H2H9 / H2H9: Mid-Season Evaluation

 
We're halfway through the season, meaning there's still a lot to look forward to! There's plenty to look back toward as well however, which the point of this topic.

 

Firstly, let us seize this moment of peace and quiet to consider nominations for the future Awards, in the style of community award nominations. List your favourite moments from H2H9 so far, optionally in the award categories suggested below, but if you like, also in award categories you made up, like 'best submerged European city' or 'best funky sci-fi park'.

 

Best Steel Coaster	Best Architecture	Best Idea
Best Wooden Coaster	Best Landscaping	Best Park Concept
Best Non-Coaster Ride	Best Atmosphere	Most Valuable Player
Best Ride Design	Best Aesthetics	Breakthrough Player

 

 

Secondly, we're definitely interested in hearing your thoughts on the H2H season as a whole so far. The expectations, the surprises, the hopes, the disappointments, neutral observations... Which team is your favourite, and which team is underperforming? What are your predictions for the upcoming rounds?

So much faith in us. We don't want that kind of pressure

ok i feel like procrastinating so i'll kick off the discussion

 

favorite team? pobably AC

team I want to be on the least? also probably AC, jeez you guys pump out stressful AF but also ridiculously incredible parks

friends made? defs some, I like my team, both new guys and people I didn't really know before like pac, and the discord/convo in general has sort of congealed around a new group of talkative people like walto+partner, hoobs, etc-- been nice to see

enemies made? probably more than friends made oops sorry for all the arguments and being annoying

breakthrough players? lots to mention, probs scoop, trav, otter, motty, hmmm, terry yep

mvp? probably too early but could be xtreme, pac, avc, hoob, I:C, ...

best view from their window? defs me rn suck it dorks

I'd like to get into the 'best of the season' lists later, but I gotta cut it up in smaller pieces. Commeting on each team, with my general take on the contest so far, seems like a logical first step though.

 

East vs West

The two divisions have assumed an interesting relationship somehow. The East division is more subdued, with lower density parks on average, and maybe more classically trained players by comparison. Parks like The Good Death, Yerka and Uncanny Valley are typical East division parks. The West division is a bit more heavy on innovators and new names with a DKMP background. Acqua Alta and The Diegetic Underground could only have come from the West.

 

Logan's Run

Possibly the most experienced team, and I think that has shown in the parks. The parks are finished, and prioritise good taste and restraint over ambition and experimentation. I think my own historical H2H success as a captain can be largely attributed to drafting experienced players with RCT output of reliable quality. I'm not surprised Logan's Run have been doing well, although with The Good Death I wondered if the team was not living in the past. They're not!

 

Bubbsy hasn't built yet, and I assume that all teams fear facing him, considering the development he has shown in recent work. He's no longer a robbie apprentice, but a highly skilled player in his own right. Six Frags on a good day is also a weapon not to be underestimated, and what has Zarathustra been doing the past few months? I can't imagine what hack fuckery we may see from Zara in the coming rounds. Yeah, Logan's Run has a lot of firepower left.

 

Scream Queens

Some team has to be last, and thus far it's the Scream Queens, unfortunately. I think this team's profile is: experienced and artistic. The latter may also be the team's achilles heel, although it may very much be a calculated risk. Drowned was possibly the most ordinary, well performing H2H park from them so far. Esoterra and Yerka Daylight Time are conceptually quite inaccessible, relatively speaking. They require an effort by the viewer to understand the concept. I think Yerka Daylight Time is supposed to have some kind of narrative to it, but I don't think anyone has figured it out yet.

 

It's been a while since dirt, alex and robbie have built a park - if all three of them lead a park in the remaining three rounds, with maybe a little more regards for how the H2H game works, I don't think we can quite write this team off yet. It happens that teams win three rounds in a row, and why can't it be the Scream Queens now? High ranking player BelgianGuy is also out there still. No, the Scream Queens can definitely claw their way back up.

 

Cereal Killers

My own team. First in the leaderboard. The lucky team. I admit, we could've fared worse if the matches were slightly different. While I think all our parks are strong, I don't think we've fully cemented ourself as a rightful #1 ranking team yet. We need to shake off the reputation as the lucky team, and show that we can earn our place in the play-offs by beating any kind of park. Luck runs out anyway. Cereal Killers are ready to step up their game. Come at us!

