H2H7 / [H2H7 Round 2 Match 1] - Robber Barons vs Manual Laborers

^^Oh, so now you want the reviews to be both lovely and long, you're a hard man to please

I loved both parks. I'm leaning towards the Manual Laborers park but I need to spend a lot more time looking these over in game before I vote. When I do I'll leave a detailed review.

 

I'm loving the Robber Baron's macro scale though, I thought this park and their round 1 park broke the NE mold a little bit and I really appreciate that.

Bermuda - the Lost Colony
Concept:
Nice idea with the black box log in the message - really enjoyed this! The idea of having a Bermuda-themed park isn't really new - but this one was executed really well! I loved the concept of people entering the park over crashed planes and rescue boats, nice touch.
Macro (Park Impression):
From the overview, the parks gives off a vibrant, lush but slightly messy atmosphere. It doesn't really look that exciting or new, but it comes together well as a whole I think.
Rides:
Caldera is nice, but nothing more - it's a little bit short and boring IMO. Would have loved to see more interaction with the volcano, maybe shoot it out the caldron? The queue line is a bit lackluster and short as well. Magnetite was better IMO, good interaction with the path and landscape, the indoor part was also very strong - just a shame it's running with only 1 train (same with Caldera) Kudos to the custom rides (Agwe, Rock Crawlers and Windseeker) - really amazing how well everyone seems to hack nowadays, haha! Shipwreck cove rapids was a nice ride as well - lovely wrecks all around.
Architecture:
The buildings are very nice throughout. Right size, right amount of details and nice variation throughout. The entrance town was my favorite with its colonial-style buildings and lush foliage.
Micro (Details):
I really loved the sculptures throughout the park (crashed plane used as a bridge, shipwreck cove, the Baron,...). Those really make the park IMO. All in all a fun park with great details, nice setting and stellar rides. Well done!

World's Fair
Concept:
Loved the whole concept of having a 19th century world fair with lots of glass, steel and steam! A concept I'd wanted to see for a long time already. You did a great job capturing the turn of the century-feel in this park and I really loved that!
Macro (Park Impression):
Those flass halls are really huge and put that Eiffel tower-ish structure to shame. I think it should've been the other way around, making the tower more important than those glass palaces. What's really missing is room to breathe IMO - the gardens could've been used for this, but instead there are two(!) transport rides blocking the space.
Rides:
I liked Mechanica, but it felt really crammed inside the glass building, like most of the other rides too. Why are there so many glass structures? Why no open air expo area? I mean I get that those are expo halls but 5 halls were too much IMO. Gigavolt was only working when I resetted the ride... I liked it but it was kinda boring with being curves and one large bunny hop only. River of knowledge was also a great ride, I think my favorite in the park. Well done with the ride elements and path interaction. As said I don't get why there are so many transport rides. They are going over and under and distract from each other IMO.
Architecture:
The buildings are really spot-on for the theme I think. Those glass structures with the trusses were impressive and believeable. Really sad to see no love for the tower - it could have been so much more than just a giant sculpture. Why no viewing tower? Why no coaster integrated?
Micro (Details):
The park felt a little bit unfinished in some parts (missing objects, some naming and some stuff not working). But there were a lot of details I really liked, the stalls and the machines). Haven't seen better framework in RCT since Parapluie I think. So kudos for that!

Overall a strong matchup and I will revisit the parks soon for voting.

"MFG"

Haven't read anyone's comments yet so here are my initial thoughts:

 

World's Fair

-Architecture was mostly great, though there was a bit of glitchiness like in PoE so that detracts from it.

-Rides were creative and mostly good.  Gigavolt (my favorite in the park) didn't run for me so I had to open it myself but I can't give you credit for it because it wasn't running.

-Loved the trams, but there was some hacking issues with them I think

-Themes were unclear. I mean, I understood the general theme and I loved that idea.  Better transition would have improved that

-The Tower, which was beautiful, could have been taller and peepable. Would have enhanced the park much more

-Biggest thing though, it was unfinished.  There were obvious spots of clear land that were intended for buildings, foliage, or whatever.  You just didn't cover them up well and that annoys me.  The park seems rushed which is too bad.

-The area the park starts in is pretty mediocre too.  No good architecture, no rides, just a boring area.

 

Bermuda: The Lost Colony

Cant download these yet, but just looking at the screens they both have that 'feel.' That right mix of grandeur and mystique.

World's Fair

By the name I thought this was gonna be another world showcase. Lucky you guys thought of a more original idea. Like someone said before, it's not just a steampunk park and it's not just a world showcase. It's more. Archy was top notch and fits the theme very well. The Eiffel Tower was done nice, but it's a shame you guys didn't build a lift in it. Missed opportunity I think. I love the La Grande Vue ride and the Sky Roller. That ride we've seen before (last round in H2H) but never in such a themed way. So kudos for that. Some bad points: Gigavolt doesn't ride, had to reset it. Also I always got an error trapper when I want to see the Eurofighter?! Shame... But otherwise, I enjoyed it!

 

Bermuda: the lost colony

And also here we have an original park idea, me gusta! I loved the chosen theme and the execution of it. All those plane wrecks were awesome and made it so much more then just a tropical island park. The story behind is beautifully brought alive in the park, strong rct'ing I call that! So many fun details to discover. The layout of Caldero was nice but could be better, it had a bit too less to offer for a B&M flying. The Intamin launch coaster was great, just as the peepable windseeker. 

 

 

Very tight for me, don't think this is a weak match at all... I guess my vote will go for Bermuda. The theme appeals me more in the end. 

I think all the people complaining about having to reopen gigavolt and not giving credit for it because you had to open it yourself is just stupid, yes our park has some minor flaws but the uphill battle it was and seeing what we had to go through to get it released in this form is something few people can imo, and bashing on a little downpoint that hard is really annoying since it's a very common problem that you see in every park you ever build yourself... don't be lazy, close it, reopen it and enjoy the ride.

Maybe it's just me and maybe I'm biased, but I couldn't get completely into the Laborers' park.  It felt too much like a combination of Sea of Sagas, Port of Entry, Corsair Veredian, and Adventure Isle (H2H6) without being as good as the first 3.  

 

Don't get me wrong, there were some brilliant spots: I love seeing backstories so major plus for that, the Windseeker hack is amazing (I'm definitely gonna want that when I expand Cedar Point, whoever did it please pm me after voting is over), the ship and plane wrecks were a nice feature throughout and I loved how you made paths through them- very creative, and there is some gorgeous vibrant, colorful charm distinct to one builder.

 

But at the same time I'm a little disappointed by a few things.  First, the obvious copying from different parks: the rounded towers have already been mentioned as very Sea of Sagas-esque, but there's another building in the main entrance area that is a clear copy from the New Orleans section of DAW, and I definitely remember seeing a screen posted a while back very similar to the path border ride labeled as "little ring."  Maybe I shouldn't throw stones, seeing as gee and I both built Raptor after having previously done it, but at least it was our own work we were copying.

 

Second, the macro colors were a mess to me.  The combination of sand base land and grey brick is just so ugly, the grey brick in particular sucks a lot of charm out of the overall composition.  I also found Caldera's color to be too gaudy for my taste, the combination of warm coaster colors and supports just stuck out way too much when surrounded mostly by cool, Earthy tones.  

 

Third, the overall messiness.  The part that jumped out as the worst offender was the area underneath Windseeker; in a 5x5 plot of land, you guys used K0NG boardwalk, wooden base block, flat roof texture, K0NG brick, crazy stone, castle steps, and GW road lines (all using different shades of brown) to make paths.  

 

Please don't get the wrong idea, had this park been released last season it would be quite memorable, and it's definitely worthy of a low Gold or high Silver accolade.  Bermuda was almost like an anti-Port of Entry: good thoughts behind it, clear efforts to support the theme throughout the park, and a solid sense of location, but I just wasn't blown away with the overall execution. 

We don't know your teams' backstage trouble.

"MFG"

yes our park has some minor flaws

 

 

 

And just pointing one out makes you that angry?! Chill down dude, people are just giving their opinion on the two parks.

Just a question to the people claiming that Manual Laborers has parts taken from Port of Entry? How can a team take inspiration from a park that was only released 2 weeks before?

 

And this isn't because it's my team, I was just genuinely curious as to why people think this.

¨seconded, I mean they'd need to be crazy fast builders to do that... XD

I do get that some of the ideas "feel" the same but that doesn't make it copied per se

The path design and color scheme at the entrance areas of both make it look like the two could be connected parts of the same larger park.  I'm not saying that anything was copied from PoE specifically (although I stand by the copying comments earlier about small pieces of other parks), rather that there are visual similarities that invite comparisons, as unfair or unintentional as that may be.

Good job the Manual Laborers decided against their Steampunk Parisian World Fair then, otherwise similar comments of things feeling the same or being similar would have also been made.

Yeah, I was about to say that. Good park, Barons. I get the cramped spaces portrays the atmosphere of a worlds fair, but it just doesn't mesh so well as others have mentioned. I really loved the park though!

I haven't looked at the parks for long enough but having built sea of sagas I honestly don't see many similarities aside of the fact that there are quite a few boats. Not sure what the fuss is about. After all both themes have been done before, but id say both are pretty individual parks.

Just a question to the people claiming that Manual Laborers has parts taken from Port of Entry? How can a team take inspiration from a park that was only released 2 weeks before?

 

I haven't looked at the parks for long enough but having built sea of sagas I honestly don't see many similarities aside of the fact that there are quite a few boats. Not sure what the fuss is about. After all both themes have been done before, but id say both are pretty individual parks.

 
It could be coincidence, but it just heavily reminded me of the work in those pics, although slightly altered. And as for Port of Entry, there's still 2 weeks in-between r1 and r2 and with the extension even more time if it was being used, so that could be enough to fit it in.
It's not a big thing tho, work gets copied all the time and I don't really mind it that much in Bermuda. Probably the whole theme felt a bit unoriginal to me, because it has been done a lot before..
 
Don't get me wrong though, I still thought the park was very enjoyable and I prefer it slightly above World's Fair.

Are we allowed to talk about who used extensions.

Those are glass walls on the edge, not coloured rock walls, so even if it was copied, it was done better, which never normally gets complaints. Plus, its a good idea and is no real different to using black tiles. So essentially, anyone using black tiles is copying the original black tiler.

 

The tower is just a brown round tower lol not anything ground breaking lol , i think that and the compass is probably just coincidence lol

 

Anyhoo lol its not like Sea of Sagas was unique lol pretty much all themes have been done before, Port of Entry has too lol.

 

Both parks here are incredible by the way, it's been fantastic watching them be built side by side as they are so different in ideas and feel, can't wait for voting to start, both are equally worthy of winning! Good job teams!

lol, that's a lot of lol's