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Well done Charles!

Some day Ill make a perfect 1, you my friend are 2 kind, your advice has made this track possible {Beta Room}, lots of good people in there 4 any person just starting in track maker. I thank you and all the people that live there{LoL}.

Wint btw thanks 4 the kool pic

Average Lap Times: Approx :48.00
Garage Setting: 1400 med tires/soft suspsension

There’s been a stampede of new tracks published recently, and very nice tracks, too! I have something to say about all of them, but I thought I’d start here with Nd4SpCharles’, “Shepherd of the Hills”. I picked this one for a couple of different reasons. First and foremost, it’s a very nice piece of work by a guy who, despite his 18 previous tracks, is just getting started. He’s a former “factory line” track maker who seemingly cranked out every idea that popped into his head. Secondly, I really like reviewing tracks by newcomers who demonstrate a sincere willingness to learn the ropes of track making, and Charles most definitely has bridged the gap between spewing out work suffering from creative/technical malnutrition and putting serious effort into his track making projects. Last, but certainly not least, he’s a super-duper nice guy, he really is; a lot nicer than say…HotShoe, Malibu, Fila, Demi and Phin’s 75 different personalities. Wint’s not too bad…when he’s asleep. Oh hey, don't get me wrong--they’re all great track makers, but I don’t like their attitudes lol. If I say the least little thing wrong in a review of their tracks, I get 3 a.m. phone calls, hate mail, and other forms of harassment like you wouldn’t believe. About a year ago one of Phin’s personalities, said, “People should never review the reviewer.” Well, I sure wish he would’ve said that to the names I mentioned above. Anyway, word has it that particular personality (#27) was replaced by someone named Socrates. That’s unfortunate, because I almost liked #27 lol.

As for Shepherd of the Hills, it’s a pretty simplistic layout that’s geared consistently high-speed, close-quarters racing with dramatic finishes. There’s ample room for passing, but outright passes will be at a minimum due to the simplicity of the layout. In other words, you’ll have to bide your time and wait for the person in front of you to give you an opening, and it may only be a slight one. If you hesitate to capitalize you might not get another shot. If you’re a little shy about banging, bumping and jockeying for position, five or 6 laps on this will change all of that because I guarantee you others will be doing it to you. Good manners isn’t going to cut it here; you’re going to have to fight you’re way to the front of the pack. Again, the right mix of patience and aggression is the key. Course, a nice helmet and shoulder pads are handy items to have too.

Charles did a very nice job with model selection and placement, which to me is on par with the track as a whole; simple and modest—not overdone or gaudy. The symmetrically placed trees and shrubs leave you with the impression he hired premier grounds keepers. The funny thing is I didn’t really care for the neat and orderly arrangement of the trees and shrubs, but it works really well with this track. I never told Charles that during beta testing because…well, personal taste doesn’t really come into play when beta testing, but in here I can say what I want and pretty much get away with it lol.

Objectively speaking, you may (or may not) notice the alignment flaws in the texture work; that’s not Charles’ fault. He made the most of what he had to work with, agonized over it at times trying to give it that “Mal/Phin/Wint-like” finish, but to no avail.

Overall I for one am very impressed with this guy – his work ethic, attitude, dogged determination to take his track making skills to a whole new level. Charles deservedly picked up his first MTMG symbol of quality workmanship, and on top of that, this one earned a Copey Rating of "9" out of 10 possible points! I’m also inviting Charles over to the Team SLO forum to give a dissertation on manners and politeness. Those miserable heathens could definitely learn a lot from this guy lol.

Very nice work, Charles—well done, bud. Keep doing it exactly the way you did this one. The primary goal is to publish tracks you're proud of, and if others like it...well hey, that’s icing on the cake.


NOTE: Awesome pictures, Wint! Geez, I'm almost tempted to edit out that crack I made about ya lol.

So am i, so am i.
Not so long ago, when looking for good tracks i would've ignore just about any track made by Chales because i was expecting something flawed.
As of now, that just change. Like Cope said up there, it's a fairly simple layout but heck, Charlie got the most out of it and the end result is very interesting. Scenery is cool and the layout itself can generate some pretty interesting races.

Keep up your good work buddy. I cant wait to see the day Malibu, Phin and Winterkill will be jalous of your tracks

You have 2 know my Mom{God rest her soul} would have kissed you, my lady would beg 2 differ, THANKs guys, I wish i could redo a couple of my first tracks, could have been so much better. Im not sure those guys have alot 2 worry about {Mal,Phin or Wint}, I can only hope 2 be that good, True Masters of this gig they are. I like fast tracks, never much more than a minute, makes 4 better racing. Making a track that got your attention {Team-Slo} is a great feeling, you have NO ideal how much that means 2 me. I can only hope 2 live up 2 that billing, and yes ill see yous in the Slo-Forum. Must ad again that this track is what it is because of Beta room. 1 MORE TIME i MUST think The Beta Bunch, Charles

Btw, personal best is 47.29, I know 1 of u guys on Team-Slo can give it 45.00, let me know when u do Please

Pfff , 48, 45?? Pusssiesss!!!!

I can do it in 43.5, I sent it to the SLO HoF not so long ago so it'll be online very soon if Jumper isn't tyred of racing


Cool check my attitude

Donno what you're talking about there, Didn't get anything. send it to ijump@sympatico.ca



yeah been looking at that attitude lol i guess i'll have to fix that too lmao

U the man Slo-Scrooch, THATS some driving

Please can someone give me a copy of that link that has my record time, I KNOW IT WONT BE there long, will be nice 2 say i had it 4 a minute, Thanks

I didn't make a page for it yet. will do as soon as i get the screenshot.

http://cownap.com/~tracks/details.cgi?thistrack=4056

Enjoy it while it lasts, hehe.

Thanks man, I had it 4 a minute

After running 20 laps I just had to come back and say thanks to Charles for putting together such a great little circuit, I mean this thing is a total blast from beginning to end! Sure you had the cream of the crop when it comes to beta testers (the beta bunch lol) but you deserve a ton of credit for the outstanding roadwork you accomplished here, very well done buddy.



Cool review Cope, right on.

Beautifull screenshot representation Wint ;o)

44.53 here Scrooch.. your goin down man.

:o)

im sorry im a little late to replying to this. this is an awesome track. really fun to drive on. great job!

Hehe yeah, me and my big mouth


Resent the pic to Jumper.

I notice a tree out or up a little bit, is it just me. 1St tree on left, when you come up the last hill to the start line. Same TREE i moved 3 times. I fix it again, is it some thing that any 1 thinks needs fix? .I can re upload it if any body thinks i sould. Cant believe it did it again. Please advise

Hehe my advice to you is to just leave it. It's a small, insignificant cosmetic flaw that people probably won't even notice. Onward, Charles!

Yes sir, I can do that, Thanks

I think we should delete it and put a red x beside Nd4SpCharles' name. Okay okay, maybe that's a bit harsh. Just don't let it happen agin