MTM2.com

• Replay: N/A - it won't produce a complete lap
• Garage Settings: 1700 med tires/soft suspension
• Fast Lap to date: 2:30.61 by SLO_Jumper



He doesn’t fire up Traxx all that often anymore, but when he does, he makes darn good use of his time. In November of last year, SLO_PreaCheR surprised quite a few us by releasing a little number he dubbed, “Scars MX”. Apparently it was something he had started but never completed, which is also true for his most recent release, “Omou”. The first time I saw this track was the latter part of 2001. The little delinquent (uh, that would be PreaCh lol) tried to pass it off as “a friend’s track”. Supposedly he told this “friend” he’d let us (SLO) beta test it to see what we thought, get our input. Isn’t it amazing how teenagers think they’re your equal when it comes to intelligence and common sense? Nevertheless, we humored the twerp (didn’t want to hurt his feelings ya know), told him his friend’s track was garbage and suggested he find some another hobby or interest . . . like pulling wings off of flies or chasing cars on the freeway lol. Truthfully that’s not too far from the truth—about the track being garbage, I mean; not our suggestions about what hobbies his “friend” should pursue lol.

Fast-forward five years to April of 2005. He messages me on MSN about a track he’s resurrected from the dead and wants me to have a look at. I recognized it immediately, of course, and if I recall correctly I even commented on how we knew he was blowing smoke when he tried to pass it off as someone else’s track years ago. At any rate we discussed a few things, talked about potential changes, as well as why I felt he should post it in the Beta Room here at MTMG. I’ve reviewed tracks by PreaCheR in the past, and I’m sure I mentioned how “challenging” it was to beta test for the guy. I’ll go one further this time. Here’s an excerpt from a conversation we had on April 29, 2005:

COPE & PreaCheR


That pretty much sums up our relationship. It’s been four of the longest years of my life lol.

Upon first inspection of Omou, some would say, “What’s all the fuss about? I don’t see what’s so special about it—it’s plain.” Well, that depends on how you look at it. What it has in abundance has nothing to do with bells and whistles or wiz-bang special effects, but rather a layout that flows extremely well. It’s also challenging due to a few areas he “didn’t” make more racer-friendly, which was by design. For instance this entire area here is essentially a puzzle for a pro racer. It’s not what I would call an extremely difficult puzzle to solve; anyone can stumble through it reasonably well and proceed on through the track. Mastering it, however, is quite a different story. What makes it tricky is that particular section consists of about three to four “mini puzzles” strung together. The racer’s job, of course, is figuring out how to best navigate through it all as efficiently as possible, minimizing air time, slow downs due to bumps, etc. When I posted times for this track I believe I ran a 2:32/2:33 – somewhere in there, which is a fairly decent lap time. Enter SLO_Jumper, who refines and cleans up the line, culminating in a 2:30 lap, and I’m here to tell ya, that’s just plain cruisin’. What I’m sure he did to shave most of the 3 seconds he smoked my time by was figure out a more effective way to traverse that rough section. Sure, he obviously ran the entire track better than I did, but there’s no doubt in my mind he was much more economical in that specific area than I . . . and I hate that lol.

But enough of this Jumper guy; I’ve said too much about him as it is. Early in the review I made reference to Omou’s look, how some would classify it as plain, dull . . . maybe even boring. I’m not here to debate/defend/support the possible perspectives of others. Besides, it would probably turn this review into a 30-page dissertation for which I’m sure Phineus would take exception to, resulting in my prompt removal from this forum, and my name stricken from every place in here lol. So uh, I think I’ll play it safe and just say I personally love this track, and in fact, I’m still trying to decide if it’s my favorite among all the tracks he’s made, and let me tell ya, the guy has produced several gems. If you’ve been around a while Omou may remind you of a superb track maker by the name of Enocell—specifically tracks like On the Edge, Stereo Valley, and The Däng. PreaCh forgot to mention it in the readme.txt, but that’s who he borrowed the texture sets from. When I spoke to him this morning I told him I had it covered, but there would be a $20.00 service charge for cluttering up my review with the extra text lol.

As far as objective criticism goes, I have two observations. The first is this little bump as you round the corner to checkpoint 12. I’m quite certain I mentioned it to PreaCh, but as I said, he’s a pain to beta test for; probably has the hardest head in all of Australia (quite possibly the world lol). It’s actually not a big deal as long as you can remember to swing just a hair wide when executing the right turn. But if you don’t know the track, by the time you see it . . . if you see it at all, it’ll be too late, and usually the result is an overturned truck because after your truck pops up in the air, the momentum carries you into the wall on the left side, usually causing your truck to flip. For those to know the track, you look forward to getting to cp 12 because if you’re behind or looking to separate yourself from someone hot on your heels, that’s where it’ll all take place . . . or could.

My second observation is he didn’t make Omou long enough lol. I think it speaks volumes about a track maker who can get away with grossly understating visual characteristics, yet still make a track compelling, exciting, and fun to race—even if you’re racing by yourself. Psyco was a master at that. His tracks would never win a beauty contest, but boy oh boy they were (and still are) great fun to race on. As for what PreaCh did with Omou, the altitude changes, hairpin turns, up and downhill stretches, coupled with assorted nuances and subtleties, and the way he put it all together combine to make for one heck of a ride. This baby earns a Copey Rating of “10” out of 10 possible points! Oh, and thanks to my new software, the Copey Rating machine can also generate little reminders. For this track it printed out a note that says, “Don’t forget to collect that 20 bucks!”

