Weekly Digest for Week 8 (24th-30th December 2022)
OK, everybody; we now begin
Week 8 of the competition! There are three key points to cover this week, so let's get straight to it!
Round 6 Results
After a week of voting, Round 6's results are now in! I can confirm that I got
5 responses in the Google Form, and the winners of Round 6 are as follows:
The leaderboard for Round 6 is as follows:
As such, the leaderboard for the overall contest so far is as follows:
Great round, everybody! Now let's move onto Round 7 voting...
Round 7 Voting
We've built our Round 7 submissions, so the voting stage must now begin!
Please vote for your Round 7 favourites via this Google Form:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSemwUV0LKHWoXsllxS4PwklP1FdqSTUSoQrvyQW6XrKDarT1w/viewform
Let me just recap a few things about voting, if you need a reminder.
- If you're not clear on how I'd like you to vote; please pick your top 5 track layouts and rank them in order of preference from #1 to #5. If you give a player a particular ranking, the points allocated are as follows; #1 ranking = 5pts, #2 ranking = 4pts, #3 ranking = 3pts, #4 ranking = 2pts, #5 ranking = 1pt.
- You will also receive the opportunity to nominate a submission for Realism or Originality if you wish. Unlike last year, these nominations are not compulsory; you can award them if you wish, but you do not have to nominate anyone for Realism or Originality. Each Realism or Originality nomination a player gets will grant them 1 Realism point or 1 Originality point.
- Please only fill out this form once. I have not mandated this within the form itself, but I'm trusting you all here.
- Please do not vote for yourself. I know that there is no way I can mandate this, but I trust you not to. Please can I request that you only nominate submissions that are not your own.
- Please judge submissions on track layout only. This is a coaster layout building contest; theming is pretty much irrelevant here.
- I know that this form of voting is a lot more anonymous than the voting process was in the last contest. If you would like to add a slightly more personal touch, you can still post a comment in this thread indicating your top 5 choices, as well as any Realism or Originality nominations, like you did last year if you would like to. However, can I please request that the Google Form be your first port of call for voting; I will only count votes cast within the Google Form, as if you post in this thread, I wouldn't like to assume whether you've already voted in the Google Form or not. Post your choices in the thread by all means, but please make sure that you log your votes within the Google Form first, as the votes within the Google Form are the votes I'll be counting.
Here are the Round 7 submissions so that you know what you're voting for:
- Unnamed GCI wooden coaster by @Connor98:
- The Lorax, a GCI wooden coaster by @Matt N:
- Unnamed Vekoma motorbike coaster by @Thameslink Rail:
- The Grinch's Present Steal Sleigh Ride, a GCI wooden coaster by @Matt.GC:
- How The Grinch Stole My Mack Produkt, a Mack Rides Mega Coaster by @Archermav:
- The Gerald McBoing-Boing Express, an RMC IBox Track by @Poisson:
- Green Eggs and Ham: The Ride, a Maurer spinning coaster by @RicketyCricket:
Voting for Round 7 will close on
Friday 30th December 2022 at 11:59pm.
Now we've gotten Round 7 voting over with, let's jump into Round 8, shall we?
Round 8 Building Stage
Now that we've conquered Round 7, we need a new round to get stuck into. With that in mind, I think it's about time I revealed Round 8! The Round 8 brief is...
Project Exodus Reloaded (Again) at Thorpe Park!
Now, I'm conscious of the fact that we did Project Exodus Reloaded as the very first round of last year's contest, and I can hear you all asking "Why have you regurgitated last year's Round 1, Matt? Have you run out of ideas?". To reassure you; no, I have not run out of ideas. This is not a simple regurgitation of last year's round. It will differ from the previous Exodus round, as I will explain below. Besides, I thought it might be fun to give Exodus another go seeing as we've all come on a lot as builders and faced greater challenges since. And let's face it, Exodus is still dividing opinion nearly a year on from our last attempt at reloading it!
The context for this round is as follows:
In December 2021, Thorpe Park took the UK theme park industry by storm when they announced their intention to build Project Exodus, the UK's tallest rollercoaster. However, the proposal has divided opinion amongst enthusiasts, and has already garnered fierce criticism for its length, or more specifically its lack of it. Enthusiasts lamented about the length the second the ride was announced. "It's so short!" they said. "It's only half a coaster!" they said. "Look at the size of that brake run!" they said. With this in mind, Thorpe Park has enlisted you to completely rework the proposal. The UK height record must stay, and with the principal criticisms of the original proposal centring around the coaster's length, the park has decided they would like to counteract these grievances by aiming for the operating European length record as well. It should also be noted that the original plan to build the ride in Old Town came under fire from the Environment Agency, so Thorpe Park have changed tack and decided to build the ride at the back of the park. The new site that they have chosen is the combined area consisting of the site occupied by the former Treasure Island attraction and the undeveloped land colloquially referred to as Swarm Island. How will you rework the Project Exodus proposal?
The constraints for this round are as follows:
- Maximum Footprint 147m*196m/482ft*643ft
- Minimum Height 235ft/72m
- Minimum Length 5,497ft/1,675m
For some context, the area within Thorpe Park that we are working with is as follows (it's circled in black and marked "Exodus"):
I would recommend using Scenario Editor to apply the footprint constraints if you are on PC. As per usual, I have created a Steam Workshop park with the constraints applied that I would be happy for you to download if you struggle to design a scenario yourself:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2903115301
As for console users, I would recommend setting out the footprint constraints using wall pieces or path pieces to build yourself an "area" to work within. I know it's not ideal, but it's sadly the best I can offer given that neither Scenario Editor nor Steam Workshop are seemingly available on console... sorry for the inconvenience, folks.
As for how to determine your ride height, please use Terrain Relative height markers (the option denoted by the picture of a mountain).
As for what you need to do to submit; please build your submission, film a POV and off-ride shots, and post them in this thread. You can do a brief description of what your ride is if you wish. If you have any issues with uploading your video(s), please don't hesitate to PM me.
May I once again emphasise that this is a
coaster layout building contest. By all means add some light theming and landscaping if you wish, but the
coaster layout should ideally be the focus. Quality of coaster layout is pretty much the be all and end all here; heavy theming won't gain you any points, and no theming won't lose you any points.
The Round 8 submission deadline is
Friday 30th December 2022 at 11:59pm. If you struggle for time and would like me to extend the deadline, please PM me or request an extension in this thread before the deadline. I would be more than happy to facilitate an extension for you if you would like one.
If you do not make contact with me and ask for an extension, I will assume that you are happy to forfeit this round and move on after the posted deadline.
So, that's everything for Week 8! If you have any questions or concerns, don't hesitate to get in touch with me.
Good luck, everybody... get building for Round 8 and voting for Round 7, folks!
