Micro Madness 2014 / [MM2014 Final] FK+Coastermind vs. inthemanual vs. Stoksy

I'm not telling you what you should or shouldn't do, don't get me wrong. I was just sharing my views.

Yeah, I understand. I was doing the same.

I actually find it hard to focus on anything for more than two hours really.

Well i must say congrats to you Timmy!

and to you Stoksy!

Though of course i'm a bit bummed to be looser here, i couldn't be happier to lose to 2 amazing fantasy micros, and i couldn't be prouder of my park. Thought i'd leave my thoughts on those parks and mine

Stoksy-first off, by far my surprise of the contest. You came from nowhere, provided an amazing range of ideas, stepped out of ur comfort zone, and look at what came of it? Some amazing parks.Ode to the Ood was, for me, imaginative and brave. At points your risks didn't pay off, i think there were a few misses in the top layer, but the bottom layer was sexy as hell, a wonderful fun layout, and some amazing color and archy choices. You managed to pop a TON of references to Dr. Who in there, which is really what keeps micros so exciting, all the little ideas they have. I would say the only real miss was that, without a little more refinement, some of the ideas got a bit lost or overwhelmed. Again, i say brave. I think, very often players step out of their comfort zone and the result is half-hearted attempts at something they are unsure of. With this park, you made a few mistakes, but you stepped up and put everything you had into a concept, and it really shows. Congrats again

InTheManual-I think, what real won me over on this, and on other parks of your's in MM, was ur commitment to innovation. It reminds me, well, of me. As someone always searching for something new, never done, and creative, it was both wonderfully exciting and fraustrating to see you matching me with other awesome things i had never even considered. With Cavumus, it was the night version that really blew me away. I had thought about messing with these things, but never really committed to it or consider its application. The night version was just perfect, providing an amazing deep atmosphere. I will say, in the day version, i wasn't nearly as immersed. You ideas and little bits were unbelievable, so well done. At times though, i did feel the atmosphere wasn't there in the day version, it needs more texture, more activity, imo. But the night version is perfect, the layer of darkness just makes this feel like a brooding, dark micro, which i love. Funny, now that i think about it, we both played with how things might be different in two different times. Ur micro being the difference between night and day, mine being between one time period and another. Overall, i've enjoyed all your MM parks and can't wait to see what new ideas you will develop in the future. Congrats again, Mr. Micro Madness 2014

The Time Traveler-i thought i would put down a few quick thoughts about my micro, for anyone interested. There really isn't a ton to say, as most of the important thoughts i had concerning how i put the park together are in the readme. Unfortunately, i would guess few people took the time to read the readme, and this park really relies on you understanding what you are about to see, rather than just opening it up. 

I came up with the idea for the park a long time ago, i know i even kicked around doing it as a design and shared the idea with someone (maybe AVC?) about doing it as a collab. I'm so glad i could put it into hard copy (well, computer copy) here, as it really worked out the best i could imagine.

The one comment i was really expecting people to give me was that the mesh fences were getting in the way for viewing the park, which i'm bummed about, cause it was a bit of a trap. Though they aren't the best item for it (i gotta find an easier one to remove) i wanted, as much to force perspective of the other time zones, to force viewers to interact with the park on a personal level. By this i mean, if you as a viewer really wanted to see inside the castle or the back of the carousel, you could delete the fences, literally peeling back the layers of time. This forces the viewer to become literally become the time traveler themselves, exploring the park as they move through the times in the same way a real time traveler would. This was, of course, a bit of a stretch. I would require a lot of work most viewers wouldn't want to put in, and require that someone decide to delete things in the park as they went, which i think a lot of people think of as a taboo given we often regard finished parks in the same way we do finished art "not to be touched". None-the-less, it was an idea i was hoping would affect at least someone. 

I can easily say, this was the easiest competition i have ever had to lose, and that's because i would contest my micro is one of, if not the best thing i've ever done. I've never forced myself to fully think though and conceptualize anything as specifically as this park, and the outcome is something i'm sinfully proud of. I would encourage anyone who didn't read the readme to take another look, as i think it can make this a much more enjoyable experience. I sincerely hope you all enjoyed this, and all my MM work, as much as i enjoyed putting it together. It's been a blast

FK

Well done inthemanual. I look forward to seeing larger scale projects from you.