As our contest rolls on, and we are about to hit the 1 year mark for the contest (In September), I have many concerns about the fate of the contest. There are a few issues I want to bring up with the members that might participate in the contest:

1: Member Submissions:This is a biggie. Recently, each winners circle has been shy of one submission for a month, and the months contest would only get 2 or 3 submissions. While we love the fact that people pull through and make a park, but when we get NO submissions for a month, or a slim number, I become concerned. I want to know what stops members from submitting parks. We are open to anything, we design the contest around you. Is it the themes? Size regulations? Expansion Packs? Please let us know. We appreciate any member input.

So with the slim number of contest, we will keep our eyes focused on things to help bring in more people and submissions to the contest. After all, its all about the participants!

2: Themes: One thing we noticed with our other popular contest, the No Limits Contest, is that our rules, themes etc. got far too complicated and complex. I want to make sure the TNPP stays as basic yet interesting as possible. If you don't like a specific theme, tell us. If you think of a theme that will attract more people, inform us! Hundreds of brains are better than 3 of the staff's. We want to know what would make you want to build a park and submit it! Let us know!

3: Deadlines: Hey, we all live busy lives from time to time, and building a park on a computer may be the least of your worries. Jobs, School, Outdoor fun are all important things of our lives. I want to know if one month is too short to make a park. We want to offer you time to build a good park, and have it be submitted to the TNPP. One month was our initial timing idea, if its too short, let us know. We're all busy now and then, tell us if our timing is off.

4:Prizes: We thought the idea of 50 dollars towards almost anything you want would be a nice incentive to submit a park. We tried promoting it, but it apparently didn't stick with some people. Do any of you have a problem with the prize? We want to know if you do. We had many prize ideas, but we want to make sure this prize is open to everyone, and fits.

Overall: I want this thread to be a open forum for suggestions. People continue to flake out on the contest, and we want to know why. I raised all the big 4 points some people may have issues with. We are willing to cater the contest to the majority of the members requests (Within reason please...don't ask for a Ferrari F50 as your prize).

We want input, do not be shy to give a suggestion. We want to know how we can improve our TNPP contest. Discuss it in this thread, or contact our TNPP staff: Me (Kyle L), Aaron, Phil, Graham. (You may want to try me or Aaron first, the others are often busy with other sections of TN)

-Thanks,
-The TNPP Staff

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Thornton to Heatley all day, every day.

Well, the main thing that made me stop making parks was that no one has RCT3. Many people voted for the RCT2 park just bcause they had RCT2 and not 3.

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Time is a big thing for me. If I had two months I could come up with a pretty decent park. As you can see in the park I'm doing for the heck of it, Cliff Lake, I take it slow, and am careful about where I place things. The themes don't bother me except for the fact that I'm not that great with themeing, but thats what stuff like this if for. If I had the time, I would enter a park, but between church, vacation, random events, and family stuff in the summer, and all that plus school in the winter, RCT just isn't a big priority.

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Point Xtreme: Your Xtreme Guide to America's Roller Coast!

8 bits and Goomba-stomping fun is all you need for a fun afternoon. Forget shooting and thousands of polygons, I want bits and funny sounds.

the absolutely only reason i dont enter anymore is the mixture of themes and deadlines. the problem is that it takes me too long to build a full sized park(even longer then 3 months when you give out the themes early). i was able to work it out for my first entry (haunted wasteland) because it was small and didnt contain much of anything (only two coasters and a few flats), but then i tried to make my next entry a little bigger (tim burton) and it turned out rushed for the deadline and not how i would have wanted it to turn out.

i think there are two possibilities for this. either get rid of the themes all together and let people make whatever parks they want and when someone fniishes a park of theirs, thats when they enter (like rct2.com's VP) OR keep the themes, and give them out A LOT of time before theior respective month.(like give out the next twelve themes now)

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I'm Back
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I noticed no one has updated the first post of the rules, guidelines, and themes. If you were to either get rid of the themes, or let us know 6 or more months in advance, I think the parks would be better.

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Point Xtreme: Your Xtreme Guide to America's Roller Coast!

8 bits and Goomba-stomping fun is all you need for a fun afternoon. Forget shooting and thousands of polygons, I want bits and funny sounds.

An idea I have is to re-work the system we currently have. We have a 3 month cycles with 3 contests, each month. My idea is to create a 3 month single contest. (Meaning you have 3 months to create a park). Out of those 3, we will chose the best. Cause right now, we have many people flaking out cause they can't get a park in on time.

As for updating the main page, that was my fault. I got busy, and it became the least of my problems...to say the least.

Thanks for the input, more would be greatly appreciated!

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Thornton to Heatley all day, every day.