PreaCh, as much as I hate to admit it (mostly because I know you'll never let me hear the end of it lol), you're one heck of a track maker. Yeah, I usually give you a hard time, bud (probably because you always give me a hard time lol), but this is one jewel of a track—I absolutely love racing on it! In theatre there’s a saying that goes “Always leave them wanting more; just don’t give it to them.” I sure hope we haven’t seen the last of your work, because I’m quite sure I’m not alone when it comes to wanting to see more tracks from you. Awesome job, partner!!

Link: http://mtm2.com/~tracks/details.cgi?t=4337


For sake of clarification, Mariposa has 7 models, Muskoka has 4 models and Deja vu has 6 plus all those checkpoint markers. And, to this day it pains me to think that I shamelessly sold out to ceaseless whining and complaining. And, so there's no misunderstanding, I have nothing against using models. In fact, Lupins has 350, and that's just one track. But if S&M doesn't need any, then none go in.

Anyway, nice write up Cope. LOL. I ran this track within an hour or so when it was uploaded. It was during a saturday afternoon tourney and JM, myself and a couple others just downloaded and ran it blind. Lotta fun. What's next Preach?

Up to that point, you said too much period lol



Someday i'll give you a free 1 hour driving lesson for beginers

Very nice track. The kid did put together a few good tracks and this is one of them.


I'd say 1600 just for the sake off arguying with Cope. No wonder why he's trailing 3 seconds behind

Hehe yeah, I suppose I should've specified that there are no decorative models in Muskoka or Mariposa, and only a couple of trees in Deja vu. I assure you, however, the general racing public would say "Hey . . . ain't no freakin models in these tracks--any of 'em!" lol.

As for Chump and his driving lessons . . . if I wasn't in the throws of knocking out reviews, I'd take his time down. And he knows I can do it lol.

Bla bla bla

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LOLOL I'll tell PreaCh ur making fun of him, Mal.

Yeah, Mal, cut it out

When this track first came out I ended up bypassing it, I think the filesize made me decide to come back later, but I never got around to doing so. Still, it's been a track that I knew I would and should download eventually, considering the respect I have for PreACheR as a track maker. Finally, thanks to Copey's review, I downloaded it today. While I was waiting for it to download I wondered what 'Omou' might mean, so I looked it up. Turns out it's a Japanese verb that means 'to think', thus I supposed you could translate the track's name as "Think!", which seemed appropriate considering Cope's review. Nothing named omou jumped out at me during my search (there were no pokemon by that name), so, I thought to myself, this PreACheR man is full of surprises.

Once the download finished I loaded it up and saw the track's menu picture, which looked to me like a Japanese album cover. Once I started the track I realized there was a custom soundtrack being played, which accounts for the larger size of the zip. It turns out to be some Japanese rock music, which is pretty good and fits the track very well indeed. After some looking around I realized the name of the soundtrack was probably the same as the track itself, and that PreACheR wasn't necessarily fluent in Japanese.

As for the track, I love it. PreACheR can definitely put together a visually appealing environment, and the course itself is a pleasure to drive. Cope's words do it justice, although I would argue that the track has more going on visually than the review might imply.


>> COPE & PreaCheR

lol

>> Mal's cartoon (compare with avatars on the left)

lol, an indignant goat indeed

Yeah, he's full of surprises alright . . . and a few other things lol.

Very good pickup on the music, Wint. I chose not to go down that road because I was already getting pretty long in the review. Any more and I'd get one of those little flashing nasty grams in the form of a private message from Phin griping about "quotas" lol.



And I absolutely agree, Wint. I suppose I was responding to some others who've called it plain or just didn't like it. Compared to PreaCheR's Mines and a lot of tracks out here it probably does seem plain, but me, I think it looks pretty darn good. Nope, there's nothing special or eye-catching about it, but by no means do I personally think it's plain or ugly.

Another thing I didn't address was the lack of checkpoint markers, which as a rule I think makes it tough for racers to refine the racing line in a track, knowing when and where they can shave off areas or improvise to improve their lap times. It's not really obvious, but for the most part if you think there's a place to take a cut, you'll find that it's faster to stick to the road. His terrain work and model placement perform very well together in that respect. He also made sure his cp's were well placed and wide enough so that you'll trip them just fine as long as you don't stray too far off the beaten path.

Well, if you'll excuse me I have to dig up some aspirin. Talking about PreaCh is giving me headache lol.

Thanks heaps everyone for the great words. Inspires me to open traxx and get working.



Thanks Cope, the $20 is in the mail as we speak, that's $20 AUS dollars right. I can't believe I forgot to add thanks in the readme, sorry fellas.



Oh such lies.



Sounds like fun.! for what it's worth btw, Deja vu looks abnormally great with "no freakin models"



Well...: )





LOL. Ahem.


*Speechless*



Quite the detective Wint, lol. Yes, you are correct about I naming it for the Japanese word Omou, I had a fair idea what it meant when I named it, but yeah, I'm not a Japanese language wiz.



Close, It's a random picture of a Japanese band (called Nightmare) that I cut up into a 257 x 210 image, half the time I never know what to put in the track picture. lol.



The Omou soundtrack is actually different to the name of the track, while their is a pretty popular song named Omou by the band Kagrra, that isn't the song being played while you run the track and I didn't intend it to have any relations.

Anyway I think that's what you were commenting on if I understood you correctly. lol. Nice investigation anyhow Wint, I was a bit surprised someone would look that far into it all.

Since this one's still freshly posted, You may wanna edit the fast lap to reflect the new change, Copey.

If Phin can fix me a version without the train, Perhaps i'll be able to pull a decent replay out of it.

LOL figured you'd better tighten it up some before I grabbed it, eh? I'll leave it as is, but for the record the new fast lap is 2:28.11 - caaaaaaaaruisin!! Nice lap, bud.

Thank to Phin, there's now a replay availablefor this track.
It feautures laps in the 2:29 range. Should be good enough to help those interested.