SGW Summer Competition 2018 - Challenge #3 (Winners Posted)

I am actually really liking this challenge and have tons of things I want to implement, but I am really struggling to find time to actually do it. I have a real life deadline I am trying to meet in addition to the normal business, but that deadline is a week from today, so I think I am going to just do my best with what time I have, and hopefully I will have more time for the next one. I second hoping that the next challenge will give us a bit more breathing room. That said, the competition is making the game way more fun for me, so yay! I love seeing everyone else's parks.

I am definitely enjoying it more now. I think its interesting that it will be a push to meet all of the requirements of the challenge and still look good. Like I think some might find it easier to skip a point and add more detailing instead or build a better coaster for e.g. (gosh darn I suck at coasters lol)

I am happily plodding away filling in my area. with lots of nonsense and using the second option to expand my park so the back meets the front better now.

I felt that way about C#2, mostly because I had a very bad idea and didn't realize how bad it was until it was too late to change plans.

HOWEVER, all that put me in perfect shape to move right into C#3 and that has just flowed naturally and easily.  In fact, I'm pretty much done already, mostly because I was perfectly placed to go straight into the original Option 1 without pause.  And this despite having a lot of unpleasant interruptions.

Quick query: can we precede the POV with some relevant cinematic of the queue, building, ride etc?

I know the video doesn’t count, but just checking.

^Yes.

NOTE:  I'm having weird internet problems all of a sudden.  After I took my pics for C#3 this morning, I lost my internet connection.  This is often a thing with satellite the day after a rain, so I reset my moden, routers, and computers throughout the house.  After that, I could get online again but could only access Google products and, strangely, SGW.  NOTHING ELSE, not even Steam.  So I've been tinkering and have managed to get Steam going again, and to access a number of other sites besides Google and SGW, but I still can't access ANY site that hosts pics. 

HOWEVER, I can at least get to Steam so for the time being, my pics are there and you'll have to click links to see them, I'm afraid.  I apologize for the inconvenience.  But please note that you can click on the image to enlarge it.  Anyway.....

EDIT:  Well, I got Flickr working again so I've put my usual links to the pics there.  However, i'm leaving the original links to Steam for them as prefer that method.

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NOTE:  BSI pursued Option #1.

#1:  Overview of Church Property
BSI continues to gripe about adding so many large, non-park things that have to be squeezed into the limited real estate available at the expense of actual park stuff.  BSI signed up to build a PARK, not a civic center.  What's next?  A school?  A sewage treatment plant?  Seriously, if the town needs its infrastructure upgraded, let it do so somewhere OTHER than on property BSI had to pay for.  Let's get on with building coasters and rides, not extraneous, ultra vires stuff.

As you can see in the pic below, the requirements of C#3, Option 1, consumed the vast majority of the flat, front part of the church property.  All that's left is a small patch of grass at the center of the road frontage and a sliver between the coaster and the old church.



https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/969848862980970256/D53D397833642B0224C53A5D64E36FE8899EDBA8/

Tour of the Overview Pic:
Starting in the lower left corner...

1.  Bridges
Both required bridges cross the gorge side-by-side.  They both come from the back side of the ice rink plaza.  The closer bridge, a modern bow-suspension design, is for peeps.  The further bridge is a dual-track tramway of classic Victorian arched girder style (see later pic).  The nearer tram track is returning to the ice rink plaza from the church, the further track comes from the spiral around the beach hotel.  The reason for the different bridge styles is so you can see they really are 2 separate bridges, not just 1 .

2.  Wooden Coaster
The bridges connect to a tramway and path running behind the wooden coaster, which is a Flying Turns called "Cloud Dancer".  It and the adjacent Kickflip have a 1930s aviation theme.  That's why the chute is sky blue.
 The layout drew inspiration from Forest Park Highlands, Euclid Beach Park, and Knoebels.  It begins with a 540^ helix into some swooping dips, then into a stacked 8, then a big dip and pretzel into the brake run.  The station is styled like an old airport control tower and terminal, with biplane and such outside.

3.  Tram Station
The station is the small building at the top center of the pic.  The tramway goes around the far end of the coaster to get there, and there's a scenic turn-around loop at the station with nice views over the wooded hillside off that side of the park.

