Park / Ol' Smokey's Showboat
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16-July 24
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Roll up! Roll up! All aboard Ol' Smokey's Showboat, the greatest spectacle on the Mississippi.
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Valley of the Kings
A crucial matchup between the Dambusters and Evergreen Gardeners has them going all out in a battle between the waves and the skies.
Roll up! Roll up! All aboard Ol' Smokey's Showboat, the greatest spectacle on the Mississippi.
concluded
We are the Bene Volantes and this is our home. You may have heard of us in tales or dreamt of us through what seemed pure imagination. But as you can see, it is not imagination, it is not a dream. Life is a winking light in the darkness.
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Wow, both these parks are pretty incredible. Totally feel like semifinal level concepts to me and were executed to that level too. Really clever and innovative usage of new objects and plugins especially. Don't want to spoil too much of either because they're both a real cool thing to experience for yourself. But bravo to both teams, I think both of these maps are my favorite from their respective teams!
Gardeners - Stunning backdrop and really Ghibli-esque both in a literal sense but also with the impact it has (this is a good thing). Overall architecture is really cool and quite unique, however a few of the buildings do feel a little plain (namely the windmill near the library). The ride design is perhaps not my favorite aspect, but I love the hang glider ride (and I do give you major props for going wild with the red coaster)! Plugin effect is a nice bonus feature. Major points for atmosphere with this park.
Dambusters - Boat. Park on a boat. Turn of the century park on a boat. Seriously, are you targeting me specifically? Love the water effects, even without it the wake gives it a real sense of movement. Cutaway details are very well thought out too! Really adore the way the wooden coaster acts like the structure of the steamer. There are some clipping and legibility issues here and there.
Excellent showing from both teams - you should both be proud of what you've accomplished here. Truly fighting for the playoff spot from both sides.
First impression post...
Ol' Smokey's Showboat: interiors... pinch me
Bene Volantes: So whimsical, tonnes of innovation and gobsmacking archy
This is why we do this!!!!
first Impressions
Ol' Smokey's Showboat:
I love this its brilliant work and unbranded
Animations outside that this boat moves is nice and worked.
i love these oldschool looks on the ride that vintage look.
Swopper is cool idea i tried this too as car but never upload it
every cutout is speechless and 100%
the engine is perfect animated
Its the best integrated Coaster I saw here for many years perfect choice.
everything feels live.
perfect work guys
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Bene Voltantes:
This work reminds me on something that an Planco user did I love flying Islands the idea is really cool and on the background that works so nice like an painting what i wanted to get for my living room.
Inside, so much more could have been given to the island, but unfortunately this detail is missing.
The plugin doesn't seem to work properly for me either, but that's not so bad because I just don't value it. colleagues have shown me the effect - a very funny idea in my opinion.
maybe the choice of coaster should have been an inverter or flying coaster it would have been better for the map i think
are the 3 windows tabs new? if so, great work we will see them more often now they are very valuable
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...all in all, my vote goes to the Dambusters this is truly an 100% masterpiece without a mark
Ol' Smoky:
Wow, this is ridiculous. The moving boat on the water is genius. The style of this park makes me wish I had a hand in making this... thus I feel the same as CC9! The visual trick of the water is really smart. What really kicks this up a notch is the interiors. They are sooo well done. Casinos, circuses, dining, more dining, a bar, a coaster, various rides, etc. Amazing how much you packed in here and it's all so detailed and ornate. And the engine room? Damn, hats off to you guys.
Bene Volante:
Wow that plugin is quite stunning. I think this one-ups Stardust.. so cool. The floating city is a bit overdone as a concept at this point, but this feels unique. A bit tame though in comparison to Ol' Smoky. Perhaps it's the calm/warm palette? Anywho, I really like the indoor soccer field - that's neat. The one draw back here though is the red coaster. I find the layout quite ugly unfortunately. The new track pieces look quite jarring and a bit unnecessary.
Voting for the Damn Busters.
Ok I usually don’t comment on our own matches, but the Dambusters park is bloody clever here, it's genius. As usual with innovations, it seems so obvious once it's in front of our eyes. Them or us, none of these parks have stolen their place in playoffs.
Episode 5, Part 2?: gamma goes out of order
Yes, I'm reviewing this match first, for reasons you can probably figure out on your own. This is a crazy round, all things considered, but once again, I'll stick to the parks (which are also crazy in their own right!). I was expecting nothing but the best from each team, as they're currently fighting for their tournament lives, and I'm certainly not disappointed.
