Sticky's Secret Park

[StickyGum32]

I say secret park, because I never really share any of the parks I make. And even though this one had been in a state of "done-ness" for a while, I started tinkering with it a couple of months ago, and now I've been completely renovating entire sections of the park, and quite frankly some of it is starting to look pretty damn good (for what I can do at least). So I'm going to step outside of my comfort zone, and be a little proud of what I can accomplish in this game and let you in on a park that I've slowly built on since Christmas Eve of 2018.

There are many things to cover about the park as a whole. Firstly, there is no name. Never thought of one, naming things isn't exactly my forte (thank god I don't have kids), so if you someone hits me with a good idea, then maybe I'll adopt it. Secondly, the park does take a lot of cues from some of my favorite parks that I've been to, namely Cedar Point, WDW, and Silver Dollar City, the latter being my home park. You'll see various influences from each in here. Don't expect a full-blown theme park, but rather themed sections or loosely-themed sections, depending on where we are. Sometimes the theme is the draw; sometimes the ride is the draw. While I do aim for realism, I'm only aiming for like...75% realism, so don't be surprised if something isn't exactly where it's supposed to be.

But with all that talkin' out of the way, I now introduce you to a relaunched concept from a park file I tragically lost once: a haunted shooty ride.

Hit the targets, weird things happen. Sometimes, they just happen without your intervention. Nonetheless, this attraction, Apparition Manor, takes heavy cues from three places: Haunted Mansion (HM), Space Ranger Spin (SRS), and The Flooded Mine (FM, from Silver Dollar City). The cars will rotate and face you towards show scenes in a HM style, usually smooth and fluid, but unable to be changed by guests. There are many illusions and gags around the Manor, again in HM style, including a nod to the changing portraits....if I can find the assets again on the workshop. HM also gave great inspiration to the layout of the attraction, though not to the design of the house, which is modeled after something I found on Google. Once you get through the opening queue outside, you round the corner of the house, and enter below what would be the first floor.

This helps to keep the show building (that you can see peaking around the side) sunken below and behind the Manor itself. Speaking of, the Manor itself only houses the queue and exit paths (as well as a bathroom and staff room). The entire attraction takes place in the show building. I'm still building all of the show scenes, and most of what is built is very structural (room layouts/sizes, doors, big-scale illusions), but here's what we've got thus far.

And finally, a birds-eye view of the entire attraction.

Yes that show building hides very well back there, especially in go-away green. You can see some sneak-peaks here of some of the other attractions, but for now I gotta run. More to come, if that's the kinda thing you're into.

- StickyGum32

Edited November 26 by StickyGum32

[Kablary]

What a stellar first-share project, Sticky!! I love that Victorian architecture you went for with Appairition Manor - reminds me of one of Haunted Overload's facades over in NH:

6 hours ago, StickyGum32 said:

More to come, if that's the kinda thing you're into.

I think it's safe to say we're VERY MUCH into it. Thanks for finally sharing!

[Wowman]

looks good. Don't be shy. Like the faux front building and the main ride building in the back. For a name...how about combining the inspiration park's names? Silver Cedar World or something on those lines?

[Wabigbear]

You should share more often!  The show building set up is completely realistic, especially how it's well hidden.  Like to see more!

[StickyGum32]

11 hours ago, Kablary said:

What a stellar first-share project, Sticky!! I love that Victorian architecture you went for with Appairition Manor - reminds me of one of Haunted Overload's facades over in NH:

[PIC]

Thank you! That's a very cool photo too, I love how compact it is. I think that's one of my favorite elements of HM in WDW, that the mansion doesn't look like a huge building. The actual inspiration for the Manor comes from this pic:

The front stairs and first level especially are directly lifted from this image, as was the central column. Glad you like it friend!

 

2 hours ago, Wowman said:

looks good. Don't be shy. Like the faux front building and the main ride building in the back. For a name...how about combining the inspiration park's names? Silver Cedar World or something on those lines?

Thank you! You all are truly being very kind about it, and I appreciate it. As much as I loved SGW, it wasn't always a great place to show off less-than-astounding projects

I'm not sold on the name, but "Silver Cedar" has a lovely ring to it! Maybe I'll use that elsewhere.

