Park / Longyearbyen
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17-January 21
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Description
**Please open read-me first!**
Welcome to Longyearbyen!
Perfect, you are just in time for the world’s most northern Christmas fair!
Take a ride on one of our traveling attractions or have a nice hot Glögg to warm up your body and spirit, while taking in the lovely atmosphere around the Christmas trees!
The best way to experience the natural wonders of Spitsbergen is on Longyearbyen road.
Go rent your own 4x4 off-road truck in Arctic Rentals, which is situated inside Funken Lodge.
Follow the yellow trail over the Longyearelva river right into the heart of the Nordic landscapes, up the beautiful Platåberget mountain to end the journey at a huge frozen lake!
Make sure you start your adventure at dawn and who knows you will get a glimpse of the magnificent northern lights!
With its beautiful bright colors, it’s a “once in a lifetime” must-see! -
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He who travels has stories to tell!
Grand Final - The North Pole
What an adventure it's been - from the sun soaked shores of the Caribbean to the icy peaks of the Himalayas, we've seen a huge variety of unique locations. On top of that, we've also seen some incredible parks from amazing builders, new and old. Here to finish it off are 5 stunning entries for the final round of The Grand Tour 2020. For reference, these were this round's criteria that all entries will be judged on:
1. Your park must be set in or themed to at least one of the following countries or territories:
Alaska
2. Your park must include an adventure ride
3. Your park must reference travelling
How to vote
Before you vote, you have to make sure you've viewed all parks with thought and care. Voting happens through the polls above. The submissions will be judged on two criteria. First, you are asked to vote for the parks that you think completed the three objectives for this round the best. Second, you are asked to judge the parks on their overall quality - separate from the round objectives. After 72 hours, the polls will close and we will add up the votes from each poll. The submission with the most votes in total will determine the winners of The Grand Tour 2020!
Entries
I can't open Tromso's Nordlysfestilvalen and I have the most up to date regular release of Open RCT2. I've seen all the other parks except for that one.
You need to switch to the latest 'develop' version of the game. If you use the OpenRCT Launcher, it's really easy to flip the switch from release to develop as you boot up the game.
You should also download Spacek's Raptor Release pack from his thread on NE - it includes the necessary files as well.
What a round. Absolutely stunning - 5 parks of truly insane quality here. Remarkable work throughout, it would be an understatement to say anything but we're starting 2021 off with a huge bang.
Five Minutes to Twelve
First off; how the hell? Amazing - hopefully everyone gives this a long enough look to notice the special effects going on. Lovely work with the town nestled in between the mountainous terrain. The landscaping is stunning, and feels very suited to RCT - I love that. Your oil rig and arctic scene is also top notch, with a lovely dueling coaster and associated theming. I really love your old mine adventure tour, I thought that was among the best for the "Adventure Ride" objective. There's everything to love about this park, and I think all the details are perfectly suited for it. Well done on the ship, of course.
I don't really have much to say about this because I simply think everything is fantastic and complementary. Awesome job.
Remote Russian Archipelagos
Another very well done ship, I'm enjoying this round. I really appreciate the travel experience backstory; that helps you meet the objectives quite well. While I'm not totally sold on what your adventure ride is (not sure if it's the coaster or the zodiacs), I think it all comes together extremely well. Such a charming little scene with the village and port - I could see some remote town having a little set of attractions like this. The coaster is also a fun addition, it's very enjoyable to explore as it travels through the ice islands. All in all, really nice solid submission. Really excited to see what else you have up your sleeves.
Kugluktuk Lodge & Resort
I love skiing, so this is another fun one for me. Definitely an air of "Haystack 2.0" here, but I think it has a lot of identity. Stunning huge lodge and well done landscaping. Unfortunately, I think your palette has a bit of an issue going on, as I'm seeing a lot of dark purple pixels in the trees and railroad bed. A little distracting, but fairly minor. The architecture and landscaping are certainly the strong points here. The mountain village is very fitting, and I think you pulled it off to a T. As always, you guys pulled off a lot of the small details to make it feel alive - and I think this is way better done than Mavarillas. I do wish that there was more of an adventure ride here to meet the objectives. I appreciate what you're going for, but I think some of the other parks accomplished that aspect of the objectives slightly better.
