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Hey Cale,
You stated that Mud Pies (both versions) never quite set well with you, which inspired you to produce this remastered version. Nothing wrong with that, not at all. You are correct in that aesthetically speaking Mud Pies left much to be desired in terms of visual appeal, but as for the racing, it was top notch. From a racer’s perspective two of the biggest issues have always been:
(1) Checkpoints that don’t register properly
(2) Improper collision properties
Other than those two issues, if the layout is interesting and conducive to stimulating racing, it’s good to go! Again, that’s more often time than not the perspective of a racing purist. I certainly consider myself a racer – no doubt, but I absolutely appreciate the creativity, artistry, & workmanship that went into ZooN’s tracks, Castle Nugget by my man Rocketalces, Wilderness by derz, Mal’s 4x4 Evo conversions, Wint’s tracks, and so many more.
As for this track, I never had a problem with it since it was free of the issues associated with some very popular tracks from the late 90s/early 2000s (e.g. Pfullingen 2 by MTF_rough, Slanty by enocell, Kenowhere & Co. by EEEEEman to name a few). That said, I definitely like the changes you made. The wood grained whoops are a very nice touch, as well as cleaning up the texture work. I also like the billboards, nicer crushed cars (as well as the nifty sound effects) and viewing stands. I noticed you also added a little difficulty for those who attempt to bypass the first set of whoops after checkpoint 2. Inserting a bit of uneven terrain close to the whoop did the trick, requiring racers to be somewhat precise when taking that particular route, which is how it should be.
Finally, I like what you didn’t do, which is change the core make-up of the track. You stuck to making mostly visual enhancements, which absolutely improve the look of the track. As for the manner in which the trucks traversed the water in MP '98 . . . well, like Switzerland, I’m neutral lol. Neither is better or worse in my opinion. Flying through 20' of water at 90 mph (e.g. Extreme Luge by DavDemBlues) is absolutely devoid of any sense of realism, but I’m cool with it because it doesn’t detract from how I feel about the track as a whole. Same is true here. Changing the water effects were fine, but I personally would've been just as content if you’d left it as it was. I’m sure you’ll have varying opinions on that one.
On the flip side, I can’t say I’m all that crazy about losing the option to alter the scenery content. The cones and hay bales are now in the track by default, and for racers (purist like myself, anyway) that’s typically not a good thing since most of us opt for sparse scenery. Cones and bales can ruin a lap or race if they get under your truck. I also noticed you cut down on the number of helicopter models, which I don’t have a problem with. However, just as in Mud Pies '98 the collision properties are off – way off. I’m not even sure if it’s possible to correct that on a model of that type, but it’s something that jumped out at me. Oh, one other thing: I run at 25 fps via Dxtory, and I noticed that the logs inserted in the second set of whoops stopped my truck several times. Mind you, I haven’t run it enough to pick up on any definitive patterns in terms of what fps settings work best, how you approach the whoops, etc., but it’s something I noticed. Wouldn’t affect me in a race since I use the cut across the water. ;-)
Lastly, and you might think I’m nuts, but what made that track special in my opinion was the full moon. Yeah sure, dropping Saturn in there was a bit over the top lol, but I always thought the track being lit up by the full moon was kind of cool.
Nice work, Cale! Truth be told, it was fun reviewing a track again after all these years. Brings back quite a few fond memories of this place.
Last edited by SLO_COPE on Mon Nov 16, 2020 9:03 am, edited 1 time in total.
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