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I don't typically do AD threads - this is my first in at least eight years - but seeing That Guy's wasteland project has reminded me that some of my projects start with stories as well. I figure I might as well share the stories somewhere other than my readme's.


- Project Ruhiel - 100% complete
This is an older project and will likely not score an accolade, so I'd like to show it off here at least.

Back then, the City cops weren’t exactly a shining example of justice. Corrupt to the core, they been twisted into the armed and organized instrument of a system verging on fascism. After they weeded out the honest officers they started finding every excuse to brutally beat down the respected citizens and the brave few who spoke out. It was only a matter of time before the new City Security Force – CitSec – stamped out even the brightest sparks of the City under the auspices of “radical public protection measures.”

It was around then that he showed up for the first time. Given the conditions it isn’t surprising that at first the CitSec goons thought he was some petty thief with some stolen tech , maybe a desperate businessman moonlighting as a vigilante. It soon became apparent, however, that the masked man with the rocketpack was more than just an amateur vandal. He quickly gained notoriety- aerial acrobatics and a gentlemanly flair made him hot news in hushed conversations and the few radical newspapers that were left.

As his exposure increased, so did his audacity. He broke up a shipment of Tommy guns headed for the police headquarters. He stole a police coupe and rammed a hole in the 4th ward holding cell with it. He roared low over the rooftops to swipe the key to the city right out of the Chief Councilman’s hands at the CitSec new year's gala. Somewhere along the line- maybe after the cops put out a warrant – he started wearing a golden helm. The underground radio stations had been spinning the whole thing like a Grecian epic anyway, and now he looked the part. Brown leather riding boots with military pants, a red bomber jacket and a revolver on his hip.

Rumor had it he was operating out of an old airfield on one of the bay islands, and more than a few people set out to find him. Not many came back; those who were looking to join his cause found a new home, and the cops who went looking found cold steel instead. Soon “The Rocketman,” as the news guys called him, was leading a small army of angry citizens. What happened next was something none of us ever saw coming.

- Project DSG - 70% complete
This ended up taking the form of a micro, but at 20x20 and with one screen technically public already it is unlikely to ever qualify for any accolades or fit contest guidelines. Obviously a full-on fantasy build, it focuses on a future of causal immortality.

Consciousness is sometimes a tangible thing. When sentient beings are tired of living in self-awareness, they retire to Sedation. A lone asteroid tucked into a secure orbit, stable and heavily shielded from interstellar debris and radiation, a vault world securing the memories of mankind. The science of extracting and storing the synapse arrangements of human beings has long since been perfected; matrices of conductive crystal arranged to replicate exactly the neurons of an individual mind, carefully maintained, can last millenia.

- Project Irodori - 55% complete
This has been seen before as well, and is inching toward completion. Layout (of buildings and ride) has been completed, and all that remains is hours of unpleasant codex work.
The haiku is all you get because the haiku is all that is needed.

Here cut-paper hills
fold their stone arms in solemn,
silent testament.

Lovely. I like the clean/simpleness of that first screen more than that overgrown second one but they're both lovely.

Having seen the first one in game, the backstory fits it so well, and that screen shows how lovely the project is.

The other two also sound really interesting, I think possibly that tree is overused in the last screen to the point where it no longer looks like the tree fits RCT graphics But still, nice work.

<4

Tree combo in the last screen is great. Very original. The asian theming trees have always been tricky to use well. I like your solution.

These are all enormous, so hopefully auto-resize works.

I thought you might enjoy this Project Irodori planning work from one of my sketchbooks.



The premise of the project came from this idea:

The year is 1992.
A historic Buddhist temple outside Tokushima, already a noted regional attraction because of the local scenery, is looking to expand their tourist draw further.
Naturally, the head monk decides this is best accomplished by installing the latest in thrill machines, an Arrow Dynamics loopscrew.

That sounded enough like a typical RCT Scenario description that I'll probably release this a scenario.
(Goal - To have at least 750 guests in your park at the end of October, Year 3, with a park rating of at least 600. No landscape modification, limited tree removal, and for the love of Buddha make it look good)

Before I could build an expansion to a Buddhist temple, I needed to build a Buddhist temple. Before I could do that, I needed to know what a Buddhist temple looked like - specifically, a Japanese Buddhist temple of the Kegon school from the late Kamakura era.

So I did my research and deconstructed the typical elements of a period temple into basic spaces defined by their primary uses. Then I chose to order the elements based on the daily uses and needs of the monk population, for whom the temple's layout was an expression of faith. This gave me a pathway indicating the relative importance and frequency of different locations in the temple. Some simple research into how many monks would be using each area and when gave me rough estimates of the sizes for each location, backed up by plans and satellite imagery of surviving examples. From these steps I developed a theoretical master plan of the monastery and temple structures, factoring in uses like transit (boats from downriver and a mountain road) and the gardens and fields to sustain the monks.

