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NL2 Competitions - 2016 summary and 2017 plans

Hixee

Hixee

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Firstly thank you to everyone who took part in our competitions this year - and thank you to Tom for orchestrating it all! It's actually more work than you'd think preparing the templates and rules, setting up the topics and managing all the votes, so he deserves a pat on the back!

We've had nine rounds, with a total of 59 tracks submitted. 18 different members have taken part, with an average of 6.6 members entering per round.

I've set up a spreadsheet to collate all of the results, a PDF and JPG link of which can be found below:

http://www.mediafire.com/view/pf5gln588 ... ps2015.pdf

e6qjScz.jpg


Thanks again to everyone who took part - we hope it was fun and a challenge and that you'll be keen to come back for more next year!

- - - - - - - - - -

Speaking of which, NL competitions 2016!

This topic is for some feedback and suggestions.

What worked well? What didn't work well? What would you like to try building next year? What should be definitely not include next year?

We aren't going to be offended by criticism, as long as it's constructive! If you think something was badly done, let us know, but crucially let us know if you've any ideas on how to improve things for next year!

Over to you!
 
Nothing constructive to say, however, I've not had No Limits 2 very long and I'm kinda atrocious, but I'm looking forward to join in next year.
 
I think you guys did a good job with orchestrating the comp. Its just something for fun and it is a lot of work. But here are some of my observations...

The Good -
- I liked how the last comp had everyone voting on the RCSO of the coasters. As long as everyone is fair with the way they vote, it gives a better idea of how people viewed each coaster. Versus just giving each a 1 to 5 vote.

- Seemed like the comps with smaller build challenges and less of a time frame had more participants. Suggest maybe a 3 week build time and 1 week to judge.

The Bad -
- There wasn't enough of a point deduction for not following guidelines. There was one comp in particular that the top two coasters were not within the guidelines. This put those who followed the guidelines at a disadvantage.

Suggestions for future comps -
- small gravity group, 50 foot height limit within a small footprint or under another coaster.
- pretty the parking lot - build a B&M floorless over a parking lot at Six Flags
-
 
I have a really fun idea that can really push creativity.

So, the idea is that we can build whatever we want. Any type, any height, theme, whatever(you can set basic parameters like height or type if need be). But the catch is that you only have a day to complete it. So if we started it on the 13th, it'd be due on the 14th. Anyone up for something like that?
 
Problem with that is how can you judge fairly a giga and a spinner? You can't.

We have some exciting comps coming up, keep your eyes peeled over next few weeks.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using Tapatalk
 
Rather than start a new thread, I'll just update this one I think (you'll notice a lot of this is just copied and pasted from last time). I'm not sure anyone really cares about this kind of thing, but I think it's nice to see how the year has played out.

In the same vein as last year - firstly thank you to everyone who took part in our competitions this year! It's great we're able to run these with even a low number of participants, and without you we'd have nothing! A special thanks also to Tom for orchestrating it all and to Jay for taking charge of the "Mack the RMC" round!

Now, on to 2016! We've had six rounds, with a total of 26 tracks submitted. 11 different members have taken part, with an average of 4.3 members entering per round.

I've set up a spreadsheet to collate all of the results, a PDF and image of which can be found below:

http://www.mediafire.com/file/0h76oldt6py4taz/NL2_comps_2016.pdf

Capture_zpsqbzemcva.jpg


Thanks again to everyone who took part - we hope it was fun and a challenge and that you'll be keen to come back for more next year!

- - - - - - - - - -

So, on to the NL competitions 2017!

You won't have missed the fact that the number of entrants has dropped off heavily in the last couple of rounds. Several of us have had some fairly major changes to our lives in the last half a year (I, for one, have been working abroad without access to a NL2 compatible laptop) and we've been struggling to make time to run and compete in these rounds (which is why we're quite thankful that Jay took over the running of one of the rounds).

2017 is still some way off, but getting some feelers out now. Are people generally still interested in taking part in these competitions? It's not a problem if not (although if not it would be nice to see some NL2 activity on the forums), but please let us know so we don't start drafting ideas over the next couple of months.

This topic is for some feedback and suggestions.

What worked well? What didn't work well? What would you like to try building next year? What should be definitely not include next year?

We aren't going to be offended by criticism, as long as it's constructive! If you think something was badly done, let us know, but crucially let us know if you've any ideas on how to improve things for next year!

Over to you!
 
Its not just on the CF forum, but I peeked in on No Limits Exchange and it seems like its getting stagnant as well. Not sure how much of a community is out there. Also, tomorrow (11/18) marks the official release of the full version of Planet Coaster. I wouldn't mind seeing a comp or two in that game. I don't have it yet so I am not sure of the semantics of the gameplay.

