The Amazing Race > RFF's Amazing Race: Design Challenge
The Amazing Race: Design Challenge VIII - Final Round Design Show on Page 50!
Pi:
The following are comments for legs 1-11 on designer routes from guest judge Lee Sanders, who graciously dedicated his time to comment on and score these legs. Join me in giving him thanks!
Note: Comments from the remaining judges and legs, and then the results show, will be coming sooner rather than later. We look forward to wrapping things up and crowning a winner. Thank you for your patience, especially during these difficult times.
Leg 1
Show contentNuku
Hard to go wrong with NZ. I’m not a fan of getting teams dirty right off the bat. The Vudu Cafe event, like many food-related events, seems difficult to make compelling (unless some team has a meltdown). Gorgeous end location.
Bookworm
Starting Line task seems like it could take a while, rather than propelling us into the action. That Mayan RB also seems tough—impossible unless teams find those plaques. I love the cultural aspects of this leg, though.
nrh2110
I like the use of traditional and modern in this leg; people tend to think of Kyoto as an “old” city. Geisha event obviously funny with teams of two guys; cultural sensitivity issue here?
Betheactress
Really like the Starting Line task and the flow between events. Harvesting tomatoes seems much less compelling narratively. Love the iconic Kayan brass neck rings and the World’s Largest Book location.
Leg 2
Show contentNuku
Slightly one-dimensional with the water-based events, but it’s an extremely cool dimension (though expensive to shoot—!). The skydive has been done, but it’s always spectacular. I don’t mind seeing it again.
Bookworm
Detour has strong, interesting options, and I really like the Capoeira RB. Finding the gourd stand is just OK for me; we’ve been in similar situations a lot. Nice use of a lesser-known city here.
nrh2110
The activities here seem secondary to the location, like you were looking for things to have teams do. I do like integrating smell into the Detour, though… very creative. The monastic debate is also cool.
Betheactress
The 7-11 side of the Detour in particular seems difficult to keep visually compelling; stalls in the night market are better. But the palanquin fireworks are great! Dragon and Tiger pagoda event is a fine use of the location.
Leg 3
Show contentNuku
I like the variety of tasks in this leg—and Cambodia is such a cool location, with so many options. I’m a little on the fence about the Angkor Wat pick-a-number, but overall a great leg.
Bookworm
Barcelona could be a little done-to-death, but this is reasonably strong. The Detour has one obviously more fun option, which isn’t optimal. RB sounds incredibly tough.
nrh2110
I can’t imagine the production ever allowing children on a motorized boat driven by team members; are licenses required? Other elements are OK.
Betheactress
An extremely political leg. As presented, it’s extremely unlikely that the Bricks Down (and probably also the Slums Up—especially with that title!) Detour would make it to production, much less air. Shrimp paste roadblock is tough to make interesting visually.
Leg 4
Show contentNuku
The Songkran Festival is a great idea—the only potential difficulty being controlling and securing release forms from the crowd. It’s so much more fun than the lantern Detour that I wonder if it wouldn’t be better if it were a mandatory event. Muay Talay is great for a H2H; love it. Other elements are OK-to-strong.
Bookworm
I like the Speed Bump—I’d actually prefer to swap it with the cravat-tying Roadblock. The Detour is just OK for me. Cooking is always tough to make compelling visually, and searching a market for a Thing is a familiar trope. I like the funicular; they’re always good fun. Finding Venus could be a time sink, which is a concern.
nrh2110
I really like how you’ve focused on cultural events here, rather than the usual bungee jumps and jet boats. It’s a little tough to make cooking challenges compelling visually, but generally this is quite strong.
Betheactress
The FF is visually gorgeous, and I think this leg generally relies on the setting more than on fresh-feeling events. Food-making tasks can be so tough to make visually compelling. I really like the Goat Stroll, though—I’d be hoping every team chose that option!
Leg 5
Show contentNuku
I particularly like the Detour here—interesting, cultural, contrasting but seemingly equally tough. The RB seems just OK. The music event is such a cool idea—I want to know a bit more about the specifics, but of course I’m intrigued! Other events are also pretty strong… nice leg.
