TowersStreet Speed Build Contest 2025/26: Any Suggestions?

[Matt N]

Hi guys. We’re in what is probably the last week of the summer holidays, meteorological summer is drawing to a close, and the theme parks will soon revert back into off-peak mode. But while the peak theme parking period is drawing to a close, that does mean one thing… Speed Build season is drawing ever closer! Yes, I do currently intend to bring back the Speed Build Contest this off-season; with my Master’s degree now reaching its conclusion and me having secured employment for at very least the short term, my weekends should be my own once again and I feel much better about committing to another contest than I did when the last one ended! So given there still seems to be interest in the idea despite this being the 5th contest I will have run, I was provisionally thinking about doing another one!

Based on when Alton Towers shuts, I think I will probably post the first round on or around Saturday 8th November 2025 and aim to sign everyone up a bit before that.

Now as much as I primarily create the rounds myself, I do like to keep things interactive and involve you in the process of deciding how I manage these contests. So with this in mind, I was curious to know; does anyone have any suggestions for the next Speed Build Contest? I’d love to hear any round suggestions, suggestions for changes or any general feedback from previous contests! While it is over 2 months until I intend to start, I like to think about these things early and prepare them somewhat rather than just foist them upon the world last-minute. I’m also very conscious that engagement did drop off quite a bit in the latter parts of the last contest, so if there is anything I can do to spice up the format and drive greater engagement, I’m certainly open to suggestions!

One key thing I was keen to canvass opinion on from my end is Planet Coaster 2. In the last contest, I made the executive decision not to allow Planet Coaster 2 as the game was still relatively young and early adoption varied. But now the game has had a year to be adopted and bed in, I’m wondering about integrating it and would be interested in which of the following options would be preferred:

1. Revert solely to a Planet Coaster 2-based contest
2. Keep us solely on the original Planet Coaster
3. Allow both games in tandem (this would probably result in more work on my end and I’m unsure on whether the playing field would be as level, but this would also keep accessibility as wide as possible and I’m certainly open to this idea if this is what people would like to do)

I am happy to do any of these options, and would be intrigued to hear what the mood of the room is like. With some things like the Frontier Workshop and transferability between PC and console making Planet Coaster 2 quite a compelling option, I would be keen to look into integrating it in some way, but at the same time, I also don’t want to exclude any of our existing loyal player base for the pure sake of going to Planet Coaster 2. Which option would people prefer?

But other than that; the floor is yours! I’d love to hear any round suggestions, contest change suggestions or general feedback from previous contests!

If you’re wanting to think of round suggestions, I would recommend a look at the previous four contest threads, if you’re unsure whether an idea of yours would fit the general ethos:

• 2021/22: https://towersstreet.com/talk/threa...winners-declared-contest-ended-12th-may.6134/
• 2022/23: https://towersstreet.com/talk/threa...nners-declared-contest-ended-18th-march.6463/
• 2023/24: https://towersstreet.com/talk/threa...nners-declared-contest-ended-16th-march.7022/
• 2024/25: https://towersstreet.com/talk/threa...nners-declared-contest-ended-22nd-march.7378/

In general, my rounds are based on scenarios from real-world theme parks and constraints are generally pretty broad, focusing on statistics like height/speed/length as well as the occasional additional dimension of budget, introduced in the last contest!

But if you do have any round suggestions, contest change suggestions, or any general feedback from previous contests that you would like to influence the 2025/26 Speed Build Contest, I’d love to hear it!

 

[RicketyCricket]

I play on an older console that doesn't support Planet Coaster 2. But I do think Planet Coaster 2 should be allowed especially as I'm probably in the minority there.

So both, ideally.

 

[rob666]

Yet again, I feel a little cross because my old biscuit tin full of Plasticine fails to get a mention in the rules.

 

[Poisson]

Yet again, I feel a little cross because my old biscuit tin full of Plasticine fails to get a mention in the rules.

