RCTview- Collosus (Colossus) Fire Dragon
Well everybody, it’s that time again, time for another award winning (but not really so don’t get any ideas) RCTview!
The ride I am choosing to review today is one of my personal favorites in a decent amount of time, the name: Collosus (although it should be spelled Colossus) Fire Dragon created by Weshowns. The name is of course, taken from the famous Shwarzkopf looping coaster at Lagoon, an amusement park in Utah, but the similarities stop there.
At first glance, you see a beautiful red Arrow coaster snaking through a tropical forest located on an island, creating a highly photogenic ride that’s easy on the eyes. At second glance, you can tell where the inspiration for the ride came from as it has the unique drop the likes of which were only found on the late Drachen Fire coaster at Busch Gardens Europe.
On to the in depth review! Coming off the lift hill, you go down a miniature steep drop that throws you, with decent speed too, into the dive loop which kicks the ride into gear. Following the dive loop plunge you are slammed into a very well paced vertical loop keeping you on your toes. After the loop, you make a quick ascent which if made in real life, would fling you out of your seat at the top in full force! Now it’s on to the 270 degree spiraling drop which keeps you off balance and wondering what the heck this crazy ride will do next. To keep up the ride’s blazing pace and pure insanity, Weshowns hits you with an airtime hill. I must say that airtime and inversions is a really good combination and he was very smart to take that from the Drachen Fire book (well and his own creativity). The ride is finally starting to hit its resolution as it throws you into one of its 2 corkscrews and snakes around the mysterious tropical terrain. The snaking is the part where you really get the feeling that while the end may still be near, this ride is still in control and you are subject to its will (alright that sounded pretty nerdy). Up and down a u-turn hill, and you go through the 2nd corkscrew and the ride’s last inversion. After a quick little twist the ride hits the breaks and your bout with Collosus Fire Dragon is over.
Now you may be wondering why I picked a decently small Arrow to review, and the answer to your question would be, ’simplicity.’ This ride is not a really flashy, “oh look at my pretend originality and Vegas editing skills” kind of ride. No, it lets its genius layout and great supporting do the talking for itself, the nice scenery was just a compliment to this stand out ride. It stuck to realism, but gave me element combinations that I had never seen before. Because of that, it earns nothing less than high approval from me.
Video Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcztSSWnMig&feature=channel_page
Thread Link: http://rctlounge.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3487
Nice song choice too by the way!
Jul 24th, 2009 at 12:52 pm
I agree with you on the simplicity aspects of this ride, as well as it’s realism. But… I’m not sure about your “sony vegas skills” comment. A lot of the people that use these video editing softwares have already nailed the realistic and originality aspects of RCT3 and want to use it to enhance the presentation of the ride. Not having good editing software for a good ride is like… Gordon Ramsay serving his food on a leaf… you’re not getting the full potential of the ride if you don’t “serve” it with a nice “plate”.
Jul 24th, 2009 at 1:04 pm
Some people can’t afford Sony Vegas, and I really hate it when people use Sony Vegas to enhance their rides because it makes it seem like they’re making up for a crappy ride by using cool effects which a lot of the time they are. IDK it’s one of the trends I’ve noticed lately
Jul 26th, 2009 at 12:54 pm
Well there’s nothing unfair if some people can’t afford Sony Vegas. Everyone has an equal shot at life given education. How their parents use/don’t use affects this. I know not everyone has completely equal chance but our governments have tried hard to accomplish this. If somebody wants SV they should get a job, if not, stop whining like most of the US does.
Jul 26th, 2009 at 1:39 pm
I agree With Scaremenga. I have become well at designing my rides and i wanted to enhance them as well. Its like having the hottest pepper in the world with out a nice glass of milk. Maybe its just the people you watch. Some creators are very well at creating such good effects, etc. such as Stratales. Atem, is it just because maybe you cant afford Sony Vegas, or is it because you dont know what to do with it. Im sorry but that was a little rude…
Jul 27th, 2009 at 11:16 am
I am deeply sorry I offended you, cause I completely called you out and everything….
I personally am not jealous of vegas at all, if I really wanted it I could afford it, but I find it completely useless. It’s about the time you put into your ride, it should be able to stand alone, and not need the blur effect during the launch.
BTW Khezar, if you want me to be rude I can
Jul 27th, 2009 at 2:00 pm
Well yes, I agree with you. Your original blog post just seemed completely negative towards Sony Vegas, without any exceptions. A small effect here and there is often used to add a hint of realism into the ride, because RCT3 doesn’t have it’s own built in G-meter, or whatever.
Jul 27th, 2009 at 5:38 pm
I’m not saying all vegas users suck, I’m just saying that I have seen a bunch of really crappy rides that are “spruced up” by Vegas even though the creator should have focused more on a good ride instead of effects. I’m also not a huge fan of when a ride only works due to good video editing, but it pleases the masses so it doesnt matter
Jul 28th, 2009 at 11:05 am
Oh well. The way I see it, using Sony Vegas as an editing software is not to spruce up the rides… as it only adds fancy text effects and transitions, rather than changing the scenery you see. I’ve seen plenty of rides with good editing but HORRIBLE scenery, so I rate the video as I normally do… based on the actual ride. Of course, there are the very few videos that have superb editing and an amazing ride with perfect scenery, layout, etc. I rate these rides based on both elements. What I’m trying to get across is that Sony Vegas helps to complete the deal, giving the viewer(s) the full package. It’s like selling an Aston Martin with Ford Mustang rims… or like you making a ride and not adding your (amazingly awesome) supports.
Jul 28th, 2009 at 12:38 pm
That last analogy is an acceptable one
I guess, but creators like Leglaude6 and others don’t feel incomplete at all, even without having fancy editing, to me if a video is edited horribly then it sucks, but there usually isnt anything wrong with rides edited in WMM that don’t use fancy effects
Jul 28th, 2009 at 11:24 pm
True, there’s nothing wrong. The way I’ve always seen is why be standard I’df you can upgrade? I don’t know many people who wouldn’t want their chevy’s to turn into a Aston Martin, just like you go above and beyond with your supports.
Jul 29th, 2009 at 12:42 am
But if I go above and beyond with supports, does that mean I don’t have to have good editing? Haha I have no clue what we’re really debating anymore, I see your point, but the fact of the matter is, not everyone has vegas available, and you can still make great coaster vids without vegas. Of course, vegas when used right would enhance a video, but when it comes to stupid blur effects in launches and high speed parts, that’s just not my thing
Jul 30th, 2009 at 8:09 pm
“but when it comes to stupid blur effects in launches and high speed parts, that’s just not my thing.”
and that’s why i left
Aug 5th, 2009 at 10:36 am
You made a ride a couple weeks ago…
And I hardly doubt that’s why you left.
Dec 21st, 2009 at 8:36 pm
If it’s why he said he left.. it’s why he left. Unless you know him personally, you shouldn’t make assumptions.