The United States of Amusement Parks—A Competition

[MrPKI]

Well, I’ve decided to give it a shot. Welcome to the United States of Amusement Parks Competition. In this competition each contestant makes an park modeled after the U.S. state of their choice. These parks will show the history, landmarks, and natural beauty of the state, as well as whatever makes the state what it is.

For example, if I was to build a park on California, it would have different areas, such as mountains, Death Valley, the coast, San Francisco, etc. These sections would include rides such as a standup coaster themed after skiing down a mountain--mountain section--, some sort of ride themed after a heat wave—Death Valley section--, a beach boardwalk—coast section--, trams—San Francisco section, etc., etc. That would be my park………What would be yours?

Rules and Guidelines

1. Park to be no bigger than 101x101 (or 10,201 squares)—This is to reduce lagging, yet also give a good amount of playing space.
2. Park is to be made in the scenario editor.—This allows you to customize your surroundings.
3. Two entrants cannot pick the same state to model their park after.
4. Custom Scenery is not allowed.—I don’t really want to have to go through the hassle of downloading every bit of custom scenery, even though it looks really cool. I don’t even know if my computer would tolerate it.
5. Using the Soaked! Expansion pack is allowed.
6. The competition runs June 25th to August 16th
7. When your park is finished, host in on www.rapidshare.de and pm me with the location.
8. Your parks will be judged according to accuracy, creativity, and how the park runs.—The last one includes many factors, such as cleanliness, adequate shops and facilities, adequate staff, good theming, and a variety of attractions (not all one type).
9. After the judging is complete, the winner will be announced, and I will put everyone’s park on a download list. This list will include a link and a short description of your park.

I probably need some volunteer judges so that my opinion isn’t the only one. I don't want to deter people from entering the competition just to be a judge though. Another option is to have the contestants judge to competition instead of having selected judges. Let me know if you which way you think it should be judged.

If you don’t think a certain state has anything stand-out about it, try looking at an atlas. You can find lots of neat stuff that the average Joe from another state doesn’t know about.

Some people have already expressed interest, so hopefully more will come. Feel free to post questions or suggestions. This competition is just about having fun, and that’s what I hope to do!


Judges:
MrPKI

Contestants:

1. Thrill Rider (N8 the Gr8)--Washington
2. Caffinated--New Hampshire
3. psychoticbunny--Ohio
4. Stroh--Hawaii

[Thrill Rider]

GREAT IDEA!!

ill do it!
Ill pick my homestate, WASHINGTON!!!!

i have some questions too
1) can more then 1 person do the same state?
2) is it possible that i can participate and judge?

[Caffinated]

As mentioned in the General thread, I'm up for creating a New Hampshire inspired park.

Not having the custom scenery is going to hurt :) but I can work around it, and it makes more sense as a comp rather than just a fun thing.

[MrPKI]

Originally posted by Thrill Rider
GREAT IDEA!!

ill do it!
Ill pick my homestate, WASHINGTON!!!!

i have some questions too
1) can more then 1 person do the same state?
2) is it possible that i can participate and judge?

1) No, at least not this time around. The reason is for variety. Since there are 50 states it would seem that you could pick another state if a certain one was taken.

2) Only if I have the contestants themselves judge the competition. That way each contestant judges all the parks but their own. If everyone wants to do that I have no problem with it; just speak up.

Thanks for entering the competition. Washington sounds like a fun state to build. Mt. Saint Helens would be an awsome thrill area.;)

[Caffinated]

Since you set a park size limit...I have a question :).

Is this the size of the total land (i.e. what you set in the Scenario Editor), or rather the max size of the park itself?

[MrPKI]

The max size is for the park. The surrounding land can be larger than 101x101.

[Caffinated]

Hmm... Maybe this will drum up some traffic for this thread (because I do really like this idea).

http://cafeens_corner.tripod.com/RCT3/pics/shot0081.jpg

Not much there so far, but you can see Hampton Beach there on the coast, the Connecticut River along the western boarder, Mt Washington up in the north there, and Lake Winnipesaukee there in the middle.

(Yeah...the scale is a bit off, especially the narrow southern vermont portion, but oh well, Mt Washington is considerably higher than 120ft too :p)

[MrPKI]

Looks great Caffinated! I like how you did the park in the shape of the state. What sort of rides are you going to put in? Do you think I should ask BCtrainers to pin this topic? If we can get a few more people I will officially start the competition.

[Caffinated]

The shape was a bit of a pain, but I like the way it turned out. It is a bit fat and short...but it's a good representation.

As far as rides go...

I currently have a train (The Cog Railway) and the car ride you see (Mt Washington Auto Road), both are real places on Mt Washington. (Ever see a bumper sticker claiming "This car climbed Mount Washington"? If so, the Auto Road is where that's from.)

Beyond that, I'm not to sure yet. Probably a couple fair style rides for the beach and a jet skis for the lake. I'll fill in with other stuff around the area, just don't know yet.

If there's enough interest here, it'd be a good thing to pin the topic. I think it's a great idea myself (obviously :haha: ) and would be nice to get more people into it.

[wickedfan07]

* wickedfan07 would like to enter the competition with the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania! :D

...not sure why its a Commonwealth and not a State...but it still counts here! :)

[psychoticBunny]

I'm up for this, going to be taking on Ohio! Although to me all that there is to do in Ohio is to go to amusement parks (We have Cedar Point, Kings Island, and Geagua Lake) so it should be pretty easy :)

[MrPKI]

Great! Thanks for entering the competition wickedfan and psychoticbunny. We have enough people to start the clock now, but I could let anyone else join first. I guess people could join while it's running too...Hmmm. If you're all ready to start, say so, and I'll officially begin the competition.

[Caffinated]

You also have Clevland, Columbus, and Cincinnati.

As mentioned, the Wright Brothers shop was originally in Dayton (their bike shop).

Fort Meigs - a recontruted fort from 1813 (used in the war of 1812). (source: http://www.ohiohistory.org/places/ftmeigs/)
Fort Recovery - little bit of interesting history, but more importantly, looks like you could easily create this inside the game (at least the building shown) (http://www.ohiohistory.org/places/ftrecovr/)
Neil Armstrong was from Ohio, I'm sure you can make some nifty space themed stuff here :).

Really, going here (http://www.ohiohistory.org/places/index.html) can give you a bunch of ideas to drop names into your park.

....And that's just Historical stuff...

Rock & Roll hall of fame in Clevland
This should get you going :).

<edit>
Pfft, I already started hehe :p.

I think keeping this as simple as possible is best, keep it open for people to enter until a point where you are satisfied with the number, then close is off and set the deadline. Yes, that gives people who were on board earlier a bigger advantange...but that's true in life too :).
</edit>

<edit.v2>
Silly people from the west will have a much easier job if they decide to shape their park like I did (which isn't part of the comp...my state's shape is part of it's charm). Western states are much bigger and much more square than the eastern states ><!
</edit.v2>

[MrPKI]

I've decided to start the competition this Saturday the 25th. It will run until Monday, July 25th. People are allowed to enter at any time during the competition. These first few days are for getting a head start if anyone would like. I'm glad this worked out, can't wait to see your parks!:D

[Caffinated]

This saturday is the 25th :p last saturday was the 18th.

[MrPKI]

OOOOPS!:bulb: I changed it to June 25th to July 25th. I just have to make sure judging gets done that last week of July before I go out of town. Thanks for pointing that out Caffinated.

[Thrill Rider]

this is so herd fitting all of washington into a 100x100 park, well everything is going to be out of scale and not in the correct spot, oh well. i have started work on the park. i have a coule of ideas
-Mt St Helens
-Mt Ranier
-Seattle center (place with the Space Neddle, KEy Arena, EMP, Pacific Science Center, and with Soaked i could add the GIANT FOUNTAIN.)
-Apple orchid
-Cascade range
-Pike Place Market
- and other things i cant think of right now
Tell me if i forgot anythng

I know that is alot and all of it WILL NOT BE ADDED, to little space maybe i will have a Second Version of a bigger park.

[MrPKI]

Sounds like you have lots of ideas. I looked at an atlas and saw this thing called Walla Walla, Washington. I know I've heard that name before; is that a well known area? I don't know Washington that well, but if your getting into the less well known areas then you probably have most of it covered. Have you started building yet? I'd try checking a history site like Caffinated suggested or checking a map of the state just in case you forgot anything.

[Thrill Rider]

hey thanks, Walla Walla is a cool area, they are known for good onions up here

well have 1 pic of a ride in the crater of Mt St Helens called May 18th, the mountain needs alot of work,like the size is to small and the front dips down to low, luckily i have pictures from wen i went in May. I have to say it is Breath takeing from the Jonston Ridge.

http://img97.echo.cx/img97/3787/may180oj.jpg

[Caffinated]

Looks nice N8 :).

With my park, I didn't try to recreate the mountain or lake, but just give a general idea. This may help a bit with your scale issue.

Walla Walla is also the name of an Offspring song from Americana :haha: (they also copied most of the musical aspects from a Vandals song named "Too Much Drama", but that's beside the point.)

Also, it was part of the Oregon Trail for a bit (remember that old Apple IIGS game! Wasn't that where you started to float down the river or something?).

Anyways...very nice Mt St Helens there...I may have to redo my Mt Washington to keep up with that :p (nah..too much work and I'm a lazy bastage).

[MrPKI]

Well the competition is now officially started! I still invite anyone to join while the competition is in progress. I also still need people's opinions on how the parks should be judged. Please speak up if you think that the contestants should judge. Otherwise I need 1 or 2 more judges to help me.

Get those parks done!:D

[Chickenselects]

This is kinda like a competition I was doing, great minds think alike.

[Thrill Rider]

yeah, but yours was countries, and u chose for the people, this one people can have alot more knowlage behind what they do for there choice

[Thrill Rider]

ive done some more work, no pictures tonight, i have launched coaster on the volcano, and a small version of pike place market

[billybob513]

Originally posted by Thrill Rider
hey thanks, Walla Walla is a cool area, they are known for good onions up here

well have 1 pic of a ride in the crater of Mt St Helens called May 18th, the mountain needs alot of work,like the size is to small and the front dips down to low, luckily i have pictures from wen i went in May. I have to say it is Breath takeing from the Jonston Ridge.


My grandparents live in Walla Walla. They spend half their time there and half in Florida where I live. I've been to Mt. St. Helens too and I have to agree that the view is amazing.

[Stroh]

Originally posted by psychoticBunny
I'm up for this, going to be taking on Ohio! Although to me all that there is to do in Ohio is to go to amusement parks (We have Cedar Point, Kings Island, and Geagua Lake) so it should be pretty easy :)

Amen to that! And don't forget the water parks (Dover Lake waterpark, Soak City, Wyodot Lake, etc..) --Ignore the spelling.

Anyways, I'll enter if my computer holds up :) Hmm... What state... Darn!! All the states I would pick are gone. Oh well not much to do... Hawaii. I'll give it a shot.

[MrPKI]

Great! Glad to have you in the competition. Hawaii sounds like a fun park to make especially if you have Soaked (don't know if you do). This competition is getting better and better.:D

[Stroh]

Yep... I have Soaked. I am trying to make a park located either in Ohau on the diamond head point or on Maui near one of the volcanoes. I still got to decide. I'll edit and post an image later on of what I made so far. The rides are great, but since the graphics are low, it might look bad.

[MrPKI]

I'm looking forward to it. The graphics (or lack of) shouldn't affect how good it looks. I'm sure it will be great. By the way how is everyone else doing; we have about two weeks left before the time stops.

[Caffinated]

I've been neglecting my creation for awhile ><. But I will try again to get back into it. With Soaked, it should make some things a bit easier as well.

[wickedfan07]

Originally posted by MrPKI
<snip>
how is everyone else doing; we have about two weeks left before the time stops.

I won't be submitting, I'm sorry to say. As I mentioned in the 5th Small Park Competition thread, I've gotten involved in numerous non-RCT projects and don't have much time to play anymore. Thanks.

[MrPKI]

Sorry to hear that wickedfan. Good luck with your other projects.:)

[Stroh]

Who knows how to do the screenshot thingy?

[Caffinated]

Posting a Screenshot...

