Pro Tour 4 / Prelim #4 - Best Architecture

Pro Tour 4. When the elite battle, who will come out on top?

Prelim #4 - Best Architecture

Please note that failure to follow any of the following rules will result in disqualification.

Pro Tour 4 Prelims

Unlike before, you won't be granted qualification if you win. Each entry is judged by the elite and must hit an average of 80% or above to gain qualification to the final round. The reason for the short deadlines is that we want to emphasise that we are looking for potential, your entry will be judged on quality, not quantity. The prelims are a showcase of talent, show us the quality you are capable of building to gain a qualification spot. Results from each prelim will be posted around 2 days after each deadline.

COUNTDOWN CLOCK WIDGET

(1) To gain qualification an average score of 80% or higher from the elite panel is needed. (2) Your entry must meet the correct prelim criteria. In each category you will be judged on the criteria alone, you may wish to enhance this by additional surroundings, however keep the main criteria in mind. (3) You may enter as many prelims as you wish, but remember this is a contest of quality, not quantity. However, only 1 entry per person, per prelim is allowed. (4) There is no limit on how many people can qualify. If you hit the 80% mark, you will qualify regardless of where you finish in the prelim. (5) Your entry MUST be anonymous. Whilst your style may give your work away, there MUST be no mention of who has built the entry. All entries must be never seen before work. This includes streaming or posting any screenshots of old, recycled, work or new work. (6) Entries must be submitted to us by the respective deadline via our PM system.


Results

Fizzix - Student Union

Kumba: 75% | Liampie: 75% | 5dave: 85% | Cedarpoint6: 80% | Steve: 80%
Pacificoaster: 80% | Fr3ak: 85% | Louis: 90% | Six Frags: 85%

What the Judges Say:

"LOVE the idea, but peeps were badly needed to get the atmosphere right. Also the building was too simple, yet very realistic."
-Kumba

"The building isn't the prettiest, but it was quite original and interesting. I also enjoyed the interiors. Good job."
-Liampie

"Nice, modern building. I really like it. I'm just not sure if it's a recreation, a brand new building or something inspired by an existing building? A readme would have been nice to clarify. The only minor thing I didn't like where the light blue windows. But I loved the whole feel and structure. My personal fave."
-5dave

"I really like this design and the interiors brought it up to 80 for me. A good modern structural with a logical design and a really nice glass stair tower on the end. I enjoyed this piece for how clean it is."
-CedarPoint6

"Wow, great design here, I felt. Very believable. I liked the colors a lot too. The trees were a bit strange, but we're not judging those I suppose. Overall, I really liked this building and fits the bill for this round. Well done on this one!"
-Steve

"Really nice architecture, that's exactly what I was looking forward to this round. Great setting and foliage too. The brown path parts and the statues / signs destroyed it a little bit for me. Otherwise I loved this! "
-Fr3ak

"Really nice colour scheme and texture choice. Also love the height variation in the surrounding landscape."
-Six Frags

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Average: 81.67 > 80%; Achieves Qualification

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Shotguns? - Unnamed Entry

Kumba: 70% | Liampie: 85% | 5dave: 70% | Cedarpoint6: 80%
Pacificoaster: 80% | Louis: 85% | Six Frags: 70%

What the Judges Say:

"It's good, but I feel like I have seen this style 100x and it was unfinished."
-Kumba

"Not all buildings were 85% worthy, but the finished row of houses was amazing, some of the best timber framed architecture the site has seen for sure. Good to see some work by you that's not too ripped off. Honestly"
-Liampie

"Pretty classic framework stuff. I must say I kinda got tired of these buildings, but from a technical viewpoint those are very nice! It was a bit unfinished and lifeless and I also thought the structures felt to large for the style somehow."
-5dave

"Though repetitive, I enjoyed the detailing of this architecture. Good use of wood framing, though a little more variation might be nice. Still this feels very pleasant, though I'd certainly like to see it finished."
-CedarPoint6

