wheres_walto

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• United States

Absolutely loved this! It’s definitely my kind of thing. The humor, even when a little sharp, added a quirky personality that made the whole experience more memorable. I actually appreciated the boldness of the meta jokes—it gave the park a unique voice that stood out in a fun, self-aware way.

 

The towering skyscrapes were truly impressive! Their sheer scale added drama and excitement, and while the height might be a lot for some, I found it thrilling. Managing vertigo in a group park setting is no small task, but there were some clever choices here that made it feel ambitious rather than overwhelming. It felt like an imaginative patchwork of ideas brought together with real energy and creativity.

 

Some of the landscaping and layout choices were genuinely charming. I especially liked the flat areas where more unusual object choices came into play—it was refreshing and playful. The container ship was a hilarious and instantly recognizable touch that gave the whole thing a dose of personality I couldn't help but smile at.

I totally get the impulse to go big sometimes—and in this case, I think it paid off. There’s a creative spirit here that’s hard not to admire. Even if there was a time crunch, what came out of it was bold, different, and full of life.

 

 

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Some time has passed and I thought it might be neat to get down some behind the scenes thoughts on Yucca, which is still one the builds I'm most fond of.

 

Yucca had many real-life, cultural, and fictional inspirations. I live in the southern Nevada Mojave Desert, which felt like a strong location because of its familiarity, distinctive rock formations, and unique plant life. The park name comes from yucca plants which grow in the region and can be seen throughout the park along with Joshua trees, Creosote shrubs and brittlebush, and Cholla cactus.

 

While building, I took several hikes to Red Rock Canyon, which provided plenty of fresh inspiration for the landscaping. dr dirt was particularly strong in this area, sculpting amazing natural rock formations and color gradients.

 

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The colorful stacked rocks at the park entrance are based on a real art display off the highway south of Vegas called Seven Magic Mountains. In real life, they are 30-35 feet tall.

 

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There are several ghost towns in the area, the most well-known being Calico Ghost Town, a former silver mine turned tourist trap off the highway. Ethan was the primary builder of this area and crushed it, he came on very late in the process and pushed it to the finish line.

 

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I imagined Yucca Desert Park as a small locally owned distraction for drivers headed to/from Vegas, with greater context the park would be located off of the I-15 highway surrounded by broad swaths of empty desert, not dissimilar in concept to Desperado at Buffalo Bill's Casino.

 

In terms of vibe, if felt somewhat like a spiritual successor to Marineland of Canada: an amateurish free-spirited circus-like atmosphere with disjointed and poorly conceived attractions. During research, I discovered these hilariously staged photos of that park's founder admiring the rollercoaster Dragon Mountain. 

 

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Perhaps best known for its one-of-a-kind bowtie element, Dragon Mountain served as the inspiration for Yucca's coaster, Fire on the Mountain. Maverix was an absolute ride design beast, tweaking the layout to capture Arrow jankiness and ensuring supports stayed absolutely true to the style in which they would be constructed.

 

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The name of the coaster is also the name of the song playing in the background throughout the park, a 1977 recording of the Grateful Dead's Fire on the Mountain. The band's free-spirited and anti-authoritarian vibe fit the park perfectly, plus I got to see the Dead perform at the Sphere last year and they fucking rocked so I wanted to include one of their songs. We scattered a few small psychedelic/hippie details around the park to tie it together thematically. The atomic circus tent is also a reference to nuclear bomb testing in the Mojave Desert during the Cold War.

 

I knew early on that I wanted to create a dynamic cinematic sequence of an alien invasion. Area 51 is about 150 miles away from Las Vegas, so it's common to see alien-related souvenirs around town. I've had an Area 51 magnet on my fridge for years and didn't realize it until after the park was finished. Incorporating aliens felt very natural to the location and culture of the area. For this, I took inspiration from movies, most obviously Nope and Asteroid City.

 

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Programming the invasion sequence was one of the most complicated but fun tasks I've ever taken on in RCT. After realizing the possibilities of what could be manipulated in-game with bespoke plugins, I was determined to put together something new and ambitious. A heavy chunk of my career involves coding in Python, so I was pretty naturally able to translate into JavaScript with some help from deano, spacek, and Ethan. I would have done a few things differently in hindsight, but I was and am still very happy with the result and proud to say it was written before ChatGPT became publicly available. However, AI was super helpful to visualize the dramatic scene.

 

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The last thing I want to mention is that the odd park layout, ride choices, and general funkiness is by mostly intentional as the park itself is a cheap amateur sideshow. It's a weird park in a weird location. Although it may present as a more serious submission, there is a lot of shared Action Park DNA in Yucca which I find humorous. A few of my favorite OSHA nightmares:

 

- Metal bleachers are completely impractical in the desert with 100+ degree temperatures and no shade coverage. People would burn their asses immediately

- A gun range... at an amusement park... aiming toward the roller coaster

- Sphere of death sitting in an asteroid crater makes no sense whatsoever. It looks awesome and I'm really happy how clean the execution is, but what a stupid idea

- Slingshot launches way too high for the support towers

- Why is there a cow in the park? No reason other than to be abducted, of course

- Active fire breaking out with no resolution than to let it burn

 

 

This being such a diverse international community, and Yucca being such a specific location with specific references, I think some of the cultural influence may have been lost on viewers. Hopefully this writeup makes it clear how much thought and personal experience went into conceiving and designing the park. It's a representation of my home and the quirky oddities that southern Nevada presents

 

 

 

Amazing work, congratulations on getting this finished and winning Spotlight. The Inducer area is one of the most stunningly beautiful compositions I have ever seen in RCT. Such an incredibly innovative, fresh, creative park overall. Between this and your giga contest entry, you may be my favorite builder right now

Love love love

Morow Land has aged very well, imo