Not cross because you accidentally ate a bit when you didn't check *which* tin you'd opened?

Anyway, I'm happy with both games. The original one I think allowed NL2 although nobody entered with it, probably as speed building on there is a time sink.

 

[Matt N]

So looking at the poll thus far, the consensus is overwhelmingly in favour of Planet Coaster 2 integration in some capacity, but we’re a little more split on whether both games should be allowed or whether I go solely for Planet Coaster 2.

I’d be interested to hear the thoughts of some more previous players on this. I’m keen not to disenfranchise anyone who’s played before and is still interested, or anyone who’s interested for that matter!

If I were to offer my personal preference, I would probably err towards both in tandem so as not to disenfranchise any previous players, but I’m open to either and would be interested to hear the arguments of anyone who disagrees. I’ll admit I’d have to think about how to handle it administratively if I allowed both games (do I make round blueprints in both games or only in one, for example?), but I’d be open to having both together, as having seen Planet Coaster 2 in action and played it myself, I don’t think the coaster builder is so drastically different to that of the original.

Anyway, I'm happy with both games. The original one I think allowed NL2 although nobody entered with it, probably as speed building on there is a time sink.

In the original contest back in 2021/22, I was a lot more flexible with which games I allowed (I allowed basically anything). However, that was in part because I originally borrowed the base format from a similar contest I’d participated in on CoasterForce, and this had a wider range of games being used; quite a few used NL2, for example, and some used Parkitect and RCT!

But with the way the contest has evolved on here, the player base has always primarily been Planet Coaster-based on TowersStreet and my strategy for round creation (with things like the blueprints and some of the specific constraints) was devised accordingly, so I made the decision to only allow Planet Coaster from the second contest onwards.

If you remember back to the first one, my original proposal for the contest back in 2021/22 was a near carbon copy of the one on CoasterForce in terms of format, with my only significant difference being that I used real-world park scenarios as rounds instead of specific ride types like the runner on CoasterForce did. But as the good folks of TowersStreet gradually chimed in their opinions and I grew slightly more confident in running this type of thing, the format gradually diverged from the CoasterForce original over time.

 

[Poisson]

I only have PC and PC2 hasn't really enticed me to buy it. I could get it if needed, but in a selfish way would like both.

 

[Matt N]

I only have PC and PC2 hasn't really enticed me to buy it. I could get it if needed, but in a selfish way would like both.

To be honest @Poisson, I think both is the way I’m leaning unless anyone comes along with a very convincing argument otherwise.

As much as I’d like to have a go at integrating it, I wouldn’t want to leave out our existing loyal player base purely for the sake of Planet Coaster 2, and allowing both in tandem allows me to have both original and Planet Coaster 2 players on board!

 

[Matt.GC]

Including 2 is a must really as most would likely have migrated. But I wouldn't exclude the original.

There's 2 core participants already in this thread who would be using it, and whilst it's pretty easy to whack up something very smooth in 2 which would give those creations a clear advantage, I wouldn't favour this over inclusiveness. It's always been a laugh and fun contest after all, and that's the main thing.

I was looking forward to this year and I was hoping to be in a much better place time constraint wise. It wasn't engagement that made me disappear last season (I think Emmerdale Farm: The Ride was my last entry?) and I even mostly built a coaster for the free-build round in the original that I'd like to finish and get in for this year. It was just the sheer amount of trouble I got in with uni work last closed season, and if with Christmas coming in my final year I'm in even more trouble this year. But I'd like to enter anyway so that I can get something in once in a while to take a break from just working and writing all the time. I've always enjoyed this contest.

You could have;
- Planc 1 PC
- Planc 1 Console
- Planc 2 (PC and Console now effectively the same game)
- Plasticine, pipe cleaners, toilet roll tubes, and PVA glue.

 

[tactic]

I don’t have the 2nd game yet either, so would appreciate if we’re allowed to use PC1. However, that said, I’m off to uni in a couple weeks so not sure how much free time I’ll have to participate yet.