4.  Kickflip Flatride
The path from the tram station and the path from the pedestrian bridge (which goes through the coaster) intersect at the Kickflip, which is called "Turbulence".  This is surrounded by pieces of wrecked biplanes and the queue building is styled like a hangar.

5.  Central Fountain
The fountain is sort of the plaza of this area, giving access to all rides, the old church, the park food court, and the large picnic area.

6.  Centrum Flatride
The Centrum (called "The Cross-Coupler") is perched on the edge of a cliff looming over the gorge road, and tilts out toward the road.  There's a sign for Lake Planco hung on this cliff, positioned so that drivers entering town can see it.  So that's 2 flats instead of just 1.

7.  The Old Church aka "The Historic Lake Planco Wedding Chapel"
It occurred to somebody that if we had to pimp out the old church AND also build picnic area for 200-300 peeps, we could turn the old church into a wedding chapel and rent out the picnic area for the receptions, too.  Thus, the church has the required small paved parking lot for historical visits and small (like 2nd or 3rd) weddings, but has a decent area of overflow parking on the grass around it for larger wedding parties.  All this is surrounded by a rather fancy wall instead of just a fence.  There is also access from the rear of the church to the central fountain plaza of the park (with guard house), so that not only can park guests go look at the church, but wedding parties can promenade to the reception/picnic area.

8.  Combined Foodcourt
The main park foodcourt faces the fountain and has a restroom, 2 foods, 2 drinks, and a fair amount of seating.   It also has a backstage area, on the far side of which is the smaller foodcourt for the picnic/reception area (1 restroom, 1 food, 1 drink).  Because they share the same backstage area, the entire foodcourt is available to cater to wedding receptions and other large gatherings in the picnic area.

9.  The Picnic/Reception Area
A rustic path leads behind the park foodcourt to a covered pavillion in the lower right corner.  The pavillion has table seating for 240 peeps on hardwood decking, with plenty of space around the edges and in the grass field on the center right edge for hundreds more.  Alternatively, the kids can play in the grass while the adults get hammered.  The pavillion also fronts onto a large dance floor (for the obligatory wedding dances) with bandstand.  This is all surrounded by a "backstop" wall to block sound going in both directions and to keep wedding guests from looking out at a busy intersection.

10..  Fire Protection
The church is sprinklered with the FDC and hydrant off the paved part of the parking lot.  All other park buildings are also sprinklered and are protected by 3 pump/hose houses.  There is 1 of these on each end of the main foodcourt and the 3rd is by the coaster station.


#2:  Close-Up of Church aka Wedding Chapel
Here you can see the extensive rebuilding done to the old church.  The main thing was steeple replacement (with custom roof) but also note all the stucco decorations.  The walls have a fresh layer of lime plaster over the original rough brick, preserving the pattern of the stones.  The original front door is still there, too.  The stained glass windows show scenes wooded hills and lakes.  Because this is a wedding chapel, there are various locations around the outside to take photos of the happy couple.  In front of the church is an area of tacky, heart-shaped topiary around a tacky gazebo for folks with that sort of taste.  Off to the side is a more traditional area with a fountain and lots of flowers.  Behind the church, you can see part of the gate into the park with its guardhouse.  Also note the overflow parking on the grass around the paved lot.

NOTE:  There's a display sequencer in the steeple that makes the bells chime at noon and midnight, but you need to be there to notice this .



https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/969848862980967748/B43A33E12F284480E06F6FCC8CC16D335A02CE69/


#3.  Close-Up of Bridges
Here's a good view of the classic Victorian arched iron bridge for the tram.  The new custom support parts proved quite useful here.  This bridge has about 1500 parts.  Behind it you can see the important parts of the pedestrian suspension bridge, especially the chain link surrounding the path to keep drunks from dropping beer bottles on passing cars below.  The interesting thing is that, when driving either direction on the road, the 2 bridges appear to be 1 with a mix of old and new methods of construction.



https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/969848862980967151/67CEC1CD87E56FFFED703FF3CE1DADC8940BDD21/


#4:  The Rides
This pic shows all the rides in this area of the park.  In the lower left is part of "The Cross-Coupler" (so named from the inertial cross-coupling in the ear leading to nausea).  The main thing is the station and associated theming of the coaster.  There's a rotating airport beacon on top of the tower, the biplane is is tarmac, and there are runway lights, a windsock, and a baggage cart.  Further away is "Turbulence".  Look closely in the weeds around it for pieces of wrecked aircraft.  The hangar queue building has a nifty custom, quonset-hut type roof but it's all realistically ugly corrugated iron doesn't get its own picture.  In the right background you can see the tram station.  Finally, at the central fountain, you can see the access to the church from the park (or vice versa), along which wedding parties might traipse on their way to the reception.