My point of view:

Maybe it's very hard to choose a theme, but as for theming, if I read the contest's theme, I wouldn't know how to make it except for placing many objects of that theme in my park. Doesn't make sense to me. I want to decide what theme I make. Maybe you can hold a free form contest, in which everyone can choose his/her own theme. By the way, some parks have separated zones with separated themes. It will be a bit harder to judge, but you might consider it. I dno't like he size limitations either. I want to determine the size myself, what's wrong with a 50x50 or a 250x250 park? As long it's filled and beautiful and not empty and ugly, the size doesn't matter. A bigger park just means more work. But if a 50x50 park is worked out extremely good, this can of course win above the larger park which could have been more work.

On the NoLimits contest, I don't join each month anymore. Indeed, because I sometimes just don't like the rules. I hate making coasters on a downloadable template.

I am working on a park for an RCT2 contest on a Dutch site, we got four months to complete the park. I think one month is just not enough time. Why hold twelve contests a year, you seem to run out of contestants. Try four contests a year, then first, people have more time and parks will be better (I guess), and second, people who don't join now might enter then.

If I would enter a contest, I don't do it for the prize. Even if there is no prize, I just would enter for fun. I know, I haven't entered TNPP until now, I don't have RCT2 installed.

I don't have the expansion packs of RCT2, some people have, and not everyone has the same expansion packs. Therefore, not everyone can make the same detail in their themeing and some people have other attractions. And some people like RCT3 more. And maybe some people only have RCT1. I think you should just allow every game (RCT1, RCT2 and RCT3) to gain more contestants.

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Every game is allowed just not the expansion packs.

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Well the thing about the allowed games is that no one has Roller Coaster Tycoon 3. I personally don't have it. I want to get it soon, but its been one of those stupid reluctant things that I refuse to actually go buy. (Don't ask.) Its either a love or hate game. Some people love it and play it to death, others say its far too bugged etc.

We designed the contest around RCT2. RCT3 doesn't have as many people building parks in it as RCT2. We came to a swift conclusion that not a lot of people have most of the expansions. So we didn't allow them for the sake of making sure everyone has a chance to view.

My biggest issue I brought up was time. I certainly could never build a park in a month, let alone, let that park win the contest. We will seriously revise the contest time allowed. Im thinking 3 months. We just want to make sure the contest is active, and not a hybernating thing. But of course, we want contestants.

The only problem I have with free-form is that its too hard to judge. When you give out a theme, people will take it and revise it differently than others. Creativity comes into play, practability, and just overall skills. The thing Im trying to accomplish is make themes that are easier to build a gigantic park around. Some of our themes were great: (Christmas, Six Flags Park, Halloween). However our recent themes have been too specific, which is what I want to avoid.

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Thornton to Heatley all day, every day.

hmm... The contest seems a bit slow. Maybe just open things up even more than they have been. Like any park between 50X50 and under 100X100 with a "river" or something.

Another thing that might help would be to try to get the links to TN on sites like RCTF (the Fusion club site) and rct2.com to direct people directly to the PP forum. Just little things like that.

ride6

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Ne- RCT to the Max- http://www.nedesigns.com
"What's so Civil about war anyway?"- Guns N' Roses

One reason I've never entered, is because I have the triple thrill pack....I'm afraid that I'll use some object from the expansions, and get DQd or something. I think that if custom-scenery is allowed, expansion pack scenery should too, that seems more fair to me.

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Pay no attention to me.

^The reason is rather simple to say the least. Custom sceanery, assuming it's exported, plugs right in to the game. The expantion require the viewer to have and have installed all the expansions that the builder used. Just uninstall WW & TT. I have Wacky Worlds, got it back when it first came out, but I uninstalled it.

It's not hard.

ride6

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Ne- RCT to the Max- http://www.nedesigns.com
"What's so Civil about war anyway?"- Guns N' Roses

I cant uninstalll ww and tt, its one disk and they are all installed on it.

And custom scenery shouldnt be allowed, its a complete advantage to everyone who knows how to use it. Ive been using RCT in one form or another ever since the first game came out. I have every game and every expansion pack, but I still dont know how to use custom scenery.

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Pay no attention to me.

Custom scenery for RCT3 is even more evil than for the other two. There is a released program that imports anything you can model in Maya or some other 3d program and makes it into scenery. The possibilities are endless.

If you want to allow expansion packs because they are cool (Soaked has quickly become my favorite of them, ever, and is probably the best purchase I've made in the entire series) then just have people take multiple screenshots of parts of their park. Depending on the size of the park entered I'd say have 1-4 overheads, and then 3-4 that the entrant selects as being particularly good. Then everyone can vote even if they don't have the game/expansion necessary to see all the theming and rides.

I'd additionally like to see the stats for each ride--screenshot or typed in, in any case that would have to be verified with the moderators and approved as accurate--so we can see that a coaster performs as well as looks nice.

I think if you advertised your contest a LOT for particular months on other boards you would get more interest. For example, you can keep the simple monthly contests so that TN members can work on small parks and hone their skills, but every 3-4 months announce a special contest (entries to be due 3-4 months later, appropriately) with a difficult theme. These would be the ones you advertise.

