(Archive) Advertising District / Entertainment City: Las Vegas

Omg that entrance looks awesome...!

i think i know whos gonna be the next parkmaker

Much better entrance! I still don't like the green area that much cause it conflicts with the colors around it.

erm...three words...JKay for Parkmaker!

For the love of God...

I think the work you have done here is really impressive, JKay. I only wish I could imagine buildings like you can. That said, I've never really been a big fan of this project. Even for Vegas 2010 it is way too loud and cluttered. Not only could I never picture walking through most of that (besides the Egypt section), but I could never imagine any person wanting to build something like that. In Vegas buildings can be loud and showy, but there still is an element of refinement and moderation in the building design. You have a pyramid at Luxor, but you don't have a pyramid decorated with huge hieroglyphics. Why? Because the visitor is supposed to be awestruck by the entire building, not by the decorations. By focusing too much on the tiniest details you miss the big picture of what the building is supposed to be. Likewise, there is so much stuff going on in most of those screens that I can't discern anything overall. Looking at it I think, "Is that supposed to be a shop, or a bunch of scenery pieces put together?" One can be wowed by a building by the overall appearance and the aesthetic balance without a bunch of extra details all over it. I think how to make it more like Vegas would be to make it much more spacious and refined. If I were touring a four-star resort, would I want to walk through a building make of pink 1/4 block scenery? I sure wouldn't. I would want to walk through a smoothly done, inviting building with some artwork here and there immersing me in the theme, but not swarming me in it. You know, a welcoming feel that says, "Enjoy your day here," a pleasant kind of atmosphere, but not one that bombards you with confectionary details. Many of the buildings that I've seen that pack on the details in real life aren't very well thought of by people, including travel writers. They're thought of as overdone and overly glamorous. No offense, but I think these buildings are similarly overdone. Coming full circle, I wouldn't be able to appreciate the overall atmosphere of the theme. I think you can make a very nice Vegasy theme without swarming details. I may catch hell for saying this, but I think many people who haven't said too much about this project would agree with me. I've always been a fan of your work JKay, I just think that you're going over the top here.

I think the work you have done here is really impressive, JKay. I only wish I could imagine buildings like you can. That said, I've never really been a big fan of this project. Even for Vegas 2010 it is way too loud and cluttered. Not only could I never picture walking through most of that (besides the Egypt section), but I could never imagine any person wanting to build something like that. In Vegas buildings can be loud and showy, but there still is an element of refinement and moderation in the building design. You have a pyramid at Luxor, but you don't have a pyramid decorated with huge hieroglyphics. Why? Because the visitor is supposed to be awestruck by the entire building, not by the decorations. By focusing too much on the tiniest details you miss the big picture of what the building is supposed to be. Likewise, there is so much stuff going on in most of those screens that I can't discern anything overall. Looking at it I think, "Is that supposed to be a shop, or a bunch of scenery pieces put together?" One can be wowed by a building by the overall appearance and the aesthetic balance without a bunch of extra details all over it. I think how to make it more like Vegas would be to make it much more spacious and refined. If I were touring a four-star resort, would I want to walk through a building make of pink 1/4 block scenery? I sure wouldn't. I would want to walk through a smoothly done, inviting building with some artwork here and there immersing me in the theme, but not swarming me in it. You know, a welcoming feel that says, "Enjoy your day here," a pleasant kind of atmosphere, but not one that bombards you with confectionary details. Many of the buildings that I've seen that pack on the details in real life aren't very well thought of by people, including travel writers. They're thought of as overdone and overly glamorous. No offense, but I think these buildings are similarly overdone. Coming full circle, I wouldn't be able to appreciate the overall atmosphere of the theme. I think you can make a very nice Vegasy theme without swarming details. I may catch hell for saying this, but I think many people who haven't said too much about this project would agree with me. I've always been a fan of your work JKay, I just think that you're going over the top here.

He discribes my feeling about it very well...
Very good use of theming, but it's not very convincing yet. Use a litlle more thought when you place certain things and will have a very cool park.

Tyandor

I agree it can look overdone in some places, but i still really admire his work. TZ took some getting used to, when i first looked at it i immediately thought it sucked, seriously. But after looking at it for a while, i started to notice small things, and now i love it. This is JKay's style, and a VERY different one, you cant say its better than, or worse than other styles. Another thing with JKay is, he works at a pretty fast pace (seems to me) and enjoys what he builds. Im not saying everyone else builds to impress, but i can often get that feeling in other threads. Jkay, seems to build for himself, and whatever people say, although he takes it into consideration, like the egyption area for example, he doesnt usuallychange it for other people to like.

I agree, JKay is going to make parkmaker VERY soon, im sure of it.

The last screen is interesting, busy, but i like it. You cant get a good feel of the screen without the lights, it will seem completely different when looking at the actual park. I love the 1/4 tile pyramid rooves in the back of the entrance screen, along with all the other little details. I really cant wait to see more of this!

Wow panic & Richie, thanks for the lengthy feedback...this is the kinda stuff I need to know to really improve.....I'll address your reponses -

Panic - You made some really valid statements. I think you really have analyzed my style enough to find my biggest faults when it comes to parkmaking. Mainly, I liked your comments about this park not capturing the overall Vegas feel and being "confectionary", I think thats a really good word that describes the biggest downfall with this park so far. Vegas is all about the monumental size of things and the "wow" factor of large buildings and hotels, not necessarily cheesy-Vegaslike details crammed together to make a building. The Circus Circus Hotel really defines my loud, over-the-top part of my style. I'm also still not happy with the entrance and think it has a Vegas feel, but is kinda overdone at the same time. Thats my biggest problem...overdoing things, and I'm really trying to work on it. If or when I show some of the other areas, like the Hoover Dam, Black Canyon Rapids, Lunar Excursion or Fremont Street areas, I think you might see me trying to "calm down" in a sense and actually create a Vegas themepark, not cram a bunch of different random scenery togther and call it Vegas (like the entrance).....thanks Panic, you really have opened my eyes to some of my faults, but like I said, please watch for updates here...

Richie - Your correct, my style is certainly unique and seen as "hit or miss"....people either love or hate it....But finally, I think I'm settling down now and am able to build without going over-the-top, in my eyes at least. At first, all my screens were meant to impress, and I was building parks for the community, not for me. I've learned thats not what parkmaking should be about; it should be about making parks the way YOU want and maybe getting a little praise as you go....so yeah, now I build what I, not what others want and most importantly, have fun doing itPeople always say that my work is "busy", but they better get used to it because thats how I build. My other problem would be over-advertising (John would agree there) and thats something that I am working on as well.

....thanks for the support, its always appreciated....

I was going back through topics earlier, and i found a VERY old topic you made. With a bright green blick with yellow windows all spaced out perfect, and helixes incased in a large ugly abstract box

I couldnt beleive it was actually you, and shows how much you have improved in so little time. Ill edit this with the link if i can find it, but i dont want to go off topic.

-------------
on topic.

I dont beleive you over advertise, just enough to keep people here commenting, its annoying when you have a dull, useless thread So anyway, show more i wanna see more!

you work soooooooooooooooo fast.

I hope your work isn't half ass.




which it probably isn't.

Although i dislike looking at colourful fantasy park i like this. you realiszed some great ideas adn put some good coasters in wonderful theming. espicially the pirates part is well done. i like to see how you combine rct2 sczenarie with object from the i-net.
the park has a very high level of details and there are so many things to look at. i hope you cantinue with that kind of work and make more realistic parks. in my opinion this really fits to your style. you can make so realistic water and use a good architecture (watch out that it'S not too disorderd). maybe some more normal culours can help you either.

that's all i have to say.

maggi, the colors are what make this so great. Look, if this were all brown and red, it would be...blah.

btw dragonfly - I dont really build fast, I just have a lot of game time on my hands, at least 3-4 hours a day....see, I dont have schoolwork to worry about like most of you youngin's out there.........so dont worry, cuz I aint half-assin' this park.

UPDATE: Two new screens.....park is now at 45% completion. Enjoy!

This shows the bustling Fremont Street featuring several rides, restaurants, casinos and other attractions:


This shows the Odyessy of the Barrier floorless coaster amongst the Hoover Dam re-creation area. A glimpse of Black Canyon Rapids can be seen in the upper right.

two words:

1. Speech

2. less

Brilliant. voodoo who?

God.

Is that whole dam made with 1/4 blocks? It's really cool. It's good that you were assigned to build for Angel in Mythologix.. your styles are almost exactly alike.. except you use more color. The lights are really cool, and I like how every building is themed to something different, just like in Vegas.

SPOTLIGHT

Holy crap @ Hoover Dam. I was anticipating this part of the park for a long time and I am in no way disappointed. I was a little apprehensive about how exactly you would get the slope that way, but I do know some custom blocks angled like that and it looks like you made good use of them. The extra mechanical-themed objects are nice touches too. I have to say, however, that the coaster isn't my cup of tea. It seems overbearing, with the zero-g-roll kind of taking away from the dam and the cutback jutting out into the river like that. If I were you I would keep it to a more subtle layout, possibly mostly on one side of the river. If you do keep the coaster as it is, remember to cover up that station piece on the left, and try to get rid of that support on the right side of the dam.
1. Also, I would suggest that you make the dam bigger (if you can with height issues)! Not only is Hoover Dam like 600 feet high in real life, but making the dam bigger would give you bigger slopes on either side of it, meaning a better place to sneak a coaster in!
2. If you want, I can suggest some possible elements to put in for a coaster.

The other screen looks to be very cool. Fortunately, I can pretty easily discern the shapes and purposes of the buildings in that one. Well done.

Oh my God. I just saw that Hoover Dam screen, and I think I may have to change my pants now. Oh my God.