In my previous outings with RCT3 I had simply played through the campaign challenges, this time I was going to crack open the sandbox mode and build some custom maps.

Six Bunnies Fluffy Mountain

I named my first custom park ‘Six Bunnies Fluffy Mountain’ as an homage to my new local Californian Theme Park. Here you’ll find a mountainous region complete with lake, custom waterfall and reflecting pool. The terrain transitions from rolling sand dunes to grassy plains, plains to jungle and jungle to snow-capped wasteland. Altogether you’ll have a large varied area to play with.

I’ve decided to make two downloads per map available. One will be mainly empty, only containing pre-placed paths. The other map will contain full rides and attractions from my play session for you to ride.

Download the Empty path only park

Download the Full Rides and Attractions park

(download and unzip these files into your “Parks” folder)

In the empty park I’ve started you off with with a central reflecting pool near the entrance, this pool feeds the stream which falls into the near by lake. Two main paths lead from the entrance along each side of the large central mountain. These paths eventually branch off in to dead ends. You’re all set to start building rides.

Empty path only park

If you choose to download the full park from my own play session you can look forward to some interesting rides and colorful scenery. A total of 8 rollercoasters, 12 thrill rides, a pool complex and a host of other attractions to test drive, modify or rebuild. I had extra fun building the scenery around the Rapids ride and the first ride built was the Wooden Coaster Tundra.

Full Ride and Attractions park

Here’s a small selection of screen shots from around the Full Ride and Attractions park. Be sure to link to your own Rollercoaster creations in the comments if you use this park!

Park Preview

This time I’ve decided to post my progress on the blog to give you the option of tagging along for the visual ride. Perhaps you’re not a gamer, not into Sci-Fi or simply want to comment on my choices or special moments and compare them to yours.

To follow the full visual progress head over to my xFire page for Mass Effect 2, bookmark it and check back for progress updates.

If however you’d rather just jump into this page and see the highlights once in a while bookmark this page and check back.

I’ll also be adding some info to my Gamer DNA page, head over there and follow me if it’s your preferred platform.

*Spoiler Alert*

From here on in it gets a little spoiler filled as the images you see may not have happened in your game yet – or at all depending on your choices. I may also reference outside information I’ve found out about certain choices or scenarios you’ll face/I have faced. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.

Collector’s Edition Armor

Really nice shot of the Collector’s glowing eyes.

Poor old Normandy

Back to the Citadel

Nice to see some other areas of the Citadel, and their associated views.

The good stuff

Woooah that Whiskey made me drunk!

Tattooed Lady

First close up look at Jacks tattoos. That outfit looks a bit nippy for space though.

No Cable?

These colonists obviously lovers of Satellite TV.

Old friends

Hi Garus! It’s good to see the old faces from ME1. I love that Bioware has all these relationships planned out across all three games.  You can also see my shiny gold and red camo armor -this paragon deserves some bling!

The bad guys

I know your face now Mr bad guy! You kinda look like the dude from Independence Day though, shame about the type casting…

Yay Tali

Tali is by far my favorite character in Mass Effect, could well be all the mystery. Definitely have to play through twice now that she’s a romance option.

Amazing artwork

I loved the artwork in ME1, but they’ve really maxed out the detail in ME2. The following shot is just a random room you have to pass through to get from a to b in a mission. I was stopped in my tracks and had to take a screenshot, the small size doesn’t do it justice -head over to the xFire page and check out the natural view.

Similar rovers

I’m pulling this one out as it kind of fits in to the “looks-a-bit-like” category.  Seen Aliens the Special Edition? Then you might see a similarity here.

Ahh Illium

The Mass Effect series does a good job at feeling Epic, Illium doesn’t disappoint.

Old flames

Liara, my romance from the ME1 character I brought in, is very happy to see me. She is also another reason why the game is getting at least two plays; My main Shepard from ME1 would like to continue the relationship with Liara through to ME3 without any cheating consequences.
You can also see a shot of my shiny new -kind of scary looking, helmet in this image.

Charlies Angels

Drive core

Get lost in it’s swirls…

Tali’s trial

Where I verbally out maneuver the Admirals.

Hands in the air

Welcome

Wait a minute, that’s not soup!

Samara glows

Loving the new particle effect, they look great even on my older MacBookPro.

Model collection complete

I kept killing the fish…

Sofa fight

My gas giant

Reaper insides

You just know there’s some nasty stuff in here.

Crazy escape

I didn’t sign up for this shhhh….t

On the offensive

The collector base must be destroyed!

They what?

Not cool Mr Reapers not cool!

BOOM!

Must out run blast…

Oh crap

Now that’s just depressing. Bring it on though, I saved the Rachni in ME1, the Queen will come through!

You know what this means

And that’s it for the short image highlights of Reishika Shepard’s play through of Mess Effect 2. If you’d like to see the whole screenshot collection please head over to my ME2 xFire screenshots page.

A few of these new developments I’m going to keep secret until the site goes live, huge anticlimax there I know.  What I can talk about is new toy designs and licensing.

Let me start by saying that over the last few months I’ve had some inquiries from school teachers, either asking if they can use the toys, or asking how much it would cost to use them.  Let me state, right now, the toys will always be free for schools to use in the class room. If a teacher can find a way to use the toys in class for fun or education, I’m all for it.  What I don’t want is individuals, companies or schools reselling or rebranding my work. To that end I’ll be creating a new ‘license’ page which outlines exactly what can and can not be done in detail, more for clarification than anything else.

Now the fun bit
The new toy designs for Series 2 and 3, yep that’s two new series with the update, have been completed and are awaiting final testing. That testing procedure basically entails a final test run in both thin card and paper, with any updates from previous tests included. Over kill, maybe, but I like to get things right.
I’ve come some way with the illustration style since Series 1 back in 2008, partly because I’ve been doing more illustration work and have getting the practice in, but also I’ve decided to make these toys a little harder to make.  Looking back at Series 1, I realized I was trying to make it too easy, all angular and easy to cut curves, you’ll not get the easy ride this time!  Having said that I’ve not gone overboard, this change is about getting things more life like. While the new Series are more challenging to make, I hope they’ll be just as fun!

Without further ado, here are some screen grabs to wet your appetites. Can you tell what they are? Shout in the comments if you think you can!

Last chance
This might be your last chance to download Series 1 in their current size, read about why it’s changing, so head over to Deadly Furry Cute now and grab them before it’s too late!

Joking aside: portfolios are our way as designers to show off work and generate business. In short they’re hugely important to what we do. So important in fact that when I’m hiring if you don’t have an online portfolio – no matter what discipline – you wont ‘generally’ get your foot in the door. There have been exceptions.

You might find that a little harsh but the truth is in our industry and many others self promotion is key. Key to both freelance and full time work. No one is going to sell you to anyone, that’s all on you alone. And frankly in this day if you have no online presence the question has to be why?  Look at writers like Warren Ellis, designers like Jeffrey Zeldman, even actors like David H Lawrence all have websites. They all make their money offline but chances are you know about them because of their online presence and with more and more eyes getting online every day can you really afford to be left out?

Getting down off my soap box: my portfolio has gone through quite a few iterations over the years. Some have worked, some haven’t, but I’ve been trying to find the best way to show my work. One thing is certain: it will change again and evolve as I do.

Visit YAY Paul now!