H2H7 / [H2H7 Round 2 Match 1] - Robber Barons vs Manual Laborers

Yes yes, let's return to the parks

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I owe these parks a review...

 

World's Fair (Robber Barons):

First impressions were perhaps a little underwhelming with this, but I think that further viewing of the park [and after watching your explanation on stream Rob] the technicalities and brilliance behind the park really begins to shine through.

The entrance area was beautifully layered, and I the stalls and things by the waterfront are quite beautiful and a great realistic touch. I do feel that [time permitting of course which it's clear you ran out of] it would have been so great to see peeps walking around the market. Obviously hindsight is a wonderful thing but the cramped feel of the park, which will be alluded to a lot [sorry] could have been combated if the river had been expanded and the market given slightly more prominence.

Despite the positioning of the eiffel tower [phenomenal work by the way Sephiroth] the 'entrance' didn't quite read as such. Just that the transition into the 'world's fair' was in my opinion slightly too subtle for such an iconic event. I think that it needed space to see from a viewing perspective as well as things like hanging banners, advertisements, and the like. I did love the town square gardens though, really great interaction of the maze ride giving it more of a topiary purpose but not in a super obvious way.

 

I just think that the dense architecture focus [especially in that area and around the centre lake] resulted in a lot of things being 'lost'. The entrance structure housing the eurofighter was gorgeous in form and style, but the peach and light brown building really detracted the eye away from the, in my opinion, more important entrance. The layering is something that I needed several viewings to truly appreciate, but the execution is a real pinnacle of architectural functionality, just gorgeous in the sense of layers.

The interior was almost incredible. The layout was solid, and the steampunk feel just oozed out. However, the amount of pathing inside [which I assume was because of time restrictions] wasn't overly pleasant to look at. I think that maybe the combination of the black grating and brick path didn't quite compliment the colours of the coaster and exterior structure particularly well.

I absolutely adored Le Grande Vu! The balloon was perhaps a little ambiguous, and although I could tell what it was supposed to be it wasn't quite executed as well as it could. I think that you needed to make it clearer that the impression was the the lift was the act of going up in a balloon to give an overview of the entire fair. Maybe some clearer connecters between the balloon and the 'basket' could have helped(?)

 

Moving on to the [I think you said] transport hall. I honestly felt that the entrance to this structure would have been better served as a clear entrance to the entire world's fair section really. Nonetheless, again gorgeous form to the building, maybe utilised the green of the roof a little too much though. Just because you used that green throughout for supports and such having it be the sole colour of an entire roof was a little monotonous especially considering that it's an entrance to a themed hall. Blended in too much I thought.

I absolutely loved the aquatopia; shame there are no peeps on it. The sky carriages were likewise really impressive, although it would have been I think more indicative of the steampunk them were the sky carriages to have been the primary form of transport around the park [replacing either the steam turbines or tram]. Nonetheless, really great; although again the pathing didn't quite compliment the rides as well as it could. The black steel perfectly contrasted the aquatopia, but less so the sky carriages, maybe because of the black sky carriage support. The unfinished airship(?) poking out of the hall would have been amazing to see completed...would have really reinforced the transportation theme and added a much needed additional colour.

 

The air race is probably the best I've ever seen. Just the steampunk colours, positioning, flawless [other than it not working but it doesn't matter]. The lake was a nice touch of calmness in the park, although I do feel that it should have been given slightly more prominence. I mean the surrounding path is one maybe two tiles thick usually before there's a multiple floored building or tree. Like I said in my first impressions post; as a peep I would have absolutely adored this park, no contest. But as a view, everything is blocked by everything else - I'm unable to completely appreciate what's been built because I'm almost never able to see the full picture.

 

Moving on to the Gigavolt hall. People complaining about the problems with the coaster not starting was I think way too pedantic...anyways. Obviously it can only be said in hindsight, but I think that it might have been better replacing the intended art hall with this one, black tiling the area, and slightly increasing the size of the lake area. This would have certainly helped a lot with the cramped issue, but again; were the art hall to have been finished then maybe it would have been ridiculous to suggest getting rid of it. Regardless, I actually quite liked the coaster itself. The colours were nice, and it was one of the few halls where the pathing worked. Not sure if I necessarily agreed with the large airtime hill outside the hall, more because I think it would have been better were the support work for that hill more involved with the entrance structure. I'm assuming the curved tower was supposed to be that entrance [if not there didn't seem to be a discernable entrance to that hall which there maybe should have been] then the support structure could have maybe been better integrated into that. And therefore the airtime hill wouldn't have looked quite so out of place.

