X-Raid-trny version
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I had to make this version, because some racers are really specialized in finding shortcuts. A few days after i released X-raid i heared rumours about some guys finding incredible shortcuts for the track. One guy was kind enough to show me these cuts, and i could not believe my eyes. They took every little opening they could find to their advance. I must say i'm really impressed with them. 
however, there was a downside to all these shortcuts. They look great when trying to put a time into a hof somewhere, but they really suck bigtime when racing online. This for the simple reason that some openings are so narrow there is hardly enough room for one truck, let alone for 2,3 or even more. The first cut they found was right at the startline which means that racing is allready over at start, because somebody is bound to crash.
Most racers will feel ok with me making this new version. Some of the guys that have found these cuts will disagree with it.
I've not removed all shorts, because some of them really rock. Especially the one between cp 4 and 5 is great. 
I think it's awesome you guys finding these cuts, buts it's kinda sad that you guys don't show up when beta testing is happening, so making a new version is not necessary. I'm not mad at all, but it would've been cooler if there only was one version of X-raid.

Another thing some hof-racers asked me was to place start/finish line at same place. This because like it is now your first lap is always your fastest. I decided not to change because if your 2nd lap was to be faster, your 1st lap will always be slower. If you wanted to put a time in a hof sowhere, you would be obligated to drive at least 2 laps. On a 7 minute track that is a long race. And what then if you mess up at lap 2 ? Start all over and again have to drive at least 2 laps ?
I think it's better this way. Give it all you have for 1 lap, and if you mess up just start over.

Final words on this trnyversion is that it's exactly the same track as previous x-raid. I've only made sure some of those cuts won't work no more.HOF time according to mtmsetter is now 6.54.95 by SLO_Jumper and is according to me the time to beat. Times will surely drop because i did not remove all shortcuts. 
 
X-Raid
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January, and for all motorminded people in Europe that means Paris-Dakar. Since i have lots of time on my hands in wintertime, i decided to make a track that gives you a Paris to Dakar feeling.

I named it X-Raid because that's the name of my favorite car that enters it (BMW X5 X-raid). Fellow countryman Gregoire de Mevius finished the Dakar in 8th position with his BMW, while his teammate Luc Alphand was 4th with his. So both BMW's made it through the toughest Dakar ever. They didn't win, but i think they are happy with that result. The bitmap image is a picture of Gregoire the Mevius, and i got it from http://www.rally-action.com

I've put a tremendous amount of hours in this one. And it all was done in less then 4 weeks. However, i'm not going to take all the credit for this track. I decided to use the beta-forum on the mtmg-site to beta test this track, and those guys over there helped me out so much that they almost made half the track lol. They told me what to do, and i just had to do what they said. Ofcourse some stuff i decided not to change, but if you could see the first version of X-raid and this one, then you wouldn't believe your eyes. basicly it's the same track, but they don't even look the same tracks no more.  
So, a big Thank You go out to 2 guys i like to race with. 1st of all SLO_Cope (he was always looking out for misplaced models, or textures that did not blend in correctly) and SLO_Jumper (he also looked at models, but he could find the craziest shortcuts on the track, and even helped me out on how to avoid them from being taken).
Also 3 other guys i didn't know that well helped me out a lot. So again a big Thank you to Malibu350 (he even made several custom made model for this track because he saw that the ones i was using did not match correctly. I also used lots of models from his scrapyard), Phineus (he was always on the background with helpfull hints and tips) and Winterkill (same thing as Phineus).
Next thanks go out to SMP creations. They gave me the idea how to build a Paris to Dakar track, and i used a lot of their  models in order to build the city of Paris.
Next up is SLO_scrooch. When we all ran out of ideas, he popped his head in beta forum, and found 6 (minor) shortcuts. Thnx Scroochie :-)
One guy left to thank, and that's Ronald (OLD_lol_evil). He did not really help me out building or beta-testing this track, but he 's always there to help me if i have any pc probs, no matter what. He's also the guy that introduced me to monster truck madness 2. Now i know he plays bassguitar in a dutch punkrockband called "Mijnheer Jansen". Roughly translated : "Mister Johnson". So to pay tribute to him, i've put one of their songs (True story) as background music. So if you are interested, play with music on for a real dutch punkrock experience. You can also always visit their website at http://www.mijnheerjansen.nl/

I have learned a lot making this track, and had a blast making it. I hope you guys will have a blast racing on it.
The start takes place in Paris. After a few turns you will jump over a river and end up in granada (Spain). 1st of all an asphalt road, quickly changing into a dirt road. Next up is the african desert, where you will pass 2 villages (Ouarzazate and Tidjika) and a little airport (Atar). Further down the road  you will jump into the dunes close to the Atlantic ocean, and finally a long stretch on the Dakar beach. Normally you should only drive 1 lap on it, but if you want more there is a hughe bridge that will take you back to the startline in less then a minute.

It's a long track, approx. 7.15 minutes. Settings i'm guessing 16 ms (haven't had time to try it yet lol), but maybe you can even go up to 18 ms. I think you should ask SLO_Jumper or SLO_Cope to be sure lol. SLO_Cope allready found 1 short which i did not leave out because we both actually like it.

To see all the beautifull stuff (statue, pyramid, boats passing by, billboards, ...) you should put scenery level on 'normal'. If this is to laggy because of a slower pc you can switch it to 'sparse'.

Well, i think that's it

Have fun
OLD_mumhra
the-ever-living-one

P.S. One last thing. When driving more then 1 lap, and you just pass the finish in Dakar and on your way back to Paris to start the next lap, don't look at map or at radar. They are giving the wrong information. Just follow the road that leads up to that bridge, and just follow that bridge. No matter what map or radar says.


