Park / Secrets in the Snow
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01-December 25
- Views 4,619
- Downloads 29
- Fans 0
- Comments 22
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Description
An old lab and factory are getting renovated- All that innovation turned from the space race to makin your heart race. Hidden in the valley, shrouded in the snow, will you survive what might be hiding in the woods?
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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!
Find my reactions and reviews for the round 2 parks here! https://youtu.be/FGB...kEFjUSNISKRmmPC
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.