Releases / H2H6 - RR R2: Heaven's Kitchen vs revoLLutionists

Monstrosity:
First off - I really liked the name of the park. The entrance area was really cool. I loved it all really. The plaza, the gazebo, the birds (maybe I'd prefer objects instead of the jetskis but that's just me), the boardwalk with the pennywise entrance and the spider were lovely. The station to the really nice Nautilus ride was also a nice idea and it was a great transition from the mainstreet to the jaws area. The underwater pat was also a great touch. I agree a little that there were too many monster mouth interactions but still it was a nice idea everytime. The jaws area reminded me a lot of JK's area in Dreamport and when I think of it - the whole park does a little and I first thought he was involved in this. The shark in the harbor for example was a bit too much of a rip-off. The layout of the dive coaster wasn't that good. Maybe a more realistic approach to a B&M dive machine would have been better. The shark station there was also really cool and pretty believable. It was a pity the working entrance wasn't the real entrance for the park but I guess it was too late to change that. Generally I found the coaster layouts weren't that great and BBS and more realistic details are pretty important to me so that was a bit of a let-down. The others for example was pretty fast and there was no BBS at all and the layout in general seemed like it was placed after the theming and not the other way around. Werewolf wasn't that bad but still pretty fast. I loved the little ideas around it though. The moon at the start symbolising the transformation and rage, the victims and I loled at the shuddering horse. The indoor part of Dracula was a great idea but I'd loved to see a more realistic coaster type for this kind of ride though. You barely can see what's beside you in a Vekoma SLC imo. Another coaster type would have helped the form of the castle too. Right now it just looks strange being that long. The details in the town around and along the queue were great as usual in this park. The last area - the Tokyo area - was great too. Maybe there was a bit too much going on but it worked as it's a city being destroyed... The lift/skyscraper/sea serpent combination was really cool and the monster was cool too, although maybe a bit too messy compared to the other monsters in the park. The layout of this coaster was the best in the park but still a bit strange. I also loved the underground labyrinth ride. Really nice idea. All in all it was a really enjoyable park, although it seemed very JK-ish in some places and the coaster layouts could have been a bit better. Great work, whoever did this!

The Lost Samurai:
Ok, now this park was nearly the complete opposite of Monstrosity - Flow, aesthetics and nice coasters are the trumps of this map. While the overview looks amazing, the park in detail is a bit tame. In my opinion modern RCTLL parks can be a lot better. Sure it is nice work and it is pretty aesthetic, but still I feel like I have seen it all before. The things that stood out the most were the watchtower in the harbor and the coasters, especially the Flying coaster. The drab colors of the coaster don't really help to make the coaster stand out more, which is a shame. Just giving it more vibrant colors would have helped a lot. The landscaping and scenery work was top notch, but the whole park felt lifeless. I liked the first round LL park of yours a lot more, it showed nice ideas throughout and great execution without sacrifing flow and aesthetics of the whole park. This one has just flow and aesthetics, but no standout ideas whatsoever. Sorry as it seems I really don't like the park, but that's not true. As I said it's a well crafted LL park which reminds me of the good old days where those kind of parks ruled the day. And I think a park that achieves this kind of feeling again deserves praise. But sadly I can't really get warm with nostalgia anymore. Actually I never really did. Forget nostalgia, bring LL to the next level! I don't mean with fancy hacks and codex and stuff like that, but more with ideas that really bring not only LL but also RCT2 forward. I'm sure your future parks will deliver that. This one didn't for me.

So my vote goes to: Monstrosity

"MFG"

I thought it seemed like JK too, 5dave, you're not the only one.

Great match! Both great parks, but in my opinion Montsrocity is the better park here. I vote for Heaven's Kitchen.

The Lost Samurai looked great from the overview but was pretty empty and lifeless in-game. The landscaping and aesthetics were beautiful. The architecture was very good in places, but it felt like too much copy-paste and I didn't like the overuse of wooden coaster roofs. Guardian was nice but quite generic. Samurai was nice as well, but the coaster didn't stick out enough, it blended too much with the landscaping. The walls were cool but overall there wasn't that much to look at. What made this park great was the subtle, peaceful atmosphere, but everything was just a little too peaceful for me. Although both parks were equally 'clean' (which I like in LL), I preferred the overload of different ideas and colours in Cars Land. I love how the team is going for different styles of LL so far though.