 

1 hour ago, Wabigbear said:

You should share more often!  The show building set up is completely realistic, especially how it's well hidden.  Like to see more!

Thank you kindly! This is probably the third or fourth iteration of the ride that I attempted, the first couple of tries kept failing because I was trying to stuff the ride IN the manor (RCT1 style if you will), and that simply wasn't working. I either ended up with not enough space for an attraction, or a f***ing enormous manor

Finally I started thinking about HM and how Disney pulls this off, and it occurred to me that the only time you're actually "in the mansion" is everything before and after the actual attraction. And the rest is history!

[wolfpaw]

A new StickyGum project... in this day and age!? You have no idea how happy I am to see that you're working on something and sharing it! Haven't seen this since the vPyro days (I wasn't very active on SGW)!

Like others have said it's a pretty neat beginning, the building is pretty good and does a very good job of hiding the show building behind it. I'm not much of a park person (as you know, cue the Epcot PTSD) so I'll let the more experienced park peeps give you tips but the only thing I can advise on is that I'd like to see some more landscaping and foliage! With an abandoned manor like this normally foliage and plants have really made their way into all areas of the land so reflecting that around the building will be a nice touch.

Super happy to see you posting again, AND OF COURSE WE WANT TO SEE MORE!

[StickyGum32]

On 6/13/2024 at 9:45 AM, wolfpaw said:

A new StickyGum project... in this day and age!? You have no idea how happy I am to see that you're working on something and sharing it! Haven't seen this since the vPyro days (I wasn't very active on SGW)!

Like others have said it's a pretty neat beginning, the building is pretty good and does a very good job of hiding the show building behind it. I'm not much of a park person (as you know, cue the Epcot PTSD) so I'll let the more experienced park peeps give you tips but the only thing I can advise on is that I'd like to see some more landscaping and foliage! With an abandoned manor like this normally foliage and plants have really made their way into all areas of the land so reflecting that around the building will be a nice touch.

Super happy to see you posting again, AND OF COURSE WE WANT TO SEE MORE!

God not the Epcot PTSD...my poor therapist...

Landscaping is still coming in! This whole area is very much a work in progress. I oughta open up the original game file and show you what WAS here before, cause I think you'd s**t yourselves knowing just how vastly improved this is. In the simplest way possible, this area was very much flat-ride heaven. Three or four of them here, plus the train station in the back. So the main goals now have been: 1. Clear the flats and replace with an attraction that people will actually come to (literally no one out of a 4k+ crowd was coming to the flats); 2. Re-theme the train station to fit the new area (and relocate it as necessary); 3. Add at least one flat into the area, and fill smaller sections with shops; 4. Landscape to fill the holes.

With the first item pretty much done, I'm working on #2 and #3. Funny enough, #3 is done at this point, but #2 has been giving me a headache. I have an idea, but it's going to take some more research. This first iteration of the train station simply isn't cutting it. But I promise, once the middle two items are taken care of, landscaping is going to fill the rest!

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Speaking of the rest, let's look at a neighboring area of the park while I'm finishing up the Manor. This is the original attraction that started it all...this uhhhh, coaster that doesn't have a name. It's been literally 6 years, and it still doesn't have a name. Very loose theme here (time to think Cedar Fair theming), we're just flying around and through this little village town with a half-constructed church-like structure, and honestly? That's about it. Not much to it. Except! This is two attractions in one area! Yes, you have the coaster running around this island town, but you also have a boat ride running around the body of water surrounding the island. And its name? The incomparable, the breathtaking....River Journey. I'm so damn good with names.

And of course an overview of the area to top it all off! This is some of my earliest PC work, it has a special place in my heart...except for maybe that big building in the bottom right of the overview, but still! A lot of this is not great, I'll be the first to say it, but that's also why I'm very clear to mention that this is Cedar Fair style theming. It's giving half-hearted, unclear theming, "clearly the coaster is the reason we're here" kind of situation. But as always, I accept your feedback!

