New Element - Park - Marriott's Marine World

Cocoa Offline

I like your creativity, Kumba. I really loved Thresher-one of my favorite coasters every.
Anyway, this park is amazing. Your style of parkmaking is so different than the ne style and it's so nice. I really like it.

Fisch Offline

I like your creativity, Kumba. I really loved Thresher-one of my favorite coasters every.
Anyway, this park is amazing. Your style of parkmaking is so different than the ne style and it's so nice. I really like it.

I don't see why everybody is hating on Tresher. I absolutely loved the layout, one of the best layouts ever imo. Just the pacing was very bad and could have been fixed by some brakes on the airtime hills as ist is on Silver Star. The rest of the park was absolutely amazing too even if I dislike the fact that you're not spending that much time for architecture. If you would be able to make your buildings looking as great as your stadiums you for sure would be one of the greatest parkmakers of all time.

All in all an absolutely fantastic park and one of the best I've seen so far. Go on with Marriott's Project Tripple X please.

Fisch

lucas92 Offline

Great park! I've been exploring it during 30 minutes how big it is! Oh, Tresher would have been better if you could have slowed the train, but the coaster is very pleasant to look at. Great job!

Todd Lee Offline

Based on the screens, this could very well be my favorite park, ever! Nicely done James.

Metropole Offline

Congratulations James, will take a proper look at the park in due time.

Ride6 Offline

First off let me say that from the overview alone this is a beautiful park. It looks like a spotlight from a distance, and getting in close does little to diminish that impact (with the exception of all those empty buildings!).

The stadiums are all spectacular, though I spent little time going over them since I'm more into the rides and your football and baseball fields already proved this. The rides department here is interesting... The flats are all fairly well thought out and taken care of, no complaints there. The monorail and skyride are excellent additions that fit their the character of the areas they travel through brilliantly and really displayed the sort of careful planning that went into the map, however I could see their entrance/exits in several of the stations. Is it really that hard to toss some walls around these things?

Monsoon Falls, though nothing particularly special in the layout department, shows some impressive hacking courtesy of Levis, and has one of the most visually impressive environments on the map. Both of your (James) coasters were quite average in quality; the impulse having to do with the choice of ride type rather than any particular element of the ride itself: the waterfalls over the track are SICK, I love it. Leviathan on the other hand just seemed a bit fast on its rolls and some of it's turns. The layout was a bit awkward, but I don't know if it's really possible to do a 4-D without it being (Phatage, Turtle, CP6, geewhzz prove me wrong here, I think you're the only four that might be able to). Hydra, as everyone has mentioned, is superb. Easily among the best of its type ever released; and it's visual appeal is second to none. Of all the coasters in the park this one seemed the most 'real'. Proteus, despite being a good attempt, simply can't match Fatha's recreation in terms of visual appeal and actual ride flow (not to say that it actually has any flow, but anyway). It's a rather awkward beast, which is a shame since I love its environment since I'm obsessed with beach and pier park themes... Then there's Thresher (*feels Kumba glaring me down*)... Thanks to it's supports and menacing black on black color scheme is one of the most visually intimidating coasters not built by someone named Mala, ever. Sadly for you Kumba you didn't do your homework: B&M will never build a ride exceeding 260 feet, or at least that's what they told Cedar Fair when the company was taking bids for their millennial giga project: it wasn't that B&M couldn't find somewhere in the park to put such a monster, they simply weren't interested in taking on such a complex engineering challenge while dealing with several other major projects per year. Besides the goof in manufacturer, and how excessively heavy the lift chain would have to be to haul a 9 car train up at that angle..... So basically forget about real-world engineering: is Thresher a great ride? I would argue yes: at least until the blocks I would adore this ride if I could actually climb on board. Sure it takes some corners too fast, and a ride like that would NEVER be built (with that rolling stock & track style anyway); but why should that stop our dreaming. Soul Harvester will never be built either but that doesn't stop me thinking that it'd be among the greatest rides ever built if it was... The post block section is all turns, no really blasts of airtime, which sorta kills it for me; but otherwise... *shrugs*. It's certainly not the best coaster in the park, at least from an rct stand point, but it's certainly the most thrilling.