"Always love to see this tudor style architecture in rct. What was there was really nice, but the unfinishedness kinda ruins it.."
-Six Frags

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Average: 77.14% < 80%; Does not achieve Qualification

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Sey - God's Own Country

Kumba: 85% | Liampie: 95% | 5dave: 85% | Cedarpoint6: 85% | Steve: 95%
Pacificoaster: 90% | Fr3ak: 90% | Louis: 95% | Six Frags: 95%

What the Judges Say:

"Awesome architecture. My only issues were that you used 0 track, shops or staff and that there was a lot of large areas of path. Still considering what round this is, pretty solid entry."
-Kumba

"SHIT"
-Liampie

"Again a readme would be nice. I googled Kerala and I couldn't really understand why there was a church next to a Pagoda. But the structures where executed at a high level with lots of detail and a lot of sophistication. Another fav and ties with the first entry IMO."
-5dave

"I'd agree with Dave in that a readme would've been cool. That said, the detailing here was enough to "
-CedarPoint6

"Wow. I will go as far to say that as a whole, the area doesn't really work for me with so much path and lack of foliage or much else but the architecture is stunning. If you could build a park of this caliber and make it lively, then the rest of the finalists are fucked."
-Steve

"Another stunning entry. All the little details on the white facades are totally amazing. It works so perfectly. A little bit of a letdown are the lack of foliage (you could have easy broke up the path a little with one or two trees in a planter) and the one building which stands a little on his own. It's just not as perfect and refined as the other parts are."
-Fr3ak

"Wow, really nice work! Love the texture choices and colour scheme. The detail on the buildings is great too; not overwhelming but it adds just that much quality to it that makes them more interesting."
-Six Frags

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Average: 90.56% > 80%; Achieves Qualification

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Loopy - Royal Albert Bridge

Kumba: 80% | Liampie: 70% | 5dave: 80% | Louis: 75% | Six Frags: 75%

What the Judges Say:

"LLLL! Good bridge, but what I really liked was the small town next to it. Loved the sidewalks and codex details on the buildings. "
-Kumba

"Good entry, but being the main feature on the map I think the bridge should've been better executed. It was not clean at all... The urban area was fun, I loved how the pub actually looks like a pub somehow. I also liked the coach driver and all the other details. Good entry, but architecture-wise not worth more than."
-Liampie

"I googled the bridge and I loled. What an ugly structure this is! Nontheless, what an awesome recreation this was! The attention to detail was amazing and I loved all the little things supporting the idea. Not sure if it was completely finished on the other river bank, though... Great job!"
-5dave

"Nice ideas in here, like the playground train and the traffic. The bridge itself kinda lacks more detail and depth, which kept it just short of qualification for me.."
-Six Frags

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Average: 76.00% < 80%; Does not achieve Qualification

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Liampie - Catherine Palace St. Petersburg

Kumba: 80% | 5dave: 70% | Cedarpoint6: 75% | Steve: 75%
Pacificoaster: 85% | Fr3ak: 80% | Louis: 85% | Six Frags: 80%

What the Judges Say:

"I don't always Google map Russia, but when I do I prefer it be due to RCT. A good rec, but nothing to amazing here. I was on the 75/80 fence, but hey, I am one of the nice judges!"
-Kumba

"Nice recreation here and you also recognize the building easily. It had the right amount of detail IMO. Maybe the backsite would be nice to see instead of a missing interior, but that's just a nitpick. Also the gardens were a great example how they add to the structure, not the other way around."
-5dave

"It's clean and pleasant, but also really repetitive. The garden and potted trees are actually one of my favorite parts of this. While the architecture is nice, it was just a little shy of the mark as I'd have liked to have seen more... like out buildings or a completed structure on 4 sides."
-CedarPoint6