Tromsø's Nordlysfestivalen
When I talk about this round being an absolute stunner, this park keeps coming to mind. I'm going to address the coaster first because holy crap - the level of hacks and tricks executed with this ride is mind blowing. I love the drop track, turntable, and the lift hill fake-out. I don't even know where to begin - it's a stunning ride and super well done. I think it might be a bit more coaster than adventure ride, but it's just so well done, I can't get over it. Fabulous landscaping with excellent blending of terrain types throughout - I do love it a lot. The bridge is REALLY well done, and you've got an awesome little cityscape too. The funfair and carousel are really cool additions, could really see myself here. Something I noticed that I think is a lot more subtle is the palette use - it really feels like a winter day in Norway. The aurora (borealis? At this time of year?) is a nice and creative little feature as well; really cool. High marks across the board from me here.
Longyearbyen
Last but certainly not least, Coaster-GEOFF making a big appearance in the finals. Both solo submissions have been incredibly well done. I wouldn't have been able to pull this level of work off as a solo piece in this amount of time. Well done on your adventure tour, I think that's really quite successful toward the objectives. The 180 degree scene effect is really well done, and I love the way you accomplished the aurora through a mix of objects. I can tell a lot of thought went into this. The architecture may not quite stand up to the absolute titans you're up against this round, but I am beyond impressed by your progression through this contest. You've gone from a few low key releases to...this in less than a year. I can't remember the last time someone improved so fast. You should be proud of this, it's amazing to see how far you've come.
Overall Thoughts
Like I said, this round is some insane RCT. I'm going to need some time to really think and nitpick this time. It's splitting hairs on both poll questions this time. It will literally be down to one or two things for me to pick one over another this time. I both love and hate all these builders for making me make such difficult decisions this round. I would honestly love to see all these parks take the win. What a way to end an amazing contest, and what a way to build some excitement for what's next after this - GT has really pushed the bar higher and higher, and I think that's a great thing for remarkable submissions to come.
Not really the time to write some deep reviews, but damn! Everyone stepped up their game big time. Don't know who said it yesterday during the awards stream but this parks truely are H2H finals quality. For each and every park there's something to say they could win it. It will be a hard choice, a shame only 1 can win because all these parks are winners!
Five Minutes To Twelve (Tolsimir and Leon)
I don't know where to even begin with this, because I could really gush all day about it. The thing that first caught my eye was of course the two coasters weaving across the icy landscape. From the overview I thought this would be rather messy but you've pulled it off fantastically. The theme of the sabotage vs the security of the huge oil drill is excellent and the layouts are solid with some nice duelling moments; I adored the interlocking cobra and immelmann especially. The oil drill structure is very impressive too, and things like the suspended supports are really great touches. When I noticed the effect taking place I was amazed, ingenious use of that object type, and I share the same sentiment as CC9 in hoping that people take their time in viewing it. The rest of the map of course shouldn't be overlooked either. The mountainous terrain is superb, perhaps a bit too quarter-blocky in some places, but I think this landscaping style will never look bad. I found the town really cute and well polished, perfectly represents the Norwegian theme. The mine experience was probably my favourite of the adventure rides from this round, feels at home in its setting. And I love the way you used the train station as both the adventure ride and the normal train. Stellar entry.
Remote Russian Archipelagos (Mamarillas)
Was really hoping you'd submit an entry and it's a great one! I think you've definitely developed your cso skills nicely over the course of the contest and this is proof of that. The opening scene is lovely, immediately tells me the setting and has a lot of cute details. I don't understand why this is split off from the main section of the park, it feels like they could work together well enough though I do like the snowy mountain framing the other town area. I really enjoyed the docks with those big tanks of coal and the town is quite pretty. The ship is really the standout of the map however, so cleanly executed and I think one of the best you've done with a beautiful colour scheme. On the other side of the park we get to the main event with this striking blue coaster. Love the layout and I think this qualifies nicely as the adventure ride having a number of interactive points, and the support work is stellar. The Zierer manufacturer name is a little odd considering the setting, and I think you could have married the snow objects with the landscaping a bit better at the edges. I think other than that this was brilliant. Lots of details and tidbits, like the polar bear eating and the birds diving for fish. All in all solid work, you've really outdone yourself here.
