H2H2 / ICONS

I've been working on this for awhile now and it's gotten so long that I figured I should just release what I have now and finish it up later. Sorry to everyone for the long delay.

THE ICONS

ROSTER:
Iris (captain)
Pyro Penguin - El Dorado (W)
Corkscrewed - Villa de Lumieres (W) The Myttica Resort (W)
Coaster Ed - Erwindale Forest (W) Battlefield RCT (W) Blood Island Adventure (W)
Mantis - Erwindale Forest (W) Atomkraftwerk (W)
Mortician - Elfwood (L) Livewires (W) Atomkraftwerk (W)
Scarface - Elfwood (L) Battlefield RCT (W)
Foozycoaster - Villa de Lumieres (W)
Foltzenator - El Dorado (W) Celestial Adventures (L)
Stargazer - Celestial Adventures (L)

Starting out the Icons were favored to make it to the playoffs but this roster looked a lot less imposing then than it does now. Let's examine how it came to be that 8 NE parkmakers ended up on one team. Iris is the team captain so that's one automatically. Pyro, Corkscrewed, Foozycoaster, and myself were all parkmakers at the time of the draft. So that's 5 parkmakers already, although Cork and I hadn't won any spotlights at the time. Actually, neither of us had released a park at NE yet. So you could say we were on the lower end of the parkmaker spectrum. Okay maybe just I was. Iris also drafted mantis, who had not even started womb yet if I remember correctly. Maybe he had at the time of the re-draft. Anyway, mantis became a parkmaker earlier this year for his section in the Wannabe Collabo (aka Florencia Valley). That's 6 parkmakers. Mortician was voted in by winning the best non-parkmaker award at the second NE Awards. That's 7. And lastly Scarface became a parkmaker on the basis of his Hi-Roller entry. The only other H2H2 participant that became a parkmaker during the season was OZONE. Three out of four ain't bad. Rounding out the team are Foltzenator and Stargazer, both of which have also made an impact at NE outside of H2H2. Foltzenator carries the distinction of releasing the first finished RCT2 work at NE (a pirate themed inverted coaster) and Stargazer also participated in the Wannabe Collabo. So that's the team. Eight parkmakers and every one of them got a win. Actually, they were all undefeated except for Mortician and Scarface who's Elfwood lost by only 3 votes – and they weren’t parkmakers at that time. Yes, it was good to be an Icon.

As a side note, does anyone remember the Quest for the Best® Parkmaker controversy when mantis and myself made it into the top 4? That took place at the same time the two of us were finishing up Erwindale Forest. I still have no idea why we were voted in at that point, but I couldn’t wait to release that park and show people what we were capable of. That was pretty much the story of the season for the Icons. A lot of us felt like we had something to prove as parkmakers and H2H2 provided a great way to show off why we were NE parkmakers. Even stargazer, who didn’t get a win, proved himself by completing much of a park by himself and then losing by only 1 vote.

PARKS:
L-Elfwood - Scarface, Mortician [LL] - 48%
W-Erwindale Forest - Coaster Ed, mantis [LL] - 66%
W-El Dorado - PyroPenguin, Foltzenator [RCT2] - 56%
W-Villa de Lumieres - Corkscrewed, Foozycoaster [RCT2] - 56%
L-Celestial Adventures - stargazer, Foltzenator [LL] - 49%
W-Battlefield RCT - Coaster Ed, Scarface [LL] - 88%
W-Livewires - Mortician [LL] - 78%
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W-The Myttica Resort - Corkscrewed [RCT2] - 64%
W-Atomkraftwerk - mantis, Mortician [LL] - 52%
W-Blood Island Adventure - Coaster Ed [LL] - 63%

AVG: 62%

Wow that's a lot of parks. I'll start with the RCT2 parks, all of them were excellent. First there was El Dorado by Pyro Penguin and Foltzenator which managed to eke out the win over Fatha' Grinch. RCT2 was still in it's primitive early stages at the time (Toon Towner was just starting to transform the game) and this was one of the first indications that RCT2 had more to offer than mere disappointment. The layered architecture was colorful and eye-catching and the coasters were well-done. Foozy and Corkscrewed created one of the more memorable RCT2 parks in Villa de Lumieres (City of Lights). Foozy's idea of recreating the atmosphere of Paris led to some clever uses of RCT2's new scenery options including puffs of smoke coming out of the chimneys and ivy lining the walls. The park suffered a bit from the awkwardness of RCT2's pre-Toon Towner architecture options but remains one of the most detailed and consistent themes I've seen in RCT2. And last but certainly not least was Corkscrewed's stunning Myttica Resort (with a little help from Pyro Penguin). Leave it to our resident architecture major to craft the most stunning piece of RCT2 architecture yet. The launched Intamin track liquid coaster required quite a bit of imagination and engineering skill as well. This park gets overlooked a bit, but it really was an incredible piece of work.