https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/969848862980968282/649F0E1C841E56850687857A0C568B52E44DFB1A/


#5:  Main Park Foodcourt
This faces the central fountain and has the required "old-timey" style.  BSI was plreasantly surprised with the results of mixing its "Steampunk Atlantis" style with deliberately retro stuff, putting more steam into it.  But that's a matter of taste, I guess.  Both the center and right buildings have custom roofs to transition into the odd-sized Vintage Pack spires.  These custom roofs greatly add to the part count of this whole complex .

At the right edge of the pic you can see the path going back to the picnic/reception area and part of 1 of the fire pumps.  In the foreground are a couple of money-wasters.  The idea is, if the peeps get a good fortune from the talking head, they'll be more likely to try the adjacent claw machine.



https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/969848862980966285/328EA46DC4139D3CAE4EF7CA72180B2F816E9ED8/


#6:  The Picnic/Reception Area aka "The Party Pavillion"
After following the "primrose path" around the back of the main park foodcourt, you enter the covered picnic/reception area.  There are a total of 40x 6-seat tables under this roof and the wooden floor keeps long dresses out of the mud.  This pic looks out from under the roof across the dance floor to the bandstand and the "backstop" wall beyond.  Shown is the default USA bunting but this can be changed to suit the tastes of whoever rents this space for a big party.  When not rented, however, this area is totally functional and open to regular park guests.



https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/969848862980969145/44B01A35AEF2E8061B18679F1F25094C1485E522/


#7:  Picnic/Reception Foodcourt
Looking out the other side of the pavilion, back towards the main park, you can see the food court for the pavilion.  But its size is deceptiive.  Because it shares a backstage with the main park foodcourt, the entire complex can serve the picnic/reception area.  Going under the buning in the far distance allows small children to sneak away from the boring party and chase each other around in the adjacent grassy field.  At least for now.  This area might be turned into more parking or a service area for this part of the park, depending on future needs.



https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/969848862980969594/71C3E3811FEA17B6BF8DAEC6EE406FFCC0B38807/

That's it for now.  Good luck to everybody!

Wonderful entree Bullethead!  That are some awesome looking pictures!

My entree will look bleak compared to yours, but unfortunately i dont have time anymore. Im going away on a short vacation trip so to make the deadline i have to post my pictures today. Remembering the advice from the judges to spice up my buildings more, i did my best this time to make that happen. I tried to use the vintage theme yet i found it quite challenging; i find those tin pieces not to my liking.

picture 1:
The old church is still being upgraded while this picture was taken. Cleaning up the walls revealed different stone colours. Also the top side were painted and new windows were added. Possible visitors are able to walk around the church and for those in need, a restroom has been build.


picture 2:
A wooden rollercoaster has been added to the park, including a vintage looking station. High pillars create during sunset a wide and nice view with the top of the lift-hill in the background.


picture 3:
The new food and drink facility has been build next to the wooden rollercoaster in such a way that guests can take place at a picnic table, watch the coaster go by towards the lift-hill, with a small waterfall view in the background.


picture 4:
An overview of the new food (hotdog and beef) and drink (juices) place. A restroom has been added as well on the back-side of the building. To the right in the background one can see a new themed ride for the daring. A few guests have already complained that while sitting in the plaine, being so close to the cliffs gives a extreme thrill.
 

picture 5:
On the edge of the cliffs a small grove has been created for guests who wish to find a bit more quiet spot and would like to enjoy the scenery and view towards the mountains.


picture 6:
A point of view from the top of the rollercoaster lift-hill. With a lenght of 812m it takes 97 seconds to get back to the station. Intensity (4.87) and fear (3.04) are at a medium level while the first person to get sick after riding the coaster has yet to be seen (0.72).


picture 7:
This last picture is still a work in progress but there was no time left. Been busy to create a park-area looking atmosphere with lots of foilage, rocks, statues and nice places to sit.



Good luck to the others! 

