H2H8 / H2H8 Round 1 Match 2 - Team Spacecrab vs The Icons

My thoughts are that Digsite is very overwhelming but also that Motherland was rather underwhelming, although rather charming. I do appreciate the aesthetic simplicity of Motherland.

 

Motherland was a lot more visuallyy pleasing in the sense is that it had a bunch of ideas all clearly and neatly presented and organised whilst Digsite just seemed to have 1000 things on top of each other and sometimes, the viewing experience just isn't particularly pleasant. it appeared that every single tile was packed.

 

However, Digsite displayed a lot more skills and creativity I feel - the dedication to the concept was remarkable - and I think an incredible amount of effort went into it so this is most likely going to be my vote.

Alright review time. 

The Motherland

 

+The ride design. I think this was the strong point of the park. Every ride had a purpose and was themed creatively. Some less used ride choices were able to shine as a result of this. The Pax coaster was probably my favorite. The kid coaster being vodka themed was a little odd though. 

+ I thought the architecture was a little inconsistent, but the tenement blocks and factory area near the dive machine were the best parts. The entrance architecture had great forms and detailing, but the color choices really hurt the overall piece. 

+ A tiny detail, but the gun barrel sign near Russian Roulette was brilliant. I love that. 

+The hole. 

+I loved the chopped up paths, messed up and dirty without detracting from the viewing experience. 

+ Lots of good funny Russian names, and clever details like the peeps taking photos as a firing squad. 

 

- The color choices. The church in the center and the entrance area suffer from way too bold and clashing colors. The area on the left by the Kremlin has way too much red brick overpowering the area. 

- Some of the architecture is just a bit bare, and doesn't really live up to the rest of the park. 

- I'm honestly having a hard time trying to find specific things to criticize here, the problem is this park doesn't have enough WOW moments for me. It's really fun, but I'm not sure it has enough amazing moments that will keep me thinking about it and coming back to it. Sorry if that sounds harsh, because I do really like this park, I'm just trying to explain why it comes up short for me in this match up. 

 

Dig Site 4

+ I love the concept of this park. Ancient jungle and temple parks are nothing new, so adding in the narrative about the excavation and its issues, really strengthened it and made it unique.

+ The park used height changes really well, the area by the pyramids and Kukulan(?) was the best area of the park, with lots of changing heights and interaction.

+ Ride interaction was another strength, the way they crossed the paths and each other was lots of fun.

+ The foliage and landscaping was nothing groundbreaking, but it did its job well enough. 

+ The staff and cutouts from underground were great, nice elements of world building. 

 

-  I was not a fan of Kianto's pacing. The second half seemed to really drag.

- The density, there were parts of the park that were just unreadable no matter what angle you looked at them from. The entrance was especially bad for this. 

- Some of the names and architecture was really too reminiscent of exact details of previous parks. I would have liked a bit more creativity on these aspects to match the rest of the park. 

Still this is easily my favorite of the first four parks. It's a ton of fun, and I know if I look at it again tomorrow there will be lots of new things for me to see. 

Finally I can review some new H2H parks!
 
Motherland:
- Cute little readme, and I love the logo incorporating the Cyrillic alphabet.
- Lovely custom music, very fitting
- The entry architecture is very grand, love the unusual color combinations
- Crazy Russian Driving school is a fantastic idea! Love the junkyard and the soviet housing blocks!
- The giant hole for the diver is really well done, but the only coaster in the park isn't particularly interesting or impressive.
- Buildings around Escape from Gulag are a little stale
- Station for submarine ride is AWESOME. Well crafted and clean, great concept
- Nice supports for Soyuz Drop
- I found the backlot area to be really out of place... I would have preferred to keep the same immersive architecture around, seeing this one small backlot area (the only one present in the entire park) took me right out of the idea that this is actually Russia and instead it's just a theme park. And I can't imagine who would actually make a theme park like this in real life, so the suspension of disbelief we usually associate with RCT kind of went out the window for me
- Fischkov drowning in his own puke - nice touch LOL
- Not impressed with the St. Basil. The overall colors are great, but the forms are so under-developed and not as accurate / complex as it should be for such an iconic building. Definitely missed a big opportunity here to do something magnificent.
- No Avaninovski?
 
