QueerRudie

Nice job, Jer- and with a great layout: Its not overbearing, it's not over done. It is just right. I might consider adding a few more snow-trees to give it some 'vertical' visual appeals- but those would be icing on the layer cake to me. R.D.

hehehehehe... You're the only one who's picked up on the sub-theme of the park... This is also a WIP for something I've been thinking about now for a long while. Let's move this song along... and try to find the plot: Construction update #1a: Expansion and changes. Now that the park is making money, I do something I normally don't do: The coasters make up the vast bulk of income, so I reduced the prices on all the flat and tower rides to... $0.00. The guests LOVE this, and we're still making good money with the existing rides. The park's first internal expansion occurs off the central spike, and ends up creating the hub. At this point, however, it's a dead-end, crowned off by a Schwarzkopf MK3a Custom Speedracer. Other changes have also begun as the park begins to evolve into a larger scale attraction. Rides themselves are shuffled within the park, to open more space, and create a noise buffer for the now-expanded hotel. 2Tone Plunge has been moved towards the hub on the new Main Street III area. A spinning flowers attraction (Twisting Tulips) is also added, as are the standard shops and park facilities. SCR105.BMP The first major expansion area- Main Street III. SCR106.BMP On the former site of the 2Tone plunge, I've added a go-karts raceway, themed to middle-America driving: The new Autopia Freeway ride has a winding but compact course, and is far quieter for the hotel nearby. It is not entirely unreasonable that a second go-karts attraction could be built within the park. SCR108.BMP And now with scenery and landscaping. SCR107.BMP The layout for Autopia Freeway. The hotel is expanded vertically, adding 60 more rooms and bringing the capacity to 139 rooms at any given time. This is the maximum height for the hotel, so other options are being considered- including extending the hotels' wing outward, as well as a second building on site. Other options are a second hotel/resort on property, perhaps mixed into a future theme area, or even as part of the in-park railway/transport system. SCR109.BMP And up it goes.. Hotel under construction. Please pardon our dust. SCR111.BMP The completed seven story Schwarzkopf Inn Once the hotel addition is complete, it's time to turn to building more permanent attractions and facilities. As the cornerstone of the first large-scale expansion, I decided to make a mine train... on steroids. Since there is -plenty- of open space here, I let my imagination go a little wild, and created what amounts to a 6,600 foot long, three-lift mine train. Six or Seven trains can operate along it's course when opened- however, in keeping with the premise of this park's building, I want it to have more bang for it's buck: What you see here is the layout- and not the complete package. Theming elements will be used- and, quite stereotypically, the mine train/western theming. This ride will be the cornerstone to the new Western theme area, which will be to the left of the hub as you face the rear of the park. SCR112.BMP Transfer track, storage tracks, platform and brake stations. SCR113.BMP One view of the course- as seen from the front park perspective. SCR114.BMP An overview of the complete circuit. Some minor tweaks to the layout have already been put in to 'smooth out' the flow. So sometime in the next 48 hours or so, I plan on finishing the Mine Train's layout- and give it a name as well. The western theme area's primary build will begin, which may include the first segments to the in-park transportation system. R.D.

Most likely due to the double and triple posting (I didn't pull the thread...)

Nice- Very nice. Once again, better than anything I could -ever- crank out!

Quite a few of us look at this ride very differently than what other coasters have been. The reason? It's different. It's fitting a 200 foot coaster onto what basically amounts to a postage stamp space. It's trying thing differently, and in a configuration that maximizes space and thrills while keeping the park's basic 'feel' in place. For me, HersheyPark is more than a place for a new coaster: It's one of the key parks that is so crucial to my development as a park enthusiast, and to a lesser extent, coaster fan. So I tend to look at the park with a great deal of love- and respect- for what it has become. Many of us participated in the RIT project, from it's inception in October a year ago, to the 'reveal' in August, and all the way through to opening day. The ride itself for some of us is more than just 'another coaster' as we've become a part of it. And, as the ride has grown, the blurry details of the rides' reveal have been slowly coming forth: The stengel dive, the airtime hill, the incredible first drop. It's kind of like opening a box knowing it's a toy, but the toy turns out to be so much more than what you were expecting. In some cases, this ride is the coaster quite a few of us have been waiting for: The cross of a MegaLite coaster with hypercoaster sensibilites. It's as close as anyplace in the USA has come to a Megalite, but with a drawn out layout, and with very interesting elements- some of which we've yet to see. I don't think HP is cutting anything short here: The park right now is very tight land wise- and is using space to it's advantage. There really isn't a lot of space left to work with within the parks' boundaries, and instead of losing another ride or coaster, the park figured out a way to use the limited resources to it's best advantage. In the future, there is talk of removing the golf course across from where SkyRush is to open up more space for the park- but that is quite a while off in the distance. Leviathan will stand on it's own- and comparing Leviathan to SkyRush really isn't a valid case- in any way. The two coasters are, for the most part, completely different rides in every way. It is akin to comparing say, an apple and a cinder block: You can't do it without looking silly in the end. Leviathan has a great layout, some interesting low to the ground elements, and I'm hoping that it's the re-birth of B&M's coasters in terms of force and feel. However, SkyRush will stand on its' own merits, especially for a park of it's size and scale. HersheyPark cut nothing short with SkyRush- and instead is giving us a ride that will be (yet again) a perfect fit for their needs, space and patrons. There is now, and always will be, an element of Fanboys in ANY thread here, and for that matter, elsewhere. I'd say the exact same thing as above: For anybody to trash either ride prior to opening day, and boarding the first train, is a mistake. You can't do it: it doesn't work. Leviathan will be a speed monster, with 300+ feet of elevation behind it: But let's also be sensible, too. B&M has had a history of trimming their recent coasters to within an inch of their lives (As has Intamin... see also I305!) which I'd be curious to see how that plays out. In short: Ride both coasters, and then compare the difference. I'd be pretty sure that both rides will impress the peoples in quantity. In all reality, 3700 feet is nothing to sneeze at. It's longer than any other coaster at HP, and while not a mile of twisted steel, it does stand on it's own feet as well. If they wanted to fill the layout with helices and other such devices, they could have. In the end, though, I'd think that would break up the feel of the ride- and possibly make it more mundane. Intamin (for the most part) eschews helices on their rides, preferring to give a more flowing layout overall. (That is not to say they DON'T use helices; the S:ROS triplets prove that, but rather they tend to use more fluid layouts for their designs. B&M as of late has done similar things with I232 and some of their other recent designs.). One could also say that B&M is wasting speed with the 'extended' brake run on Leviathan- and not using that speed to the best advantage that they could be. It's also a case of space dictating final results. And Leviathan, respectively speaking, will also suffer in the length-of-ride category: It might be longer, but it's also going to be moving much faster through many of the lower elements, which will cut down on ride time. Not everyone is trashing Leviathan: But there is a fair course of the fanboys arguing on both sides- SkyRush on one, Leviathan on the other, and in the end, until you've ridden both, there's really no room for comparison on either end. R.D.

Over the past few months, I've been tinkering around with different rides and layouts of parks, and decided it was time for me to put my passion towards my favorite rides into a park. Welcome to Anton Gardens: A RedLine Park property Most of the park is based upon the existing RedLine Parks chain, but with some key differences: 1.) The park itself will be broader in scale and scope than existing parks, featuring more in-depth attractions and higher levels of theming plus other technical changes to the layouts, the arrangement of trees, etc. that I've found I like better than styles in the past. 2.) An emphasis on trying new types of rides, shows and attractions to boost attendance 3.) Re-thinking a lot of the people-movements, and balancing out the park to become more in tune to larger parks that currently exist. This means parks that I've been to will be some area basis for themes and structures The initial build of the park is now complete, and I've done some basic structural works are now complete. Other facets have yet to be built in, but I like to have a few 'key' attractions installed prior to starting large scale construction of the remaining park. The first few shots are starting with the entry plaza areas: SCR92.BMP The entry plaza, ticketing booths, and customer service buildings, plus the park's administration offices SCR93.BMP Trees and landscaping are added. Beyond the entry plaza is the berm for a future in-park transport system (TBD) The park is opened with a single coaster, a Schwarzkopf Shuttle Loop known as Flashback, a Schwarzkopf Enterprise (Apple Turnover, in tribute to my first Anton ride from (CLASSIFIED) years ago, a Circus, as well as bumper Cars (Crashendo) and the Pirate Ship ride themed to a trip in the Nile River (Night Boat to Cairo). A Drop Tower, the 2Tone Plunge follows to balance out the park's capacities while further ride additions are added, and scenery is added. Following the completion and balancing of the budget to the park, the second (and first 'permanent' installation) coaster is added: Blue Streak. This ride is based upon the ShockWave, Mindbender (SFoG) and Revolution coasters by Schwarzkopf, and was built as a prefab coaster- It was initially built in another test park, and proved so successful at eating crowds that it made it's way into Anton Gardens. SCR94.BMP Blue Streak: This is a pre-made coaster that I've installed in a test park prior to Anton Gardens. Once opened, I wanted a more 'groomed' look to the area surrounding and under the coaster. As the ride is elevated off of the ground, it made it an easy choice to be a 'mowed lawn' area. Fencing around the ride is added, and fruit trees are added to give some depth and color to the ride's pathways. SCR95.BMP Blue Streak and Flashback are good, solid profitmakers, allowing remaining debt to be paid off, and attention to the scenery and grooming is now allowed. Walnut trees, small Juniper bushes and other small details are then added between the food booths, restrooms and other park facilities. Currently, the park is operating with a capacity of 3,000 guests, but we are averaging around 1500 guests. The second 'pernmanent' coaster to be added is "Infinity". This coaster is based upon the technologies of the Compact Looping portable coasters from Schwarzkopf. A four train capacity makes this speed demon a people eater, with a 3200 PPH capacity. SCR100.BMP Triple Looping, known at Anton Gardens as "Infinity" SCR102.BMP Infinity, ready to open, and waiting to thrill. To continue with the 'Scenery/Realistic' aspect, I felt that the front of the park needed a hotel for guests. While the building itself is a 'shell' building, if it WERE to exist, it would feature 79 rooms, a tropical pool, and several restaurants to serve guests. As this is RCT II, we can but dream of that. SCR103.BMP Schwarzkopf Garden Inn under construction. Several changes had to be made to facilitate the opening of the building, and it's not complete- yet. SCR104.BMP The completed Schwarzkopf Garden Inn, featuring the pool, entry paths, and some plant theming. Now that these basics are in place, the next step is to extend the main midway towards the center of the map. This extension will allow for the first of the park's theme areas to be built- and I'm thinking of going for a Space/Astronautical theme area to start with. R.D.

Calling in the bulldozers for Timberliner, and recommends you call the fine folks at GCI for some help

For a TPR challenge (Track challenge in this case) to work right you must: 1.) Ensure that you have the .SC6 suffix on the file that you've downloaded- (Some browsers do not download the whole extension!) 2.) Place the scenario into your "Scenarios file" under your RollercoasterTycoon 2 directory on your hard drive. If that doesn't work, please contact us here. We'll be happy to help out.

21 out of 26- I feel good about this, considering how some of the parks weren't quite on my radar, and some -very- good curve balls thrown too!

As we get closer and closer to SkyRush's opening day- I suspect that we're going to be in for a few huge (And quite pleasant) surprises coming up. This is for me the most anticipated new coaster for quite a while- and mind you, I'm not an airtime junkie (Like a few people I know...) but even to me this is becoming one of the most dynamic and visually stunning rides built today. Intamin has done their homework, learned from their mistakes of the past, and have come up with a real winner design wise. Nice job Chris & Company providing the 'daily feed' of IntaPorn!

