MorganFan

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AJ’s Prairie Lightning – This is easily the best work in the AJ Farm Park canon so far! This is also some of your best macro and archy yet. I love the center building and the mansion in the corner, but especially love the coaster station and surrounding area. Something about that plaza and the shapes of the buildings and pathways just flow so well into each other, and I can tell you really took some time to think it through before committing to their construction. The use of color is really well balanced and consistent. Lots of thoughtful details peppering the entire map as well. Nice coaster and flume, each with good interaction. The music was a great vibe and I loved the radio aspect, so fun! Something about this park is so strangely nostalgic. Lastly the panhandle with the train tracks and pathway leading out is a nice touch that pays off. Everything comes together to make a pleasant viewing experience that left me feeling charmed and delighted.

Chamberlain Steel – Very strong sense of place here, great contrast of the industrial setting among the serene natural backdrop. Extra points for the environmental storytelling of the dead trees and barren land along the river from the factories’ pollution. While there is a lot going on in the center of the map, it is all spaced out well enough to give each aspect some separation and space of their own. Strong use of textures across the board with the brick, steel, and rock, and while the colors are cohesive, I feel there could have been a few more strong splashes to brighten up the place. I like the architecture, with a good mix of shapes and angles, but I feel they lose a bit of cohesion with each building seeming to have its own color and texture. The dominating stature of the two large coasters lend themselves well to the theme of industry taking a stranglehold over the natural world, and I applaud that decision, whether intentional or not.

Modern Foundations – This is really nice work. I love the coaster’s imposing size and unique layout, as well as the interactivity with the central pathways. Speaking of which, the main street with the canal in the center is really excellent. The buildings surrounding it are architecturally strong, and the macro lends itself to various idyllic scenes, such as the angled bridges, the circular plaza nested within the train track and coaster helix, and the pub patio nestled in. I also greatly enjoyed the quieter end of the map, with ample open space and chill vibes, which contributes a needed contrast to the busier coaster section. The foliage is nicely done here and elsewhere, lush where needed and contrasted with the brown grass which I always appreciate. One thing I wasn’t as pleased with was the coaster’s color scheme, as the green seems an odd choice given the surrounding foliage and the theme. Perhaps a bright yellow or blue might have been a better choice for the theme and overall color balance. All in all, this is great work! I’d say you two worked well together.

Movie Night at the Turn of the Century Club – Upon first opening I was impressed with the initial screen, accompanied by the sound of the projector starting up. I watched with anticipation as the narrator read the words on the screen, but then was confused as the scene stayed the same while he described the scene. Then it occurred to me to rotate the map, and I saw the scene being described! Very nice setting on the 2nd panel, with the terraced landscape and rocky cliffs. You really used half diagonals to your advantage in the one-angle scenes, and it lends itself well to the layering of pathways and landforms. The little village is very nice, even if the buildings are a bit square, but the colors are great. The palette is a good mix of desaturation and tint and works well given the theme. I particularly enjoyed the workshop scene on the 3rd panel, and the coaster engineering nerd in me was pleased by the up close depiction of the cars and coaster track. They look really nice, good job on those! The 4th panel is perhaps the most impressive, with a really great sense of scale and a painterly aspect to the overall scene. Really liked this one.

Steel Valley – Lurker my friend, you can do no wrong. This is great! Purely on the macro you laid out for the whole park, this is some of your best work. The train tracks are a strong visual seperator of the steelworks in the center to the more wooded area surrounding it, even with wooden coasters to support the theme. The visual theme of the center contrasts strongly with the outer edge as well, with its chaotic, claustrophobic tangle of buildings and rides. I have particular fondness for the quietest corner of the map with the farm and coal factory. The small lake with the docks and train bridge is also very quaint, there is something about it that I love. There are tons of neat little touches all over the place that I kept finding, particularly the different kinds of buildings, which have a surprising amount of variation, given the limitations of LL. Very good work, always a treat.