Then I scrapped all that under the premise that the more liberal present-day (that is, 1992) monks were willing to alter some of the religiously-ordered plan of the temple in order to accommodate not only expansion, but other structures like guest housing and dining that were not considered in the original concepts. I created a story for the monestary, inventing a timeline and meeting new needs. Over the years the river wore its way into the rock, creating a set of falls and restricting boat travel, necessitating a new bridge and entryway.
The monk quarters were relocated to be more central to the fields and to permit pilgrims and visitors to use the vacated spaces in the main temple hall. The old belfry was dismantled and the foundation left to rot, leaving an overgrown hillside with just enough room for the new rollercoaster installation. One of the older prayer halls was found structurally unsound, so new concrete and steel were poured not only to support the brake run but to reinforce the failing hinoki beams.



Having established how monks would live and work in the still-active temple, I mapped how visitors and thrill-seekers would flow. Then I applied the constraints of terrain, existing structure, relative size and importance, and frequency of use to create a bubble map of the temple plan.



The stream feeding the small lagoon and eventually the river became a natural dividing line between the Primary and Secondary buildings of the Temple; guests and monks alike move through the smaller shrines before crossing the bridge and entering the main temple. This follows an archetypal path-portal-place arrangement.



To reinforce this arrangement I chose to place the coaster station across the bridge in the main temple structure and set up the layout to ensure that visitors would be able to clearly see key elements from across the lagoon. With a clear visual landmark across the bridge guests would directly understand their path through the grounds.



Finally, I began developing the look of various sited structures. (The houses on the left were lifted straight from an architectural rendering technique book.) I chose to leave tourist dining and housing off-map for now, to sustain the temple as a self-contained and self-evident destination. For some attractions dining/lodging in-park is a clear benefit, but for a living, working temple the mysticism and wonder of the visitor experience is better maintained by making it something you must make some sort of journey, however short, to reach.

<5

This is the deepest RCT-related research I've ever heard of. This is RCT-related, right?

I hope the execution does this justice. The ideas you have sound really solid.

I think you're losing the park focus by going too deep into the monk life stuff. Otherwise this is awesome, and I love your sketches.

I adore the idea matey, your planning is so massive but effective and I LOVE your sketches.

I think you're losing the park focus by going too deep into the monk life stuff. Otherwise this is awesome, and I love your sketches.

Given the temple's function, i think it's important to understand the concept of a life of a buddhist monk to accurately create the temple itself.

I'm loving this ][, your vision for what you create seems to rival Ed.

This stuff does nothing for me. I just want to see people build roller coasters and theme parks. Not make sketches of it.

This stuff does nothing for me. I just want to see people build roller coasters and theme parks. Not make sketches of it.

I think it gives a glimpse into the creator's mind of how they ideally want to build something, which I value more than that being translated into game.

Press release!

Instead of pursuing PT4, I have been (and will be) working on this.



Today I am celebrating a finalized path layout on Map1 and the groundbreaking on the entrance plaza on Map2. Starting today the loose, sketch-like planning phase shifts to the detailing phase; it is time for the fence-stacking to begin in earnest. />/> />/>

I'll try to get screens up periodically so something will be going on in the AD during the PT4 build periods!

Map1 coaster lineup is finalized at 5, with an additional 4+ tracked rides; two shows and at least a half-dozen flats, mostly custom.

I'm at roughly the same completion level for most of Map1, so I'll work on screens for whatever area you guys are most interested in. Let me know what you want to see!

Map2 is further along than this overview indicates; current coaster lineup is at 4.

Will this be in LL? The initial sketches look more RCT2-oriented but you're more of an LL guy, I think. Just remember, don't show screens of everything, so when it does eventually get finished, we'll have some surprises upon opening it It seems you have a very good idea of what you want to do, good for you

I've always loved the Codex map editor view of parks. It looks so much more pretty than the built in one.

Looks like you've got a good start on this already, I'm looking forward to seeing some screens.

A coaster on two maps? How is that going to work!?


Please take the time to make your archticture and all built environment clean, usually that's what drags your work down... Anyways, I'm hooked. A two mapper, shit. Show screens of whatever you think is ready for showing!

A coaster on two maps? How is that going to work!?

Please take the time to make your archticture and all built environment clean, usually that's what drags your work down... Anyways, I'm hooked. A two mapper, shit. Show screens of whatever you think is ready for showing!

I can't really argue that- my architectural style is fast and loose. I usually build on a somewhat smaller scale than Loopy or Pier, and I have some kind of compulsion to avoid large or tall bits of unadorned wall. This project is mostly falling somewhere between my previous work and some recent Loopy stuff; I'm making a conscious effort to scale things up, but it is hard to fight my planning instincts.

Las Agachadas - fine dining by day, dance club by night, all on the patio. Situated in the entry plaza but outside park gates; no park admission required.


El Mirador - "The Lookout" - the name of the tower, not the ride.