The Grand Tour '20 / The Grand Tour '20 - Round 3 - Voting

 
He who travels has stories to tell!
 
Round 3 - Micro States

 

Many of you took the opportunity to visit a country of your choice in this round 3. While there is a lot of variation in the destinations, ranging from mainland Europe to the Indian and Pacific Ocean, there are definitely some recurring some coincidences too! Scroll down to see the entries, and vote for your favourites in the polls above. For reference, these were this round's objectives:

 

1. Your park must be set in or themed to a microstate, following the definition above

2. Your park must be between 50 and 500 tiles

 

How to vote

Before you vote, you have to make sure you've viewed all parks with thought and care. Voting happens through the polls above. The submissions will be judged on two criteria. First, you are asked to vote for the parks that you think completed the two objectives for this round the best. Second, you are asked to judge the parks on their overall quality - separate from the round objectives. After 72 hours, the polls will close and we will add up the votes from each poll. The submission with the most votes in total will earn the creator(s) a ticket to the final round!

 

Entries

 

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Stadtpark Brinkum	Slice of Hong Kong
by Version1	by Splitvision
Andorra	Hong Kong
Welcome to the Stadtpark Brinkum, a park dedicated to remote and under appreciated holiday destinations. This particular corner of the park is themed to Andorra, a micro state in the Pyrenees mountains between Spain and France.

 

San Marino GP	Monaco GP
by ottersalad	by MK98 (50%) and Coaster-GEOFF (50%)
San Marino	Monaco
Back on the calendar in 2020, the San Marino Grand Prix makes a return to Formula 1! Experience this iconic track in your very own go kart!	Monaco, a beautifull microstate in the south of France. Known of its Formula 1 circuit where the worlds best racing drivers face each other. Can you smell the taste of burned rubber? It is fantastic.

 

Terra Della Torre	Circuit de Monaco's Grand Hotel Hairpin
by Gustav Goblin	by hydroportal
San Marino	Monaco
The Italian microstate of San Marino has decided to revitalize its tourism industry with an amusement park built on the site of one of its historic mountainside fortresses. Concepts for location and landscaping by DededeRob.	Circuit de Monaco is a street circuit laid out on the city streets of Monte Carlo and La Condamine around the harbor of Monaco. In this park I have built a recreation of turn six on the circuit, otherwise known as the Grand Hotel Hairpin. The nearby hotel rooftop and pedestrian walkways create beautiful views where race fans can view the racecars descend in altitude from above. Special thanks to Spacek for creating a new racecar for everyone to enjoy!

 

Waves Resort Maldives	Funafuti Airport
by inthemanual	by RobDedede
Maldives	Tuvalu
This tranquil escape invites you for a relaxing, romantic stay surrounded by crystal blue ocean waters.	On the small atoll nation of Tuvalu, space is very limited. The local airstrip runs directly through the center of town. Things can and do get hectic!

 

Maledives 2040	Coucher de Soleil Recours
by Liampie (60%) and Faas (40%)	by CoasterCreator9
Maledives	Seychelles
It's 2040. You can still order your shit from China and you can still take a budget flight to your holiday destination. Except for the Maldives, which has disappeared under water due to the rising sea levels. Enjoy your vacation!	Welcome to the beautiful island nation of Seychelles! At our resort, you will find a wide variety of activities including swimming, boating, ziplining, and above all - relaxation. Enjoy your stay, NE!

 

Gardens by the Bay	Trans Studio Singapore
by WhosLeon (65%) and AvanineCommuter (35%)	by Scoop (95%) and nin (5%)
Singapore	Singapore

 

Port Vila Dive Center	Ollei Rock
by mamarillas	by In:Cities
Vanuatu	Palau
Port Vila Dive Center is Vanuatu's premier dive shop and scuba diving destination. All our guests can enjoy the warm waters of the beach or even take a submersible tour, while experienced divers can venture out and see submerged wreckage from WWII battles. Be on the lookout for local wildlife!	Welcome to the jewel of Palau: Ollei Rock! It's unique geography and abundance of marine life make it a world class destination for snorkeling and exploration. However, caution is advised if you plan to trek on foot. Months ago, a young adventurous visitor disembarked on a search for the mysterious natural spring of hairline-restoration; rumored to exist only in these islands. We may never know if he found success or not!

 

Sistini	Anchor Bay
by FK+Coastermind	by Xtreme97 (60%) and Steve (40%)
Vatican City	Malta
Have a Sistini on me! Recipe: 2oz Italian Microstate 1oz Global Landmark 0.5oz Michelangelic Inspiration 0.5oz Expression 1 dash Papal Interference Shake with one cup crushed dreams, strain with golden gated finish into chilled Grand Tour coupe.	Nestled on the north-western coast of Malta in the Mediterranean Sea sits Anchor Bay, home of Popeye's Village. Colloquially known as Sweethaven, the dazzling town was originally constructed as part of a purpose-built film set for the 1980 film musical "Popeye". It has since been transformed into an open-air museum and is fast becoming one of Malta's prime tourism destinations. With help from the Malta Tourist Board, the town has seen a new breath of life with a fresh coat of paint and a brand new river rapids water ride that takes guests on an exciting adventure where they'll journey with Popeye in battling a vicious gang of pirates.

This has delivered the juice.  This is juicy.

I'll be writing quick fire reviews instead of procrastinating until the round is done:

 

Slice of Hong Kong
 
To start of: Great easteregg. Generally a great park with a ton of life and detail in the lower part. Sadly, the upper part felt a bit lifeless to me (not sure how you could have fixed that). All in all a very strong micro. 7/10
 
San Marino GP
 
This is amazing. It might not be the best entry from a technical standpoint, but my god did you nail the aesthetics. It really looks exactly as a micro F1 track should look. Overall very strong San Marino feeling, even though the track layout isn't like the real one. 8/10

 

Monaco GP

 

Really like the architecture and the overall approach to this theme. Cool coaster. Landscaping a bit weak, I think especially around the coaster station. Doesn't feel like Monaco to me, if that makes sense. 7/10
 
Terra Della Torre
 
This one has some cool NCSO architecture and a lot of landscaping, which I respect. Not sure I like the Goliath Rocks on the cliffs, they really seem out of place and unnatural. Solid wild mouse. Solid park overall, keep improving! 6/10
 
Circuit de Monaco's Grand Hotel Hairpin
 
As a motorsport nerd I'm not sure what cars these are technically supposed to be and why they go so fast through the corner. Overall great entry, a lot of micro details and a very good composition, I think. The staircase deserves a mention. Very good recreation of the real turn, as far as I can tell. 8/10
 
Waves Resort Maledives
 
Could have maybe used a bit more life (fish and birds) but I enjoy peacfull, tranquil atmosphere. Cool little entry with some great curving and good atmosphere. It's also round. 7/10
 
Funafuti Airport
 
Good composition and overall pleasing. I think the buildings might all be a tiny bit too small (even for small buildings) but they generally look good (except the green one). Cool little detail with the football players. Very full of life, this entry. 7/10
 
Maledives 2040
 
Not really surprised to see a rather cyncial entry from Liam and Faas. Cool idea and obviously pulled of well with the oil and trash. Love the peeps just nonchalantly walking underwater and on the trash. That airplane...so good. 7/10

Coucher de Soleil Recours

 

Cool little island resort. Again, full of life. The zipline using two ship masts is obviously the highlight for me. The bungalows are great, just not sure if the balcony has pools or just weird floors. Beach Volleyball is pulled of very well. 7/10

 

Gardens by the Bay

 

Crazy. A ton of really bold and well pulled of things, like the big plant towers. Lovely walkways. Curved walkways? Yes please! Again, some great details in this map. Only drawback it is feels a bit messy and crowded due to the sheer amount of content. 8/10

 

Trans Studio Singapore

 

BOOMERANG! I hoped we would see one of those. Very gool building, very round. Maybe too round? Kinda sad that the cars aren't moving, that's obviously a drawback compared to the other city parks. Love how the plants interact with the building. Strong showing 7/10

 

Port Vila Dive Center

 

Very cool and vibrant on land part. Very interesting way to do the water, haven't seen that approach before. The underwater part is great, especially the crashed plane. Also, the sidays ship dude. Fucking awesome. Also some great underwater landscaping. You really made those giant plant objects work. 8/10

 

Ollei Rock

 

Cool map. Honestly not sure what else I am supposed to say. 7/10

 

Sistini

 

Unfair 9/10

 

Anchor Bay

 

Great atmosphere, great architecture, great landscaping, great park. That rapids steation is great. Really love this entry. 8/10

Slice of Hong Kong

 
Nice job, I like the verticality. Interiors could have used some more love, considering you added them. Nice reference, maybe include it in the DB zip.
 