I'm not particularly sold on this park - conceptwise a Russian park is something we haven't seen before, and overall it was a fun little park with a lot of humor, which is always appreciated, but I was let down by a lot of the architecture and the inclusion of only one coaster, and the content that was there didn't stand out. Additionally, it lost a sense of immersion with one random backlot in the whole park - and that was a moment of confusion for me that detracted from the park. 
Score: 65
 
Dig Site 4
 
- Now THIS is how you do a readme... love the details and the sketch is fantastic. The ominous tone is exciting even before I opened the park
- Opening shot, the park seems MASSIVE
- Very very dense but I don't mind it, I love jam-packed parks with amazing content, and this one fits the bill!
- The elevation changes are really well done and exciting
- Kukulkan - GREAT layout and idea, it's nice to see an more unusual coaster type, though support work is very messy
- Camp tents are great, as are all the cranes
- Excawheel is a great idea
- Excavator Express - the merge of togo standup with mine coaster is BEAUTIFUL. I love that texture!
- Very nice temples, the archy is very fitting for both, but is also not particularly interesting and does have parts that look underdone
- The pyramids look strange, but I get what you're going for
- Blue queue line exposed for excavator express pops too much... different path choice would fit better
- All three coaster stations are underwhelming compared to the other parts of the park
- Love the main invert, has a very nice layout
- The hidden treasures... beautiful idea
- Minigolf as surveying, well done
- The secret chamber is great! Louis trying to save his skin...
- Use of cutaway view to ....  COCA COLA TRUCK
 
Score: 90
 
Dig Site 4 blew me away with its creativity, a unique theme, the challenge of building stacked elements on extreme landscape, the little things and ideas, the hidden parts, the beautiful readme, the immersive environment... this is how you do a H2H park. I'm impressed and give major props to the builders. Excellent excellent work.
 
I'll be revisiting these parks a couple more times before I cast a vote, but I'm pretty sure my vote will be going to Team Spacecrab. 

Euh Avanine die you miss the Pax coaster and Vodka Express in Motherland?! Of course they are smaller but it's weird to talk about only one coaster when there are three

I think he is talking about headlining coasters. 

Dig Site feels so incredibly alive and dynamic. So many layers and so much going on, this is classic H2H in my mind. Kianto is just magical and Kukulkan is the best Eurofighter I think I have ever seen, or could conceive of. I have no idea what is going on with Excavator Express but I love it. Super weird, super glitchy, really convincing mine train style. Seriously though, what is the deal with that final car being reversed? Shoestringing to control the speed somehow? I didn't notice anything odd about the physics but in OpenRCT2 on my backup computer (watercooling loop in my main one busted... waiting on replacement parts) this park barely chugs at 30fps so it's possible I am missing the pacing a bit. The sacrificial chamber is awesome.

 

Motherland has lots of lovely details on display. The entrance building and Kremlin look really lovely. The submarine was cool, the large plaza was cool. The ride selection was okay. I think this is a great example of the whole not really being greater than the sum of its parts, at least for me. I understand what is being created here but there is just not nearly the same sense of so much happening.

Euh Avanine die you miss the Pax coaster and Vodka Express in Motherland?! Of course they are smaller but it's weird to talk about only one coaster when there are three

 

You're right there are three  

 

But I guess I didn't remember them... The diver was the only one that stood out to me, the other two were too small and didn't really do much for me.

Dig Site 4:
This park looked really well done. It's commendable how you were able to build so layered. Basically everything looked quite nice, but it was all so overwhelming. This park could have really done with some breathing room. Technically this was all too good, though.

Motherland:
My main complaint for this park was inconsistency. Inconsistency and/or refinement. The Kremlin building and the entrance may be the best example in terms of architecture for this. It is difficult to believe they are on the same map, to be honest. St. Basil is one of the most iconic buildings in Russia and your version didn't strike a chord to me at first glance. The architecture reminded me of the main street of Asteroid Fields. This did not only go up for the architecture, but also for the naming of the rides. Some of them are (really) clever and then there is a ride called 'crazy russian driving school'. Then there is some parts that really felt like map filler. Vodka express felt really out of place being so 'shiny' compared to the area it is in. Kosmonaut Training Center seemed like a reference you really wanted to put in the park but only found place for in hindsight. Without the name it just looks like a random topspin in the middle of your park.

This may seem all too negative, because I still like your park. There were many parts I enjoyed. The vote putin launch towers were hilarious. The entrance building was stunning. The Pax Kameradski area - except for VE - looked really good. I liked the Kolkhoz Tour. Escape from Gulag was funny and well done. And I really liked the station for Hunt for Red October.

