Rollerscape

And now for something completely different. I currently have four Rollerscape sets; they are essentially marble rollercoasters. They are also a source of endless frustration. The reason for this is manifold. First, the rails require banking. This is fun, but it is also a pain, because adjusting the banking on one section automatically screws up the rest of the track. Each set comes with 194 pieces with a penchant for trying to break. The marbles get lost, and become found when one slips on them. The track seems to have a mind of its own, and attaching bracers requires awkward manipulations. Perhaps I should explain more about these toys. They each come with the following:

Two (2) long plastic flexible rails. Do not cut these; you won't be able to glue them back together.
Six (6) small black plastic marbles. These are the parts that fall off the track if you did it wrong.
Two (2) neon-green antennas. These are completely useless.
Sixteen (16) L-shaped track supports.
Sixteen (16) C-shaped clamps.
One (1) hell of a lot of track bracers. These come in two types: two-grip and three-grip. The two-grips are designed to hold the rails apart so the marbles can roll on them. The three-grips do that, and also attach to the L-supports, which attach to the C-supports, which attach to the frame pieces. These frame pieces come in three sizes: small, medium, and large. Each size is designed to act as a diagonal for a square made up of the next smaller size. They attach to each other by way of plastic balls with holes in them. The frame pieces come in an indeterminate quantity known as Not Enough. You need at least two sets to get anywhere, and I want several more. The rails also have a length of Not Long Enough, and no matter what, you will run out of length on one rail before the other. This means that there is an unsightly rail sticking out, getting in the way.



Now we come to the fun part. After you figure out how to open the box (there are three tabs that must be removed), you take the parts out of their plastic bags and set up a frame. My three sets allow for a nice big 2*2*5 box (I use mediums for measurements) with plenty of bigs for diagonals. The smalls are useful for protrusions (like when you need a support outside the box) and the entry path (on top of the box). Anyway, you then assemble a support and connect it to the top. After that, the process of assembling a track is a matter of adding a support, testing, adding bracing, testing, adjusting bracers and banking, testing, trying to get the track to do what you want it to do, testing, adjusting AGAIN, testing, and adjusting the frame. When you finally finish the track, you will find that the marble falls off. Guess what time it is? Right; adjusting, testing, wash, rinse, repeat. Despite this, I have managed to build several nifty tracks, including one with a corkscrew (do not try this; it nearly brought me to tears trying to get it right) and, more recently, one with a series of overbanked curves. This toy is a perfectionist-tweaker's nightmare, but I love it anyway.

A few tips I've learned:

1) Tight curves cause marbles to lose lots of speed.
2) Don't use the method shown on the box to support loops; it wastes supports and causes the loop to flop over.
3) Test early, test often. Each support you add should be followed by testing.
4) Buy multiple sets. The extra pieces mean more freedom.
5) Don't go too far down too early; uphill sections are all but impossible, and there is nothing worse than having track left and no speed left.
6) However, don't stay in the higher reaches too long; you will run out of track.
7) Do NOT try to thread a track through a loop; build the loop around the track. In the same vein, don't try to thread the track through really tight spaces without testing; the marble might get stuck.
8) Leftover bracers can act as guardrails.
9) Barrel rolls will not work. EDIT: Actually, they will, but it's almost impossible.
10) Don't make a steep drop when the marble has lots of speed; it will fly off.
11) Don't buy the small set or the big set: the small set is too small and the big set is too expensive.
12) All of what I said (except for the part counts and the eleventh tip) goes for the Space Odyssey sets.
13) Try to have fun. If the marbles keep falling off, suck it up and adjust, adjust, adjust.

A final word of advice: Start simple. Don't build a complex track with lots of hills and loops until you can estimate what the marble will do.