Damn, Forgath, sorry you couldn't put more time into that.  You were off to a good start there and I hope you can finish this off at a later time.  I really like that awning made of rose trellises, which is an idea I'll definitely be stealing.  And that coaster looks really interesting and has stats to make it highly popular with all demographics.  I'm guessing this was Option 2?

Anyway, enjoy your vacation!

Casually pops by after finishing a major chunk of work on the park...*WHAAAA*

Stunning entry Bullethead! Very nice indeed. I love the top down view of it! My own entry is ALSO gonna be very understated by comparison. Though I think my park has been designed that way so I am not upset but still....excellent quality entry.

Forgath I hope you have a good trip and fair play for what you have done it's a good WIP.

I am very excited for this round now!

Checking the boards before I START working on my park for the day, and two people have posted stunning entries.  We've still got until Friday, right?  Holy hell I've got a lot of work to do.

Bullethead: Standouts for me are the coaster, the bridges, and the lighting.  Also impressed with that overhead and the path layout.  Can't believe you got so much done so quickly.

Forgath:  Lots of good stuff, your best work yet, but picture #3 is an absolute prize-winning photo.  Well done.

Kind of happy to see both of you NOT go the video route; on one hand it'd free up some photo space for me but on the other it would probably take me an entire day that I could otherwise be working on the park.   Decisions...

Stunning entry Bullethead! Very nice indeed.

Thankee kindly.  But please hold your applause until the true masters have shown up

Bullethead: Standouts for me are the coaster, the bridges, and the lighting.  Also impressed with that overhead and the path layout.  Can't believe you got so much done so quickly.

Thanks!  This challenge, especially Option 1, played right into my hand so there wasn't a lot of head-scratching, which is my usual state.  The general requirements fit very well with what I had at the end of C#2, it wanted a style I was already going with anyway, the Vintage Pack made that even more of a fit for me, and it just so happened I'd built the coaster the night before the original C#3 was announced as the culmination of my "Flying Turns Math for Drunks" research.  So I had a fortuitous bit of a head start and for once the road was smooth as everything was just a natural extension of what had gone before.  AND, things in real life have been quite hectic lately with no sign of abating, so I was concerned I wouldn't finish this.  Thus, I devoted all my free time to it.  This is why I'm done already.

So now that I have a few days before the next challenge, I'm busily building all sorts of coasters in hopes of being able to get a similar head start next time, when I'll surely need it more .

Kind of happy to see both of you NOT go the video route; on one hand it'd free up some photo space for me but on the other it would probably take me an entire day that I could otherwise be working on the park.   Decisions...

TBH, I didn't pay any attention to the video discussion because 1) I was unable to make one due to having to set up OBS again, and 2) I have a Flying Turns coaster where POVs suck anyway---all you see is the chute.  Also I had the general impression that you got 7 pics either way and could optionally post a video in addition, which would not be factored into the judging, so why bother?

That said, as soon as I posted my entry, I got OBS sorted out just in case a future challenge requires a video.  And I made one of "Cloud Dancer".  But it sucks because 1) I suck at making coaster videos, and 2) it's a Flying Turns so videos inherently suck.  Thus, I haven't posted it.

Brilliant entries, you two!

Forgath - that's by far the best work you've ever done in this challenge. Well done!

Bullethead - raised the bar. A lot. My favourite shot is that bridge. It's spectacular.

That said, as soon as I posted my entry, I got OBS sorted out just in case a future challenge requires a video.  And I made one of "Cloud Dancer".  But it sucks because 1) I suck at making coaster videos, and 2) it's a Flying Turns so videos inherently suck.  Thus, I haven't posted it.

Hang onto it; in past competitions Shyguy asks for everyone to start a park thread towards the end where I think, in the past at least, there aren't any photo/video limits.  That might be a good place to showcase any relevant screenshots or vids that didn't make the cut during an individual challenge. 

Bullethead - raised the bar. A lot. My favourite shot is that bridge. It's spectacular.

Thanks.  I'll put the bridges on the Workshop after this round is judged.  But if I raised the bar, it's only so I can take partial credit for the work of those who do better

Hang onto it

OK.  But it's a Flying Turns.  Not much to see .

Thank you again for stopping by.

