Park / [NEDC6] The Cartographer
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10-May 25
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Xtreme97 storms to second place with a stunning entry celebrating the early cartographers.
earns Elite Parkmaker
It's with enormous pleasure that we shall provide dear Xtreme with a shiny new red dress on the site, as despite the tight loss for the champion's title, he successfully upgrades his so far NE Parkmaker status to Elite level.
In some ways this feels long overdue. Our eyes have seen, known and loved Xtreme's skills for years, and the "bigger solo map" contingent was the only thing in his way to greatness. Since his previous parkmaker enabling
Smooch Hour from 2022, Xtreme has been at home in Micros and Group projects that playfully lingered around the 90% score mark twice. It should be no surprise then that a solo piece by Xtreme in 2025 would also find itself in this score territory.
His entry is a spectacle of colour and storytelling across realism, semi-realism and fantasy, all brought together as one. It's rare you will see such ready versatility and fusion of the genres on the same map, glued together perfectly by the overarching theme of exploration and seafaring. Xtreme draws his own map of what 2025 RCT can look like, crafting a vision that encompasses state of the art architecture, terraforming, foliage, ride design, ...really any parkmaking discipline you can think of. He combines it all with tasteful aesthetic expression and renders it as one impressive package. Truly a performance literally belonging to the elite of NE.
Congratulations dear Xtreme, for finding your way to solo work again, and for giving yourself the parkmaker title you deserve, at minimum. NE is so blessed to have you, as a player, as an admin, and as a person. This era of showcase parkmaking would never be the same without you.
On my first viewing I just started saying out loud how good this is. There were a few examplary designs in this contest, but this design shows what the category was created for. The ride is showcased so well and everything around it is just perfection.The architecture being a main standout in terms of park content. The map edges were a very cool and original idea that really took this to another level. On the one hand this map feels very surreal or fantastical and on the other it's super easy to envision yourself being there. Incredible work!
And congratulations on the well deserved elite parkmaker title!
As soon as you open this map, you are bludgeoned with creativity and class. As the title of the entry may imply, there is a strong “map” motif capitalised in the surroundings of this map. This is presented flawlessly, with the map emerging from the battered and faded parchment, erupting into a state-of-the-art masterpiece. There is a level of finish to this experience which makes me think that the builder must have been working on this for years. But he can’t have been, because the layout only dropped when the contest was beginning, and it is so perfectly integrated… It comes as no surprise that Xtreme97 is made of different stuff than you or I, and as a consequence this will be less a conversation about simple pros and cons and more a conversation about the very apex of the game's decision making.
The first thing I want to mention is that for some reason, I couldn't vibe with the music. I think this may have been a technical thing - It feels as though the EQ doesn’t match the style guide for RCT sounds and comes through very harshly. I had to mute the game to comfortably view the park.
The dominant viewing angle appears to be “inside L”, where we view the cobra roll beneath the pre-drop turn. This entry is really a masterclass in framing a layout. There is, of course, a path crossing over the entrance and exit to the cobra roll, but opportunities are taken across the whole layout to make it feel “inevitable”. The tunnels along the cliff through to the loop of bridges over the streams and track through to the dive over and under the queue where we contend with the sea serpent all show a level of effortlessness to make us sick with envy. I think that Xtreme tackles the challenge of framing the loop in an interesting way. He draws a path close, but it appears mostly incidental and less of a deliberate viewing position to accent the loop (in fact, there are stalls appearing to block it from some perspectives). Instead, he has waterfalls frame the loop on either side of it’s backdrop, which guide the viewer’s eyes in a subtle and effective way.
From the reverse angles, the black stone cliffs obscure a lot of the layout from view, but we are paid off by an outstanding Curaçao-esque village in the cove. One of the angles feels a little malnourished compared to the other, and the drop for the log flume is almost entirely concealed, along with the splashdown being completely concealed. The only moment which truly betrays the presence of the log flume is the cool moment where it strikes out into the realm of parchment and ink. This is a very confusing choice, as the log flume basically amounts to a turnaround and the rumour of a drop among the washerwomen of the village. The diagonal swinging ship is a cool and effective choice, but does naturally bias the viewing angle further still.
I fear I may climb into every detail of this map, so I will cut to the chase. I think this is an achievement to behold, but still has moments to improve or perhaps moments which needed cooking a little further. I sincerely hope this sees you grab that red name as it would fit you like a glove.
Score: 90%, polished to a mirror finish
I LOVED this map. it was my personal favorite, and there was a clear gap between this and any other entry for me.
it's just pretty much perfect. concept, 10/10. theme, excellent. colors, better than i could have imagined. new and interesting scenery uses that make this an iconic aesthetic. the map edge is the kind of thing that 99% of people just wouldn't bother with. it's the kind of thing that elevates a very good map to an excellent map - the killer idea that fits the theme like a glove and ends up defining the design. i'm honestly jealous.
i was thinking while judging this, and i hope this doesn't come across as offensive, that i couldn't think of a defining map from you (probably very unfair of me and i missed a lot of years). every map that i knew you were involved with, i always just kind of thought of as a "them-and-you" map. for some reason, you just didn't pop directly into my head when i thought of the top 3 or 5 builders out there. i'm really happy that this map exists as a solo effort (and pac obviously) because to me you are quite obviously one of the top 3 current players, and you play the game at a level that makes me jealous.
this is one of the prettiest themes i've ever seen in rct and i love it.