Ol' Smokey's Showboat
Movement, movement, movement. That's the name of the game here, and you've certainly pulled out every stop to make it happen. I absolutely adore all the creative methods used to make the boat look like it's actually moving on the water - animated objects, plant and rock CTRs, and all the custom rides used for the boat's mechanisms. But of course, the movement doesn't end there. The idea to make the entire boat into an attraction is very clever, and leads to the entire map feeling fun and dynamic.
As a viewer, I'm usually not the biggest fan of using cutaway view to see interiors, but the feature is really used to great effect here. Even though the park's effective surface area is low, it's still packed with tasteful content! Highlights for me are the indoor rides (that log flume is super cool) and the engine room. On the outside, I especially like how the coaster has a really nice layout while still feeling natural in its environment.
A final observation is that, while I usually advocate for custom music in highly conceptual parks such as this, I do appreciate how the use of Open's Ragtime Style fits the map like a glove. Good choice.
TL;DR: moving, creative, fun.
Bene Volantes (C'mon, the name is not that hard to figure out)
...Holy shit. What a jaw-dropping idea. Is it a "gimmick"? Maybe. Do I care? Not really. Have I used this exact phrase in an earlier review? Probably?
Anyway, let's talk about it. I think we might be getting dangerously close to a "plugin burnout" stage in the contest (or maybe we're already there), but the plugin use here feels very fresh. Mostly because it's paired with one of the coolest effects I've seen in recent RCT. I believe it works really well because it's perfectly intertwined with the park's concept and overall vibe. Speaking of which, I know it's probably Ghibli-inspired (or at least adjacent), but I couldn't help but think of classic JRPG worlds when looking at this - and I think that's great.
As for the map itself, it's very aesthetically pleasing as a whole. Micro-wise, it's perhaps a little light on the detail, but I think it contributes to an old-school feel that I can't say I dislike. Also contributing to that old-school vibe is the batshit insane (and currently unpopular?) Soaring Wings, which is potentially the boldest coaster layout we've seen this H2H - but, again, I don't dislike that! Overall, the map's shapes, colors, supporting rides and features add up to a deceptively cohesive map, which actually benefits well from its innovative flagship feature. And that's something to be proud of.
Finally, I have to highlight the custom music, which kept me drawn to the map for a very long time, and the sheer number of new (very useful) scenery objects. Great job, and thank you, Gardeners! P.S.: the football pitch doesn't fit in at all IMO, but it's hilarious.
TL;DR: innovative, fantastical, colorful.
In a heated and high-quality matchup such as this, it's perhaps a little unfortunate that both maps were plagued with some sort of technical issue. Since both maps are affected (and I've actually been lucky to mostly avoid them), I'm not taking them into account when making a decision. I just hope that we can all start keeping accessibility in mind in the future. And I really hope this match's result actually ends up mattering, because it'd be a shame if it didn't.
First impressions.
Bene Volante: holy shit that backdrop is cool. The village looks gorgeous as well. What a whimsical theme. The music is fantastic as well. Didn't want to switch parks because it means skipping the track. Everything comes really nice together. Bit annoyed that every time I rotate the park my new viewpoint is oblivion... but given that that's my only complaint. Well done!
Ol Smokey: lmao that music and theme is hilarious. Don't like clowns. It's cool how you made the boat look like it's moving. Really adds that you did that instead of put it in a harbor. Thought it looked a bit small and moved to all the interiors. So well done! Is this somewhat realistic? It's very believably put together. Well done!
Great matchup! Based on first impressions these are some of my faves of the season so far!
Ol’ Smokey: This park is absolutely top-tier work from the smokestacks down to the boiler room. The moving water and foliage creating the illusion of the ship traveling through the river is brilliantly executed and such a cool idea. But the real true highlight of the park is hidden within the belly of the boat, with some truly inspired interior scenes. Atmospheric, colorful, vibrant, interesting to explore - it captures a perfect balance. Highly detailed yet legible, very clear macro ideas on ride placements and pathing on all the levels. Top tier stuff. The woodie itself is very nicely integrated into the boat while still maintaining a nice flow and readability. My favorite bit of architecture is the custom spiral staircase structure, but my favorite moment on the map is the best use of rides to mimic machinery at the heart of the ship. Brilliant! I don’t really have much of anything negative at all to say about this park. One of the best of the season and a grand slam from the builders. Congrats!