Kugluktuk Lodge & Resort (Hydro and Henk)
Wow, probably the best opening scene from the contest so far because the ski lodge is just stunning. The size is so overpowering but I think you've managed to make it fit perfectly. The level of detail here is fantastic, really feels like there's something new to see wherever you look and that detail is carried throughout the park (already a contender for best crunch 2021 haha). The ski town is really brilliant too, superb architecture throughout with great use of varying shapes and colours - I adored the building with the angled front and the circular deck at the back. The ski slope area is solid, love the architecture here again and I think despite the haystack resemblance being a bit strong it looks really well-made. One complaint would be the curved grass trim objects sticking out a bit too much on the slopes, and not really resembling ski lines that well. In general, I also think the adventure ride (the wildlife tour I assume?) could have had a much more prominent role, as at the moment it feels pushed off to one side (literally). I did enjoy it though, and the little cave it goes through is cute. My only other real issue with this, which is probably nitpicking at this point, would be the name and setting. I didn't get Nunavut at all from this - it feels much more like a ski resort set in the mountainous west of Canada, whereas Nunavut is largely flat and empty, and doesn't exactly have a ski industry. It still fits the Canada theme but the specific location is off.
Tromsø's Nordlysfestivalen (FK and Zarathustra)
The calibre of your work last year (not just in GT) was seriously impressive FK, and this is a fantastic bookend to your progress through the competition. The immediate thing that stands out at first glance is of course the cityscape. Architecturally this is certainly among your best work and some of the best stuff on NE without a doubt. All of the buildings feel so true to life and just from a cursory search you can see that you captured the feeling of Tromsø perfectly. That rustic red coloured "Scandic" hotel on the waterfront is so sleek and the subtle curvature at the edges and on that front facing side works so well. The cathedral is simply excellent too, as is the bridge. And then across from the bridge you have the showstopper coaster, which takes the adventure ride brief and dials it to 11. So many good uses of shoestrings and hacks here that it's hard to absorb them all and definitely calls for viewing over a few cycles. I love how you incorporated the rail yard turntable. The building cohesion here is solid too, definitely brings the area together very well and the red is a gorgeous accent. It goes without saying that the foliage and landscaping bear your trademark crunch and works beautifully. And lastly, of course, your implementation of the aurora borealis is gorgeous and took me by surprise. Excellent work; I think this contest has been quite the FK revelation for a lot of people, myself included, and you'd easily be a first or second round H2H draft pick for me.
Longyearbyen (Coaster-Geoff)
Was really excited to see what you were going to come up with for finals, so I'm glad that you got an entry in! This certainly feels like a step above your other parks in the contest, creating a really vibrant atmosphere with a lot of charming scenes and great details. The colourful town by the water is very pleasant, as is the main tour station, and I loved the outward facing glass windows which I saw you used elsewhere too. On the other side of the map, the town here is again solid work. I'm not the biggest fan of the bright red roofs and while I understand you were trying to get the snowy feel with the white it creates more of a checkerboard which looks off to me. Even just using snow piles alongside the white roofs would have helped I think. I enjoyed the architecture here though, especially liked the garage checkup building. The mountain is quite nice, though I think painting the faces of the topmost pieces the icy/snow colour would have worked better than the rock texture. The big surprise however, when you turn 180 degrees, is stunning and is probably my favourite thing of yours so far. Brilliant use of objects and the scene you create with the black background honestly works better than I would expect to create that magical nighttime atmosphere. It's really been a joy to see you grow so much throughout the contest Geoff, great work.
No real time to write a full review at the moment, but I just wanted to say that this contest really pushed creative ideas beyond just micro details in the more traditional sense we've seen in the past few years. New objects and ride usage to push events and ideas, this stuff has been awesome. Both Five Minutes to Twelve and Tromso's Nordlysfestivalen capitalized on that move this round and I really think it enhanced their entries very well. Stuff like that makes me excited for the next big contest and the future of object use, so long as people continue combining it with well-developed aesthetics.
WOW! What a quality!!!! For me, there's one winner, but it is very close! GOOD JOB!!!!
This is honestly an insane final. I think I voted 90% on 3 of them and it was really tough to decide for me, which I liked best.
I'll try to do a video review. Awesome job guys, really nice stuff.