 

No player analysis. StormRunnerFan, ultro and Andrew still have to go.

 

Manual Laborers

Not a happy start of the season. An unfinished park lost, their extension gone, and their second park despite a magnificent kraken setpiece also resulted in a perhaps demoralising loss. However, the Manual Laborers struck back hard in R3 with La Coeur, and a Diegetic Underground win put them level with the other teams again. Interestingly this team was touted as the ncso team. I'm always skeptical that a ncso park will be produced in H2H, but even I admit the circumstances are more favourable than ever. Yet, my initial take remains true. The ncso-oriented players have been assimilated by the H2H meta, which I think is great.

 

Jaguar still has to go, and Lotte has just been added to the team as a replacement. I assume that these players are working on different parks, which guarantees two high quality cso parks yet to come. Maybe if the Manual Laborers clinch a play-off spot, they may produce an ncso gem in the last round for fun? Who knows.

 

Tile Inspectors

Ouch, a series of difficult matches has put them at the bottom the West division, with two deep losses and two narrow wins, and a small % penalty on top as well. It's not going to be easy to get back into the game, but I'm sure no one doubts their potential. Every park has been infused with new objects and fresh, fun ideas. If I were the Manual Laborers or the Adventurers Club, I'd be worried.

 

On the flip side, the Tile Inspectors have already used most of their players once. Nothing keeps them from going again in the next rounds, for example Leon hasn't made an appearance since Round 1, quite a while ago, but by comparison, this team has used more energy than the others. Only Fisch remains, and it's a question mark how much he can contribute. A single park at the end of the season? Could be quite something.

 

Adventurers Club

The ambitious rookie team! I can't imagine a more fitting captain for this lot than Josh, and evidently he's been doing well. In their relative inexperience, at least in my eyes, they've allowed themselves to have a stressful season too, with draining deadline crunches that have resulted in one unfinished park so far. Can they keep it up? I think so, there's more greatness ahead. Hydro seems hyper-productive, but he hasn't gone since R1. Louis has only contributed a token 2% share so far. Scoop seems to have stepped up his game big time. Raunchy is still a H2H-virgin. FredD may seek revenge. Lots to come here, I reckon. Just need more discipline, perhaps. Josh, whip those boys, or the opposition will do it for you.

Logan's Run

Old men are doing great. Lots of talent and experience. And completed parks. Carry on steph

 

 

Cereal's Kitchen

Maybe they've been lucky, but they still put out great parks. Definitely not a team to overlook. Lots of shiny bald heads are sure to prevent that from happening anyways

 

 

Queens

Probably my favorite team. Sad to see them trail this far behind, as the quality of parks have been great. The ideas and artistic approach to parkmaking is what keeps my interest. I hope they bounce back

 

 

Man Labs

Otter is a king. I love these guys, so I hate that we have to go up against them again. Still excited to see what they put out next

 

 

Flying Germans

Still the scariest team tbh. Leon is a monster. Tolsimir is a monster. AVC is a monster. Fisch is a monster. Walto is a monster. You get the picture

 

 

Adventure Men

I promise i've been whipping them, but fred seems to enjoy it a bit too much

Love this idea, love the extra week break, love that every team is still in playoff contention. Some quick observations on each team, it's been interesting to see how each team has adapted to the mindset of their captains.

 

 

Logan's Run

- classic old-school style has yielded strong results so far. Nippon and Loganbrau were two of my favorite parks of the season so far, they haven't had a down week yet. Great feel for small details and atmosphere, emphasis on mood over loud innovation. Maverix has a strong case for mid-season MVP, we could see CP6 again in the second half, still waiting on Bubbsy and Zarathustra, safe bet that they've got some great parks waiting.

 

Scream Queens

- still a really scary team to watch. We haven't seen BelgianGuy yet and he doesn't miss, plus alex and robbie are each due for a second park. Could easily see them sweeping the next 3 rounds with the talent they have. Their parks have been more artistic and thoughtful, if perhaps a bit too abstract. I think in general their use of color could be improved, something more vibrant and less pastel would be a welcome change.

 

Cereal Killers

- to say they've gotten lucky undersells their quality so far. Their parks have trended playful and realistic, highlighting clever ideas in both theme and execution, I find they get better with multiple viewings. We've yet to see StormRunnerFan, expect to see Liam lead another round robin park, with possible second showings from FK and Splitvision.