And now the LL parks, there were seven of them. First there were the two parks made by pairs of non-parkmakers, both of which lost by a few votes. Elfwood looks dated today. Scarface and Mortician, now parkmakers, were still finding their styles at the time. Even though it isn't the best park, it's certainly nothing to be ashamed of. Especially for week 1. A lot of work went into it anyway and it almost won. Skipping down a bit, there was Celestial Adventures, the only other Icon park which didn't win. When you pair the last two people on your roster and they lose by only 1 vote, you know you have a good team. The park wasn't bad in any way, it was just too simplistic and traditional in a competition which favors innovation. It did feature two very nice rides, an inverted coaster and a water ride.

Moving on, there were my 3 parks. A lot has been said about them already so I'll be brief. Each one was something of an experiment for me, but there was also a similar use of detailed theming that I guess is my calling card. I got increasingly brave with custom coaster theming with each park ending up with a park that was almost entirely constructed out of coaster pieces (and trees and bushes of course). I agree with most everyone else that Battlefield is the best, but Blood Island is my favorite at the moment because I enjoy looking at it more than the others. Battlefield took the most time to construct, as you can imagine. I don't know which one has the most hacking. Probably Blood Island because everything on that map had some kind of hacking, even something as simple as stacking bushes and flowers under trees.

And, curiously enough, the last two parks both involved Mortician and bright colored semi-industrial fantasy themes. Livewires deserves another look because it beat a park by both RRP and Roomraider, and it beat it by a landslide. The colorful park featured a detailed assortment of custom theming, most notably red, yellow, and teal colored power cables running throughout the map. The buildings mixed purple, red, and checkerboard textures to create one of the most colorful maps in H2H2 (nothing compares to the Blue Meanies' Psychedelica of course). Wind generators, solar panels, power lines, and a giant satellite dish all contributed to a very creative theme. And then there was Atomkraftwerk, my favorite park of the whole competition. Constructed by mantis and Mortician, it featured a gigantic suspended coaster and a very unusual and eye catching mix of red rocks, lava, and thick green bushes. Paths wind up and down mountainous terrain connected by ladders and elevators creating the perfect setting for the suspended coaster Nucleophile. A pleasant red and black architecture style accented with bone theming ties the whole park together. And who could forget the giant electron gun centerpiece. It may not be the most skillfully constructed park in the competition, but it stands out as a testament to the power of creative theming ideas and smart design choices.

REVIEW:

The Icons got into the swing of things early with the first matchup of the season, an all-out blood brawl against the Pufferfish. Everyone watched the scores anxiously as they climbed close to the 100 vote mark and the match was still too close to call. In the end Scarface and Mortician walked away with the loss but their effort was an inspiration to the rest of us.

There was a lot of activity in the Icons bullpen as 3 parks were being assembled at once. Corkscrewed and Foozy were actually the first ones to finish but their park wouldn’t be posted until week 5. As Pyro and Foltenator put the finishing touches on El Dorado, mantis and I unveiled Erwindale Forest in week 2 to face off against the Blue Meanies and Evil WME’s IsoMania. There was a great deal of debate over Erwindale Forest as some people didn’t know what to make of it. Giant trees constructed entirely out of coaster pieces and bushes, roots constructed out of waterslide pieces winding around the buildings, and layers of bushes crowded into the paths created a unique enchanted forest theme and one of the most detailed miniparks ever. It was an idea I’d had in my head for months before I had a chance to build it. Evil WME showed his talent in RCT2 with IsoMania, still one of the better RCT2 parks in the competition. In the end, innovation won as it typically did in H2H2 and the Icons celebrated their first victory of the season with a trip to Disneyland courtesy of Corkscrewed who would prefer to keep his “connections” a secret.