Oh, one more note that I'm remembering. This was so early in my PC journey that I was still hard-wired from RCT3 to have path covers, and this by far was the largest scale that I had done that with, and I honestly don't hate it? I'm just not a huge fan of how it turned out overall, and that's exactly the reason it stops with just this section.

- StickyGum32

Edited June 14 by StickyGum32

[Wowman]

I assume that is all custom support work for the coaster. Looks great!

[wolfpaw]

That coaster looks like a ton of fun to ride, I would like a special ticket to ride this immediately, please.

Love the layout though! I'm always a sucker for compact coasters like that, especially one that goes through buildings and utilizes scenery well!

[StickyGum32]

1 hour ago, Wowman said:

I assume that is all custom support work for the coaster. Looks great!

It's actually not custom at all! Those are in-game supports. I don't have that kind of patience

But thank you for believing that I could!

59 minutes ago, wolfpaw said:

That coaster looks like a ton of fun to ride, I would like a special ticket to ride this immediately, please.

Love the layout though! I'm always a sucker for compact coasters like that, especially one that goes through buildings and utilizes scenery well!

I'm honestly really happy with this coaster. It rides quite well, and the compactness is definitely a feature. On this note though, if anyone has tips for how to record video from the game, hmu cause I'd love to get some POV's in here.

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Today we're going to return back to the Manor! I've got some shots of the rooms and the special effects that take place here when targets are triggered.

There really are targets everywhere. If I don't mention one specifically, then you should assume that it doesn't trigger anything, as there are several targets that just simply award points. There's also 45+ targets on the ride, and dear god I'm not going through each one of them. In this room, the windows, the bookshelf, the stack of books, and the fireplace all are triggerable events. The window curtains blow in a gust of wind when hit, the books on the shelf fly off onto the floor, the books on the table float up and down, and the fireplace's flame gets overcome by a large, eerie green flame.

Outside of the house, there are....a lot of targets.

The first few sets are pretty minimal, only the coffin is triggerable in the next pic (it opens and closes), and in the one after the skeleton against the tombstone will jolt towards the ride vehicle, and the empty grave plot becomes consumed with the eerie green fire when triggered.

Next is one of my favorites! All of the targets here do nothing but points except for one small one in the very back. It's hard to hit, but if you do, it floods the whole scene with pink smoke.

Right around the corner, the skeleton against the fence will reach towards you and the tombstone will trigger the ghost to pop up out of nowhere (HM style).

Possibly my favorite gags here, the two targets against the brick wall look like all of the other "points-only" targets in the yard, except that these two cause lightning strikes. The gargoyle on the other hand will spit fire at you.

And then finally we have this cute lil boy in the backyard, and as some of you will already know, the targets beside him do nothing! He is the target. Shoot him, and he'll get knocked out.

That's pretty much it! I've dressed up a lot of the area outside of the Manor at this point, and the inside of the manor is looking pretty tight as well. More pics to come next time!

Speaking of, I'm in port here on the ship on Mondays and Fridays. On those days, I have free internet access. So updates are Mondays and Fridays. Predictable

- StickyGum32

[Wabigbear]

Glad to see your updates any day of the week!

 

[StickyGum32]

So today's update is gonna be a little bit long, but it's gonna be cool. I thought it would be kinda cool to show you what this area used to look like. Before the Manor and its surrounding area came to be, this area was flat ride heaven...except for everyone in the park. Because even with 5,000+ peeps in the park and all the flats down to the cheapest possible prices, literally no one visited them. Ever. In fact, these pictures were taking with 5,000+ peeps in the park, though you'd never know it judging by the queues.

In terms of theming, this area was an extension of the coaster/river boat island situation just next door!

One of my favorite parts of this area (that I was sad to see go), was a little kiddie coaster. It was so cute and so ignored by the entirety of the peeps in this park. They don't know what they've missed.

The other major building in this area was the train station! This building was actually one of the things that I've been worried about replacing, because I need that building to be there. Not only for the train station itself, but also because the original one below served as a "staff access point" where staff could enter from the (half-assed) staff parking that sits just beyond the tree line. So the building that replaces it also has to serve that purpose as well, AND fit the new theme. No pressure.