 

The nature hall was definitely my favourite [whoever made the dinosaur skeleton PM me so you can build one in my Jurassic Park design ;)]. I think that the black grating path worked best here, and the interaction with the tram ride was truly beautiful. Having the flume go outside of the hall as well was a really great touch I thought. Relatively simple, granted, but something that none of the other halls really accomplished very well in my opinion. Gorgeous area!

 

The 'infrastructure corner' is something that I only really appreciated after watching your stream Rob. Having an understanding as to the level of thought that went into such a small corner of the park really made me better appreciate the level technical brilliance that is in this park yet I'm probably missing. I wish I could appreciate it on first viewing and without direction, but alas.

 

The art hall in its unfinished state means that I can't really judge how good it is/could have been. Would have been really interesting to see how it would turn out especially with peeps. Certainly quite a unique idea.

 

The turbine racers served their purpose, but weren't my favourite thing in the park. They were just another thing blocking my view of certain buildings in the park I thought and I don't think they added enough to the park to warrant their inclusion...I do think that the "World's Fair" title was a little too ambiguous in the sense that I was expecting the halls to represent different countries rather than different themes per se. A readme would have helped I think. Regardless, phenomenal park on a technical level, but it didn't quite come together in the way that it could have to bring it up to the upper echelons of H2H brilliance.

 

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Bermuda: The Lost Colony (Manual Laborers):

The plane crash greeting was nice and I think really set the tone for a park that you could really explore. I'm assuming Cocoa was responsible for the Harold Holt frozen peep...genius!

 

The entrance area was quite well composed in my opinion. The kind of established colony feel was clearly present in the architecture, but the building clusters left the purpose slightly ambiguous. It was a lesson in Cocoa-colours, and the layering was likewise very impressive, but the buildings surrounding the centre path suggested that there should be some sort of central structure. Like a statue to the people who have founded the colony or something like that. Furthermore, the combination of the cars [which was great by the way] and the brick path was maybe a little much. Just that I don't really imagine a lost colony using brick in such a way, dirt or maybe a dark brown tarmac would have fitted better in my opinion. Nothing wrong with brick, but the amount of it was a little too much I felt. [for example it's usage by the windseeker was much better in my opinion because it was broken up by the ride/planter/fountain in those cases].

 

I must admit that I wasn't sure that the windseeker really fit that well initially. Obviously, an awesome hack that's really great to see executed in context, and it really grew on me in further viewings - great job Tim! I think that you ran into more of the 'too much brick path' problems by the rapids station though, I would have tried to use another path underneath the building there...The use of the fuselage as a building piece was great though.

 

Moving around to the shipwreck cove/mining island. I actually adore the entrance structure to shipwreck cove. Relatively simple, granted, but damn did it work well. I do think that the dark brown that you used for the wood was a little too much. Just the contrast [at least with that particular wood texture] was slightly unpleasant to look at. Granted, the alternative browns you'd already used a lot it just didn't look quite like the wood that I would imagine being used...Overall, the focus of the area felt like the more overgrown uninhabited island, and I definitely think that this was accomplished. I think maybe that more could have been done with the foliage [the underbrush and strictly dirt only land wasn't ideal], but nonetheless I think you made up for it with the mining interior. The underground plane crash didn't make much sense but it was a nice theming touch. However, it was the mines that really made the area - especially those mine carts. Just a really awesome area, in conjunction with the ability for peeps to explore that area by way of ride it was really great. Might have been an idea to add some more rockwork though just to combat the monotony of the land face texture.

 

I thought that Magnetite was a solid layout. Maybe a little slow at the end, but quite good for the most part. The colours complemented the area really well in my opinion [the blending with the track of the suspended monorail was maybe a little unfortunate] as well as the interaction with the landscaping, rapids, and architecture working really well together.

