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TowersStreet Planet Coaster Speed Build Contest 2022/23: Winners Declared (contest ended 18th March)

Matt N

TS Member
Favourite Ride
Mako (SeaWorld Orlando)
Hi everyone! It probably feels like you’ve hardly blinked since the 2021/22 Speed Build Contest finished, but believe it or not, the closed season is nearly upon us once again, and it’s almost time for the TowersStreet Planet Coaster Speed Build Contest 2022/23 to begin!

As people mostly seemed to like the last contest, I have another Speed Build Contest planned for you all this closed season! Not only that, it’ll be even bigger and (hopefully) better than last year’s!

Let me firstly give you all a reminder of how the contest works, for those of you who need a reminder or have never competed before…
How does the contest work?
So for those of you who didn’t take part last year, as well as 2021/22 players who might need a reminder, let me jog your memory a little with some bullet points to sum up the basic gist of the contest:
  • At the start of each round, I will post a brief inspired by a real world context. Your task is to build a roller coaster in Planet Coaster (console or PC; it doesn’t matter) that meets that brief. Each brief will give you constraints to work within, such as a min/max height, min/max speed, min/max length, max footprint, or possibly even something else entirely.
  • Once you have built your creation, you need to film a POV and off-ride shots and post them in this thread.
  • When the building stage of a round ends, we will then move onto a voting stage, where we will all vote for which layouts we like most from that week. There are also options to nominate Most Original and Most Realistic. Whoever gets the most points in a given round wins that round, and the points are allocated through weighting of the rankings given. In the regular rounds, a #1 ranking scores 5 points, a #2 ranking scores 4 points, a #3 ranking scores 3 points, a #4 ranking scores 2 points, and a #5 ranking scores 1 point. The exception to this is the Bonus Round at the end of the competition, where each ranking is worth double what it is in a regular round.
  • Each round will last 2 weeks, broken down into 1 week for the building stage and 1 week for the voting stage.
  • I should point out that this is a roller coaster layout building contest, so don’t focus too much on theming. By all means put some light landscaping and terraforming in if you would like to, but please place sole emphasis upon the layout. You will gain nothing points-wise from any theming you add and lose nothing for not adding theming; rankings should be based solely upon the coaster layout produced.
  • When all the rounds have elapsed, the person who has accumulated the most points throughout the competition wins. There are also winning plaudits for those who have gained the most Originality and Realism points throughout the competition.
I don’t know if any of the 2021/22 players think I’ve missed anything, but I think that just about covers everything important!

Now let me reveal what changes I will be making compared to last year, because there are certainly going to be some…
What’s changed compared to last year?
Yes, I have made some minor changes to elements of the format for this contest. I have taken some player feedback from the first contest on board, and I have also thrown in some of my own ideas.

Let me sum up some of the most notable changes, including a section addressing the biggest change…
Competition length/rounds
The biggest change for this year’s competition is probably the fact that it is longer and as such, it contains more rounds. From the start of Round 1, the contest will be 133 days long, which is a fair bit longer than last year! Round 1 will drop on Saturday 5th November 2022, and the winners will be declared on Saturday 18th March 2023.

However, it is not only the length that has changed… the 6 rounds of last year will look like child’s play compared to the round total this year, as I plan to squeeze a whopping 18 rounds into this contest!