The Last Frost Fair – Wow, what can I say? This is a really impressive effort, and immediately bursting with energy and atmosphere upon opening. There are a lot of entries this round which visually separate the industrial operations from the more lived-in, human areas, and I think this entry does the best job of achieving that result. I love the frozen river acting as a boundary between the dark and grungy industrial side of town, and the cleaner, snow-covered city on the other side. The melted snow from the heat of the steam is a really genius touch and add just an extra bit of contrast to the sides of the map. The frozen river itself is great, and all the little scenes and rides are so cute, such a blast to look through. I think this may actually be the best representation of a winter theme I’ve ever seen put to RCT2, every surface is touched by cold in some way or another, and the details of snow and ice are just excellent. The archy of the city is wonderful and so pleasant to look at, it actually reminded me of those miniature Christmas village displays that you often find at old ladies’ homes during the holidays. I thoroughly enjoyed looking through this and my enjoyment only grew as I kept looking. Cheers to this absolute achievement!

Victoria Mine: Shaft 13 – This was a nice surprise! I was greatly impressed immediately upon opening this park, with a very decisive color direction and strong architectural forms and macro. Some really great setpieces across the map as well, such as the steam shovel, engine linkage, conveyor belt, and mine shaft elevator. There are a few awkward spots, mainly the long ramped path to the top of the mine shaft, and the oddly shaped round building at the front of the park which seems out of character for the time setting. I also wonder if the coaster track could have been a different color to differentiate itself from the red brick and rusty iron structures all across the map. These are all minor gripes though, and the numerous highlights are prominent and more than make up for those nitpicks. Some of my favorite buildings of the round are in here as well, with particular love for the lemonade building and train storage building. The train tracks weaving underneath the middle of the industrial chaos above is a particular highlight for me, and it all looks great. Great work on this, one of my favorites of the contest so far.

First of all I want to thank everyone who left comments and feedback on our park and the rest of this round's parks. Thank you for taking the time out of your day not only to vote, but to put your thoughts into words. I especially appreciate the constructive criticism on this work, which will definitely be taken into account.

Onto the park itself. I have to say that given the theme of this round, I didn't enter with the intent to win, but the theme gave me a few ideas that seemed really fun! I thought it would be a shame not to give it a shot, and when Mamarillas reached out with a similar idea for the park, we pretty much instantly got to work. There were a few ideas that didn't make the cut, mostly peep scenes and rides, but notably a fairground and hot rod race that Mama had ideas for.

The park macro was mostly laid out by Mamarillas, with a stroke of genius on the half-diagonal road to break the grid for the entire landscape, and once we smoothed things out a bit, I got to work on landscaping. It was a labor of love, and took many iterations and cleanup sessions to get just right. Making it look natural was difficult, given the limited nature of these rock objects, but I think it came out about as well as I could have hoped. I'll even push back on comments about the artificial look of them. Given our experience traveling the Western and Southwestern US, the landforms really do get that bright and pink in certain regions. I even thought about adding a Soviet peep scene with an officer saying "Are those rocks even real?" but decided it was unnecessary.

The coaster took several tries to get right. The end result is a combination of layouts I made, with ideas and elements from both me and Mamarillas included from the brainstorming stage. To convey the industrial facility look, Mama came up with the excellent interior support designs that add a vibrant and stylistic punch to the indoor coaster scene. I made the exterior Arrow-y supports to add a touch of realism. I'm particularly proud of the corkscrew supports, which were shamelessly ripped off from Belle Isle, albeit the larger variant, so they still took some work to get right. Another note is that we originally intended the exterior portions of the coaster to be more hidden within the rocks, but doing so would have sacrificed much of the macro, so I think a nice balance was struck. 

Historically, the coaster doesn't really make sense, since this map is supposed to be set in 1962 right around the Cuban Missile Crisis, only 3 years after the opening of Matterhorn Bobsleds, 4 years before the first Runaway Mine Train, a decade before the first appearance of Arrow's signature spine/ties/rails track design, and a full 13 years before the first Arrow corkscrew coaster. HOWEVER, with a bit of imagination, it's not too hard to envision an alternative history where Arrow Development was contracted by the US government to assist in aerodynamic/spaceflight research for the space race.

The electric launch is entirely preposterous, as the first one wouldn't exist until 1996, but I thought we could pass it off as an overfunded pet-project, and the inclusion of the name Turbo Encabulator really sells it I think. Initially, the coaster was planned to be a rocket launch test, but that fell to the wayside as things developed. The log flume started as a test for what other rides could be in the facility, and once I integrated the layout into the walls of the facility and exterior, we were both sold on it. 

