JAG Media

“JAG MEDIA is a design portal which has been set up by a group of Graphics Designers whose intention is to help teams, clans or individuals with creating design concepts for TrackMania United.”

In case you’re wondering, that was a quote from the new TM fansite www.jagmedia.co.uk.

JAG, standing for “Just-A-Game”, is simply a website where a number of TM players have gone together to help people create graphical stuff, such as team logos, website banners or just screenshots for tracks. This is an idea I welcome with open arms, as personally I suck at making screenshots

Electric - Shameful Advertising!

God knows I would never use this blog to advertise my own tracks and such. But God also knows there’s an exception to everything.

Today I was meant to write a Track Review. I was also meant to work on an oral presentation for school (thank God it’s not due to tomorrow!), call my grandmother (which I did, just not at the time originally planned), etc. So what is it that’s been holding me up?

TrackMania. What else?

Since the good old days when Nations was still in the center of the spotlight and ever since my own first days playing TrackMania I’ve been trying to make a good track. We all know the stage when you’re new to the game and produce tracks at the speed of rabbits multiplying. We’ve all been there, but to be honest I think I got stuck there longer than most. I hid in shame behind my contests and projects (ever seen me produce a good track since I started this blog?) 

When United came out I was no longer new to the game, although I was new to all the older environments. I’ve done plenty of experimenting but learned not to upload all of the results. Still, if you have a look at all my old tracks on TMX United you’ll find that none of them are very good.

We’ve all got to learn sooner or later, don’t we?

Where exactly am I going with all this, you ask. Hell, who am I trying to kid? Ignore everything I’ve written so far and start over from here:

SHAMEFUL ADVERTISING FOR PERSONAL GAIN!

Electric

My latest track, as you may have guessed - and in the Island environment even. What I tried to say earlier was that I think I’ve actually made it - after almost two years of playing TrackMania I’ve actually created a track that I think meassures up with “international standards”, so to speak. And now that I’m already so shockingly advertising this track of mine, let’s put some extra butter on it:

• Fast

• Challenging transitions

• Cool stunts

• Full MT (the essentials plus some quite cool extra in-game stuff - best MT stuff I’ve ever made!)

Now, as I already hinted there is at least one somewhat more justified reason for me to advertise my track like this: the fact that otherwise I wouldn’t have posted at all. I’ve spent 5-6 hours on this track today (MT only, not 5-6 hours on the entire track), so that planned Track Review never stood a chance.

Anyway, I hope you’ll enjoy racing the track as much as I enjoyed making it. Tomorrow I’ll feel ashamed for having used the blog for personal gain, so better publish this before I change my mind…

Homie.p-w-h.de

I’m currently ill and thus I spend more time in bed and less online than I usually do. That should explain why I didn’t post anything yesterday. Also, the logo contest has now ended. More information on this is to follow tomorrow. Now to todays post: 

TM fan sites are always fun to visit and investigate. Thus, today I’ll hint you towards one that you might find interesting: Homie’s own personal site!

So what’s so special about this page? Well, it contains a bit of this and that from the TM world, ranging from Homie’s own tracks to a forum. There are even a few guides in the form of step-by-step articles, a bit like here at the TMU Blog. Let’s have a more thorough walkthrough, shall we?

Track Advertisement - Alky PF

Our very own Alcator created a PF trackwhich was mentioned here at the blog quite a few times back in August. Even though it’s been a while (the final version of the track was uploaded at TMX on the 14th of August), today this track receives some additional attention.

I can honestly say that this is one of the most amazing, if not the most amazing, PF tracks I’ve ever seen. The stunts are brilliant and in the over 5 minutes of racing I didn’t count a single excessive edge scratch or “boring” section where the car goes too slow. This is Stadium at its best!

Many of the stunts themselves are also quite original and interesting, but what really makes this track special is the vast amount of MT work. Never before have I seen a PF track this packed with MT effects. Colors, camera angles and ideas such as a “Tire Pressure”-meter all work brilliantly together and make the track more than just an ordinary PF track.

Additionally, MT effects have been used to create a number of “Bonuses”. If at start you go backwards for a second instead of forward right away, you’ll find yourself in a bonus area. On one side you’ll find three “fly-through” sections, which basically are three different “movies” flying you through the track (which from above just looks like a gigantic mess - just the perfect look for a PF track) featuring nice colors and effects.

