H2H9 / Head-2-Head 9 Endnotes

Starting this topic with my personal story, but I can imagine we all have thoughts to share!

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I never managed to properly wrap up my H2H experience with a speech of some kind, despite always intending to do so. Maybe the obligatory praises and thanks are too big a hill to overcome, so I’ll keep that bit short: well done everyone, and thank you form the bottom of my heart. Now I’d like to address my team. I’ll end with reviewing each team’s season in another post to come at a later moment, and maybe some reflections on the contest as a whole and the shifting meta.

Cereal Killers
Already right after H2H8 ended, I knew that H2H9 would be a different H2H for me. The Heaven’s teams are a thing from the past, and I’d adjust my style of captaining for personal and practical reasons.

Firstly, I sometimes think I have too many opinions in me. I needed to learn how to sit back and let other people do their thing more. It’s a thing of enthusiasm, I see a park being built, and I just want to get involved because I think I can make (parts of) it better. I need to learn to cope with that, and only use my micro management sparingly. I think I did that really well, but I was extra aware the times I did resort to micro managing.

Secondly, my life is just different. I work more than full time, and Mondays through Thursdays are typically a work marathon for me, leaving me a long weekend that I need to recharge my battery. I could not be around all the time, and I could not be building all the time. I wanted to build only two parks, anyway. That worked out really well until I decided to do Happy Valley, but it fitted neatly in my summer break - that was an important requirement.

An entirely new thing for me was being more open to other people’s ideas. I brought only one H2H concept to the table that I REALLY wanted to do myself, and it ended up not happening. Tomatina was RWE’s, Rajasthan simply evolved, and Happy Valley was something we decided on through a brainstorm late in the contest. None of these parks feel like they were my babies, like DKS or Diamondheights. Ironically, the parks I didn’t build on have more of ‘me’ ideas in it. Uncanny Valley was the second concept I brought to the table that I really wanted to do, but I didn’t want to do it myself per se. I knew G Force would be perfect. A Day at the Races is a mix of ideas we all contributed, but I’ve had the idea for a map like that for years and there’s a lot of that in it. It’s also the park that had me micro managing the most. Extraction is also something that has a lot of me in it at the conceptual level - the coin shaped planets, each being a micro, mostly. Another idea I’ve had for a long long time. It’s even the reason I came up with colourable land blocks, over a decade ago.

Anyway, enough about me. On to the team. As always I drafted a bunch of chill guys. Good vibes results in finished parks. It worked. I loved how at the start it was awkward and the division of labour was unclear, and from this mismatched collection of players big and small arose a real team. I’m super glad I got to work with so many new people. Obligatory and sincere thanks and well done!

FK - After 2020’s FKaynaissance, I really wanted you. Linga Sarira especially convinced me that you were H2H gold. While a similar, heavily decorated map didn’t happen this season, you gave us a more Tromso-like map with Christchurch. One of the best city scapes we’ve seen in the game, with possibly the best architecture in the contest. Seriously people, look again in case you’ve forgotten. The other park you were working on... I sincerely hope we see it finished someday.
 

StormRunnerFan - I went for you early in the draft. I always make room in my team for some dinosaurs or players that are not too productive outside contests. Yeah, you gave us Glacier Cove, but that felt like a miracle. We need more SRF. It worked for Turtle in H2H6 (understatement), I got parks out of chapelz, Ride6, and Six Frags did his best shit in H2H8. And now we have Gangland. Fantastic work. No regrets. Was happy to have you.
 

Mamarillas - I wanted you, as you were one of the hot up and coming rookies. Your productivity and constant presence in the team discord was very appreciated and valuable!
 

Splitvision - Every team needs a few idea machines, and I knew you could fulfill that role. You delivered. From skyscrapers being erected before your eyes to a detailed car chase choreography, you gave us lots of holy shit moments. Possibly my pick for the MVP on this team!
 

RWE - I had you in the reliable, productive and atmospheric role. Tomatina was perfect for you. It was also nice to see you step outside your comfort zone later on, with Extraction. Good season for you!
 

Ultro - There is always someone for who H2H doesn’t work out too well… The park we were going to do fell through and you were ‘homeless’ for quite a while. I’m glad you eventually got to build some good stuff on Rajasthan. Hope to see more ultro work before the next H2H! You remain a player to watch.
 

Coaster-GEOFF - You were largely absent after R2, but with good reason! Super happy you got your life back, and also super happy you were able to work on a second park at the end. No regrets, was happy to have you!
 

Saxman1089 - I didn’t know what to expect from you. You were amazing in H2H8, but largely away from NE and RCT i nthe years after, from my point of view. You definitely exceeded my expectations. One of the most reliable and active people in the team. I’m happy you were able to reconnect with the game! Hopefully you’ll stick around for more RCT now!
 

G Force - Another case of a player I wanted to reconnect with the game. Although you didn’t end up being its lead builder, Uncanny Valley was the thing for you and you instantly gave it a quality boost when you stepped in. Not because the other players sucked, but because you’re simply one of the best players on the team. More anonymous in Gangland, but everything you’ve done this H2H elevated their respective parks. Was great to have you, and happy to see you working on a new park!
 

Coasterbill - most high calibre floater ever. For a player of your calibre you didn’t contribute much in the way of leading parks and such, but you brought a lot of fun and clown sculptures to the team! You were around for support for the parks that needed it.
 

IonZer0 - No offense to Bill, but in hindsight, you should’ve been a floater. And you shouldn’t have been on the replacements list. Your layouts and macro planning are so good, I wish we could’ve used those skills on every park. Your actual contributions were limited to Day at the Races and Marmot Mountain, but inbetween you were invaluable with your layout inspiration, brainstorming and feedback. Always around to share your thoughts. I’m super happy with the coasters I did this H2H and I think you played a role in that. Team that gets you in a floater role in future H2Hs should be very privileged.
 

A N D R E W - Like I said before… I knew you were good when I got you, but I didn’t you know you were this good. Wow! You forced me to not be a lazy builder. Rajasthan would not be what it was without you. THE revelation of H2H9 for me, and I can’t wait to see what’s next for you.

RCTFAN - Sorry it didn’t work out! I was excited to see new RCT from you. We got to see a little, and we brainstormed a little. You helped to get A Day at the Races on track with a great analysis. You may not be on the team roster currently, but you played a role!

Poke - You did not play a role, other than making space for Ion. Hope you’ll show up again soon, and I hope we get to collaborate in the future!

I guess I have to give a winner's speech at this point. Thanks for all the support from the community, I am super happy and even more proud of my team, they all killed it. Special thanks and props to all teams, this was a hell of a season. Cannot wait what the future will bring.
 
