Alright, so now that GC's walls etc are mostly done, it's time to plan the actual track system.
I've done a very crude mockup in paint, the checkers at the top are a rough scale bar, giving you an idea of approximately how large I think the various platforms will be.
Basically, what I was thinking was we have two platforms, each with an arrival section and a departure section. At the arrival section, I'll rig it so that the cart stops, and once you have gotten out, a booster cart will pick it up and take it to a
pez style dispenser.
At the bottom of the dispenser, I'll rig a sensor telling you if the dispenser is empty or not.
At the departure section, you will summon a cart by standing on a pressure plate. This cart will stop on a seperate pair of pressure plates, which will detect whether there is a cart present or not (if an empty cart is present, it will prevent the dispenser releasing more carts). You'll key in your destination (one of the 4 outgoing tracks on that side of the station, or the other platform) on a button operated track selector (
this one) then hop in the minecart. This will then trigger another booster cart to swing by and launch you.
Individual boosters will be attached to the outgoing lines after they seperate, meaning we can tailor the amount of boost needed to each route.
Anyway, is this satisfactory, or would you guys prefer a different design? Any observations etc. would be much appreciated.
Lord, do you want the departure platform (where you stand waiting for your cart) to be flush with the ground, or raised up a block or two? Any other comments on the architectural theme would also be helpful.
Also, another idea that I don't currently plan to implement, but could try is to make it so that if a cart is already sitting in the arrival section, another inbound cart will be routed to a second arrival section on the same platform.