Now I hear you saying “How on earth do you plan to do 18 rounds in 133 days, Matt?”. And that would be a valid question based on last contest’s timescales; last contest, we had 1 round per fortnight, while this year’s total equates to 1 round per week. However, there is method to my madness… that’s where the change comes in. Following feedback from the last contest, I have decided to try and get us playing more efficiently and producing more creations within the timeframe. Therefore, as many of you suggested, I can confirm that rounds will run concurrently in this contest. It will work like so:
  • When we move onto voting for a particular round, we will also start building for the next round and get the results for the previous round. So for instance, if we were moving onto the voting stage of Round 7, we would also move onto the building stage of Round 8 and get the results for Round 6.
  • So in essence, each week’s post from me, rather than merely representing the beginning of a new stage of a round, will be a “weekly roundup” encapsulating the voting details for one round, the brief and building details for the next round and the results from the previous round.
It would probably have been easier for me to show visually, but I hope I explained that in a way that everyone understands.
Other changes
I am proposing some other minor changes as well. These are:
  • As I proposed at the end of last year’s topic, I would like to move to Google Forms as a method of voting rather than solely posting in this thread. This would make data processing and totting up scores a lot easier on my end, it would make voting easier on your end because it would negate the need to write a whole post in this thread if you don’t want to, and I also wonder whether it could encourage more people to vote, including those who aren’t competing. I also feel like anonymous voting could make things quite interesting. The idea seemed to get relatively good feedback when I briefly trialled it at the end of the last competition, so I thought it might be fun to try!
  • One key point that some of you raised in your feedback on the first contest is that some of you viewed Realism and Originality points as being somewhat pointless and/or counterintuitive. As such, I have decided to make some changes in how I implement these this year. They will still be there, but they will be optional nominations rather than compulsory nominations. So the option to nominate someone for Originality or Realism points if you would like to is still there, but it’s no longer compulsory to do so.
  • Due to my university timetable being more variable this year, our changeover day has changed from Wednesday to Saturday. Therefore, if you like to stay up and receive the rounds as they’re posted, you now need to stay up on Friday nights rather than Tuesday nights! Each week’s weekly roundup will be posted on Saturday at 12am.
  • This isn’t a change that will affect anyone who played last year, but as hinted above and in the topic title, the contest will only accept Planet Coaster players this time around. I will accept any version of Planet Coaster, so I don’t care whether you’re on PC, console, or even another version entirely that I’m not aware of, but I’m afraid that I will only be accepting entrants using Planet Coaster. I apologise to anyone who was thinking about playing on a game that isn’t PlanCo, but keeping it PlanCo only this time around gives me more flexibility with regard to the types of rounds I can implement (well, the same degree of flexibility as I had in the first contest) while not excluding anyone who played last time around.
  • Following feedback, I can confirm that constraints will differ slightly. Or more specifically, I can confirm that capacity constraints will not be returning seeing as most didn’t seem to overly like them. And to be honest, I didn’t really enforce them towards the end, so I thought they were a slightly pointless thing to bring back. Everything else from last year, such as height/speed/length constraints, footprint constraints and element constraints will still be present this year, including some different takes on a couple of those that should make things really interesting. However, I will not do capacity constraints this year as I accept that not everybody is as anal about throughputs in PlanCo as myself.
  • Rounds-wise, we won’t only be staying in the UK this year… I’m going global! Yes, there will be rounds with contexts from international parks this time around! There will still be plenty of UK park contexts, but I thought that adding a foreign flavour to some rounds might make things a bit more interesting, particularly with how many rounds we have this time!
  • Finally, I would like to suggest a change based on some of the empty periods we had last contest. As some of you might remember, there were times last contest where I had to delay the start of the voting stage of some rounds due to waiting for additional submissions. I’m not proud to admit it, but this was because I went around asking people via PM whether they were going to be submitting. As the answer to this was always no, the delays ultimately ended up being a bit pointless. With this in mind, can I request that you request deadline extensions from me if you would like them this time around? Last contest, I worked under the assumption that everyone who hadn’t submitted on time wanted an extension and could tell me if they didn’t, but seeing as no one ever seemed to want an extension, I was thinking of flipping this around and assuming that no one wants an extension unless they ask me for one, as I feel that that would make things run more smoothly. If you PM me or ask in the thread in advance, I would be more than happy to extend the deadline to wait for your submission, but can I please ask that you request extensions from me if you would like them.
I think that just about covers everything changes-wise, but if I remember something else, I’ll tell you immediately.

Let me now give you the opportunity to sign up for the contest…
So how do I sign up?
Signing up for the contest is very simple; just write a post below saying your username and whether you will be playing Planet Coaster on PC or Console. I’ll get the ball rolling with my own signup post to show you what I mean:
  • Name: Matt N
  • Planet Coaster version: PC
Just write that below for yourself and I’ll add you to the list of competitors!

You can sign up at any point in the competition, but I would highly recommend you sign up within the next week before Round 1 begins so that you don’t miss out on any building time or potential points.

So, in conclusion…
So, I think that’s just about everything I need to tell you! I hope you’re all excited for this year’s contest (I know there is already some interest based on recent posts in the 2021/22 thread), and I certainly look forward to seeing what you all build!

Just to confirm, you have one week to sign up before Round 1 begins; Round 1 will drop on Saturday 5th November 2022 at 12am.

Also, if any of you have any questions or feedback on what I suggest in this post, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with me. If there is an element of what I’m suggesting that you really don’t like, I would be more than happy to change it before the contest begins next Saturday.

But in conclusion… it’s Speed Build season once again, people!
 
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Of course you can count me in.

Matt.GC
Planet Coaster Console Edition

Loved last year's very short contest. There were some great creations, really looking forward to this one. I was lucky last year that some contestants skipped a few rounds and some others came in late. I'll try and compete in every round but I didn't have Christmas at work to contend with last year so may have to skip a few rounds or throw something together quickly last minute.

Looking forward to seeing what you all create.
 
Poisson
Cave Paintings or PC version of Planet Coaster

I'm here again to make stuff that any sane park/manufacturer/human would reject but has a throughput of about 2500 pph
 
Count me in, enjoyed this earlier in the year! Can’t promise I’ll be taking part every week due to work schedule but will do my best.

Name: (not sure why you need this considering it’s me posting it…)
PlanCo version: Mac
 
It’s terrific to see that we’ve already got 6 players on board (including myself); very glad to see you all playing again!

