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Adam James
TS Contributor
The Illustrated Park
The end product is something I'd imagine from a WDI imagineer, simply high quality stuff!
The end product is something I'd imagine from a WDI imagineer, simply high quality stuff!
CGM
TS Member
Re: The Illustrated Park
I thought I would work on the entrance area next. After rushing into the last drawing, I though I would try and plan this one out a bit more
The entrance area is probably the most important part of the park. It's the first thing guests see when they arrive and the last thing they see as they leave. It acts as a base camp for the visitors, accommodating all of the services they require, places to eat and provides a space to relax and plan the day. It's the only area of the park that everyone is guaranteed to visit and most of them want to be there at the same time, so it needs to be able to handle crowds.
I think there are two basic approaches to theme park entrances. Some aim to completely wow the guest with large, spectacular set pieces and detailed theming creating an unforgettable first impression.
The other approach is to create a quaint home from home so that when you set off for the far flung reaches of the park, it feels like setting off on an adventure and at the end of the day, you return to something familiar. I personally prefer this approach to all out sensory overload which is perhaps better suited to other areas of the park. However, it still important that the entrance has enough character to be memorable.
An important feature many a park entrance is the "icon" which is a concept pioneered by Disney. Some of them are obvious (Disney Castle, EPCOT sphere, Asterix mountain, AT), some of them can be more subtle such as a water feature, a lake or perhaps a vista of the park. But the basic idea is that the entrance street or plaza should have a focal point.
Below are a few sketches I've done and a few buildings and exterior spaces that I like. If any of you have examples of park entrances, gardens, buildings, streets or whatever that you like and would work for an entrance, please post them or any other ideas you might want to share.
Some ideas for a park icon, a watermill and a glockenspiel.
This is a drawing I did a while ago. It's a park entrance heavily inspired by the two Victorian shopping arcades in Hull, the Paragon Arcade and Hepworth's Arcade. It's designed for a much smaller park than the one I have in mind for this but elements of it could still be incorporated. I really like covered entrances as I think they provide a safe haven from the elements which is something often lacking from parks particularly in the UK.
Paragon Arcade
Hepworth's Arcade
This is part of the main entrance to Gaudi's Park Guell in Barcelona. I really like the multiple levels being used and the amount of vegetation and colour.
I thought I would work on the entrance area next. After rushing into the last drawing, I though I would try and plan this one out a bit more
The entrance area is probably the most important part of the park. It's the first thing guests see when they arrive and the last thing they see as they leave. It acts as a base camp for the visitors, accommodating all of the services they require, places to eat and provides a space to relax and plan the day. It's the only area of the park that everyone is guaranteed to visit and most of them want to be there at the same time, so it needs to be able to handle crowds.
I think there are two basic approaches to theme park entrances. Some aim to completely wow the guest with large, spectacular set pieces and detailed theming creating an unforgettable first impression.
The other approach is to create a quaint home from home so that when you set off for the far flung reaches of the park, it feels like setting off on an adventure and at the end of the day, you return to something familiar. I personally prefer this approach to all out sensory overload which is perhaps better suited to other areas of the park. However, it still important that the entrance has enough character to be memorable.
An important feature many a park entrance is the "icon" which is a concept pioneered by Disney. Some of them are obvious (Disney Castle, EPCOT sphere, Asterix mountain, AT), some of them can be more subtle such as a water feature, a lake or perhaps a vista of the park. But the basic idea is that the entrance street or plaza should have a focal point.
Below are a few sketches I've done and a few buildings and exterior spaces that I like. If any of you have examples of park entrances, gardens, buildings, streets or whatever that you like and would work for an entrance, please post them or any other ideas you might want to share.
Some ideas for a park icon, a watermill and a glockenspiel.
This is a drawing I did a while ago. It's a park entrance heavily inspired by the two Victorian shopping arcades in Hull, the Paragon Arcade and Hepworth's Arcade. It's designed for a much smaller park than the one I have in mind for this but elements of it could still be incorporated. I really like covered entrances as I think they provide a safe haven from the elements which is something often lacking from parks particularly in the UK.
Paragon Arcade
Hepworth's Arcade
This is part of the main entrance to Gaudi's Park Guell in Barcelona. I really like the multiple levels being used and the amount of vegetation and colour.