San Marino GP
 
Cute! 

 

Monaco GP

 

Great job getting two tracked rides in there. Nice waterfront area. 
 
Terra Della Torre
 
Great job giving it an actual mountaintop feel. Not sure about all the different rock types. 
 
Circuit de Monaco's Grand Hotel Hairpin
 
I don't know about F1, but I love this one. Great infrastructure! Good job with the clear different levels. 
 
Waves Resort Maledives

I love the texture of the main buildings wall with the blue white combination. Clever jokes as well! Overall not much going on besides that.  

Funafuti Airport
 
Did you know the national football team even trains on that landing strip. Nice reference, but your use of a palette here is baffling. It makes it all look a bit weird. 
 
Stadtpark Brinkum

Cool concept, would love to see you flesh this out more. I would have liked to see miniature mountains as theming, instead of just scattered rocks. Now it doesn't scream Andorra to me. 

Coucher de Soleil Recours

 

Nice zipline.

 

Gardens by the Bay

 

Incredibly strong layout considering the lack of space available. Great job at instantly making the place recognisable. 

 

Trans Studio Singapore

 

Great job! Love the lettering, albeit a bit illegible. I love the urban forest feel it gives, very futuristic! Wanted to scold you for ridiculously building a boomerang on a rooftop, but apparently it exists! 

 

Port Vila Dive Center

I love how most of this entry is underwater. Great shipwreck and cool underwater foliage, maybe the best example of it we have ever seen! 

 

Ollei Rock

Cool little entry, focusing entirely on landscape. 

 

Sistini

 

Holy shit (literally). I love the incoroporation of the apple tree and then also Newton under it. 

 

Anchor Bay

 

Great little entry. The rapids was maybe my favourite ride of this round.


Overall this is insane by the way. 

Fuck.... i clicked too soon!

*disclaimer, my English grammar is not that good, so sorry for any typos*

Stadtpark Brinkum

Nice small little entry. Nice coaster lay-out, but there was room for more track (maybe a helix around the twister). Station is quite simple, but that is acceptable. There is only one problem. You said that it was themed after the country of Andorra, but it dont look like that. The light building is nice, but you dont really see smooth walls at old Andorrian buildings. Maybe if you used less glass and some other rock texture from some of the walls, it would look more Andorra-style.

60%


Slice of Hong Kong

Amazing entry! The only problem, i dont like big structures in RCT. It feels too repetitive. Maybe if you added some details (balcony, closed windows, stuff like that), i would liked it more. The roof also looks a little bit bare, maybe you can add some little details to those to tell some stories. The metro system is quite nice! I love the small details there, but maybe it was better to add some details to the other side of the track (benches, bins, information plates ). Also, extra point for you for using the PESO graffiti object.

70%


San Marino GP

One of the many GP-style submissions. It is a fun little park with some nice archy. Also the little details through out the map are amazing. I only dont like usage of the wooden/minetrack track for the sloped turns, maybe something fits better.

60%


Monaco GP

Another GP-style submission. This is one of the submissions i liked the most. The archy is really nice. Especially the yellow building on the corner and the white one at the back. The only thing, why is there a coaster? It doesnt feel necessary. I would rather saw another chuck of architecture then the coaster. Also, the surroundings of the coaster looks quite bare. Maybe some foliage and stones next time to fill the empty fields around it. MK and Geoff is a amazing combination, i hope to see some more stuff of you two.

75%

Terra Della Torre

I expected to see a NCSO submission this round. The coaster is just a simple wild mouse, so i dont rate you because of your coaster. The archy looks decent for NCSO. Maybe next time add some extra layers of details like trims and color changes. I dont like the looks of the rapid lift as stairs, maybe next time use normal path like in the rest of the submission. The big signs Ninfea sign also looks a little out of place and unsupported. I must say, the bobsleigh track is a nice addition, i also discovered that a week again in my own NCSO park. The pizza stalls as roof are also a nice trick. The backside looks decent, but quite messy. Also, never use the Goliath sign anymore for making a mountain. The bright color and weird texture doesnt feel right.

All in all, you have potential

55%


Waves Resort Maldives

Sadly i was quite fast down with this park. It didnt hold my attention for long and even after coming back, it still dont impressive me. Maybe some birds, fishes or anything that moved was a big improvement.

50%


Funafuti Airport

A fun little entry. I readed about this airport some months ago. Sadly, there is not much to see. The archy is decent and you can see clearly that you improve. I like your see floor style, but maybe some rock variations could work better. I hope to see some more work of you in the next round, because you are on the right way.

55%

Maledives 2040

Fun little park, sadly not much to see. Extra point for the usage of the big bird object.

50%


Coucher de Soleil Recours

The Seychelles, amazing country. It is high on my list to visit because i heard a lot of good stories from a old colleague of my. This entry feels completely like the Seychelles. I really like the zip-line, only the wait time is terrible . The sea floors is quite nice with the fishes and foliage. Maybe some more waves would fit more. The archy is cool, but repetitive. But that is okay, because it is a resort(?). The foliage on land is also quite nice and the rocks are quite nice executed. Good job!

70%


Gardens by the Bay

This is very busy. It's fun, but unfortunately I'm not the right audience for this. You fitted a lot of coaster in such a small space. Maybe some more changes of turn directions would be nice. I m not a big fan of the big purple things. Probably the exist in real life, but it is too glitchy in RCT.

65%


Trans Studio Singapore

You made a quite nice building. The coaster on top of it looks quite unrealistic, but this exist in real life ( didn't know that this was a thing ). I dont like the lettering, those are too hard to read. Sadly, there is not much to see. Maybe some moving traffic would be nicer.

60%


Port Vila Dive Center

Mama, you did it again. After a strong R1 you created another nice entry. I really love the underwater scene. I really love all the details and underwater live. The boats are also quite nice. Archy is a little bit simple. I would be a real winner if there was more archy to look at. Maybe some more wet sand at the beach would fitted better. Overall, quite cool entry and the underwater section is one of my favorite things of this round.

75%


Ollei Rock

I m a sucker for nice landscape and oh boy, this is some nice landscape. I really like the usage of the big ugly Zoo Tycoon rocks. The only problem, i dont like the bare seafloor. I hoped to see some nice rocks and foliage on the floor, but sadly there isn't. Also, a lot of land is glitching, maybe next time use the tile inspector to prevent that.

70%


Sistini

It's really nice, but unfortunately I'm not the right audience for this (again). I never liked fantasy themed parks in RCT and sadly i would never do. The coaster is getting way too fast in my opinion. Highlight of the park, the nice little chapel. Sad to see the station not on the same level of detail as the chapel.

60%


Anchor Bay

This is my favorite entry of this round. The amount of details and stuff to see is amazing. The rapid ride is super cool, it only gets a little bit too fast in my opinion. The sea floor is amazingly detailed. By far the best park in this round. Archy is pretty good, i love all the small details. The foliage is small but decent. Hope to see you guys in the finals.

85%

Now lets talk about our submission. Overall it is a quite solid submission that really turned out the way we wanted it. I didnt do much on this one, because hydro is a fast boy. I only did the flags and that surroundings, the planters with the red sign, the road details at the parking, some bits of the stairs, some peep placement and the overhang on top of the hotel. I also made some signs, but sadly those didnt turn out really well with this palette. It was a fun little entry to build. I hope that i can do more in the next rounds, but probably i will wait till the finals.

Sistini

 

Pretty wild and impressive theme; immense detail for only having a week. Excellent "artistic" theme, though I felt perhaps this brought it away from the Vatican theme itself to an extremely minor extent. Amazing quality fantasy work nonetheless and really outstanding work.