Hopefully we might even hit double figures by the time next Saturday rolls around and Round 1 goes live… although I don’t know if I’m being a tad optimistic there.

@Burbs To tell you the truth, I probably don’t need you to repeat your name, but I clearly just thought it looked better last night to put it in. In hindsight, I guess it is a bit pointless… just put your PlanCo version if you’d prefer.
 
Count me in, enjoyed this earlier in the year! Can’t promise I’ll be taking part every week due to work schedule but will do my best.

Name: (not sure why you need this considering it’s me posting it…)
PlanCo version: Mac
Ah Mr Burbs my great rival returns, let's hope we don't build exactly the same thing again. Good to see you join in.
Do you have an Xbox or PlayStation? I think you can pick the game up second hand now it's on disc as well if your PC is playing up?
I do have an xbox but I'm at university for most of this period, funnily enough I finish not that long after this competition finishes. Although I do go home most weekends I probably wouldn't get chance.
 
Loved playing last year, can't wait to start again! Might struggle to get the first few done (work is consistently busy until New Years), but I'll see what I can do.

mo237
Planet Coaster - PC
 
@Matt N just a quick question, I presume there won't be any rounds that require any DLC similar to how it went last year? So we're still free to use DLC coasters if we wish but there won't be an actual requirement for any of them in the round criteria? I'm looking at the Mack hyper and Gerstlauer Infinity here which are very popular coasters to use but are both in separate DLC packs.
 
@Matt N just a quick question, I presume there won't be any rounds that require any DLC similar to how it went last year? So we're still free to use DLC coasters if we wish but there won't be an actual requirement for any of them in the round criteria? I'm looking at the Mack hyper and Gerstlauer Infinity here which are very popular coasters to use but are both in separate DLC packs.
That is correct. The way I tend to design the constraints for each round means that specific ride types will never be strictly enforced. I will enforce statistics such as height/speed/length/footprint, and even possibly element types, but I will never enforce actual ride types to build.

I’m reluctant to enforce specific ride types for two reasons:
  1. I don’t want to make assumptions about what DLCs people have and what ride types players on each different version have access to. I’m aware that there are some discrepancies between PC and Console, for instance, and as you say, certain ride types come as part of DLCs rather than the base game, and I can’t guarantee whether or not someone has purchased a particular DLC.
  2. I also feel that limiting us to certain ride types would limit creativity and remove some of the fun from the contest. I don’t know if you’d agree, but one of the bits I found most fun about the last contest was the pure variability of the submissions and seeing how differently everyone responded to a particular brief. I really enjoyed seeing some of the “curveball” submissions that didn’t necessarily conform to what I and others might have typically expected, and I think that enforcing a particular ride type would lower the potential for those more out-there submissions considerably, which would remove some of the fun from it for me. I don’t know if you’d agree, but that’s my opinion, anyway.
 
That is correct. The way I tend to design the constraints for each round means that specific ride types will never be strictly enforced. I will enforce statistics such as height/speed/length/footprint, and even possibly element types, but I will never enforce actual ride types to build.

I’m reluctant to enforce specific ride types for two reasons:
  1. I don’t want to make assumptions about what DLCs people have and what ride types players on each different version have access to. I’m aware that there are some discrepancies between PC and Console, for instance, and as you say, certain ride types come as part of DLCs rather than the base game, and I can’t guarantee whether or not someone has purchased a particular DLC.
  2. I also feel that limiting us to certain ride types would limit creativity and remove some of the fun from the contest. I don’t know if you’d agree, but one of the bits I found most fun about the last contest was the pure variability of the submissions and seeing how differently everyone responded to a particular brief. I really enjoyed seeing some of the “curveball” submissions that didn’t necessarily conform to what I and others might have typically expected, and I think that enforcing a particular ride type would lower the potential for those more out-there submissions considerably, which would remove some of the fun from it for me. I don’t know if you’d agree, but that’s my opinion, anyway.
I 100% agree mate. We never knew what to expect and what people would come up with. Who would have predicted @Poisson could make a Wacky Worm out of an RMC for instance?
 
I 100% agree mate. We never knew what to expect and what people would come up with. Who would have predicted @Poisson could make a Wacky Worm out of an RMC for instance?
That’s exactly the type of thing I was on about!

I remember @Poisson being pretty good for the more “out there” submissions last year, as well as some others, and I feel like imposing an exact ride type and making everyone build the same thing removes the fun of seeing everyone’s different trains of thought and the weird and wonderful ways in which some responded to the brief. Last year’s contest had an RMC Wacky Worm or S&S Free Fly for every regular Mack Hyper or B&M Hyper, and I personally enjoyed that variability!

Yes, some of last year’s rounds did admittedly make most players gravitate towards a particular ride type (for instance, I remember most did Mack launch coasters for SW9 and most did RMCs for The Ultimate Reloaded), but there was still some degree of variability, because there will always be one person who decides to think outside the box and build something different from everybody else.
 
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