RaunchyRussell Offline
Wow. Everyone came into this round guns blazing and really blew my expectations out of the water. Here are my favorite moments of each submission.
Five Minutes to twelve:
-The landscape. Classic, blocky rct, which is a good thing. Still holds an organic enough shape.
-The Norwegian town and how it was nestled into the mountainous landscape. The green diagonal shack with the fishing boat was my favorite building in this.
-Oil rig was super convincing. Loved the liveliness the protestors and the coasters brought to the icy landscape. Melting ice objects??? wtf. So cool to watch the ice slowly melt away.
-The sea saga boat was beautiful, loved the little oil spill scene.
- The mine ride was very well done. Loved watching it go through each little scene with the cutaway tool. Excellent job.
Kugluktuk:
-Beautiful lodge. Loved that, that was the first thing on the screen when I opened it. It is completely massive and true to the parks scale.
-Seems like this place gets people pretty horny. Really liked the idea of hiding the peeps getting it on in the snow. Reminds me of when I was in high school ski club. Little Easter eggs like that take this a notch up in my book.
-The archy in general was amazing and full of meticulous details. Lots to explore, super fuckin crunchy stuff especially with the melted slush details.
-The wildlife explorations location on the bottom of the cliff was awesome. Loved that curved glass building overlooking the whole ordeal too.
- Atmospherically its super cohesive and felt like a real resort. You nailed it.
Longyearbyen:
-Simple and effective archy throughout, the lodge looks identical to my home hill (Wild Mountain in MN) so there was a bit of nostalgia here for me.
-The wooden bridge with the glacier run off rushing past it was a big plus as well.
-The Northern lights section was breathtaking. Loved everything about this area. Your object use for the aura, the frozen lake, the liveliness the ice skaters brought to it, the integration of the adventure ride. Insane reveal.
Remote Russian:
-The cathedral is lovely with all the surrounding details, the "no smoking" scene was a nice touch.
-Cruise ship. Super clean.
-We all know by now that you have a great eye for original object use. The cranes at the coal plant were spot on along with the textures of the coal filled train cars. Thought that was a great way to utilize the ground texture object.
-The coaster is gorgeous. Loved the supports, the setting on the ice, and the little details you added to spice it up so it wasn't just a hunk of floating ice.
Tromso:
-The pallette here really sold that cloudy, cold, and depressing feeling of winter, which was great.
-The architecture was top tier. Loved the artic Cathedral, the weird coal shaped building, the 'scandic' building next to the carousel, and ofcourse the bridge. Never thought I'd have a crush on a bridge, but here I am. God that thing is HOT.
-Flat rides are excellent, but man that coaster. Fucking insane. My pea brain cannot begin to comprehend how that thing even operates. You are a mad man Zara. Great job on this ride, the turntable, drop track, very innovative. Very impressive entry you two.
Overall, everyone kicked ass. Each entry really had their 'wow' moments too. Really tough matchup.
Alright, I have never commented for one of these, but I suppose "better late than never".
Five Minutes to Twelve:
The simplistic aesthetic of this park is something I like quite a lot. I think both the town sections with the fjord and the ice sheet were both well executed, but the real show stopper is of course the melting ice trick, which is ingenious. I think this park really centered in on the objectives for this contest, and the issue of climate change is a really great thing to showcase. The adventure rides were also really fun to watch as they came of of the large oil rig. The only thing I might criticize (and this is a nitpick), is that the two different areas clash a bit too much for me. Really great work!
Kugluktuk Lodge:
I'm going to be honest about this one, and I will try not to be harsh. First of all, let me say that I do in fact enjoy this entry quite a lot, and it is certainly of high quality. With that being said, I do find some areas of the park to be a bit messy and hard to follow. This follows the same trend as Carnival de Maravillas. Personally, I find it to draw the eye to too many places. I am also not a huge fan of the rock work used for this entry. The lodge itself is amazing, and as someone who lives near dozens of ski resorts in Vermont I can say it is quite accurate. I do also wish the ski slopes were also a bit steeper, but that is a nitpick. Overall, disregarding my personal preference with the huge amount of micro detailing and overall slight messiness, this is really great piece of RCT and I can clearly see you guys put your heart and soul in to it.