 

FUCKING PLANE BRIDGE! Greatest detail in the entire park in my opinion. Would have been really awesome to have seen more of these I think. The helicopter playground was another example of really reinforcing the lost colony idea that you had going. And I think that were this idea expanded upon a little more than what it had been the park could have been even better.

 

The flyer layout was average. Could have been a lot better I think, but theming an island to a volcano doesn't really lend itself to an overly interesting area. Just because a dormant volcano is essentially a giant hill with a crater in the middle, not very interesting to look at. Nonetheless, the surrounding architecture and foliage was relatively good, the supplies store was really well done; simple, but great colours. Not sure that the flying saucers base was really necessary for the dodgems, although I guess you needed to get rid of the roof...replacing it with the broken path was a nice touch. The screamin' swing felt a little shoehorned into that small cove, I personally feel that it shouldn't have been on a cliff edge; even though the excitement factor is there I'm just not really used to that sort of thing and am not sure that the aesthetic is there with the broken base where it is.

 

Still, well composed park that despite being densely populated with foliage still had so much life and colour.

 

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I did end up voting for the Manual Laborers in this matchup based on first impressions, just because IRL got in the way and I didn't really have time for detailed further viewings. Having gone back over both parks in greater depth now I'm not quite sure that I would change my decision, however I think that the matchup was an awful lot closer than what I first thought. Great job to both teams in this round!

World's Fair:

 

Pros: 

- Architecturally speaking this park was absolutely stunning. Not surprising given that Robbie worked on it!

- I think you guys did a great job with the coaster given how tight of a squeeze they were. Really nicely done.

- The steel framing on the exhibition halls were beautifully crafted. Love it.

- Such new shapes with the architecture, it's amazing to see how far you can push the game in that respect. Beautiful!

- Colors were spot on.

- ar 1- 8 (is that the name?) was a great flat ride. I wish it functioned.

- The steel tower is beautifully done.

 

Cons:

- While I understand the need for those large glass roofs (looking at the Crystal Palace for inspiration?), it took away from the park. I feel like there could have been a roofs-on and a roofs-off version, but I know that the time constraint was a problem as it was.

- A little too busy and hard to focus. I think compositionally that could have been resolved with a little more careful planning.

- Error trapper is annoying o.o

- Messy in some placed, definitely unfinished vibe coming from parts of the park.

- Gigavolt's layout was mediocre, but the theming was top notch.

 

Overall I was impressed with the scale and scope of the park. You had a vision and it was beautifully executed, albeit unfinished. 

 

85%

 

Bermuda: The Lost Colony

 

Pros:

- That blackbox log is ingenius. Beautifully crafted narrative to go with the park!

- The shipwreck and planewrecks were awesomely done

- Windseeker - AMAZING. Loved it. One of the best flat rides I have seen.

- Magnetite was awesome as a coaster, really well done!

- The mine back portion with the river rapids was awesome as well, very cool ideas.

- Nice Caldera, the flyer was also pretty cool.

- The submarine was super well constructed, and I loved how the river rapids went through it!

- Those rope bridges - great idea and execution!

 

Cons:

- Architecturally I was unimpressed. Seemed aimless and I didn't get a Bermuda theme, the aesthetic just wasn't clear. For example I spotted a building that looked like it could have been from New Orleans (heavily inspired by DAW's peach/black/teal building I'm assuming), next to a brown medieval castle type building, next to a bright yellow cottage with a porch. I didn't get it.

- Compositionally the park suffered from a lack of direction as well, but overall it didn't hinder the experience that much.

 

80%

 

This was the closest matchup for me in the competition so far. Both parks were beautiful and amazing and deserve to win. I didn't end up voting because of time constraints but I think I would have gone with World's Fair by just a hair. Great job to both teams, and especially to Cocoa and Robbie for their great effort in these parks!

I love how everyone assumes the pink building is daw inspired, when both are actually inspired by the same building at disneyland pac you dont get to own all the caribbean themes!

I love how everyone assumes the pink building is daw inspired, when both are actually inspired by the same building at disneyland pac you dont get to own all the caribbean themes!

 

No wonder. I always wondered where that came from.