When I signed up for the contest in March I didn't want to go for captain in the beginning. I knew my time in the coming months would not have been as much as I would have wanted and what it would take to captain and manage a team. However, after chatting with Leon he convinced me to go for it, kind of a decision on gut level. After being picked as captain I couldn't really imagine what a ride of six months laid ahead of us. Never having been on a mock draft I did my first draft for the tournament it was so much fun. The feel of hoping to not get your next pick stolen is intense, loved it. I was very happy with how the draft turned out. Got some guys I wanted and others that were more a surprise box. In the end everybody did great.

From building perspective I have to admit that this wasn't my strongest season. 7 liberal arts was born out of pure necessity. I was already away on the first day after the draft (was my birthday lol), which shouldn't be the last time I was abscent, so I wasn't there when the folks were already throwing their ideas to each other's head and forming building teams. End of story I was alone and we had an open spot in R2 so I filled it. For more detailed info I refer to my post in the park's topic. Madinat al-Hareer was a different story. I joined Leon and AVC before and during some other vacation, building at night on plastic terrace chair and table. I think I did a good support role on the park. Actually I came to the conclusion that I suck at leading parks and excel in joining in half finished parks, all parks I led lost, after all.

I learned a lot during the contest. Leading a team during the course, looking for compromises, time management not only for me but also for everybody else. It was a great experience but also stressful. I don't know if I want to do it again in the future. But that's a question in three years. For now thanks to all my guys, in all personal objectivity and humbleness the Tile Inspectors were one of the greatest teams ever.

@Léon: you got me into the captaining just because you were too afraid of doing it yourself  The preseason planning was so much fun . You did a great job as Vice Captain, which to me was more a Co-Captain. And you worked yourself into the ground on the first and the last two parks. The hours you put into this game are unmatched. Big applause, big boy

@AVC I'm always in absolute awe when you play. You're such a professional when it comes to creativity. Every time you built something in madinat I spent too much time admiring what you did and laughing at my attempts to imitate it - just to see you build over it later to make it better lol. I think with Stardust Jubilee you were able to form one project in the exact way you intended from the beginning (I take some credit for making you extend the size though ). I did not expect to be able to draft you but then Josh took hoob so you were there and I couldn't believe the luck we had. I hope we start some bad ass projects in future too.

@Sulakke, you were kind of a safe pick I would say, seasoned player, proved high quality before, and beat me last season! I wanted to work with you this season and I’m glad it worked out. Your contribution to Seven Arts was more than I could ask for but what I really hoped for. Thanks for that, man. With Alcatricks I think you could also bring one of your own ideas to fruition, which resulted in one of the most fun parks of this season in my opinion. And I made you an object maker!

@Kumba, you wanted to be captain and were declined, then you wanted to be vice-captain and I also declined that, I’m sorry for that. I appreciate all the advice you gave me personally, it was always nice to have a second or third view on things. I hope you didn’t take it the wrong way when I decided differently than you would have. One could also tell your H2H experience with constant feedback you gave on the other parks. With Papilio Valley I gave you the opportunity to lead a park in your vision. The duelers are one of my favourite coasters this season. The construction process was a bit difficult though, with sometimes the vision not being 100% clear. But that’s in the past now, I think we all can appreciate the final product now. Your help on VR was crucial, it came in a point when the park was not going at the right pace and you definitely helped to push it to the finish line. You're a great guy Darren, and I'm glad I picked you (even if your ego surely wasn't happy it was a R7 pick )

@wheres_walto, man. Absolute steal of the season. You’re like a swiss army knife. Even if you didn’t lead any park your contributions add up to a whole park this season. Wherever you built something it was some kind of mad genuity. You set a gold standard for signage, you embrace crunch like noone else, and you always came around with stylish solutions for supports (Gladsheim AND Stardust). Also super positive guy and with the most engaged wife there is in the RCT world haha. Say thank you to mrs walto, too, her park feedbacks were a treat to read. I hope you won’t disappear for another 6 years now. At least release that stadium first.

 

@Mulder, remember when you told me in the very first week you wanted to quit, being overwhelmed by those madmans Leon and AVC? I’m glad I could convince you to stick to it, so now you have a 3-0 credit. Sick, dude. I mean you didn’t do the largest portions on your parks, but what you did was stunning throughout. Can’t wait to see what you will come up, of course in CSO! Also thanks for becoming our palette guy and for venturing into object making, giving good support to me and BSG! Oh and of course for

 

@ZxBiohazardZx, as you have said in our team chat, real life issues didn’t make you live up to the expected floater workload. That’s totally ok, sometimes you can’t foresee such things. You helped where you could, and for that I’m grateful.

 

@RobDedede, our kid! I admit that I didn’t know you when drafting you and only did so on Leon’s urge. But I remember the gratitude and your happiness directly after drafting you. It showed me that you were full of motivation. I hope you learned a lot during this season. I can understand your frustration during some of the processes and I feel bad for not being able to solve it in some cases. I hope you appreciated with Point Nemo your chance of being able to lead and form your ideas into „your own“ park. Your hacks were crucial for all our parks and I was always happy when you could step in to make something work. You have a great RCT carreer in front of you!

 

@Tolsimir you’re such a mad man. I’m out.

where the other captains at?

i'll have more time after this week. you of all people know how busy I am haha. But I do have a writeup planned

I'm not surprised the other captains haven't made an appearance yet. When H2H ends, all responsibility flows away. This is the first time I managed to properly wrap up my story.

That said, I want to hear from some players too!

I had some words for my guys but kept it private. I might share it here or just some other thoughts in general, but the ones who need to know how grateful I am already know and I like the camaraderie in that.

I will say this for now: posix, CC9, and Liam...the constant work and effort you put into this contest was nothing short of extraordinary. I can't thank you enough for giving me a chance to be included as captain in what is maybe the best Head 2 Head yet. All on top of simply running the site in general, for that matter. Again, thank you for all that you do for us.

And to the other captains: well done, to ALL teams. And especially Tolsimir and Tile Inspectors. Incredible season and a well-deserved win. Sharing thoughts and banter with you guys in the Captains Lounge was some of the most fun I've had on Discord and you all did exceptional work both as captains and builders. I don't think the admin team could've picked a better bunch of guys. It's humbling to be included among you Liam, Tols, Josh, dirt, and ITM.

And as for me: again, I was just happy to get to captain this season. When I signed up for it I was serious but was fully expecting to get turned down which would've been fine for me. I always told myself that one day I would like to try it and the day came. And now, looking ahead, I may not get another chance. Starting a family will understandably put my RCT life on the back burner and that's fine; now I get to say I captained the best group of guys I could ask for as something of a "parting gift" to my RCT career, even if it's not really over. It's sentimental to me, at least. Much like my time here at NE over the almost *twenty* years. With that, I am looking forward to where I'll be in the next three years to see if maybe Logan's Run could make it's comeback or if I'll have to watch by sidelines. Either way, I couldn't be more excited.

