Maverix

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I could have phrased it better but I was just firing back at the "You can't dislike this if it's based on something real." perspective. Some real rides are boring. Frankly, there's a lot of boring amusement parks. All I'm saying is that you shouldn't get a punched ticket for basing your park on something real. If you don't like that, then too bad.

You absoluetly can dislike something if it's based on something real, but saying you dislike it only because it's based on something real is absurd.  Intent and execution are two entirely different things.  Many people, in this thread no-less, have come out and said Nintendo isn't their thing, which is totally fair.  Clearly the Mine Cart ride isn't for you, but to say "oh I don't like this ride in real life, so therefor this interpretation of it is bad" is absurd.  

To put it another way, Mr Brightside did a fantastic job recreating Maverick, but if you went and said "I don't like Maverick, you should have done Millennium Force instead" that would make zero sense.  If you don't like Maverick that's fine, but the builder tried to recreate Maverick and that's what it should be judged against.  

Basically I meant that Mine Cart Madness and most of the other attractions were well themed but not especially thrilling for the adults and white knuckle thrill seekers. I realize that is a controversial point of view but in my mind, MCM is just a little too slow during the special elements and a little too short to be effective as a thrill ride for kids and adults, unlike say, a good wild mouse coaster. I don’t expect that many others will see it that way but hopefully know you understand what I said.

You do realise it's based on/ a near re-creation of the real Mine Cart Madness ride opening at Universal Studios Japan and Epic Universe in Orlando right?  Like it's not just a concept pulled out of thin air... 

Well it's been a hot minute since I've sat down to write a review, but the Jazzcats are gonna bring me out of my cave.

LHC, you guys put together a beautiful piece of RCT with a dramatic landscape and beautiful architecture.  That bridge too is stunning.  Unfortunatley for me, this went up against one of the best recreations we've seen in the game and it's of my namesake.  Not much you could have done to counter that, but what you guys put together is still absolutely amazing.

NOW.

I'm not so sure the Jazzcats set out to please exactly one NE member with a round of H2H but I'm sure everyone breathed a sigh of releif in their discord when my vote for Maverick popped up. 

This thing is spot on.

It's the park I grew up at, and the ride that made me an enthusiast.  It holds a special place in my heart and you guys captured it perfectly.  Not just the coaster itself, but the rest of Fronteirtown as well (or what H2H map size limits allowed you to fit).  Being so familiar with the source material, I found myself looking through the map almost to see what liberties you had to take to make this work in RCT and honestly there aren't any. The layout of the paths, buildings, and rides are as they are in real life.  The path texturing and styles are exactly how I remember them.  You've even got all the ride control conduit on the brake runs and lift, AND stupid seagulls hanging out everywhere ready to ruin someones day.  

On top of all the that, you have some lovely storytelling of what the day-to-day operations are like at the park through all the staff around.  The techs getting yell at by their boss, the landscape team watering flowers mid-day, staff complaining about taking out trash, it's all so accurate.  Although, I'm not sure if they plan on putting a Six Flags sign on the town hall, but it's a great way to include the recent merger in the park as well   

I could go on and on listing the accurate things included, but suffice to say everything is.  If anyone questions why something was done the way it was done, book a trip to Sandusky, Ohio to visit Cedar Point and find out for yourself.  Well done Jazzcats.

-Maverix

Is it time to bitch and moan about being beaten by a plug-in?  Not quite, I don't think it was the plug-in that beat us

Constellations:

- I can't not mention the plug-in, and maybe it's because it's so topical with the eclipse happening recently and I was lucky enough to be in the path of totality, but this is just fantastic.  If you're gonna take the risk of having a stand-alone plug-in it better deliver, and this absolutely did.  It feels like you were able to sneak two parks on the same map, which I can only commend you for.

- The main town/village portion of the map is beautifully layered and constructed.  What I wouldn't give to be a peep strolling the seaside enjoying a glass of wine and staring at the stars.

- Speaking of beautifully constructed, the observatory is stunning, and integrated into the surroundings well so it both feels imposing and not dominating.

- Zodiac is the far better coaster for me here of the two. Great color choices and a fun layout.

- Stargazer I wish did more than just pop in and out of the buildings and surroundings at oppotune times for interactions.  Now the interactions are great, but it would have felt better if it did a bit more and felt like it had more purpose as it traveled it's layout.  I do find it funny we both made a coaster with some part of the track invisible too

Overall a fantastic park with a cool theme and gimmick that actually pays off.  It's always a bummer to lose, but it's easier to take when it's to something like this. Well done!

HELL

Not gonna review my own park, but will give some insight into the making of!

This was an absolute blast to build.  I'm obviously not a fantasy builder, but Josh came out swinging with a fun concept, and Mulpje got us going with the central tower it was easy enough to jump in and just have fun with it.  Both of you were amazing to work with!

I, probably not surprisingly, did the majority of the rides in the park.  I think everything but the dark ride I built/hacked.  I'm most proud of the two 'coasters' Spinal Tap and Fire & Brimstone.  Spinal Tap was essentially meant to be a "what coaster would be hell to thoosie's?  An RMC with no real airtime of course!" so it focused heavily on inversions.  The spine track came as a suggestion, and away we go.  The water coaster is very action park-y, but mainly inspired by an infamous ride in Kansas City that no longer exists.

I also did a decent amount of rockwork around the base of the water coaster, the more boney architecture for the coaster station and waterslides nearby, and did some of the overall pathing infurstructure around the park.  Basically I just saw what Josh and Mulpje were doing and tried my best to copy them

Again this was an absolute blast to build with two awesome team mates and I'm super proud of what we made, especially given the always fun round 1 time constraint.  Great job to Josh and Mulpje, and thanks to all the other Soda Jerks for the constructive feedback along the way!  I may have to try this fantasy thing more often.

Lostileth:

- The opening scene with the cliff face and flyer wrapped all around it is excelent.  Great rock work combined with a fantastic "realistic-fantasy layout" work so well together here along with the ship docks.

- Speaking of the flyer, this was done insanely well.  What I call "realistic-fantasy" are not easy to pull off but this manages it beautifully, feeling plausable in-world, but also not out of RCT scale so it doesn't look odd.

- The little vingette scenes around the map edge are an H2H trope for a reason, then give a lot of explorability to what would otherwise be a wall of land, and the ones in this park are excellent.  The one side is definitely more barron than the other, but that's minor.

- The rift/gas/whatever it is that sits in the middle of the map below the peep path feels very Star Wars.  

- The library itself is super well done and the rides in it are too. 

Troubadours et Baladins:

- Awesome landscaping here.  The winding path up the side of the mountain, which still has it's big cliff face to one side is done super well.  Feels very natural in how it would be built given the context of the map.

- The ride choices felt appropreately weird.  Honestly the RMC was my least favorite of the 3 'coasters', but not because it was bad, but the other two were so weird and quirky but so well done.

- The village has some fun architecture, if maybe a touch chaotic for my tastes.

- Loved the team guarding the castle on the hill!

- The jousting match is done super well and is super fun.

I did flip back and forth on this one, but the longer I sat with it Lostileth held my attention longer and felt a little more refined.  Agian, both great parks! (This seems to be a trend this H2H huh?)