Monstrocity heavily reminded of the pure semi-realism of H2H5. The architecture was simple but effective (maybe sometimes a little random), the landscaping and foliage were nothing extraordinary, but the concept, the many cool ideas, little hacks and interesting details made this park fantastic. Way more fun to watch in-game than on the overview, the park had a very high fun-factor. I loved the layouts of Werewolf and Jaws (including the amazing underwater section). I wasn't a big fan of Dracula, as it was too close too edge of the game map (I don't care about the park border but you just couldn't hoover towards the top of the castle) and I genereally don't like black buildings, and the layout wasn't very good either. The Tokyo area was full of cool stuff, maybe even too full. The Godzilla coaster was great, too bad the view was blocked too much by the buildings, it was hard too follow the coaster. Everything could have a been a little more detailled and refined here and there, but overall the execution of ideas and the atmosphere were great. My faith in the kitchen is restored.

vote:
"The Lost Samurai" by the RevoLLutionists

I will also vote for The Last Samuri. Both the parks were great, but especially as such a huge fan of Godzilla, Jaws, and 2,000 Leagues I felt like Monstrocity really lacked the atmosphere I was hoping for.

My vote goes to Monstrocity by Heaven's Kitchen.

Screen review later on.

So here's my screen review for both parks (sorry for the double post, but I thought someone would've posted since my last post )

Monstrocity

The good;


I love the pennywise head and the general theming of this monstrous carousel. (reminded me of my IT and ITII years ago)


I LOVE how the station is in a shark head form! It took me a while to notice it, but the effect is awesome!


Totally reminded me of the movie when they caught a shark and let it hang like that. I reckon it's an awesome entrance to the coaster!


Just a really nice viewing platform and glasswall to protect from water splashes.


Nice lighthouse.


I love how the giant spider is made and how the whole attraction is themed in spider webs!


Love how Godzilla is made and how it's holding the dive loop.


I love how the skycraper is made blown up.


Incredible coaster/dark-ride theming! The graves, dracula himself, the bed, how the coaster is going through the bookcase, the blood bottles.. I love it all!


While I love this bit of the dracula castle, the other parts look not so good, and almost look like it's made by another (lesser skilled) parkmaker.. Maybe the parkmaker just lost motivation to finish it properly though, but the overall structure leaves me confused.


Awesome layout, especially with those banked turns/drops in it, and awesome theming with the shivering horse and the sliced pig. Also love the wolf's mouth part where the coaster is going through.


This has gotta be the best part of the park; the nautilus, the squid/tentacles, the submarines, the coral.. All looks very nice.

The bad;


I don't like the red fences and how that staircase is themed. It looks a bit aesthetically unappealing. Color scheme doesn't work as well. (that destroyed monorail track by Godzilla circling underneath is awesome though)


Looks just rushed and unfinished. Especially compared to how well the rest of the park is themed.


This park deserves a better entrance than this. I don't like the use of those road lines either and it all looks very underthemed and too small for a park entrance.


The park is about monsters, but imo the Others is not about that. Ghosts are no monsters, and (spoiler alert!) the Others, if you've watched it, the ghosts are just trying to live in the same house as the people who now live there! They mean no harm! Could've used this space for an awesome ride themed to King K0ng for example


Why not make the hut invisible?! Looks really bad now

The Lost Samurai

The good;


LOVE the entrance to the Lost Samurai (or is it Last Samurai?).. Really nice how the pretzel loop is integrated in the entrance and I love how the split of the coaster to the 2 stations is done (especially those stacked clock tower things)


Awesome trackitecture.


Love this building (especially the use of those gongs) and the landscaping underneath it. Also love those hanging pots with bushes.


Nice diagonal brake section, especially like the trackitecture.


Love how this ride is themed, especially the pagoda tower in the middle!


Just looks so picturesque! Love the buildings, the little bridges over the water ride, and that little whirlpool right under that bridge..


Love how the initial drop is going underneath those buildings. Should be quite the experience as a rider!