Longyearbyen:
This entry is certainly not as flashy as some of the others, but it was still really well-executed and very clean. In terms of critiques, some of the buildings with red and white roofs do look a bit strange to me, maybe make them either all red or all white, and I have never been a fan of those custom flat rides. Of course, the best part of this entry was the aurora in the back of the entry. I think the way this was executed was really smart and pleasant to look at with the ice skaters and adventure ride right near it. Overall, this was a really nice entry that was quite pleasant. Great work!
Remote Russian Archipelagos:
Mamarillas strikes again with another great entry. This entry had a really well done coaster/adventure ride. I kept watching that thing for far too long honestly. My favorite part of this one was the large boat and dockyard, both of which were amazingly well done. I also love the birds chasing the school of fish, what a great detail! My biggest critique of this park is unfortunately the church at the front of it. While it in itself was well done, I think it clashes with the wild and remote arctic section. However, it is not something I would dock 5% for, and it is really the only complaint I have at all. Nice work!
Tromsø's Nordlysfestivalen:
In my opinion, this entry has the best adventure ride (by far), and also the best overall quality. First, the ride. Zara is back at it again with his vast knowledge of the hacking dark arts. Seriously, though, the fact that you were able to include launches, a drop track, a turntable, a near-miss with another train, and block sections all in one ride is extraordinary. And who could forget the architecture (also the best of the round in my opinion). The standouts in that department for me were the hotel, the building with a bit of a strange shape, and the Arctic Chapel. I looked up some reference images for the city of Tromsø, and I think that church was perfectly executed by you guys. Lastly, the aurora effect with the custom trains is like the cherry on top to an already delicious sundae. I was not even surprised when it showed up, but it was still really cool. Really awesome work here, it's my clear winner for at least the quality category and a tie with Five Minutes to Twelve for the objective.
With all of that being said, my winners are Five Minutes to Twelve and Tromsø's Nordlysfestivalen for completing the objectives the best, and Tromsø's Nordlysfestivalen for having the highest overall quality.
Honestly, I loved all of these entries and everyone who was a part of the final round should be proud of themselves. It was fun competing against you all in the earlier rounds, I sure learned a lot.
Geoff
Really lovely recreations of the Logyearbyen archi. Looks very much like the photos, and looks great in game too. My one thought is that the patches of white roof look a little off to me. I'm guessing that's to portray snow, but I think using snow objects would have worked better. The hills above the town look a little too brown; I think using the snow vertical texture or else trees or something to break up those brown vertical faces would have helped break it up. I love the snow falling on both sides of the map. Rally brings it all together. The adventure ride is very cool- easily a solid Design to me. While I like the realism side, the night side is my favorite part of the entry. You really captured the magic and wonder of the Northern Lights. It feels like you really executed the classic NE fantasy style, but it also feels unique and fresh on it. Great work overall, and a very cool way to end the contest.
mamarillas
I loved this park! Really nice look with the dark blue water contrasting with the snow, and a beautiful boat. Definitely an obvious nominee for best additional contest. I loved the scale of the park, almost like a map, expressing so many places. I do think one weakness is that it doesn't make a ton of sense without reading the story. I think it would have been nice to express it more in the park; I think a few news messages would have helped set the mood and inform the viewer. Also maybe showing the flight over the mountains as well. Although I love the idea of having the finish part over the mountains, it is unorthodox and I think you could have sold it even better. Still I actually loved this park, there are so many small details that make it fun to view. Every time I view it I see something new and cool, including your mini games. Not sure I exactly get the astronauts joke, but I laughed super hard anyway. I loved all the rides by the shore, and the cranes were top notch like I'd expect from from you. Really just such a great expression of everything you are the best at. Cool to see you use CSO to express the same little scenes I'm used to seeing in your NCSO work. I really enjoyed how the coaster had slow sections, like to look at the polar bears. Just a great park overall; definitely a huge step up from your already solid CSO work.
Hydrokert
I really love the archi in this entry. The massive Ski Resort is extremely impressive for a structure of it's size. I can't even fathom begging to tackle something that large. The small buildings I think I like even more- so many nice details that make them all come alive. I think this park also did a great job expressing travel with the trainyard. I don't think the other objectives were well represented. There doesn't seem to really be a strong adventure ride. The wildlife tours are just on the edge of the map- would have loved to see something that went more around the map more, and maybe had some interaction with ski slope. I also think the landscaping was a little rough in spots, with so many highly textured rocks mixed with trees. The landscaping would have worked better if it acted like negative space in contrast to all the many other details on the map. Still most of the map looks really amazing. I especially love the Observation Deck in particular.