Bene Volante: A few overall words - Stunningly beautiful, imaginative, and bold. This is the level of high-fantasy I live to build, and I was a sucker for the beautiful world you created here. Music was spot on, creating the perfect ambiance for the viewer to get lost in the fantasy. The plugin effect is the best thusfar in H2H for me, and the transporting background was perfectly executed (despite crashing my game twice). I think the backdrops were so refreshing as an aesthetic and you truly created an otherwordly beauty with these backdrops’s unique artistic style and fade. As for the park itself, the architecture was a highlight for me - you had some gorgeous village like structures that stood out due to the unique texturing and gradient usage (I love a good gradient!), contrasted with the larger towers and pathways that flowed so smoothly - the use of new CSO to create slight variations of slopes on these towers allowed them to stand out with a unique shape that’s organic and visually interesting. Then we have the larger glass library - stunning, set against a backdrop of diagonal stepped walkways and bridges - again, stunning. For the rides, the hang gliders were really clever and was fun to follow, but the only downside this park had for me was the coaster - a major missed opportunity. The main attraction had a strange layout that was too splayed out and gangly. The super tall drop was a bold choice that could have worked with a better layout, but after the drop it was impossible to follow. I imagine a flyer or invert should have been the natural choice here! Imagine Buxom’s invert integrated into the floating world you created here …
That being said, having to decide between two top tier parks, I had to go with the one that is straight up my alley in terms of theme and concept. As technically brilliant and amazing as Ol Smokey is, I was immediately enamored by the fantasy worldbuilding and innovative execution Bene Volantes brought. I wish I could have built on the park with you guys.
Hard one to vote on, again. The atmosphere in the EG park was wonderful and enjoyable. I liked this plugin here. Very cool idea, and extra clean execution of it. Looks technically rather sophisticated. The RCT itself was nice, had a convincing theme and details, but overall somehow didn't come together for me compositionally. I struggled to find access to the little world presented, and the fact that every camera turn put you far away from what you were looking at didn't exactly help. I suppose the verticality was necessary to enable the background effect.
The boat was just incredible. This execution is divine, and just like plugins, I'm not a fan of cutaway view. But wow here it was perhaps the best experience I've ever had with the setting. The pistons...!! And the staircases were the last thing I needed before feeling all titanicky, in a good way. A lot of the things I found made me gasp they were so skilful. The ship overall did totally feel like it was moving. You clearly put a lot of effort into this, and it does pay off. It wouldn't feel forced at all if it didn't have such a performance hit. The game is not optimised for this kind of thing, and so I barely reached over 30fps on what is a fairly new laptop. A bit of a detractor, but no matter, the RCT here was so good that it won me over in the end.
Dambusters - What a creative and detail packed boat. As others have pointed out (and I’m glad they did, otherwise I would have missed it), the interiors to your steamboat are marvelous. Possibly my favorite of the contest. Great coaster with lovely custom supports. It has a fair-like, festive nature throughout. Despite being “smaller” than your opponents park, I keep finding so many hidden gems along the way. Your last 2 maps starting with The Sailor have been massive highs in my book.
Evergreen Gardeners - I don’t really know what to say, other than the giant overview is the single most beautiful thing I’ve ever witnessed in RCT. No idea how the plug-in works, but it’s marvelous. Each time I visit a different area, it manages to feel as inviting, fresh, and rejuvenating as its predecessor. It's hard to pick a favorite, but I'm leaning towards Rune Coast since the central island stands out, yet compliments the mixture of the icy blue and rustic green background.
Zooming in a little closer, the details are less bold than the surroundings, but I think it’s apart of the charm, as it blends in some newer techniques. Lots of wonderful curvy land structures, buildings, and scenes to pull from the actual map itself. Some of the buildings and their color gradients are as lovely as anything we’ve seen in this contest. There are some pitfalls, like the coaster layout and choice of trains. With some more time on the drawing board, I think there are better, smoother ways to do a coaster this enormous. But...if you manage to make my eyes water, I think it’s safe to say you’re getting my vote.
now THIS is a matchup. classic H2H, by which i mean two new, interesting, and ambitious ideas, very well pulled off in both cases. yada yada, pity one has to lose, etc. etc. but really.