Thanks again, everyone!

Really enjoying reading these thoughts, thanks for sharing guys. Being a captain cannot be easy, there's a reason why i've never tried to do it.

I did a lot of video reviews.  I like to think of it as a congratulations to a job well done from all builders on all the parks.  We put hours upon hours into these entries and I think each one is fully deserving of a nice review to pick out some of the finer details in each park.  I posted a link the respective topics, but if you want a quick reference guide, here's all the videos:

Round 1

Match 1: Logan’s Run “The Good Death” vs. Scream Queens “Drowned”

https://youtu.be/-c4dhHNSJ-0

Match 2: Cereal Killers “La Tomatina” vs. Manual Laborers “Gauntlegrym”

https://youtu.be/7_3k4ygkZxQ

Match 3: Tile Inspectors “Acqua Alta 1896” vs. Adventurers Club “Lost World”

https://youtu.be/pe2vNR_VlkY

Round 2

Match 1: Manual Laborers “Pirates” vs. Adventurers Club “El Dorado”

https://youtu.be/H9atD1LOemM

Match 2: Logan’s Run “Nippon Professional Baseball Championship Weekend at Tokyo Dome City” vs. Tile Inspectors “The Seven Liberal Arts”

The Seven Liberal Arts: https://youtu.be/Wed5A8BBvC8

Nippon Inside Look with Maverix: https://youtu.be/jcLQS7-WYBg

Match 3: Scream Queens “Esoterra” vs. Cereal Killers “A Day at the Races”

https://youtu.be/kOMbFXAb86c

Round 3

Match 1: Cereal Killers “Christchurch City Centre” vs. Logan’s Run “Lemuria”

https://youtu.be/11yavKLeyds

Match 2: Manual Laborers “Le Coeur du Ciel” vs. Tile Inspectors “Papillo Valley”

https://youtu.be/hflEVmlkNTg

Match 3: Scream Queens “Frontiers Keep” vs. Adventurers Club “Stardust Circuit”

https://youtu.be/IKeBWz3KbxU

Round 4

Match 1: Scream Queens “Yerka Daylight Time” vs. Tile Inspectors “Stardust Jubilee”

https://youtu.be/833qUeoooLw

Match 2: Cereal Killers “Uncanny Valley” vs. Adventurers Club “Croaked”

https://youtu.be/-mvsAkxEPD8

Match 3: Manual Laborers “The Diegetic Underground” vs. Logan’s Run “Logan’s Brewery”

https://youtu.be/tGoIIvaFvWs

Round 5

Match 1: Logan’s Run “Droomvlucht” vs. Scream Queens “Bellum Aeternus”

https://youtu.be/0hxalRJV9Yo

Match 2: Adventurers Club “Riverview Exposition” vs. Manual Laborers “Cosmic Infection”

https://youtu.be/LM92ZNhymZo

Match 3: Tile Inspectors “Villerouge sur Mer” vs. Cereal Killers “Extraction”

https://youtu.be/1NEmhE0SdL4

Round 6

Match 1: Tile Inspectors “X Games Alcatraz” vs. Adventurers Club “NE Workbench 2021”

https://youtu.be/19OAXNYClQU

Match 2: Manual Laborers “Wickerdale” vs. Scream Queens “The Architects”

https://youtu.be/3qjen0H8sa4

Match 3: Logan’s Run “Blue Pearl” vs. Cereal Killers “Gangland”

Blue Pearl Inside Look with Steve: https://youtu.be/AXPzaE-il_8

Gangland: https://youtu.be/Fz30r5bPa7E

Round 7

Match 1: Manual Laborers “Diablo de Malaga” vs. Tile Inspectors “Point Nemo”

https://youtu.be/yT7AxnR5yR4

Match 2: Scream Queens “Atama Yama” vs. Cereal Killers “Rajasthan”

https://youtu.be/Z3va7FxBMBg

Match 3: Logan’s Run “Highlands” vs. Adventurers Club “House by the Sea”

Highlands Inside Look with Zarathustra: https://youtu.be/xHJCSViKTfY

House by the Sea: https://youtu.be/o-LsLsgiWqU

Semifinals

Match 1: Tile Inspectors “Madinat Al-Hareer” vs. Logan’s Run “Frostgard”

Madinat Al-Hareer: https://youtu.be/NIwhkNQppfs

Frostgard Inside Look with Xtreme97: https://youtu.be/YOlVJxklBsw

Match 2: Cereal Killers “Happy Valley Hangzhou” vs. Adventurers Club “Florida Action Park”

Happy Valley Hangzhou: https://youtu.be/K_Vq_9CCEho

Florida Action Park Inside Look with In:Cities: https://youtu.be/h-TXYqTtggI

3^rd Place Match

Cereal Killers “Marmot Mountain” vs. Logan’s Run “Strawberry, West Elizabeth”

https://youtu.be/O8H3DZs3uvM

Finals

Tile Inspectors “Gladsheim” vs. Adventurers Club “Adventurers Club”

Adventurers Club: https://youtu.be/9vyufVfySp8

Gladsheim: https://youtu.be/5n5WuOeJfl0

Amazing CP6! Thanks for all your hard work on these reviews too!

Loved these reviews, was really fun to hear your thoughts and pick up details that might have been missed. Also glad to be a part of the Semis review!

I thought it would be fun to maybe share some thoughts on what I thought of the teams overall and the strategies seen during this H2H.

Let's start with the winners and west division:

Tile Inspectors
For me (and I think for many others) the Tile Inspectors were the clear favourites for this contest. I think their win was well deserved because looking at all the parks they brought out this season the quality was just consistently very high, much higher than any of the other teams imo. Even their "worst" park would still be a middle tier park in another teams line-up. What I also find fun to see is that this consistency really paid off as the season progressed. At the beginning of the season TI's were even struggeling after losing r2 and r3 (also for the record, Papilio Valley is criminally underrated) but because they consistently just kept making good parks they were able to turn things around. They didn't really get lucky anywhere but just turned things into their own favour with sheer overwhelming force. So hats of to them.

Adventurers Club
This team was a bit of a question mark for me at the start of the contest. Josh gave a lot of newcomers a chance and this was a risky strategy. I thought this was either gonna end up like the icons team from H2H8 or this team would just barely get along with the rest of the teams. However, after Lost World and El Diablo I realised that you guys were a formidabble force to be reckoned with and you guys even became one of my favourite teams to watch out for. All the in progress pictures and sketches you guys showed on discord were really cool to see and it seems like you guys really had a good process for coming up with your park ideas. The only downside being that you guys made most of your parks really last minute which resulted in two unfinished parks which was really unfortunate. Not only because it resulted in unfinished parks, but also because it was quite a disadvantage for us in our division. Overall, AC just played the system really well imo. For the matches they absolutely had to win they came out with blow out parks and they took that W home. I don't think this was intentional, but it did work out well for them.