 

Port Vila Dive Center

 

I really like this a lot. Incredible details; I really love the divers and the air bubbles - really makes this feel alive. The details really are the highlights here, and make for a lovely and lively scene. Nice boats too. I'm a fan of this one for sure.

 

Anchor Bay

 

I love that you've managed to incorporate basically a small theme park in a week. Astounding amounts of detail, really makes me wish it was a full on park, but I love everything here. You've even managed some nice verticality with the boardwalks and buildings. One of the better interactive rapids rides and it's on a micro!

 

Monaco GP

 

Nicely detailed urban scene. The coaster adds life, but I was a bit less of a fan of how it intruded on the buildings. Minor criticism though. Go Karts was a pretty natural choice I think for this round for a lot of the Grand Prix type submissions, and I think you guys managed to nail the cramped feeling of the race track and the city pretty well.

 

Trans Studio Singapore

 

Great street scene, cool inclusion of a coaster, and a great building with amazing billboard scenery. The one thing I'm less keen on is that you can so clearly see the inside of the building and that there's really nothing inside. Probably suffered from time constraints there, but I wish there was a little something more. Big step up for scoop.

 

Ollei Rock

 

Serene scene. Nice that there are some boats and other movement to keep attention, but I do like the underwater terraforming quite a bit. Excellent stuff that would certainly be a great fit in a larger park. Foliage is great, rockwork is great (with some dubious object choices), really hard to say much more!

 

Gardens by the Bay

 

Instantly recognizable, which I think is a huge plus for this entry. Pretty wild that you guys were able to fit a decent layout while still maintaining the feel and aesthetics of the theme. Big highlights of detail and vibrancy, while absolutely nailing Singapore. There's a lot to explore, but I think you guys balanced the elements of movement and excitement with the actual theme the best this round.

 

San Marino GP

 

Very charming, quite recognizable as well. I like that it's sort of a "chibi" version of the real deal. May lack some of the "pop" that other entries have, but it's an amazing showing for just a week's worth of work. You're showing a lot of skill this contest, and I'm really excited to see where that takes you.

 

Brinkum

 

I was really confused when I googled this and found it was in Germany. Once I got that it's a themed part of a park, it makes a lot more sense. You should turn it into a full size park, maybe! Coaster layout is quite lovely, and the foliage is actually really nice - I do also with you went a little more all out with the themed landscaping to really sell that mountainous feel of Andorra. Overall, pretty good!

 

Grand Hotel Hairpin

 

The obvious highlight for me is the cliffside walkway, incredible details (the two fountains might be a little repetitive), and nice foliage. Definitely has a nice sense of atmosphere and excitement overall. Maybe not a ton to see but the detail of what's there is impressive for a week.

 

Terra Della Tore

 

I think you got recognizability down pretty well! Definitely looks the part. I think you way overdid the goliath signs/volcano bits/gumdrops/ruins on the cliffside. A bit here and there would have probably worked a little better than how much is there. The street scene feels a little tacked on, but I think there is some really nice NCSO architecture, particularly the building with the "LLLLLLLLLLL" sign. Nice inclusion of a little fair too!

 

Maledives 2040

 

Trash, garbage, big bird.* Nice plane.

*I thought it was hilarious guests were complaining about the amount of litter.

 

Slice of Hong Kong

 

HUGE buildings for only having a week, and on top of that you added the traffic and the subway line - really makes this feel alive. Awesome street scene really capturing the feel of the source material for such a quick build.

 

Funafuti Airport

 

Funny scene, might have to check this place out in MSFS sometime to see if there are people playing on the runway. I really appreciate the inclusion of underwater scenery to add some life. There's a lot of life around the airport, but some of the architecture and surroundings do feel a little basic in comparison.

 

Waves Resort Maldives

 

The calm and relaxing Indian Ocean resort to my adventure and excitement Indian Ocean resort. I'm a sucker for these tropical themes. I do wish you had done a little more with the underwater perhaps, but you nailed the subtle color gradient of the water that I really wanted to do but couldn't figure out how. Nice architecture and pretty neat wave effects.

 

My Shit

 

Most of my inspiration is from the Hilton Northolm resort on the largest of the islands in Seychelles - it should be pretty apparent if you take a peek. I knew I wanted to do some tropical theme, and I love the flag of the country - so it all worked out! My first real (recent) foray into the tropical foliage and atmosphere - I've done it in the past to varying degrees of success but this was definitely my first try as a more experienced builder. Fun bits for me were some subtle detailing on the inside of the resort homes, underwater detailing, the volleyball game (couldn't figure out how to make a ball work in time, but I know for next time), and the zipline themed to a ship that actually really looks the part altogether. It was a fun build, and a nice experiment - I'm pleased with how lively it came out as I was definitely worried about that aspect for awhile during building. I will absolutely be using this trick for paths more in the future. Be sure to check the guest list!

 

Overall, I'm impressed by the amount of entries. I wasn't planning on submitting anything, but when the complaints about a week's worth of time being too little for even a 50 tile submission happened - I couldn't *not* participate. Absolutely insane work for 7 days, each one of these is pretty stunning once you stop and think that none of them really took that long to build. Amazing round.

Wow, 16 entries? I've got some serious competition!

 

Stadtpark Brinkum (Version1)- This is really cute! The architecture is simple yet quaint, and I'm in love with the family boomerang. Solid work!

 

Slice of Hong Kong (Splitvision)- When your space is limited, build up! This park encapsulates that theory in brilliant detail. I love the subway section (it really reminds me of Lenox Mall), and the shoutout to Realms of Dragon Ball is a nice touch. The scale of the buildings is insane, but there's no shortage of detail in them. Wonderful entry!

 

San Marino GP (Ottersalad)- Oh hey, another San Marino entry! I love the go kart track, although it is a little odd how some karts warp to the other side of the downward curve instead of following it. The landscaping and foliage is nice, and I love the extra details with the staff. Nice entry!

 

Monaco GP (MK98 and Coaster-GEOFF)- I really love this! The architecture is what I'd expect to see from Monaco, and I love how the coaster weaves through it. The cut-away go kart track using the minigolf trick is a neat touch too. I feel like I'd like the past two entries way more if I understood the GP references. Great little entry!

 

Terra Della Torre (Gustav Goblin)- Self review time! First off, I want to thank RobDedede for pointing me in the direction of San Marino. I almost went with an island microstate, but the gorgeous cliffs and quaint atmosphere of San Marino were enough to sway me. This is also my first serious experiment with NCSO, which I think I did alright at. My goal eventually became to make a park which would feel different when viewed from any angle, with the town on one side and the mountainside on the other. However, I think my performance was mostly hit or miss, as I lost steam toward the end of the round. For every row of houses with intricate details, there's the fortress which doesn't feel complete. The Goliath rocks were also a gamble, as I felt they were the best way to replicate the light-colored rocks I saw in pictures. I also feel like I made some nonsensical choices, such as the lack of a proper park entrance, which I didn't have time to backpedal on. While I am happy with how the scenery came out, there's definitely still room for me to improve.

 

Circuit de Monaco's Grand Hotel Hairpin (hydroportal)- I'm starting to sense a theme here. This feels more like a slice out of a microstate than most of the other entries so far. I love how involved the park is, with peeps looking out from their hotel rooms at the hairpin. The underpass was also a great little detail. Just goes to show you don't need rides to really shine in a NE contest.

 

Waves Resort Maldives (ITM)- This is adorable! The huts on stilts have a lot of character and detail. I also loved the frozen staff members, especially the gorilla entertainer awaiting his wax appointment. It just screams tropical getaway, and I'd honestly vacation here if I could.

 

Funafuti Airport (RobDedede)- I've been waiting for this one! What I love about it is the story it tells. The football players in the runway, the plane stuck in the holding pattern, and the police car all form a charming little plot. The rest of the park almost feels like a stage for it, although it has some charming detail. Not a bad entry!

 

Maledives 2040 (Liampie and Faas)- Never really felt sad after looking at a contest entry before this one. The name makes me think of some TRON-esque variation on the Maldives, but your rendition is the sadder, harsher reality we may face if we don't get our act together. The floating garbage is so dense it forms pathways, which the citizens of the Maldives are forced to tread on while the rich fly overhead to their vacation spots (on a very nicely modeled airplane!) and politicians ignore the problem. The real world issues this entry presents almost makes me wish Big Bird wasn't there in his oil spill corner. Very powerful entry!