 

 

These reviews kind of seem rude, especially compared to the all-praise I've given the other two parks. I'd say both these parks are really enjoyable but in the end brought down by their respective faults. Motherland even more so than Dig Site 4. Nonetheless, both are really good and I enjoyed them both very much!

alright, time for some good reviews!

 

motherland

I'll start off with a caveat. I do like this park, I think its good, so take my criticisms as being based around that starting point and not as harsh as they may sound otherwise. On the whole, this park doesn't really do it for me, conceptually or in execution. Maybe I'm just a dickhead, but I just feel like the whole 'lol Russia' thing is a bit overdone maybe. I get that the park is meant to be satirical and silly, and there's definitely a place for that, I just wish it had a bit more... maturity? with the sort of 'cultural exploration' of russia. Obviously you could say "but that wasn't the point of the park", to which my reply is, I think the point of the park is a bit average then. And I love a bit of depraved humor as much as anyone, or maybe I'm just a lefty cuck, but like gulags were pretty goddamn awful in real life. I think something like 20 million people died under Stalin? just takes a bit of the wind out of the 'silly' sails.

 

enough on the concept though. there were definitely some good bits of execution- most of the entrance area is good, if a bit squat architecturally. the best bit by far was the apartment block. I loved that shuttle coaster, I'm a sucker for references to obscure real life shit like that one. the slogans were amusing and the half fairground/half nuclear meltdown feel was great. If you had capitalized on this vibe for the whole park I would have loved it- say, an apartment block in some shit area of moscow is having a fair in the mid 80s is the setting for the whole park. then you could have the tanks in areas of the town, lots of awesome city details, same weird coasters and a part of the block could have a failing power plant, and maybe some of "the zone" from that tarkovsky movie. all that would make an amazing h2h park! but I've digressed into the concept again... sorry. the rest was a bit of a miss for me I'd say, although the dive coaster hole is sick. the cathedral almost work, but, like much of the architecture, felt really wide and flat. the top half of it also felt like it lacked a bit of architectural maturity- its a damn hard structure and would be awesome to see done really well (I think stoksy had a good crack IIRC?) one big issue is the park is really flat and low down. having the canal be a bit deeper would add some much needed depth, as would some terrain. it would have been awesome to see the subs go out of the bay into a hidden icy base in a fjord or something.

 

I've got to go actually, so dig site will get a review when I get back. I'm looking forward to stepping into that park again, its absolutely phenomenal!

Yeah, Cocoa makes a good point about the gulag thing. If someone made a theme making fun of the Holocaust, or about 9/11, you can bet that half of NE would be jumping at them for being edgy and insensitive, which would, in the end, result in a low score and possibly even a disqualification. Wouldn't a ride satirizing gulags be the same? It still makes fun of mass death.

Reviews will come later, I'm a slow person

Another matchup, another review!

 

Motherland:

 

First of all, I love the soundtrack. Great to hear that somebody else knows the weirdest and only anime I've ever seen, Girls und Panzer. I immediately started singing along to it. So good job setting the atmosphere! Another good one would've been the Soviet March from Red Alert 3.

 

All the archy is spot-on, so is the atmosphere. Russia it is, in all its aspects. The scale of the archy might be a bit small but filled with references and details that I can appreciate and that we've come to expect from H2H. I like how it tried to capture the essence of Russia in all its ugliness, and as someone who has been to Moscow, I think you did it very well. Red Square looks great and those little tanks and military vehicles are amazing. As someone who likes Eastern Europe I especially like the old dirty appartments and the driving school.

 

Now the things I like less. I dunno what it is but the parks has a feel like it came out of an older season of H2H. Maybe it's the small scale, the choice of objects, or something else. I can't seem to shake this feel of me that its sorta missing something. Maybe it's not ambitious enough? No matter, I still loved this park.

 

Dig Site 4:

 

This park immediately has two contenders for my favorite coasters of this season of H2H in it. No, not that B&M invert. Even though well made, that's not what draws my attention. I'm talking about Excavator Express abd of course Kukulkan. Teach me how you made that, pleeeease!! I love El loco coasters...

 

The first thing that popped into my mind when I saw this was "wow". It's overwhelming. So many things, so many details, scenes and vignets to discover and admire. I take my hat off for using the coke truck object and even hiding things that can only be discovered using Open's cutaway view. I like how the rides actually have a function that makes sense within the context of the park like the Ancient Dance. This is one where I'm gonna be returning to often and I'm sure every time I will notice new things. I only just discoverd the faces in quite a lot of the stone sculptures.

