New Element - Park - Applewood Amusement Park

Murdock Offline

Well, finally I write down my thoughts now:

This park was amazing.
I can't say if it deserves Runner-Up or if it doesn't, but I think this time this question is absolutely insignitificant. I think it's a new kind of park-building, this park doesn't only look nice, there's another feeling. You WANT to stand in this park and see everything in the real world.

Now some words to the park:
All coasters look very fine, especially the big white woodie (why I ever forget the name?). I was only confused a little by the B&M Inverter. Such small park has got a B&M Inverter? Well....
I also missed another water ride.
And last: Topple Tower is an interessting name fpr KMG Afterburner.

Well done yyo. I llove this small but excellent realistic park.

Coaster Ed Offline

I think it's a new kind of park-building, this park doesn't only look nice, there's another feeling. You WANT to stand in this park and see everything in the real world.

Well this is going to come across like I'm some kind of outdated member of the old guard (which isn't far from the truth actually), but it's not really a new kind of parkmaking. It may seem new because there's only a very few people who still build parks like this and release them (that I know of) but only a few years ago, a park like this would come out every other week. The parkmaking is a little more advanced now with some hacks that either weren't possible then or only a few people had the technical proficiency to pull them off, but the basic style of this park is nothing new. It's new to you if you haven't seen any of those parks, but as someone who has, I can attest that there's plenty more where this came from (although there isn't really any place to download them now). If you're really curious though, send me a PM and I'll e-mail some of those old parks.

Milo Offline

I wouldn't mind looking at some of those old parks, Ed. Just send them to oleattheville@hotmail.com and I will look at them. (The older the better IMO :lol:

.)

P.S. I know you weren't talking to me but I just got LL to work and I need some parks to look at.

Coaster Ed Offline

I guess there might be quite a demand for older realistic parks then. I'll see what I can put together. I still have a lot of old parks, but I'm missing a lot too. I can probably put together a decent little mini-chronology though. And anyone else who knows about this stuff (mantis? posix? iris?) you're welcome to contribute your thoughts as well.

yyo Offline

Well shit, Ed, I hope the park didn't come across to you as another mrICE clone or something, because that's what I was trying to steer away from. Many "realistic" or "traditional" parks that have come out look exactly alike one another, I wanted to create something different and with alot more actual realism.

Coaster Ed Offline

No, I didn't think it was a mrICE clone. What mrICE did was mix familiar elements into slightly different configurations. His aim I think was not to pinpoint just what it was about the atmosphere that made the parks feel real. His point was to create as many parks as he could in the same style. Well not that exactly, but I don't think he cared too much about each park being an artistic achievment. He just got one done and did another one. What you're onto is something else. It's similar to what Posix is doing. mrICE was just building in a particular style. You're deconstructing that style and seeing what makes it work and how you can make it better. I really don't think you're just cloning what he did and I'm sorry if my comments seemed to imply that. I liked the park a lot. I didn't think there was enough there to justify a runner-up (close though), but what was there I did like a lot. Or at least as much as I can like that 'simplicity first' style. Because even though I know it's intentional, and I see that it's very well crafted, I still see the openness and fairly simple, realistic coaster designs and buildings and tune out a bit. The atmosphere is impeccible, but there isn't really anything in there that excites me. Which is why I said before, if you're going to choose simplicity as your primary goal, that's perfectly fine. But if you want to make something impressive that is still simple, you need to either have a whole lot of it to make up for the relative lack of density (like a WHOLE LOT) or you've got to add something to it which makes it impressive. Something special. I don't know what exactly. Like some beautiful landscaping (see Nate's Three Villages) or have the overhead map look like something (like mantis does from time to time) or make the coasters special in some way. That's the hard part, figuring out how to make it special. If you figure that out, you'd have something that would be spotlight worthy (see Schuessler's IOA Hollywood or even Posix's Raindrop Riviera). A little more of the same stuff and it would at least be Runner-Up worthy.

But anyway, while I don't think your just cloning, it doesn't seem right to me to say this is a totally different style. There's a whole lot of this type of thing. It's an important part of the evolution of RCT to what it is today I think. So if someone says this is something totally new, that sounds to me like they haven't seen any of those older parks. I didn't mean to cut down what you're doing in any way. I just thought, in the interest of greater understanding, that people who like this would benefit from seeing some of those old parks too. And that's partly so they can appreciate how what you're doing is different. Not a totally new way of parkmaking, but an advancement on an already established style.