 

Coucher de Soleil Recours (CC9)- I've never heard of the Seychelles before, and looking up some images wowed me. It's a gorgeous resort destination, and you did it justice. My favorite part is the zipline ride designed to look like the masts of a ship. Very nice work!

 

Gardens by the Bay (WhosLeon and AvanineCommuter)- Wow! To go from quaint European villages and tropical island resorts to the glamour of Singapore is quite a change of pace. I love how the paths ignore form, curving and sloping wherever they may go. The huge sculptures and trees are spectacular, and I love how the coaster wraps around them. The best word I can use to describe this entry is lavish. I already feel like I've blown my life savings just looking at it!

 

Trans Studio Singapore (Scoop and nin)- Very nice! I love the use of trackitecture to give the building its curved shape. The boomerang is real nice too, especially the artificial landscaping around it. Wonder why it's called Hyper Boomerang Challenge though. Is it a weird Asian name, or is there more to it?

 

Port Vila Dive Center (mamarillas)- Really neat seeing an underwater entry. Really makes you feel like you're going for a nice dive in a tropical bay. Of course, the details on land were great as well, like the NE parkmakers playing keepie uppie. Nice entry!

 

Ollei Rock (In:Cities)- Considering the small scale, this is a quality entry. The rockwork and foliage is so dense and lush, really bringing out the uncharted island look. I also love the little story you weaved into it, and finding all the NE parkmakers was a joy. Looks like Liam's hairline restoration cure worked a little too well!

 

Sistini (FK+Coastermind)- I've gone through every other entry waiting for this one. Just the tiny thumbnail made me do a double take, and I'm just as blown away looking at it ingame. I love the entries that go wild with artistic interpretation rather than playing it safe by recreating each country, and this is the spitting image of that. This really looks like the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel exploded to life and took on a three-dimensional form. The painted soldiers hanging off the coaster supports, the pixel art of God and Adam, the beams that wither into nothing (which was done super tactfully), and even the rings representing earth, paradise, and the underworld brought an overwhelming level of love and detail to this submission. I also love how Isaac Newton happens to be there. The only thing that comes off as odd to me is the coaster. The train length and pace feels really weird. However, that doesn't detract from this being my favorite entry of the round.

 

Anchor Bay (Xtreme97 and Steve)- This is a different take on Malta compared to the colonial and neoclassical architecture it seems to be associated with, but in no way does that detract from its quality. Instead, we get a more charming and intimate village on the edge of a bay, which I'd argue fits the micro atmosphere a lot more. The attention to detail is stunning throughout, and oh my god that river rapids is utterly sublime. I agree with Faas; best ride of the round. Having all the NE parkmakers and their thoughts in their names is a classic NE move and never gets old. Overall, this is just as good as Sistini. Fantastic entry!

 

It's amazing to see so many entries, but since it's a micro round, I'm still gonna judge it like a Micro Madness and do two for each category. Sistini and Anchor Bay are easily the highest quality parks in the entry. Anchor Bay had an unbelievable amount of character and charm, and Sistini was just wow. I had a hard time making decisions for the objectives since they were so vague and open, but the parks I felt fit the objectives the most would be the ones that made me think "Yup, that's that microstate for sure." I'm giving my votes to Circuit de Monaco's Grand Hotel Hairpin and Gardens By The Bay. Both were incredible entries that really brought out the life in their inspirations. Fantastic round, and I can't wait for the next one!

I just had to quickly say before I look through the others. In hydroportals Park Me and a friend sat on that beige staircase up to the casino and ate pizza and joked about how poor we were in Monaco. Absolutely can't believe that there is a release so close to where i sat for 30 minutes. Thanks for the memories it bought back, really loved it. Can't wait to look through the others

That is so great to hear and honestly that just made it all worth it whether I win this or not! I'm really really glad you enjoyed my entry and that it was able to make an impact on you. I take real pride in my recreation focused builds on being extremely accurate. Thank you!

Slice of Hong Kong

 
Love it. Hong Kong is one of my favourite places in the world, and this captures a tiny slice of it almost perfectly. The skyscrapers are fantastic, and are something I've tried previously without any success, so I know how hard it is. The street is great as well, as is the tube station. I'd love to see something like this expanded, with one of their giant metro station/shopping centres turned into an amusement park/Lenox Mall style thing, would be incredible. 
 

80%

 

San Marino GP
 
This was pleasant! Not a huge amount to talk about here, but the architecture was pretty nice, and the track was done very well.

 

65%

 

Monaco GP

 

This was nice, but I feel like there wasn't much to look at for such a small space. A chunk of architecture, and a coaster over a barren landscape. The Go Kart track is nice, but sadly I think done better this round. The architecture is also decent, but a little repetitive and there's not really anything there to keep me coming back to it.

 

55%

 
Terra Della Torre
 
Not a big fan of this to be honest. It looks like the Crazy Castle scenario a bit too much. I think the landscaping could also be better. A couple of spots of architecture are nice!

 

50%

 
Circuit de Monaco's Grand Hotel Hairpin
 
Holy fuck man, I love this. The landscaping around the staircase is fantastic. The TV crane, the entrance to the hotel, the details around the track, everything is top tier. The only thing criticism I have is that there is maybe a little too much going on for such a small space. I would say that the underground tunnel thing isn't needed, and taking that out could have maybe reduced the movement just a tad.

 

85%
 
Waves Resort Maledives

This is basically what I was gonna build if I entered this round. It's cute and well done, but I think compared to the other entries, there's just not enough to look at.

 

65%

Funafuti Airport
 
Don't know what's going on with the edges of the map here, a bit distracting. Other than that, kinda cool! A good idea, but the architecture that is there is a little bit short and underdetailed. But definitely shows potential.

 

55%

 
Stadtpark Brinkum

This is nice! The coaster is cool and the architecture in the park is good. Does it feel Andorran? I'm not so sure, but to be honest I don't know much about Andorra anyway. I don't think it needed the street, I would rather have seen some more of the Andorra area.

 

65%

Coucher de Soleil Recours

 

Nice zipline. Underwater landscaping is great. The above water landscaping I'm not a fan of, too many 1/4 tile blocks for me, I'd prefer it to look a little smoother. The cabins are great though, and it has a nice amount of life/movement overall. 

 

75%

 

Gardens by the Bay

 

Some good shit, and probably the most instantly recognisable as to what you're trying to 'recreate' out of all the entries. Coaster is cool, landscaping is nice, obviously one of the best entries this round

 

85%

 

Trans Studio Singapore

 

Really big step up from you! Coaster on the roof is cool, and the building is really good. The street is also top quality. There's not much to look at overall though, it would have been nice to have a back to the building, or maybe a couple of other rides dangling off the roof.

 

75%

 

Port Vila Dive Center

 

Really well done. Boats are cute, the wreckages are well done, landscaping is great, even the little building is very nice. Looking back at the voting, I should have probably included this one in my top 5 but completely glossed over it when submitting the votes. 

 

80%

 

Ollei Rock

 

Nicely done. I love this white sand that's being used, feels really tropical. Foliage is well done as well. Not much to say other than that.

 

70%

 

Sistini

 

This is fuckin weird but fantastic. Love the Michelangelo painting, The architecture is really nicely done too. I'm not a big fan of this curvy thing from Colourflood/Swoon, but the rest of the entry is high enough quality that I don't even need the coaster there to rate it highly.

 

85%

 

Anchor Bay

 

Well, this explains the Popeye Village interest a couple of weeks ago in Discord. A really cute entry that looks very Steve. The rapids is probably the best ride of the round, and it also probably has the strongest atmosphere of any entry. My only nitpick is that this doesn't really sell 'Microstate' to me. It's a small theme park in a Microstate themed to somewhere entirely different. But yeah, top tier quality, but doesn't necessarily satisfy the objectives for me.