Ride6

RCTNW Offline

Levis – Thanks again for your help and the feedback on it at the end (although I did miss an item I was going to fix),

JJ – Thanks and I’m looking forward to it.

Posix – Thanks Phil. I’m hoping that the next map will address some of the issues you provided me with MMW.

CP6 – The boardwalk area is also my favorite area and was really happy with the end result. I was really happy with the entrance area to the boardwalk with the monorail going through it. As for the 4D, I’m trying hard not to duplicate coasters in the soon to be three parks as I want them to each have their own drawing power. Based on the plans for Phase III and what I have planned for future updates to both MMW and MGA, this was the only place I could see using the 4D. There is reasoning behind the madness I think. Thanks again for your help on the project.

Trav – Thanks for the feedback and your right, I have not built any small structures that are highly detailed or impressive and to be honest, that’s not my style. It’s funny, I have all the patience in the world to build these stadiums, parking areas, convention centers and hotels however I have no patience to build 2x2 buildings with tons of detail work. Perhaps it’s because, like Cork, I can only zero clearance & restore 1 time (maybe twice) before I have to close everything and reboot my pc. Not sure what happens, but it’s like 8cars no longer seems to recognize that the game is upon and running. It’s annoying but you do what you have to do. So because of that, I have decided to balance the need for high detail with actually finishing projects. With the exception of a couple of people, most people that do this super high detail work in these small areas, NEVER release anything. Why is that? IMHO, I feel it takes too long for the kind of detail work that people feel they need to have and they either get burnt out our lose interest. With the exception of Kumba and CP6, how has released a full size map with the really high detail work? For me, I need to finish things. I need to see progress, I need that sense of accomplishment and I’m not talking about awards, I’m talking about finishing what I set out to do. When I first announced this project, I only had one map completed. In just over a year, 2 parks have been released, 2 CC’s a resort map and a parking facility. It’s not because I work fast, It’s because I don’t get wrapped around this super high detail. It’s just not me. All that said, I admire those that can build with this really high detail work and the amount of time it takes to do it.

OLE – Thanks. I hope you like it

RaPiPo – Thanks.

Fisch – No worries, the project will continue! Thanks

Lucas92 – Thanks. Problem with slowing it down is that the ending would have been painfully slow.

Todd and Metro – Thanks guys. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did building it!

Ride6 – Thanks for the review and I’m glad you liked it. Where to start, the empty buildings, yea, I cheated on that one. I’ve always added at least signs to the builds and I admit I took the easy way out on this one. The good news is that the park will see an update down the road as there is still room for two more coasters that will be added later. As for the monorails and sky ride, sorry you had to see the entrance/exit building however the map was created with rctmodified in mind and in both cases, I wanted the stations to have an open look about them (hence why there is no walls around them). I’m not talented like others are around hacking these so that you can’t see them. I would have preferred to jut burry them but then if it breaks down, I don’t know how to fix them. The credit for Hydra really goes to Turtle for it was his design. Yes I made a few minor changes in order to get it to fit the area and for the timing however, I couldn’t have done it without his help. I will say that I’m particularly happy with the timing of the trains though. If you notice, the track is using the block break mode and there are 4 trains in operation with zero delays (except for the built in delay at the top of the drops) At no other time is there more than 1 train in any one section. That’s why there is the pre-lift segment so that the train does not stop on the lift. BTW – K0ng, if your reading this, this is what I was trying to tell you, 4 trains NO WAITING! As for thresher, I like the color scheme better with the black on black with dark purple rails over the teal rails. It really gave that mean look it needed for that area of the park. As I have stated before, I asked for a beast of a coaster and although we would not see it in real life, I feel it still fit the concept I was looking for. I will say though that it was a pain to support the thing though!

Again thanks to everyone for the feedback, both good and bad. I have learned a few things from this project thanks to all of you and will try to incorporate those that fit my style and what I enjoy doing.

James - rctnw

disneylhand Offline

I found the most enjoyable thing of the entire park was the inside raven turn into that under-waterfall tunnel. A simply stunning concept.

