NLC Track Tennis 2018
Oh man, this sounds like both a lot of fun and a great way to get people involved without asking for a time commitment. I have to ask though, what happens if a block section accidentally becomes too long for it to reach the other launch/brakes?
I've been looking for a way to ease back into NL2... I think this is it! Thanks for setting this up, guys, I'm definitely excited to see how it goes
Please post screens of each newly built segment so we can share it on Social Media!
-Ride_Op
Count me in definitely!
im am 1000% down for this
Great idea, I'll see if I can contribute to this!
So will we be making just track and not supports then? I was under the impression that everyone had to also support the section of track that they add to the coaster.
I'm down
^^ Supports can be a big time sink, and we don't want to discourage people from entering because of that. Having separate support turns also lets people who aren't confident about their trackwork (hello) contribute in another way.
One thing I've noticed, which I'm not a fan of is the coaster seems to be seperated in to Phases of Track / Supports / Theming etc and I think thats too restrictive. The best part of track tennis was the free flowing nature. On occasions someone would simply add a tree, maybe someone would add a bit of terrain early on and force the next person to be more creative etc. I think starting with a track style, train and car set up and a simple piece of station track was what led to some of the best coasters immaginable. Caos Theory for example was one of my all time favourite NL coasters and that came as a result of a TT game.
Putting restrictions in place hinders that. I think 1 element should be a rule rather than a given length, an element should be something such as a loop, a zero g, airtime hill etc. How that element ends should be up to the person creating it. Its all about throwing curveballs at the game and making it interesting and challenging for those going next. Forcing people to be creative. I think we're being to restrictive under the current rules.
^ Thanks for the feedback. You make some undeniably sound points, so we'll make some changes to the rules to address what we can. The focus behind the current rule-set was to maximise each participant's creative freedom, and indeed that may have come at the cost of limiting peoples ability to influence subsequent turns.
The 80m figure for the track allowance was chosen to be roughly analogous to the 1 element rule of old TT given the template's ride type and speed. I opted for a hard limit as I wanted to avoid people submitting track and having it rejected for falling foul of ambiguous limits. We'll keep a close eye on that rule as the contest progresses, and either adjust the numeric value or revert to the old rule if it becomes an issue.
count me in
If you need any further ideas / suggestions, or help judging turns. Let me know. I'd be happy to help where I can.
Template
The traditional track tennis templates were very simple, usually a station and a lift hill or launch. I wanted to keep this style in the new version, but wanted to add an NL2 flavoured twist. So this time the template comes with a dual launch provided, the first 80kph and the second 115kph.
The launch layout bears quite a resemblance to a certain blitz coaster, but with a large sprawling terrain to build on, what the rest of the ride will be like is up to you collectively to decide.
Starting Tomorrow
Track Tennis 2018 starts tomorrow, Friday 23rd with the first of our open serves. The open serve is a special turn where everybody is invited to submit a track section at once, and the referees will choose their favourite to be kept going forward. The first element is the most important on many rides, and we'll be looking for a signature element to kick-start the layout with.
The template NL2PKG will be uploaded tomorrow (22:00 UTC to be confirmed), from which you will have 48 hours to submit your track addition. Any extra information you'll need will be included in tomorrow's post.
We have a couple of rule changes pending, we'll highlight those once they change.
How about a chinese knockoff coaster section from me?
75 kmph first launch? i can work with that...
you can count me in if it´s not too late
Is the open serve going to start BOTH blocks, or just the one after the first launch? It would be really cool to have both block sections being worked on at a time, and would give more people a chance to work on the track since four people would be locked out per round instead of two
i wouldnt do that. the coaster could get much more intersting if the first half is finished and you have to work with the first half when you start with the second one. so you can get more headchoppers and interaction. with your idea the layout could get pretty bad when those parts are made without of knowing where the other part is going. also it could let to problems when you have 2 people working on the coaster at the same time and they built in the same spot
yeah definitely start with the first half only, id also say that seeing as two launches are already in place, that no additional transports should be added so everyone must work with the speed they have
I would argue that having both blocks being worked on at the same time would lead to even more creative interactions, as otherwise the first block would be leading the dance all the way. With people working on both sides of the coaster, the one working on the first block might see a cool interaction with the second block, rather than just making a track in an open template. If the tracks are close enough, the two could even collaborate and work together to make sure their submissions fit together snugly. If it was one block at a time, those working on the first half would not get the liberty of seeing where an interaction could take place, and instead have to somehow imply an interaction with their submission and hope that the others pick up on it.
As for the issue of having two people working on the same spot, that is easily fixed with communication. Even if the "First Block, Second Block" idea is not clear, NL2 color codes blocks, so you can tell someone "Hey, you get the first block (red)," and the other "You get the second block (blue)." Especially with the judges wanting to add an "NL2 Twist" on this event, working on both blocks simultaneously will provide a puzzle and experience that's not normally given when working alone.
@Jetcoasterfan I'll be direct in your case. If you waste a turn by submitting purposely bad trackwork, you won't be allowed to participate again. Please keep your contributions in the spirit of the contest.
@Kryptos, HLcoasters, Element115 We'll just be going sequentially, one block at a time. It's important that we start to establish the coaster's style at the start, the last thing we want is to glue two halves together that don't really match.
Rule changes
A couple of rules (in the first post) have been adjusted in response to feedback. The changes are as follows:
- We've reworded the rule about existing trackwork. Now, once trackwork has been accepted it cannot be adjusted in any way in subsequent turns.
- Additionally, supports cannot be modified or removed once placed. Trackwork must pass clearance testing, so supporters now have the ability to encourage or deny passage underneath existing track, which will hopefully give people an additional way to influence future submissions.
secretimbecile posted on August 24th, 2018
Now, once trackwork has been accepted it cannot be adjusted in any way in subsequent turns.
How is one supposed to smooth out the transitions between entries, then?
Welcome to NLC Track Tennis 2018!!
Starting this Friday, August 24.
Current Referees: disco, SecretImbecile
Claiming A Turn
"Open Serves"
A new addition to track tennis, when an open serve is declared everybody can submit a new track section, and the referees will choose their favourite section to be kept. Open serves will usually take place where a signature element is expected (e.g. immediately following a launch).
Submission Rules:
Track Submissions
Track tennis is open to everybody, so entries won’t usually be denied based on technical accomplishment. However, referees reserve the right to cancel a user's submission if it is not considered "baseline quality". The following rules will be used as a baseline of quality for submissions:
Supporting Submissions
Instead of submitting trackwork, you can instead opt to help with the supporting of the ride.
Uploading Your Submission
Save your completed submission as an NL2PKG and post it in the forum thread before the deadline for your turn. A Google Drive/Dropbox link to your submission is preferred, other file hosting sites are acceptable otherwise.
A referee will determine whether your submission follows the rules, and announce that the submission has been accepted. The next turn will begin shortly afterwards.
Additional Referee Notes:
Template created by SecretImbecile. Rules adapted from the NoLimits Development Center.