 

Tile Inspectors

- safe to say we've been the most controversial team (a lot of it by our own doing as outspoken passionate players). We've emphasized innovation and density so far, with mixed results. No secret that we haven't seen Fisch or spacek yet, but we've felt their influence on other parks. I've been really impressed with the total team effort so far, our talent curve is flatter than most historical H2H teams in my opinion.

 

Manual Laborers

- any team anchored by nin, Cocoa, and Pac has explosive potential. We should see inthemanual again before the playoffs plus something crazy from Jaguar. Ziscor is so seriously underrated, he's quickly putting together a top-tier H2H resume. Their parks have largely been dramatic semi-realism flush with detail, but I do sense some struggle with motivation, hopefully I'm just imagining things.

 

Adventurer's Club

- definitely the most exciting team so far this season, heavy on newer talent who isn't afraid to challenge the status quo and shake things up. Hopefully they take the right lessons from Croaked and don't temper their ambitions. Josh has emerged as a super dangerous player because of his object-making and palette design. Expect to see something epic from hydroportal, with Louis and Russell waiting quietly to strike. 

 

 

What a great season so far! Lots of new players emerging alongside plenty of vintage showings by familiar faces, can't wait to see what the next few weeks will bring

I want to look at some early award contenders.
 
 
 
Best steel coaster
- Lost World RMC
- Thunder Dolphin
- Eversio Lemuria
 
Best wooden coaster
- Tomatina coaster
- Good Death coaster
(not a lot of wooden coasters...)
 
Best archy
- Acqua Alta
- Christchurch City Centre
- Le Coeur du Ciel
- Lemuria

- Seven Liberal Arts

- El Dorado
 
Best landscaping
- El Dorado
- The Good Death

- Lost World
 
MVP
- In:Cities
- Steve
- Maverix
- ottersalad
(pretty much all players that have gone twice with significant shares )

 

Best Idea

- Pirates maelstrom

- Ship crashed into screen in Stardust Jubilee

- Giant slot machine in Stardust Jubilee

- Lady Luck cursive text in Stardust Jubilee

- Animated billboards in Stardust Circuit

- Skyscraper under construction in Christchurch City Centre

- Ring of Fire mural in Christchurch City Centre

- Seismograph in Christchurch City Centre

- Smoke trail airplanes in A Day at the Races

- Baseball match in Nippon

- Dam/dial thing in Acqua Alta

- Forge in El Dorado

- Hand sculpture in Good Death

 

Best aesthetic

- El Dorado

- Drowned

- Esoterra

- Acqua Alta

- Stardust Circuit

- Stardust Jubilee

- Lemuria

 

Best Ride Design

- Yerka Daylight Time

- Lemuria

- Seven Liberal Arts

- Drowned

Including me in the MVP discussion? I appreciate that, but I'd never come close! 

 

This H2H has seemed to continue the major theme I noticed in World Tour.. a focus on detailed ground textures. The big thing too is the move towards fully detailed interiors, thanks to Stardust Jubilee and basically everything Logan's Run has done.

 

I think Liampie nailed all the "best idea" stuff I would've outlined myself. 

 

In terms of the teams...

 

AC:

Ridiculous creativity with the themes. We've already seen you guys come up against the deadline numerous times and seen some unfinishedness here and there. Hopefully that isn't the norm moving forward.

 

SQ:

I think with the builders on your team, you have the potential to go 3-0 to close out the rounds. Excited to see what you guys build. Going for clean aesthetics and not caring about the meta too much has been refreshing and honorable. Just unfortunate to have gone against some great parks. 

 

CK:

You guys have definitely lucked into a couple wins! I wish Gauntlegrym had more polish to really take the fight to Tomatotown. Day at the Races and Uncanny were cute parks, but would've really struggled against parks like either Stardust, Pirates! and Yerka. But having Liam at the helm is a huge advantage. Expect to see you guys compete well in the playoffs.

 

LR:

Damn, everything you guys have made I could've seen myself build on! Not cool guys. Been a fan of every park you guys have made. Maybe The Good Death was my least favorite, but Lemuria and Logan's Brewery and Nippon were great parks. Really great contest so far from you guys, and I'm sure you have some fun ideas to come.