-disneylhand

Todd Lee Offline

^The raven turn was definately a thing of beauty! It's fairly rare to have a parkmaker pick the right element and place it so perfectly.

James has the rare ability to build massive structures with amazing accuracy, and they don't detract from the park experience. Rog (rwadams) was also great at doing this. Unfortunately, he's dissappeared from the community, I hope to see him return one day.
The other thing I really like about this park is the way james was able to tie the monorail system in. This is done in everyone of James' parks! The stations to the transport rides are always pleasing to the eye, packed with the perfect amount of detail. They are usually open-air too, at least for the most part. The supports on the monorails are superb, as odd as it sounds, they are usually one of the first things I look for in his parks. I don't have the game open in front of me, but I especially liked the supports in the area with hydra, at least I think that's where they were. He used land blocks for the bottom half, and made it look great.

Someone commented about the ride/water/land interaction. It's not entirely realistic, but that doesn't mean it's bad. If any real park had the type of interaction that james has depicted here, I'd be there in a heart beat. I love the tunnels and water falls!

Now, there is one exception to me liking the transport stations, and that's the chairlift station on the boardwalk. It's far inferior to the others on the map, and in all James' parks, for that matter. Most of the buildings on the boardwalk are, really.

Hydra, although out of proportion with the park, fast, sharp turns, etc, I can still see what James was going for, and he and Kumba pulled it off... regardless of whether anyone thinks it should have been done or not.

Edit: I just realized that the monorail supports i mentioned are over by monsoon falls.

Edited by Todd Lee, 28 March 2008 - 03:34 PM.

Camcorder22 Offline

Wierd...I dont know if its just me but for some reason this park didnt seem that big. Maybe because it was bordered by trees and the building was on a larger scale than most parks. It was quite a beautiful park though, my favorite part might have been the impulse area because of how well it was themed. Actually, the vertical coaster might have been my favorite, as it was pretty much perfect in terms of design, landscaping, everything. As for Thresher, it would have been perfect had it been 50-75 feet shorter or if the other hills were a little taller. Although airtime is a great thing, that would be pretty murderous on both the riders and the track/train. But otherwise it was still a pretty good design. Looking foreward to the next parts of this project as this was already one of my favorite parks in recent memory.

RCTNW Offline

Disneylhand – Thanks. I too was very happy with that particular element. I was actually thinking about the jungle cruise when I designed that particular item. You know, “The back side of water”. Yes I know it’;s really the side of water that the peeps are seeing!

Todd – Glad you liked the supports. I always try to do something different with them in each of the parks. BTW – those weren’t land blocks, just brown angled base blocks. As for the chairlift station, I assume you were referring to the one Proteus. I actually felt I needed to carry that look down by that end of the pier and although not the usual preferred design of that station, it did server a purpose for me. Also I think you were referring to Thresher that Kumba and I worked on and thanks for the feedback

Cam - Glad you liked it and I agree that the stadiums do make the park seem bigger than it actually is. As for the two treed areas, those will be filled in shortly with a coaster or two down the road. Thanks for the comments and I’m glad you liked it.

James

Kumba Offline

Let's get some more feedback here so we can have a new Spotlight sooner rather then later

FK+Coastermind Offline

Looking back, im surprised i never posted here, considering i LOVED this park. so ill post my thoughts now!