Manual Labourers
Manual Labourers is an interesting team, just judging from the line up I thought this was a pretty good team and a force to be reckoned with instantly. However it seemed like they were struggeling a bit with man power issues combined with getting a couple of unlucky match-ups. It also did not help that they were in the West division, which IMO was the harder division of the contest which is also evident from both of the finalists coming from this division. Looking at the manpower issues, they had Gauntlegrym which seemed to have been slightly unfinished, then they have cosmic infecton which was almost a solo and lastly they had Diablo which was a relatively last minute park. Having said that, I do feel like many of their parks are also somewhat underrated. Gauntlegrym, although being slightly unfinished, was very enjoyable to me. Cosmic infection barely scoring a gold is a crime against the humanity in my eyes. Pirates! is a park that is a tad underrated imo and is also a park that got super unlucky in its match up against El Diablo. I think in many many match-ups Pirates! would have been a winning park. I also like that ML took the risk of trying a DKMP style semi-NCSO park in this season and it ended up against our NCSO park, what a coincidence. It was a shame it did not work out for them but the fact that this happened in the first place is just really cool to me. Although many of the ML parks ended up scoring somehwat lower, ML did produce one of the best parks of the season with Le Coeur. Unfortunately however, even with the quality of Le Coeur this was not enough to beat the many high quality parks from the other two teams in the west division.

Moving on to the East division:

Cereal Killers
The Cereal Killers... What can I say about this team? When I first saw this team I thought Liam's excel had crashed. The team just seemed incredibly incohesive and this was not something that only I had noticed judging from the pre-match poll/topic. Nevertheless, to the surprise of nearly everyone the Cereal Killers did put up a good fight and easily finished first place in the East division and even managed to snatch up the third place medal. I do think the way the Cereal Killers got to this third place spot is incredibly interesting though (and not in a negative way), as to me their path just doesn't make any sense. It was a bit of luck combined with skill. Personally, I thought the parks from the Cereal Killers were somewhat inconsistent, with them either being extremely good, or somewhat more on the weaker side (compared to other parks this H2H, obviously even their weaker parks were still really good). What I find really interesting is that most of their matches won were won by their somewhat weaker parks. Two of their stronger parks, Christchurch City Center and Happy Valley, both lost their match ups. Cereal Killers were also the team that managed the only upset of the season (winning with a park that scored lower than its losing opponent). Having said that, it may come across like Cereal Killers just got lucky, but this is absolutely not the case as was showcased by their last two Round Robin parks: Gangland and Rajasthan, two top tier parks which both led to decisive Cereal Killer victories. As much as I don't understand the strategy of the Cereal Killers, it clearly worked well. The only mistake I think they made was with Rajasthan, I think they should have saved this park for the semi-finals. This may sound a bit like wishful thinking from our side as it was the park that knocked us out, but I do think that had Rajasthan been released in the semi's Cereal Killers would have made the finals. It was a tactical error that cost Cereal Killers the finals imo.

Logan's Run
Logan's Run also had an interesting journey this season. I think their pre mid season break park line up was one of the strongest of all teams and yet they only ended up with 2 wins by the end of it. They certainly got somewhat unlucky. After the mid season break they seemed to struggle a bit with manpower and the quality dropped a bit although it was still relatively high. In the end it was enough to push themselves to the semi's although it was close with our team to the very last minute. In the end I think Logan's runs placement in the semi's was well deserved though, as overall their parks were really good. One of their sleeper parks imo is Logan's Brewery, this park is super underrated imo and although it barely lost its match-up, I feel like many people regretted their vote later on. The fact that this park didn't score above 80% is also something that puzzles me. Logan's Run ended up in the 4th place spot, which was well deserved and a testament to their great work. What I also liked was that Logan's Runs parks were easy to reference for me in Atama Yama . While making that park I went through all the previous parks to think of references and the Logan's Runs park were the easiest for me with a reference being made to The Good Death, Lemuria, Logan's Brewery and Blue Pearl. I also had references planned to Nippon and Droomvlucht but unfortunately I ran out of time to implement these.  

Scream Queen's
This was ofcourse my team and even though we did not make it to the semi's I am still really proud of our team and I had a lot of fun. If I had to reflect on our team and why we didn't make it to the play-offs I think our team had a couple of issues which were the following:

I think while all of the parks from our team where really good, we did not really have any amazing stand-out parks when compared to other teams. Our team was incredibily consistent in the sense that we produced good middle tier parks and you can see that in the scores for our teams parks. They all scored in the mid tier gold range (around 75%). The only exception to this is Esoterra, but lets get real here Esoterra got done the dirty and I have no clue how it ended up with the score it got. Another issue that we had was that in the beginning of the contest we did not really consider strategy that much. We had a some of our riskier parks planned for in-division matches which ofcourse count more heavily (Esoterra comes to mind, and originally we also had a different more risky park scheduled for R7). I think in the end this bit us a bit in the back. There had been talks of switching Frontier Keep and Esoterra around for example and if we had done that I think there would have been a good chance we could have won R2. In part this was also driven a bit by manpower issues within our team, this also becomes painfully obvious when looking at our R4-R7 parks, which are all near solo's. It is interesting to see that when you look at our top contributers in the winners announcement topic you can see that our top 3 contributers have similar %-shares as the top 3 contributers in the top 3 winning teams despite these teams having played 2 more match ups. I think in the end 7 matches in the RR was too much for our team. Another factor that hindered our team somewhat was that our certainly did not play to the meta of the contest and we kind of did our own thing. We very much restrained from gimmicks and making things have a "wow"-factor in favour of creating parks which either had a strong narrative/concept or a strong focus on park making itself. I honestly loved this about our team and I think the parks we produced all have a very unique character and are super cool, but it certainly wasn't the best way to get votes. Lastly, I also think our team also got a little bit unlucky; we were the only team to lose with an upset (Esoterra vs A day at the races), our strongest park went up against a park which (unintentionally) broke the rules and which got penalised very lightly. Even without a harsh penalty it was one of the strongest parks in the season, which is also quite unlucky for us in itself. But most unlucky for us was probably that both of the other teams in our division went up against an unfinished park from AC giving them both a free win while we had to go up against the behemoth that was Stardust Circuit. This meant that not only we got an extra loss, we also had to get an additional win just to tie with the other two teams in our division. With all teams being so close this season, this was a hurdle that simply could not be expected to be overcome. In the end we still managed to get close but it simply was not enough. However, I don't think this was necessarily that much of a bad thing; our semi-finals park was nowhere near finished and as I had said before we were struggeling with manpower, so it seems unlikely that we would have been able to either win or submit a park for the semi-finals anyways. Most of us felt sigh of relief when we got knocked out as we could now relax and enjoy the last couple of matches. I am still incredibly proud of the parks we where able to put out and as I said I had so much fun in this team.I feel like I made a bunch of new friends.