Tolleon
This was my personal favorite of the group. Just to get it out of the way, holy shit the melting ice! I thought we had a pretty good effect with the aurora, but you really took it to the next level with something much more original and breathtaking. The diagonal valley is super cool also, with the bridge across. Then there's the boat and the lighthouse, the symbolic use of color, the clean quarter tile landscaping, The Ring. This entry is just stacked with really impressive elements. The underground mine is really beautifully done, although I think a mine train is not the most interesting place to take an adventure ride. I also don't like how it shares track with the commuter train, as they aren't timed and they actually glitch through each other sometimes. Could have been a cool trick if you'd timed it, or made a separate track for them to pass dramatically on the bridge. It feels like the duelers grab the viewers attention more, and they duel very closely, except sometimes they don't. There's also some pacing issues, with it very slow in parts, especially the blue one. Still despite these few nitpicks, it is a really gorgeous map overall, and the melting snow effect already tops any innovation we saw 2020. I also think this map had the best concept of all of them, addressing an important issue which is rare for RCT. Definitely one of the top parks of the entire contest. (p.s. we got to collab sometime.)
My park with FK
Thanks for all the kind words about our park. I am glad people are enjoying so much. We put an insane amount of time and effort into it (especially FK) and I am glad it paid off in the end with a park I am very proud of. In case it wasn't obvious, I worked mostly on the coaster and all the other moving elements, like the aurora, flat rides, traffic, and peepability, while FK handled making everything look super good. I did also do some of the landscaping, coaster supports, and flat ride structures. This is easily my favorite park I've done, and it makes me very excited fo the future. Thanks to FK for believing in me, and also thanks to everyone who helped with making objects.
Finally got around to view these gorgeous entries. I think I agree with the general sentiments in the posts above but I will share some brief thoughts on the entries:
Longyearbyen
This entry stood out to me as the most geniunely cozy and quaint, perhaps together with Remote Russian Archipelago. While the other entries went for more brooding themes or styles, or more imposing structures, this feels relatively lighthearted. The village feels convincing and has some nice details and archy - the structures that use the tilted glass facades, like the chairlift station, especially stand out. The "night side" where the northern lights are on display is an interesting addition, and in itself I think it looks really pretty, but not sure it was combined in a clean way with the rest of the park (not easy of course). Definitely a very solid park which only leaves just a little more to be desired because the other entries were all a notch above it, in my opinion. But you've been a force to reckon with in this contest and you are definitely finishing with your strongest entry yet, great work.
Kugluktuk Lodge
Beyond crunchy! Talk about shock-full of detail and texture. The absolutely massive lodge is an impressive feat of large-scale architecture, and looks incredible, if perhaps just a tad bit too large compared to the map size. The surrounding archy is also stellar, with each building looking unique but at the same time fitting in perfectly. It's a very lively scene which adds to the atmosphere, and it's so fleshed out it's easy imagining being there, going down the slopes and then stopping by the lodge for some hot chocolate. The adventure ride seemed a little tucked in on the side, and is perhaps not as eye-catching as it should be, but still very nicely executed. One nice addition which feels fresh to the "ski-lodge" theme which has been gaining in popularity is the snow rally going on along one edge of the map - nice unique detail which I appreciate. A very rich and lively entry which has taken your crunch skills to a new extreme level.
Five minutes to Twelwe
Is it too much of a spoiler to say my brain melted when the magical thing happened?
Really a powerful effect using what feels like a new trailblazing trick that perhaps could be used for tons of other cool effects and ideas in the future. The little town is super cute, and the dramatic landscaping that separates it and the frozen ocean is stellar. The oil rig and the research station are both really well executed and the dueling coasters are great. The adventure ride is nicely incorporated as well. One of my favorite things about this entry are the various vehicles all around the map, especially the boats. The large one is fantastic, but the one I like the most is the small diagonal boat in town, just deliciously good.