Ol' Smokey's Showboat
stunning opening overview. right away you're hit with the concept - this boat is moving. it's an ingenious way to achieve this effect given the limitations of the game, and feels like an idea someone has had forever that has only recently become technically possible. my first impression of the palette wasn't totally positive, but i will say it grew on me the more time i spent in it, and i can see how it adds to the overall theme, so i'm fine with it. one of those artistic choices that isn't necessarily to my liking, but makes perfect sense.
the coaster is the first thing that i noticed, and i really wanted to work out where it was going next. beautifully integrated, stylistically on point with the theme, and really clever. the clown motifs dotted around give the ship a strong background story, especially when combined with the zoo/circus elements all over. amazing big paddle wheels, great overall structure, so much to see and find.
at this point, i already loved it. i remember thinking "i'll check for interiors just in case, but surely not". well, christ. not just a few interiors, but an entire ship built from the ground up, with every single spot themed in a way that made sense, was clever, fun to explore, furthered the theme, and looks amazing. i've been back a few times just to explore a bit more and find new rooms with little easter eggs in there. personal favorites were the engine room, the circus (so lively!) and the middle two-tiered ballroom with all the dancers and the music notes.
if you can't already tell, this is pretty comfortably my second favorite park this contest, only behind screameasy. it just feels like a fully fleshed out idea, taken a couple of steps further than most people manage to take a theme. love it.
Bene Volantes
another excellent park, which would win most matchups this contest imo. gotta start by talking about the ambitious idea - taking a floating island concept and setting it in a more real way with the plugin. i thought this plugin fell on the side of "looks cool enough to work", which a few plugins this contest haven't quite done, so props for that one. a strong idea that furthers the theme in a new and interesting way.
the opening area is definitely the strongest, for me - the gradiented buildings are beautiful, and the tightly packed, slightly haphazard archy feels natural and unique. i perhaps would have preferred a sliiiightly more cohesive color palette, something that the town area in Castello Altevano did slightly better imo.
it would have also been interesting to have incorporated some of the architecture more seamlessly into the edges/underneath of the island - as it was i felt like everything was kinda on top, with foliage cascading off the edges. which does look nice, but something a little different might have pulled us more into the floating island theme - what are the ways in which life is different here, compared to a town on the ground?
the island itself is great, landscaping wise - very difficult to do the underneath of those in a way that looks good, and i think you managed it really well here. the color changes and hanging foliage are a really cool vibe. and you're constantly reminded where you are due to the ambitious backdrops. a really strong overall aesthetic.
overall for me it came down to a great idea, executed quite well, vs. a good idea, executed almost perfectly. appreciate you guys!
DB
Well, you guys nailed it. I love that we got another turn of the century park out of this H2H, and the vibes here are immaculate. Great idea, excellent execution, and everything on the map perfectly elevates the theme. I loved exploring all the little details, and I still can't believe how well you got the coaster integrated with everything else. I honestly don't know what else to point out, I loved it all. Excellent job!
EG
Really love this map too. This park is a really great blend of inspiration, but I totally get the Ghibli vibes from it. The vibes really match the theme too, all the buildings have a great whimsical feel. The new objects are stellar, and the music really sets the park in the right world. The plugin is cool and really well done too, but I feel as though it's not really necessary. I do wish the main coaster was a bit better, the layout seems a bit meandering. The other thing that bothers me is that every time I turn the view, I have to find where I was looking at before. I wish you had build closer to "ground level" in the game, but this may not have been really possible with how thick you made the land below the city. In any case, I think this park would've easily defeated both parks in Match 1, and a lot of other parks this contest. It's definitely up there in my personal ranking!
Liam's Bigass Boat:
+ I'm kinda shocked I haven't seen this concept done before. We've come close with several contest parks involving a very large boat, so about time the park is the boat. It takes a risk leaving so much negative space for the water, but that context is needed here.
+ The turn-of-the-century approach is done better than most other parks I've seen save Screameasy, and that is a hard bar to top. Love all the decorations on the facades and the art on the side of the paddlewheels. Absolutely nailed it.
+ Ringmaster is a great layout as is, but the way it's nestled so tightly into the boat it practically is the boat makes it really memorable. The wide selection of dark rides and the fun house really set it in the era.
+ The tables set up on the lifeboats are a fun touch.
