Matt N
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Shambhala (PortAventura Park)
Hi, everyone! I know it feels like hardly any time since March, but believe it or not, the closed season is almost here once again, and that can only mean one thing; the return of the TowersStreet Planet Coaster Speed Build Contest! Despite this being the 4th of these contests I’ve run, there still seems to be an appetite for them, so I’m back again with another one this closed season!
Let me start by explaining how the contest works, to ensure that anyone new has a good idea of how things work if they’d like to join in and to give our previous players a nice jog of the memory…
How does the contest work?
So for those of you who’ve never played before, as well as previous players who might need a reminder, let me go over some bullet points to sum up the basic gist of the contest:
I don’t know what anyone else thinks, and if people would like me to change my policy on this, I’m willing to be flexible, particularly if early adoption of Planet Coaster 2 is higher than I expect. But as of right now, I am not allowing Planet Coaster 2 to be used in this contest; please stick to the original Planet Coaster.
In terms of changes for this year; there aren’t too many. Things will, for the most part, be the same as they were last year; people seem pretty happy with the format as is, so I’ve chosen not to make any major changes.
However, there is one change I am introducing in the form of a new potential constraint in some rounds… following a brilliant suggestion, I have decided to introduce budget as a potential constraint in rounds for this year’s contest! It’s a thing that every real park in the world has to deal with, so I thought that it might be interesting to add the financial side of things into the mix in some rounds! Not every round will have a budget constraint, but some definitely will, so keep your eyes peeled for some budget based rounds…
Now we’ve covered that point, let me go over some of the dull boiler-plate stuff…
Important things to note
In terms of the contest length; the first round will drop on Saturday 9th November 2024, and the contest will end on Saturday 15th March 2025, the first day of Alton Towers’ 2025 season. I’m not currently certain on how many rounds this will result in, but based on previous years, I think there will be 17 or 18 rounds in total, including the Bonus Round at the end.
To join in, simply post in this thread to indicate your interest. If you post in here indicating that you’re interested in competing, you’re in! I’m going to give people 7 days to sign up and get settled in, and I will drop Round 1 on Saturday 9th November 2024 at 12am. You can sign up at any time during the competition, but please be aware that signing up after the contest has begun will put you at a points disadvantage relative to other players.
So, I think that’s just about everything I need to cover! I hope everyone enjoys the 2024/25 contest; the last three seemed to be warmly received, so I hope that people enjoy this one just as much!
If you have any feedback or want me to make any changes before we begin, please don’t hesitate to tell me and I’ll be sure to take your feedback into account. If you have any questions, I’m also more than happy to answer them.
But to conclude… Speed Build season is here once again, folks!
Let me start by explaining how the contest works, to ensure that anyone new has a good idea of how things work if they’d like to join in and to give our previous players a nice jog of the memory…
How does the contest work?
So for those of you who’ve never played before, as well as previous players who might need a reminder, let me go over 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, which could be UK-based or global. 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/or off-ride shots and post your filmed video(s) in this thread.
- When the building stage of a round ends, we will then move onto a voting stage, where we will have the opportunity to vote in a Google Form 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. Rounds will run concurrently, so when we’re voting for a round, we’ll also be building for the next round and viewing the results of the previous round.
- 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 primary emphasis upon the layout. You will gain nothing points-wise from any theming you add and lose nothing for not adding theming; rankings in the voting stage 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 what anyone else thinks, and if people would like me to change my policy on this, I’m willing to be flexible, particularly if early adoption of Planet Coaster 2 is higher than I expect. But as of right now, I am not allowing Planet Coaster 2 to be used in this contest; please stick to the original Planet Coaster.
In terms of changes for this year; there aren’t too many. Things will, for the most part, be the same as they were last year; people seem pretty happy with the format as is, so I’ve chosen not to make any major changes.
However, there is one change I am introducing in the form of a new potential constraint in some rounds… following a brilliant suggestion, I have decided to introduce budget as a potential constraint in rounds for this year’s contest! It’s a thing that every real park in the world has to deal with, so I thought that it might be interesting to add the financial side of things into the mix in some rounds! Not every round will have a budget constraint, but some definitely will, so keep your eyes peeled for some budget based rounds…
Now we’ve covered that point, let me go over some of the dull boiler-plate stuff…
Important things to note
- As with last year, our changeover day will be Saturday. Rounds will close on Friday at 11:45pm (this is adjusted from previous years to give me a bit of time to compile things), and new rounds will be posted on Saturday at 12am. The post on Saturday at 12am will take the form of a Weekly Digest, containing the brief and build details for a new round, voting details and the Google Form voting link for the previous round, and the results from the round before that.
- The contest only accepts original Planet Coaster players. I don’t care what PlanCo version you build in (you can build in PC, console or another version entirely), but I can only accept entrants building in the original Planet Coaster, sorry. I think it’s important to keep the playing field reasonably level, and it also gives me a bit more flexibility when designing rounds. Furthermore, it doesn’t exclude anyone who’s played previously; this contest has only ever attracted Planet Coaster players in the past.
- If you do not think you can build a submission for a round in time for the deadline, you can request an extension from me and I will extend the deadline. However, these extensions will only happen on request. If you do not specifically ask me for an extension in this thread or via PM, I will assume that you are happy to forfeit the round and move on. I’m sorry if that sounds harsh, but I think it keeps the contest flowing more smoothly.
- Each round will have constraints that you must stay within. However, you can do whatever you want within those constraints; unless I’ve specifically said you can’t do something, then you can do it!
- In the voting stage, you must vote via Google Form for your votes to be counted. I will post a link in the Weekly Digest, and that form needs to be your first port of call. However, you can also post your picks publicly within the thread if you wish. The Google Form is a must, but I’m certainly not stopping you from posting your picks publicly within the thread.
- Picking #1, #2, #3, #4 and #5 submissions when voting is compulsory, but making nominations for Most Realistic and Most Original is optional. If you don’t wish to nominate entries for these categories, you don’t have to.
- Please bear in mind that the numbered ranking categories in the Google Form (#1, #2, #3, #4 and #5) are intended to be mutually exclusive, and if you put a submission in one ranking spot, you should not put it in another. I will reject any ballots cast with one submission nominated for multiple ranking spots (for instance, you cannot nominate a submission as both your #1 and your #2). This does not apply to Most Realistic and Most Original, however; if you are making nominations in these categories, you can nominate the same submission for both, and you can also nominate a submission that you have already put in your 1-5 ranking for one or both of these categories if you wish.
- Please do not vote for yourself in the voting stages either. There’s no way I can enforce this, so I’m trusting you all to be honest here.
In terms of the contest length; the first round will drop on Saturday 9th November 2024, and the contest will end on Saturday 15th March 2025, the first day of Alton Towers’ 2025 season. I’m not currently certain on how many rounds this will result in, but based on previous years, I think there will be 17 or 18 rounds in total, including the Bonus Round at the end.
To join in, simply post in this thread to indicate your interest. If you post in here indicating that you’re interested in competing, you’re in! I’m going to give people 7 days to sign up and get settled in, and I will drop Round 1 on Saturday 9th November 2024 at 12am. You can sign up at any time during the competition, but please be aware that signing up after the contest has begun will put you at a points disadvantage relative to other players.
So, I think that’s just about everything I need to cover! I hope everyone enjoys the 2024/25 contest; the last three seemed to be warmly received, so I hope that people enjoy this one just as much!
If you have any feedback or want me to make any changes before we begin, please don’t hesitate to tell me and I’ll be sure to take your feedback into account. If you have any questions, I’m also more than happy to answer them.
But to conclude… Speed Build season is here once again, folks!
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