Weekly Digest for Week 2 (12th-18th November 2022)
OK, everybody; we now begin
week 2 of the competition! As indicated in my initial post, I have two things to tackle this week, so let me get straight into both of them!
Round 1 Voting Stage
We have now finished the building stage for Round 1, therefore the voting stage must now begin!
As explained in the initial post, voting has changed for this year. You are now required to vote via a Google Form. Please vote for your Round 1 favourites via this Google Form:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeJ6qmdh6z7yv_prSQtnFjFM9wDohUkOFYwONi7P5JoYZuyng/viewform
Let me clear up a few things about voting.
- 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.
To give you a reminder, here are the submissions from Round 1, so that you know what you're voting for:
- Explorer, a Mack Rides Launch Coaster by @Matt N:
- The Rock vs RAP, a B&M Wing Coaster by @Matt.GC:
- Unnamed Intamin Blitz Coaster by @Connor98:
- Unnamed B&M Wing Coaster/S&S Free Fly combo by @Burbs:
- Kronos, a B&M Flying Coaster by @Archermav:
- Viper, a single rail coaster by @Poisson:
- Meerkat Burrows, a B&M Hyper Coaster by @Thameslink Rail:
- Speedy Snake, a Mack Rides Launch Coaster by @RicketyCricket:
- JUMANJI: The Adventure, a Gerstlauer Infinity Coaster by @immelmanloop:
Voting for Round 1 will close on
Friday 18th November 2022 at 11:59pm.
That's not all, however...
Round 2 Building Stage
Due to the fact that I've managed to squeeze in
18 rounds this contest (I know I originally said 19 in the opening post, but I later realised that I made a mistake and can only fit 18... the opening post has been edited accordingly, and I apologise profusely for the blunder), building for the next round will run concurrently with voting for the previous one. With this in mind; it's about time I unveiled Round 2! Your Round 2 brief is...
Project Horizon; What Would You Do? at Alton Towers! Your context is as follows:
Alton Towers is building an exciting new indoor attraction for 2025; Project Horizon! Debate has ensued in recent weeks surrounding the ride type, with the theory of an indoor roller coaster gaining considerable traction upon the reveal of the building dimensions. However, some have thrown the building's suitability for a large-scale roller coaster into question... they have argued that the building is on the smaller side in both height and ground space for an indoor coaster, and questions have been asked about whether the park would be able to build a coaster that's any good within the space. With this in mind; why don't you put the Horizon building to the test? Why not show us what roller coaster you can fit into the building? It'll be a tight squeeze, particularly given that the park's commitment to flat topography in the Environmental Impact Assessment means that you can't dig your way out of the tight spot this time. However, a coaster is certainly doable, particularly if you think outside the box... what would you do with the Project Horizon building?
In terms of the constraints for this round; the constraints for this round are not quite as specific in terms of height/speed/length etc. However, there is specificity to the constraints in a very different sense, and two key constraints still exist:
- Must Fit Inside Project Horizon's Building (Highest point of roof 20m, 72m*48m footprint, specific building shape specified below)
- No Terraforming Allowed
I thought that those constraints on their own were more than restrictive enough, so other than those, the sky is the limit, really! Although I guess that's quite an ironic statement given that 20m minus clearance is the limit, but you get my drift... as long as you stay within the building space and don't dig/terraform, you are free to build whatever you like.
To give you some idea of what we're playing with, here is the basic shape of building we are working within, as per Alton Towers' planning application:
The exact building specifications I'm going to give you are slightly different, as I could not build a building with those exact dimensions and shapes in PlanCo with regard to the roof, but that provides a basic idea of what our limitations are.
As for the building I would like you to build within; do not worry, as I have some help to give you!
Firstly, here is a Steam Workshop template of the building that I have pre-built for you to download if you are a PC user:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2884472256
If you are a console user (or you fancy having a go at building the building yourself); I apologise for the inconvenience, as I'm afraid that I am unable to build the building for you as I have for the PC users. However, all is not lost, because I can still provide you with some instructions/tutorials to give you a bit of a leg up:
Even though this round lets you build an enclosed coaster and the constraints require scenery construction in the form of a building, may I once again stress that this is a
coaster layout building contest. If I were to offer any advice, I'd say that the layout should be the focus here. By all means add some light theming/scenery if you wish, but any scenery you do or do not add will not affect your score. You will gain no points for adding theming, and you will lose no points for not adding theming. You are being judged on
layout only.
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 your submission if you wish. If you have any issues with uploading your video(s), please don't hesitate to PM me.
Your submission deadline for Round 2 is
Friday 18th November 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.
If you do not make contact with me and ask for an extension, I will assume that you simply do not want to compete in this round and move on after the posted deadline.
I apologise in advance, as I can sense that Project Horizon's building will be a tough nut to crack... Round 2 has the toughest height and footprint constraints of any round I've ever done by quite some margin.
So, I think that just about covers everything important regarding week 2! If you have any questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to contact me. I am always more than happy to help.
Good luck with week 2, everybody... get building and voting, folks!