+ It MOVES?! The execution of this effect is done shockingly well, between the literal flood of moving water CTRs, all the white water effects including the gorgeously shaped wake, and the bushes and logs floating past. You've made a completely still map move with completely practical effects. Actual witchcraft.
+ And here's where it goes from already great to what the actual hell. The SHOCK when I found out y'all actually did detailed interiors. I had a hunch but actually seeing them was mind-blowing. EVERYTHING has an interior, and among the best I've seen in this game at that. Every single dark ride has beautiful, beautiful context and a story you can follow along. And the rafters! You guys seriously pulled out all the stops; every single interior is beyond incredible. Especially the engine room. WHAT.
= Would have loved some more immersive sound design out of this. Lots of splooshing water and lumbering engine effects to really amp up that atmosphere. Unless it's supposed to be like a silent movie because it's the turn of the century or something.
- Lagfest supreme! This park barely cracks 8 FPS on my desktop and ? on my laptop. I admire the dedication to the effect here, but it definitely it cost you points in the performance department. Fortunately it's hard to find a single flaw outside of that in this brilliantly conceptualized and executed park. Except...
- I am extremely angry at this park. One of my H2H ideas was pretty much this, minus moving water and a different style of boat I will not disclose since I may use the idea elsewhere. I'm talking bigass boat, I'm talking theme park, I'm talking full detailed interiors which y'all just YOINKED from me. Sorry Liam, Benito Mussolini or whatever is getting my vote solely for not being a disingenuous fake fraud STUPID DUMB BOAT park.
Benny Lava:
+ JESUS CHRIST THE BACKGROUND WHAT THE HELL!!!! Wondering just what was going on with my screen and then zooming out to see that is one of the most mind-boggling moments this entire H2H for me. Stardust planet on hyper crack 9000.
+ This park and its concept are beautiful. GOD I wish it were real so bad. This whimsical Ghibli-esque floating paradise that flies directly to your home if the townsfolk detect you're in a not-so-happy situation and welcomes you into its loving arms? GOD! PLEASE! Pitch this to Studio Ghibli! You could make a movie about this!
+ The ride design really takes advantage of a straight-up no-bones-about-it FANTASY park. Let's just have our main coaster plunge off the island at 100+ mph because why not? Hang Glider is such a simple yet genius hack with the boomerang and lay-down coasters taking advantage of their native Z position to go above and below the single rail track. The railroad that runs both on track and on a top rail below the island is done so well.
+ We got Fisch rocks in H2H9, and the ever-so-bene-volante Fisch now bestows us with Fisch blocks. Hell yes. This is probably gonna be the big meta-definer of H2HX along with the SpaceK pipes. All the granularity of Fisch rocks in so many different shapes and sizes. Absolutely love how you used them to create such organic shapes and gradients here. No better example than the curvy village with the grass roofs. Between this and the crazy background, this just feels like Fisch taking his object contributions in H2H9 up to 11. Not speculating builders btw, it literally says Fisch on all the objects. Don't kill me admins.
+ I know I gave y'all crap for making Sadret sign up as a replacement, but my god this plugin goes. Literally. It goes places. I wasn't sure what the reason for the Looney Tunes iris out was, but after hearing some of my fellow Jerks compare it to fast travel in a RPG I get it now. Hell, now all I can think of is the Kingdom of Zeal from Chrono Trigger. Bouncing off Blue, I love Lorhya and how its cool blues provide a proper contrast to the warm colors of Biollante. I wish this park came with an atlas on all these worlds! I want to know more!
+ While Fisch stole the show with objects, I just want to mention I will probably get so much use out of that MK98 animated cloud object. That combined with the Gladsheim blizzard is an instant atmosphere enhancer.
+ Probably my favorite choice of music in H2HX thus far. This has the same effect as When You Wish Upon A Star from Micro Madness where I can't just look at it and move on without a full loop of the song. It works so well because while it is from the Efteling whose influence I do feel throughout, it also superpowers that Ghibli feeling of whimsy and wonder. Also helps that it was stuck in my head all morning at work.
= I love how you took advantage of the underside and the concept of a floating island. The beacon on top being reflected on the bottom, the train hanging off a cable to go below the island, the gorgeous hanging train station and that insane coaster dive really flesh out the floating island feel. Unfortunately some of the rockwork looks kinda rushed, and there are some cool details that unfortunately suffer from being brown and blending into the rocks. I think slightly more going on, like some more dwellings and like bits of machinery and stuff that pop out and contrast with the brown rock would have brought it together.
