RCT3 gamers who still have their RCT1 or RCT2 coasters will find this utility handy if they wish to upgrade their tracks so they may be played in RCT3, but prior to upgrading might like to:

1

Mirror their track.

2

Reverse their track (transport rides, self-powered tracks, or tracks that don’t rely on chain lifts for momentum).

3

Obtain a ‘blueprint’ listing of the track parts used to construct their coasters. This track parts listing will be useful if:

a

The TD4 or TD6 won't convert in RCT3 to a TRK. This listing will enable one to completely rebuild a track from scratch directly in RCT3.

b

You want to make further adjustments to the track in its native version of RCT, but RCT1 or RCT2 won’t load the TD4 or TD6 track file because

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the saved track file contains track segments that are too close to the terrain, or

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the saved track file contains track segments that are completely underground at some point.

This utility recognizes TD4 and TD6 track files for any ride type except Hedge Maze. It does not recognize or manipulate TRK files. During installation an extensive and informative ReadMe will be placed in its program files folder.

Track Decoder will detect whether RCT1 and RCT2 are installed on the system. To open track files they can be

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dragged into the application’s main window,

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loaded from the 1 or the 2 open commands above the main window (if RCT1 or RCT2 are installed on the system), or

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loaded from the top menu.

Entrance/exit booths and scenery may not work correctly after mirroring and/or reversing the track. It’s suggested to re-save the track without scenery before altering it with this utility. RCT1 or RCT2 do not need to be installed in order to use this utility but if tracks need to be re-saved for testing, or further altered with native trainers prior to conversion, RCT1 and RCT2 will need to be installed.

We suggest that with rides that have been mirrored and/or reversed, possibly the entrance/exit booth problem may be gotten around by placing the altered ride in a park, deleting the booths, replacing the booths in different places along the station, and re-saving the ride.

Rarely, TD4 tracks which have been built and then enhanced in RCT1 with a trainer may not convert successfully in RCT3. The problem is usually

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too many cars per train,

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too many trains on the track,

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track sections included in the TD4 save that did not originally come with the RCT1 coaster-type design, e.g.

i

a woodie saved with inversions and loops,

ii

a steelie saved with booster track sections, and

iii

a water slide saved with vertical track sections.

TD4 Won't Convert? The Workarounds:

A

One may directly convert their TD4 into a TD6, place the track in RCT2, then re-save as a TD6. As it doesn't seem possible to track down a copy of the TD4 to TD6 Converter, at the time of writing there are two known ways to convert RCT1 tracks into RCT2 tracks:

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Place them into the Tracks folder in your RCT2 installation, open them in RCT2, re-save as TD6 files, then convert in RCT3 to TRK's.

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Use Windows Explorer to replace your TD4 extension with a TD6 extension, then move your TD6 into the Tracks folder in your RCT2 installation. Open your track in RCT2 to ensure the 'conversion' has been successful, and if successful re-save as a TD6 and convert in RCT3 to a TRK.

B

One can rebuild their track from scratch in RCT2 following a Track Decoder blueprint and by using an RCT2 trainer to duplicate the specialty additions (i.e., i, ii, and iii) that they can't convert from the TD4. Mirror and/or reverse as desired, save as a TD6, then convert to a TRK.

C

Simply rebuild the ride in RCT3 from a Track Decoder blueprint anticipating that some of the missing additions can be restored by building with a CTR of the same track type, or with alterations to Options.txt or with RCT3 Cheats. In this case mirroring and reversing your track are not an option.

One should backup their original legacy track files before using Track Decoder.

If the TD4 or TD6 file happens to be a track design that you'd downloaded previously but have never before used in either of the previous titles, if it won't convert in RCT3 with the on-board Tracks Converter the simplest way to find out what the problem might be is to ensure such tracks run just fine in their native version of RCT. If this isn't possible and you've seen a screenshot of the track and really want it you might try and obtain a Track Decoder blueprint and rebuild the design in RCT3 from there.

Should you need to familiarize yourself with the process of converting legacy tracks into TRK's with RCT3's on-board Track Converter, our mini tutorial Using RCT3's Legacy Tracks Converter is recommended reading.

RCT Track Decoder Utility is now available for download at File Transfer Database.