part, which does have a rail texture on top.
Track Is No Copy
Your track does not allow copying. Be careful, if you put out extra, to Take it back to your inventory rather than deleting it.
Track Shapes
We provide straight track segments and curved segments. Depending on the kind of vehicle and track set, the specifics of these may vary a bit. Our basic set comes with ten straight segments of 9 meters in length, and ten 90-degree curves. The 9 meter length of the straights is scaled to make layouts come out even given the radius of the curves.
You can adjust either the angle of a curve or the length of a straight segment if you need to. If the track has more than one prim, you may need to edit linked parts and change each part separately. If you have a track set with “no copy” tracks, be careful in editing so that you don’t ruin a piece of track. If you do, however, get in touch with us and we’ll try to help.
If you do change the length of a segment, you’ll want to adjust its texture repetitions as well.
Track Alignment
Because the vehicle is following the tracks, alignment of the segments is very important. The vehicle can compensate for a little overlap or gapping between the tracks but alignment needs to be as good as possible.
If the tracks are separated by too large a gap, like this
gap between tracks
the vehicle may jump rapidly between them. If they overlap too much, or aren’t lined up on the same level, like this picture,
stepped too much
the vehicle may jump or slip backward briefly at that point before continuing along the track. So be sure that your tracks are aligned exactly end to end, like this:
good alignment
If you know how to use the “Grid” when building, you’ll find that to be a helpful way to align the tracks quickly, especially when building with the 90 and 180 degree turns and the 9 meter and 4.5 meter straights. We find that a grid of 0.5 meters works well for those segments. Be sure to start with your first segment on a grid point.
Simple Route Construction
There are some example route pictures included in these pages. We’d suggest that you begin by building a simple oval first, to get a feeling for arranging the track and starting the vehicle. Then you can move on to more complex layouts as you get more comfortable with arranging the track.
Straight tracks can be sloped up or down, and the vehicle will still follow them. There is a bit of an abrupt angle change when you move to a track with a different slope. Be sure to hold on. As always be sure that sloped tracks are aligned properly. You may need to adjust them minutely to get the best result. Do not attempt to slope the curved tracks: the vehicle will become confused. We plan to provide curves with slope in a forthcoming version.
To create a slope, just angle one of the tracks upward, keeping the roadbed flat across the track. That is, just angle it up along its long direction, do not tilt it sideways. It should line up like this:
good up-slope
If the gap at the bottom of the track troubles you, try drawing the tracks closer together, allowing a little overlap. The vehicle can compensate for a little overlap; it may take you a few tries to get the best result.
Try to avoid an ugly angle like this:
improper upward angle
With an angle like this, the vehicle is likely to tilt suddenly downward and then back up.
Whenever you see abrupt behavior at a track joint, it is a sign that things aren’t lined up and need a little adjustment.
Complex Route Construction
You can resize both the straights and curves if you have a bit of experience in the build editor.
NOTE: Each track segment is made of two prims! If you unlink the segments, the rails will come apart from the track bed. This is useful if you are trying to save prims but otherwise you probably shouldn’t unlink segments.
For straight tracks, you can adjust the length as follows:
- Edit one track segment. Select Edit Linked Parts in the Build Editor.
- Select the track bed. Change the Z field (track length) to the new value you desire.
- Select the track rails. Change the Z field to the same value.
If you forget to Edit Linked Parts and change Z, the track bed will change but the rails will not. Don’t panic. Just Edit Linked Parts, select the rails, and change their Z also.
It is also possible to edit segment length by dragging the blue handle in each part, but do not drag the white handles as this will make the whole segment change size and shape.
For curved tracks, you can change the length by adjusting the CUT values in the track bed and rails, again using Edit Linked Parts.
After adjusting cut for curves or length for straights, you may find it necessary to adjust the textures to look right again.