Remote Russian Archipelago
At first I didn't really understand what was depicted in this park, but after checking out the various pdfs it became clear, and I think another thing that became clear is that you acheived the objective of including a reference to travelling the best of all entries. The idea is executed really well, even if the map shape maybe could have been optimized just a little further as it looks a bit awkward. But what's on the map is great, everything from the large church in Helsinki to the industrial port in Murmansk to the icy islands of Novaya Zemlya (who would have ever thought that this region would be depicted in RCT - thanks GT for enabling super obscure themes!). The coaster weaving in and out of these icy islands is great and really pulls off the adventure ride feel. Great entry and again I appreciate that you dedicated yourself to the objective of referencing travelling, something that felt almost tangential in the other entries.
Tromsö's Nordlysfestivalen
Another really crunchy entry with the most fleshed out archy and infrastructure of all the entries. The moody pallete really helps set the scene, and as a Scandinavian myself I must say this entry feels the most uncanny in terms of architecture. There are many great buildings like Scandic Hotel, the white cathedral, the geometrically complex black house by the pier, but the standout feature is the absolutely amazing bridge that spans the river. On the other side of said river, there's a more dramatic scene with steep landscaping and nestled within that, a mind-blowing adventure ride that blows the other adventure rides in this round out of the water. There are some insane mechanics going on there, and following the train was fun - like an adventure! - and it took a while to understand the behaviour. On top of all this goodness, the aurora effect comes out to cap it off - and that is a mighty good-looking aurora effect too, I wonder who made those aurora sprites?
Really stunning entry and I feel the one to beat.
Wow, that turned out longer than I thought. Thanks everyone for delivering amazing parks in every round - whoever wins will have fought really hard against incredible competition to be crowned champion and it feels like the GT has evolved into a more prestigeous contest for every round.
Never reviewed on NE before, but I'll try. Parks are not listed in any particular order:
1. Five Minutes to Twelve
The small town in the corner here is really eye catching to me with its colorful roofs and buildings, and it's fun to explore all of the tiny details in and around it. I think the mine tour is an excellent use of the cut-away view, I like seeing a mine done with that level of detail in RCT. I also think the ship and boats were well done in this, especially that oil tanker.
The only (very minor) thing I didn't like as much was that the transition from the greener side of the map to the ice was a bit jarring. The coasters however had some fun dueling moments, and I like how they use the airport and oil rig as stations.
2.Nordlysfestivalen
Having the aurora roll through as I was just starting to look at the city was a nice surprise, loved the effect. I like the variety of building in this, from historic the modern. The bridge is really impressive and manages to fit in very well with the city.
The coaster on the other side impresses me with the technical aspects, with the spinning turntable and the drop track that I couldn't figure out the mechanics of no matter how much I looked. And I like the interesting moments with the nose-to-nose train and the switchback sections.
3.Longyearbyen
I really like how the 4x4 rentals was done here, it was fun to just sit back and watch a truck run the course. I also liked the whole general layout of this map, on both sides, and the map shape. The river itself had some nicely done rapids and bridges, and I loved the auroras and lake scene.
I did see some minor things off like a tree through a pathway and a couple missing pieces, but nothing major, I also had glitching on the roads but that's more the game and my not running OpenGL than anything witht the park.
4.Remote Russian Archipelagos
I think the side quests and extra material here did a good job of helping me find the small details and landmarks here. The docks are well laid and, and equipment (especially the railroad) makes great use of the objects available. I also like the family/kiddie rides quite a bit.
The main coaster is quite an interesting one, the air time hill over the water is my favorite part. Lots of nice interaction with the terrain. The custom supports were nice as well.
5.Kugluktuk Lodge
Obviously the first thing I noticed was the excellently detailed and beautiful lodge (The cabins,other buildings and chairlift all look great as well), the next was the amount of traffic on this map. Trains, cars, all the people on the slopes, it really made the map feel like a bustling resort during ski season.
I loved the rocks and foliage on this, so detailed and well laid out, the waterfalls were especially well done to me. And then there's all the attention to the back-end employee area, a nice touch that add that much more realism.