CGM
TS Member
Re: The Illustrated Park
This is another development sketch showing a few ideas. Based on the building on the left, I decided to go for a Victorian spa town aesthetic; something like Harrogate of Buxton as it allows for lots and lots of wrought iron of which I am a fan. The topiary on the right of the page lead to the idea of a very stylised entrance area with a lot of concentric shapes.
I decided to do a layout drawing before starting the main one. I found that it avoided contrived last minute ideas that needed to be shoe-horned into the drawing and generally allowed me to better plan out the area as a usable space.
This is what will become the final drawing. This time it's from a more standard concept art angle and shows far more of the area than the last one. I decided to change the route of the railway from the layout drawing as the gradient from a tunnel up onto the embankment in that space just wouldn't be feasible. The entrance to the station is under the bridge and to the left and there's a queue behind the station building. As usual, the perspective is a bit dodgy and needs work.
Any feedback is welcome.
This is another development sketch showing a few ideas. Based on the building on the left, I decided to go for a Victorian spa town aesthetic; something like Harrogate of Buxton as it allows for lots and lots of wrought iron of which I am a fan. The topiary on the right of the page lead to the idea of a very stylised entrance area with a lot of concentric shapes.
I decided to do a layout drawing before starting the main one. I found that it avoided contrived last minute ideas that needed to be shoe-horned into the drawing and generally allowed me to better plan out the area as a usable space.
This is what will become the final drawing. This time it's from a more standard concept art angle and shows far more of the area than the last one. I decided to change the route of the railway from the layout drawing as the gradient from a tunnel up onto the embankment in that space just wouldn't be feasible. The entrance to the station is under the bridge and to the left and there's a queue behind the station building. As usual, the perspective is a bit dodgy and needs work.
Any feedback is welcome.
CGM
TS Member
Re: The Illustrated Park
Sorry for the lack of updates, I've had a lot of work over the last month or so. In any case, the outlining is done! I might skip this step in future as it's pretty tedious and takes much longer to do than the actual drawing.
Also, I've started to put together some music for this area of the park. Sorry if it sounds a bit MIDI-y but most of the instruments in Ableton Intro are synthesised rather than sampled so it can't really be helped. Some of it's a bit over the top but it is theme park music.
Anyway, that can be found here:
https://soundcloud.com/cgm5/illustrated-park-theme-1
Sorry for the lack of updates, I've had a lot of work over the last month or so. In any case, the outlining is done! I might skip this step in future as it's pretty tedious and takes much longer to do than the actual drawing.
Also, I've started to put together some music for this area of the park. Sorry if it sounds a bit MIDI-y but most of the instruments in Ableton Intro are synthesised rather than sampled so it can't really be helped. Some of it's a bit over the top but it is theme park music.
Anyway, that can be found here:
https://soundcloud.com/cgm5/illustrated-park-theme-1
DiogoJ42
TS Member
Re: The Illustrated Park
Don't apologise for taking your time mate. I only touch RCT when I'm 100% feeling in the zone, that's why my updates are rare. Better to wait until you have the inspiration to create a masterpiece than to bodge something together for the sake of it.
Don't apologise for taking your time mate. I only touch RCT when I'm 100% feeling in the zone, that's why my updates are rare.
Better to wait until you have the inspiration to create a masterpiece than to bodge something together for the sake of it.Re: The Illustrated Park
Your work is stunning. Very inspirational. I have actually taken your ride, and made it into a slightly long B&M floorless. I hope you dont mind. Your picture has also inspired people into making new shrubbery CS in RCT3. And finally, your artistic skills are stunning. I could never draw a rollercoaster that accurately, let alone make it beautiful and colourful. You've done amazingly so far, I'd love to see how the park unfolds.
Your work is stunning. Very inspirational. I have actually taken your ride, and made it into a slightly long B&M floorless. I hope you dont mind. Your picture has also inspired people into making new shrubbery CS in RCT3. And finally, your artistic skills are stunning. I could never draw a rollercoaster that accurately, let alone make it beautiful and colourful. You've done amazingly so far, I'd love to see how the park unfolds.
