MTM2.com

http://mtm2.com/~tracks/dl.cgi?dl=3900

So yeah, I'm trying this whole "track making" thing. Its a pretty basic track, I got the models from Mediterrainean (thanks, guys ), but otherwise its really a simple thing with a few custom textures. It is big, though. Let me know what you think, I know there's a floating wall and some sunken stuff, but they are ruins after all.

If this is your first track you're up on a darn good start.

As i've been busy (still am) with Xraid beta, and other personal stuff i only had a look at it, but I'll check it out deeper later this week for sure.

For now, i only did a lap on it to have a look. I think you should shorten it up (unless you have something in mind to fill such long layout but have not put it all in yet) I think the long stretch should have just a few more curves and challenges. Only bumps is not enough. Perhaps even vary the widh of the track in some area's would help to force racers to work their line to diserve better time. Very wide layout need to either allow very high speed to trigger some thrills or either requier sharp curves to force players to work the track. I dont know how the ancient Rome was, but it would be nice to drive around on wide paved road then switch to small winding dirt trails etc...

As is, high speed is hard to acheive and at the same time. the line is a bit to loose so it gave me the feeling i was doing a promenade rather than a rally.

Again, I'll look at it deeper whenever i do have a chance to take pictures and type more comments.

Having a look now and I'll get back tomorrow with some feedback. Kinda in a middle of a review I wanna finish up.

Hey Cale, it's great to see an mtm veteran like you trying this sort of track... and succeeding. I'm not sure what more you have planned but there's a number of things I can think to say.

What really impressed me is that you seem to understand how to carve terrain. The way you've formed the terrain on many jumps in order to keep the nose of the truck down is excellent, keeping the nose down on jumps is an ideal. You have a section with a motocross kind of feel that has great flow.

You've done a great job at terrain transitions throughout the track, and while the distances are long they are never completely boring or without some variety. However, one thing you've done that is common to rookies is making stretches of road too long (even with my prior comment in mind) and ending up with a track that feels too long for what it is. It's matter of "scale", and it's pretty easy to work at too big a scale in the editor. Overall I think the road width is a good choice, though the distances traveled are perhaps too great. I'm not suggesting you change anything, I'm only wanting to point out this aspect of track design.

Also, the track seems kind of sterile (time + distance may play a part). Your choice of models is nice, and the arrangement isn't bad, but what would really maximize their impact would be to incorporate them into the course itself, so that you drive through and among them, rather than having them as roadside attractions, sometimes too distant to appreciate.

The minimalist terrain textures are a fine start, but knowing your painting skills from your truck work I know you could do better, or add more for variety, but I'll leave that be for now - I realize this is all kind of experimental, but I do intend that as a compliment rather than a complaint.

You know what you're doing in the editor so I see no reason why you shouldn't use your own checkpoint boxes instead of the stock bins. Doing so will enable you to make them the exact height and breadth of your checkpoint markers (if you like), as is there is at least one CP that gets jumped over consistantly. <i><a href=viewtopic.php?t=1980 target=cp>Details here</a></i>.

Criticism aside, this track is an incredibly fine start and I hope to see you continue to make tracks, as you refine your skills!

...and the name is quite clever.

Dang - lost my post when the site got hung up! O well, since I won't get my review posted til tonight, I figured I'd better stop in here and take care of my feedback session before going to bed.

I pretty much agree with Wint on all counts. Your disclaimer about sunken/flowting objects is interesting in that your models are supposedly depicting the ruins of Rome (I take it), but they're set in a nicely manicured course. I would expect something bit more on the abstract side where ruins are concerned, but that's just one guys opinion.

Yes, cp 3 doesn't trigger if you hit the preceding whoop too fast, causing you to fly up into the air, overshooting the trip point, but in two tracks I know of (Yves_B's "Autocross 2" and SLO_Fila's "Fila's Adventure", that exact same "effect" exists. I can't speak for Yves, but I know for a fact Fila chose to forego adjusting the cp, forcing racers to adapt, which they did. I will add that yours is set unusually low, hence you have to slow down quite a bit to trigger it.

That's it for me for now. Looking forward to seeing how this one shapes up!

The few points i had are already out so i guess i'll shut up lol Hope you're still working on this one. Some interesting stuff can come out of it. Out of all the existing tracks, i dont recall any being around Rome.

Winterkill pointed out that it would be good to incorporate your models into the track rather than use them as attraction. I'll agree with that. Build Rome and make us drive in there. Closer objects will not only be easier to admire (those models are darn nice) but it will help to bring up that sence of speed and will force drivers to drive with more accuracy.

Ok, so I was bored and finished up making some changes that I had made to this track a year or so ago (or longer). It still isn't that great. I've reached builders block and to be quite honest, I really prefer sticking to truck making so chances are this will never get finished under me. So I'll hand it off to someone if anyone wants it to finish. Just no interest in it really. But let me know what you think of the new beta anyhow:

http://mtm2.com/~tracks/dl.cgi?dl=4386

I ran this, and reran the first version. If you think you're done with them, then maybe we should repack the download zips with the TXX files (if you have them) and offer it up like Zoon did for Mont Gris. There's a track in here, maybe a couple, so I see no reason to let anything go to waste.

As for notes, I keep over shooting cp3, and the terrain following cp4 is rough for my tastes. There's also a couple model placement issues but I don't know how far you want to go with this....

You know, I've thought about asking if this would ever get finished (as well as the several tracks started by Psyco), but figured I'd ride it out and see what happens. For whatever it's worth I definitely I liked how it was shaping up when I ran the first beta.

Preach gave a track he started to Fila (I think), then after it was done he whined about it - said his track was ruined lolol. I thought it was pretty funny myself, not that you would do such a thing, but that's the memory that was conjured up when I read you were putting your track up for grabs.

I have an 11-yr old to attend to for now; breakfast, then school . . . then I have to pretend like I'm listening to my wife for about 10 min before she leaves for work lol. At that point there will be peace on earth (for me, anyway), so I'll be able to run both versions free of distractions.
_____________________________________________________________

I just finished running both versions - ran the new one first, and man . . . it's too bad you're not interested in finishing it; I think you've got a great start! I noticed you cut it down quite a bit as well, from 4+ min to down around 2:50, and nice changes, too. As for cp 3, it's the same as it was, which believes me to think you intended it to be that way. Course, you could've just forgot to fix it twice lol. But as it is, yeah - I've seen that in a few other tracks, although with yours it's not enough to let off the gas; you have to jam on the brakes here to make sure you trip it.

I'll hold off on further comments as well since you're looking to give up your ownership rights. Still though, I like what you've got so far (very much so) and would hope you'd finish it. Heck, there's no timetable involved, bud. If it takes you two years, so be it. It'd give me something to harass you about in the review, too. You'd be a member of a rather elite club of track makers who've taken years to complete a track lol.

Here's a tip for you. If the site freezes up, and you can see enough of your post to remember it, press Print Screen. Then paste it into a paint program. From there, just read the text there and type it into the site again. You probably won't get everything but you will save some of it. Also, if you're writing something long, press CRTL-A and CRTL-C to copy it to the clipboard. If something happens, start the message again and just press CRTL-V to paste it again.

or dont use ie
or as kc might say: dont use ai.

LOL Mat/CH - you guys are replying to a post I made back in January lmao. Thanks anyway lol. I know how to work around it - always have.