"The facade is pretty nice, and I really admire the idea. You chose to do a mansion, and unfortunately I feel its not the best way to display architecture skills. While it's technically well done, each tile is nearly the same and uniform. Great job on the detailing and the surroundings really make it shine, but it misses the mark a bit in this round for me. This entry would have really been elevated by a lavish interior but..."bummer.""
-Steve

"Very strong entry with it's great facade and a very wisely chosen color scheme. Also the garden is lovely and fits the architecture perfectly. Too bad the building didn't have a backside."
-Fr3ak

"Resembles the irl palace well, and looks good in-game too. If only the inside was done or the palace as a whole, would make this entry so much better. Just barely qualifies imo."
-Six Frags

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Average: 78.75% < 80%; Does not achieve Qualification

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ivo - Unnamed Entry

Kumba: 10% | Liampie: 0% | 5dave: 5% | Pacificoaster: 0%
Fr3ak: 10% | Louis: 5% | Six Frags: 5%

What the Judges Say:

"Not sure what it was, or why you sent it in..."
-Kumba

"I liked that trippy feel when you rotate the camera. I hoped to see any structure/idea behind it, but I failed. Hope to see another prelim entry from you."
-5dave

"I didn't get it. Maybe a readme could have changed my mind. The effect when turning the view was great. I also thought that all the 4 views might match up to create a new image but I think that wasn't the case .. ?"
-Fr3ak

"What was it supposed to be? Now it's just some raised land and a bunch of random objects on a map.."
-Six Frags

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Average: 5.00% < 80%; Does not achieve Qualification

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Arjan - Living Large

Kumba: 75% | Liampie: 80% | 5dave: 60% | Cedarpoint6: 75% | Steve: 75%
Pacificoaster: 70% | Fr3ak: 50% | Louis: 75% | Six Frags: 80%

What the Judges Say:

"Great work on the new objects and the pool. Still the architecture itself was just pretty nice and not much more. Also the amount of brown brick used did not fit the landscaping well and imo lowered the overall atmosphere. "
-Kumba

"I really like this one. The mansion itself wasn't anything special, but it as embedded on the map very well and I love how good it looks combined with the garden, which is by the way probably the most interesting feature on this map. I think in this case it is justified to take the path work into account here, because it seems to be an integral part of the mansion design."
-Liampie

"I can't say if this was a Hotel or an Villa? But I guess the latter because of the small size. I liked the surroundings more than the actual architecture. The colours and textures mixed too much and there wasn't anything that caught the eye for me. But it was a solid showing nontheless."
-5dave

"I liked this a lot actually. The curves were neat and the main building was architecturally quite nice. I would've liked to have seen some more color variation, though. So close, but just a little shy for me."
-CedarPoint6

"Judging by the architecture, it's definitely nice but not enough to bring it up for a spot in the finals. You accompanied the "mansion" with some nice surroundings, which would have been great in another round, but as it's the architecture round, it misses the mark a bit for me here. I really liked this entry as a whole though, and I could see you making your way into the contest if you keep at it! "
-Steve

"Nice submission in general but I couldn't stand looking at the path and the foliage for too long.
Additionally those white fences did stick out way to much.
The idea of a luxury housing is nice though."
-Fr3ak

"Lovely work in here. The atmosphere really sets this apart from the others imo. I could imagine just laying on some chair on that balcony looking out over the pool. Nice new objects too, so looking forward what you can cook up in the main contest! "
-Six Frags

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Average: 71.11% < 80%; Does not achieve Qualification

Congratulations to Fizzix & Sey for gaining qualification to the Pro Tour 4 Final!

Well fuck me Freddy.

Maybe i should've build a castle.

Edit:

Thanks to the voters of course, for voting honestly.
Too bad that it wasn't good enough.
And this was the only round for me though, so no pro tour for me.
Now i'm going to continue on my park again.

I'll review the others later.

In case no one notices, my entry contains a new tree object. A chinese cedar about 1.5 times the size of a normal chinese cedar.

Another painful loss for Shotguns?

Liam, the building looked nice, but it was way too simple for me. The garden area was pretty pitiful.

@ two elite NE Spotlight winners entering and not hitting 80%

Nice to see Fizzix and Sey advance

Anyone wanna hook a brotha up with some close-ups of Sey's, Fizzix's, and Liam's entries?

I'm in awe right now guys. Really didn't expect to qualify! Thanks to all the voters for their votes and comments, they mean a lot. It was supposed to be a college student union building, which was inspired by the one on my own campus starting this fall. Congrats to Sey as well, that's how I wish I built! Looking forward to seeing more entries by you shotguns?, you're almost there. I don't know why you chose to only finish half the building instead of having the gardens more to the side the way the building was, but I think getting your new object was more important than "qualifying" Liampie. An exciting round for sure, can't wait for more!

Congrats Zach! You've come a long ways:]

I wish I had the time to enter in a round this contest, but my work schedule is insane. Pair that along with moving into a new house, dealing with family drama, and becoming newly single after two years; RCT sadly takes a back seat:[ I still check the site daily though, and it makes me very happy to see deserving players such as yourselves produce quality work and advance through the competition:]

Shotguns, you know i'm rooting for you buddy!

Shotguns certainly seems to be in the running for one of the wild card spots. His work has improved greatly, and both of his entries in the prelims have been solid stuff. Shame you just missed out again buddy.

Congrats Fizz, you really pulled it out the bag.

my god... sey...

Congrats Fizzix and Sey! Both of your entries looked very deserving. Looking forward to what you can do in the main competition.

Liam, that new tree object is absolutely gorgeous. I'm gonna use it.

Some background information:

Direct trade with Europe started in 1498, when a small Portuguese fleet reached the city of Calicut under the direction of Vasco Da Gama. Initially, the conqueror Da Gama had been in charge of a successful expedition regarding assurance of a trading post. His duty was to compete for the monopoly of spice trade.
At first, the relation between Da Gama and the local sovereign Zamorin has been defined by courtesy. However, their relation worsened rapidly as a result of the Portuguese’ intentions. By means of false promises and later on enforced treaties, the strangers obtained nothing but the trading rights for those exotic and valuable products of the new country in no time at all.
Meanwhile, local rulers of the entire region rivaled each other: Taking advantage of the distraction around, a process of exploitation has been activated.

The second expedition of Da Gama four years later has been affected by massacres, kidnapping, atrocities and shameless piracy. Consequently, a fortified trading post has been established in Cochin. This place has been a favourable base since, wherefrom the Portuguese conquistadors were able to control and supervise the trade with the Mideast. Besides, they managed to come to power all over the back-country and along the coast.
They planted the first coconut palms and set in motion the distribution of this monoculture all over South India.
By and by, the French and Dutch (and finally the British) came to challenge the Portuguese’ claim to domination of Kerala.

My entry lacks foliage, because I wanted to focus and only create a focus for others on the architecture. For me, foliage has nothing to do with the architecture task, considering that there is going to be a prelim round about nothing but foliage. However, I will keep in mind to bring more life into it next time

Yeah, I don't know what the other judges were thinking when they say that they missed foliage in sey's entry. This is the architecture round for God's (no pun intended ) sake!

I also think that the amount of path adds more focus towards the architecture, and I like it!
I must say I'm very surprised and didn't expect that you made that sey! You kinda come out of nowhere and blows every other entry away by a longshot. Can't wait what you cook up for the main contest! Hope you finish something full scale

Congrats to fizzix too! Surprised to see you made that. You improved a lot it seems on the architecture front, really nice entry!

Great round. Thoughts in the order i looked at them

ivo-i feel like there is some missing key to this, and until you share it with everyone ur work will be ignored.

