MTM2.com

http://mtm2.com/~tracks/T2003/lapamabeta2.zip
Oops I just saw that I named the upload "LaPaLu Beta II" instead of "LaPaMa Beta II". Can someone correct this please?

LaPaMa
Notes for 2nd Beta release 14.April 2003

Thanks to all beta testers for the feedback on the first release.
This should be the last beta release.


"Popup-free" landscape
===============================
This means that from the normal racing line, you should not see terrain and objects building up in the distance. If you still can observe such effects, please report
1) where
2) which view you are using (only occured lately to me that this matters)

Unnatural triangular mountain shapes
====================================
I call these Toblerones; if you don't know that chocolate, a quick look at http://www.toblerone.com/ should explain it all (the pic is funny). Because of the restrictions involved by the popup-free design, Toblerones are sometimes hard to eradicate. Basically I set visual barriers where needed, often with little or no margin regarding altitude and width. So I have to be very careful when changing a point's elevation:
- lowering it may no longer hide something behind it,
- raising it may make it visible from another view angle.
Obviously the Traxx smoothing tool is not recommended in this context.
Please report any Toblerone you spot (or even better eat them, lol)

Shortcut
========
I (hopefully) suppressed the shortcut allowing to jump over the fence on the asphalt highway. From a racing perspective I agree that this was a really good one. It involves risk and limited time gain, but since it is clearly faster it would become the main race line. The reason I don't want you to join the highway earlier than the end of the fence is ... that the bump at the end of the straight will build up while you can see it.


Slippery textures / full oval lap
=================================
I spent a lot of time thinking about the texture settings and oval discussion. Finally I decided not to decide and rather leave it up to the racer. The track will thus be released in two flavours:
- Moose Challenge (MC), basically this beta, with full oval lap and slippery gravel & mud textures
- Elk Fun (EF), an easier version, without the full oval lap and gravel & mud textures set to dirt

MC and EF will be absolutely identical wrt elevation, textures and objects. This should make it easier to switch from one to the other. Since I don't want to make all modifications twice this beta only contains the MC version.
If I understand, PodMate should allow me to pack EF and MC in a single and only marginally larger pod file.
Regarding EF: do you think that setting mud textures to something like grass, keeping at an easier level the concept of more/less slippery areas, would be acceptable or shall I put them to dirt?

Texture transition
==================
I made a couple of transition textures. Are there still places where this is needed?

Palette
=======
Attempts to create custom optimized palette caused gray water.
I tried to paste some blue areas out of sight but it didn't help. Maybe I did not use the right texture(s).
Any ideas?

Trees (trunk and crown)
=======================
No collide facing looks strange when driving closely and relatively slowly past them. Maybe it is the model (DMGtree) having a 3d trunk. But the crown is just what I want. What can I do?

Underpass object
================
I think the underpass below the bridge is really ugly. Of course it is needed to mask the hill at the exit,
while you leave Palmtree Avenue up to the muddy segment. An attempt with groundboxes
resulted in an extra thick bridge which looked even worse. Any ideas are welcome.

Sign toward Checkpoint 8
========================
Is on my "to do's" list

Hey guy, just got done with my initial run on this, and I must say I see quite a few improvements. Love the new cp's, the trees you added...oh and the rock models you threw in give the gravel section a whole new look. Nicely done.

I was somewhat disappointed to hear that you negated the mini-short just after cp 14, but as always it's ur call. But just so you know, during the race sessions we had testing the first version, the short did in fact yield a small (very) advantage to the racer who could pull it off. The key was "if" he/she could pull it off. It wasn't the easiest maneuver to execute, and that's exactly how I feel it should be - risky. It's a lot easier to make that little cut when you don't have anyone breathing down ur neck during a tight race, so although it appeared to be an easy route, racing under pressure often times make very simple things extremely difficult.

Still, I understand and respect your decision. I'll tell ya now though, that cut would not become the main racing line - it just wasn't that easy lol.

One other thing - the boulder just b4 cp 11...it seems that there's ain invisible portion of that structure jutting out overhead; you'll hear the thud of an impact as you pass under it.

At first glance you've made some nice improvements in the texture work, however, I haven't really had the chance to look closer. I'll do so tonight.

Speaking of textures, not to appear wishy-washy, I meant what I said before about it being fun with the textures set as is...and it's certainly raceable, but the truth is that the layout itself provides more than enough challenge for everyone, to include pro's - believe me lol. Adjusting the settings to default or dirt wouldn't hurt the track's overall appeal at all, and in fact, would most likely help it. Imagine someone...let's say, a relatively new racer d/ling Moose Challenge, never realizing the difference between it an Elk Fun; it could ruin him/her for life lol. If it's possible, could you upload a beta version of Elk Fun just so it's easier to compare the two?

For now I just wanted to get some sort of initial feedback to ya, but I'll be back with more later.

Oh yes! This version is good. I agree with Cope about the 2 versions.
Indeed it's very racable as is but only by a few. Most wont go to the trouble of working it out to master something like this. I also agree only one version should be left however, that's just my opignon it's your call at the end.

