
 RUACH  --  a track for Monster Truck Madness 2, by Wint (Winterkill)

 Howdy! and thanks for reading this. :-)


 ++++ General Info ++++

 - This is a short racing circuit set within a windy and rugged
 rock outcrop, featuring a smooth, wide and winding road suitable
 for all skill levels, with a lap time of about 32 seconds.
 In some ways it is similar to my previous track "Wake Up!".
 Ruach was started in late 2004, then finished in early 2005.

 - The course looks good in Clear but please try it in Rain,
 it works great and really completes the atmosphere of the
 track as a whole (with a 3D video card anyway). If this track
 is ever used in a tournament I'd recommend running a couple
 of races in rain followed by a couple races in clear.

 - Enable the game music to hear a custom soundtrack that
 compliments the theme of the track, consisting of three minutes 
 of stereo sound, including a lot of wind. The .MOD was extended
 and remixed slightly for use in this track (using Modplug). 

 - Since wind was a theme I used some small "anemometer"
 checkpoints (spinning devices used to measure wind speed).
 They are positioned so that you can drive on the two grassy
 areas to take the scenic route, such as when you're bored
 or too far ahead of your opponents. ;-) (These off-track areas
 have since been developed into a new track called "Rhubarb")


 ++++ The Name ++++

 Since "wind" was a consistent theme in the track I wanted to
 use a unique word that would capture that. "Ruach" (roo'-akh) 
 is a Hebrew word used throughout the Old Testament, being 
 quite flexible it's translated a number of ways, such as
 "wind" and "breath", and most often as "spirit".

 The concept behind the word is basically that of "invisible force", 
 something unseen but very real, with discernable effect. Wind is
 a powerful, invisible and persistent force in nature, especially
 significant to those close to the land, and so has become a strong 
 symbolic reference. Breath and it's movement is a symbol of life 
 and the presence of spirit, and the Holy Spirit is ever present and
 ever moving, unseen but felt, like the wind.

 I'd like to note that the word "pneuma" is the Greek
 equivilent used in the New Testament, having the same
 meaning it is translated and used in exactly the same ways
 as ruach, as in the life sustaining breath of man, the
 spirit of a man, or in reference to the Holy Spirit.


 Jesus quoted the following prophesy from the book of Isaiah:

 >> "The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed
 me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to
 proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for
 the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of
 the Lord's favor." (Luke 4:18-19)

 There the Greek text of Luke uses the word "pneuma" for spirit
 (our word 'pneumatic' stems from the same root), while the Hebrew
 text of Isaiah (61:1-2) uses "ruach" of course. When Jesus quoted
 that he followed up by saying "Today this scripture is fulfilled
 in your hearing." He was the one for whom those remarkable, 
 true and deeply meaningful words were recorded long before.


 Some examples of "ruach" in use:

 >> "I have seen all the things that are done under the sun;
 all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind (ruach)." 
 (Ecclesiastes 1:14 - NIV)

 >> "When I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I
 had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing
 after the wind (ruach); nothing was gained under the sun."
 (Ecclesiastes 2:11 - NIV)

 Ecclesiastes is a book written from the perspective of
 'flesh' man, the man who 'walks under the sun',
 whose deeds are most often without lasting significance.
 I like those verses in light of my own work on the track. :-)


 On to the prophet Ezekiel...

 >> "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit (ruach) in 
 you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a 
 heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit (ruach) in you and move
 you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws." 
 (Ezekiel 36:26-27 - NIV)

 Spirit/ruach. I believe that amazing promise of a new spirit is
 fulfilled by the transforming power of repentance and salvation,
 when faith is placed in Christ's ability to pay for us, and the
 Holy Spirit begins to dwell within our own spirit, enabling us
 to perceive things better and to be able to make right choices.


 Finally, the following symbolic prophesy in Ezekiel is a 
 famous and powerful one in which ruach is used to refer to
 spirit, breath and wind:

 >> The hand of the LORD was upon me, and he brought me out
 by the Spirit (ruach) of the LORD and set me in the middle
 of a valley; it was full of bones. He led me back and forth
 among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the
 valley, bones that were very dry. He asked me, "Son of man,
 can these bones live?" I said, "O Sovereign LORD, you alone
 know." Then he said to me, "Prophesy to these bones and say
 to them, 'Dry bones, hear the word of the LORD! This is what
 the Sovereign LORD says to these bones: I will make breath (ruach)
 enter you, and you will come to life. I will attach tendons
 to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; 
 I will put breath (ruach) in you, and you will come to life.
 Then you will know that I am the LORD.'" So I prophesied as
 I was commanded. And as I was prophesying, there was a noise, 
 a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. 
 I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin 
 covered them, but there was no breath (ruach) in them. Then 
 he said to me, "Prophesy to the breath (ruach); prophesy, son 
 of man, and say to it, 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says:
 Come from the four winds (ruach), O breath (ruach), and breathe
 into these slain, that they may live.'" So I prophesied as he 
 commanded me, and breath (ruach) entered them; 
 they came to life and stood up on their feet-- a vast army.
 (Ezekiel 37:1-10 - NIV)



 Through all of this I hope you'll be inspired to ponder the
 invisible forces that surround us and influence our world.
 I could also hope to generate interest in the Bible,
 considering it's the place where we can SEE God's love
 and mercy and desires for His children.



 ++++ Finally ++++

 - Many thanks to Drive2Survive for the wind turbines (which
 I resized and retextured slightly), Malibu350 and company
 for the latest and greatest version of BinEdit (used to make
 the models), the late "Guitar Bill" Purvis for Traxx, Gromit
 for TrackEd3 (used for all model placement), Phineus for the
 'boxes' converter (that made the use of TrackEd3 possible),
 SirJames (for the trees), Roderic Mege for the song Celtic Slide
 (from Celtic Legends), and special thanks to my web host,
 and YOU all -- for using the track and for reading this far. :)
 Also, a tip of the hat to "N4S" Charles for being an all around 
 good guy (who happens to like short tracks), as well as to 
 SLO_COPE for his killer track reviews and mean humor.


 - Many thanks Almighty God, for my life, and the blessings
 that have allowed me to spend time on this hobby and meet
 the people within it. Many thanks for the gift of your son, who
 provided the payment for all I've done wrong, seen and unseen,
 satisfying the requirement of true justice though a sacrificial
 act of love, through which I willingly receive your mercy and
 am cleansed of all guilt. With his payment being the singular 
 and only one that can satisfy justice, I thank you for leading
 me to him. Jesus, who is my savior, and whom I strive to make
 my Lord and commander, but so often fail to do so. Thank you.
 Thank you for your grace and for your patience in bearing with me.


 My MTM2 website: http://mtm2.com/~trackville  
 (it will have more useful content in the future, so stay tuned)

 If you wish to contact me...
 You can "private message" me at: http://forum.mtm2.com
 You can send e-mail to: winter_mtm2@yahoo.com

 Everything MTM: http://mtm2.com -- http://mtmc4fun.com/

 - Wint


 7/5/05