What you are winning in your buildings and structures you are losing in the crowding and colors: The park looks great, but it's WAAAY overcrowded on a visual level. Objects and rides are blending in together, and admittedly causing visual distractions. I'd recommend trying this: Balance out your building colors a bit (Not everything has to be sand! That's a huge myth about Egypt!) and re-think the speckeled grounds aspects- go for 'sections' of green vs. sand vs. brown' instead of the patchwork aspects. I think in the long run it will look more clean and will be easier on the eyes. R.D.

Introducing: Triple Looping II- a refining of the Schwarzkopf-Inspired Dreier Looping coaster series. Four trains haul up to 3850 people per hour through the 4.75G loops, and twisting 3705 foot long course... SCR101.BMP During testing... SCR102.BMP And ready to go for opening. Known as "Infinity" at Anton Gardens: A RedLine Park Resort.

Right? Cmon Hershey guys, where is our update today? Really though, never been so excited as to see how this thing progresses Is it May yet?!? HEEL CUJO! HEEEEEEEEL! You have to wait till the train with ME on it returns first!

So I got my Secret santa package today in the mail... and I'll admit, there were quite a few pleasant surprises... To my Secret Santa... I used to live in Zip Code 22032... so the Address on the package would have travelled less than two miles had I still lived there... And may I also say: AWESOME JOB in picking out what would fit to me: The tag on the outside of the box said quite "BS, Cheesecakes and Monkeys"... So I opened the package and... The package opened... And yes, that was what was in the package... BS, Cheesecake and Monkey! A huge "Thank you" to your great idea there- Penn & Teller are possibly my favorite de-bunker of BS and myths of society (And hold a place next to Adam and Jamie on 'Mythbusters' for the exact same reason!) R.D.

I recall back in the late 80s this park was featured (along with SFMM) on a Nickelodian TV game show called "Wild and Crazy Kids" where the youts had to traverse the 'rapdis slides' with an egg (Or similar) on a spoon... However, I'm very sad to see any waterpark bite the dust. Older attractions (Such as the 'rapids' slides...) are still some of the only rides I enjoy in waterparks, and losing another set of these is to me a bit tragic. R.D.

SSSSHhhhh.. Don't give them any ideas... "Hey baby, wanna take a ride on the Verbolten in my Pants???"

No. You must submit your park when you reach the 2000 person 'limit'. This isnt' about the parks, folks. It's about the TRACKS. Thus the term TRACK CHALLENGE. The scenery aspect should be taking a backseat to the TRACKS here.

I would say that's the most logical conclusion there- Coasters don't typically come with trims installed as part of the package.

If the game had a Snowglobe prop, I'd use it... Instead, I'll have to give you this: RIDE the SCHWARZKOPF BOBSLEDS! (Yes, I went there. Deal with it.) SCR99.BMP Schwarzkopf Bobsleds. I had to.

I had thought about that when I adjusted the ruling on the third coaster- If you choose to re-do the scenario for another shot, that's fine with me, as I'd like a fair playing field for all our entrants into the Track Challenge. If you choose to leave your entry as it is, that's fine too! R.D. GFMT

I can see where there will be some difficutlies with the scenario and two coaster tracks... and I'm willing to be more flexible with these requirements... I'm changing the rule: you may now have THREE different coasters within your park to complete the TRACK challenge. The same rules to uploading still apply, though: You must upload ALL THREE tracks to the exchange as well as the completed park. R.D. GFMT

Just one thing that I'm questioning: In 'Thor' you removed all the trees from the area around the helix. Why? Doesn't really make sense to me to remove all the trees when they add to the thrills and chills of the ride itself.

I'm sweating now... It's astounding to me the speed that steel has flown up, all things considered. Wild Eagle will be the one that was assembled with time-lapse speed, but SkyRush is certainly making up for lost time. (And the video of the world's most expensive, elaborate bathrooms was -very cool- to see. Let's hope O'Connell Plumbing and Drain keeps up their high standards!)

It's not a requirement- but I do like to have people show off their works. It's also good to show the way you solved your park, too!

I saw that video, and I cringed- since most of my family is elsewhere, I shipped out EVERYTHING via FedEx this year... including some fragile items. (I sure hope FedEx is insured...)