At the end, all of these parks were especially well done. Especially considering the short time to build them.
five minutes to twelve:
as brilliant as I expected from you two. This is up there with the most detailed (but clean) pieces of rct2 I've ever seen, with crazy curves, 30 deg diagonals, and just an intense precision to everything, from lifeboats on big boats (love this detail) to rigging on ships, etc etc. I loved using the diagonal tram as the ship bridge- brilliant. The mine train was a tad slow/boring for me, but I loved the pieces I could see. Very bold decision to put the duelers out on the flat ice like that- its not a design decision I would have made, but I love it anyway. A cool layout. I enjoyed how much you poke fun at the whole ecological disaster situation, while still feeling like a sincere message. On the whole though, despite how impressed I am at all the detailing, the big sculptures impressive me more, especially that hotel rotunda. How you have the depth of knowledge and architectural prowess to imagine these things amazes me so much... I can do uh 2x3 square buildings.
remote russia archipelagos:
another fantastic entry. I particularly like the rollercoaster, especially the striking color scheme and wicked cool supports. its a great adventure ride. I like that the park sort of follows the travel brochure story, but I wouldn't have minded a bit more connection between places, instead of isolated little bays. the architecture is relatively strong, maybe suffers slightly from having been viewed right after tols+leons entry, but thats not your fault. so much to like though- the birds swooping at the fish is a crazy cool scene I'd never seen before.
kugluktuk:
this thing also just blows me away. today's landscaping meta is so inaccessible I'm just lost for words. that fallen tree sums it up for me. fucked up. this is definitely one of the liveliest and most detailed skiing parks I've seen. the ski trails themselves are very vibey and fun, and all the landscaping around the map is my highlight for sure. the giant ski lodge is certainly impressive, too. the buildings range from impressive to slightly awkward but honestly it feels sort of 'real' that way. crazy stuff.
tromso:
when did rct2 get so fucked? I swear I take a year off it and everyone is absurdly talented. firstly- the aurora hack is amazing. I was caught off guard and so so impressed. the town is perfect- the color choices set up a perfect atmosphere, balanced nicely by a mix of traditional and sort of futurey-communist architecture. Such an incredible feeling here, with some very skilled modern buildings too. across the bridge is an equally impressive feat- one of the coolest rides I've seen in a while. From the kissing drop, to the rotating platform, to the drop track, to the norwegian loop around the cable car- just so impressive to watch all around. definitely nails the 'adventure ride' prompt.
longyearbyyen:
i swear every one of these parks has broken my game. not figuratively, literally, ive had to swap back between release/develop, change to regular o's, or restart the game in some way every single time. no exception here!
of all the parks, I think this one is probably the least technically skilled and 'wowing', but its still perfectly lovely. I love the snow and the aurora diorama, although I am a bit confused at the composition which puts its behind blacktile walls at the back of the park. the town has a great vibe and the overview of the park is especially aesthetic.
overall:
definitely an impressive and fruitful competition. so fun to see it progress, even if I've only been half-around for it. for me, i think the main takeaway was the skill level and eagerness of new members- theres so many incredible ideas these days, still coming into a 20 year old game. I'm left feeling very positive about the future of the community!
I can't view these ingame sadly cos my version of open is outdated (and my OS.. and my macbook etc) - but what I've seen from streams and screenshots looks incredible. Its crazy how this community keep pushing the limits of this game.
I can't believe how unbelievably cozy Kugluktuk Lodge & Resort is. Could have maybe done without the rally racers and instead a bit more ski slope space, and the snow was really glitchy... but everything else is just flawless. Lodge architecture is wonderful.
some screenshot highlights from the ones I've been able to open:
Longyearbyyen
simple building, but the unusual length of it and the underground garage make it really characterful. also cool logs at the bottom of the screen:
cute walkway:
I wasnt a big fan of how you did the Aurora Borealis diroama, why not just have it in the sky above the trail on the main map?
Tromsø
a gorgeous collection of forms, textures and colours aka Architecture.
I feel like im in a Nordic-noir. This building's already gotten a lot of love, deservedly so, but I loved how gritty this area feels with all the dock details and the mesh rear-sides of the stalls and the generators:
Love this element on the coaster:
(crazy layout btw - I've no idea how you did all the tricks - the turntable blew my mind, even though it felt a tad gimmicky - but i suppose that's what you get with adventure rides)
remote russia archipelagos
Cute bus:
I like how you've created this transition with miniaturized mountain tops:
love the rickety supports:
just a nice lively scene: