(Archive) Advertising District / South Beach Amusement Park

no matter what it is B-E-A-UTIFUL

it looks so different, from the beach boardwalk vibe you've been giving in your other screens

I quite admire your architecture but I agree with ToonTowner that the landscaping in that last picture looks too lazy. You're putting such detail into the buildings and that makes it even more disappointing to see randomly raides blocks passing for theming. If you could keep up the same standard of realism with the landscaping that you established with the architecture, you'd really have something great. Landscaping is very important to the overall look of a park. That last screen just doesn't measure up to the very high standard you've set for yourself. I think you can do better.

I don't know exactly how to explain, but I'm sure some of the rock gurus out there could do a better job.

I wish one of them would. Thanks for the feed back everyone. I usually get that it's too flat, not enough landscaping or too many trees.
I personally don't like it either, I was just trying to do something different. I'm really kind of stuck on what to do for the landscaping in the off the midway areas. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks

Rog

Since I really love your first screens I'll try my best to help you out. It's difficult to explain landscaping because so much of it is just intuitive. I try not to think too much when I'm doing landscaping because often what comes naturally is best and it only gets worse once I second guess myself. It took a lot of practice to get to that point though.

The first thing to recognize is that landscaping should look like something just as buildings should. If you don't use rocks right, the landscaping will look wrong. Pillars of land with trees on top look wrong. Chaotic mixtures of textures also look wrong. I know it's a real pain in the ass but try to create hills without resorting to the rocky look. The real secret to good rocks is mixing jagged edges with smooth edges in the right way. It's much easier to go astray when overusing rocks though so it might be better to try making your landscape without any jagged edges. You still want hills and valleys, just take some extra time to line up the edges. Use the mountain tool very sparingly. Land always looks best when you tweak it one corner at a time.

The second thing to recognize is that less is almost always better. Take out everything that isn't needed. If you ever get into a mode where you are simply filling an area with trees you should stop and think about the look you want to achieve. Try to use only a few types of trees and be consistent with them.

Lastly and most importantly, theme is the only universal value. Even if your theme is traditional you should think about what belongs in that type of area. Unless you are really going for pure realism, it's generally a bad idea to theme a coaster only with trees. Have it interact with some buildings or the walkways. Give the ride some kind of theming centerpiece and at least two little scenes of some sort along the way. This isn't a general rule to always be followed, just a suggestion for making your ride theming more interesting. My favorite rides almost always have a lot of interactions with the landscaping or buildings.

Thanks Ed, it's much appreciated. I'm going to be honest here. When one pearson posts a screen of a rocky area and everybody says it looks great. Then someone else posts a screen of a rocky area and everybody says it's terrible. I look at the two areas and I can't tell the differance. So I guess I should stay away from that type of theming till I can.
I can build a decent coaster or building, but landscaping has always seemed to allude me. I look at a lot of parks for ideas and inspiration, then go back to my park and try something similar or a varition, but it always seem to get lost in the translation. So I'll keep trying, as always my goal is better park building. I'll do something else and post a screen from the same angle and see what you guys think.
Thanks again

Rog

Ed, your input on the landscaping was very well said. I think you summed up most of my thoughts. I am finding more and more that good landscaping actually seems to take more time than good architecture. If I could go back and redo anything on all my previous parks it would definitely be the tree work, landscaping and rocks. Rog, if you really want to see good landscaping I would suggest really studying Schuessler's work as there is nobody better imo.

What happened to this park? I was really enjoying the development of it, and now there has been no update in 2 weeks. Are you busy or just sick of working on it?

Roger took a bit of time off to work on the Ritz-Carlton South Beach hotel entry (see NE Pro Tour Topic in News), but I'm sure he's still working on this park...

"Good things come to those who wait"- Heinz Ketchup commercials from the 80's

Kai

Thanks Kai. This park is definitely still a go. While re-doing the area in the last screen. I realized that I had concentrated too much on the objects for the Art Deco look and had enabled very little else to build the rest of the park with.So I took it back into the editor to reoganize the objects and tabs(actually ended up with more objects).

Then the Pro Tour came up and I thought it sounded like fun. So I'm going to give a few of the rounds a try(not saying which).

I just recently got the rides and coasters back in, so building should pick back up. I do have to work it in around the Pro Tour and a couple of Masters Club projects, but after that I should be able to spend most of my time on it.

Thanks for your interest.

Rog

Any update on this, or is it just on hold while you attempt the Pro-Tour contest (no offense, if that sounded rude at all).

I"ve been working on it some( between PT rounds). I have totally redone the area shown in the last screen and been finishing up the areas in the other screens. I have also been working on my part of the Vegas Strip club project. I'm only going to enter one more round of the PT. I just need to put the finishing touches on it and then I can go full out on SB and club projects. And no, you didn't sound rude

Rog

The park looks fantastic. All apart from that last screen in my opinion. The landscaping is dull making the theming look bare.

But the architecture in the rest of the park is truly amazing.

Metro

I think the paint scheme of the twister seems to clash with some of the landscaping, especially those yellow windows....

Other than that, your pathing looks excellent, and your buildings are spectacular.

Sorry for the double post, My computer screwed up when I hit reply.

Rog

Well, After my Pro Tour Entrys, several corrupted versions of the park(a lot of work lost) and taking it back into the editor several times. I have finally gotten something done. This screen is from almost the same angle as the last one. Let me know if it's better worse or the same. The coaster is called The Hurricane.

Rog

Your architecture is still fucking wonderful. Makes me feel unworthy of playing the game. The coaster looks good, since it is a B&M Speed coaster (sit down, hyper). The colors are great and the custom supports are just as they should be.

There is still somthing missing but since I can't pin it I'll just say: 7/10

ride6

NICE

Edit: I know what it is! The treeing and land colors. Thanks to slob I understand my confusion. Just even that out a bit.

Blah.

The coaster itself (layout and colors) looks good but I don't like everything else around it. The treeing is horrible, the ground colors are varied way too much and the screen just looks way to cluttered.

the trees you've selected are horrible o_x

It's time for some critical annalysis of this piece.
I have read of people complaining of the sloppyness of this last picture and I must agree. However much to your undoing they have not told you how the fuck to fix it. Also, they commented on the randomness, it is there but it is tasteful and should stay.
I think that you have such a meddle of different colors and textures in this area and because of that you create a sense of confusion and overall an unorderly mess.
What you need to do to organize this area is this:
First, simplify the coaster, a floorless is not going to be of this scall, and it makes it look messy. Clean up what you have in this screen, maybe make the floorless shoot right through the forest. Set the trees up to point the viewers attention to the coaster and not the surrounding trees and hills. This way you wont have to worry about people complaining about your mess of random bushes and rocks, which both look horrible. Second, remove that big brown building and replace it with something that continues the theme started by the white one to its left, this solidfy the theme and reassure the viewers of the park that you actually know what you are doing, not to mention it wont clash with your coaster.