Gustav Goblin

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• United States

Missed you man! Love how you strike a balance of clean and ornately detailed.

Completely forgot to vote on these! Some very nice work (and amazing peep scenes) from all five of you! The holidays will do that I guess. I could have possibly been on a fourth teaming up with Narc but unfortunately I couldn't clutch it out.

AJ's Alamo Expo: Pack it up. Stop the damn match. This is the single most AJ thing I have ever seen (and heard). Coastal Texas setting? Unique coaster choices? Birds and other random-ass animals everywhere? Banging background music complete with an introduction from Lushious Massacr? Come ON. I love seeing a player's style and personal tastes shine through so clearly.

+ Gorgeous landscaping as typical of an AJ release. 

+ Absolutely love the middle area with all the seating and string lights.

+ Green accents in Liam rock walls near water are my religion. I have no choice but to stan.

+ One of the coolest log flumes I've seen in a while! The color scheme, stacked track, and path interactions are mint.

+ The way you got the fifth color on the drop tower is clever.

+ Love the peep/staff scenes. So unlike what you usually see but so AJ.

+ They/them shark. I love a good nonbinary rep.

- Beige for the birch trunks looks a little odd and blends in with the paths. Is that how they grow them in Texas?

Bocas Del Toro: Lots of comebacks I've been very happy to see as of late! Really missed your lush and detailed style of parkmaking so this was a perfect opportunity for a Jens comeback.

? Starting on a bigass trackitecture sign floating above the map? 2020 DKMP never left you it seems!

+ Hard to put Jens J and bad landscaping in the same sentence. Very lush with some nice accents like the caves and the farmlands.

+ All of the rides are really well done with a strong identity! The launched water coaster is a joy, but my personal favorites are Arecacea (with a really clever train-itecture structure) and Urraca. Love seeing the classic Jens obstacle course come back too.

+ Beautifully executed ships! The cutoff ship with the exposed interior is such a unique move. I was trying to do a ship on Narc's map and it was kicking my ass so it's nice having more examples of how it's done.

+ This map is so interactive! There's a peep scene almost everywhere you look. 

- The map doesn't really seem to have much of a focal point for me. It has a really clear overview but no big standout moments. Not exactly a requirement, but if I had to find one negative...

- UGH MOM LEAVE ME ALONE I'M PLAYING MINECRAFT

Memories of Mauritius: Unc still got it. While I did forget to vote, this would have been my one vote in both categories. Very strong and content-rich map from a pairing that would have made sense twenty years ago!

+ That view at the top of the map with the compass facing west may be the strongest moment of the entire contest for me. Unbelievable landscaping from Deano with an equally strong Kumba layout that breaks the grid. Somehow despite Deano placing most of the scenery it still has Kumba energy! Proof of a very strong pairing.

+ On that note, Tradewinds is a banger layout. Very unique type of woodie with great flow, a very exciting feel, and an incredible station sign. The track layering is really smart too! Flattered that this came out of you DMing me asking to make the RMC track even browner because clearly chunky overwhelming brown supports aren't brown enough for Kumba.
+ Lost Tressure of the Speaker is very fun to follow. Of course Kumba would spell it like that. Loved all the cave scenes at the back of the map.

+ The range of landscaping here is impressive, from the underwater waterfall and colorful rocks at the lower level of the map to the cliffs and waterfalls at the top.

+ The town is very immersive with so many details and little scenes you have to look extra hard to find. Archi is also very diverse! Love the little peeks into the interiors.

+ The fort is a hell of a setpiece. Getting shades of Xtreme in NEDC6. Great use of half diagonals and some nice boats too!

+ Sit down kids. The king of frozen staff scenes is back. Kumba is the first name I associate with frozen staff and peeps, and once again this map is chock full of little scenes that guide you through Lost Tressure or add a fun accent here and there.

+ Somehow this map retains a very strong macro vision despite having so many conflicting colors and areas.

- Landscaping feels a little rough in some areas. Dramatic landscaping can be tough to really iron out, but I think Jens' entry is a great example of really smooth feeling landscaping.

Really awesome seeing another old mega-project see new life! I'm excited to see where this goes. You should join the NE Discord and share your updates there too!

I can't believe you made me think you were a much more experienced player TWICE this year on two different workbenches. Hoping for big things from you in 2026!

Huge congrats to you for proving you're still Elite-level sixteen years after Zippo's! What a delightful park to return with, Lake Anachronism notwithstanding. It's very much in tune with the modern meta but still very quaint and not overwhelming.

The main street is adorable with a cozy feel and a teetering-on-small scale. Kelpie is a really great layout and that dual interaction over the path is iconic. I've never seen the air-powered cars used to represent the beams on the other end of a top spin before! Very novel. The Craigdenarroch house at the end of Kelpie's side hits a perfect blend of detailed and gritty yet small and quaint, the standard most of the archi in this park reaches.

Going to the other side of the park, the highlights are the castle with the garden maze, the backstage area and Ghillie Dhu. It is very funny to me that we have had two British NE legends go on an extended hiatus and return with a coaster named Ghillie Dhu in a mountainous setting with ruined churches. The angle where Ghillie Dhu interacts with the the waterfall is an all-timer. Phone wallpaper material. I'm also a huge fan of the bike hire! For some reason NE just knocks it out of the park with those. Patagon by Terry, Sonnental by the Dambusters, and now Creag Mhor joins the fray. Logjam is also very charming and the dripping water below the lift is very authentic.

I will say I have not been as excited to dig into and dissect the landscaping in any park since Salinity by FK years ago. Shades of a modern RRP. It's incomprehensibly dense and crunchy when needed yet not afraid to be completely open without as much as a sprig of grass, all with a very smooth and painterly quality. The open sections like the dirt road near the back especially get to shine due to the contrast with the dense forests. I am also smitten by the riverbanks. The sound design in this map really accentuates the level of effort and detail you've put into the landscape. It really does feel alive.

I will say the landscaping does falter near the back of the map, almost to a level where I question if it's properly finished. The "grain" of the Tolsimir rocks (as Liam puts it) fades into full-tile rocks and the foliage gets a little spammy. When zoomed all the way out it looks fantastic, but at a normal zoom it definitely pales compared to the other side of the map. I also feel like the level of custom supports in this park is inconsistent, although custom supports are the devil so I don't blame you for not supporting a few coasters.

I really did not have The Zippo's Guy Becomes One Of The Best Landscapers In The Game on my bingo card but I can't say I'm mad for it. We're so lucky to have you back and we hope you stay around!