Bookworm
Super-strong leg here. Lots of local specificity, interesting and cinematic events… very little to criticize. Belgium just got so much more interesting in my mind!
nrh2110
Speed Bump seems kind of bland… as do the Blind Detour options. None of these have the teams being super-active. The additional tasks along the way seem cooler, and allow for some great scenery shots.
Betheactress
I love, love, love fishing bikes out of the canal. It’s a whole aspect of this city that I’d never considered. The Detour is strong, too—similar enough in difficulty, yet different and culturally relevant. I even like the additional tasks along the way… This is a great leg.
Leg 6
Show contentNuku
Roadblock is so cool that I kind of want both teammates to experience it. The necklace Detour doesn’t feel as fresh to me as the elephant shelter (which I quite like). The hot air balloon ride would make for some incredible visuals (and a nice opportunity for some Epic Amazing Race music). Nice.
Bookworm
Speed Bump is appropriate and well-integrated. I like the Detour options, as well—a nice way to combine animal hijinks with the buzz of a busy marketplace (on one side); a nice, active cultural event on the other. I also kind of like that the RB isn’t too strict.
nrh2110
FF is cool, with lots of cultural significance. Luxor is a great location. Detour feels balanced, though maybe a little fussy rather than intense. Valley of the Kings riddles are OK—my only small concern being with teams *running* around that incredible location.
Betheactress
Racing the Nuna is a cool and unique H2H… the rest of the events here are somewhat stereotypical for The Netherlands (clogs, tulips, stroopwafels) but well-constructed. (Race teams + wheels of cheese seems like a perennial winner anywhere!)
Leg 7
Show contentNuku
Figuring out a puzzle; learning a dance… these are OK, if a little done-to-death. I like the Picigin event, though, and the Archaeological Museum event could be quite cinematic for a “thinking”-type thing, with maps aplenty and old-looking tools.
Bookworm
That FF sounds *hard*. Which is OK, as players might get there and then give up… always dramatic. The tunnels between the churches and the cool location make what could be a boring RB (solving puzzles) really cool. And I love how dorky the “Tongue-Tied” side of the Detour would be.
nrh2110
That Sibelius side of the Detour is giving me “needle-drop” flashbacks from music school! PC or not, I think the wife-carrying thing is a hilarious event. Add in a little eating task, and this is a really fun leg. It all hinges on the wife-carrying, and whether it could be presented in a way that the show could actually get on air.
Betheactress
I really like the Roadblock here—a chance for teams to be active and for the show to be cinematic at the same time. (I’m a sucker for labyrinths) I also like the Detour options—culturally tied to the location, interesting, comparably difficult… Really nice.
Leg 8
Show contentNuku
I like the Speed Bump here—culturally appropriate and potentially really funny. I also like the Detour—those beer bikes are iconic (if not specifically Latvian), and the spa side clue reveal is clever. Bobsledding adds some action to this leg, making it strong all around.
Bookworm
The Roadblock is kind of passive for the team member, but the dancing and costumes compensate well. I always enjoy incorporating scents into an event, so the spice side of the Detour appeals to me. Lift Off is a more common sort of event, but it’s OK. I like the add’l tasks—especially the monks.
nrh2110
The Santa Detour is fun, but the Help Santa side could be tedious if teams don’t get lucky. Roadblock delivers on action, with a “read the words as you fly by” add-on to make it tougher (pronunciation?). Angry Birds is a nice little throwback. The huskies are probably my favorite part; I might want to feature them more in the episode.
Betheactress
Lots of FFs in your route! I like this one in particular. The RB here seems very familiar—and “replicate the setup” just isn’t my favorite activity type. The Guelta is a terrific location, though, and you get the most out of it between this RB and the “collecting water” side of the Detour. This leg is good, but I’m left wishing for something a little more compelling.
Leg 9
Show contentNuku
Kind of a creepy Detour, and I love it. Right in keeping with the character and history of the city. The RB is potentially lots of fun, too. The additional tasks seem a tiny bit perfunctory, but they showcase the city well.