- Unfortunately the truth must be said; this park is tailored for the H2H9 Gustav vote. After picking up the scattered pieces of my mind from the background reveal, I took a closer look and noticed it felt a little undercooked. Considering how many new objects were introduced here, a lot of the larger-scale architecture is underdetailed. Not sure why the big round building with the blue dome goes from a half diagonal base to a diagonal trim to a round dome. It sucks being lost in the vibe of this park and coming across that enormous, hardly-textured PENIS of a windmill. It almost felt like the park was trying so hard to demonstrate these new objects that it missed the boat on executing some of the archi to its fullest.
- The plugin crashes every now and then when I try to fast travel. Restarting the game helps, but it's not consistent.
- It was also hard for me to really follow the paths and coasters around the park, and the rotation issue does not help. This park almost reminds me of The Apprenticeship from H2H8; straightforward but excellent fantasy park with an insane overview but composition problems up close. Dubbya is also involved somehow.
+ And on that topic, I'm going to put a rare Positive After Negative because the undercooked-ness actually makes me nostalgic! Just sitting there taking in all the whimsy reminds me of first getting to know what NE was capable of through H2H8. Reminds me a lot of Studio Ghibli (obvs), Grand Central, and The Apprenticeship. The negatives are especially frustrating with this park because I just love it so much otherwise! The concept is beautiful, the gimmick is beautiful, the VIBES are IMMACULATE, and I can just sit there for so long getting lost in everything. What a goddamn BEAUTIFUL park Gardeners, this would have been the RR park I clamored to be on if I was on your team. Obsessed.
Ol' Smokey's Showboat
Dambusters gave us waving water, now it's moving water. Really nice feature to have the water and plants actually moving, making it seem like the boat is actually going. The boat itself is pretty stunning and it does make me think of Pinoccio's Pleasure Island.
The wooden coaster fits so well up here, just as the rocket ships and swooper. Excellent ride choices. I like the massive circus tent on top of the boat, along with the cages next to it. The princess and the dragon facade is done so well. Overall the ship is full of cool and funny details.
Also crazy how you guys went with the interior. The engine room was insane! Overall pretty cool park to look at with a gimmick that actually enhances the overall 'park'.
Bene Volantes
Have to admit when I saw the plugin in the map I sighed "another one"... but totally worth it! When people say RCT can be art... well, this is pretty much proving it. The backdrops are amazing and had my jar dropped. But maybe even more than those backdrops, I think I like the music even more. It is such good music and makes me feel in a fairy wonderland.
There were some pretty cool buildings on the map, as in shapes but also with cool gradients. I like this town has a lazy river in it, wish my town had that. As for Soaring Wings, didn't do much to me and I don't think it really contributes to the map. Could've gone without imo.
Also turning the map is a bit of a pain, but worth it giving the eastheatics of this map. Kudos for the builder doing the landscaping at the bottom. Must've been a tedious piece of work but done really well. Overall very enjoyable park. If there's gonna be an award for best custom music, I think this one should get it.
Cool boat and lovely coaster. I liked how it was suggested the boat is moving. Surprisingly long coaster too. I appreciate the fact that the cut away view worked, but I never really like having to use it to see important parts of a map. Bit laggy too! No further complaints.
Evergreen Gardeners:
Interesting to see Fred above saying this proves RCT can be art. I think it proves art can be art, since the background isn't made with RCT. I like the gimmick suggesting the island travels, but I can't take it into consideration when voting, since it has nothing to with RCT. H2H is an RCT contest, not a painting/drawing contest.
Now for the actual RCT: I liked some of the buildings, and the gradients were really cool. Some buildings were underdetailed however and the rides didnt really convincingly portray a story to me.
Bene Volantes! Looking at it, it is so full of life, but not to the extreme degree where there's no room for stillness and serenity. Going through it, with the music, I was all 'oooh's and 'ahh's, like a character in a Ghibli movie arriving to this fantastical place for the first time. I went ahead and tried to describe that first journey!