The bad;


Just don't like the red on the middle of the fences. Looks aesthetically unappealing imo, and since it's used in such large amounts it kinda ruins the atmosphere.


Awfully underthemed, and as this is pretty much at the center of the park such an eyesore/stickout it even might cost you the game.


Really dislike how you've chosen for rock ground.. Should've done it like that LL space park previous H2H, where blackened maze was used.


Just general undertheming all over the park. It just looks so bare, and you could've done so much more with this space.


Again, heavily underthemed, I don't know what it is, and it just looks so aesthetically unappealing. Almost looks like if the park is unfinished and you guys tried to cover it by raising some land and put some bushes on it.

So overall 2 very nice parks, but imo Monstrocity is clearly the better one here. More atmosphere, ideas, theming, variation (really, the lost samurai has like 1 type of architecture copied all over the park), rides and architecture..

Well done both teams!

If I'd just gone based on the overviews, I'd have voted otherwise.

My vote goes to The Lost Samurai.

Hmmm this is a toughie... This is weird for me but I'm actually gonna go for the LL park this time. I like the concept of monstrosity and it has nice spots, but the overall presentation is cluttered and unappealing.
That said viewing samurai in-game actually doesn't do any good to me because on my full HD screen it looks crappy (haven't been able to get a custom res to work) because it gets lost in the blur, so the screens and the overview are actually better for me to judge it. The best part of the LL-park is that it isn't a mess but very consistant.

btw I'm really starting to develop a dislike of coasters propped against a wall. I know space is limited but you can instead of trying to get extra space vertically forgo the extra content and spend the time on refinement and presentation. Cramming more detail into everything isn't gonna do any good for your presentation.

My Vote: The Lost Samurai

Why are you trying to run LL fullscreen?

Why are you trying to run LL fullscreen?

Because windowed it takes like less than a quarter of my screen, which is to say incredibly small. Think it's only 640x480 when windowed.

Well, both parks were very well done, and the amount of effort put into each was commendable, though in the end, and after a good 10 hours of equal viewing, my vote has to go to Heaven's Kitchen Monstrocity.

Edit: Darn, just a little late

Voting Closed
Heaven's Kitchen beat revoLLutionists

Monstrocity was made by FK+Coastermind, Camcorder22 and Turtle. Lost Samurai was made by Louis!, Gwazi and Ride6.

Heaven's Kitchen vote count: 13
Voters: Cocoa, olddtfan51, djbrcace1234, RCTER2, rct2isboss, Xtreme97, Kumba, RHCPepperfan, snas, Roomie, RCTMASTA, 5Dave, Dimi, Six Frags

RevoLLutionists vote count: 8
Voters: XCars, dr dirt, MCI, Maverix, posix, prodigy, Dr_Dude, JJ

Surpsingly I got the revoLLutionists builders right and none of Heaven's Kitchen.
Great matchup guys!

"MFG"

A very close match up, well done RevoLLutionists, thought you guys had us there for a bit.

I'm afraid I don't have LL, so I really can't comment on your park very much. However, from the overview, it looks fantastic. Really beautiful landscape, and interesting architecture. Two solid rides from the looks of it, and another brilliant piece of LL to add to your growing collection. I've been really impressed by you guys so far, continuing to work out new theming hacks and possibilities to bring a fresh face to the game.

FK has to take most of the credit here for our park... this was his brainchild and as such he took a brilliant lead role throughout the building. Was really refreshing to work with a guy so full of ideas and enthusiasm; every time I took the park after half a day's break, there were new things to explore.

Also Cam did incredibly well coming in late and being thrust straight into a half finished park, really kicked this on with some brilliant work like the castle and Godzilla section.

Wow, definitely didn't see any Turtle in there, and couldn't have guessed any of the RevoLLutionists.

Grats to Heavens Kitchen on their first win.

Wow, I got all of HK's builders right. Great park guys, you definitely deserved the win.

Okay, so our park has a bit of a story.

