Park / Secrets in the Snow

24 Comments

This park shares comments with 7 other parks(View Parks)

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  Steve Offline

  Before I get into speaking of our map, unsurprisingly, I think I agree with a lot of Xtreme's feedback on these entries. I really enjoyed AJ's snow theme with the dark tree effect around the map edge. And McCarthy's underground piping and industrial vibes below the ground were great. Morgan and mamarillas' entry also was incredibly striking with the rockwork pierced by the half diagonal roadway. Overall a great round from everyone where each map brought something to the table.

   

  I don't want to outwardly speak for Xtreme so if they wanna chime in and correct me or bring their own insight in, then do feel free! But I'll do my best: I think it's fair to say that this came to fruition in a very casual manner. Much like Glow Worm, it was basically a "hey you wanna do this?" followed by a "yeah let's take a crack" and then it's off to the races all within a Discord DM one morning. We shot some ideas around for how we wanted to tackle the theme, even at one point mentioning a more Soviet and brutalist Tomorrowland before getting into a more Space Coast set in the 1960's vibe (we figured this suited our overall style more anyway while exploring a little more of a small unique twist of the stark white structures of Anaheim's Tomorrowland and some concept at from Disney). I think it was something familiar but a little out of our comfort zone.

   

  As for the prompt, we wanted to take the time travel theme of the contest and twist it into the theme of the map itself, having the "time machine" send us into an alternate timeline of Disney bringing their theme park chops to Florida before building Magic Kingdom in the 1970s as a bit of a "test" of their presence in that demographic (as opposed to a California demographic). We figured a partnership between NASA and Disney wasn't too far out of the realm of possibilities given they had made media for the government in previous World Wars, etc. In hindsight it might not have been executed in a manner that made it especially apparent, but alas.

   

  As for the build itself, it was as seamless as always with Xtreme. I consider myself incredibly fortunate to not only have found a genuinely great human to befriend but also one that happens to coalesce so well in RCT. Xtreme makes it easy to bounce ideas and screens off of, as well as the frequent Spongebob meme. Anyway, Xtreme started the bench and we both ended up getting some scenery in to noodle with. While doing that, we both attempted to get an idea of how we wanted the coaster to be and also the overall macro. Personally, the macro was important to me here (as always) because I knew that this might not be a show-stopping theme or simply considered "more of the same" from Steve with tropical foliage and Desert Palette V. So we wanted to break the grid as hard as we could to really emphasize the shapes the architecture afforded us; we definitely understood that the roundness would help so people were right in that we wanted to exploit it. We also figured that maybe the real Kennedy Space Center's layout was somewhat iconic enough to kind of use as a heavy reference to the overall map layout, so we used that as a base with injecting some of Tomorrowland into it and making sure the sightlines lined up well. Xtreme hit the jackpot discovery of those rounded roofs, though, and was maybe the catalyst of that "hell yea" moment where we knew we had something worth doing and doing well. I think another big moment was the PeopleMover and using the CTR street vehicles which not only emphasized some big curves but also brought some needed atmosphere and kinetics. At the tail end of the build (basically the last week), we were struggling with the backstage areas a bit and were thinking the overall map needed a little more "grounding" or "sense of place," so we ended up reworking the outskirts to accommodate more foliage and the water retention ponds/waterways which felt like a hallmark of Central Florida and brought in some needed atmosphere along with it.

   

  I'm genuinely overwhelmed with the response this has gotten though, and can't thank everyone enough for the kind words. I was lucky enough to basically have an empty slate work-wise during November to work on this map several hours a day, otherwise I don't think it could have happened or at least maybe not at the level that it did. Xtreme and I definitely had a strong give and take of the map being in different time zones, and every weekend Xtreme put in some serious hours, too (see the dot map below!). It was just a straight up great experience, and one that I'll look back on fondly. I can't wait to see what the next one holds to keep the XCU alive. Thanks again, y'all!

   

  

  posted 7 days ago

  • #21
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  SSSammy Offline

  Amazing work builders! Thanks for sharing these works and congrats to X and Steve for the win!
  
  Find my reactions and reviews for the round 2 parks here! https://youtu.be/FGB...kEFjUSNISKRmmPC

  posted 6 days ago

  • #22
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  ballpitwarrior Offline

  Secret in the Snow: Really enjoyed this one!  The DKSO bench worked well here portraying a more Russian architecture inspired park.  The colors and core layout all integrated well.  There's some objects in gray that to me stick out unnecessarily, but with DKSO that's almost always a battle.  The outskirts here look amazing and really add to the park's atmosphere.  Overall, this is a solid build.  My favorite layout is probably the Batman inspired invert on the edge of the map.  Nicely tucked away and a nice layout.  You never miss with layouts and its one of my favorite aspects of your builds.
  