And that's what this area used to be! And also why it was absolutely leveled!

And now look where we are: a fully finished area. Oh by the way! The area is finished!

What a transformation. And for the better for sure! Let's take a look around.

On the right side of the overview image above, sits a small restaurant with a name I pulled out of my ass just to put something down: Hallowed Halls. Feel free to suggest something better!

On the opposing side, is a set of quick service dining locations that you will all recognize.

Oh yeah, and that big building in the back? Our new train station. Now I'm not sold on it...but I really do love the use of the half-arch pieces over the actual train station where the cars roll in. But if you have any ideas for the design of the station, please feel free to advise! Oh and yes, the door at the base of the station is the new staff entrance point. The pathing behind the station is identical to the original.

And even the inside of the Manor has seen some love! Especially the queue and exit.

And that's all for now! See that beautiful red coaster across the way from the exit of the Manor? Oh yeah, we're going there next.

- StickyGum32

Edited June 22 by StickyGum32

[JB]

As for the restaurant's name, "Hallowed Halls" sounds fine to me. I'll just throw out a couple of other names: "The Family Crypt", or "The Mausoleum". 

[StickyGum32]

On 6/22/2024 at 2:24 PM, JB said:

As for the restaurant's name, "Hallowed Halls" sounds fine to me. I'll just throw out a couple of other names: "The Family Crypt", or "The Mausoleum". 

See I didn't think it was a terribly strong name, but if you and others like it, I'll happily keep it. I just kind of went with the first thing just to write something down

Thanks for the comment and feedback!

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Today, we're taking a look at Landslide, an RMC that's been in the park since the almost-beginning. The very first thing in the park was the coaster that winds through the town on the island and the river boats and carousel area around it. But the second largest expansion to the park was immediately to the south (???) of that area with the addition of Landslide. Especially as the station for this attraction is on the complete opposite side of its mountain from the island, it really helped to begin establishing the layout of the park, as guests are able to completely walk around the entire ride. The idea was to have a wild, mountainous coaster that hugs terrain and makes sharp, twisty moves that feel rapid and uncontrolled, even if the speed wasn't necessarily fast. We're going to look at the first iteration of the coaster now, and then swap over to the revamped version. The first version of this RMC definitely made for a good coaster layout....but not a good RMC layout. The front half of the coaster was solid, but the back half really flat-lined in terms of excitement and thrill. This really killed the energy that RMC's tend to have, and quite frankly, is the ultimate reason the whole coaster got redesigned. For now though, here's the original Landslide.

Key features of this attraction include the climb up the mountainside, the nearly-vertical drop, elements that dive below the level land of the guest areas surrounding it, overbanked turns and other classic RMC-style maneuvers. It also included a guest viewing area that you can see going into the side of the mountain (the path on the right of the overview pic) which gave guests an excellent, albeit protected, view of the iconic drop off the mountainside.

Yes the original was a very popular attraction for the guests, but it really did lack the chaos-element that RMC is known for. So...enter the revamp.

There were many aspects of this beloved attraction that I didn't want to lose: the mountainside lift, the near-vertical drop, the weaving in and out of itself...so I was careful to reintroduce these elements into the newer version. I also notably raised the height of the lift on this version, which gives me more speed to play with for the back half of the attraction, as lack of speed was what really killed the original on the final stretch. This redesign does lose the mid-course break run, but it does gain something that a lot of RMC's have that Landslide didn't: inversions. Two to be exact; there's a beautiful, low to the ground immelmann-esque inversion that plunges riders into an underground cave, followed immediately by rocketing out of that cave into a zero-g roll. This version does keep the near-vertical drop also, though it has a twist on it...literally. It twists, and banks all to hell. It's a beautiful first drop, and wild surprise for the folks in the back of the train being thrown over the top of the lift. This version is absolutely relentless, and yet so graceful. It also just looks so damn pretty, and I'm so proud of how it turned out.

Oh except for the little shack immediately before the lift. If you have any better ideas for that, please feel free to give me those suggestions. I honestly don't know what to do there.

And that's pretty much it! Again, if anyone has a guide or some tips for recording POV's, please send them along! I'd love to share these coasters with you in their full glory.

On Friday, we're taking a trip to the Backwoods, a section of the park themed to the rustic wilderness...and the last pics I took of the area before completely leveling and demolishing it! As it's the next area to get a full-blown makeover. Long overdue. Catch you then!

- StickyGum32

[JB]

I love twisty-turny terrain-hugging coasters! Yeah, a traditional lift hill builds up excitement and fear; seeing how high up you are. But the ground-hugging lift hill has its advantages too. Like, not really knowing how high you are, and the first drop is somewhat of a mystery... until it's too late! Then you're going down, down, down!

[Wowman]

looks greaT. ESPECIALLY LIKE THE WAY IT HUGS THE GROUND AND IS STILL THRILLING. I love this coaster type.

[Wowman]

On 2/25/2024 at 6:55 PM, JB said:

Only five cars in the parking lot? You're never gonna pay for the park at this rate! (Maybe they're all in the parking garage?)

 

[StickyGum32]

6 hours ago, JB said:

I love twisty-turny terrain-hugging coasters! Yeah, a traditional lift hill builds up excitement and fear; seeing how high up you are. But the ground-hugging lift hill has its advantages too. Like, not really knowing how high you are, and the first drop is somewhat of a mystery... until it's too late! Then you're going down, down, down!

Thanks! The other doozy of this particular attraction is the fact that a lot of action also sits below ground level (even the bottom of the first drop), so even if you know how high up you are, you still don't know how far down you're falling. Add in the caves throughout and it's just a wild time!

 

1 hour ago, Wowman said:

looks greaT. ESPECIALLY LIKE THE WAY IT HUGS THE GROUND AND IS STILL THRILLING. I love this coaster type.

"Only five cars in the parking lot? You're never gonna pay for the park at this rate! (Maybe they're all in the parking garage?)"

Thank you! RMC really felt like the right choice for what I wanted. When I was in concept for the ride, I described it as "a mountainous terrain-hugging coaster that whips through the caves and hills without reason" and honestly? It just screamed RMC.

Also how dare you, that's very clearly the employee parking lot (well one of them)

- StickyGum32

[wolfpaw]

I was about to say don't forget landscaping but then I saw your recent update and wow - looking amazing! Loving the layout of the park so far!

As for your recording tip, I think most people use Nvidia Shadowplay/GeForce Experience to record. If you have an Nvidia graphics card, you could use that to record! Any screen recorder would work as well I would imagine.

[jaronimo.mov]

On 6/24/2024 at 11:34 AM, StickyGum32 said:

I think this is by far my most favorite pictures and coaster!!! It reminds me of Twisted Colossus at Six Flags over here in Magic Mountain. I absolutely love it!! And damn them peeps for not riding those rides!! 

 

ALSO HELLOOOO FRIEND SO GOOD TO SEE YOU!! :) <3

[StickyGum32]

On 6/26/2024 at 11:22 AM, wolfpaw said:

I was about to say don't forget landscaping but then I saw your recent update and wow - looking amazing! Loving the layout of the park so far!

As for your recording tip, I think most people use Nvidia Shadowplay/GeForce Experience to record. If you have an Nvidia graphics card, you could use that to record! Any screen recorder would work as well I would imagine.

I knew you'd be happy about the landscaping

After some digging, I found that Windows 11 comes with a game bar thing that does screen capture, so that's what I went with for now. If it looks bad, I'll try one of those options, but I think it turned out pretty good!

 

19 hours ago, jaronimo.mov said:

I think this is by far my most favorite pictures and coaster!!! It reminds me of Twisted Colossus at Six Flags over here in Magic Mountain. I absolutely love it!! And damn them peeps for not riding those rides!! 

 

ALSO HELLOOOO FRIEND SO GOOD TO SEE YOU!! :) <3

Thanks! I love how this coaster turned out, that first iteration was just not cutting it. It had moments, but this new version just Has It, ya know?

ALSO MI AMOR HELLO I'VE MISSED YOU!!! <3

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Today I have POV's! These are the POV's for all three major attractions that we've seen thus far: Apparition Manor, Landslide, and that island coaster thing that still doesn't have a name.

Now for the Manor, there's a dead spot where you're looking smack at a wall down a long hallway...this is where I'm trying to put the Haunted Mansion's famous changing portraits, which would be triggered when shooting a nearby target, but I have to find a way to do the portraits. So for now, it's blank. Otherwise...

Next up, Landslide!

And finally that uhhh.....island coaster thing.

Next time, we'll be looking at the Backwoods area of the park. Which has been recently completely leveled, and I'm rebuilding it. So we'll see what you all think of my plans so far.

- StickyGum32

[StickyGum32]

Hello! Your feedback is requested for this post! I can't tell if I like my own decisions! Please help!!!

As promised, we're looking at the Backwoods today. This section of the park is meant to be a rustic, frontier-like section with a meandering mine train and comes with its own train station of the park's line. It's supposed to be a big stop, which is why it has been so disappointing that the original concept hasn't worked out well. Let's talk about the original first.

There was a mine train, Hillside Run, that meanders its way throughout the entire land of the Backwoods, creating excellent dynamic motion around the whole area. Its biggest demise is that it can run a little slow so it's excitement value isn't stellar, and thus not as interesting to the peeps as some of the other big coasters in the park are (especially Landslide, the RMC we looked at). Hell, even the unnamed island coaster sustains a larger line that Hillside Run does. The flume ride, Barrel Chute, had the opposite problem. It's capacity is so small and it's throughput not fast enough to eat through the line that it sustains, despite it being one of my absolute favorite designs I've had for a flume. I'm sure you could've guessed this next one, but the chairswing of course was of interest to absolutely no one, so again another miss. Combine that with the fact that the train also has to climb from default ground height to nearly 16m to get up to the train station for this area, and you've got yourself a recipe for inefficiency as a new themed area. Even if it looks pretty.

Oh yes! There was also the Grub Hub, named before I was aware of the app actually. It is what it says it is, the second largest quick service dining location on the map. It has about 12 different establishments inside to choose from.

 

This is the part where I need your input! Cannot stress enough how uncertain I am of these choices!

I've completely demolished this entire area. Everything you see above is completely gone. That part, I know is a good choice. So with this loose frontier theme in mind, I completely leveled the whole area, and decided on a few things: 1. I want a mine train that hugs terrain, and dives in and out of tunnels. I would prefer that it traverses the area, but beggars can't be choosers; 2. I want a water ride. There's only one other in the park (technically two if you count the River Journey, but you don't get wet on that, so I don't count it); 3. There has to be a train station, and I would prefer it not to be sky high; 4. There must be eating establishments to make up for the loss of The Grub Hub.

With that in mind, I've ended up with two major attractions: a mine train and a river rapids attraction. Both have major differences from their predecessors. The mine train takes on a bit more of a Matterhorn approach, being housed entirely in its own mountainous structure, not weaving through the rest of the land whatsoever. The rapids attraction corrects the oversight of the final drop not being a focal point and the capacity issue. It also may be a slight homage to my home park's very own lost rapids attraction, The Lost River of the Ozarks. The chairswings are back against my better judgement, and there's a small eating establishment already set down. The train station is pretty bland at the moment, but I like the base that I'm starting with. I also like that the train is now the thing that meanders through the area, as you have to pass underneath it to enter the area, and as it leaves the area heading to the Main Entrance, it passes through the mountain that houses the mine train. Enough yapping though, time for pictures. I've included an overview of the whole area, as well as overviews of the mine train and rapids with the respective attraction selected so that you can see the actual layout of the attraction as they both pass through terrain.

What I need is some honest opinions here. I'm at a point where the majority of this land has been laid out, and only a few details have been placed down. The attractions are completely undecorated, but have most of their terrain work done. I'm also not opposed to a third major attraction in the back where that gap is between the mine train and the rapids. Lord knows I've got the land for it too. But please, let me know your thoughts! Does this look like a good direction to go in? Am I missing a crucial element? Have I gone mad? Should I start all over again? Give it to me straight...the feedback, not anything else. #proudallyear

- StickyGum32

[Plokoon111]

Wow, really loving your project Sticky! Very inspiring and can't wait to see more. Everything makes sense with the details and reasoning! 

[Wabigbear]

I think it will look great once you add the foliage, that will really tie it all together.  As for adding another attraction in that gap - I think you certainly could if it's something that would attract the peeps back there, or you could also add something like a western-themed area with some themed building facades fronting an attraction buildings behind them.  Citytrader has done the trick where he hides a simple loop of Hoax ride track behind a false front.  That ride almost always attracts peeps even if if it's just a simple loop.  We've used that in several parks now and the queue lines are always well used.

If I could offer just one suggestion on your structures?  I think one thing that will take them up a notch would be to add the eave trim pieces.  That will extent the roof out slightly from your walls, not only adding realism, but also adding visual details with the shadows and such they add.  Nothing wrong with your structures as they are!  Just a east way to increase their visual impact...

Keep up the good work, having fun following along with this project!

[StickyGum32]

On 7/2/2024 at 6:45 AM, Plokoon111 said:

Wow, really loving your project Sticky! Very inspiring and can't wait to see more. Everything makes sense with the details and reasoning! 

Awww thank you! Sometimes with these big swings, it's so hard to tell if it's even working or not, so I appreciate the feedback.

 

On 7/2/2024 at 9:43 AM, Wabigbear said:

I think it will look great once you add the foliage, that will really tie it all together.  As for adding another attraction in that gap - I think you certainly could if it's something that would attract the peeps back there, or you could also add something like a western-themed area with some themed building facades fronting an attraction buildings behind them.  Citytrader has done the trick where he hides a simple loop of Hoax ride track behind a false front.  That ride almost always attracts peeps even if if it's just a simple loop.  We've used that in several parks now and the queue lines are always well used.

If I could offer just one suggestion on your structures?  I think one thing that will take them up a notch would be to add the eave trim pieces.  That will extent the roof out slightly from your walls, not only adding realism, but also adding visual details with the shadows and such they add.  Nothing wrong with your structures as they are!  Just a east way to increase their visual impact...

Keep up the good work, having fun following along with this project!

Thank you so much for all the suggestions! I've been playing around with foliage since you commented, and I think you're right, it's starting to come together more than what it was before. I think my main concern has been this enormous mountain that I have now? I don't know what I'm feeling there, but it just feels cumbersome. But I'm going to try some scenery ideas and show scenes (a la Big Thunder Mountain) and see if I can't get something to work there. And I hadn't thought of the hoax rides! I forget that that's a trick that works. I do think I'm going to put something back there, but I'm fully undecided on what that will be as of yet. But I do love that idea...

Oh, and yes the trims! I've got them on a few other buildings, but I hadn't thought of them on these. I'm definitely going to go back and pop those in there; you're right that they will pop with that little extra going on. Feel free to keep giving those suggestions, buildings are always my least favorite

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While I'm still playing around with the new Backwoods area, today I'm going to introduce you to the final train station and the area it calls home: the main entrance! You would not be mistaken at all to see the clear inspiration from the Magic Kingdom on this one, though I like to think I've put enough of my own stamp on it to differentiate it. The train station is definitely not that, it's a rip of the Main Street station. But the rest of this area I think works quite well! A good handful of these buildings are facades, but there's also plenty of them that are functional for the peeps and staff.

 

Our other big feature today is this bad boy here: Lumber Pile, the towering wooden coaster standing over the entrance plaza. This actually used to be the original home of a coaster we'll look at soon, but Lumber Pile fits the scene a bit better, especially as the path where its queue is leads straight into the Backwoods. As for this coaster's theming, you need to think Cedar Fair again. We're here for the ride, not the show.

And there we go! Depending on how the Backwoods is going, that might be the next update. Otherwise, we'll be looking at the area behind the other side of the entrance area: The Plaza.

- StickyGum32

Edited July 5 by StickyGum32