NemesisRider's Coaster Thread
This project has been one hell of a journey – my longest ever project spanning almost a year from conceptualisation to completion. Ten Speed began in mid-February 2017. At the time, I was absolutely obsessed with Coheed and Cambria, especially their album “Good Apollo, I’m Burning Star IV, Volume 1: From Fear Through The Eyes of Madness”. I had a few favourite songs from the album, but I always particularly loved “Ten Speed (Of God’s Blood and Burial)”, for it’s great pacing and nonsensical concept. Music in hand, I began working on the initial rough layout.
LAYOUT
When it was time to decide on a coaster type, Vekoma Motorbike was the obvious choice. I wanted the trains to resemble the Ten Speed character, and thought if the ride was built by a real park the motorbike seating would have been an fitting gimmick – also, the ride type had its inception around the time Coheed were writing the album (2004 and 2005). In terms of layout, I wanted to create a highly realistic layout that Vekoma could have built in this era. As aforementioned, I took inspiration from Flamingoland’s Velocity (mainly in how it stays low to the ground and maintains a fast pace), but switched out several elements to provide more airtime and a less repetitive experience. By around March or April 2017 I had a layout I was happy to begin theming and supporting.
The early layout
When the skybox was first created
Supports on now!
Overall on the final layout
MUSIC
Ten Speed was odd in how the music preceded the ride – I actually made the first two soundtracks (Thrilling Wells IV and II) before I had any layout whatsoever, using a POV from Velocity to aid with pacing. The ten soundtracks I created for the ride were an attempt to roughly represent the entire Coheed and Cambria discography – the only album in their entire catalogue not represented is The Afterman: Ascension (as I had another soundtrack from the second Afterman album). Songs were chosen based on what fit best to the ride timings, instead of solely personal preference.
An Easter Egg in the shed room, including the Good Apollo album art
SUPPORTS AND DETAILS
The supports on Ten Speed don’t exactly seem very complex, however they provided some interesting challenges. As NoLimits 2 doesn’t have a Vekoma connector, each support doesn’t connect to the track – this meant a while was spent ensuring they lined up, but I was happy with the overall result. The most interesting (and frustrating) aspect of this coaster however was the launch track. This was created entirely from supports: I’d never really worked on support scenery of this detail before, but I think it certainly was fairly accurate to its real-life counterparts.
The blank scenery environment with Ten Speed inside
SCENERY AND ENVIRONMENT
The environment for Ten Speed was highly inspired by the original Good Apollo Volume 1 comics released by lead singer Claudio Sanchez back in 2005. Whilst physical copies are now very rare, I was lucky enough to find a digital version to take ideas from. The over-riding aesthetic was clear: bleak, drained of colour and highly stylised. My environment aimed to reflect The Writer’s crumbling mental state, hence the use of barren trees and heavy fog on the final release. The skybox did however go through a few iterations – my first concept included a skybox for each major Coheed album (e.g a blue one for “In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3”), but this was scrapped before debut.
The blue skybox
The final look, including fog
The scenery however took more inspiration from the updated Good Apollo Volume 1 comics which began to release in 2017. The building which houses the station and queue line was highly inspired by a building that appeared in both comics as well as the album’s art – The Writer’s home. My station wasn’t exactly an accurate replica; however, I did try to echo some of the scenes which appear in the comics (such as the table with the typewriter). This building is fully laden with Easter eggs and references: the scrawled text on the walls mainly contains lyrics from Good Apollo Volume 1 songs – if you look you’ll find sections from “Once Upon Your Dead Body”, “Mother May I” and of course “Ten Speed (Of God’s Blood and Burial)”. A couple of other Easter eggs include the TV in the queueline playing excerpts from the Good Apollo Animated Vignettes (which were used to promote the album in 2005) and the doormat, which references the opening lyric of “Once Upon Your Dead Body” (“if ‘hello’ could only drop it’s ‘o’”).
Outside of the station there are some other pieces of scenery, however these are not all taken from the comics (e.g. the gate surrounding the area is my own concept, whereas the Erica Court gravestone is taken from the comics).
The house frontage
Some writing on the walls
The entrance gate
The doormatt
Some planning renders...
And their final result.
THE FINAL CUT
Ten Speed is undoubtedly my most complete and detailed project yet, and maybe even one of the most realistic Vekoma motorbike coasters made within NL2. It feels strange to see it finished, and even stranger to know it placed within one of the major Roundups. All that’s left is for me to thank you all for supporting this project! I’ve got more planned, so stay tuned…
“The worlds have now learned of the worst yet to come.
On the brink of an end, a boy learns to run.”
TRANSCENDENCE
Experience pure bliss on Transcendence. This Mack Mega Coaster flies through 4 inversions, a beyond 90 overbanked turn and multiple airtime hills. This ride was created for the Seaside Screamer 3 Contest.
Combining wood, fire and trash - it's time to ride the Wicker Meme. The Not-The-Bees-Ornen have built a big wooden thing that shoots fire, because reasons. You must be sacrificed to it, because reasons. Ignite your limbs...
The finest ride I've seen on this website.
Why thank you
ROOT & OCTAVE
Years ago, an ancient civilisation inhabited the valley. They are shrouded in mystery to this day - but recent discoveries have brought to life two mysterious structures. Known as Root & Octave, these machines are powered by the Octavarium… Their secrets will soon be revealed...
MORE COMING SOON
NAVIGATOR
Journey into the wilderness and meet the Navigator - a mysterious individual who sought solace to harness the power of the Earth. This Mack Megalite soars you through three inversions, multiple airtime hills and a 33m drop. Navigator was heavily inspired by both The Storm at Etnaland and Icon, as well as other Mack rides designs.