Arjan-This may have been my favorite of the round. No, not detailed beyond all hell, but sooo smooth and stylized and really just fun and imaginative. Arjan, you have a glorious style all your own and i love it. This held my attention for the longest, and i think its a shame this didn't get by. If i had the choice i would give you a wildcard, as i think you bring something to the contest no one else can.

Fizzix-really an outstanding entry, and the best of this round. The building was so perfectly structured and fit into the surroundings, this really felt like a modelling program for an architecture class. The colors were also perfect.

Sey-another amazing entry, loved the use of different roofs to make it feel old and weathered. The detail work here was top notch, though at times it felt excessive IMO, though well done none-the-less. My favorite part was probably the long sort of gate wall that was just white with minor details. I'm a sucker for a smooth wall. And i agree, why should foliage be an issue in the architecture round, but looking at all the rounds judges just been doing that. I'm sure that in round 5 there will be complaints about poor architecture...

Liampie-this felt classic, well detailed, but i think what held this back was a lack of atmosphere. Your architecture really bases itself in strong relation to the area around it and interaction with other elements, something you can't really do in a palace and garden set up. That tree looks awesome though.

Shotgun?-I really liked what you had going, and thought it showed alot of skill, but i think it was hurt by comparison to the other entries. Most of the entries were based off specific buildings from real life or "big feature" architecture, where your entry seemed to be more theme park architecture. As a result the recreations seemed to overshadow your work. That and the judges have shown that only finished work will be considered as quality.

FK

Wow, Sey built that? Unreal. If he finishes an entry he could take the whole contest. Well done, dude.

Fizzix, congrats man! Probably my favorite of the bunch, really. I'm looking forward to seeing what you do in the finals!

Wildcard should already go to Shotguns. Shame I couldn't open your entry, cause what looks to be there is terrific.

i still love you, sey. come back to me

In no particular order, my thoughts.

Arjan- It was good, just not as detailed as is necessary imo. All the curves everywhere looked great, and it was laid out nicely overall. All of the diagonals on the mansion seem to make it difficult to detail or look good, so that held you back. I hope to possibly see another entry from you, and gl.

shotguns- Ohh, why you no finish. You have a nice style, and if you would have finished , it probably would have been 85% material.
Those towers at the front were great, and I see your inspiration there. I thought the rows of buildings were good, especially the ones with the arches. Imo the buildings would look better if they were raised at least another quarter block for some more height. I think it could have been slightly more detailed or interesting in some places, but I see you have lots of potential. Hope you are building for the later rounds just in case.

Liam- Nice choice for a recreation, Catherine palace looks gorgeous, and I think you nailed the overall look and feel almost perfectly. With more detail here and there I think it would have impressed more, like say the garden, or making custom windows, but I would have given it 80% now. Knowing you, if you had a few more weeks to work on this, it would be one of the best creations on the site, period.

Sey- nice job man! I liked all the layering you did at the base of the buildings, along with the roofing, etc.. Overall it had an interesting feel to it, just not my cup of tea for the theme, I don't know why it just felt a little boring for some reason. There were lots of good details, but also some that didn't translate well for me and were too messy imo. The white building, or church did look good, I guess because it was all one color.
I would have given this 85%, as its not the epitamy of what great architecture is to me in the game, but very good none the less.
I'm very excited to see what you can make in the finals, and good luck.

Fizzix. Congrats on getting through, and nice job dude! Yours was my favorite entry. I liked the overall shape, the colors, the buildings interior, elevation changes, pathing around it etc... The scale of the building was set really nice, and all the details were clean and well placed. I agree peeps would have made this really come alive. Would have been 85% from me probably. Looking forward to what you can do in the finals.

Ivo: I didn't know if I should have looked at it in a certain way or something, but it looked like objects placed randomly. It feels like a puzzle or something.

Loopy: I can't find my original rct disc to install LL, but from the overview it looks just like the actual bridge, so nice job with that.

Why did Liam submit an entry? I thought he was already in, since he had been voting on other submissions.