OLD FlatWheels is…well the guy amazes me, really. Shortly after he completed “Tuindorp” I heard he had a new one coming out, and it wasn’t this one; it was another track he worked on with ROX_ONaN. I beta tested it (the other track) for him, suggested a few areas of improvements, and he said he’d work on it and release it in a few days. The next thing I know, he sends me a Zone Message and asks me if I want to run his new track. So I say sure, thinking it was the other track. I wasn’t; it was this one, and he done it in “just a couple of hours”! I never asked what happened to his other track. Heck, for all I know he’ll whip out a different track tomorrow, and still never mention the one he let me test initially. I won’t ask about it either. I’m sure he has a plan…I think lol.
As described by SLO_Jumper and SLO_JDAK, it’s paved with very subtle elevation changes. For all intensive purposes, however, it’s flat, which stands to reason, of course since he chose to give it a Formula 1 flavor. I was under the impression Flatwheels patterned the layout after an actual track, but he informed me that such was not that case, that he simply generated it from his imagination, which astounded me. I say that because I’ve seen his other tracks, and I never anticipated something like this coming. It wasn’t a question of his talent, but rather my own limited thinking; I just figured he’d stick to a set style or pattern. Not only that, he did this one while he was completely immersed in the production of another track!! One that’s totally, utterly different from this one, I might add. So yeah, I was taken waaaaaay off-guard, but very pleasantly so after I saw what he had put together.
During actual play-tests while still in the beta stage, I concluded that it’s not just speed that will win this race, although it’s definitely a major factor given its physical characteristics. It’s the corners, and how efficiently each racer executes them. The thing is if you’re not rock-solid and tight on them, someone is going to exploit the opening. It’s how this race is won and lost, and it’s anything but easy because you can blow the whole thing in a single turn - that’s all it takes. It’s 100 pure racing, and only the best racer will emerge the victor; not the one who knows and sucessfully executes all the nifty shortcuts.
In just a mere few hours Flat managed to author a track that’s been very well received by racers (and even some rumblers) in the MTM 2 community. I’ve yet to hear one person say they didn’t care for it, so he should feel pretty darn good about that.
I love the speed, the turns, and that great backdrop (compliments of ONaN). I also like the way he placed the checkpoints in the red hash marks on the corners of each turn as a deterrent to cutting them. He also set the grassy area to snow, so if you get off the road, you might as well let off the gas, kick back and enjoy the ride because you’ll no longer be in control of where you’re going lol.
There are only two things I can say objectively about this track: (1) a couple of the spots in the grassy area could’ve used more attention in terms of alignment, and (2) the lack of texture blending where he has the multi-colored grass with that orange-like texture in the middle. We discussed it, but he liked it as it was, and that’s fine – it’s certainly his call. My job was merely to tell him what I saw and thought; he made the final decisions, which is how it’s supposed to be. Oh btw, Flat borrowed the road and grass texture (save the orangy-like stuff) from “ZooN Spring”, and after cruising thru it even “The Great One” missed a few texture alignments, so don’t’ sweat the small stuff, Flat!! Hehe
In wrapping this one up, if you don’t know the name “FlatWheels” by now, you will after you sample this one, and his next one for that matter. This guy is definitely on the rise! As for the Copey Rating, “Flat’s Formula” rang up a <u>very</u> impressive
9.25 out of
10 possible points! I’m extremely excited about this track, as well as what he’s currently working on. He’s really starting to grow as a track maker and it’s great to see. You’ll also find this track on SLO’s next APL.
Excellent job, bud - really nice work on this one. Keep crankin’ them out!
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COPE
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Edited by SLO_COPE (30-11-2002)</font>
haha just kidding