 

90%

Maledives 2040

 

Not sure if the name is a reference I missed or just spelt like that in NL. An interesting take nonetheless. The plane is really well done, and I love the fact people are still walking around underwater like some sort of fish-man hybrid. What we can see of the architecture is cool, and the trash path/open containers are really well done. Not sure why Big Bird is here. I think this could be a really cool idea to explore on a bigger map though, with bits of land not underwater as well as the underwater sections.

 

75%

Started some micro-reviews for microstates. Noticed many comments go up for several parks. Some clear winners, in my opinion. And some other standouts. Voted for Monaco GP, Trans Studio Singapore, Sistini, and Anchor Bay.

 

Anchor Bay:

Almost as beautiful as the real one. Also kudos for being able to add so much content to such a small map without it feeling too dense.

 

Brinkum:

Quaint. Would have benefitted from interiors as the backsides of the buildings look a bit ugly imo. Or you could have ditched the street and expanded the park.

 

Coucher de soleil recours:

Not a whole lot on the map, but I'm digging the atmosphere. One side of that catamaran ride looks unfinished, looks a bit odd.

 

Funafuti airport:

Did a presentation on Tuvalu once in high school. It's not that crowded. Although there's apparently always people needing to leave the landing when the tri-weekly plane arrives. So credits for that.

 

Maledives 2040:

Accurate and scary. Nice joke entry.

 

Monaco GP:

My favorite of the two monaco gp entries. Good job.

 

Port Vila Dive Center:

My favorite part was the ship wreckage. Nicely done.

 

Sistine:

The odd one out, I suppose. Looks beautiful though. Clever naming for the tower.

 

Terra Della Torre:

Nicely captured San Marino atmosphere, which is key. More attention to your buildings could be the next step.

Stadtpark Brinkum (Version1)- Simple yet pleasant. Didn't get much in the way of Andorra vibes though.. needed more elevation like how Gustav Goblin did.

 

Slice of Hong Kong (Splitvision)- Impressive size and scale for only a week of work! Loved the subway tunnel.. very lively, as expected for Hong Kong. 

 

Monaco GP (MK98 and Coaster-GEOFF)- Yay Formula 1! Solid architecture I think.. and the track was very nice, but I as a F1 fan... the track/architecture didn't seem to match any parts of the circuit.. but I could be wrong of course. Still a fan though. The addition of the coaster added some nice movement. 

 

Terra Della Torre (Gustav Goblin)- Solid entry.. big step up for you I think.. only issue was the best bits.. the row of shops.. was on the map edge and you didn't give them any room to breathe. The NCSO rockwork on the opposite side could've been nixed. 

 

Circuit de Monaco's Grand Hotel Hairpin (hydroportal)- Damn dude.. this is impressive! I wanted to do a turn similar to this.. but at Imola.. but struggled to get the shape right. This is so good. So much activity, and the custom ride from Spacek is great. Very immersive I think. 

 

Waves Resort Maldives (ITM)- Beautifully done sir. Seen this scene in countless travel ads, but I really enjoyed it translated to RCT. Lovely little path light object too.. I could see many people using that in the future. Really cool resort architecture. 

 

Funafuti Airport (RobDedede)- As I said in the discord, this is a great piece of storytelling. Pretty enjoyable. Architecture was a bit lacking.. too squat perhaps?

 

Maldives 2040 (Liampie and Faas)- I want to say this entry is quite funny and creative.. but damn its actually pretty sobering. Impressive as always from you guys. The politicians bickering was a good touch and added storytelling. 

 

Coucher de Soleil Recours (CC9)- Hell yeah Seychelles! Beach houses were really nice and cozy.. the zipline was probably the highlight.. cool tiny ships. The beach activity added a lot of life that a few entries (including mine) lacked. 

 

Gardens by the Bay (WhosLeon and AvanineCommuter)- What a duo! Great work you guys. Very identifiable and the curves really help break the grid. Theres quite a bit of layering to this too which is even more impressive.. the roof texture, coaster, elevated walkways, subway.

 

Trans Studio Singapore (Scoop and nin)- Curvy. Simple scene, but very well done. Loved the architecture. What a wacky coaster too.. why would someone put that there?? 

 

Port Vila Dive Center (mamarillas)- Good stuff man! It's not much, but this is some great realism.. love the keepie uppie, the bikes, the custom boats.. the underwater foliage is top notch. 

 

Ollei Rock (In:Cities)- Thanks for the cameo! Lovely rockwork.. really impressive what you can do in a few short hours. Reminds me a lot of Assassins Creed Black Flag.. probably not what you had in mind.. but it looks straight out of that game!

 

Sistini (FK+Coastermind)- Good grief this is intense! Amazing creativity as always.. so much to see here. The chapel wall deco/frieze, the Creation of Adam, the floating Michelangelo pedestal.. I honestly really enjoyed the coaster station as well.. great colors.

 

Anchor Bay (Xtreme97 and Steve)- Wow, this is jam packed with details. So colorful and bright. If this map was expanded it would easily be a H2H winner and is spotlight quality on a tiny scale. The architecture is quite stunning. The rapids ride is really cool too. Great work guys. 

 

San Marino GP (Ottersalad)- Knew right away I wanted to do a Formula 1 park.. wanted to do something similar to what Hydroportal did, but struggled to get the turns right so I switched to go karts. Tried to make the finish straight as realistic as possible with the tower a replica of what's at Imola. Included some tiny details like Vettel in a car saying Grazie Regazzi and the champagne bubbles on the podium. Had a lot of fun with this. Archy was based on buildings that are trackside. 

 

These are all utterly amazing. How can so much hyper-good RCT be made in just a week?

 

Stadtpark Brinkum - Pretty cozy little entry. What is there is pretty nice, if a little monochrome with all the black rooves and mainly white or tan facades. Not the biggest fan of the crop of the map either, but I realize it could not have been much bigger. Coaster is cute! 55/100

 

San Marino GP - One of many GP entries. I am not a big motorsports fan, but I appreciate the atmosphere you have generated here, feels exciting. The content looks good, especially the brick buildings on the outskirts. I'd have appreciated it if you had shrunk the map size and blacktiled in properly - on a big screen, plenty of land is visible outside of the blacktiles. 60/100

 

Monaco GP - Again a GP entry. However, as opposed to San Marino, I have been to Monaco, and I can appreciate the likeness here, with the dense cluster of medium-height condos and elevation changes. For me though, I am not sure if the coaster worked that well - it feels a little awkwardly placed, mostly obscured from the two "front" angles, and the landscape is abruptly bare right behind the dense cluster of buildings. Other than that, nice stuff! 60/100

 

Terra Della Torre - Decent entry, if a little blocky overall. Most dramatic landscaping of the round which is always fun to see. The goliath sign landscaping trick is bold, but I think it doesn't come off quite right... makes me want to eat cheese, mostly. The "main street" is quaint and has some nice NCSO tricks, but I think it could have benefitted from one more row of tiles, right now it looks a bit claustrophobic. 55/100

 

Circuit de Monaco's Grand Hotel Hairpin - Again, a Monaco GP themed entry. Having visited in real life (I don't have a very specific story attached to it though like Goliath's) I recognize it instantly, and in typical Hydro fashion the scene feels very lively, believable and nicely detailed. I especially dig the staircase going up the cliff by the tracks, good mix of various landscaping objects! The underground tunnel is cool, but I think it'd be even better if it was lowered a bit to separate it more from the GP circuit above. 75/100

 

Waves Resort Maldives - Some very cool shapes and styles going on for the buildings here, although they still look like they could use some more detailing (which I get is difficult due to the original shapes). Colorwise, I feel like there's a bit of a lack of contrast - maybe another palette would have helped? Or some other accent color choices, or more trims on the rooves. The path lamps are really cool and could become a widely used object. 65/100

 

Funafuti Airport - Fun is part of the name and this entry is fun! I really dig the storytelling element here. The airplane trying to land is very neatly executed. Buildings are pretty simple, but they work in the setting. Good entry! 65/100

 

Maledives 2040 - Again a story-telling entry, and one of the few fantasy entries (climate change is obviously definitely real though, and this is unfortunately probably an accurate depiction of many low-lying islands in just a few decades) which makes it stand out. The idea is pretty convincingly executed, and I think you get good leverage out of the simple action of just building a few fairly simple buildings and putting it underwater. Second flood-focused entry of the GT, we are pretty dystopian aren't we? 70/100

