hypnopompia

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• United States

Welcome! I really enjoyed the screens you posted on Reddit. Glad to see you over here, and to see the park completed! Right off the bat, the overall quality level is very high, and the map is huge. This is impressive as hell.

 

Some thoughts below in no particular order. There will be some light criticisms, but I mean it constructively. This park is excellent and I love your work so far. I could very easily see your next project hit another gear.

 

-I love the attention to detail in the backstage areas and surrounding town. It feels like the right amount of context to give the park a sense of setting.

-Nice peep scenes in the neighborhood.

-This park pulls off the standard palette really well, which is rare.

-I'm not a fan of the olive green building tops. The color pops too much imo, which draws too much attention.

-Architecture is very good and consistent quality-wise. The entrance area is a standout.

-The coaster layouts and supports are very good. Voltron and the water coaster are standouts.

-You mentioned the challenges with recreations - how some areas are compressed and others are stretched out. I think one thing to consider in the future is taking a little more artistic license with the recreation. A good example of what I mean is the entrance area. It would be nice to have a little more space between the rows of buildings, as it looks a little cramped from the overhead viewer perspective. This could be done by reducing the width of the backstage warehouses (with the green roofs) by 1 tile and then moving those restaurants back. There are some other spots where tweaks like this could elevate the park to another level

 

Really fun park overall! I'm excited to keep exploring it over the coming days. It's so impressive to finish a park of this scale. You should be really proud of your work. Looking forward to seeing what you do next!

Prairie Lightning
Oh man, I love that coaster layout as well as the kickass sound design. Was not expecting to hear ELP this round. The architecture is very nice and the map has a nice flow to it. Just really solid all around. The silos immediately made me think of your DKMP Transportable Coaster RCC entry. Overall, this map seems more consistent than your TTA3 entry, which was also a banger.

Modern Foundations
I really like the architecture throughout the map. The urban section around the river are a highlight, and the train stations are also well done. The coaster is very solid and has some nice interaction points with the park. I do wish the Crazy Cups section was less isolated from the rest of the map, and I would have liked to see the Industrial Revolution theme appear more prominently. That aside, really enjoy this one.

Movie Night at the Turn of the Century Club
Incredibly inventive, as is the norm for both of the builders. It's a triumph of one-angle wizardry and clever object usage, and it is aligned with the spirit of this round more than those previously mentioned in this review. My favorite scene is the town scene with the mountains in the background, but all of the scenes are excellent with great details to dig into. Excellent rockwork, and I love the grainy film effects.

I didn't vote for this for the "meeting the prompt" category, but on third viewing I regret that decision. Ultimately, I had a very hard time evaluating this one with respect to the other entries. I admire the artistry and more creative approach, though I admit I find one-angle parks a little unsatisfying. With a full-angle park, the ability to rotate gives the viewing experience the illusion of exploring a 3D space. With one-angle parks, that illusion disappears and a "space" is reduced to a "video", which I find less engaging. To this entry's credit, it is depicting a film, which fits this type of park very well. That aside, this entry has grown on me over time, and I'm very glad we have something so different.

Steel Valley
This seems like a difficult prompt to hit on in LL. You're such a consistent builder, and all your parks have a distinctive charm to them. I find the steel mill a bit chaotic and difficult to read, though I admit that I am illiterate. I like the rest of the map very much. The agricultural and lumber company sections are highlights. All three coaster layouts are very good, and it's great to see a side-friction coaster which is actually era-appropriate. All around, it's a very nice park.

The Last Frost Fair
For me, this is by far the best entry this round. The Ironworks has a lovely mix of visual clarity, grime, and authenticity. I absolutely love the frost fair, which is brimming with character. Unreal ground texturing. The frost fair flat rides are so charming. The section on the other side of the river feels less necessary, but it still contributes to the wonderful atmosphere. Love the architecture throughout the map. I know both builders are pros, but I still have no idea how they managed to squeeze so much detail and character into a map right at the size limit in only a month. It will be a treat to dig into this more over time.

Victoria Mine: Shaft 13
This is the clear runner-up to me. Really nice grid-breaking paths, foliage, and architecture. I love all the jumbo-sized CTR machinery, especially the steam engine by the entrance. Shaft 13 is a great coaster. It's cool seeing a Vekoma Tilt. The layout is excellent, though I admit the speed with which it takes the layout is a minor gripe (way too fast a realism setting in my opinion). Overall, this park has a great sense of atmosphere and really sells its theme, with the modern entrance buildings, historical information signs, overgrown ruined buildings, and so forth. Really enjoy this one, fantastic work!

I love this layout, and this part of the park is so well composed. The queue by the water is a nice touch

Kiki's Bakery
The music adds much to an already great sense of atmosphere. Plenty of fun peep scenes. The bakery is really quite nice, and the bit of foliage & landscaping behind it is very high quality. Hope the creator keeps making cso content!

Diamond Dust
Love this one! Another great abstract entry. The coaster is a lot of fun, as is the music. 

Antwerp in Snow
I'm so happy to see this part of Stonehenge winterized, as it translates so well. The full park can be overwhelming in scale and ambition, so it's nice seeing one section by itself this time. Love your work, Blue.

Erlebnispark Teutonia Winterzauber
This is a very nice entrance area. It looks like it's from a few years ago, but it holds up really well. I appreciate how the buildings have their own identities while also being cohesive, as this is something I'm continuously trying to figure out in my own game. Much like Advent, I'm not a huge fan of the blue snowy trees, but that's no biggie.

St. Nick's Wild Ride
This is such a good small-scale GCI layout, with great pacing and footprint. The buildings, landscaping, and foliage could all be described as "efficient", by which I mean rather effective and well-done without straying into the highly detailed, highly time-consuming things like crunch, cliff-work, small grasses, etc. Those things might have made this map better, but they're also not necessary. This map feels low-stress and joyful.

Christmas Tree Lot
Really like the needles underneath the trees. I'm also surprised at how well the sidewalk path blends in with the sandstone skyscraper roof. Great little entry!

Winterfest
I wish I made this. My wish has come true, incidentally

Abstract Attraction
This is a rather cool one, though I confess I don't love the corrugated steel.

Sundial Springs
I really like this park. The invert layout is top notch.

Gladisant
This almost feels like a practice run for Stonehenge, but of course that's easy to say in hindsight. The castle is excellent, as is the coaster layout and the abstract supports. Very creative object usage as well. Love the husky-stagecoach ride!

Christmas Coaster
Very fun how off-grid this one is! The pathing, landscaping, crunch, architecture are all very good. The oversized trees and presents are a fun juxtaposition to some of the more meticulous details. Great idea using the stone spheres as Christmas balls.

The Painted Ladies
I mean, come on. This is so good.