I imagine on other boards that just about anybody would come looking at a "indoor waterpark contest" based around Soaked!, or a "Best Flying Themed Contest," or something similar. I've seen some very cool designs based on parks that were high up in the clouds (literally) in RCT3 and the idea of an indoor waterpark could even be partially simulated in RCT1 and 2 with some of the water rides. There are RCT3 forums that could bring in more voters and designers from the third game too, so that our contests are slightly less biased to the originals.

^That may work.

And I agree that custom sceanery is of great advantage to those who can use it. I'd say about 2/3 of the work of building a "great" rct2 park these days must happen in choosing the right sceanery for the themes, architecture and ideas one wishes to exicute.

However I would disagree that using custom sceanery gives any more of an advantage than the ownership of the expansion packs...

ride6

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Ne- RCT to the Max- http://www.nedesigns.com
"What's so Civil about war anyway?"- Guns N' Roses

Well, the reason I don't enter used to be the time restriction, but that was the old TNPP (long time ago). Now, it's the fact that I'm more interested in designing roller coasters, which RCT2 does offer, but on a very unrealistic scale. I guess I'm a No Limits fanatic now, whereas I used to love the RCT series.

RCT3 really ruined it for me, I played the demo and thought it was terrible, but bought the game for $40. It isn't worth $5, the price of RCT1 at my local Best Buy.

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I should get in NL but I must admit that I'm additicted to the theming and overall parkmaking concepts of rct.

1 & 2 anyway. I don't have 3, and don't care to for now.

ride6

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Ne- RCT to the Max- http://www.nedesigns.com
"What's so Civil about war anyway?"- Guns N' Roses

RCT3 pretty much ruined the RCT series for me aswell. I loved 1 and I did love 3 but it got very slow very quickly and was just too much.

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As long as people who use custom scenery or scenery from the updates don't get any advantage in judging above people who don't use custom scenery and don't have the updates.

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Hi,
I have uploaded parks and tracks for RCT2 and would like to enter the contests...

However the thing stopping me from entering is that i don't know how to!!!

Please inform me.

Dale

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I HAVE A BIG SIGNATURE - IT'S GREEN

I usually try to get a park done for each month but when outside factors come up I can't do it. My resort park alone took me 3 months and I didnt even finish it. I had a music themed park going (themed to the lostprophits) but because of exams I never finished. Now, because of work and no computer at my grandma's I can't enter until I move back home, and when I do university and keeping in touch with my girlfriend will be my top priorities. I guess what I'm trying to say is that we need more time.

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ThrillNetwork Moderator
The user formerly known as WildeFyre
UOIT Mechanical Engineering Student

Um, what stops me from entering more than 3-4 times a year (don't tell that's not plenty man) is the fact that I have about 5 other parks that I'm working on either solo or in a group at New Element. But you know if everyone entered 3-4 times a year we wouldn't be having this discussion.

Anyway I'm not entirely sure what would revive this into something more active.

ride6

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Ne- RCT to the Max- http://www.nedesigns.com
"What's so Civil about war anyway?"- Guns N' Roses

Personally I would like to see more freely themed parks, like the first month was, whatever you want to do to your park, you do. I don't get the August theme at all.

When you announce the themes, you announce three at a time. If people need three months to complete a park, then there ya go. They can have a November park up.

I am on the contest staff at an rct site and we have learned that every site has a slow perioid of time. I have seen sites run the park contest for two months and there are the same amount of entries. The only problem i have with these contests is the theme, none of them the past couple of months have cought me. Ive been craving to build a good park but none of these themes have inspired me. And to coment on the people saying that custiom scenery gives advantages, and it does, but the it can be an equal advantage because you can go out and download what ever you need.

yes #but# how do you enter???

Dale

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I HAVE A BIG SIGNATURE - IT'S GREEN

Upload the park into the speedzone (which I'm under the impression that you already do) then post a link to the park you're entering in that months "Premier Parks Submission/Entry" thread. For example this month I uploaded Banana Valley into the speedzone, then I posted a link to it in the "July Submissions" thread to officially enter the park. Then a moderator will take the link and post it in the discussion/voting thread when the cut off date has been reached (generally 1 week/ 7 days before the end of the month).

There you go!

ride6

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Ne- RCT to the Max- http://www.nedesigns.com
"What's so Civil about war anyway?"- Guns N' Roses

When you uploaad a park, it gives you the option to "enter this into this months contest" which is under the description part of the upload. You check that box, and viola, it's entered.

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Yes but how do you know what type of park to make and when the next comp is??

Dale

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I HAVE A BIG SIGNATURE - IT'S GREEN

Check the Premier Park forum for the thread that tells you the details.

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So i look for what i need to make and when for... MAKE IT... than upload and click 'add to TNPP contest',
then that's the end of it... i'll be contacted to be informed of which position i came??
YES?

Dale

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