ultro

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• Poland

Been meaning to write more reviews on this site, especially with a fresh new contest happening. I got time to do it today since I’m feeling a little sick for work. Either way, good job everyone! Nice to see all these maps with such a fun theme.

AJ: First of all, Vostok-apult is definitely my favorite roller coaster of this round. I love the combination of the spiral lift and the launch system, as well as the winding layout. The invert also has some fun moments, like the golden loops. The other tracked rides are cute, if not a little quaint. It’s a nice park, very Phantasialand-esque. Beyond the main coaster, the other draw would be the textures at play. Seems like some of the typical parkmaking details, like path amenities or what not, are a little lacking, but the stylized choice in textures offer something different, too. I like seeing builders embrace the WW/TT objects, even if they’re not typically preferred in the NE community.

Ge-Ride: I do wanna say that I don’t want to immediately dismiss this park as quickly as some others might. There is a unique style in this entry that I think is worth highlighting, if not an unconventional one. I think if one was to view this as a more discrete piece of video art, then it’s somewhat interesting with the development of textures at play. As an entry to this contest, it’s a bit too austere, including the game. I do like the cross spaceship, and the moon also has some interesting textures. But that’s kinda it from me.

GigaG: Cool choice to build your entry off the launch pads in Kazakhstan! Now that I think about, I don’t think NE has too many maps based around USSR adjacent countries, beyond maybe the obvious Motherland or so. Either way, I feel a dichotomy with this map. On one hand, a lot of the buildings, foliage, and general scenery are a pretty simple in their details and structure. On the other, I enjoy the approach to parkmaking that’s here. I like the content of the Soviet block area, the varying structures in the park, the burnt building, the themeing choices for the Sputnik ride (I like the idea of your on-ride picture being taken under a rocket), and even the camels. Some good ideas in the park, just maybe needed a little more details/meat to make it shine.

hypnopompia and deanosrs: Hold on, I need to orient myself to the geography of this map. Oh wait, ah, now I get it. Alright, interesting. Anyway, good fair! It’s small but the rides look nice. The diagonal Cliffhanger type ride is quite neat, and I like the awning-less pavilion tables. Really nailed the Googie architecture, too. My favorite building is the car wash, but I suppose the old Mickey D’s gets runner up. The coaster is also pretty cool, like with the elevator transfer track. Too bad that it’s mainly...by itself for most of the layout. Probably the weakest area for me was the “proper” military base. I know these types of military bases need a lot of space, and these maps can only be so large, but it’s just too bad that we only get a little bit. Maybe another building would’ve helped. I think I like the rocket tower more than the rockets themselves! Overall, it is a nice entry. Definitely a fun duo, wouldn’t be surprised to see y’all work again.

InError: Hello!!! Big building alert!! Or rather, big rocket alert, because look at them all. And they’re great! The subtle differences between their textures are cool to explore, some real nice tricks with them. Good stuff too with the Nasa assembly details, like the American flag. I liked the Compressed Air-launched coaster the most, especially seeing one with multiple hills. Most of the other rides were alright, some had nice themeing for what they were, but were just maybe a little isolated. The star is definitely the scale of the main building, and it’s hard to nail rides that share that same caliber of scale. Fun to see, sorta reminds me of Beejur.

MorganFan and mamarillas: Wow, that poor Soviet car got destroyed by that tank! But also, wow, looking good! This is some super consistent rock work. It doesn’t get too repetitive texture wise, and is well-proportioned throughout the map. Definitely my kind of stuff. Love that arch over the Turbo Encabulator. Speaking of, this is also a real fun ride! Some of the best path+ride interaction this round. Really expansive layout, too! Just a lot of fun details throughout this map. The greaser car, the Soviet base, the motel, mega stuff! Overall, a plentiful map that was pulled off very well.

Narc and RWE: Gonna be honest, not sure if I follow the backstory too well, but I appreciate the intent. The main coaster is fun enough, and I like how it dips into the rocket pad. For some reason, I find the Mind Ripper ride to be the most intriguing, just because I’ve not really seen an old skool drop-tower ride operate in such a manner. Plus, it’s got a cool sign. Other than that, I think the park is just fine. It’s pleasant. Not under detailed, but not overly ostentatious. This isn’t a bad thing, just maybe needs more park land to take it all in.

Steve and Xtreme97: Well, golly. Ambition be damned. Really had to show us how its done! In all seriousness, this is some top tier stuff. Y’all know how to articulate this type of parkmaking like it’s nothing. Look at all them paths! The ride interactions! Curves like it’s a non-isometric game! Really, really inspirational stuff at it’s best. But, to be honest, and this might be a controversial opinion, while I immensely appreciate this approach to parkmaking, I’m not so sure that it makes it my favorite map. For all the wonderful layouts of the paths and rides, as well as the elite composition in the buildings, that only feels like half of the entry. The other half are a bunch of backlot walls and roofs. To be fair, they’re beautiful walls and roofs, but it sadly doesn’t feel as complete. A certain angles, they take up a majority of the view. Kinda makes the park more fun to see in certain moments, rather than as a whole.

Good job from everyone. In the end I’d say my favorite is Rumble, but it was a hard choice to pick my second favorite. Great round!

Apologies for the mega bump but I wanted to highlight this park real quick. Throughout the years, I’ve always been wowed at the roller coasters featured here. They’re so unorthodox and unique!

The Life Cycle area is a particular highlight. Of course, it has the massive, dominating air launched coaster that spreads out over a decent part of the area. There’s such a magnificence to it, particularly because the ride has such a limited selection of track pieces, yet darkfire committed to the highlight features of this ride, and it really works here. And then, the flying coaster is splendid as well. I know many players at this time liked to design more original layouts for flying coasters, but this one also stands out. It’s not as overwhelmingly large, but more subtle. I love the traces of symmetry with the color palate and layout, along with those interlocking loops.

Then on the other end, there’s that Last Crusade coaster. The out-and-back part is well done, but it’s the second half that stands out. It winds all over the place, but not in a way that diminishes its surroundings. It curves around the path, buildings, and even the outskirts of the area. It’s just so long, yet it doesn’t feel redundant. So good.

Even the wooden coaster is nice, just twisting and interlocking all over the place. I even like the invert, which is probably the weakest coaster overall. 

That said, the park is somewhat inconsistent in terms of overall buildings and terraforming, which did hold it back from winning Spotlight (or, nowadays, even winning Gold). Nonetheless, I hope more people take another look at it, or maybe even discover it for the first time. I'd love to see a revival of coaster-making that dares to be bold.