After a comfortable week off and a short vacation, the Icons returned to face their biggest rival, the Mean Green, in week 4. Pyro Penguin and Foltzenator unveiled their RCT2 park El Dorado and waited to see what the Mean Green would bring to the match. Fatha’ Grinch pulled up and showed off Maui Xtreme Resort to a stunned crowd. Some of us (yes me) were already thinking defeat and in the early hours it didn’t look good for the Icons. Only one RCT2 park had won it’s round so far and that was the incredible Purple Pill Heights which also didn’t have to face a Fatha’ Grinch park. But then a curious thing happened. El Dorado kept getting votes and ultimately pulled ahead for the win. Maui Xtreme had two custom hacked coasters, a hotel, and legendary Fatha’ Grinch theming. El Dorado had buildings, trees, and two traditional coasters. El Dorado was certainly well made but it was a shock to see it win the round against such tough competition. Pyro and Foltzenator were carried out of the stadium to resounding applause in one of the biggest upsets of the season.

With Corkscrewed and Foozy’s Ville de Lumieres already ready to go for week 5 and a bye in week 6, iris decided to dip into the victory champagne to celebrate a succesful first half of the season. We were all a little tipsy when we showed up for our second face off against division rivals the Pufferfish, who were still undefeated going into week 5. They had given us our only loss of the season so far, by 3 votes no less, and we were confident we would take this one. Posix represented the Pufferfish again, as he did in week 1, and unleashed a beautiful new LL minipark by the name of Anuradhashira. I mean Anurisheenana. No wait it was Anuradlapluta. Well whatever it was called, it was stunning. In another close match (sometimes referred to as the battle of Anurwhatsit vs. Ville de Huh?), Ville de Lumieres won 35-28 making the Icons the only team so far to score two wins with RCT2 parks. The win was especially sweet because it moved us into a tie with the Pufferfish at 3-1 and made up for the close loss in week1.

After a week off, the Icons faced the Blue Meanies for the second time in week 7. At 3-1, the Icons were tied for first place while the Blue Meanies at 0-4 were still looking for their first win. True to form, Micool and Kai, two of NE’s most unique parkmakers, produced the most unique park of the season. Half boardgame and half amusement park, Othello was a great example of the potential of RCT2 when placed in the right hands. There was some confusion amongst the Icons as to who was up next, but Stargazer and Foltezantor managed to get Celestial Adventures released on time. Celestial Adventures was as traditional as Othello was unusual, making for one of the most interesting matchups of the season. LL or RCT2. Traditional or Fantasy. It was a tough choice and the voters split nearly equally. In the closest match of the season, the Blue Meanies won 34-33, evening their series against the Icons and marking their first W for the season. It was a great turning point for the Blue Meanies who went on to win their next 2 matches and finish the season 3-4. Meanwhile the Icons watched aero21 and Toon Towner of the Pufferfish defeat OZONE and Prince Ashitaka of the Soutenours to claim the division lead again.

Going into week 8 the Icons had a disappointing record of 3-2. Those two losses came in painfully close division matches, one losing to the Pufferfish by 3 votes and one losing to the Blue Meanies by 1 vote. The Icons had also won a couple of close matches though, with a victory over the Mean Green by 6 votes and a victory over the Pufferfish by 7 votes. Even more interesting was the fact that the Icons’ only win with LL had come in week 2 with Erwindale Forest. The other two LL parks had lost while the two RCT2 parks had won. Who better than me (Coaster Ed) to show what LL can do and give the Icons only their second LL win in 4 tries.

After weeks of work I put the finishing touches on my masterpiece Battlefield RCT, which was to be named the Park of the Year in the H2H2 awards. Scarface had suggested a war theme so I thought it would be cool to recreate some kind of actual battle in the game. I rigged up explosions timed to go off as the Inverted coaster passed over the them simulating a bombing run. The real stars of the map though were the many coaster sculptures representing helicopters, ships, and cannons. I made sure each city had a unique architecture style that reflected their different cultures. One side was going to be a race of primates with jet planes and industrial technology surrounding vaguely Middle Eastern architecture. The other side was going to be a group of militant humans with vaguely European architecture, beautiful gardens, and a fleet of large sailing ships. The little description about the Battle of Lysander was an added bit of fluff to explain that each half of the map was a different city and the whole thing simulated a battle between them. Scarface helped with some of the buildings on the Mont Claire side particularly around the Red Light District and Ship Manufacturing Plant.

Getting back to the competition, the Soutenours paired up X-Sector and Harakiri who produced a wonderful piece of theming which they called You’ve Come a Long Way, Baby. While the response to Erwindale Forest had been mixed, I was surprised that the praise for Battlefield RCT was almost unanimous. The match was over almost as soon as it started with a landslide victory for the Icons. Following in our footsteps, the Pufferfish also lost to the Blue Meanies and once again our two teams were tied at 4-2 with one match left a piece.