 

Now the downsides. I do have to agree with Poke and Iron Rattler. The park is overwhelming and dense. Sometimes too much. It's not pleasant on the eye on occasion and it makes it hard to read. The perspective makes it sometimes difficult to see what's on a higher level and what's on a lower level.

 

Two great parks, but one stands out above the other. I know what I'm voting for.

Yeah, Cocoa makes a good point about the gulag thing. If someone made a theme making fun of the Holocaust, or about 9/11, you can bet that half of NE would be jumping at them for being edgy and insensitive

 

 

I completely disagree.  If someone wants to make a HH 1488 edgelord park they will rightfully get slammed for being douchey.  In this case I don't believe a Gulag reference is particularly tasteless.  Over the years H2H parks have had opposing teams drowned, sent to hell, imprisoned, etc.  It's a goof and a laugh and something I don't think needs to be taken so seriously.

 

Here's how easy it is to make that argument:  oh no! in Dig Site there is a reference to ritualistic sacrifice, making light of the horror that captives and slaves (yes SLAVES!) would experience when being led to the top of a pyramid to be sacrificed and their heart possibly eaten; EATEN I TELL YOU.  PLEASE PLACE YOURSELF IN THEIR SHOES BECAUSE I HEARD ONCE THAT'S THE RIGHT THING TO DO.  This H2H rollercoaster park is making a joke out of a SERIOUS HISTORICAL ISSUE.  VALIDATE MEEEEEEEEEE

 

Cocoa, I have no beef with you but your point comes from an egocentric place.  And don't even try to make yourself a martyr by preemptively labeling yourself liberal or cuck or whatever.  People dislike the stereotypical SJW style arguments because of their self centeredness, not the morals.  It's a way to draw attention on one's self.

aight, dig site is up.

 

Firstly, my review will probably be a bit shorter coz there isn't much to say other than praise! I really love this park, possibly the best so far. You've come out swinging with a lively, fun, and really atmospheric adventure. The readme was so well done- great attention to detail. The invert is amazing- it actually pained me how well it fit into the park and flowed without adding too much clutter. Just amazing planning work there, something which I fail to do well again and again. I keep moving towards this sort of natelox thing where I forego coasters because I just can't get them to work like this... enough about me though lol. Each site had great verticality and so many cool details. The little alien backstory is such good park-storytelling, aided by all the cutaways and references to indiana jones, etc. Really appealed well to that sense of imagination. My only gripe is that some of the archy feels less 'aztec' and more in line with another different style of ruined temple that felt more hindu-esque... but overall the park was still awesome and a clear winner in my eyes. Fantastic job.

I definitely preferred Dig Site 4, although both parks had issues for me. They were, however, both good releases.

Motherland was an excellent idea but it didn't really flow that well. There were good areas (The entrance, Dive, Tanks etc) and good details, but it was broken up by what was for me some letdowns. I did love the use of Katusha for the theme, it's so goddamned catchy and I keep seeing that one Girls und Panzer video in my head. The colours were really jarring too in some places (mostly the use of saturated green). That said most of the archy was absolutely on-point, it just didn't feel very cohesive overall. Also felt like the signs and names etc should have been in Russian, or Russian in phonetic English but that's minor really. I think the biggest thing was the lack of focus. It felt like the team decided "fuck yeah, USSR park!" but didn't take into account that the USSR was fucking huge and spanned about 50 years. I think the park should have honed in specifically on a certain style/aspect. You could have done an entire park on the USSR's space race alone, rather than a small corner in an already small park. etc etc

 

I agree with Cocoa on the gulag stuff. Its easy to forget under all the memes and shitposting about the soviets, but to make light of all that death is pretty dark. Stalin killed more people than WW1 iirc. I understand that everybody's sense of humor is different, but if a Holocaust park wouldn't fly then the same should be applied to most sensitive subject matter. That said if it was handled seriously (and maturely) I wouldn't have personal issue with it.

Dig Site 4 was really cool. I loved the site itself with the El Loco, and the B&M was top notch too. While it was all lovely, I felt like it needed a bit of open space and there were so many different textures overlapping that it felt a bit jarring. Awesome park in general though.
 

I mean, it's not like I myself have any problem with satirizing gulags or the Holocaust or 9/11, but the point I'm trying to make is that if it were, for example, a joke about the Holocaust instead of "USSR lmao", a lot of people (heck, maybe even the builders of Motherland themselves) would get pretty offended.

tHe PoLl iS lIvE

Vote on your favourite park in the poll at the top of the page. The poll wil remain open for roughly 72 hours. If you cannot vote, please use the 'null vote' option underneath the poll which will enable you to view the results like everyone else. Please take into account the rules stated in the first post!