Bookworm
The Detour options both have a little twist from the usual trope they’re based on, which helps keep them interesting. The head-to-head event has the potential to change the game drastically—which I like a lot—without putting anyone hopelessly behind. The band RB is fun, too… though potentially *very* difficult to get good production sound in that environment. Well done overall.
nrh2110
I think the Maxiavalanche event is just too dangerous to make it to production. It’d be incredible, .ut no way. Likewise, to a lesser extent, with the Catalonian Casteller side of the Detour—huge safety concerns here. Beyond these, your events are OK… sort of standard finding/searching tropes. But I have to grade this leg harshly on safety issues, which would make much of it a no-go.
Betheactress
Really neat to feature twins on the FF—cool way to incorporate that fact. I had to re-read the Adire-making side of the Detour (dyeing, not dying—!), but I’m not docking points for that. I really like the wall-building, especially as it ends with a spear throw! Lots of cool cultural things going on here, and I really enjoyed them all.
Leg 10
Show contentNuku
The Detour seems a little one-sided (in terms of fun vs. not-fun); both feature cool settings, though. I like the RB—or maybe I just love tapas!—and I’m glad you didn’t have teams *making* the tapas here. I feel the Alhambra is slightly under-used with the event as written. It’s such a gorgeous location, and that could so easily be missed with teams just assembling a suit of armor.
Bookworm
What a gorgeous location. The FF is fine, though eating challenges aren’t my particular favorite. The RB is a little confusing, but I appreciate the effort to put a fresh twist on a familiar activity type. The bamboo pole side of the Detour feels fresher than the Tujia dance learning, but they’re both cool and interesting. Hanging onto the cricket is a nice touch!
nrh2110
I like the Speed Bump here—appropriate in difficulty and culturally tied into the location. I love the Roadblock, of course—it’s a great integration of an indigenous musical tradition. Simple but effective. The rest of the activities here are fine; the location provides a nice backdrop for some tried-and-true activities.
Betheactress
I love the Shooting side of the Detour here; the Shucking side is another food-making challenge, which is… OK. The Mayan calendar RB is a strong use of familiar—and very cool—imagery. And a little memory game-style challenge along the way is the icing on the cake. Hard to go wrong with Chichen Itza. Good choice and a solid leg.
Leg 11
Show contentNuku
Speed Bump is cool and appropriately difficult. The “Communicate” side of the Detour seems more unique than the ‘learn a dance’ trope used in “Celebrate.” Both are fine, though. The RB seems difficult to make compelling, at least until teams are trying to hike with that llama (please be stubborn, Mr. Llama!).
Bookworm
RB is the familiar search-the-market trope… but what a market! I also love both sides of this Detour. Wild. The Speed Bump seems like it could be time-consuming and/or throw Chuck and Jim horribly off track if they misinterpreted the clue somehow. But that’s a tiny concern. Additional tasks are fine—I particularly like the acrobats and how you used them.
nrh2110
The juggling Roadblock could be a *huge* leap forward or backward, depending on if a team member already knows how to juggle even a little. I like both sides of the Detour, despite them being familiar tropes—the cultural tie-ins saves them for me. The sack race could be humiliating, which is always awesome. All in all, a nice leg.
Betheactress
I really like that the Detour features two ways to get up the same hill, and the games and challenges associated with each side are cool, too! The RB has such big in-game implications… and I really love that. Stakes are raising. Consistently great locations… interesting twists on your events… I really enjoyed this leg!
Kamineko:
Final Round Scoring
Hello, finalists! Sorry to keep you waiting.
In this post, I'm going to explain the scoring method that we'll be using for this Final Round. The scoring will be in two parts: the first scoring is for the Route but only focused on Leg 1 to Leg 11; the second scoring is for the Final Leg.
Here are the scoring method for Leg 1 to Leg 11:
1. We will score each Leg with a score of 1 - 5. The score 1 is the worst and 5 is the best. The judges can assign a fraction .5 score if they want.
2. Each Leg # from all finalists will be judged individually, however we will compare with the same Leg # from each other. So, for example, Nuku's Leg 1 will be compared with Bookworm's Leg 1, nrh's Leg 1, and betheactress' Leg 1, and so on.
3. The judges are not obligated to give a different score for each Leg. Therefore, for example, we can give all Leg 5 scores for all finalists a 5/5.
4. That will give a maximum score for Leg 1 to Leg 11 of 55.
For the Final Leg scoring, we will use the same method that we used from the previous rounds, so all of you should be familiar by now. The maximum score for the Final Leg alone will be 50. Therefore, the maximum total score from each judge will be 105.