The Changes in the scenery are great, you did an outstanding job with that. Look cool, very cool.

In the loop part, i found that some cp's register on the outside. However that dont help at all since it place you in a bad position to take the next one. Overall, so far so good.


------------------
Jumper
Only those who will risk going to far can possibly find out how far one can go.

well - with no graphics card theres stuff popping up all over the place but honestly i never really noticed it until you told me that nothing was supposed to.
The track is a great track but the idea of making it have nothing popup made it look like u r drving in a trench most of the way. problems with trences: lots of opportunities to hit the side of the trench and roll on corners mostly. And it also makes mtm2 look a lot like a tunnel racer which is the exact opposite reason of why people love it.
When you DO go exploring there really isnt much to see. And where you do see stuff it doesnt look authentic. It doesnt convince me that it really is a world. after CP 16 where you have the road blocked to make u go under the overpass it isnt really clear which way to go. AND if u do go the wrong way the road just kinda stops. IF you continu exploring you find lots of texures that dont mesh at all.

So to recap : a good track but it makes the game seem like a tunnel racer and this track is no fun for exploring.

Keep up the good work

------------------
Visit my site

>> two flavours

That seems like overkill to me, due to such a small difference between the tracks. You seem to understand the issues, you've heard the arguments, I'd say go with what you like for the final.


> I tried to paste some blue areas out of sight but it didn't help. Maybe I did not use the right texture(s). Any ideas?

The only thing I can suggest is covering more of the terrain before generating a palette (using the textures from the fix-it pod).


The new textures are excellent, it would have been a crime to not make them, due to the effort put into the rest of the track. The checkpoints and the other model customizations are great. Overall this is an excellent track, nicely crafted from top to bottom.

I can't think of anything else to say.
Well done sir.

Thanks Winterkill

I don't think that two flavours are overkill.
First of all the MC version now has the feel I wanted, so there is no question that this version will be released. On the other hand, the slippery textures appear to be a big turndown for many people, which I can understand to some extend. When testing new changes I do not always mount my FF steering wheel and with the keyboard it is admittedly, err.. tricky. As a gesture toward less experienced racers and users of digital controllers I have decided to release the slightly easier EF. That's not much additional work for me (changing a couple of dozens of texture settings in the final) and it increases the zip file by only ~200k.
All in all I consider this to be a good compromise. Of course, real moose drive MC...

When I first read you left the texture types alone, I didn't plan to download this. Point blank, I don't have patience for things that are made deliberately, unnecessarily hard. If I wanted that, I'd take up cryptic crosswords as a hobby instead of mtm, or read wallace stevens - who nobody in their right mind reads voluntarily. Realism is a worthy goal, but there's a line that should be ever present in our minds that marks the place where we realize this is a computer game; it is not a real truck or real place on this earth where we go on weekends to drive our monster trucks... which very few people actually own.

But demi posted a beta track and I thought I'd do up a pic of bull's most recent track, and there was LaPaMa attracting my mouse pointer's attention. So I took it for a spin.

There are only two or three fundamental "rules" (that should never be violated) I try to impress upon track makers. First is that trees must always be set to no collide facing. Hitting the outcroppings of invisible bins is absolutely the worst driving experience. Trunks added for realism are left to the discretion of the maker. Another is blind curves. These are hills that give you big air while the road turns in a different direction under you, but which you are helpless to take since you're air born and heading into no-man's land. This might emphasize a pedantic need for crystal clear driving lines but it needn't. Instead, it should focus on the elimination of speed and booby traps that will put a racer unwittingly out of contention. A third is slippery texture types. I won't bore anybody with a long history on this one. Suffice it to say, monster trucks do not hydro plane over mud, they sink in it and stop. But mtm2 treats anything but a few basic types as varying degrees of ice and snow which make the game totally unenjoyable and virtually useless. I understand it can come down to a matter of personal preference but I think you'll find most people will sooner or later get frustrated with the lack of tire grip and delete the pod from their hdd.

That said, I'm an advocate of choice. I recently uploaded three versions of black gold so racers could opt for what suited them most. I didn't start out with that intention but I had no aversion to the plan. If that idea appeals to you, that's plenty fine with me.

re: toblerones (an apropos name)

We've seen worse.

re: trench driving

It's the nature of "this" track. If you continue to focus on viewing distance, it will be interesting to see how you handle this problem in future, but for this track I think you're fine.

One can like mtm2 for different reasons. What looks unnecessary difficult
to you might be appreciated by someone else for putting his (her) skills to a real test. But after testing your Black Gold Pro I see that our somewhat different preferences are not incompatible in the end. I really enjoy it because it needs skill and knowledge of the track to be fast.

Back to Lapama, the two final versions are uploaded now. I hope you will have fun with EF.

For details see the thread http://rhinoseros.com/~forum/pages/Forum1/HTML/000938.html

Big thanks to everybody for the feedback.