Got dropped off at the wide open runway, looking up that road and the houses on each side, admiring the scenes from there, in a sort of quick glance ahead at the towering architecture. Quickly coming back, seeing the two paths on each side going up, I took the left and went through and up the lively streets lined with those colorful, clean, lived-in houses. This led to the main courtyard or plaza of sorts overlooking water. Taking in the scene, loved the peeps doing various things - a group passing the ball around, two folks sitting at the bench, a line forming around a small kiddie pony ride, people hustling and bustling but occasionally pausing and taking pictures of the shops like tourists. Looked just a little further and oh god, someone look after that poor bird sweeper! Turning away from that, there's a lovely library. Just outside are two groups playing a game of chess! Professor RWE takes a class here, probably making sure everyone behaves before they go in. Or maybe this is how education is at this wonderful place, just pupils following their professor through the streets and public buildings, as the lectures go through all sorts of stuff about life and science and art. And probably mostly aviation. Moving on, saw a bakery facing the library. Arrived just in time for a fresh batch! Walking a little further, went around the path and reached a bit of a deadend. Couldn't figure out where to go next, so I just went around the map at random after that. Fisch taking a class elsewhere too! So it is like I imagined. For a bit, I then stared at all the large structures, the rocky underside, the planetarium stuff, the unfortunate looking windmill attached to the library, that gorgeous dam over which the train runs! From there around the backside, saw more Evergreen Gardeners doing various things and also posix. That area was a great break in general from all the grand structures and peeps rushing about. Peeking just a little at the edge and you can see where the planes enter from too. Looking above, there's a nice stadium for football. I wonder how people spectate on games though. Now moving to the right side from this grassy area, I'm a casual witness to a murder. Moving to the left, I can sort of jump down to the area outside an amazing looking building where there's an interview going on for a painter I think. Best not interrupt. Just ahead there's more Evergreen Gardeners, doing repairs for weird looking flying cars! Looking down from the balcony, Flitght Trainer Coasterbill sharing his wisdom with new cadets I imagine. After that, I just found my way back to the main runway through the other path I could have first gone up.
Things I really liked
- Masterful use of gradients and crunch to sell the 'realness' of the archy. It all looks very clean, but with just enough manual texturing detail to also tell it received plenty love.
- Some of the residential looking archy, which has a unique tapering shape. Wish more contrast was there in their silhouette to really make it clear that these are not generic flat vertical houses.
- New windows. Those 3 scenery tabs are going to find their way into many parks, I expect!
- Great worldbuilding details that help the theme, like the mail delivery plane doing rounds, the scene with repairs of the flying cars, the industrial backside with pipes, chimneys, a dam, etc.
- These:
Haven't even talked about the background and the plugin, but I liked it a lot. It's a very neat way of changing things up. The way the whole thing is framed in between clouds is super dramatic and looks awesome when zoomed out! Lovely bit of implied worldbuilding, where I can almost imagine that through some technology or magic, the whole island maybe vanishes in one space above Earth and then rematerialises in another. Each background feels like a major area where unique kingdoms and cultures would thrive down below, in a Dragon Quest sort of way. The desert might have grand palaces and dungeons inside pyramids; the snowy mountains are home to giants and wooden strongholds; the grassy meadows may have a european middle ages stone castle kingdom... aaaand I'm getting off track. Anyways! On first viewing, my game actually crashed when I clicked on a button in the plugin window at least on two individual viewing sessions, which was annoying.
Things I didn't like as much:
- The way the map is laid out makes at least one angle (and frankly almost two angles) not as flattering as the rest. The one which shows the murder. Can see a few awkward backsides of buildings that are less detailed with not much going on and some visual clunkyness. I wonder if it just couldn't get as much attention as the other areas by the time deadline arrived. For example, the track for Hang Glider and Soaring Wings both go right through some solid wall in this angle.
- While I love the archy at the front with the colorful houses, some of the larger shapes at the back I wasn't a big fan of. It must be challenging to make them as visually interesting as smaller shapes and typical housing archy when the theme rests a bit on the Ghibli-adjacent European aestheic of bare beige walls with few windows, but worth mentioning.
- The rocky underside is just not good to look at, from at least two angles (again, the backside ones). Maybe it's close to what you guys envisioned it to be, but to me it looks a little too messy and spammy in an unpleasant way.
This is a lot of words so I'll stop I think. Most people reading probably checked out a long time ago haha. Despite my issues, it's fair to say I got more than my share of enjoyment out of Bene Volantes. It is a very polished experience aside from the very small areas I mentioned. What does the name mean, though? Without knowing what language to translate from, google translate made assumptions and said "Bene ruffles".
