J K

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• Admin
• Accolade Panelist
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Super fun and unique!

Important

We’ve updated the rule 3 regarding solo qualifiers for the Through the Ages championship. Previously, it stated solo qualifiers were allowed to invite any player to join them for the championship build.

Clarified Rule: If you qualify for the championship with a solo entry, you may invite one other player who has participated in the contest to join you as your duo partner for the championship map.

This clarification ensures fair participation and recognises contributions from active TTA competitors.

Important

Changed the wording on objectives to

" Your park must feature a port or dock in a recently explored location. This could include the New World, Portuguese exploration in Japan/China, the Indian Ocean, Magellan's expedition, or other Age of Exploration destinations."

After general feedback on the Discord and the Admin Team.

I've been really enjoying this round for many different reasons, but mainly the amazing quality of feedback and the amount of players that have smashed the R2 brief!

Secrets in the Snow – I thought you were gonna get PM with this park, but then again I always think that with you. Effortlessly cool, great rides and a curious mix of CSO and NCSO styles that fill up the map. Ride design at the forefront of this creation and a brilliant music choice once again. The forest framing around the map was truly special. You've been on a roll with TTA, definitely in the pot so far for wildcard unless you bag a later round.

Moonrace Alpha – Super different, very you. Glad you could enter the competition and get something really cool out there. Good job Ge!

The Cosmodrone – Really glad to see you back and I loved watching this play out in #screens-and-feedback on the Discord, I think that was super smart to give you some pointers whilst also encouraging you to finish the park. I think the map itself had a lot of different ideas happening across it, it felt like you were really exploring the theme that inspired you so much. Biggest tip I could give right now is up the level of fidelity on your buildings. 1x16 work, more deco trims to keep layering detail into everything you're doing. Looking forward to seeing what you do next!

McCarthy Airforce Base – One of my favourites this round, the level of ideas, cut-a-aways, discover-me's played out for a very strong release. Loved the carwash, the town around the base itself and the coaster was exactly what it needed to be. I don't think you guys could've done anymore to be honest, because it was a base and the landscaping was quite flat, it made the map feel like it was empty when it really wasn't. A good day or two of detailing and more underground sections, I think you guys would have taken it. 

Race to the Moon – An introduction to you and your style and I loved it. What you achieved with very familiar pieces on the rockets was nothing short of special. All the technical elements were taken into account and the two rockets up the side of that massive building was great RCT. I did think some other moments got smushed around the main structure, the coaster in the building itself which was a bit underwhelming. Maybe a reposition of the massive structure to the edge of the map would've allowed for some really special cut-aways and the user not having to work for the cut-away to a slightly underwhelming result. That said everything else was great, a proper warm welcome to NE and I hope we see more of you in TTA and our further competitions.

Rumble in the Red Rocks – Well, well, well this was pretty damn special. I think I said on the Discord it's like Lennox Mall meets Yucca and the results are pretty special. Landscaping was top notch although felt samey from the overview, I quickly realised in-game that you'd taken a lot of time to get it right. The split of town vs inner base worked so well and it was definitely the coaster of the round for me — It kinda set the bar very early-on for how I wanted a launched coaster to be in this round. I'm not sure who did what, but it doesn't really matter to me as I think both of your styles worked together in harmony, definitely one to watch for a potential pairing in a future H2H. This was a top three for me and I wouldn't have been surprised if it won simply because the dedication to the brief and the quality you produced. I really hope you both enter again, because I think this was magic.

The men who stare at Oats – There's already a huge jump in skill level from your R1 so I just want to say congrats on that one. Coasters were both very good (loving the family invert trend we're seeing right now) and the architecture was great. It felt more of a themed land in a theme park than the immersive experience that was both of your R1s. I wanted some context to what was happening in the area like we saw at red rocks and McCarthy. Towns, crashed UFOs, indoor bases. I think you could've gone ham with the theme here. That said, I'd also say you're on the urge of jumping into the wildcard bucket, this is the second entry we've seen from you both and that's not an easy thing to do with such aggressive deadlines. Thanks for inspiring me to play and I hope you both had a good experience building with each other.

Disney's Kennedy Space Center – Just to get the critical side out of the way... hard to vote on this one as Disney's quality is in a league of it's own, but attention to the brief (a very GT/TTA thing) isn't as compelling as McCarthy and Rumble at Red Rocks, mostly down to the coaster for me and the lack of treatment of it indoors.

Sight-lines (as expected from Steve) were absolutely 110% on the money, a showcase in how to do it right. I even followed the lines from the entrance of the park, to the next set-piece, to the next, and then finally to the entrance of the signature ride. It was bloody inspiring and I just think that is such harmonious parkmaking that I could vote this 100% solely off park planning, sight-lines and macro execution. Where you lost me is you enticed me through this incredible park and then delivered a very mid signature ride — I know this is a realistic style for Disney (enclosed footprint) but even their coasters have audio/visual immersion, detailed queue lines, storytelling sections and thrill elements across their launched coasters. Standing opposite Red Rocks, and McCarthy, their rides overpowered this one and delivered a much better experience for me.

All critiques aside, the worthy winner of this round, it had some extremely tight competition which stood head and shoulders over everything because of the visual perfection placed on this map. You two are special as individual builders, (clearly leading the way where the meta is right now) but when you both build together, something even more special happens. What you've been able to do in 4 weeks is nothing short of amazing and I think because of this park you've put TTA on the map now. Lastly, I hope the timeline works in your favour for this partnership to build in the final... unless another heavy-hitting team comes out of the woodwork, I sense you'll be taking the crown.

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Bloody inspiring round, thanks to all builders!

Hard to vote on this one as Disney's quality is in a league of it's own, but attention to the brief (a very GT/TTA thing) isn't as compelling as McCarthy and Rumble at Red Rocks, mostly down to the coaster for me and the lack of treatment of it indoors.

I will break each entry down individually very soon. Wow to Disney from a quality perspective, wow to red rocks and McCarthy for delivering the brief and then some.