From there, the park developed very naturally, and both of us built as we came up with ideas. Mamarillas laid the foundation for the setting with the diner, gas station, and radio station, and that really established the vibe, which greatly informed the rest of the map. He also made the crashed UFO, which turned out to be a really effective setpiece, and a driver for the theme and story. The fireworks store was a fun addition, and functioned as a foil to the UFO crash, diverting the public's attention from the confidential operations underway, just out of sight from the highway.

Once we had a radio station, I knew I had to make a custom soundtrack to carry home the setting. I had a few songs in mind, and Mamarillas contributed a personal favorite of his as well. All of the music, and much of the radio sounds are from 1958-1962, and the radio call signs and signoffs are from real broadcasts from that era (with the exception of Wolfman Jack, which was taken from American Graffiti). I added in some additional easter eggs and frequency noise to convey the sound of scanning the airwaves for good music, which really sold it I think. Even though I probably spent too much time working on the music and tweaking it, I'm really proud of how it turned out and glad people enjoyed it! I came to love all of these songs, and building on the map with the music playing was such a blast.

Everything from that point was pretty easygoing, with no major additions aside from a few map size extensions and the motel, which I built on a flight to visit my family for Thanksgiving. Scenery manager made much of our collaboration possible since even though we are in different time zones, we are still on the same continent, so our free time often overlapped. The final push to finish ended up a little tighter than we both wanted, with the Thanksgiving holiday throwing more than a few wrenches into our availability, but we got it done and it didn't feel rushed at all!

Overall, this was a breeze to work on, and collaborating with Mamarillas made the whole process fun, from brainstorming, to building off of each others' ideas, to just joking around in DMs. I've never done a dot map before, so it might be too busy, but I tried my best to visualize what we both contributed. It's also difficult, given the nature of this map's angles and sightlines, but I think I conveyed the work adequately.

Lastly, I want to say it is a huge blessing to be a part of this community, and watching myself and others grow over the last 14 years, playing the game we grew up on, has been a great joy in my life. It is such an honor to cross the line into Parkmaker status, something I never believed I would achieve when I joined NE. I didn't even set out with Parkmaker in mind while making this park. Thank you to everyone who provided feedback along the way and helped me improve! I'm looking forward to what the future brings for all of us.

Secrets in the Snow - Hell yeah, this has so much atmosphere, and I feel like a story is being told in just the grungy texture alone, which is everywhere. So much life and movement, while at times overstuffed, leaving the quiet corners to be my personal favorite parts. Particularly, the bloody camp scene really interested me, and I wished for more in that vein of storytelling. Vostok-apult is a charming and impressive coaster, with such a singular design that it could only come from AJ. The architecture is fittingly oppressive and brusque, without constraining the park layout and plazas too much. I loved the music as well, it adds a strong touch of authenticity and ties together the cold yet scruffy vibe. Nice work! 

Moonrace Alpha - This is a fun concept, and I think the large scale is where this map succeeds. I really like the look of the racing coasters out among the field of stars and the giant moon. The highlight is definitely the space station which adds a nice touch to the outer space area. I feel that the main park area is a bit underfinished, but the ideas are there and I can see what you wanted to accomplish with the racing aspect. I think you would excel with a bit more time and focus on what makes the concept work.

The Cosmodrome - Welcome back! This is a great step up from your previous work, and shows an understanding of parkmaking that makes me excited to see what the future holds for you. The USSR setting is charming, and all of the expected beats are here. I especially like the destroyed building, it adds heaps of life to the atmosphere and makes it feel really lived-in. At times however, the park feels constructed as if checking items off of a checklist, and the moments of cohesion were often the best parts - particularly the plaza with the enterprise framed by the two coasters and rocket pad.

McCarthy Air Force Base - Man, what a park! Tons of neat details to get lost in here, and a fun concept. Awesome coaster, even if sacrificing interactivity for the theme, but I love how it launches upward out of the missile silo. Infrastructure is this map’s strong suit, and the structure ties everything together with a clear macro direction. I do wish there was a bit more interactivity on the back half of the map with the actual air force base, as compared to the fairground and city sections, it feels a bit still and eerie, which to be fair, actually kinda works in this context. The scale of the underground facility is a great contrast to the human scale of the fairground, which is replete with impressive geometry. My favorite was definitely the Soviet spies digging beneath the gas station. I could go on about the individual elements that grabbed my attention, so I will summarize by saying that while in places this map can feel disjointed, it doesn't make each respective part any less extravagant.

