Pro Tour 2 / Wooden Coaster Results

Congratulations to Jazz for becoming the latest parkmaker to join the NE Pro Tour! Although this round was a bit disappointing in terms of turnout (a ravishing total of two entries received by Iris), both entries actually showed some interesting work. It was Jazz, though, besting NemesiS with the ol' "Mala Woodie Off a Mountainside" formula (named for the credited originator of this technique, not for the theming style). Monsoon Mountain kicks off with a great first half, and some excellent landscape interaction, thrilling drops, and great scenery. There were some slow parts in the second half that detracted from the overall score, but it was enough for the win.

1. Download MONSOON MOUNTAIN




Coming in second place was NemesiS, who went the Twisted formula and sent in an entry no one except him can pronounce. This one lacked refinement but still displayed some wonderful creativity and interesting atmosphere. The woodie was wild and out of control and probably would have beaten Jazz's entry in terms of coaster excitement if it weren't for that cardinal sin of using a lift hill to help get a coaster over a hill that it would otherwise be to slow to pass through. The final drop into a tunnel full of brakes was a bit confusing too, but there's a bright future ahead of NemesiS, and with time and more work, I think we might have another star in the making. Or another Kumba. (allusion to the eclectic environment)

2. Download HET LAND VAN ODOAKER

Well I lied about being in this round to see if I could scare people off, seems like it worked

Comments on both entrys when im awake.

Cork I don't think it was so much that the hill was a tad too tall, the train being intended to soar over the crest, as it was supposed to be a last stomach-wrenching dive before the end brakes, totally out of nowhere. The only way to get to the top of such a dive is to climb to a ridiculous height in comparison to the momentum of the train at that point in the ride, and so I think it was more of a controlled second lift than a hill that was mistakenly too high. Wasn't so much a flaw in the design as an original element, I thought.

Anyways this was a toss-up for me, I couldn't complain about the ruling much. Jazz's theming was much more interesting and organized but I thought Nemesis' coaster was more realistic and well built. However, I did very much enjoy the almost complete lack of supports on Jazz's first drop, instead letting the landscape cover almost all of the height difference.

If such new faces are cranking out material this prodigious and fantastic then I guess this place is a pretty good school for RCT2.

Cork, are you blind?!?!

This round most certainly lacked in quality. Briefly, here's what I thought:

HET LAND VAN ODOAKER-NemesiS
Totally cluttered. The coaster's layout was a mess and lacked any sort of variation. On the up side, this park clearly required a lot of time and skill. The architecture was weird, and the foliaging was totally bad. However, there was a pretty cool atmosphere, and I liked a good deal of the rapids. I also really liked the transfer boat to the transfer track. That was really cool. Cork, you have to forgive the chain on one hill, because in Het Land Van Odoaker it doesn't appear to be uncommon. Well, on the whole, this was totally weird, unrefined, cluttered, yet it was much better than Monsoon Mountain.

MONSOON MOUNTAIN-Jazz
I don't understand how this won. The cons were abundant and the pros were few and far between. Firstly, the park was flooded, and I hate it when people raise the water up to the land level. I also hate it when people don't even slant the sides of the land underneath the water, although that is very common, it's still a pet peeve of mine. Another problem in this entry was the architecture. It was Entirely 2x2, with the only variation being 1/4 tile balconies. And for the parts that weren't 2x2 blobs, they were stacked 1/4 blocks with random patterns and roofing. Now either of these methods are ok, if they are used in rations, but that wasn't the case. Next, the foliage. The foliage was terrible. It was inconsistent, and it was poor. Next, the landscaping. Nice cheap way out with the rocks. I also hate how if you see through the scenery a lot of it was rectangular portions of land raised with faces exposed. As for the coaster layout, it was entirely too long, and had problems as well with all of the same turns. I looked at this park for an entire 5 minutes or so, and all I had to do was see through scenery to watch the coaster, and look at the landscaping, and once I saw it from that view, I was done with the park. Ok, sorry for being harsh, time for the positives. Err, I guess the queue and station was nice, the entry was complete. There was enough architecture, and ...To be perfectly honest, I couldn't find anything I liked with this park.

That was really harsh, and I feel bad about that. I do think both of you have improved a lot. Congrats Jazz. I will point out again that HLVO required far more skill than something so cliched, and Cork, you should have rethought this one. Sorry again for being rude.

pitty there were so few entry's .
but congrats JAZZ .

I would have thought that this round would have been larger. I didn't like either of them.

Jazz - There were little bits of really nice stuff, like the theming on the first drop and the details on the mountainside. But most of it looked disjointed and ill thought out. The theming was lacklustre at best, and the layout left a lot to be desired. Needed to be a lot smoother.

Nemesis - Coaster layout was poor, and it spent far too much time underground. On top of that, no thought was put into the underground parts, as if they didn't matter. The theming was too cramped and crowded, and although I can nearly identify a theme, I don't really like it.

Sorry to completely pull apart your work, guys, you did well to get entries in.

why didn't i work out the entry i had in mind

Two entries? I might have actually had a chance to win had I got my entry in on time.

Jazz would be so much cooler if his name were Cap'n Jazz...

But anyways, his entry. It was nice, I guess. Pretty sloppy. Looks like he was trying to copy some prevaling "styles" from NE, but really didn't do them any justice. Props to using that big mountain though. The coaster itself was really weak. The first helix sequence looked really painful. and boring. Also, there was too many slow hill crests. Oh well, good job on the win though, and good luck in the finals.