The Pufferfish put the pressure on with a victory in week 9 while the Icons rested. With the Blue Meanies 4 losses, both teams were guaranteed playoff spots but both teams also wanted to be number 1 as well. With the Pufferfish improving to 5-2, the Icons hoped for a win in week 10 against the Sea Serpents. Having forfeited two straight weeks, the Sea Serpents managed to produce a park for their match against the Icons and it was quite a park indeed. RRP and Roomraider both did what they do best, creating Indiana Ridge which featured a themed adventure ride and a custom splitting coaster marvel called Snake Bite. For the Icons, Mortician worked all by himself to create Livewires, a colorful ode to power production filled with custom sculptures of various power plants. In another surprising outcome, the Icons won by a landslide score of 39-11.

With the regular season over, the Icons wasted little time getting to work on parks for the playoffs. Fully expecting to make it to the finals, several of us Icons began planning new parks. Before that could happen though, we had to defeat the Pufferfish who had been our toughest competition all season. In a classic matchup, Corkscrewed’s Myttica Resort matched the strengths of RCT2 against the strengths of LL displayed by Toon Towner and Posix with Spirits Bay. In the end, the stunning use of architecture by Corkscrewed won more votes than the resourceful theming brilliance of Spirits Bay. One possible explanation is that Erwindale Forest and Battlefield RCT had already featured a similar style of theming for LL while nobody had constructed a building on the scale of Corkscrewed’s hotel with that kind of detail before. H2H2 is all about making a strong first impression, and while Spirits Bay was no less impressive for it’s detail and ingenuity, it didn’t have quite the same ‘wow factor’ as The Myttica Resort. When RCT2 parks defeated LL parks, it was generally because the improved architecture options were being used to their fullest.

STAY TUNED FOR THE THRILLING CONCLUSION

It's about time

What do you think, exams are more important?

looking back, it is an absolute rob that Maui by Fatha and TPM lost to El Dorado. El Dorado was the first park to use "good" architecture, but as of todays standards, it takes more skill to produce a Maui park and El Dorado was basically more novel than it was skillful.

Along the same lines, Celestial Adventures shouldve beaten Othello.

The park suffered a bit from the awkwardness of RCT2's pre-Toon Towner architecture options but remains one of the most detailed and consistent themes I've seen in RCT2.

Well, technically TT had made some custom scenery. We even used his roofs and such. However, I guess you were referring more to his quarter block scenery pieces.

Great half-review... I waiting for the other half!

Brilliant review Ed, I do think our team were extremely lucky to get where we were during the season. And how nearly all of the members became parkmakers throughout the season. Thanks for the nice review on Livewires, I maybe expected it to be entered for the creativitiy part of the awards, but it's cool.

Good job.

Dontcha just love reading about yourself?

It's thrilling already!

Dontcha just love reading about yourself?

It's thrilling already!

Lol, I know how ya feel

I'm still in disbelief. How in the world did Iris get all those amazing parkmakers on his team? Coaster Ed, Mantis, Foozy, Corkscrewed, Pyro, Scarface? SIX parkmakers! Comeon! What where the other team captains doing when they were making selections?

I'm still in disbelief. How in the world did Iris get all those amazing parkmakers on his team? Coaster Ed, Mantis, Foozy, Corkscrewed, Pyro, Scarface? SIX parkmakers! Comeon! What where the other team captains doing when they were making selections?

iris cheats.

¿Y la segunda parte?

mmm...well...um...

I can tell you about THIS draft!

I didnt cheat.
It was completely Adix' mess-up.
Honest to God.

He asked me who I was planning on picking, I told him and he thought I had picked him already.
I really didnt cheat!

Lies! Lies! Burn him at the stake! Confiscate Fooz! Redraft! Recall! Yeah, bring in the terminator! Anything!

and of course a redraft was out of the question =P

cough

wow
nice write up

I was wondering when someone might ask about this. Sorry about the delay...again. I'm working 14 hour days, every day (including weekends) right now so when I say I haven't had time I really mean it. As strange as it sounds, I'll have more time once school starts again next week. Some vacation this has been. I'm just annoyed cause it's been one more long day in a string of long days. I know you guys are waiting for the rest of this and as soon as I have time to write it, I'll post it.

It's ok my little Kitabasake - we understand

I don't!!!!