 

TI:

Team Density over here. How often are you guys up against the object limit? You guys have a great stable of players. Curious to see who still has 60+ park shares in them the rest of the way. Definitely agree that this is the team to be weary of in our division.

 

ML:

Gotta keep that momentum going boys.

Villerouge sur Mer for best landscaping, I think Tile Inspectors are the first to crack the rock work code.

 

Riverview for best atmosphere and best architecture

 

Only two things that come to mind right away. H2H9 is fantastic, but lacking in the coasters department. Come on NE!

LR has had killer coasters in EVERY round. ??

Bellum for best architecture for sure.
Riverview for best architecture, best park concept.
Villerouge for best landscaping, best atmosphere.

LR has had killer coasters in EVERY round. ??

chillax. The layouts in logan's brewery are good, but I wouldn't classify them as best of the contest.

helium planet for best atmosphere

Medusa for Best Steel 

 

Alcatraz for Best Atmosphere, probably one of the top contenders for me at the moment in that category.

now that they've got a possible/probable park of the round i've gotta ask why i'm the only one who voted ck to win it. i like a few other teams more, but they've been so good at playing the meta of the contest 

everyone is manifesting liam losing

I hope they stay in first place so that we can face them in semis if we qualify.

Doing some nominations for the awards, could have waited until after finals but I think those parks will be fresh enough to remember when it comes to deciding nominees. Doing one nomination per team per category.

Steel Coaster
LR - Eversio Lemuria (Lemuria)
SQ - Deliveroo (Drowned)
CK - Zamindar (Rajasthan)
TI - The Doubt (7 Arts)
ML - Awakening (Wickerdale)
AC - Rite of Passage (Lost World)

Wood Coaster
LR - The Moss (Good Death)
SQ - The Fool (Esoterra)
CK - El Tomate Grande (Tomatina)
TI - The Beggar (Madinat)
ML - Diablo De Malaga
AC - Tornado (Riverview)

Non Coaster
LR - Journey to Boozelantis (Brewery)
SQ - DNA Sequencer (Architects)
CK - Quake City (Christchurch)
TI - Twy River (Papilio)
ML - Dragonfly River (Diegetic)
AC - Rio Maldito (El Dorado)

Ride Design
LR - Nippon
SQ - Yerka
CK - Uncanny Valley
TI - Alcatraz
ML - Gauntlegrym
AC - FAP

Architecture
LR - Lemuria
SQ - Bellum
CK - Christchurch
TI - Madinat
ML - Le Coeur
AC - Riverview

Landscaping
LR - Good Death
SQ - Architects
CK - Rajasthan
TI - Villerouge
ML - Pirates
AC - Lost World

Atmosphere
LR - Droomvlucht
SQ - Esoterra
CK - Gangland
TI - Madinat
ML - Le Coeur
AC - Riverview

Aesthetics
LR - Highlands
SQ - Esoterra
CK - Rajasthan
TI - Stardust Jubilee
ML - Le Couer
AC - Stardust Circuit

Idea
LR - Baseball (Nippon)
SQ - Lights (Bellum)
CK - Interactive Story (Gangland)
TI - Smoke/Water Vehicles (Acqua Alta)
ML - Kraken (Pirates)
AC - Billboard (Stardust Circuit)

Park Idea
LR - Good Death
SQ - Atama Yama
CK - Uncanny Valley
TI - Stardust Jubilee
ML - Diegetic Underground
AC - Riverview Exposition

MVP
LR - Steve
SQ - Alex, Terry
CK - Liam
TI - AVC
ML - Otter
AC - Hydro, Josh

Breakthrough
LR - Xtreme, AJ, Zara
SQ - Lily, Phoenixwing
CK - Mamarilla, Andrew
TI - Mulder, Robdedede
ML - Jens J, Sumormot, Shen
AC - Hoobaroo, Hydro

Best Park
LR - Nippon
SQ - Drowned
CK - Rajasthan
TI - Madinat
ML - Le Couer
AC - Riverview

A few other categories for consideration:

 

Most Innovative park

Best Execution

Best Palette

Best Interiors

Best Macro

Best Micro

Best CTR

Best New Scenery Objects

Best Read Me

Most Underrated park

Most Overrated park

Best Easter Egg

Best Custom Music