ROOT & OCTAVE: VIDEO RELEASE
Legends tell of an ancient civilisation who used to inhabit the Octavarium Valley - two staggering structures are all that remain of their legacy. A test to challenge even the mightiest warrior, Root & Octave have a 75mph top speed, 60m drop and 8 total inversions. These coasters took inspiration from Storm Runner, Xcelerator and Duelling Dragons. Hugely honoured to say the video for these rides placed 9th in Roundup 250 - a massive thank you to everyone who has helped me on the way!
"The Octavarium will open and only the brave,
will dare face the challenge... of Root & Octave."
LOLOSSOS: KAMPF DER WICKER MAN
After 3 years of being dead, Colossos returns with a twist. This time, it's completely awful. Also, The Wicker Man from Alton Towers has returned too, because reasons. When will Merlin stop reusing ideas? Find out on next year's episode of "NemesisRider's Terrible Coasters".
THE EUTHANASIA LOOP
Take a ride into oblivion on The Euthanasia Loop. This coaster innovates upon Julijonas Urbonas' design by reducing the height and top speed to reduce cost and improve structural stability. However, you can still expect 30 seconds over 10G, and a 140kmph top speed...
AQUARIUS
The year is 2185, 5 years since the great flood. Enter the HKN1 facility and discover the story of the Aquarius, the mysterious creature captured in the floods. As the storm returns, you have no option but to flee... Will you live to tell the tale?
This project is my homage to Haken's "Aquarius", combining inspiration in both the story and aesthetics of the coaster. I was honoured to have Ross Jennings, the lead singer of Haken, lend his voice to the project playing a character based on the fisherman from the album. Haken have been one of my favourite bands since I first discovered them - a huge thanks to Ross for contributing! The coaster layout was inspired highly by Mack Multi-launch coasters like Helix and ICON.
Happy to say this placed 7th in Roundup 300!
PIONEER
Take flight with Pioneer, an experimental technology allowing riders to experience the forces of spaceflight at their desert test site. Inspired by ICON and Alpina Blitz, the low to the ground layout packs in a heartline roll and plenty of airtime! Launch in 3, 2, 1...
BLIZZARD
Ride on Blizzard, a wintery B&M wing coaster with 2 inversions and a 57mph launch. This ride is my take on a compact, non-standard wing coaster layout, inspired by Thunderbird and Flug Der Daemonen.
SKYDIVE REIMAGINED
Take the plunge on the world's first flying dive coaster. Fall face first down the 41m vertical drop, hitting a top speed of 98km/h. Fly through 4 inversions including the one-of-a-kind "flying cobra roll". It's descension time...
THE WICKERER MEME
This April Fool's Day The Wicker Meme returned and sucked more than ever.
360 POVs
360 POVs for a few of my coasters (Aquarius, Root & Octave, Pioneer) are out now. If there's genuine interest I will make one for Skydive too. The Playlist
HELLTER SKELTER
Plunge down the world's tallest helix (80m tall) on Hellter Skelter. Experience vertical reality as you enjoy a sustained 3.5+G for over 20 seconds. Delightful. Someone let Chance Rides design a new generation Toboggan polercoaster and it ended just as disastrously as would be expected. Cobbled together in 3 hours, plus a little extra, for the "5 Hours of Power VI" competition.
2020: THE RIDE
Travel back in time on an extremely awful ride through the nightmare that was 2020. Featuring fire, fury and toilet paper. Happy April Fools, 2021.
Well constructed and very interesting theme.
Nice all the special effects.
Can't wait to see part 2
Setting up a new thread with all my best creations in one place:
AQUARIUS
VIDEO: CLICK HERE
TRAILER: CLICK HERE
RAW POVS: CLICK HERE
360 POV: CLICK HERE
HELLTER SKELTER
VIDEO: CLICK HERE
DOWNLOAD: CLICK HERE
SKYDIVE REIMAGINED
VIDEO: CLICK HERE
DOWNLOAD: CLICK HERE
BLIZZARD
VIDEO: CLICK HERE
DOWNLOAD: CLICK HERE
PIONEER
VIDEO: CLICK HERE
DOWNLOAD: CLICK HERE
ROOT & OCTAVE
VIDEO: CLICK HERE
TRAILER: CLICK HERE
RAW POVS: CLICK HERE
DOWNLOAD: CLICK HERE
TEMPEST
VIDEO: CLICK HERE
THE EUTHANASIA LOOP
VIDEO: CLICK HERE
NAVIGATOR
VIDEO: CLICK HERE
RAW POV: CLICK HERE
DOWNLOAD: CLICK HERE
TRANSCENDENCE
VIDEO: CLICK HERE
DOWNLOAD: CLICK HERE
TEN SPEED – THE COHEED AND CAMBRIA COASTER II
VIDEO: CLICK HERE
RAW POVS: CLICK HERE
DOWNLOAD: CLICK HERE
FLORENCE AND THE MACHINE
FLORENCE POV: CLICK HERE
THE MACHINE POV: CLICK HERE
PARK DOWNLOAD: CLICK HERE
ELEVEN SPEED
POV: CLICK HERE
DOWNLOAD: CLICK HERE
MAGNI
VIDEO: CLICK HERE
RAW POVS: CLICK HERE
DAY DOWNLOAD: CLICK HERE
NIGHT DOWNLOAD: CLICK HERE
PIXEL DASH
VIDEO: CLICK HERE
DOWNLOAD: CLICK HERE
WICKER MEME
VIDEO: CLICK HERE
LOLOSSOS
VIDEO: CLICK HERE
THE WICKERER MEME
VIDEO: CLICK HERE
2020: THE RIDE
VIDEO: CLICK HERE