Your final score for this Final Round will be the AVERAGE of all judges' (Kamineko, Pi/, gamerfan09, and Lee Sanders) total score.
I will also create a poll as usual to decide audience's favorite. But the result won't have any effect at the final score.
Should you have any question, please don't hesitate to post your question in the thread. :tup:
Thank you for your attention. I also want to say Merry Christmas and I hope that next year will be much better for all of you than this year.
Good luck and may the best designer win! :luvya:
Kamineko:
Kamineko's Comments
Hi all! I will give my comments for your final route wiki and your final leg design. As usual, I will give my honest thoughts, so it might be different from other judges' comment. I will only give a brief comment for each leg in the wiki, but I will be more thorough on the final leg comment. Also, I will be giving my final comments for your route and wiki presentation as a whole at the end.
I wish you all the best of luck.
Kamineko:
Kamineko's Comments
Here are my comments for your route:
Show contentLeg 1:
I like that you start in New Zealand right away. The starting line task is fine because there will be some position shuffle right away, a bit luck involved but that’s okay. Roadblock is okay for the adrenaline activity task checklist in New Zealand. The task in Vudu Cafe is kinda forgettable. The second part of the leg in Milford Sound is pretty good, love the scenery here.
Leg 2:
A pretty generic seaside leg trope to me, because those tasks can be replicated somewhere else with some tweaks. Not really a fan of a U-Turn before a Detour, especially it’s almost before the Pit Stop.
Leg 3:
I have to say that this leg is way better than TAR 32 Cambodia leg. I love to see the Detour happening in a real race. The Roadblock can be tough if only the answer for each team member is different, otherwise we might see possible answer-sharing here. Overall, a really solid leg.
Leg 4:
The Detour idea is nice, however both festivals take place at different times (one in April, one in November), so I’m not sure how these tasks will be featured at the same time. The Head-to-Head and Roadblock tasks are also good, they really showcase Thai culture.
Leg 5:
I like the Active Route Info and the Detour tasks, but indifferent with the Roadblock. However, I like the leg as a whole because: 1. We haven’t seen a Kenya leg before in TAR, and 2. The tasks are pretty balanced in showcasing the culture.
Leg 6:
I don’t really like the Roadblock task because it sounds too much just for delivering something. The language learning task seems to have appeared before in real TAR, so nothing new about that; also it sounds oddly placed when your main focus location is a national reserve. The Detour task is nice though, so it kinda saves your leg this time.
Leg 7:
I’m not really a fan of a slide puzzle here, I think there are better ideas for this kind of task (can be inspired from TAR19’s memory challenge). A bit weird task distribution where you crammed the Roadblocks at the end part of the leg, but overall the leg is okay.
Leg 8:
I kinda like this leg. The beer bike Detour task is great, but the sauna is just okay. The Roadblock is interesting because they have to pay attention while riding the bobsled.
Leg 9:
Same as your original submission, I still like this leg and it’s a solid leg in Prague.
Leg 10:
I think this leg is just bland. Both Detour tasks are not really interesting to watch. The Roadblock is very similar to taking meal order tasks that happened in previous TAR seasons, and the other tasks are similar in their own way (either collecting or searching through something). Basically you picked a beautiful location but not highlighting the beauty of Granada & Alhambra much.
Leg 11:
This leg is pretty okay for a penultimate leg. Definitely there are possible position shuffles during the whole course of the leg, especially the Roadblock task.
Here is my comment for your final leg:
Show contentFirst, Nuku, congratulations for being in the final round. You’ve become a dark horse in this competition. Let’s see what you can bring in your final leg.
Your final destination is Boston. However, you didn’t provide a flight. This could mean a lot, especially for the final round, where I expect nothing but perfection.
Making their way to the North Point Park, teams encounter a Roadblock. I think driving a duck boat is not really finale-worthy, since I don’t get the adrenaline rush when I watch this task happening on screen. I would also prefer if you provide the detailed way of how they will be judged, like driving to a buoy and then come back or carry passengers from one point to another point, etc.