 

Coucher de Soleil Recours - Very solid resort entry. Even if the buildings are simpler in form and a bit more conservative than ITM's entry, I think the overall aesthetic comes out a bit better, with more contrast. Landscaping is nice and flowy, and the mast-themed zipline is a very nice detail that elevates the entry. 70/100

 

Gardens by the Bay - I've visited this spot in real life and it is instantly recognizeable! A very densely packed entry, and it feels like it could have used just a little more breathing space. But all the organic shapes and details make this a very compelling creation. Station for the coaster is cool too, if I remember correctly there's a building that looks kinda like that. Best coaster/ride of the round. 75/100

 

Trans Studio Singapore - I think this entry manages to acheive a lot with it's singular focus on this building. It's definitely one of the better executions of the "swoopy monorail/various glass objects"-combination - it just looks really good. I really have no big critiques for this one - for what you set out to do, I think you really pulled it off. 75/100

 

Port Vila Dive Center - A good idea, and quite nicely executed. I'm not as sold on this one as many others seem to be though. For starters, I'm not a fan of the giant grass object used extensively on the ocean floor, I find it pretty distracting from the rest. And then looking at the land part, there's not that much there that catches my attention. On the plus side, the wrecks on the ocean floor are nicely done, and that underwater rock formation is neat. 65/100

 

Ollei Rock - I really dig this focus on landscaping and foliage in your two most recent entries, you are clearly great at making believable, compelling natural scenes like this one. There isn't much to see, but I'm happy you got an entry in and I hope to see a lot more like this in the future. 65/100

 

Sistini - Now this is crazy. What an eclectic expressionist creation loosely based on the Vatican. Just alive with ideas, color and movement. How you can conceive of and build something like this in a week is unbelievable to me. So much fun and I think the winner of the round for me. 85/100

 

Anchor Bay - Best atmosphere of the round. A very balanced and vibrant slice of a picturesque little seaside town. Felt most like a part of a proper larger-scale park somehow, which at the same time made it less recognizeable as themed to a microstate. Love the compact rapids ride, while in a small space it doesn't feel forced at all - like everything else on the map. Clearly of very high quality but perhaps lacking a bit in identity. 80/100

 

Slice of Hong Kong - I wanted to experiment with alternate map shapes to get ideas, and it occured to me that a long, narrow map could be used either to build a landing strip on some small island nation, like Funafuti, or to depict another type of infrastructure, a metro station, and then complete with streets and buildings above. I went with the latter and I feel pretty satisfied with my execution. With more time, I'd have added in more variation on the skyscrapers, and much more interiors as I feel that is needed for a park of this type focusing only on buildings and structures and not rides. 100/100, obviously. Nah - probably 75/100.

I think Grand Tour is quickly turning out to be one of the highest quality contests NE has ever done. There are a handful of micros this round that would each destroy in a Micro Madness bracket, so it makes it that much harder to know where this round will go. A big thanks and congrats to everyone who entered this round! Some quick reviews in no particular order:

 

Port Vila Dive Center – I really liked this entry. It was full of great ideas, and reminded me a lot of your entry in micro madness but more refined as you’ve improved as a player. This had some of the best laughs in the round, like the fisherman. I loved the capsized ship and crashed plane, and all the little things brought this to life. Probably the only issue I think with this was the landscaping, which felt a little blocky and underdone in places. But overall, a great entry.

 

Anchor Bay – Holy crunch! Easily one of the best executed parks of the round, with tons of amazing details and some excellent architecture and landscaping choices. I love the building/ship combo and the double decker rapids station. In terms of capturing an island vibe, this is probably one of the best examples we’ve seen. If this were micro madness, I might knock it for not being as creative or dramatic as others, but given the more traditional focus of the Ground Tour, my only complaint would be wanting more.

 

Monaco GP – A lovely and atmospheric entry that I think unfortunately gets outshone by Hydro’s ultra-realistic Monaco entry. The buildings and infrastructure are full of great detail, but in places felt a little boxy. I think the composition is the biggest challenge for this, which really emphasizes the buildings instead of the GoKart or Coaster. Honestly, I love the idea of doing a GoKart ride themed to Monaco opposed to the actual Grand Prix, but in this case the composition feels more like an afterthought then the real focus.

 

Trans Studio Singapore - One of the best entries of the round for me, I loved the curvy architecture, the unique coaster location, the gorgeous infrastructure city infrastructure. I think you did a great job of capturing crunch and details but in a way that feels fresh and clean, very consistent with how brand new developments would look in Asia. The signs are a little hard to read, but I love the artistic look of them and the color they add.

 

Ollei Rock – The fact you threw this together in a few hours is frustrating (though not as frustrating as how incredible your last round was…). Honestly, you perfectly captured that sense of sea-worn rocks with tropical plants. This really gave me big Survivor vibes!

 

Maldives 2040 – This feels very classic Liam micro, creative, thinking outside the box, but with a bit of whimsy. The execution is good and conveys the idea, but doesn’t wow I’d say. For example, I really love including a plane sculpture, but it just felt really boxy and would have benefited from some trackitexture to smooth it out. Same with the boat. Regardless, it was fun to explore the ideas and joke bits you both incorporated.

 

Terra Della Torre – To be entirely honest, I’m just not sure this was the best round for NCSO. What you have is very pleasant, but it doesn’t have some of the finer details and pieces necessary to make a really small map more engaging. That being said, I still see a lot of great progress in this park, so keep at it!

 

Circuit de Monaco's Grand Hotel Hairpin – Another crunchy bit of heaven from Hydro. I think the smaller scale of this demonstrates the amazing sense of planning and craft that goes into making something so detailed and well composted. The stairway in particular is gorgeous, though I’m not a fan of some of your flower choices. I love the crane truck, the smoothness of the turnaround, and the other roadway infrastructure. Probably my only negative would be the relative blandness of the hotel building itself, but I’m guessing that is a fault of the real-life architecture? I’m still hoping someone beats you outright, cause you just being greedy with this one.

 

San Marino GP – Overall, a fun and charming little micro. I like the idea of GoKarts themed to a specific Grand Prix, and the sense that this is its own little world rather than trying to be some real place is nice. That being said, the entry seems a bit unsure of itself in terms of what it is trying to accomplish. I feel like it needed to be pushed further in one direction, either part of a park or standing more clearly on its own. But that is entirely understandable, we only had a week. The main station is rightfully the best part of the entry, I love the shape of the hangar and tower.

 

Gardens by the Bay – Another of my favorites for the round, and easily the best coaster of the round. I agree with others that you managed to pack a great layout into a small space. At times, it does seem to overpower the surroundings. Fully understandable with the size, but a criticism none-the-less. Like, I can’t help but feel this would have benefited immensely from more space, and some of the other micros felt fine situated in the space they had, so it may just be a pitfall of the theme and direction you took it. The towers are glorious and really well done, the spiral walkways are integrated so well, and there are a ton of wonderful added details. I really love the overly tall palm trees too!

 

Funafuti Airport – Overall, the execution of this was pretty boxy and awkward in places, maybe because you’re still getting used to CSO. Knowing what your inspiration was really helps, and the moment of the cars and planes and soccer game all happening on the runway was great.

 

Slice of Hong Kong – One of the best of the round for me, and honestly a great surprise. I think these are some of the best skyscrapers we’ve seen in the game. Tons of rich details, huge height that brings the drama, but enough smaller deviations to make it feel really lived in. Probably the only thing holding this back is some of the blockier details for the interiors and underground. If you had had time to give to those (I believe you mentioned wanting to do more floors?) that would have been more icing for the cake, but as is this is lovely and really fun work. Great for a micro round.

 

Waves Resort Maldives – This entry was more in the realm of what I was expecting for the round. This is a lovely micro, really well composed and pleasant. Knowing you didn’t have a ton of time to spend on it, I think you did an excellent job, particularly with a  lot of the smaller details like the beach, the sandlines, the little villas. I’m very excited to get to use that floor lighting piece you made it unexpected ways, heh

 

Stadtpark Brinkum – Wasn’t super familiar with the theme you went for, but it’s interesting that this manages to be both outside the box and pretty straight forward rct. It’s a lovely slice of park, solid execution and really great landscaping. I love the coaster color choice. Only real downside is the lack of drama or something more creative to push this outside the realm of parks we usually see on NE. I fell into the pitful of doing a slice of park with my first micro madness and it didn’t go great.