Originally, the park was set to have me, Louis!, and RMM build on it. We were originally planning a much different concept--in fact, the only consistency would have been a Japanese/Oriental theme. What we were planning was a scenario in which Japan was left isolated for centuries longer, and in the distant future it was finally integrated with the rest of the world, albeit not very smoothly. There was going to be a mix of "old Japan" with traditional structures and "new Japan" which would be a much more futuristic style with a small Japanese twist. Buildings would be crumbling amidst newer buildings being built. There would be some fighting going on, but the focus would be the destruction of old monuments mixed with the new construction. You can see those plans in the Watchtower and the part of the fortress by the entrance area.

However, RMM dropped out probably about halfway through, and we had to delete his work and fill in. This provided many problems, because probably about a third of our progress suddenly disappeared and we needed to find someone to fill in. We selected Ride6. However, around that time, Louis! took on a full-time job, and Ride6 was extremely busy with school and moving into a new apartment. I was also busy with finals and wrapping up my time in Houston before I flew home (which was incredibly complicated because I had nowhere to store my stuff, but that's another story).

So with about a week left, we had only finished about a third of the park. We quickly dropped our theme idea in place for a more generic Oriental theme to make sure we could at least have SOMETHING to present. Louis! and Ride6 did a little bit of work with me, but by the time the deadline passed there wasn't much more done. We used the extension, and marathon sessions began.

Ride6 stated that he had done about 7 hours of work total. I'm not sure how much Louis! did. I'm also not sure how much I did. With about a day left before the extended deadline, I took the park and built from noon until 6am when the park was due, only stopping for dinner. I finished the park at 5:30am and wrote a very quick ReadMe in an attempt to tie the park together and add a backstory. I estimated that I built about 70% of the park, though Ride6 and Louis! can correct me if they thought they built more/less.

Here's what each member built:

Louis! - The watchtower; the coaster layouts; the yellow fortress/temple; the adventure ride

Ride6 - The rapids ride and most of its surroundings; the custom supports on both coasters; Guardian's station; one or two buildings on the castle's side

Gwazi - The entrance area / wall; the imperial garden; the castle; the docks; the valley; the restaurant; The Arena; theming for Guardian; theming for Samurai; theming for the adventure ride; some modifications to the rapids area; all the landscaping and foliage.

In fact, from about 4:00am-5:30am the morning it was due, I built the restaurant, The Arena, and did the entirety of the foliage.

Essentially, it was a very rushed effort that came about from simply unfortunate circumstances. True, the park is nothing too special compared to some of the parks being produced, but at least it's finished.

I'm okay with being criticized for repetitiveness (although I personally disagree somewhat), emptiness (as I said, it was really rushed), and generic ideas (after all, what ideas aren't generic nowadays?). I'm just glad we aren't being criticized for unfinishedness.

I had a sneaky feeling i was against you again Gwazi! REVENGE!! hehe

I really enjoyed ur park. As i've sorta-kinda taken up LL, i'm always in awe of the tracitexture. Alot of amazing rooves and beautiful ideas. I loved the garden pots. Really a big fan of Asian themes, so this park was my sorta stuff. I also loved the classic feel to it. Aesthetics over hacks was always my style (cause...well..i'm not brilliant hacker, hehe)

I'm glad everyone liked our park (or at least parts of it). I think the depth of our ideas it what really makes me so proud of this park. Alot of cool ideas and things that hadn't been attempted before which is what i think this H2H has become all about.

The other thing that i think should be noted about our park is the collaborative elements. The divides in style in this park really are divides in areas, not builders. we all worked on each section, with a huge effort to improve and better detail everyone's work to the same level. That was extremely refreshing cause it meant we could all improve the park and refine buildings without hurting feelings. The best example would be Dracula's castle. The Coaster layout and interiors were done by me, Cam did the original structures and foundations, and Turtle detailed and refined the exteriors. Almost all of the park was done in this manner to create something whole instead of a bunch of different parkmaker's work jammed together.

Cam and Turtle were awesome team members for this. Cam came in to a half-built developing park and gave us alot of direction. Turtle really helped me power this thing out with a TON of refinement and effort into atmosphere. I'm really proud of what we accomplished, easily some of my best work ever.

also, Posix, my name is Coastermind, not Coasterfreak, but it's dumb either way, which is why FK works easy..hehe

FK

Haha harboring a grudge all those years? j/k j/k Congrats bud, that was some fantastic work for a great idea.

yeah, a slight grudge sounds about right, hehe.

FK