Murdock Offline

But anyway, while I don't think your just cloning, it doesn't seem right to me to say this is a totally different style. There's a whole lot of this type of thing. It's an important part of the evolution of RCT to what it is today I think. So if someone says this is something totally new, that sounds to me like they haven't seen any of those older parks. I didn't mean to cut down what you're doing in any way. I just thought, in the interest of greater understanding, that people who like this would benefit from seeing some of those old parks too. And that's partly so they can appreciate how what you're doing is different. Not a totally new way of parkmaking, but an advancement on an already established style.

Hmmm, now I will get problems to explain it:

The way the parks is build isn't new for me.
It's more a feeling when I look at this park, that is new for me.
In fact I didn't see many "old" parks, so it would be nice to send me some of them.
After that I'll think twice. Maybe.

Panic Offline

This is the sort of park that grows hugely on me over time; it has already done so very noticeably on second or third glance. Rather than the rip-roaring fantasy theme park, I think it's admirable you chose to evoke the quiet, small-town amusement park that's just beginning to make a name for itself in the industry. It's a look back to the love of real-life amusement parks and rides that for many people, I would surmise, was the reason why RCT was so compelling. I think it's actually fitting that this didn't get runner-up, as wonderfully attractive as the park is to me. The standards of what is "in" in parkmaking currently are a world away from what this park goes for. I think it's more appropriate that it be placed here for all to discuss, rather than becoming simply another hyperlinked name on the page.

Coaster Ed Offline

I'm going to have to respectfully disagree with you there Panic. I think the only reason this isn't a runner-up is that it isn't big enough to be considered a full park. And really, I don't know that anything is "in" in parkmaking currently. What's "in" is finishing a park. Just doing that is cause for celebration. I see all sorts of styles being worked on right now. There aren't enough parks being released and gaining attention for there to be a trend right now. The only real trend is inactivity. (Well, with Pro Tour parks under construction, I suppose that isn't surprising) Lately (as in the last week or so) I've been seeing a lot of very traditional LL parks. Like this one actually.

Panic Offline

What I'm saying is that whatever reasons prevented this park from getting the runner-up status, it's almost convenient that it didn't because it's different. You are right when you say that there are a plethora of styles being worked on nowadays and I am glad for that. But, for example, every park that managed to win Spotlight in the past 12 months preserved the rides-within-semifantasy-themed-areas approach, and a lot of the really respected runner-ups and SRUs did so as well. That's what I meant when I defined what was "in" as far as parkmaking went, although perhaps that was more of a blanket statement than was appropriate. I was going by what seemed to be necessary these days to boost a park into that category. I just think that a small, quaint park such as this, and made in LL, would have gotten subordinated like crazy under whatever Spotlight or RCT2 runner-ups had been announced. And thus it's paradoxically both fortunate and unfortunate that it's not in that category. I'm happy that it's here on its own taking up the gauntlet of, as you said, a small new wave of realistic parks that have emerged, such as Ragtime Grove.

Valp Offline

I just want to say that I love this little park.

Now, I don't think it deserved runner-up (too small), but I've had such a great time looking through it, exploring every little ride and attraction. The corkscrew coaster was my favorite, but I did love the invert's underground/inversion.

This made me want to go back and play RCT the way I did when I first got it- no buildings, no huge paths, no crazy theming... just coasters, pleasant scenery, and making the guests happy. So that's what I did. I had a wonderful time building up Leafy Lake- complete with classic out-and-back, lovely miniature railroad, and classic, simple, silly names for everything. And trying to maintain a monthly profit. And using advertising campaigns. And buying land- but not too much (it can get expensive). And putting in wonderful maze that surrounds a small grove of trees.

So thanks for that.

It's also peaked my interest in some of the simpler parks around the site... I absolutely love Sandia Peaks, and Kronecraft's Allure Lake is perhaps my favorite of the bunch.

Great job, yyo. Huge improvement over Kingdoms. (just maybe make the buildings a tad more detailed and interesting... but not too much!)

Corkscrewed Offline

Well, you know this already, yyo, but if you had twice as much as you made... you'd have a whole park... and thus an actual Runner Up. :lol:

Unfortunately, the video seemed to raise my expectations higher than what was actually there, because there ended up not being much there period.

Although what WAS there was pretty good, and the fact that it actually took me a bit of time to decide what to do with half a park is probably the best testament to your skill that I have to offer.

Nitrous Oxide Offline

Very kickass park. Very realistic, my favorite.. All the coasters were very nice then only thing that bothered my was the over used yellow flowers and castle theming. Other than that, amazing.

Park / Applewood Amusement Park

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