Week 6 Weekly Digest (20th-26th January 2024)
All right, folks! Week 5 is now over, so that means it's time for another Weekly Digest!
Let's start with the Round 4 results...
Round 4 Results
There were
6 responses to the Round 4 Voting Google Form in total, and the winners of Round 4 were as follows:
The complete leaderboard for Round 4 is as follows:
As such, the leaderboard for the overall contest so far is:
Great round, everybody!
Now I've covered the Round 4 results, I think it's about time we moved onto Round 5 voting...
Round 5 Voting
Round 5 is finished and the submissions are in, so the voting stage can now begin!
Please vote for your Round 5 favourites via this Google Form:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdw4bmoNUEsojLX5lLav7ptHhNGgxfBoyr9asgkTty5E8TeVw/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. Therefore, 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 Most Realistic or Most Original if you wish. These nominations are not compulsory; you can award them if you would like to, but you do not have to nominate anyone for Most Realistic or Most Original. Each Most Realistic or Most Original nomination a player gets will grant them 1 Realism point or 1 Originality point, respectively.
- 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.
- The overall ranking spots from #1 to #5 are designed to be mutually exclusive; one submission cannot have more than one ranking spot. As an example; if you rank a submission as your #1, you cannot also rank it as your #2. Please only give each submission one ranking spot. The exception to this is nominations for Most Realistic and Most Original; in these instances, the same submission can be nominated for both categories, and submissions already nominated within your top 5 can also be nominated for one or both of these categories. Within the main #1-#5 ranking, though; please allocate only one ranking spot per submission.
- 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 more anonymous than some may like. If you would like to add a slightly more personal touch, you can post a comment in this thread indicating your top 5 choices, as well as any Most Realistic and/or Most Original nominations. However, can I please request that the Google Form is 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 is a reminder of everyone's submissions so that you know what you're voting for:
(My apologies for the bottom videos not being embedded... this is due to the forum not allowing more than 10 pieces of media in one post.)
Voting for Round 5 closes on
Friday 26th January 2024 at 11:45pm, and the results will be revealed as part of the Week 7 Weekly Digest.
Now that we've covered Round 5 voting, I think it's about time that I revealed the next round...
Round 6 Building
Seeing as we've now completed Round 5, I think we need a new round to sink our teeth into, so it's time for me to reveal the Round 6 brief! The Round 6 brief is...
The Bigger One at Blackpool Pleasure Beach! The context for this round is as follows:
For nearly 30 years, The Big One at Blackpool Pleasure Beach has proudly held the accolade of being the UK's tallest roller coaster, standing at 213ft tall (or 235ft tall if you use Blackpool's PR claim method of measuring from sea level). But in 2024, it will finally lose its long-held record to a new challenger... this year, Hyperia at Thorpe Park is set to claim the accolade of being both the UK's tallest roller coaster and the UK's fastest roller coaster, standing at 236ft tall and reaching 81mph. Blackpool Pleasure Beach are incensed at Thorpe Park stealing their height record and setting a new speed record, so they've decided that they need to retake both the height and speed records. They also don't think that continuing to claim that The Big One goes 85mph or sending Amanda Thompson down onto the Blackpool seafront with a bucket and spade to decrease the sea level by a few feet will quite cut it, so they've hired you to design them a new coaster that will retake both the height and speed records; The Bigger One, if you will. Those all-important height and speed records need to be regained, but it is also worth noting that space is at a notable premium in Blackpool, with the rather tight combined plot of the Bowl-A-Drome and the former Wild Mouse being the only land offered for the ride. Squeezing such a big, fast ride into such a tight space is bound to be a challenge... will you rise to it?
The constraints for the round are as follows:
- Maximum Footprint 246ft*341ft/75m*104m
- Minimum Height 236ft/72m
- Minimum Speed 81mph/130kph
To put things into perspective, here's the area of Blackpool Pleasure Beach we'll be working with (it's circled in black and labelled "BPB"):
To apply the footprint constraints, I would recommend using the Scenario Editor to make yourself a park template that allows you to enforce the constraints.
However, if you find yourself unable to do this, I have created a Steam Workshop park template with the footprint constraints pre-imposed, which you can download here:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3141642213
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. Path and wall pieces are typically 4m in length, for reference. I know it's not ideal, but it's unfortunately the best I can recommend given that neither Scenario Editor nor Steam Workshop are available on console... sorry for the inconvenience, folks.
Please measure your coaster's height using
Terrain Relative height markers in build mode (this is the setting labelled with a mountain).
To submit, please build your submission, film a POV and off-ride shots of it, and post the video(s) in this thread. You can briefly describe your ride if you wish. YouTube is the website I'd recommend for uploading videos to, as this would integrate best with the Google Form when it comes to voting, but if you want to upload your video(s) using a different method, then that's also fine. If you have any issues with recording or uploading your video(s), please don't hesitate to contact me. I will try my best to assist you.
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 submission deadline for Round 6 is
Friday 26th January 2024 at 11:45pm. 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 think that's all I need to cover for Week 6. Good luck with Round 6, folks! If you have any questions or concerns about the round or about anything else, please don't hesitate to contact me. I am always more than happy to help.
Get building for Round 6 and voting for Round 5, everybody! The Week 7 Weekly Digest will drop exactly one week from today, on
Saturday 27th January 2024 at 12am.