CGM
TS Member
Re: The Illustrated Park
Wow, I'm flattered that you would even consider this. That's looking amazing, I'm always impressed that RCT3 community invests so much time into creating high quality CS and mods that make this sort of thing possible.
As before, I didn't have the blue-roofed building down as a station in my head but it's your take on it and so it should be your decision. I really like the drop out of the station around the pond and I'm intrigued to see what you do with the other "loose ends" that aren't detailed in the drawing. Please keep adding those personal touches. I can't wait to see how it turns out.
I'll probably return to this area of the park at some point as I love oriental theming and I might well develop this coaster further as well. At the very least, it needs a name.
toofpikk said:Excuse the DP, but this is what your inspiring picture has inspired:
Wow, I'm flattered that you would even consider this. That's looking amazing, I'm always impressed that RCT3 community invests so much time into creating high quality CS and mods that make this sort of thing possible.
As before, I didn't have the blue-roofed building down as a station in my head but it's your take on it and so it should be your decision. I really like the drop out of the station around the pond and I'm intrigued to see what you do with the other "loose ends" that aren't detailed in the drawing. Please keep adding those personal touches. I can't wait to see how it turns out.
I'll probably return to this area of the park at some point as I love oriental theming and I might well develop this coaster further as well. At the very least, it needs a name.
Re: The Illustrated Park
I love oriental theming. I find it so fascinating. Every nook and cranny tells a different story. I am very glad that you appreciate the ride. I'd just like to remind you that without your amazing talent and skills, and that picture, this wouldnt have been made in the first place. Now, I'll stop spamming you thread with kind and flashy posts, but sit back, and let you do your magic
I love oriental theming. I find it so fascinating. Every nook and cranny tells a different story. I am very glad that you appreciate the ride. I'd just like to remind you that without your amazing talent and skills, and that picture, this wouldnt have been made in the first place
. Now, I'll stop spamming you thread with kind and flashy posts, but sit back, and let you do your magic
CGM
TS Member
Re: The Illustrated Park
Second picture finished! Is really it only that many?
To be honest I'm just glad to have gotten this one out of the way as outlining everything and colouring it has taken absolutely ages. I haven't helped myself by choosing to add people as well. I don't normally draw people but I thought it was necessary to bring a bit of life to the drawing and show the space in context. However, the people do highlight how the scale is all over the place. The sun dial isn't meant to be twice as tall as a fully grown man!
I think I've got a few ideas of how to speed the process up a bit from here, although I thought that last time round. In any case, future drawings will probably be more similar in style to the Chessington concepts I posted a few weeks back.
Second picture finished! Is really it only that many?
To be honest I'm just glad to have gotten this one out of the way as outlining everything and colouring it has taken absolutely ages. I haven't helped myself by choosing to add people as well. I don't normally draw people but I thought it was necessary to bring a bit of life to the drawing and show the space in context. However, the people do highlight how the scale is all over the place. The sun dial isn't meant to be twice as tall as a fully grown man!
I think I've got a few ideas of how to speed the process up a bit from here, although I thought that last time round. In any case, future drawings will probably be more similar in style to the Chessington concepts I posted a few weeks back.
CGM
TS Member
Re: The Illustrated Park
I decided that after some fairly general concepts, I would focus on producing a proper concept for a ride.
The ride is called Mille Miglia. It's a family ride themed around the Italian road race of the same name which ran up until the late 1950s. The race was eventually stopped because it was so dangerous but it is still remembered as a highly prestigious event that produced some legendary cars and drivers. The idea behind this ride is to view the event through rose tinted spectacles and give guests a taste of what it would be like to drive a classic sports car through the Italian countryside. The ride is an integral part of the new Italy area.
The concept takes much of its inspiration from Autopia at Disneyland Paris. There are aspects of the ride which I loved such as the fact that each car has a real working engine! I also loved the overall retro style of the attraction despite it being a bit at odds with the rest of Discoveryland.