After that, they have to ride the same duck boat and search for a buoy. This is fine, but I don’t know if the buoy is large enough so that teams won’t have to swim to retrieve the clue. Then, they have to make their way to another park, which starts to bore me.
The biking through the Freedom Trail is fine and provides a nice intro for a memory challenge, but I want you to provide the route map of this task, especially where the monuments are located. The following memory challenge is good since the team hints are not obvious. I also kinda like that the only way teams will know the answers for some of the hints are if they talked before with other teams, because if they’re isolated themselves, this task would kill their chance of finishing fast.
Following the memory challenge, they have to go to an Irish pub where they have to dress up a leprechaun mannequin. This task could be interesting to watch, especially with the crowd inside the pub.
After the leprechaun task, they have to make their way to TD Garden for their final memory challenge. The Roadblock concept is interesting. It has a similar concept with TAR 12’s final memory challenge, however with different elements used which are the mascots. There is a potential of changing positions here, so I like it. Finally, they’re heading to the Finish Line, which is located in Fenway Park.
Here are my final comments for your whole route and final leg: :luvya:
Show contentRoute:
Nuku, your route and legs are pretty straightforward, except that you started in New Zealand, which is good for me. Some of your legs are really good, especially the Cambodia and Czech Republic legs. However, some legs are not up to my standard, such as in your Croatia and Spain legs. You created many good legs at the early part of the route, however it started to decline at the later legs. But in general, you’ve done an awesome job reaching this far in your first participation in DC.
Final Leg:
Nuku, I see that you tried to highlight Boston, but I actually expected more from your Boston leg, especially that you designed it as the final leg. Some of your tasks are great, but I actually hope that you would make them go to one of the major universities here, like Harvard or MIT (well, they’re in Cambridge, but still part of the Metropolitan Boston area). I can imagine some great finale-worthy tasks held in those universities. Perhaps if you add a cryptic clue task in Harvard, it would be really nice to watch. I’m not 100% impressed with your park-heavy visited locations and you didn’t provide flight info nor maps, but I’m 100% agree that you’ve given your best in designing this final leg.
Kamineko:
Kamineko's Comments
Here are my comments for your route:
Show contentLeg 1:
I’ve commented on this leg before, so let me get through this fast. Interesting starting line task, but can take a long time to complete. Still loving the cultural aspect of this leg as I said before. Solid first leg.
Leg 2:
I don’t know if both Detour tasks can take a long time or not, but it sounds unbalanced, especially the Fried task. Loving the Roadblock task because it requires skills and attention to detail at the same time.
Leg 3:
It’s been a while not seeing a leg in Barcelona, but I think you did a good job here. Both Detour tasks sound pretty physical, but showcasing different aspects, so that’s okay. The Roadblock sounds fun, but it’s another food/drink themed task, which just happened in one-part of the Detour.
Leg 4:
I like the Speed Bump task, it’s pretty creative. The Roadblock is pretty simple and straightforward, but also has a potential to stumble some teams. I also like both Detour tasks, and would love to see these happening in real TAR. Pretty solid leg.
Leg 5:
I’m surprised at the Roadblock because I’ve never heard of it before; kudos in finding an idea for this task. The Detour task is also really good, but I wish the Lost Cadets task was made easier since it sounds hard to complete (remember TAR 16’s Detour?). Also, I would prefer this leg placed more into the latter part of the race because of its difficulty.
Leg 6:
Like what I said in my previous comment, I really like this leg. It showcases enough culture and tasks for one solid leg from the start to the end.
Leg 7:
I still love this leg even after reading it on a wiki version. A really solid Ethiopia leg, indeed, even one location is reused from TAR 6.
Leg 8:
Just like the original submission, I really like this leg. It captures the beauty of Sri Lanka really well and showcases their culture in a good portion.
Leg 9:
I really like your tasks here. The Detour is pretty straightforward despite the long explanation. The Face-Off can be hilarious to watch and I think the losing teams could learn something from their mistake before trying again. Uzbekistan should be visited soon on TAR and I have high hopes for this country after seeing your leg.
Leg 10:
I love the stunning scenes we might see in this leg. The tasks are also pretty nice. You picked a rarely mentioned location in China, which I find really amusing. Some of your tasks here are pretty complicated, that you had to write a long paragraph for it, which also made me confused reading it without pictures to explain it, however.