The unlucky bit I was talking about in our own teams section does highlight a bit of an issue with the division system imo and that is the only critique I would have on the contest. Because you are basically only competing with teams in your own division, you can get screwed over really easily by an out of division team. There is very little incentive to win out of division matches unless you are a team that is down on points. If your team is doing reasonably fine there is literally almost no incentive to focus on the out of division match ups near and after the mid season break. You can see this with AC, even with submitting an unfinished park for two out of division match ups, they were able to easily get through to the semi's and even snatched up the second place. This is not so much a critique on the AC, it is more just a critique on the system overall as I think the division system causes this by its very nature. The division system can also screw you over pretty badly if you get paired up with the two strongest teams, this for example happened for Manual Labourers. I could see them having done much better had they been in the East division or if there were no divisions at all. I get why the division system was implemented, it does make sense, but I think it just did not work out that well in the end because it really caused there to be less competition between teams.

Having said that I still had a great time this H2H and think that overall this H2H was just insane. I loved seeing all the parks everyone came up with and I think everyone that contributed can be very proud of what they achieved, regardless of how far their teams got.

Lovely write-up, Rec. I agree with nearly everything you said!
 

The only mistake I think they made was with Rajasthan, I think they should have saved this park for the semi-finals. This may sound a bit like wishful thinking from our side as it was the park that knocked us out, but I do think that had Rajasthan been released in the semi's Cereal Killers would have made the finals. It was a tactical error that cost Cereal Killers the finals imo.

 
Not sure if we ever publicly commented on our strategy - I'm still planning on doing a complete behind the scenes post for Rajasthan.
 
We were fully aware that we could've used Rajasthan for the semis, in another Colorflood/Seven Wonders/Metropolis move as is tradition for my teams. I think we discussed this strategy even before Gangland was submitted. There were a few arguments to be made. First of all, we still had to use both ultro and Andrew, so they'd had to be on the new R7 park. Ultro would then need to be taken out of Rajasthan. No big deal, but not very nice on a personal level. Secondly, we wanted to shake the 'lucky' image and end Round Robin with two of our strongest parks. We needed Rajasthan to ensure that our place in the semis would feel earned. There's also a fair play component to it... Instead of scheming and plotting too much, we just wanted to put out seven nice parks. Withholding a park because it's too nice, and consciously submitting something mediocre is not great sportsmanship I think. It's not bad, just not great. Lastly, there's a trolley problem here. Scream Queens were on their way out. Giving them a park they can easily beat will help them, and will actively hurt Logan's Run. One team is on their way out anyway, but if we did this, we would eliminate Logan's Run by choice.
 

 
Sucks for SQ, but we found this strategy to be more fair, and I don't regret it at all. We built nine parks and that's all I wanted!
 

The unlucky bit I was talking about in our own teams section does highlight a bit of an issue with the division system imo and that is the only critique I would have on the contest. Because you are basically only competing with teams in your own division, you can get screwed over really easily by an out of division team.

Not to defend the new system, because it obviously has its pros and cons. I don't agree entirely here. I think the division system kept things suspenseful until the last round, although there's also an element of chance here. It's quite amazing that the entire RR wasn't settled yet after six rounds. Anyway, your point is that it can screw over teams. This is not exclusive to the division format... I recall actual screwing over happening in R5 of H2H8, where the outcome of a match in R5 determined the fate of the Ultrarealists in another match. That's a property of any round robin format.

Lastly, there's a trolley problem here. Scream Queens were on their way out. Giving them a park they can easily beat will help them, and will actively hurt Logan's Run. One team is on their way out anyway, but if we did this, we would eliminate Logan's Run by choice.
 
Sucks for SQ, but we found this strategy to be more fair, and I don't regret it at all. We built nine parks and that's all I wanted!

I don't think SQ's was on their way out that much considering we had won the last two match ups and Logan's Run had lost the last two match ups, so if anything the roles were reversed. But overall I do agree with your point. What you guys did was certainly the most sportmanship and fair thing to do so I have no issues with it. I think it is completely understandable. I was only pointing out that from a strategic perspective it probably would have helped your team out more if you had done it the other way around. Having said that, props to your team for choosing fair play over winning, I think that is admirable.

Not to defend the new system, because it obviously has its pros and cons. I don't agree entirely here. I think the division system kept things suspenseful until the last round, although there's also an element of chance here. It's quite amazing that the entire RR wasn't settled yet after six rounds. Anyway, your point is that it can screw over teams. This is not exclusive to the division format... I recall actual screwing over happening in R5 of H2H8, where the outcome of a match in R5 determined the fate of the Ultrarealists in another match. That's a property of any round robin format.

I see your point, but my main point which I think is problematic with the division system is that not every match has the same weight and that you do not play every team the same amount of times. In a normal round robin system every team plays every other team the same amount of times and because of this every match has the exact same weight attached to it (atleast in theory). I think this is overall a bit more fair as everyone is competing with everyone else. However I do see that there are pro's and con's to both systems and it really depends on how matches actually play out. I just feel like the traditional round robin format is somewhat more fair as your teams fate is much less dependent on the initial "lottery" which determines the other teams in your division.

Alright, it's about time for my commentary. Apologies - these last few months have been exceptionally busy for me, and it's been hard to find the time to dedicate.

That said, H2H was a great experience all around. I've always enjoyed the contest, and this year was no exception. Sure - there were stressful moments and tight deadlines. But in the end, it's always been more about the friendships built than the parks for me. I mean, I still chat regularly with my Strangelove boys from last H2H (despite drafting none of them. Sorry guys, wasn't intentional).

Speaking of drafting: I know that I chose a somewhat "risky" team. New, untested players. Some players with previous H2H history that wasn't so glamorous. Some with a penchant for the "dramatic". But in reality, I drafted the team I wanted to draft. I wanted to prove people wrong and go for the unconventional. Yes, there are many players that I would have loved to have on the team. But I wanted to take a risk and build a team of players that I felt would truly shine and grow together. And despite some hardships along the way, I feel that we were able to accomplish that. Together.

After these last few months, I'm thankful and happy to call these guys friends. We accomplished a lot together boys, and I'm proud of you all.

Hydro/ Elliott

Man, I was so worried I wasn't going to be able to draft you because I ended up having last pick in the draft. You were always my number 1 choice, and you would have been my first pick even if I didn't draft last. I knew we'd work really well together on a team, and thankfully I was right. Your enthusiasm and relentless building was unparalleled - it was hard to get you to only build 3 parks. That said, moving Lost World up to R1 was the start of all of your all-nighters, so I'm glad I was able to buy you a beer in Chicago to make up for it. Honestly though, I think that the best thing about H2H being over is that I don't get any more 5am messages from you asking me to make you a new crown moulding object or whatever random scenery piece you need. 

hoobaroo / Will

Drafting you so early was definitely a risk in some people's eyes, but I stand by it. My 1 and 2 picks are relative newcomers and I'm here for it. I was excited that you brought so many ideas to the table right off the bat. I knew that I wanted to make them happen - just had to make sure you were paired with the right builders in order to do so. I'm sorry I wasn't able to make it happen exactly the way we'd hope, but I tried my best. Stardust Circuit was a dream, and I'm glad I was able to step in and work on it with you and Trevor. House by the Sea was your baby from day 1, and I'm sorry that it wasn't able to get fleshed out to the level that we wanted it to be. Maybe H2H is a bit too limiting for your wonderful ideas, and there's nothing wrong with that. I hope that you continue to stick around and create beautiful works of art, because you truly brought an artistry to the team that nobody else was able to match.

Lew

Lol you were SO hyped up for H2H, I knew I had to draft you. I mean come on, a motivated Louis is a force to be reckoned with in this contest. Unfortunately with you getting your promotion at work, we saw very little of you. No hard feelings of course - I still managed to sneak you onto 3 parks haha. Regardless of the limited time you had, it was great to have you around for support and overall sarcastic banter. I'm glad I got to know you better throughout these last few months, it was a pleasure.

][ntamin / Matt

You were on my shortlist for sleeper pick, so I knew I had to try and steal you early. Ex-reigning H2H champion over here. Honestly though, I had such a great time building our Croatia GT entry together, I knew that I wanted you on the team. Despite Frogland not quite coming together the way we hoped, having your presence on the team was great and valued. Thank you for all of your sketches and ideas and input on all of the parks. It really helped elevate our work to another level.

raunchy / Brandon

I don't know how many people I've told that you're secretly the best rct player I've ever seen. And its true dude - you're a monster at this game. I have a ton on my plate in regards to work and school, and somehow you're busier than I am. I don't know how you were able to contribute as much as you did while working so many doubles, but man I'm glad you were on the squad with us. It was a blast hanging out in Chicago - Tiffany still asks about how you're doing, so we'll have to come up to Minneapolis one of these weekends for another getaway haha. Our parks wouldn't have came together the way they did without your hacking wizardry and help, so thank you for being an awesome team player from the start.

barnid / Daylan

Another new guy that I wanted to steal fairly early before anyone else got their paws on you. I loved your enthusiasm and work ethic - in the first half of the contest lol. But seriously man, real life is priority and I fully understand that we all have things going on. I'm glad you were able to put out Dorado with scoop in R2 - thats still one of my favorite parks of the contest and you guys murdered it. I still wish that you were able to be around a bit more for other rounds, but I can't hold that against you. You're one of the boys and we all loved having you on the squad. I hope you stick around and continue to make awesome parks for us all to enjoy!

Fred

The handsomest guy on the team without a doubt. I knew from the start that I wanted to push you a bit outside of your comfort zone, and FROGSHREKPARK was definitely way outside of it haha. I was excited that you wanted to work on that park with Matt. No it's not your fault that the blacktiling wasn't finished, or that we hit the object limit. We all didn't catch it and didn't manage our time the best - so you couldn't blame yourself for it! I wish that I was able to get you on another map, but sadly it didn't pan out. But its's okay because you're working on that awesome park with the Atlantis area and you're going to get a spotlight and eat frites. One of these days I'll buy you a nice cold fristi.

swagtitties / Taylor

Honestly I drafted you because of your username. But for real - I wish that we could have had you stick around with us. I know that you felt a bit uncomfortable from the start due to your build style and ncso preference, but I really wanted to lean into that and play to our strengths. Ultimately your work schedule got the best of you, but I appreciate that you still supported the boys throughout the contest. It still felt like you were a member of the squad, and I'm glad that I drafted you. Most especially because you convinced me to draft the Canadian Dad of Legend.

Iretont / Trevor

Speak of the devil. We truly got lucky having you on the team haha. Simply for the fact that you were able to somehow learn how to make CTRs on like day 2 of the contest. I was surprised, you were surprised - we all were surprised lol. But man, getting to know you throughout these last few months was an absolute pleasure. It was nice having a calm, measured, father figure on the team. Stardust Circuit was incredibly stressful, and I'm glad that it didn't break your spirit early on. You were such an integral part of our team throughout the entire contest, and I applaud you for your patience with everyone asking you for the most random CTRs each round.

Scoop / Jon

Big booooy. Man I feel stupid drafting you so late. Underrated af. Opinionated af. You were the soul of the team and were such a driving force behind the parks. We can all agree that you punched way above your "draft number weight class" and pulled so much weight. Dorado was such a breakthrough for you, and you deserve all the praise given for that map. And Riverview. And finals. Yes, I had to reign you in a bit. Those stupid eye rolls. But man I'm glad I got to get to know you more over these last few months. You're a good dude and a good friend. I hope you continue to produce great work and snag a green or red name soon enough. 

V1 - Stephen

I wanted to take a chance on you, so I was pretty sad to see you drop out of the contest. I loved how motivated you were at the very start, which is why I picked you up. I'm sorry we didn't use your park ideas. No hard feelings of course - maybe H2H isn't for you, and thats perfectly okay. I hope you stick around man and continue to build cool stuff.

Hex / Tim

Fred 2. You were another absolute steal of the draft for me. So glad I could pick you up. Last round pick building and supporting one of the best coasters of the contest? Come on. Loved your enthusiasm throughout the contest, despite your own (unwarranted) lack of confidence in your abilities. Dude you're great at this game, and are a great friend and teammate. Definitely not worthy of a last round pick by any means. Love you big Tim.

Otsdarva / Adrian

I got incredibly lucky to pick you up as a replacement. You've always kind of flown under the radar a bit, so to be able to see you contribute so much to the team was incredible. Your absolute expertise when it came to hacking and overall wizardry brought so much to the table - let alone your relentless motivation to build. Much like Hydro, it was tough to only be able to restrict you to 3 parks! I know if you had your way, you would have happily built on every park you could have haha. Thank you for joining the team and pulling an incredible amount of weight - it was an absolute pleasure to get to know you. 

Sens / Max

Man it's impossible not to love Max. Dude i'm so glad I was able to snag you as a replacement. And super glad that you were able to pull more than your weight as a floater. I remember picking you up as a replacement on the day before Round 1 was due, and you hopped into the MP server and helped us bring that park to completion. Unsung hero no doubt. Your presence on the AC discord is genuinely great, and I'm thankful that you joined the AC boys.

Our parks always seemed to come down to the final minutes of the deadlines, which drove me absolutely crazy. I'm not sure why we were so bad at time management, but I'm proud of what we were able to accomplish.

1 - Lost World

This was supposed to be our round 3 park led by me. Potential builders were barNID and Hex. Hydro got pretty hyped up on the concept and did a test of the skull cave - which basically cemented him as a builder on the map. We were running into a lot of issues with our original R1 park, so I made the call to swap it with this one - despite the fact that I was traveling out of state for a video production in the week before the deadline, so I was unfortunately unable to build much until the night before and morning of. Thankfully for this map, I had a lot of sketches, reference images and planning gathered - so the construction went quickly. Hex did an incredible job on the coaster layout and supports. Hydro did the bulk of the village. Going up against Aqcua Alta was very humbling, and none of us felt truly upset about the loss - they had a well deserved win!

2 - El Dorado

This map was supposed to be Lew's map. We struggled a lot to figure out the initial concept. One of the ideas I pitched was an El Dorado concept - actually very similar to what they did in Pirates!. There were a ton of suggestions, sketches, arguments, test builds, etc before we finally solidified the park direction. Scoop stepped up BIG time to provide much of the planning and building. It became pretty clear early on that Lew wasn't going to have much time to contribute on this, so barNID and Scoop stepped up to the plate and knocked it out of the park. Sens came in and built a ton as a floater and truly added an extra layer of finesse and detail that really helped to make this park feel fully fleshed out and polished. Very proud of this map and the builders who worked on it.

3 - Stardust Circuit

I think this map was by far our most stressful build. Poor Iretont - I'm surprised he didn't throw his hands up and walk away from the team with all of the work we put him through haha. The scenery manager was both a blessing and a curse for us, as we kept accidentally copying and pasting and deleting vital track pieces that were painstakingly perfectly aligned and timed. Hoobaroo had such a beautiful and clear vision for this park, and I knew we had to make it come to fruition. I had initially pitched a Monaco / European Coastal Grand Prix race map (would have been like if Villerouge and Stardust Circuit had a weird baby) - but Hoob's idea was SO much cooler. He did so much legwork in gathering reference images and notes. The man wrote a whole novel haha. Scoop was initially the third builder on this, but ultimately wasn't feeling as comfortable with the concept and decided that he'd be much better suited for Dorado - which was definitely the right call! I decided to step in fairly late in the process in order to essentially act as a "workhorse" for Hoobaroo and help get a large bulk of the construction out of the way. This theme was an absolute blast to flesh out and I really wish that we had more time to develop it even further. This park was truly a collaborative effort, as neither one of us could have achieved it on our own, but it all came together so seamlessly in the end.

4 - Croaked!

I knew going into this season that I had to give ][ntamin a map to just do whatever the heck he wanted - regardless of how weird or unconventional it may be. I absolutely loved this concept from the moment he pitched it. Fred surprisingly was super excited about it as well, so the two of them set off to make it happen together. We struggled a bit to get a third builder locked in. I tried to get Swagtitties to "hop" on this map, but he was traveling for work at the time and ultimately decided to step away from the contest. We were able to get Otsdarva on the map - which was absolutely the right call. Unfortunately just a little too late. I wish we could have managed our time and objects better, but it is what it is. I'm still incredibly proud of this map, and I think it offers one of the coolest aerials of the contest. 

5 - Riverview Exposition

So this park was supposed to be Action Park, by Hydro, Barn, and Raunchy. They were super stoked on the concept from day 1. Raunchy even signed up for an HBO Max account so they could have a movie night together on VC and watch the Action Park documentary together lol. With Barn being so heavily involved in Round 2, Brandon working nonstop double shifts, they decided to change things up. Scoop was itching to build again after Dorado, so he and Hydro discussed switching to a Luna Park After Dark type concept. I was definitely hesitant and a little annoyed by it, as the switch was coming fairly late and I really was dead set on the Action Park concept. I thought about it a little bit and decided that I personally was the one who was most excited about Action Park, so I'd give them this round to build whatever they wanted and I'd take AP for myself in Semis. I'm really glad it worked out the way it did - these nerds built the best park of the contest haha. This map came together incredibly smooth, and the boys did such a great job working as a team to get it done. Hydro was such a monster and really shone on this map. Of course - its Chicago and architecture. But Scoop really is an unsung hero on this map in my opinion. He built SO much and brought a ton of great ideas to the table. Peak Adventurers Club.

6 - NE Workbench 2021

Okay so this map went through all sorts of changes. We initially had House by the Sea here, as Hoobaroo wanted to face Tolsimir. That didn't pan out, so we had to swap it with Round 7 (this map). Only problem was that we didn't necessarily have another map ready to go. It was initially supposed to be led by Scoop, featuring Hex and Iretont. With Scoop being on Round 5, I decided it would be best to pull him from R7 and put him on Finals with Hydro. Lew just so happened to have a week or so off of work, so he was the best choice to lead a map at this stage. After going through multiple ideas and concepts, we decided to go with something decidedly simple and straightforward to complete. Lew ended up making a Medusa recreation one afternoon as a backup, so we decided to incorporate it into the map and portray it as a scale model coaster. We were going to shoestring it so that it completed the circuit super fast like. model, but ran out of time. This map was basically built in a weeks time - Lew worked nonstop, Hex did an incredible job on a lot of the small models, Otsdarva built like a madman, and Sens added tons of cool little stuff (the Cedarpoint skyline? insane). Obviously we didn't win the match, but this was still a really fun park that tied a lot of our previous and upcoming parks together. We had full plans to build a workshop room in the Adventurers Club mansion in our finals map, featuring this desk lol

7 - House by the Sea

From the moment that Hoobaroo pitched this concept, I was all in. I knew that it wasn't conventional. I knew that it would either be received very well, or horribly. Polarizing. Risky. Artistic. Beautiful. Unique. I'm all for it. Unfortunately it just wasn't able to come together the way we hoped it would. Hoobaroo worked tirelessly on it, and Otsdarva truly was an outstanding support. But we were never able to lock in our third builder. It's a tricky concept that wasn't exactly accessible for anybody to just hop in and build. It was a very subtle, specific, surreal theme and I knew that the utmost care had to be taken for it to be able to work. I do believe that if we had an extra week or so to work on it, we would have been able to get it finished. Shame, because it's RCT art at its finest. I hope that someday they can revisit it - i'll fully support it with whatever objects and palette adjustments and whatever they need.

Semis - Florida Action Park

As stated above, this map was supposed to be in round 5 with the RaunchyHydroBarn trio taking the lead. We had several ideas for our semis park, but once I realized that I'd be the one to take over the Action Park concept, I knew that I wanted it for semis. We needed the extra map space and extra time, and screw it - i'm the captain. I at least get one for myself. Especially after sacrificing much of Lost World to Hydro haha. I thought it was best suited for an alternate location, as I figured an outright recreation of the old park in New Jersey would be too limiting. Florida was the perfect location. Not only did it give us the freedom of writing our own story and ride lineup, but its a source material that I am obviously very familiar with. After spending some time on Google Earth, I happened to find the old Wild Waters Waterpark at Silver Springs in Ocala (maybe an hour or so from my house). The old park and the surrounding area were exactly what I wanted to go for, so it served as a great source of inspiration when it came to planning the map. Lew was supposed to be my equal partner on this map, but unfortunately he only had the time to contribute a layout. I had no clue what I was doing when supporting it, but I guess it goes with the "Florida Man tries to build a theme park" theme. The true hero of this park was Raunchy - as without him this park wouldn't have nearly been as fun in the end. Like I said, that boy is secretly the best player I've seen in the game. I'm very proud of how it came together, and was a fun capstone project for me this season, as it gave me an excuse to build gritty realism in stark contrast with the shiny future artsy style of Stardust and the fantasy landscaping of Lost World.

Finals - Adventurers Club

This park was part of my day 1 pitch to the team. "Welcome Adventurers, to the fabled grounds of our clubs namesake. Curated over the centuries by legendary adventurers and explorers alike - this sprawling estate is home to some of the wildest and most impressive collections the world (universe) has ever known. Rides, specimens, creatures, vehicles; you name it." Hydro was really stoked about this concept, because it was going to simply be a huge showcase of architectural dick-swinging. We wanted to go for an older grand ornate English Style estate, but with some interesting Frank Lloyd Wright influence. There were SO many ideas for this map that just did not make it in. Scoop was really the only other builder who was available to build on this alongside Hydro. Raunchy and Hex and Iretont were able to do a decent amount, but not nearly as much as they wanted. Truthfully we kind of limped into the finals. We were all so busy IRL, and contest motivation was hitting hard. Regardless, the boys pulled off an incredible map in the end. Yes, it wasn't quite as finished or polished as we'd hoped it would be, but the fact that it got to the place it was is a massive feat on it's own. Truly thankful to my boys for carrying us to the end when I wasn't able to be around much. AC squad rise up.

Here are some Adventurers Club park concepts that just didn't quite make it for various reasons. I guarantee i'm missing some haha.

Fountain of Youth

Center of the map is a huge landform with psychedelic fountains and water. Overgrown jungle surrounds it. There's pirates. This map ended up slowly transforming into El Dorado. Really funny that Pirates! ended up being so similar.

Space Pirates

Scoop was dead set on this for round 7. Crazy landscaping. Steampunk/Treasure Planet style ships. Floating islands. etc. 

Pirates vs. Dragons

Idk why we kept suggesting pirate stuff. But we were going to combine Space Pirates with the Fountain of Youth concept and have a bunch of huge dragons guarding the fountain of youth and the pirates laying siege to it. Obviously didnt happen lol.

Future Africa Kaiju Battle

The Pirates vs. Dragons map evolved into this concept, which didn't last long. They wanted to do a futuristic African city being attacked by Kaiju and defended by giant mechs (gundam). Could have been really cool and offered some wild CTR / Timing/Audio opportunities. I wanted to make the soundtrack death metal. Ultimately I decided that having Scoop and Hex and a Canadian build an African map was just not the move lol

Land World

For round 7, Lew and ][ntamin were going to pair up and build a full realistic recreation of Manta at Sea World Orlando. But we were going to have it set in an alternate reality where animals took over the park operations. Humans in the touch tanks and aquariums. Dolphins and flamingos running the show. Manta would have its name changed to Man (Ta would have been by the park entrance, visible as you exit. British humor). It was going to be a standup coaster with flamingos riding it. As opposed to humans trying to fly like birds, they were going to stand like humans. Ultimately we didn't get very far on this. Got some planning done, but nobody built anything, so Lew just ended up doing a Medusa rec and the Workbench was born instead lol.

ImaginationLand

Lew and Barn were going to develop a park concept as seen through the eyes of a child. Super exaggerated themes, fantasy elements. Everything seen from a kid's perspective. Lots of opportunity for clever jokes. Loved the idea, but we couldn't agree on a way for it to work.

Luxor

This was going to be our semis park. Myself, Lew, and Fred. Based on the ancient lost city in Egypt. Was going to have some massively imposing temples, lush foliage, lots of mythological creatures and gods, and tons of coasters. Would have been a good Liam park haha. Just didn't come to fruition with all of the shuffling around we did.

Mars

Fred proposed a mars base park. Elon-ville. Heavily considered moving forward with it!

City of Sin

Would have been kind of similar to gangland. More of a noire vibe. Limited color palette - greyscale with red.

Hell

Exactly like it sounds. But a waterpark. No water. Lava. Peeps would have been solid black color (demons). I wanted to build this one so bad lol

I'm sure theres even more I'm missing, but this is all I can think of.

Jesus Christ thats a lot of typing. But it's long overdue.

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to captain - I'm very appreciative of my time spent with you guys. You all made it worthwhile.

Josh

You and the Adventurer's Club were the people's champs, even if the Tile Inspectors looked unshakable from the beginning. You turned the club into a family, and I don't think any other team has been able to do that to the extent you did. The behind the scenes looks and scrapped ideas were a joy to read, and I'd love to know what ideas the other teams had cooking. I said it in the Discord but I said it again; if I were on your team, I would have been the third builder for House in a heartbeat. One of my favorite concepts from H2H9 by far and one I dearly wish were finished.

Might as well add my own endnotes while I'm here. To say this contest was incredible was an understatement. While I did sign up, I didn't have a great portfolio behind my name and many stronger and more deserving players were recruited instead. (I still think Lotte got robbed even if she eventually became a replacement.) However, spectating it was just as much of a blast. I loosely followed H2H7 when I was active in r/rct and left a few reviews during H2H8, but watching the boundaries of ORCT2 get completely shattered during H2H9 was unlike anything else. I remember constantly refreshing the site to see who had a hand in parks like Tokyo Dome, Riverview, and Stardust Jubilee.

What honestly shocked me, however, was seeing the rest of NE start to look up to me as a positive influence just through the reviews I left. Don't take this as me being cocky; literally all I did was give honest reviews. I didn't even build anything, and I'm no CP6 either. However, seeing all these names I envied and revered suddenly all agreeing that Gustav Goblin guy is actually pretty cool made me want to be part of NE more than ever. I want to be part of a H2H10 team. I want to redeem myself in the next Micro Madness. I want to be more active in this community than ever before. Long story short, H2H9 has made me more invested in RCT2 than I've been since elementary school, when I lived and breathed the game. That is saying a lot, and I can't wait to show you all what I have in store. See me tearing up the next Micro Madness.