1) Save your screenshot as a JPG. (Never post BMPs as they are large files and will take a bit of time to load).
2) Find a host for your image (www.imageshack.us works well, or if you have your own host you're all set)
3) Copy the URL for the image (Direct Link I think it's called on imageshack?) and paste.
4) Add the Screenshot tabs around the image. {Screenshot}IMAGEURL{/screenshot}, just use the square brackets rather than the curly ones

[Thrill Rider]

my park is turning out strange
It is so hard recreating real life thinks with certian limits so i will not be including a space needle. but other then that i like what i have so far

[MrPKI]

Good. I was thinking about this yesterday, and it seemed like everyone forgot about it. We have a little less than a week left. Get your parks in.:)

[Thrill Rider]

can I make a mini 50x50 park? or does it have to be 100x100

[MrPKI]

It can be 50x50. 101x101 was the max, not the mandatory.:)

[Stroh]

I'll be uploading mine now, and some shots of the park shall be up tonight. Ohauna Mountain is now finished. I'm just wondering, my map is 110 x 110, but the park land is 100 x 100, so is that ok?
http://img301.imageshack.us/img301/9592/shot00153rw.th.jpg

[MrPKI]

I'll be uploading mine now, and some shots of the park shall be up tonight. Ohauna Mountain is now finished. I'm just wondering, my map is 110 x 110, but the park land is 100 x 100, so is that ok?

Yep that's fine. Looking forward to seeing your park.

[MrPKI]

Just looked at your park. I looks great! I especially like the mountain lookout..."Warning Strong Winds". Lol. How's everyone else's park by the way?

[Thrill Rider]

Ok my park is pretty Iffy right now it doesnt look the Greatest. I'm wondering if i have to recreate everything or just the general Feel of Washington, anyways im probably going to end up spending all day on this, there is alot of work, but i have inspiration now.

[MrPKI]

Ok my park is pretty Iffy right now it doesnt look the Greatest. I'm wondering if i have to recreate everything or just the general Feel of Washington, anyways im probably going to end up spending all day on this, there is alot of work, but i have inspiration now.

It's whichever you feel like. Caffinated decided to go for more of a geographical recreation whereas Stroh decided to go for more of a feel or for a certain area. In short, do what you feel works.:up:

[Thrill Rider]

My entrey will be in a little late, Not tommorow but later tonight, around 8ish (Pacific Time)

[MrPKI]

That's fine. I need to ask this question though. If the only entrants are Stroh and Thrill Rider, should we wait longer for Caffinated's entry or should I go ahead and judge the two parks I have? If we wait, it will be somewhere in the middle of August before I can judge them due to trips (I leave this Sunday). Let me know what I should do.:)

[Caffinated]

I've had several distractions lately, including a tripled workload for work and more stuff going on with life stuff in general. (As well as WoW taking up a bunch of time lately).

Nevertheless, what you see in the screen I posted, is what I've done so far.

I'd say go ahead and judge the two as far as competition is concerned, but keep the thread open for others who want to create parks that fit with the idea.

[MrPKI]

OK that sounds good Caffinated. I'll see what the other two think.

How's your park coming Thrill Rider? I haven't gotten your entry yet so I kinda wondered. It's not too late to submit.:)

[Thrill Rider]

Im so sorry i havent turned it in yet. This weekend i was gone at the bite of seattle all saturday, My friend was over all afternoon till 10 on sunday, yesterday photoshop was being weird so i had to fix that and now today i have been gone since 8. I also have alot of other projects (this is one) so sorry for the wait, would you mind giving a 2 day extension. All i have is a lake, hydroplane coaster and a horrible Pike Place Market, and a forest. and the outline of a starbucks. 2 days please, the other contestants can add more if they want. once again im VERY sorry

[MrPKI]

Yeah I can extend it. There would be no judging if I didn't.;) Although I may give you two weeks anyway since the hassle of vacation is starting to settle in and I have alot to do. Who knows maybe I'll get more entries if I extend the deadline.

[MrPKI]

Okay I'm officially extending the deadline since I have no time to judge this weekend the new date is August 16th. Hopefully this will give enough time for everyone.

[RctGirl45]

Sorry i'm not joining anymore

RctGirl45
======

[MrPKI]

Well the next deadline has passed and I still have only one park. What should I do? By the way, RCTGirl45, what was the point of posting in the thread if you didn't want to join? Just wondered.

[Caffinated]

I don't work too well with deadlines >< I tend to forget.

Honestly, I'd just keep the idea open and remove the contest aspect. Keep it as a simple collection of parks.

I still have yet to go any futher on mine though :( I've been busy.

[MrPKI]

That might be a good idea. School is getting ready to start and I have enough things to do anyway. Although I hope Stroh isn't offended that he didn't get to compete against anybody. Stroh, do you want to post some pics of your park or me to? And maybe a download link. And if someone else wants to make a park that's fine too. Just let me know.:)

[RctGirl45]

I was going to but then i changed it.:D
RctGirl45
======

[MrPKI]

Oh, Sorry. I didn't realize that was an edited post. I've been gone awhile so I didn't see it at first.

[Stroh]

Originally posted by MrPKI
That might be a good idea. School is getting ready to start and I have enough things to do anyway. Although I hope Stroh isn't offended that he didn't get to compete against anybody. Stroh, do you want to post some pics of your park or me to? And maybe a download link. And if someone else wants to make a park that's fine too. Just let me know.:)

You might want to as my computer tends to display bad graphics. I'll try and shoot a video and such and put it up sometime today, or tomorrow to keep people interested.

[MrPKI]

OK. Here is a look at the one park I received through this competition.....Ohauna Mountain!

http://img221.imageshack.us/img221/7739/ohaunamountain3cv.jpg

http://img221.imageshack.us/img221/2633/shot00037tg.jpg

http://img221.imageshack.us/img221/3279/shot00047ca.jpg

http://img221.imageshack.us/img221/9277/shot00057ga.jpg

http://img221.imageshack.us/img221/6075/shot00063cu.jpg

Download Link (http://rapidshare.de/files/4333954/HI.zip.html)

Congratulations to Stroh! He worked hard on this park and I commend him for his efforts. I encourage anyone who would like to make a state-inspired theme park to post it in this thread. Who knows, maybe sometime there will be enough interest to have a competition.

[Stroh]

Nice Logo for my park! I like that. Thanks MrPKI.

[KingdaKa1]

Hey MrPKI, do u have someone doing New Jersey. If not, I have the ideas for Weird NJ Land, a park with all of New Jersey's Frightful and Funny Legends, such as the Jersey Devil, Hoboken Monkey Man, Devil's Tower, Clinton Road, Demon's Alley, Gates of Hell, Ghosts of Union Hotel, and the Most Haunted House. If u are intrested, post to me back, or check out www.weirdnj.com for more info on the park I would build.

[MrPKI]

You can build a New Jersey park if you want. I can't promise I'll be able to do anything with it besides advertise in this thread, but if you like building, go for it.

[KingdaKa1]

Thanks, I'm in! Jersey Devil has already been completed, I'll post pics tomm. My last post of my park tommorow before school.:(

[Stroh]

Welcome KingdaKa1! I can't wait to see what you made!

[KingdaKa1]

Thanks. My first coaster ride is Jersey Devil. I'll post the pics soon. It may be a while to make though. How long do we have anyway?

EDIT: I thought I'd give u a teaser for the first coaster.

In 1735, before the Revoulution, before a New Jersey, a family of a mother father, and twelve children prepared for the birth of the thirteenth child. It was a precuriously stormy night. The birth had went over succesful, but the child cursed by it's own mother began to change.

It grew at a quick rate, as talon like claws ripped through it's hands. Bat like Wings spread from it's back. Antlers grew on it's head, and a long forked tail grew from it's rear, as it's head metamorpshed into the head of a horse, with hooves for feet. It's eyes started to glem bright red, as it let out a earth shaking demonic scream and killed the family. It then flew into the desolation of the Pine Barrens

Today the monster still stalks the area around Leed's Point (The birthplace. The town was named after Mrs. Jane Leeds, the mother). Still lurking, still frightning, and on late moonlit nights, you can still here the Jersey Devil's screams.

[Stroh]

Sounds cool, can't wait.

[KingdaKa1]

Thanks, still haven't had time to begin work on it, i've been too busy (dumb school).