Race to the Moon - First impression, you have a great eye for spectacle, particularly in regard to the grand setpieces dominating this map. The building is MASSIVE and while one could argue that it should be smaller, it looks great! As do the rockets; for a second, I seriously questioned if they were completely NCSO. There are some nice interactive details too, my favorites being the go karts spiraling around the rockets, and the pathways that go near/under the crawler-transporters. My biggest gripe ultimately is that each ride and set piece feels very segmented and separate from the next. I would have liked to see a smoother flow between sections so that the park doesn’t feel as compartmentalized. Regardless, this is a great entry, plus it’s always a pleasure to see work from newcomers. Welcome, glad you made it!

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The Men Who Stare at Oats - This is maybe the funniest concept of the contest so far. Love the idea of a research facility run amok with overzealous characters and less than effective oversight. I think the theme really tied this entry together, but without it, some of the elements come off as a bit detached from the whole form, and as a result, parts feel a bit off-balance. For instance, the large brick buildings in one corner teeming with life and activity contrast heavily with the runway on the other side, which is essentially a dead end without much function. Regardless, there is a lot to love throughout the park and I do think it threads the needle of being a believable government facility, while also functioning as an amusement park. The pizza flying saucer was a favorite of mine, and I have to say the Mind Ripper ride is a cool feature, but their placement is a bit awkward with the path going around. The center building with purple glass is striking and I really liked the deck area by the lake as well, it was charming. Very solid entry!
 
Disney’s Kennedy Space Center - What the hell man. This is nuts. The entrance area is maybe the most effective use of half diagonals to date? You guys used pretty much every architectural trick in the game at your disposal and flaunted it throughout the park. It honestly looks like you got carried away and had a lot of fun making it. So many circles and pointy spindly things, definitely sells the retro-futurism aesthetic. The coaster gets a meh from me, but the main point of interaction is really nice, and honestly that’s all you can ask for from Disney. Speaking of which, the park definitely feels like Disney throughout and down to the backstage which wraps the map nicely. It’s so perfect almost to a fault, that the entire park feels very homogenous, but forgivable since it’s a small park. I do think the connection to the space race feels thin, mostly since the park feels like a version of Tomorrowland that could exist today, but as I dug around I found evidence tying it to the time period, and the rocket garden is probably the strongest argument in support of that. The Rocket Jets were an easy favorite, that corner of the park just works so well. I don’t have much else to say except job well done. Always happy to see a collaboration between you two!

Indoor Egypt - I love this park! I wasn’t expecting to see a realism park set in the modern day in this round, but you pulled it off and this is a really strong entry. I only have one main critique which I’ll get out of the way: I feel that the pyramid aspect loses a bit of focus as a feature, instead functioning as the park’s structure. Nothing wrong with that, but I would have liked to see the pyramid theme reflected more within, as it could be missed with a less discerning eye. Still I think it was a genius move to put a park inside the pyramids. Strong ride selection inside with two dominating coasters, a nice flume, and several nestled flat rides. Path plazas and overlooks make up a solid portion of the interior and lend a nice space to the inevitable chaos of indoor parks; the overall layout and macro is the park’s main achievement. A minor nitpick is that I wish the park entrance was more grand. My favorite part is pit with the spaghetti bowl coaster and log flume, it looks like something you could see in real life. Great park here, very glad we got to see such a strong solo entry from you!

Ptolemy II's Alexandria: 250 BC - Here we have the clear heavy-hitter of the round. Tons and tons to look at, and a home run of a theme. There is a professional quality here, as if I could see this exact map created in a AAA video game (I’m particularly reminded of Baldur’s Gate, though I don’t know if that was intentional). Well done! It’s almost difficult to put all of my thoughts into one paragraph. Great balance of rides and peep space. The architecture is imposing without being too claustrophobic. As a coaster nerd/snob, I wish there was more to the water coaster, but on its own it functions fantastically as the park’s centerpiece ride. Well, maybe one of two centerpieces. The library is a marvel and its namesake ride may be one of the best dark rides in the medium of RCT2 to date. At the risk of being overly-critical, I felt the cutaway sections were a bit heavy-handed, and I think the park would have benefited from a more complete structure. The entire harbor scene is absolutely my favorite part. Everything in and near the water is a triumph, I’d say the color palette is a cheat code for putting tan architecture near Mediterranean water, but it’s more than that; the structures, macro, and details combine into one beautiful painting that accomplishes the daring task of feeling somehow both historically accurate and modern-realistic. There is so much to say and fawn over but I’m trying to stay as succinct as possible. Fantastic achievement.

Ancient Light - This contest wouldn’t be complete without a LLovely LLurker LL entry! And this is without a doubt some of your best work. There is a fluidity to the map and macro here that is a hard mark to make with the limited tool set available in the game, but you nailed it. Full of life and motion, I could see myself here. By contrast, the lighthouse stands very still in opposition to the rest of the park, though I don’t think that’s necessarily a bad thing. I am amazed at the amount of attractions stuffed into a relatively small footprint, with none of the trappings of blockiness that can unintentionally occur in LL. At points there are certain angles that are a bit harder to read, but that is a hard balance to hit, especially with so much to look at. Namely, the main walkway I think is a bit too broken up and would have been better off asserting itself as a more solid block of color. I understand this is difficult to do in game though, so I don’t believe that’s much of a drawback. I think the inverted coaster is my favorite even if the layout isn’t necessarily realistic. It has a nice flow to it and the bits of interaction allow it to dominate its area, without being too large or intimidating. Really great entry!

The Seven Wonders Selection Survey at Sidon - Ignoring the few spots of unfinishedness, this is a sweet little park. Great macro and the shape feels organic and lived-in. Texture and foliage is ever-present yet balanced, and each set piece has a good sense of space which flows throughout. I wish there was a ride or something, but I can’t be too pedantic. The use of map stalls to call out the names of the monuments is clever. My favorite one is Alexandria, but the entrance of the park itself is my favorite part of the park. Glad this could be submitted, it’s definitely an idea worthy of creation.

Pyramids - Very nice assembly of features here. The main plaza in front of the coaster is nice, and I really like the temple with the two obelisks in front. The chunkiness of the pyramids feels good, and the scaffolding were a nice touch. The coaster has a great start, but I feel it meanders a bit in the second half when it wraps around the drop tower, which itself is a bit separated from the rest of the park; I wish it had been integrated more gracefully. My favorite was the log flume, especially the trough at the beginning. Overall this is a nice map!

The Ancient World - First off, the coaster is very nice. It is well-paced and has some great interaction points, and the supports are well-done, if a tad overdone in a couple spots, but that is a nitpick. I do wish the main high-speed portion of the coaster was less hidden by the pyramid and foliage over by the scrambler; I think a viewing platform or plaza near the coaster’s large elements was a missed opportunity. The pyramid itself is imposing, and functions as a nice clear centerpiece, but again I feel that leaving it empty aside from the launch tunnel was another missed opportunity. I absolutely adore the placement and function of the scrambler digging into the side of the pyramid. The coaster station is very clean and has a nice realism to it. The scaffolding add a balance to the tan brick and the whole structure as a result to make my favorite part of this map. Lots of good stuff in here, cool entry!

The Construction of Giza - On first impression, this is by far the most visually striking map of this round. Carefully selected colors, forms, and structures with appropriate negative space add up to much more than the sum of its parts. There is a satisfying visual balance that pervades throughout the viewing experience which makes for a very effective park. I absolutely love the coaster. It makes great use of its surrounding setpieces and has a great flow with a realistic mix of intense and gentle pacing. It dominates the map strongly, lending a breakup of color to the tan landscape and structures. The color balance in general is wonderful; with a vein of blue-green through the drab sand, as a foundation for the brown and black coaster, the whole map is vibrant without sacrificing the feeling of dry desert. The details and various peep scenes are a nice touch, adding life without distracting from the main pieces. Texture is everywhere and does so much to keep the surroundings interesting. Hard to pick a favorite area but I’ll go with the little farm by the river or the tomb foundation beneath the coaster finale. Absolutely fantastic work!

I have a hazy idea but I'm open to support someone who has a more concrete plan

edit: The R1 parks got me inspired, very down to build now

edit edit: sorry gals I'm taken