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Vote for your favorite track! Round 272

#11
I have already stated my vote, but now it is time for my reasonings behind my pick and why the three other entries have not claimed my vote.

Spirited Mountain (Ryu): 
I was not really intrigued at this project when you first showed me it. However, now seeing this in its final form shows me more intrigue for this entry. Being all NCSO, this entry is far gone well done. There are very few nitpicks or complains I would have against this entry. Atmosphere is well done, trackitecture as well. One of which, is those vanilla building objects you find in RCT2. Even though this is NCSO, I would have liked to see more effort in the way of 'not leisurely placed single-objects from original game.' It, to me seems rather lazy and unethical. I do not right know how well you could have pulled off a one-tile handmade building, but those objects simply could have been left out.

The other minor issue I see is the foliage. As Ziscor rightly said, 
"The one thing I don't particularly like is the foliage. It's supposed to be very 'micro-esque', I am assuming, but NCSO has only ever worked in a macro format, in my opinion. Something much more natural can be and has been executed in NCSO RCT2-work by people, and while I'm all for uniquely different foliage work, this just doesn't do it for me, I'm afraid."  The foliage does not do justice for an otherwise lovely entry. I would suggest tinker around with it more.

I cannot think of any other issues than some sheer nitpicks, so I will leave it at that. Overall, a wonderfully crafted entry that pulls out an incredible atmosphere in such a small space. 9/10

Waldafur:
Finally, FI-NAL-LY we have a RCT3 entry done right! (Excluding RealCoasterTrack). There is a lovely layout, an amazingly detailed atmosphere, cunningly designed buildings, amazing foliage for as far as the eye can see, and for once, this actually looks like it was built in a park, and not alone in some grassy field. There is even less to nitpick here than with Spirited Mountain. There is only one nitpick from me, and that, along with several others is pacing. 


There are several bits of the layout that seem jerky, and/or brutal; in the sense of roughness. Particularly, at least for me, those inversions whip you around, as does some of the turns, and even the lift hill could potentially bruise you. All I could see fit for this entry than entirely scrapping the layout is to tone down on the speed of the lift hill by a couple miles per hour. 

I am insanely intrigued in your designs, especially since this build is his first entry on RCTgo. Once again, fantastic atmosphere, a keen eye for lovely landscapes, detailed architecture, and the supports all look great (minus that first zero G). Incredible first entry! This certainly is the level all RCT3 entries should be. 10/10 - Claimed my vote.

Tiger Tower:
What separates this RCT3 entry from most is the feel some work actually put into this. This entry feels as if it did take some time to collect a good looking apparatus to thereby enter with. This too, has adecent atmosphere, what, with the Asian theming (at least, from what I take of it), pretty neat architecture, and even a zoo of tigers to go along with it, the atmosphere is fairly good. Even the landscaping is decent. While there is a decent bit good, there is also a decent bit wrong. I will not get into it all, though.

There are a few detracts from this entry however. While the landscaping is considered decent by my standards, it feels a bit drab. I feel that if you tinkered around with more foliage, and more terra-paint. Instead of having plain, boring grass, remix the feel with throwing dirt, or sand, or rock in there to spice it up. 

The station is surely quite detailed with Asian covers for the station and path, but that large green (hill?) which I assume holds the station in place is horribly distracting, and thus would tear the eyes of an onlooker from the detailed atmosphere to the green, blank, nothingness. 

The last thing, is the layout. Now, I am not sure if this particular type of coaster is destined to be in a permanent sideways rate, but to me, it looks unrealistic in the sense that if the train was supposed to sit horizontally on the flat surface track, with it sideways, you would be hanging overlooking your doom at all times. While that would definitely be a scare factor, it definitely does not bid well on a realism standpoint.

Overall, this is quite a nice entry. This is overshadowed by the first two entries, which I do find fair, but this is only a few minor changes away from being right in the thick of things. Good entry, keep it up! 6/10

Wilder Run:
We are down to our final entry of the round, and unfortunately, it fails to provide an even remote chance to compare with these other three entries. Many issues lurk within this entry, one of which, is looking like a false-NieSch entry. NieSch has great rides, but he would certainly not compare with this round. Which, unfortunately, this entry does fall quite a long ways short. 

There was an attempt at theming, and you have just got a basic, blocky building with little to no detail. There is no atmosphere whatsoever in this, other than it looks like it came from the undergrounds. This is lacking far in the aspect of detailed atmosphere, beautifully executed, detailled architecture, and even less than that, this entry fails to even be in the realms of park, as there is too much wrong with this entry than there is good.


You are going to have to try much harder than this to try and compare with these other entries. A few tips I can give for that is:


- Tinker with your next entry's buildings and make them have more compartments, instead of being one big square. It also helps to search Google or some searching site for images of detailed buildings and atmospheres to get a grasp on what you would like to do with this, and its potential atmosphere.

- Try to put your next entry in a park surrounded with beautifully wittled landscaping, instead of flat, uninspired ground. For instance, you could try adding hills and mountains, or rivers and streams, all compiled with a vast variety of foliage (E.T Bushes, rocks, trees, flowers, etc...) Doing so, with a clear mental image of what you want this next entry to look like and trying new things will help tremendously.

- Surround it with other rides. Aspect of it being alone, with nothing else in sight is terrible for any park trying to succeed. If you do these first two tips, and then begin to place neatly constructed paths, buildings, rides, etc.. in the general area of the ride, will greatly improve your 'park ideals.' 

There really is not much more I can tip you on, so, anyone, feel free to add more. Overall, this entry feels uninspired, and a rather carefree attempt at this competition. The only thing that is good, is that you tried, at least. 2.5/10

--

As I have stated before, I expect that you, who enter these rounds, know that all of our criticisms are to help you improve as a builder, not to put you down, and deter you from ever entering again. Several of us have provided great constructive criticism on how you can improve your builds, as I have tried to execute just now, but it is your duty, in regard on what you want to do. That being, keep doing as you are and ignore us, OR try out our criticisms and tinker around and keep improving. 

That is why we continue to post constructive criticism, even if it causes drama. No harm whatsoever is meant of it, so, go out there and show us your skills - and that goes to everyone, including me, who enters these rounds.

--

Anyways, good luck to everyone in the competition! May the best entry win!
Resuming regularly scheduled programming!
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#12
@Blaze^ How is the use of single tile NCSO buildings - quote - "unethical" ? The rest of what you said makes sense (for the most part), but this just doesn't make any sense whatsoever, lol.
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#13
I find it unethical, because it seems to me that when you have to resort to one-tile objects, you are being a bit lazy. Whether Spirited Mountain could be better or worse without them, I do not know.
Resuming regularly scheduled programming!
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#14
My vote goes to Waldafur- a fantastic RCT3 entry, with phenomenal scenery, foliage, and landscaping. Like others have said, the pacing needs work, it goes through everything way too fast. My only other nitpick is that the track is too high up in the station. Otherwise it's perfect, RCT3 at its fullest potential.

Spirited Mountain was a very close second- I don't love the layout, but a really good job with terrain and scenery, especially in such a compact area.
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#15
My constructive reviews this round will focus mainly on the layouts of each coaster, as other players have already covered most of what needs to be said regarding scenery and terraforming, and most of these entries could use some work in the engineering department.

Spirited Mountain (Ryu)
Another RCT2 entry that pushes the limits of the NCSO style, and easily one of the best RCT2 designs we've seen so far. The main highlights include the station, which is executed flawlessly to resemble a real traditional Japanese building, and the torii gate, which, although simple, adds significantly to the environment. The rickety bridge across the waterfall and the head of Ryu should also not be overlooked. Layout-wise, this one made some questionable choices, and Wild Mouse may have been the wrong track for the job--at least in certain areas--only because there are some turns that would seem much more pleasant if they were banked, most noticeably the one directly after a 40-foot plunge. Since the Wild Mouse track is useful for the shorter steep drops, as well as the steep lift hill, this one may have benefited from a merged track, with a different track type (i.e. Mini Roller Coaster) substituted for banked areas. The short brake run immediately between a 20-foot drop and the lift hill is also a bit of an odd choice, but it makes sense if the goal is to save space. Building a coaster in a 15x15 space is no easy task, and this one is definitely impressive.

Waldafur
Judging by scenery alone, this is one of the best RCT3 entries we've seen within the past year. The environment is remarkably detailed and realistic, the supports are where they should be, and the architecture is perfect for the Alpine theme. Riding at night is an experience all its own due to how beautifully lit up the coaster is. With natural-looking terrain that includes rocks and shrubs and various terrain paints, this is easily a complete entry, much like Spirited Mountain. What it also shares in common with the Japanese mountain coaster is that the layout is on the rough side and could be greatly improved to fit more appropriate roller coaster physics. While the lift hill is a bit too fast, the train actually travels through the air time hill following it (with the wooden supports) at what seems like the right speed, so that problem solves itself. It's everything after the inversion--the two bunny hops and the two air time hills--that's much too fast for riders. The brake run between the air time hills and the final bunny hop should slow the train down more than it does, as it takes that bunny hop far too quickly. The inclusion of a brake run immediately after the inversion in place of the bunny hop, solely to slow the train down, could solve the speed problem along the two air time hills, although the first one may also need to be smoothed out. If the quality of the layout matched that of everything else, this would be among the best RCT3 entries we've ever had.

Tiger Tower
This is a coaster type that's rarely used in Build It, and it also makes use of another feature that's generally overlooked in this competition--animals. It's supported well, and Asian scenery is used to create a convincing enough environment. There were some strange choices made in this design, the most glaring of which being the tall grass plateau sticking up between the ride and the entrance plaza. All of the other hills around the ride were terraformed realistically, but that plateau looks completely unnatural and detracts significantly from its surrounding environment. It's clearly there to elevate the tiger enclosure, but even that feature would be better at ground level: not only would that plateau be out of the picture, but the guests would actually be able to see the tigers when they weren't riding the coaster. The surrounding hills look nice, but they in turn might actually benefit from a few additional terrain paints, such as something rockier to contrast the vast grassiness. Unlike the other coaster types this round, I'm not familiar enough with the Dizzy Dropper to give much feedback regarding the layout, but I would suggest using the larger, smoother transitions in high speed areas in favor of the sharper ones regardless of which direction the car is traveling. Overall, in terms of winning potential, it's definitely on its way.

Wilder Run
It's very rare to see a roller coaster built entirely on a steel surface, so if that's part of the design, that much is up to the builder. However, though the ride contains no POV, I can tell from looking at it that it's too fast in certain areas. The hill above the green-tiled path (nice use of custom paths, by the way) needs to be smoother for its height, as it's very likely the culprit behind the -2.07g of ejector air time, and the barrel roll at ground level following the 45-foot drop is also questionable, though not as unusually placed as the 80-foot loop directly before the end brake run. It may help to plan the layout somewhat in advance so that you don't end up with a ground-level brake run in the middle and a 60 MPH launch near the end. I would suggest looking at the layouts of real B&M coasters to see the variety of inversions they use and where they place them in relation to one another; you can find Medusa ingame at the Six Flags Great Adventure recreation scenario. The larger inversions are best used shortly after the lift hill, while the smaller ones should be saved for the second half. And just because it has a realistic layout, doesn't mean it can't still be wild!
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