What I didn't like was that although you had control of the throttle and the steering, there was a blatant steel strip in the centre of the road to prevent you from wandering too far. I'd much prefer it if the ride allowed the rider full control of the vehicle. In fact, the original Autopia did allow much more freedom. It had a road channel too narrow for the cars to be side by side and much narrower than the length of the car so that even if a crash occurred with the barrier, the car would continue in the correct direction. Other than that, you were free to drive the car normally. However, this was replaced with the steel guide strip that's now present on all Autopia rides.
http://thinkdisney.blogspot.co.uk/2010/05/autopia.html
To me this seems like a bit of an overreaction, particularly as you get some fairly violent crashes on rides such as dodgems which never seem to be a problem. Although I think that many of the problems with Autopia were to do with the number of cars on the course at one time which would lead to congestion, increasing the chance of pile-ups.
The idea with Mille Miglia is to use a narrow road with barriers similar to the original Autopia which allows the guest freedom to drive the car. The cars would be steadily released at 10 second intervals to provide a safe gap. The course is much shorter than any Autopia variant and would always aim to have many more cars in the station area than on the ride course. All of this should reduce the chances of cars running into each other. If necessary, some sort of block system could be used if it really were to become an issue.
Anyway, onto the sketches.
Please excuse the quality of the images, I was attempting to scan in very faint pencil drawings using a very low budget scanner. This made it a bit tricky to pick out the drawings from the noise.
This is a sort of mood board of imagery and initial ideas. The car in the middle is loosely based on the LeMans winning Jaguar D-Type which I don't think ever raced the Mille Miglia but I'm allowing myself some artisitc license!
This shows an initial layout idea for a single track version of the ride. The road leaves the streamline moderne station, winds its way through the foothills of a mountain before passing through a tunnel and emerging on the mountain pass. After winding through the streets of a quaint Italian village, the riders return to the station.
The ride surrounds a small valley which the queueline heads down the middle of, then heads up to the village and follows the road back to the station. The idea is that the guests in the queue act as a line of spectators along parts of the race course.
I realised that for a single track ride, if a car were to be released every 10 seconds, that would mean an absolute maximum throughput of 720pph which isn't enough for the size of park I have in mind (It has a B&M floorless remember). A two track variant would be needed which should have a maximum throughput of 1440 pph which is far more acceptable.
This image also shows a sketch of Cafe Ascari, a food outlet on the path to the village as well as some dented road signs to be placed around the course.
This image includes a layout sketch of how the station design could be adapted to serve two parallel tracks. Each track has an onload and offload platform meaning that the cars will have to be moved automatically between the two platforms.
There is also a potential layout sketch for a dual course ride. The two courses start together but then split with one course heading to the mountain pass and the other taking to the countryside route, heading through a tunnel and emerging at the riviera with the two courses rejoining at the village and heading down the autostrada to the finish.
The attraction has a mobius style layout which means on quiet days, the two courses could be run as one long course.
Some more vehicle ideas, now with bumpers.
Here, I experimented with some ideas for barriers and general road side scenery. The barrier obviously has to stop the car but it can't be so intrusive as to block views and must fit the theme.
There is also a further development sketch of Cafe Ascari which now has tables and old fuel pumps. The cafe will be located between the two road courses just before they rejoin.
There's another sketch which is quite hard to make out but it shows a car on the Riviera course emerging from the mountain tunnel next to the sea. It is likely that with the mountain being such a large structure and taking up so much space in the area that it will also serve as the show building for a dark ride.
This is an unfinished sketch of the village area. It shows how the queuline follows parts of the course. This area needs more work as some of the buildings don't look particularly Italian.
This concept is far from finished and there should be more sketches soon, all being well.
I decided that after some fairly general concepts, I would focus on producing a proper concept for a ride.
The ride is called Mille Miglia. It's a family ride themed around the Italian road race of the same name which ran up until the late 1950s. The race was eventually stopped because it was so dangerous but it is still remembered as a highly prestigious event that produced some legendary cars and drivers. The idea behind this ride is to view the event through rose tinted spectacles and give guests a taste of what it would be like to drive a classic sports car through the Italian countryside. The ride is an integral part of the new Italy area.
The concept takes much of its inspiration from Autopia at Disneyland Paris. There are aspects of the ride which I loved such as the fact that each car has a real working engine! I also loved the overall retro style of the attraction despite it being a bit at odds with the rest of Discoveryland.