first of all, i think you made an extremly wise choice in doing a Sea World like park. the attractions and archy seen in these kind of parks works very well for your styles, so i think you were very smart in playing to your strengths there. the thing that won it over for me, was the coasters. Leviathan, Hydra, Proteus, were amazing. my favorite was Hydra by far. the combination of different elements avaliable for a verticle coaster was great. the drops, and water elements, and the underwater tunnels were amazing. the coaster was very smooth and timed well. IMO the best part of the park. the other two had great layouts but it was how Hydra interacted with the foliage and landscape that really made it stand out. the other part that i felt really stood out was the big buildings like the stadiums. your big archy is really your strong point, and it really shows here. the last thing that was very effectivly constructed in this park was the landscape. it was very real. i find that alot of parks have good foliage and good landscapes, but despite being very well done, it is rare to find foliage that looks real, and you really made the park real. the weak points of the park for me were the buildings other then the stadiums. i felt that besides your coasters and stadiums you didnt have a large amount of substance. you had soem nice buildings, but they lacked the detail needed in smaller buildings. i wasnt a fan of Thresher. i liked the design of the coaster, but it was too fast. the speed at which it hit the turns and such, got to the point they looked unrealistic because it was going so fast. the tunnel was again, awesome, but i was a big dissappointed by the rest of that coaster. i think the one problem i have with your archy is that i feel like i have a blurred vision of things but no specifics. i have a building with details here and there, but i dont have enought details or definetion to the building to tell what it is or what it could be. a tine annoying details was the lack of signs here and there to tell you about the buildings. i mean, if you looked anough you could tell it was the dolphin stadium, but i thought a sign somewhere that says 'dolphin show' would be nice. peeps would be confused. i also felt that the landscape, while one of the best i think ive seen, was too much for the rides. except for the coasters, you really lost other rides in the foliage. i just felt that the park could use afew more flat rides inorder to counter the emmense coasters. all in all, its was a lovely park, and i throughly enjoyed exploring it. Congrats again on the Spotlight RTCNW!

FK

disneylhand Offline

I don't see how stadiums are architecture.
Does anyone else have the same feeling?

-disneylhand

JJ Offline

So noone designs stadiums which are buildings?

Carl Offline

A "building" is anything built or constructed, hence the name "building"

. And "architecture" is simply a collection of buildings. Therefore stadiums are architecture.

And you bringing this up was a stupid idea, especially here, where you are going to ruin a topic meant for James' spotlight, not a pointless debate.

RCTNW Offline

Sorry for the delay in responding. Been a busy these days!

FK – Thanks and I’m glad you liked the park. I can’t take too much credit for Hydra and Turtle gave me a great coaster to work with. I just filled in the blanks. Looking back on the park, I could have done a few things better. The signage work was a bit limited compared to my other parks. One of these days, I will be going back and making a few changes as part of an updated release.

disneylhand – What do you consider architecture? I’m curious what you are thinking and would love to hear your thoughts on it

Thanks

nin Fan Offline

Sorry for the bump, but I never posted my thoughts on this.

First off, despite what most people said, I thought Thresher was pretty amazing. Sure it went a little too fast, or it was a little too tall, so? I could totally see this coaster being built in the near future, as one of B&M's new coaster designs. Yes, it did go around the turns a bit too fast, but I could tell what you (er.. Kumba?) was going for. I just couldn't get enough of Thresher, I mustve watched it go around about 10 times or so. There's even a coaster based on it ( anyone interested? :lol:

) in my current solo. So for all of you extreme realists, live a little.

As for the rest of the park, I enjoyed it. My favorite stadium was probably the sea lion stadium, becuase I loved all the details on the stage platform. After it would probably be the orca one, just for its over all design. I didnt get too excited over the stadiums though, and they didnt interest me for too long.

The other coasters were great too, but I didnt care much for Hydra. It just didnt do it for me. I liked the tunnels and effects on it, but it just didnt surpass Thresher. I loved the 4D, and Im glad you made a more spread out version, instead of the traditional X-rip off.

The Boardwalk area didnt hold my attention for too long, but I did like the woodie and the chairlift, so good job on that.

I loved the atmosphere that was given off by the park. Everything was very marine park - esque, and not like an everyday SeaWorld park, which Im glad, because this isnt SeaWorld. I liked some of the smaller details, including that MW logo in the entrance plaza.

So the park was great, and while I still enjoyed Great America (any idea of when Grizzly will be released?) more than this one, it was still great. Thresher seriously made the park for me.

ottersalad Offline

Loved Steve Frank's track packs when I got into RCT. This layout to me is quite good.

Thresher was really good as well. The scaling at times was a bit big compared to modern RCT, but still good to view. Hydra seems a bit stretched of a layout by today's standards. Still a great park to view!