 

Coucher de Soleil Recours – Similar to what I said for ITM, this is what I was expecting a lot of this round. The atmosphere is great, with some great creative ideas and really solid landscaping. In particular, the zipline is great, would love to see that done at a larger scale. Like others, I think this is missing the drama of the most successful micros this round, but the quality is great.

 

I gave out a ton of votes, but my top parts of the round were Anchor Bay, Slice of Hong Kong, Gardens by the Bay, Trans Studio Singapore, and Circuit de Monaco.

 

My Park - Also wanted to give a few thoughts about Sistini. As with most of my work, I was very aware that some people just weren’t going to be into this kind of thing. While I’m always hoping people will be open minded about non-traditional parkmaking, I realize this is pretty far out there in terms of concepts. In all honesty, I had no intent of making a micro last week, but I made a joke to ITM about putting together an artsy take on the Sistine Chapel which snowballed into a submission. The Adam/God pixel art was the first thing to go into the park, thanks to ITM for teaching me how to make a palette (which is just English with an additional peach in the bright purple slot). I struggled for a day or two with how to set a coaster in there for some action, and then once I had something in there, everything just came together. I pulled a lot of references from the Chapel directly, like the church that is directly replicated from a painting, to other outside references like Dante’s Inferno or Eve from the Bible (not actually depicted in the Sistine Chapel). As an artistic exploration of the chapel as a theme, I really hit a well of inspiration and had so much fun pulling this together. I love blending more concrete ideas of space, like the land masses and buildings, with artsy ideas that can only exist when you step outside reality, so I’m very happy with the outcome. Thanks to everyone for the feedback and positive comments!

 

Also, am I correct in assuming this is based off the Three Towers of San Marino?

 

Yes! Most of my reference material for the fortress was a Google Maps view of the first tower.

brinkum- lovely, simple, nice park. I would have expected some more serious mountains and atmosphere from andorra though?

 

slice of hong kong- fuck yeah this looks like a slice of hong kong. so good. the buildings are phenomenal.

 

san marino gp- compelling micro and a cute park all up. nice little buildings.

 

monaco gp- something feels a bit off color-wise here, from the coaster to roof and detail colors. other than that, not bad. I like the central cluster of buildings, but I think the layout is not great.

 

terra della torre- very nice modern style ncso. the color palette does a lot of work for it.

 

circuit de monaco- excellent bite size piece of parkmaking. jesus, the realism meta these days is fucked. just soaked in life and atmosphere. good bit of guell inspiration on the gardens? very pretty.

 

waves maldives- quaint and well-made. needs a bit of movement and life maybe?

 

funafuti airport- i like this as an idea. bit underdeveloped but good thinking for a micro!

 

maledives (sp?)- yes, very clever. good way to smash out a quick park! aren't you always complaining about glitchy parks?

 

coucher de soleil- this is a nice little chunk of resort. believable atmosphere and landscaping, well done indeed.

 

gardens by the bay- stunning, I'd have no idea how to pull this off. the layout is amazing and tight and the vibe is just the right amount of tacky for singapore. excellent job.

 

trans studios singapore - I love this also. feels very real. excellent parkmaking.

 

port vila- we've seen a lot of underwater parks over the years but this execution is perhaps the most graceful. the way you shaped the water did wonders for the overall composition. love the sunken plane and sideways boat.

 

ollei rock- yes, we know you're an absurdly good landscaper. don't you have anything better to do?? lovely vibe.

 

sistini- wow. typical fk insanity and beauty. just a really lovely, surreal take on the sistine chapel. I love the vibe so much. so interesting and mysterious and the semi-reality of it just does wonders for it.

 

anchor bay- holy crap this is right up my alley in every way imaginable. you know i'm frothing. I love the krypton rock pillars with little bushes in the water, the waterfall off the ride onto the boat, sunken anchors, wooden walkways through rusty old buildings... wish I made it! and so many details!

 

wow- very very good round. such high quality to choose from!

Stadtpark Brinkum (Version1)
Cute little scene, with a good choice of coaster for a micro to not feel cramped. Cool that you went less literal and chose a theme park setting, some good architecture there too. Would have liked to see the landscape played with a bit more perhaps but it's decent otherwise.

Slice of Hong Kong (Splitvision)
Really awesome work Split, love that you didn't shy away from the verticality of the skyscrapers and the street level is excellent with the bustling city life. Cool nod to your dragon ball park in the metro station too! No complaints.

San Marino GP (Otter)
Really cute take on the San Marino theme. The miniaturised race track is cool and there are some great little moments with the winners podium and the road curving downward around the stands. The architecture is lovely too, complemented by some pretty foliage that rounds out the theme well. Appropriate music choice too haha.

Monaco GP (MK and Coaster-Geoff)
Another racing theme, and this time Monaco. Solid job capturing the vibe of the country with some fab architecture, especially on that front side. The coaster is cute, I like the second launch alongside the kart station and the road details were great. Only complaint would be the muddy ground in the back.

Terra Della Torre (Gustav Goblin)
Good to see an NCSO entry this round, and you definitely got the look of San Marino down with the iconic castle. Some enjoyable moments in this, though the wild mouse would probably be quite terrifying in real life haha. Landscaping on the mountainside was perhaps a bit messy, but the foliage was nice and it's great to see you experimenting more with textures and ideas.

Circuit de Monaco's Grand Hotel Hairpin (Hydro)
The other Monaco entry, and this takes the more recreationalist approach. Fantastic work, really love all the touches of realism and the noise of the cars sold the atmosphere brilliantly. Solid work on the stairs leading up to the viewing area too.

Waves Resort Maldives (Itm)
Very calm entry that makes quite a change from the rest. Love the design of the buildings, making great use of the curving dirt track objects too. Could have done with just a little bit more life, perhaps with even just a few peeps walking around or some calm music playing. The beach layering is great too, I definitely feel the meta shifting before us.

Funafuti Airport (RobDedede)
Fun little entry and great choice for a micro with the airport running down the center of the island. Love the detail/story of the planes trying to land and take off and the runway blocked by footballers.

Maldives 2040 (Liam and Faas)
Glad to see someone tackle climate change for a theme, was thinking someone might do it for Namibia. Nice details such as the rubbish pathways and the shipping crates emptying, as well as the politicians and cheap airline.

Coucher de Soleil Recours (CC9)
Another nice resort style entry, this one being the more adventurous as you say with more activity as well. Really love the zipline idea and way its themed with the sails. Also great work on the villas, sleek design.

Gardens by the Bay (Leon and AVC)
Wow, absolutely stellar work, extremely recognisable as Singapore and an instantly iconic overview. Great interpretation of the supertrees with a gorgeous design and the flowers spiralling up the side, and I loved much of the other foliage too. The megalite layout is really great for such a small size, though gets somewhat chaotic in the middle and obscures some of the nicer details (such as the dolphin statues). Would have been perfect with just a bit more space but it's an understandable result of the constraints. Love all the information boards dotted about as well.

Trans Studio Singapore (Scoop and nin)
Somewhat surprised by this, very curvy architecture with good use of trackitecture. The coaster is neat, and I really like how you added the patches of grass and foliage on the roof to break up the monotony and make it more inviting. Other than that I would have liked to see the interior filled in so it's a shame you ran up against the deadline.

Port Vila Dive Center (mamarillas)
This was really inventive and fun to explore! Nice to see you play a bit more with cso. You produced some fantastic underwater foliage and landscaping here, and I loved the sideways capsized boat on the sea floor. Those scuba diver objects are fab as well.

Ollei Rock (Josh)
For a 5 hour entry this is frustratingly good, as FK says. The tiered rockwork is really nicely done, as are the bright sandy beaches. The foliage is a bit overdense but hardly worth nitpicking.