I'll comment about the other after I open it sometime today.

Jazz-- I really was impressed by yours, or at least how you have been improving. The archy was nice in some parts, however the layout didnt do it for me in some places, nice job still. The only thing i didnt like was the randomly placed on ride photo pick up section on an island with no connection to the mainland

NemesiS-- Having never seen any of your work I cant say about your improving. Wasnt to crazy about your entry, seemed very messy and randomly placed. Their was too much brown shrubs for my likings also. I dont know if its just me, but the coaster would never run it seems like it broke down every time

Too bad I couldnt've finished my woodie, guess it'll have to wait till the bonus round

Firstly, the park was flooded, and I hate it when people raise the water up to the land level.

You know... the name MONSOON Mountain couldn't have had anything to do with that, eh?

Postit... in short, I disagree with most of your opinions. I thought Jazz had more sophistication than NemesiS and pulled off his entry well. NemesiS had good ideas but lacked sophistication in comparison, and his landscaping could not have been better than Jazz's. It seems like your personal biases set the decision more than actual judgment... a majority of your complaints centers on your personal dislike of 2x2 architecture and on the way the water was used (once again, I direct your attention toward the theme: IT'S FLOODED!). So it sounds more like an opinion thing rather than an assessment on skill, at least IMO.

But meh... opinions are opinions. Iris and I stand by ours, but I'd have to agree that overall, it wasn't as strong of a round as I'd hoped. But I can only go with what I'm given.

Two entries?  I might have actually had a chance to win had I got my entry in on time.

Same here...

Well I lied about being in this round to see if I could scare people off, seems like it worked

IT FOOLED ME YOU BASTARD

didn't even know you wanted to enter.

maybe it works again
I'll be in the next event again.

Postit... in short, I disagree with most of your opinions.  I thought Jazz had more sophistication than NemesiS and pulled off his entry well.  NemesiS had good ideas but lacked sophistication in comparison, and his landscaping could not have been better than Jazz's.  It seems like your personal biases set the decision more than actual judgment... a majority of your complaints centers on your personal dislike of 2x2 architecture and on the way the water was used (once again, I direct your attention toward the theme: IT'S FLOODED!).  So it sounds more like an opinion thing rather than an assessment on skill, at least IMO.

I did think about that before I posted, but I came to the conclusion that the water was done like that on accident, because other than the water being high, the park had nothing to do with a monsoon, or nothing showing a monsoon had wrecked the place. I do agree that at the time I was being a bitter and jealous fuck, and was totally ragging on them for no reason, yet I still stand by most of my points. I was ragging on the 2x2 architecture because it really was plain, and it was seriously overused. I also really felt that Monsoon Mountain had a recycled feel to it, kind of like P-Bob said about taking the good from NE parks. I did come off a little harsh, and I wish I had entered my entry. Congrats Jazz.

Hey, unless your woodie was completely naked again, you might have won! It was pretty wide open considering the fact there were only two entries this time... ah well. I suppose I can expect 15 entries in an upcoming week.

NemesiS' entry: Interesting. but not a good interesting, more like weird and what the heck interesting. The coaster design was ok until you ruined it with that big hill at the end (eww), with the long (pointless) underwater part, and with the random transfer tracks (what, why?). I'll give you credit for actually using folliage and making it look really dry, but everything on the land tiles was random and nearly pointless as well. The buildings were ok, I guess, but you used too much of that creepy custom scenery stuff (never really liked those pieces) and you had (pointless, again) folliage and stuff on the rooves, etc. Also the buildings were too cramped. And, Buzsz Driver? Come on, unless there's some reference to something, you can do so much better with naming. I don't know. This entry was an uncontrolled random mess, sorta like what The Mars Volta are to music; but I happen to like them for that, and it just doesn't work here, at least for me I guess. I dunno, try and make something slightly more controlled and comprehensible and stuff.

I like Het, I thought it was awsome. Yes, the coaster was weak, but the atmosphere was super.

Congrats Jazz, on winning this prelim round!

I enjoyed your entry. Loved the hill you used to drag the coaster up. The archy was not blowing me off, but really pleasant enough. Very nice station for sure. The theme was worked out with consistency and attention was payed to details.
Yes, the coaster was a bit too slow on some points for my liking (not suggesting that I could do better ) and it was a bit underground for too long. That's a bit of a pity, for even when I am an archy- and landscape lover, if a contest is primarily about a coaster, one wants to be able to view and follow its track without too much trouble/switching.

Nevertheless I like it.
Wishing you and all others lots of luck and succes in the final round.

To Nemesis: viewing your entry confused me at times: in the small part of the large map that was worked out, it had very much to focus at, but it got a bit too much of the same things without variation or surprises, and not much worked-out landscaping. The coaster was interesting to follow and had some nice surprises, but being a Noob I had problems with stats lacking any excitement and an unrideable intensity, and besides that it broke down every minute, and even without seeing the stats I don't know if I would be thrilled by it as I was a rider on this coaster, or just awed. Still I could see there was much effort put into it.

At last I am surprised to read complaints from many people like "If there were only 2 entries I wish I'd had the time to finish mine and send it in".
Come on guys, is this a toddlers site?

The big difference between you whining ones and Jazz/Nemesis is that THEY managed to send in an entry in time and you did not. May be you could have done better, but that could only have been proved if you had sent in, so I experience it as a bit 'cheap' to suggest that afterwards, without being able to see what you are able to accomplish in this round., in time.