All right, review for Motherland is coming out fresh from the Steve oven (a little weird, but Ill stick to it). No review for Dig Site 4 since I cannot open it in Classic and my time is far too precious to use my laptop. Nice going, losers.

Anywhoozle, Motherland. What a park. Kind of. I mean Im all about the Russian aesthetic. I went once as a young boy (not really) and I consider myself a comrade at heart but dudes you really screwed the pooch here (thats a Russian thing right?). Entrance area, okay, you get a pass. Its fine, its serviceable. This is RCT2 101. Nothing thrilled me but nothing bored me. And Im easily bored (looking at you, Wits End). The huge apartment blocks area with trav murdering innocents in a line of gunfire was great. I dont get why your coaster had parts that disappeared. Is this a glitch? Do I need to use OpenGL for this shit too? Just kidding. Whats the GL stand for, anyway? Good luck? Because good luck using it correctly. Anyway. Cool hole in the ground I guess?

The centerpiece castle thing was kind of okay. I wasnt too impressed if Im being honest (and I usually am. Hi Mom!). Struck me as a little amateur but thats okay, the Icons have a history of being terrible so I cant hold it against you. Great Ferris wheel, though. Submarine station was interesting I guess. Overall I remain distant from everything thats not on the side of the map that the dive coaster was. Like really distant. Like someone strap me to this Russian missile Im looking at and get me out of here. Just kidding. Actually dont send me to far because look at these giant vodka bottles. I might just stick around.

Anyway, another great H2H park and another great matchup. I wouldnt really know for sure though because Dig Site 4 continues to allude me. Its fine though Ill probably see it eventually. I hope so, because it looks great. Not discredit the Icons but damn, Dig Site 4 looks wild. I digress though. Or do I? Im still talking about the contest. Hardly a digression. Anyway. Good luck Icons only not really because your incessant droning of Russian jokes on Discord have already swayed my vote the other way and Ghoul is still a better meme Im sorry (but not really (again)).

edit; why in the fuck does the mobile site not formatted to handle punctuation? Specifically apostrophes. Jesus.

 Hello. Culture requires that you write something from time to time (or not - if you want to)
I think that both works should lead everyone to a lot of thinking.
"Motherland" means that I do not know where I should find myself (as a guest),
to understand what the park builders had in mind when selecting such topics. Maybe this
should be "Hunt for Red October" (ha ha ha - maybe?). Stunning amount of technology,
you can see everywhere, meticulousness in the finish, colors surrounding and screaming on each side.
 However, I chose from between two: "Did Site 4". I like the atmosphere in the exhibition
wood and stone temple, attractions also cool (well-chosen) "Kukulkan", "Excavator Express",
"Journey Chaac" made me feel more emotionally moved in this beautiful, picturesque
jungle housing "Did Site 4".

I'm liking battle boy more and more

Dig Site 4:

+ really enjoyed the Excavator Express. I agree with others that the Togo track and mine train track worked well together here.. and the reversed car was interesting. Makes me want to ride a coaster like that.

+ all the pointy tents in the dig site were cool.. really everything about the digging process is well done. The variety of cranes, the layers to the site, the ruins, the random bones and stuff. Really cool details.. theres so many to look at.

+ underground bits obviously helped tell the story from the readme.

- Someone else mentioned this.. is this a archaeological site, or a theme park? Kinda blurry

- super mega dense.. a bit too cluttered at times. I wish everything had a tiny bit more room to breathe.

 

Motherland

+ I think the entrance is very well done. Ornate and colorful.. maybe Cocoa is right that it was a tad bit squat? I still think it works well.

+ The submarine station is very nice.

+ Lots of Russian jokes.. I like the political commentary.. definitely can tell I shouldn't take this park that seriously!

+ Expedition Mirny was the highlight for me. Simple layout, but the drop and the station were quite nice.

+ The driving school and apartment blocks were also great.

- The Kremlin's archy wasn't as good as the entrance.. could've used the same attention to detail.

- Why is the train going backwards? I get its on tram mode.. but that just looks wonky

- Backlot area I think wasn't necessary as Avanine already pointed out.

 

I really enjoyed both parks for what they brought to the table. Both had there positives and I think the execution was there. Round 1 has been very good so far.. I'm excited for the later rounds!