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Sorry Dambusters, I'll give my thoughts on Ol' Smokey's by tonight too!
Ol' Smokey's Showboat blew me away more than a few times.
First, at the surprise of moving through water so convincingly (the tree logs and bushes going 'past' it really sell it) and also the incredibly stylistic way of void edges making a wave. It felt like both, a faded old stock film, and also like a rubberhose-era Steamboat Willie style animation, especially with the black smoke billowing from the top.
The second way it blew me away was through its clean execution and detail. I must have gone through many moments of opening the eye-dropper tool to figure out how the heck something was done, but also other times simply being impressed by dense detail that doesn't take any tricks to do, just old fashioned putting down objects and selling the vibe. It's even a bit overwhelming in detail, because I would stay on one tiny scene for ages, before realising I have more to get through! I tried to navigate from front to back, going over the dancing and music at the very top, moving to Rocket Ships and the prize shops, the huge tent, the Swooper, and then over to the very back. So far, I was very much amazed, but when I saw there's an indoor haunted mansion ride, I figured I'd try to see if maybe it has an interior?
And that's the third way this park blew me away, because obviously as the cutaway value gradually went lower, the whole dang ship revealed itself layer-by-layer! I should have known the outside facade wasn't all there was to it. Way too much to deal with right now I figured, and then went for the lowest value where I could see the interior to The Princess and the Dragon. Man, that was fun! First going through a sort of faraway grassy forest-y clearing at the kingdom gates with our hero, entering in as a viewer, into the kingdom and into a tavern or something. I'm guessing then the Prince meets the Princess in purple, and there's an evil spirit plotting shit haha. Stuff happens, princess is taken away or stuck and needs help, then whoosh, down a lil hill and the prince is ready to do battle! The queen is saved, the prince gets thanked, the dragon does some jail time, princess says bye bye and the adventure is over!
It wasn't fun constantly rotating around to see such tiny scenes that are done in multiple angles in such cramped spaces, but it was still worth the effort, because most details really show the careful putting in of time and love and effort. Still, that would be the experience for many interior scenes I wanted to look at. Super tiny space. For some areas I couldn't quite understand things well too, like the interior to Temple of Mirth. From the exterior, it showed maybe it could be like a classical, roman cliche theme inside but it was mostly funhouse stuff. I suppose that's actually on-point for the theme too, in that it's all the usual carny stuff inside, but the theme outside gets changed around to get people interested lol. The rest of the ship certainly doesn't give that feeling of cheapness, though! The interiors are elegant, luxurious where need be, but also barren or tastefully simple or tacky by choice in others.
I think if I were to put screenshots of my favourite bits, I'd have to post the whole map in like 50 little images of each thing on super zoom, because there is way too much to enjoy... I have nothing that I do not like or love here, I can very confidently say. Performance issues are unfortunate, but it was more than worth the end result for me. Using cutaway and super zoom for the majority of time also helps. Again, sorry for not going into each thing I liked but I'll truly be here all day. I looked everywhere and saw everything there was and I loved each second of it.
Though, I don't usually have much to say about coasters, but it is so perfect for the setting haha, and for once I enjoyed the screaming sounds of peeps from one hill to another.
Ol' Smokey's Showboat not only immediately accomplished capturing my attention, but kept it for so, so, so long that I was going through everything with a magnifying glass, pausing on scenes like they're paintings, coming back to revisit places again, and just moving around in general like a real guest, man. I can not wait to return to this park even years later, exploring with the same sense of wonder as I do now.
Thank you so much for making this park, Dambusters!
Gustav leaving that glowing review and then dropping "PENIS" in all caps at the end truly captures the spirit of the Soda Jerk discord.
Incredible parks guys. Massive fan of both concepts, and both are done to a extraordinarily high level of execution. Dambusters won me over in the end. Giving me flashbacks of living on a large ship once I cutaway to the lower levels. That park just felt so refined and perfectly executed the entire way through. No notes.
Benny Volanti was incredible. High praise of course to the new objects and content. As well as the music and plugin and all of the things that don't equal RCT, blah blah blah. They come together so nicely to create a beautiful world that we've never seen before in this game and I think that you guys as a team are successful in that regard. Thank you for pushing and stretching the limits, but also delivering amazing RCT that we will all benefit from in the future.
Well done all