Sistini (FK)
Ever the drama queen, FK. Really superb piece of work, you've become adept at this style of fragmented, conceptual RCT. The Creation of Adam fresco is obviously the standout here and very skillfully sculpted, and there's many more details throughout. Love the coaster station as well, the red/green/white colour scheme is so beautiful.

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Anchor Bay
I'm really pleased with what we were able to make in such a short time frame, and I'm very glad for the positive reception. I'd heard of the Popeye Village years before this but it was forgotten about until I saw a picture while scrolling through images of Malta and it immediately grabbed my attention. Did some more research and got to work. I showed some screens to Steve and we got talking about ideas and feedback - the rapids started out in my mind as a small water slide complex, as the real location has this inflatable water assault course that I thought looked fun, but Steve got me into the idea of a rapids, much like the real Popeye rapids ride at Universal, and it fell into place perfectly. I asked if he'd like to hop on and we clicked really well. Wonderful experience overall, and it looks like we have some very tough competition.

Stadtpark Brinkum (Version1)
Quaint and pleasant. The coaster layout is very strange, I'm assuming it's based on something in real life. Not the biggest fan, but I can understand if it's rooted in reference. The surroundings were pleasant but unfortunately were lacking some details, and was too closely cut off by the map. Rethinking the composition of the map could have given you more breathing room and opportunity to really flesh out those buildings and create the full atmosphere of the area.
Slice of Hong Kong (Splitvision)
What an impressive entry! The buildings are perfectly designed, and looked great from a macro perspective. Up close they could have used some more details to bring them alive, but overall they were great. The ground level is beautifully done, I really appreciated the attention to detail with the storefronts and the interiors of some of these shops. The underground is a nice touch and also really well executed. Really great entry overall, main nitpick would be the buildings look a little "too clean" and uniform, so some minor details and variations in the facades would have really brought this to another level.
San Marino GP (Otter)
Very cute entry! I really enjoyed watching the cars go in the really classy and cleanly executed figure-8 track, and wondered how you got the cars to switch lanes at the entry... Some very nice micro-detailing throughout, definitely felt very small in comparison to other entries but the atmosphere was very nicely developed and the ideas were there. Some of the older buildings were a little under detailed compared to the main station (which is fantastic), and some smaller details around the edge would bring this more to life.
Monaco GP (MK and Coaster-Geoff)
Love the buildings here, so pretty! Nice color combinations throughout too, some quite unique (light green building with light blue / black awnings stand out in particular). Definitely not the biggest fan of the coaster, the layout could have used some work as it's a bit awkward. The Karts themselves though are really cool, and I like the whole look of the track. Interesting choice to cut the track in half with the buildings as well.
Terra Della Torre (Gustav Goblin)
I enjoyed the NCSO take on this challenge. It did feel a little simplistic compared to other entries, but the atmosphere was very pleasant. I particularly like the building at the end by the statue on the main street, it has a nice shape and some cool detailing. The tower was also well done albeit a little simple. Didn't care for the goliath rocks, the texture is just not very nice, and the yellow color jumps out as very artificial in the cliffs. I think some regular jagged rocks + the volcano would have been enough to create the cliffside look you were going for.
Circuit de Monaco's Grand Hotel Hairpin (Hydro)
Very cool entry, there's so much detail and compositionally one of my favorites. Although I would've preferred for more of the hotel, I understand the size constraint. Loving the tow truck and the CURVES are gorgeously done here. You know I love breaking the grid and this does it really really well. The staircase is also wonderfully detailed. This really captures the Monaco vibe perfectly, one of my favorites from the round! Kudos.
Waves Resort Maldives (Itm)
What a classy entry. I could totally imagine myself at a resort like this. Those floor lamp objects are so great, and the pathing is really nicely done. I like the use of curved walls and flooring to make the buildings and their awnings, it really create a unique modern resort look. The curved grass trim on the main boardwalk is a nice touch too. Definitely could have used peeps and rides to give the place a bit of movement and maybe relaxing Gentle music. Schools of fish? Birds? Etc. Would've added a TON to the atmosphere.
Funafuti Airport (RobDedede)
That airplane ride is a great idea, really well done! The thin strip of land is cool, but some details are lacking in the architecture and around the landscape. For smaller maps, oftentimes details are necessary to really bring out the atmosphere and keep the viewer engaged.
Maldives 2040 (Liam and Faas)
So sad. Clever idea for the round, and the plane is very nice. The trash cargo is a nice touch along with the oil slick. I think architecturally I would've expected more of a resort-under-water vibe, but I can't really see anything underwater anyway
Coucher de Soleil Recours (CC9)
Very cozy little entry. The zipline, of course, is a great idea and done really nicely here. There's a lot of movement throughout the map which is a nice touch. The villas are well done but could definitely use a little more detail to keep the viewer intrigued. Can definitely appreciate the cleanliness of the path, I had to disassemble it to see how it was made. Nicely done. Love the nice touch with all of NE exploring the island, wish I could be there!
Gardens by the Bay (Leon and AVC)
Leon already had the layout and majority of the gardens done when we decided to work together. I've been to Gardens by the Bay when I visited Singapore years ago and jumped on the opportunity to work on this. Leon has such a great knack not just for incredibly complex, layered layouts, but also for micro details to bring the atmosphere to another level. I worked on the station area, roof, and the maroon towering tree structures. Pretty much one of the only "realistic" things I've ever built in my RCT career, and it was very enjoyable. Easy chill building with Leon, 10/10 would do again.
Trans Studio Singapore (Scoop and nin)
Really cool building, overall composition is great. The boomerang on the building reference is a nice unique choice for this entry, and it was really well done (I like the double track on the hill). I liked especially the criss-cross pattern on the white tower, that's a really cool effect. The signage was creative but definitely difficult to read, not sure if they were meant to be legible. The glass on the building unfortunately exposes a lot of supports on the interior, which if removed could have helped clean up the overall look of the building. Overall a nice high-quality entry.
Port Vila Dive Center (mamarillas)
Wow this was a wonderful surprise. Compositionally this is one of the most interesting maps, I really like the use of the water that cuts away to reveal the underwater world; very clever and a really nice effect. The landscaping down there is very pretty, with a lot of details and movement to keep the viewer intrigued. Great little boats above too. Cutaway view does reveal interiors on that small building, nice detail, but I really wish the station of the submersible ride was also fully realized. Would've added a lot as a surprise when you rotate the map. Either way,, well done on this entry, enjoyed it very much.
Ollei Rock (Josh)
Are you the new landscaping master? Kicking Dr. Dirt off his pedestal, another very nice use of rocks and foliage to create some very new-looking RCT. Not too much to look at otherwise, but it is very serene, pretty, and does very closely resemble the source material. and I'm sure I'm enjoying the boat ride with Otter here! Nicely done.
Sistini (FK)
Wow what an entry. So many cool things here: the giant painting of course, perfectly done. The ride that shoots up to their fingertips is so clever. Love the small chapel, the tree with the apples, the painted soldiers are one of the coolest ideas. The sideways structural elements are so cool, and the blue textural fade is so very FK and so very beautiful. Lovely stuff! Overall just fantastic! Some minor nip-picks: Some color choices are a little off, especially the bright reds seem out of place to me. Love love love the idea of Dance of the Cardinals, but the layout feels very much like an after thought, and is way too fast; taking it down to ~40 MPH helps. Lastly, Organ music adds so much to the atmosphere! I turned it on while browsing, not sure why it wasn't included? One of my favorites if not my favorite from this round. I love that you're back in action and being productive again! Can't wait to see more.

Anchor Bay (xtreme + steve)
Absolutely adored this entry. First off, chock full of details. Second, the atmosphere is second to none. Third, those river rapids are so perfectly done. I love all the buildings with lamp posts, signage, small bits of furniture throughout; especially love the museum caseline in the peach building! The shipping detailing was really cool to be integrated into the buildings, and there was so much life buzzing throughout the small park. Immersive is the best way to describe this. It's up between this and Sistini for my favorite.


I voted for quite a few parks for the first category as I feel like a lot of them did hone in on the feel and vibe of their respective microstates, but for the second "quality" category I voted Sistini, Anchor Bay, Gardens by the Bay, Circuit de Monaco's Hairpin, and Slice of Hong Kong. What a crazy high quality round. The micro format really does wonders for NE, huh?