Track: Silverrim Raceway
Type: Circuit
Checkpoints: 13
Garage Settings: 1500 med tires/soft suspension
Lap time: 1:12
Music: Break (c98)
"Drive2Survie" may not be a household name to MTM 2 racers, but we feel that's about to change. Silverrim Raceway marks his track-making debut, and we're here to tell you, the guy definitely didn't disappoint. The track's description, as well as his motivation is summed up nicely in the words of the maker himself: "This is an attempt at making a realistic tarmac racing circuit for MTM2 - one which I hope racers would adopt in place of driving around on Crazy '98 (amen to that lol). My intial inspiration came from my slot car track, although I ended up drawing from other titles in my racing games collection (most notably the recent V8 Supercars Race Driver by Codemasters) in designing the track and making the terrain undulate in a realistic manner." To throw in a little more descriptive info, D2S definitely hit his mark with respect to the ambiance he was shooting for. The custom road textures, the racing banners, the layout, the pit garages that you can actually drive thru, as well as the on-the-scene emergency vehicles all contribute to give you that "day at the races" feel. It makes you want to get a few hotdogs along with something cold to wash em down, kick back in one of the grandstands and take in all the action!
A point worth expanding on is how D2S basically used models that were already available to construct his track. Sure, he did the ground texture work, but considering what all he's put into his track prop wise, it drives home the point that there's quite a selection out there. Two good places to start are MTMG and Malibu350.com. If you can't find what you need there, all you need do is ask the question in the Beta Room forum (maybe the most applicable forum for such questions) or ask one of the seasoned pro's directly via private message or e-mail. Novice track makers can achieve very good results by making use of an abundantly rich supply of resources as demonstrated by Silverrim Raceway. All you need do is ask. : )
As far as racers adopting this one in lieu of Crazy 98, that's a tough call there. The fact is it doesn't take much skill or effort to run :41 laps on Crazy 98 (that statement is sure to start a few riots lol), which in part is why it's so popular. This track demands significantly more from you in terms of overall skill and patience, which makes it both frustrating and fun! To begin with, the actual driving surface only accommodates two trucks side-by-side. One of D2S's goals was to ensure drivers adhered to the road surface as much as possible, and between the slippery off-road grass & sand textures and his savvy use of F1 curbing models, it's a good idea to stay on the paved road as much as possible. Smart checkpoint placement and use of the curb models effectively discourage shortcuts. Mind you, it's still possible take the big cut between checkpoints 5 & 6 (partly because it's so inviting - it literally calls out to ya lol), but it'll cost you in terms of time, and possibly the race, due to the curb model slowing your momentum upon impact, sometimes jolting you up into the air and off the road. Still, even with the efforts taken to maintain strict adherence to the tarmac, there are a few spots where you can save microseconds by leaving the road. The trick is such tactics are really only useful if you're trying get the fastest possible lap, not win a hard-fought race. Silverrim is ideally suited for one-on-one racing; three racers is "do-able", but definitely pushing the limits of turning a race into an all-out rumble lol.
Technically speaking the only problems we noted were cosmetic in nature; nothing that would hinder good, clean racing. A few misplaced tiles (
here,
here, &
here),
floating &
misaligned barriers, and there was inconsistency in the placement of the curb model. Some really hugged the outer portion of the white borderline (as in
this picture), serving its intended purpose while also allowing maximum road space for the racer. Others were placed less meticulously, leaving significant gaps, as seen
here. Also, working with road textures that have borderlines can be problematic when fusing corners with straights, as seen
here. All minor details, but considering he only spent 2-weeks putting it together, and the beta testing process constituted all of what - a day, it's pretty dang good! Even more amazing is that this is the track of a first-timer!
In the readme.txt file included with the track, D2S states that in addition to this year's Expo, part of his motivation for committing to making a track was to see how "the other half lived". He's a truck maker by trade, but all that's changed now. Like ZooN, ROX_Attitude_GZ, ZR1_DkriderX, Malibu350, SLO_Fila, SLO_HotShoe (and all the other superb track makers I didn't mention) he'd better start getting used to the routine: worldwide tours, talk shows, groupies, paparazzi and more. NOTE: Phineus has historically declined invitations to do talk shows, go on tour, etc. Claims that it makes him nervous to be away from his laboratory for extensive periods of time lol. At any rate, a superb effort on your part, D2S - well done, indeed! We also noticed at the end of your readme.txt you alluded to some indecision with respect to whether or not Silverrim Raceway will serve as the beginning or the end of your track-making career. For the sake of all the racers out there… let's hope it's the beginning! Extremely impressive work, D2S!