Wow, Rug!  That's brilliant!  I love your style here.  Everything has such balance, lots of details and interesting shapes and designs, yet blending into the landscape perfectly.  And that park logo on the coaster bridge is superb!  I really like the coaster in general but especially the tangle draped over the hillside.  It looks so natural that I'm concerned that you might have a problem with deer getting on the track

*Slyly puts up forgotten barrier fences*

*Shakes fist at deer*

  Rug, that coaster station is a work of art, I blew up the picture and I can't stop looking at it.  You really had a lot of land to fill up here and you did it well.  I also like the simplicty and clean lines of the church refurb -- my only concern is the requirement of keeping the original front door.  But it's a hard door to work with on account of it's size, I can totally see if you did this intentionally.  Just thought I'd bring it up since there's still plenty of time in case you pulled a JP and missed one of the rules

Thank you JP, I genuinely didn't see that detail in the rules. Am gonna update, thanks for being a good sport!

Haha, there ought to be some benefit to posting early.     Also, OMG you made a sculpture out of an animatronic person and I am so stealing that idea!!!  Brilliant.

I will be honest... I prefer my door but I'll settle for painting the old one blue 

Yeah, you can't see it but there is a tiny little water fountain at his feet. Is meant to be one of those water flowing down the sphere type things and ideally I wanted to make something like an old fashioned peter pan on top but realised it was beyond my to look good enough to fit in.

I had a lot of fun with this in the end.

Yeah, you can't see it but there is a tiny little water fountain at his feet.

Wow, I hadn't noticed that until JP mentioned it, but BRILLIANT!  Yeah, I'll be stealing that

I didn't realize that door was recolourable... kind of looks like glass in that photo, you could argue it's a window and peeps enter from the side.  Either way, you won't lose points now.  Salad's scoring system would've caught that for sure.

I can now see Magic Kingdom re-creators using the sculpture idea to do the Walt statue.  Not sure what the mouse would be though, maybe a sunken human with big ears.  Or not, but now I kind of want to try...

That door isn't recolour-able. It is planks sunk into the squares.

I did think Walt statue when I first did it.

Sorry guys - I'm really behind on reading through these threads...BH - really nice entry...I would say some of the best work I've seen you do yet. I will comment later on everyone else once I get a chance to review them closer.

Hey contestants - for those of you who haven't submitted your entries yet...
When you do, please be clear if you attempted option 1 or option 2, or both. THX it will make judging a bit easier (at least for me) so I know what I'm looking for when reviewing the entries and not trying to figure this part of it out.

Good luck to the others! 
[/quote] Hey Forgath, if you can still answer...what challenge Option were you trying to do here?

Good luck to the others! 
 Hey Forgath, if you can still answer...what challenge Option were you trying to do here?

I tried to go with option 2.

Nice entry FCP-Rug. I will looks at it in more detail for the judging

I tried to go with option 2.

THX - this makes it way easier to fit you in the judging of the objectives. THX for submitting an entry even with your limited time.

I'm afraid I've run out of time with this challenge, as I have three busy days coming up. However, here's what I got with OPTION 2.

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The theme park committee, in liaison with the local community, decided to leave the church completely untouched, as it was seen to be too fragile to renovate. To encourage people to visit, a small car park off the highway was built, and a modern visitor centre and gift shop constructed. People can enter through the glass doors and walk around a lovely floral-lined pathway looking at the old building.



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Back in the park itself, there were several new developments. The first thing was a new restaurant, Travellers Rest Steakhouse, which can be seen on the left. It has a beautiful roof terrace for al fresco dining, overlooking the new fantasy themed area. The entrance to the wooden coaster, Woodworm, can be seen to its right.



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Here is an overview of the new area. To the right hand side can be seen the entrance to the indoor carousel. This ride, Cavalry!, is built in the show building of the queue for Woodworm.



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The coaster itself is unique. It is sponsored by the new Holiday Inn which straddles the road to the beach. Not only does the hotel straddle the road, but the coaster goes up and onto its roof, curving round past an outdoor swimming pool, and into the first drop!



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The car park of the Holiday Inn has arguably the finest view in the park of the new coaster, which is themed lightly with a sawmill.



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Here is a drone shot from the opposite end of the coaster, near the beach:



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Finally, an overview of all the work done. The new fantasy area, restaurant, carousel and coaster entrance are on the left (with backstage area behind), with the coaster itself and the hotel in the middle, and the church on the right.



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So there we have it! I'm 100% happy with some of it, and 50% happy with other parts, but I decided to go big and it backfired slightly. However, hopefully something for the judges to enjoy!

EDIT: here's my POV: