TwilightZone
Well-Known Member
Thank you!Thank you, everyone, for the compliments!
I sincerely believe everyone here got me to this point. Allow me to explain.
When I placed onto Team Warriors I was immediately intimidated by two very experienced players: @Voxel and @MonorailRed . They led the charge. I was the least experienced of the bunch, and I realized if I was to survive the cursed courtroom I needed to make my presence known. The cursed courtroom was like the boogieman in Act 1. I kept trying to do as much as possible in the event of elimination, and I think in that sense, competition can bring out some of the best in us.
My very first task was to create the Time Travel show for Tomorrowland. To do this, I worked with @NateD1226 . Nate was a great team-player this season. I remember early on, Nate would partner up with almost everyone on their projects to provide advice and critiques.
Also in the first round did I first encounter @James G. I immediately saw James as a powerhouse player. He had a vision, he would write insane amounts, and he didn't understand technologybut he got better with that as the season progressed! The two of us worked together in Stanza 2 on Tahoma Timber Run.
Come Stanza 3, and Voxel and Monorail were busy and there was a "power vacuum" for our leaders- this was filled by James. First Rainier and then Tokugawa, James was the one creating the heart of these proposals and he inadvertently taught me the importance of themes within a Disney park. It does sound very cheesy, but you basically need to treat your proposal like an English Paper. Find the reason why this has to happen.
My failure as a leader in Stanza 4 was a setback, with @Disneylover152 taking up the slack. A shame Disneylover had to leave early: I think you would have made it far and possibly even won! Then we have @FireMountain who was a great player in the competition who always had unique ideas. Being leader in Stanza 4 was challenging during such a creative time, and I struggled to be a project manager.
Come Stanza 5 and I got to interact with Team Princes! I remember working with @spacemt354 on a Hersheypark Hotel. I threw out a couple of vague suggestions, and space came back with the full number crunch! Space is so good he dropped out: out of fear he would beat all of us. He never said that... but when you think about it...
Gaston's Brawl was different: with the lack of courtroom, everyone was willing to test out wacky ideas. I got to work with @Pi on my Cake and @PerGronStudio who each did an amazing job throughout Act 2. I tried new things: menus, comics, videos, and maps. By Act 3 I used all these newfound talents to my advantage! My favorite two prompts of this act have to be The Golden Mickey's and The Lavoratry Laboratory.
Then comes Act 3... and the predictions.
@TheOriginalTiki and @D Hindley hosted a podcast where they predicted who would win. Out of ten contestants, I was chosen least likey. I do not take any offense to these selections. They make perfect sense to any bystander- out of all ten, the person who has the smallest track record would be the least likely to win. Instead, what this did was give me the perfect motivation. I needed to capture everyone's attention, and I think I did that in Act 3.
The Water Park Prompt was just a lot of fun. I worked way too much on that google site but at the end of the day, it was awesome. @Disney Dad 3000 did a great job leading us. We avoided any real debate by simply throwing the blame on him should we lose. But this technique is more or less the same I pulled for the final stanza. Disney Dad is also the king of presentations... we need to take a moment to bow to that!
Now to the maps. This whole thing is surreal. I just said I'd like to make a map, and I started messing around with ms paint 3d. Looking at the old inventus map, I saw they used circles to convey trees and rocks. So I tried that, made it look a bit nicer, and taa-daa. Apparently, I'm good at maps now.
The maps take a long time to make, but the process quickly becomes rhythmic and relaxing. It's not really that hard, just a lot of detail to fit in. I could create a tutorial if anyone is interested. Now back on track: I was not anticipating a Fantasyland Dark Ride Prompt. In fact, Fantasyland is my least favorite of all the core lands! So I there was lots of debate in the buildup to choosing Shanghai. But once the idea came to me, I was a man with a plan. To accomplish my vast vision I started working later than usual: I figured I had to make this as good as it can be. The result was a project that just had everything I could possibly think, and I was happy.
I was emotionally done after Maleficent's prompt. I was very, very excited about being a finalist, but I was also daunted by POOR PROMPT (thankfully intentionally bad) and TEAM LEADERSHIP and MAKE A PARK. But I pushed through and used all the various tips I had learned throughout the season to my advantage. @TwilightZone, in particular, was a huge help this round. I would argue she is the most creative imagineer of the competition. @Brer Oswald had other issues to deal with, so it is a bit unfair that I never got to play alongside him properly. But from what I can tell you are a great imagineer and artist, who shouldn't compare himself to others! Look at this: everyone in this game brought something to the table. So did you, and I expect you will bring even more as time goes on.
I have already spoken to James in a private message, but I think our message is worthy of sharing. He made it really far into this game. He sunk hours and hours into the Shadowlands just as I did to Dark Kingdom. But even though he didn't win the competition, he did win a theme park. Now James has another Americana to sink hours and hours into! Also Anton = good? And you know what I think that message applies to all of us. Take it as cheesy, but we all have certain parts of projects we can call our "own". These are our creations that are now out there, whether we won or lost, thanks to the project. PerGron said he would be using some SAU projects in his disney world expansion project, which sounds really cool! Our projects transcend even the Sorcerer's Apprentice Universe!
@D Hindley , @AceAstro , and @kmbmw777 you have been great hosts. Watching that retrospective, the most incredible thing to me is the judge's artwork! I'd like to thank the Academy for this nomination.
And finally @Tux you are super motivated for a newbie! When I was starting out I barely commented, but you are already taking on the daunting task of judging these megaprojects! We will watch your career with great interest.
So to conclude, my message is this: work hard because everyone can win this game. AceAstro was new when he won, I was new when I won. I look forward to see who wins next season.
Now I feel bad for making my response Loded Diper, I need to step up my big epic essay game!