What I didn't like was that although you had control of the throttle and the steering, there was a blatant steel strip in the centre of the road to prevent you from wandering too far. I'd much prefer it if the ride allowed the rider full control of the vehicle. In fact, the original Autopia did allow much more freedom. It had a road channel too narrow for the cars to be side by side and much narrower than the length of the car so that even if a crash occurred with the barrier, the car would continue in the correct direction. Other than that, you were free to drive the car normally. However, this was replaced with the steel guide strip that's now present on all Autopia rides.
http://thinkdisney.blogspot.co.uk/2010/05/autopia.html
To me this seems like a bit of an overreaction, particularly as you get some fairly violent crashes on rides such as dodgems which never seem to be a problem. Although I think that many of the problems with Autopia were to do with the number of cars on the course at one time which would lead to congestion, increasing the chance of pile-ups.
The idea with Mille Miglia is to use a narrow road with barriers similar to the original Autopia which allows the guest freedom to drive the car. The cars would be steadily released at 10 second intervals to provide a safe gap. The course is much shorter than any Autopia variant and would always aim to have many more cars in the station area than on the ride course. All of this should reduce the chances of cars running into each other. If necessary, some sort of block system could be used if it really were to become an issue.
Anyway, onto the sketches.
Please excuse the quality of the images, I was attempting to scan in very faint pencil drawings using a very low budget scanner. This made it a bit tricky to pick out the drawings from the noise.
This is a sort of mood board of imagery and initial ideas. The car in the middle is loosely based on the LeMans winning Jaguar D-Type which I don't think ever raced the Mille Miglia but I'm allowing myself some artisitc license!
This shows an initial layout idea for a single track version of the ride. The road leaves the streamline moderne station, winds its way through the foothills of a mountain before passing through a tunnel and emerging on the mountain pass. After winding through the streets of a quaint Italian village, the riders return to the station.
The ride surrounds a small valley which the queueline heads down the middle of, then heads up to the village and follows the road back to the station. The idea is that the guests in the queue act as a line of spectators along parts of the race course.
I realised that for a single track ride, if a car were to be released every 10 seconds, that would mean an absolute maximum throughput of 720pph which isn't enough for the size of park I have in mind (It has a B&M floorless remember). A two track variant would be needed which should have a maximum throughput of 1440 pph which is far more acceptable.
This image also shows a sketch of Cafe Ascari, a food outlet on the path to the village as well as some dented road signs to be placed around the course.
This image includes a layout sketch of how the station design could be adapted to serve two parallel tracks. Each track has an onload and offload platform meaning that the cars will have to be moved automatically between the two platforms.
There is also a potential layout sketch for a dual course ride. The two courses start together but then split with one course heading to the mountain pass and the other taking to the countryside route, heading through a tunnel and emerging at the riviera with the two courses rejoining at the village and heading down the autostrada to the finish.
The attraction has a mobius style layout which means on quiet days, the two courses could be run as one long course.
Some more vehicle ideas, now with bumpers.
Here, I experimented with some ideas for barriers and general road side scenery. The barrier obviously has to stop the car but it can't be so intrusive as to block views and must fit the theme.
There is also a further development sketch of Cafe Ascari which now has tables and old fuel pumps. The cafe will be located between the two road courses just before they rejoin.
There's another sketch which is quite hard to make out but it shows a car on the Riviera course emerging from the mountain tunnel next to the sea. It is likely that with the mountain being such a large structure and taking up so much space in the area that it will also serve as the show building for a dark ride.
This is an unfinished sketch of the village area. It shows how the queuline follows parts of the course. This area needs more work as some of the buildings don't look particularly Italian.
This concept is far from finished and there should be more sketches soon, all being well.
M
Mankey
Re: The Illustrated Park
You need a job in concept art, man.
Actually no I'll rephrase that!
Concept art jobs need you, man!
Seriously, contact a gaming company, or animation company, you'd be amazing at putting their ideas down on paper! :O
You need a job in concept art, man.
Actually no I'll rephrase that!
Concept art jobs need you, man!
Seriously, contact a gaming company, or animation company, you'd be amazing at putting their ideas down on paper! :O
CGM
TS Member
Re: The Illustrated Park
A revision of the village area, I went over this one in pen and it scanned in much better than the last one. I may add colour to this and use it as one of the final drawings.