  Disney's KSC: very cool.  I can't add much else to what others have said really, this map is phenomenal and once again a further push to off-grid shenanigans.  The blue across it works really well.  I would of loved a little more gold similar to how MK has those little bits of gold in what appears to be tech, but that's not much of a deal breaker as the accents scattered throughout in red, purple, and other complimenting colors keep an otherwise Tomorrowland recreation into something gorgeous.  It may have been nice to see one small section of the inside of the coaster as I imagine it's somewhat Space Mountain inspired mixed with Tron's interactions, but honestly there's not much to see inside the real Space Mountain and respect the decision.  Overall, excellent map and another favorite I'll be coming back to.
  
  Race to the Moon: Liked this a lot!  I may have taken out the chocolate ground in some spots as it doesn't read well in its current color hue as padded or steel ground.  The content packing here also put it back a little as I think without some of your complementing coasters the map is actually stronger.  It really needs negative space, but with all that said the rockets throughout and the comedic touches like the astronauts in the line of the space training ride are charming and kept me looking around some more.  Overall, a great and differing entry within the round.
  
  Moonrace Alpha: I didn't really like this one.  It's overly abstract, and even then I think it needed more time to be something more interesting.  The coasters' layout is kind of confusing, and I overall didn't resonate with this build very much.  The little starry background is nice though.
  
  Rumble in the Red Rocks: I love the vibes on this map.  The music, the rock work across, and how you integrated the coaster is all excellent and makes the map atmospheric.  Great support work also.  If anything, inside the base could have used more detail.  I think its the least "baked" portion of the map, but other than that I enjoyed the varying signage and architecture on the outskirts.  Going off-grid is always risky as it means you limit your bench to what can or can't work, but I think it works well here.  Congrats on getting parkmaker, well deserved!
  
  Cosmodrone: despite a desert theme being used, it still feels overly empty.  Texturing the ground some more or "crunchifying it" may have helped trick the brain into thinking the map is fuller than it looks.  The rocket and the coaster interaction is clever in the middle.
  
  The Men Who Stare at Oats: The coaster focus is refreshing in comparison to the other entries, but it feels like less of a unified theme. It doesn't give me "Area 51" vibes, but I imagine thats partly due to a theme park or tourist focus over an actual location.  Despite that, I love the scenes throughout like the field, the UFO, and the core buildings.  
  
  McCarthy Air Force Base: I liked the cutout here and the flats!  Great first time CSO build from Hypno as well.  The McDonalds in this build is my favorite representation I've seen within RCT.  The base, as much as I love the idea, felt like it needed more to stick out whether its variation in texture or more detail.  Overall, I enjoyed looking through this map and really like the direction.
   

  posted 6 days ago

  • #23
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  MorganFan Offline

  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.
  
  

  posted 5 days ago

  • #24
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  Xtreme97 Offline

  

  MorganFan

   earns NE Parkmaker

  A Parkmaker's journey can differ greatly between players - some arrive seemingly fully formed (see the likes of pants or A n d r e w), while others take the scenic route: steadily growing in skill over several years and enjoying the longer path in their stylistic self-discovery (see yours truly). MorganFan falls into the latter camp - his first footprints on NE can be found over a decade ago in 2011, but his first noticeable impressions began in 2019 and 2020, with entries such as Delta Delta and Dr Tiktok's Time Warp. Even in those early moments it was clear that ride design was a strong suit, and he soon became a regular face with appearances in Head-2-Head Classic, Micro Madness and Grand Tour, between which he released a well-themed solo Design: Gale of Amun Ra. Among this a signature style was hard to pin down, but the talent and potential were clear as day.

  Head-2-Head X could be considered the "breakthrough" moment, though as with most H2H parks it was perhaps a bit lost in the shuffle, between the contest buzz and collaborative melting pot. His most visible contribution was the excellent giga layout in the Dambuster's last park, Sonnental but his work in Buxom the Sunset Sorceress mustn't go unnoticed either - featuring a contest-highlight inverted coaster. Both represent one of Morgan's best strengths in ride design and integration.

  It was only a matter of time then for Morgan to take the next steps, and after a charming canyon-spanning design win for last year's Advent Calendar, Gorgeous Gorge, he has now arrived at the NE Parkmaker title with [REDACTED] - Rumble in the Red Rocks. Featuring a memorable park macro, prominent landscaping choices and another excellently designed layout, Morgan has reached a new height and achieved a well-deserved Parkmaker title for his efforts. Congratulations, Morgan!

  posted 2 days ago

  • #25
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