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No Limits 2 competition?

No Limits 2 Competition. Yay or nay?

  • Yes, I'd love to participate in a NL2 competition!

    Votes: 5 71.4%

  • No, I don't have the time.

    Votes: 2 28.6%
  • Total voters
    7
U

Uncle Arly

Strata Poster
Okay, so the No Limits subforum has been pretty quiet of late, even with NL2 being out. I know that there are other, more active sites dedicated to NL2 (blasphemy!) but I still find CF to be my home and where I originally got into NL. So Antinos and myself discussed the possibility of a new competition to get those creative juices flowing.

However, the downside is whether it will be popular enough to run. So answer the poll and let's get the ball rolling.
 
U

Uncle Arly

Strata Poster
Who says it will rule out tools? This is just to get an idea for who would have the time and want to participate. If there was enough demand for it, then it would go onto to discuss what is and isn't allowed :)
 
Antinos

Antinos

Slut for Spinners
My concerns have been that people have not been familiarized with the new software yet. I know I am still learning a good deal even in my lack of free time. I am afraid that a contest will start, a bunch of people will start rides, and then lose interest when they are not experienced enough to get the program to do what they want. Another issue I see is the contestants' rigs. I've heard that even the originally released maps took fifteen minutes to initialize on some people's desktops. It would make the most sense to have everyone do a park out of their contest rides, but will everybody be able to run the files and how will that keep people from knowing everybody's park upon download?
 
Xpress

Xpress

Strata Poster
Do it the same way we did with NL1. Make a simple template then make people download it and build within it.

Dapalm said:
FVD++ or Newton.
Click to expand...

You are aware NL2 has an extremely powerful FVD built in yes?
 
Ethan

Ethan

Strata Poster
^ Where? FVD++ Doesn't work on my Windows 8 laptop for some reason. I can't edit any of the graphs...
 
Xpress

Xpress

Strata Poster
FVD++ works great with the original NL1 track creation method, as that is what it was designed for. When you factor in that NL2 utilizes a different physics engine and different spline creation method, FVD++ falls short of being able to precisely control the track and forces like the built in Force Vector program can. You have to import the NL1 track just to get your FVD++ creation into NL2.

Close may be good enough to some, but close is never close enough.

Ethan said:
^ Where? FVD++ Doesn't work on my Windows 8 laptop for some reason. I can't edit any of the graphs...
Click to expand...

Under the "Element" tab, "Force Vector".
 
U

Uncle Arly

Strata Poster
Antinos said:
My concerns have been that people have not been familiarized with the new software yet. I know I am still learning a good deal even in my lack of free time. I am afraid that a contest will start, a bunch of people will start rides, and then lose interest when they are not experienced enough to get the program to do what they want. Another issue I see is the contestants' rigs. I've heard that even the originally released maps took fifteen minutes to initialize on some people's desktops. It would make the most sense to have everyone do a park out of their contest rides, but will everybody be able to run the files and how will that keep people from knowing everybody's park upon download?
Click to expand...

I've only known it to take that long for parks that have heavy scenery. On average (and I don't have a powerful laptop) a coaster with some 3D trees, some small scenery takes at most around 3.5 minutes to load.

As Xpress said, I wouldn't personally want a competition that utilizes much scenery, if any at all.

I think going for smaller competitions with smaller time frames is the way to go. The old competitions were spread out over a long time. Not to copy, but NLE just hosted a five hour competition that seemed to work incredibly well. What I propose is a contest over 72 hours. One that focuses purely on the technical aspects of a ride. I'm not against tools being used since these days the tools user outweigh the hand builders and in all honesty now NL2 hand building is MUCH more powerful, you can equal the level of precision.

TL;DR
  • - Smaller timeframe, possibly over 48-72 hours.
    -Bigger focus of technique and creativity.
    -Allow tools for the first time.
    -Use a contest template which forces the participants to use new and original tracks, not previous ones that have built.

Discuss.
 
Xpress

Xpress

Strata Poster
A shorter time frame would be more beneficial (I mean, a month to make a ride? Come on, some of us can meet the requirements in a handful of days...) with less stringent rules on how we can make the track.
 
Dapalm

Dapalm

Mega Poster
Looks good. I agree with the shorter time. One question, will everyone use the same coaster style?
 
U

Uncle Arly

Strata Poster
I think opening up the choice of coaster styles would also be a good thing. Maybe not making it unlimited but definitely having a greater choice will allow for greater creativity. I know I used to sit out some competitions because I wasn't familiar with a certain style or because I didn't think I could do a good enough job.
 
Hixee

Hixee

Flojector
Staff member
Administrator
Moderator
Social Media Team
I always took the "no tools" thing to mean "nothing outside of the standard NL package". Therefore if a competition was to be run for NL2 I think the inbuilt FVD tools (and whatever else NL2 has got in it, I still haven't even tried to build a coaster in it yet) should be allowed.

And yes, maybe the template idea but with a bit wider choice of coasters/rules (for example: cannot touch the water and must have at least two inversions and one tunnel). This means people can be very flexible with their building. Personally, I think a mix of tight rules and vague rules is better. Some rounds with looser restrictions will allow different users to demonstrate their best skills in a coaster completely of their choice, whereas the rounds with stricter restrictions will force users to have to think very outside the box to create something that will stand out. Not really explained that well, but I know what I mean... :lol:

I won't be entering any NL2 comps for a while though, not even sure how to make tracks in it yet, let alone competition tracks. Once I'm all settled in my new place and have a new computer that can deal with NL2 a bit better, I'll get into it.
 
U

Uncle Arly

Strata Poster
Exactly, Hixee. Though that is what I would like from the contests, a good introduction into the program and getting used to it. It shouldn't matter about level of ability. I want people to have fun with it and not be scared of entering because they feel like they aren't good enough.
 
Dapalm

Dapalm

Mega Poster
I don't agree with the "nothing outside the NL2 package" thing. I mean, everyone can download this tools for free, so it's up to you using them or not. I think tools weren't allowed in NL1 competitions because of how easy was building a smooth coaster compared to handbuilding. But with NL2 the gap is isn't there. I must say the devs have made a great job with the editor. It is really easy to get a smooth coaster, but again, handbuilding isn't for me.

About the coaster style... Yeah, I think it's better to have a wide variety of styles to choose.

What about judging? I guess the typical technique, adrenaline, originality would be fine. Or do you have something else in mind?
 
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