Leg 11:
Really solid Roadblock task, with the location setting can really make this task more difficult. Nice way to highlight the traditional side and the modern side of Shanghai in one solid leg. I really like this penultimate leg.
Here is my comment for your final leg:
Show contentHey, Bookworm! Congratulations for reaching this far in the competition. You’ve had your ups and downs throughout this season, and you’re worthy to be one of the finalists in this season of Design Challenge. Let’s see if this time you can take the trophy.
Starting from Shanghai, teams are told to go to Durango, Colorado. An interesting location, indeed. I see that this is your Phil’s favorite location leg as well, so let’s see if you can impress Phil (if he reads your leg hahaha). Arriving in Durango, teams drive themselves to find a railroad in downtown Durango for a first Roadblock, which is a memory challenge. I absolutely love this memory challenge. Combining clues that are not so obvious to retrieve from teams’ personal notes (if any), adding an easy math problem that could cause confusion if they make a mistake, and having this task held in a train, is awesome. I really like this task. But, should you place this right at the beginning, or is this task more suitable for the final memory challenge for its complexity?
After finishing the first Roadblock, they make their way to a museum where they have to build a teepee. This task sounds simple but can trample some teams if they’re too rushing because it should take some patience and precision. Adding the petroglyphs in this task just makes this hard task even harder. Even if you ignore this part, it still makes this task great. But it’s not wrong either to challenge teams’ ability to focus in the final leg, and I like it too.
Now, they have to go to one of Phil’s favorite locations, Pagosa Springs, and the first destination is in a rodeo ground. The task here is pretty hard if they’re not really paying attention and failing in riding the mechanical bull. But I’m glad that you’re not just asking them to ride the mechanical bull, because it will be really boring for this late of the race and design challenge. My concern is whether the complexity of this challenge is too much considering all the previous tasks are also pretty complex.
After that, they have to go to a hot spring for a final Roadblock, which is their final memory challenge as well. While I agree that this task has an awesome concept, I’m kinda concerned with the execution. First, how many balloons are there? Also, the fact that those balloons will be on air for a while before the task begins, there’s almost a certain chance that the balloons will be seen by all teams even before they reach the task location, and perhaps they can “get ready” for this task. Then, there’s also a chance of natural interference that causes the balloons won’t go up. I like the idea of reminiscing their first task on the race on a bigger scale, but there are too many risks here and there that could make this task hard to execute perfectly on site.
Their final destination and the Finish Line is located at the Great Sand Dunes, which is a really nice location for the Finish Line. I can totally imagine a Finish Line in this location.
Here are my final comments for your whole route and final leg: :luvya:
Show contentRoute:
Bookworm, I see that you’ve given your all in designing this route, but sometimes too much. There are some issues at the formatting of the Wiki, but that’s pretty minor. I have an issue with you copy-pasting the whole task description on the Wiki, which makes it too long to read, because I expect the Wiki format will be the brief version of the leg, but without removing important information. There’s not many new legs that you design in this final round, because many of them are reused from the previous rounds, but I’m loving many of your newly made legs. The highlight of this route I believe is your Belgium and the penultimate China legs. My issues in this route are mainly in your Spain leg and your first China legs; as well as that many of your tasks have intricate details which is too much for me. I would prefer if you balance some complex tasks with simple and straightforward ones, so that the audience won’t be confused as well. You definitely love to create unique and complex tasks, but I would prefer if you tone it down a bit and make them balanced. Overall, I believe that your route is a pretty solid one.
Final Leg:
Bookworm, I think you’ve done a great job in designing this final leg. I certainly believe that this leg must be in a 2-hour finale, otherwise I have to say that this leg is too long to be edited into a 1-hour finale. Your first memory task is really the highlight of this leg for me, with your teepee assembling task comes in second. However, that also means that the remaining tasks are not as good as the first two tasks. The rodeo task is good, but can also be boring to watch if teams keep failing on the mechanical bull part. And, the final memory challenge has issues and can be risky for production with too many variables. I believe that you’re assuming that we’re living in a perfect world, thus this leg should work well in that perfect scenario, which is true. But, if we want to see this leg really happen in real race, there are many ifs and preparations to be answered and done for the production.
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