As for NL2, I'm still down for competitions. It may be better to do them through the winter when all the parks are closed and we all have cabin fever. Summer is hard for me between park trips (hit 10 this year) and kids sports. I missed a comp or two due to vacations. I am willing to help out when needed. I do have a template ready just in case.

As to the type of comps, it doesnt really matter to me. Its nice being challenged. Hey! I pulled off my first script this year!
 
I don't follow any other forums/communities, so it's interesting to hear that there's a decrease in interest in this game all round. I think it's probably a combination of limited updates to the game (I don't think anything "new" has been added in a couple of years now), and upcoming release of the new games (Parkitect and Planet Coaster). On that note:
jay37415 said:
Also, tomorrow (11/18) marks the official release of the full version of Planet Coaster. I wouldn't mind seeing a comp or two in that game. I don't have it yet so I am not sure of the semantics of the gameplay.
Click to expand...
This might be the kick up the arse I need to sort out the games section on CF! :p With the release of another new game, I think we could do with a little re-jig of things. :)

jay37415 said:
As for NL2, I'm still down for competitions. It may be better to do them through the winter when all the parks are closed and we all have cabin fever. Summer is hard for me between park trips (hit 10 this year) and kids sports. I missed a comp or two due to vacations. I am willing to help out when needed. I do have a template ready just in case.
Click to expand...
Summer is a hard time for most of us these days. I think the reason we've traditionally run competitions over the summer is that when we were all younger and at school/university, the summer vacation was the only time of the year we were actually free. I never really had any time off over the winter, as I always had exams in January. That being said, now a lot of us have passed that it might be worth something considering...

jay37415 said:
As to the type of comps, it doesnt really matter to me. Its nice being challenged. Hey! I pulled off my first script this year!
Click to expand...
Scripting is the one thing I wish I'd have made the time to learn this year - I really like the idea of playing with them. Maybe one for 2017...
 
When the time comes.. I'll do my best to share what I have learned about scripting. I have only done one so I still have a lot to learn.
 
I'd love to see a Planet Coaster competition. After playing around with the coaster editor, I've found that making realistic coasters is more than possible. Just check out this RMC by youtuber Silvarret:
We could place a greater emphasis on theming thanks to Planet Coaster being a theme park sim, while still having realism.
 
I fully intend on running a Planet Coaster comp in the beginning part of next year. It is on the list of definites.

I think initially when we started with NL2 contests, we advertised on Social Media, and that's something I stopped. It also got increasingly difficult for me to scale up as past 6 months I've been very busy. Next year hopefully we can mix things up a bit, we won't run them consecutive.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using Tapatalk
 
Are there enough players on here to have Parkitect comps too? Not all of us have PCs powerful enough to run Planet Coaster yet, you know...

(I actually think my desktop could handle it, but it's broken. And I'm between jobs, so haven't got the budget to fix or replace it)
 
I downloaded Planet Coaster and my PC lags a lot with the program. I had to upgrade my graphics card, but still not enough. If there were PC comps, I would be out cause I would waste more time fighting with the game.
 
I like the Planet Coaster comp idea. NoLimits is a bit time consuming in my opinion; Planet coaster may be a bit easier and the editing features are advanced enough for making detailed rides. And for the most part, having an empty park just to create one roller coaster shouldn't slow down computers too much either.
 
GuyWithAStick said:
I have a really fun idea that can really push creativity.

So, the idea is that we can build whatever we want. Any type, any height, theme, whatever(you can set basic parameters like height or type if need be). But the catch is that you only have a day to complete it. So if we started it on the 13th, it'd be due on the 14th. Anyone up for something like that?
Click to expand...
I'd go for that if I had NL2...
 
TLARides said:
I'd go for that if I had NL2...
Click to expand...
Thing is, as Tom said previously:
tomahawk said:
Problem with that is how can you judge fairly a giga and a spinner? You can't.
Click to expand...
Of course, we could just restrict the ride type, but then you might as well make the competition a little longer (say, a week) and at least give people a bit more flexibility.

I can guarantee just between Tom, Marc and myself that we'd struggle to find one day that we'd all be free all day to hammer out a coaster - let alone trying to get more people from across the world involved. It'd be a nightmare to organise! :p
 
To touch base a little bit on the future of these.

24 hours contests aren't feasible/worth it for numbers we have entering. If we had 30 people entering, I'd consider it, but we have at most 5(?) Maybe 6. Not gonna do it.

I did purchase Planet Coaster but my PC can't handle it. At all. Plus with the newest NL2 update, it has become unplayable as well. Having an all in one seemed like a good idea 4 years ago when I bought it, but not so much now. It will be some time before I get them updated, so hopefully before summer we can get a contest of sorts rolling.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using Tapatalk
 
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