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Greetings to the Games Forum-

 

As some of you may have noticed, I took some time off to myself, as I was burned out and quite tired. During the past few months, I've been working on doing new concepts of coasters & rides- both as stand alone coasters, but also as part of experimental parks. I wanted to try new things I'd never been able to do before, either due to time or energy. This is the result of the largest part of the project.

 

DELOS

 

DELOS represents almost four months of work for me- it is the biggest park I've done to date, and the single most complicated build of my life. I wanted to push the envelope, stretch the boundaries a bit, and to try things I'd been thinking about for the past few years. Some of you may have seen the progress on my FaceBook page, but I now am ready to tell the whole story of the park- from the very beginnings, to where it stands now- to what it might hold in the future.

 

So why now? Why do something this big? Because I could. Because I hadn't. I've always wanted to try a park that had immersion attractions- and this was my chance. To start with, I had to to beyond the boundaries of what I'd been working with before- down to pricing & buildings. For the most part, what you see of the structures in this development are based on existing ones I've used before- the entry plaza, admin buildings, etc .are unchanged from other parks, but with more attention to refining things for detail purposes.

 

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Parking lots & initial layout of the entry plaza.

 

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The entry plaza- pretty much standard for my parks.

 

The first major building to be installed was the park hotel. I've based this building on the endless variety of Hotels/Motels throughout the universe- and it reflects the 'Holiday Inn from HELL" feel as a result.

 

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The initial hotel structure before scenery & such are added.

 

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The Hotel & grounds after.

 

Medieval World was the first theme area built into the park, and serves as the anchor for the front gate and entry plaza. As I had already worked out the basics of the layout & feel of the lands before starting park construction, it was easier to start filling in the 'missing' areas as needed- including the scenery & location sites of rides, shows & food/restrooms. Something that is very different in DELOS from my other parks is the lack of stand-alone items (Food stands, restrooms, etc.) that are not themed. For the most part, all of those facilities are enclosed in structures at key points throughout the park. More on those details later.

 

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DELOS park Medieval World at the start of the park's history.

 

The first few attractions were built into the parks' planning phase; A Schwarzkopf Launchingracer opened the bid for the Medieval World, followed quickly on by a Schwarzkopf Doppellooping coaster. During the first few years, this was about the extent of expansion, as I wanted to revise structures, add more scenery & develop the infrastructure side of the park first- then move on from there.

 

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A look at DragonSlayer, the Doppellooping coaster.

 

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In this shot you can see The Castle, a structure dedicated to food & other concessions. To the right of it is SpellCaster, and some other small attractions near and interacting with DragonSlayer.

 

Future World:

 

Once the Medieval World area had been setup, and cash was coming in (Yes, I was in fact playing this like I would any other game- based upon money...) I wanted to start the next major phase. Future World represented what I viewed as the opportunity to build attractions I felt would never get the chance to see the light of day otherwise. The first handful of rides were 'stock' in nature (Double Power Tower, SimEx Rideworks, etc.) but then I decided to finally make (for me) the ultimate story-driven attraction...

 

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Future World: Phase I

 

Most of the buildings were designed to match each other- the same colour stripes in the same order going down the same places, for example. This was fully intentional, as it brings a more precise feel to this area- which is critical in building the theme of the truly ultra-modern future. At the same time, it builds an ominous feel... as if Big Brother is watching, or that you're steps away from HAL 9000. This constant perfection goes down to the bushes, trees & fencing elements, as you feel as if nothing is left to chance... and you are NOT in control of your future.

 

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Looking at the Food Court/concessions building.

 

Liftoff & Re-Entry are the stock S&S Power towers- one launching up, the other launching down.

 

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Liftoff & Re-Entry

 

Future World: Phase II & IIb.

 

I have always had a fascination with science-fiction movies & stories, particularly ones of when things go wrong. To that end, I've always had a few ideas for immersion storyline attractions that would bring you into the world of the movie, but do so where YOU are the central star- from the ride queue to the very end of the attraction. I had to refine my thoughts, come up with some better ideas, and visualize the way this could be done in an efficient & effective manor. The first of these rides was one that was #1 on my 'to do' list.

 

SOYLENT GREEN

 

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Soylent Green during initial construction: This was the largest building I'd done to date- and certainly the most complicated in every way possible.

 

For those of you who do not know what Soylent Green is, please read below.

 

Read about Soylent Green.

 

For those of you who DO know what it is... keep reading on.

 

I watched the movie "Soylent Green" about a dozen times, trying to figure out how to bring this to life, especially the ride mechanisms & design. I wanted to be able to tell the story in the right manor, with an effort on building up to the ending. After working through the idea of enclosing the majority of the ride, I started the actual construction.

 

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Soylent Green during initial construction: This was the largest building I'd done to date- and certainly the most complicated in every way possible.

 

Soylent Green encloses four major zones. The first, a light & warm feeling as you approach the dispatch station (The loading platform) complete with gardens, statues & other effects to make the voyage more pleasant. The loading platform was built so that ride vehicles would enter empty... with no obvious rider evidence. As the ride vehicles exit the loading station, the effect continues, with a slightly darker tone to it- you're going through a beauticul Memorial garden, again with statues, gardens & sterile evidence.

 

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Soylent Green with the scenery added

 

You see in front of you a large, marble building, which gives the feeling of a Mausoleum that one would find in a high-end cemetery. Getting closer, the ride vehicles turn 180, so you go into the building via an underground drop- hiding the next series of show elements. Intentionally, the inside of the building is much like a factory- one where something sinister is going on.

 

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Approaching the show building

 

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Into the ride building, and the start of the show effects.

 

By this point, the guests are a part of the experience. The feel of terror is intentional, as the ride begins the ascent through different levels of what is going on inside the factory. Prior to the final ascent, the ride vehicles are turned 180, as they ascend to the top of the factory. In complete darkness, they emerge from the factory show scenes, and a final plunge into a steel vat- emerging into the ending building in complete darkness. By intention, you do not have any location of where you are, and elements of the show plots are added in for effect (At the top of the tower, the last thing you hear before the plunge into the vat is "it'S PEOPLE! IT'S PEOPLE!" before joining them. In addition, concealing where other ride vehicles are is extremely important- and it shows here. You cannot see other portions of the ride, nor the ending, nor any other ride vehicles as well. This contributes the the solitary feel of the ride- other than your fellow riders.

 

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The 'finale' element...

 

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The 'ending' to Soylent Green

 

Here is an overview of the entire ride layout. Most of the ride ends up enclosed to help with the show elements- thus the overall size of the project itself.

 

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The entire ride-show layout.

 

And finally, the platform building structures. By intention, the ride's exit dumps into the food court/concessions- hiding the 'dearly departed' guests from the rest of the soon-to-ride guests.

 

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Looking at the platform area

 

In the next installment, I'll be covering another attraction heavily based upon a movie- and just as ominous as Soylent Green.

 

R.D.

Edited by QueerRudie
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Good to see you back rude dude! Hope to see you back in chat at some point! Anyway this looks awesome... love your style! Especially your world famous Schwarzkopf's... seriously, amazing layouts. I love your out of the box style, simple but elegant. Excited to see where you go with this.

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Good to see you back RD! Very interesting project, indeed.

 

Since my desktop with RCT3 is packed away (we're selling our house), I've been tempted to pull RCT2 back out, and load it up on my laptop.....maybe it's time to dust off my idea for Coconut Cove in isometric! It was too be anchored by an extravagant dark ride/roller coaster based of of PoTC.

 

And a Schwartzkopf Launched Looper....aptly named Tidal Wave.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Failure in success, and success in failure.

 

I think it's time to go through another early attraction set from DELOS, but one that did not have in the end a long lifespan: Logan's Run. This coaster took from the movie "Logan's Run," a film which was part of the Science-Fantasy movement of the 1970s.

 

Read about "Logan's Run" here.

 

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Logan's Run- ride building.

 

The concept of Logan's Run is based upon the storyline of the movie- Once you reach a certain age, you are considered obsolete... and you are led off to your 'great reward' (Which is, like in Soylent Green... death.) However, you are given a chance to escape- via a secret passage, and an underground escape route.

 

Enter the ride itself. Logan's Run was part ride-through, part walk through, and part coaster. Again, like in Soylent Green, a two-station loading system was used. The unloading station was one floor above the loading platform, allowing for the 'escape vehicles' to enter empty furthering the storyline of the ride. A short pre-show outside the platform followed by a ride-through portion took the escapees into the deserts- and into the underground route.... conveniently disguised as a high-speed looping coaster from Bolliger & Mabillard. Four inversions and a launched lift completed this coaster, and it really did deliver a punch.

 

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The outdoor ride course.

 

So why was it a failure? Well, in a lot of ways it suffered at being TOO advanced. I had designed the coaster to operate six trains at the same time, and estimated hourly throughput around 2800-3200 guests. Giving it a pre-show & heavy theming, combined with a storyline should have worked.

 

But it didn't. It was a DUD. Lines rarely exceeded more than 150 guests at a time, and the entire queue was never used- not once. In the end, it became a huge liability, and it took up space. I knew this wouldn't be a permanent attraction, unlike the ever-popular Soylent green. In later 'years' of the park's history, it would get replaced... but that's for a future update.

 

MIDWAY AMERICANA

 

Once Logan's Run & other smaller projects had been completed, it was time to create the park's first 'loop' in pathways, and via a connector known as Midway Americana. This small run of flat rides, shops & connector buildings opened up a great deal of flow, and set the stage for future expansions in the park. The primary theme is of 1900's United States, complete with the overall fair goings on, and with attractions that are a bit milder in scale & nature for family audience.

 

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Midway America - Part I

 

A few attractions were relocated from other areas in DELOS to fit with the area a bit better. In this area, you can see the Scrambler and the Carousel, both relocated from their original locations. You will also notice two larger structures adjacent to the start of the paths. This was the first time I used gradient transition buildings to help the flow of theme to theme- and to immerse guests from one world to another. Here, the larger of the two transition buildings also houses a food court/infrastructure house, while the other building contains restrooms and other ancillary facilities. I found these became quite useful- and are now a part of most of my major parks.

 

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DELOS overview- as of 'now' in history.

 

As DELOS grew, I wanted to use coaster as icons for each theme area. Since the park itself was not heavy on the rides, I had a chance to grow rides based up on what each area could support. In the case of Midway Americana, I wanted... the Barnstormer!

 

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The Barnstormer!

 

A good, solid family ride was necessary for this park, one that was not only fun but also a bit thrilling- and easily themed to the Barnstormer pilots of the 1910's. I found that a Schwarzkopf Speedracer would be the right fit- both for theme & for effect, as it allowed me to do more with less- perfect for the park, and perfect for Midway Americana.

 

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Barnstormer with theme elements (Including a barn!) added in.

 

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Welcome to the Farm!

 

Barnstormer was an immediate hit, and with a 2400 PPH capacity, it fit nicely into the mold of the parks' needs at the time- and still does (Does ANYBODY really think I'd rip out a Schwarzkopf???)

 

Derby Racers:

 

This attraction is based on one of my all-time favourite rides- the Soap Box Derby Racers (Defunct) at Knott's Berry Farm. I've always had a fascination with this ride- but had never installed one on a usable scale before. Since DELOS is my park to do such experimenting in, it was time.

 

Now I've heard a lot from people over the years of "Why don't you use terrain?" And the simple answer is this: I like to be able to bend the terrain to fit a ride, rather than the other way around. It allows me more freedom to build rides like I want, and that will fit with a parks' needs & utility. I do terraform- but it is usually to fit a theme area or ride. This is just such an occasion for it.

 

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Derby Racers- pre scenery & terraforming completion.

 

As you can see- this is version 1.1: The stalled cars on the track needed to be fixed- and the layout was modified accordingly through some minor revisions. Trees, a better platform & other accessories finished out the ride, and it opened.

 

In my next DELOS update, we'll take a look at attractions that came, went, and returned again- as well as the redesign of internal park functions & features.

 

R.D.

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WHEEEE!!!!!

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