I've developed the queue line a lot since last time and it now weaves in and out of various houses in the village. It's also separated from the piazza by the track which makes it harder to jump in the queue from the normal path.
Unfortunately, I had to switch pens near the end of this drawing and the new one was terrible. That's why it's a bit smudgy in the bottom right. So if you're ever doing this kind of thing, avoid the PaperMate ComfortMate Ultra 1.0 like the plague!
Some ideas for the ride vehicle including some technical aspects of it. My favourite is the car in the bottom left. It was going to be the one on the right but I decided that its design looked too British for a road race that was mostly dominated by Italian cars so I drew another with more continental styling. The empty squares next to the car on the right are for colour options.
A more detailed drawing of the station area. This one needs a few things finishing off and going over in pen. The queue line for Mille Miglia begins under the bridge to the left hand side. The path across the small arched bridge leads to the dark ride and the large circle in the foreground will be a small flat although I haven't decided what yet.
Thanks for the kind comments but I don't think that my style of drawing really is suited to gaming or animation concepts. It's pretty much required that you have a good grasp of drawing people which I don't and it's ridiculously competitive. There are just so many people out there who are much better at drawing than I am after those types of jobs.
Perhaps more importantly, I don't really have a great interest in gaming outside of the odd racing sim and I don't really want a career in animation either. I think that in those types of jobs, you really have to want to be doing it to be good at it and so it's best to leave it to the people who do.
A revision of the village area, I went over this one in pen and it scanned in much better than the last one. I may add colour to this and use it as one of the final drawings.
I've developed the queue line a lot since last time and it now weaves in and out of various houses in the village. It's also separated from the piazza by the track which makes it harder to jump in the queue from the normal path.
Unfortunately, I had to switch pens near the end of this drawing and the new one was terrible. That's why it's a bit smudgy in the bottom right. So if you're ever doing this kind of thing, avoid the PaperMate ComfortMate Ultra 1.0 like the plague!
Some ideas for the ride vehicle including some technical aspects of it. My favourite is the car in the bottom left. It was going to be the one on the right but I decided that its design looked too British for a road race that was mostly dominated by Italian cars so I drew another with more continental styling. The empty squares next to the car on the right are for colour options.
A more detailed drawing of the station area. This one needs a few things finishing off and going over in pen. The queue line for Mille Miglia begins under the bridge to the left hand side. The path across the small arched bridge leads to the dark ride and the large circle in the foreground will be a small flat although I haven't decided what yet.
Mankey said:
Thanks for the kind comments but I don't think that my style of drawing really is suited to gaming or animation concepts. It's pretty much required that you have a good grasp of drawing people which I don't and it's ridiculously competitive. There are just so many people out there who are much better at drawing than I am after those types of jobs.
Perhaps more importantly, I don't really have a great interest in gaming outside of the odd racing sim and I don't really want a career in animation either. I think that in those types of jobs, you really have to want to be doing it to be good at it and so it's best to leave it to the people who do.
M
Mankey
Re: The Illustrated Park
There are different departments though. Some people work on the characters, other on the world design.
Skyrim concept art.
Gear of War concept art.
Super Mario Galaxy concept art.
All of this looks very much within your grasp.
There are different departments though. Some people work on the characters, other on the world design.
Skyrim concept art.
Gear of War concept art.
Super Mario Galaxy concept art.
All of this looks very much within your grasp.
Re: The Illustrated Park
If you don't mind CGM, I am very keen on recreating your park in RCT3 completely. Your Asian themed ride is nearly complete, with a name, logo and back drop theme. All that's left is some minor path-work and foliage. I hope you don't mind the name either.
Now I'll get to work on the entrance, trying to bare in mind the atmosphere, especially with your music.
Can't wait to see where this project goes next!
If you don't mind CGM, I am very keen on recreating your park in RCT3 completely. Your Asian themed ride is nearly complete, with a name, logo and back drop theme. All that's left is some minor path-work and foliage.
I hope you don't mind the name either.
Now I'll get to work on the entrance, trying to bare in mind the atmosphere, especially with your music.
Can't wait to see where this project goes next!