On the other side you’ll find two more inventive bonus sections: One in which you must complete a small technical course in less than 20 seconds, and one in which you are taken to the highest point of the entire track.

In other words, Alky PF is a brilliant Press Forward track featuring awesome stunts, amazing MT work and cool extra effects and bonuses. You could say that it’s more than just a regular PF track.

There is one more thing I have to mention: the music. At first I found it too slow and unsuitable for any TM track, but then I realized it suits the stunts in a PF track very well. In fact, I can’t think of any other music that could bring out such a nice feeling in a track than the kind used in this track.

I’m going to stop talking now. And you’re going to check out this amazing track! It “only” has 16 awards, so go give it some more

Alky PF [full MediaTracker]

AsTheSunSet

What’s better than a sunrise over a calm winter landscape? A sunset over a beautiful desert landscape, of course AsTheSunSet, a track by -Homie-, is already an “old” track, from the 8th of September, but nontheless it’s an amazing fast-paced Desert track, one that all Desert lovers should play!

So what makes AsTheSunSet so special? For starters, the design of the track is full-speed with some quite innovative transitions designed to keep you on your toes. While the track isn’t overly difficult, it does make for quite a time challenge and feature some challenging parts.

Furthermore, the track includes some cool scenery and good MT effects (Intro, Outro and In-game , including GPS), all making the track extra interesting. There’s also a good soundtrack to go with it, as well as custom signs. On TMX the track has 29 awards. Here are some interesting quotes from some of those awards that reveal what the track is really like:

“Great speed and nice flow with some tricky parts.” - KEV Fan

“Awesome new ideas with perfect transitions.” - TYZZ

“Holy Crap! 10/10.” - ShoK

“Mindblowing” - Andree

“Those nice transitions combined with the great speed! That makes a perfect flow on this one!” - -HR-n3crid

So what are you waiting for? Download AsTheSunSet now!

Free self promotion!

Written by Djoszee.

Well, as we all know, TMX is down, and Jozii is unable to write decent track reviews. Not much track-attention here on the blog. Everyone suffers from this, all because TMX is down. In case you followed the above link, you will know that the TMX staff is working on it. Thank you staff! (For fixing this, and of course for all the dedication you guys put into TMX).

A lot of people want to play new tracks, but it’s hard to actually get those without TMX.

This gave me the idea of a little self-promotion post here on the blog.

TMX Highlights

Today I bring you some highlights from the TMX community, from projects and contests to discussions and tracks to race:

1. Community contests, projects & discussions

Now that the TMX Monthly Track Contest has ended after about a year and a half of active track building and racing, is there anything else left? Do we still have something to live for? As surprising as it may sound, there actually is! There are plenty of other projects going on at the forums. Here are a few highlights:

• Secret area hunt, by Andree - 250 coppers to be won
• The Rally Connection, by Vincent - Rally loverd drive Rally tracks to improve their TMX leaderboard ratings
• Other Games Discussion, high_plains_Bifta - Talk about your favorite games, besides TMU
• Banner/signature/avatar Showcase, by Cab - Show off your graphics skills
• Track Series, by MrA - MrA recently started a whole new forum: show off your own series of tracks or add tracks fitting the rules of previous series (such as “No-Booster Series” by Bye Tom)

For more, check out these forums: Projects & Competitions, General Chat, Off-topic and Site Discussions.

2. Hot tracks

Here are some of the hottest LB tracks at the moment:

• Snow - White Improvement, by Maphios
• Snow - Mr. Forsty, by Harmony-Brothers
• Desert - Interstate ‘82, by Ravager
• Desert - Cherokee, by Pitstep
• Rally - Ice Racing, by xgt1
• Rally - (RallyRebel), by Swensen
• Island - Indiana Jones, by KEV Fan
• Island - Lethal Seduction, by Lethal
• Coast - Dzeta Minor, by JustCC
• Coast - Zero Kill, by OLDA_X & dac l Lukas
• Bay - Slalom, by Sivert
• Bay - TMX Community Bay Track 2, by TMX Community
• Stadium - New Love, by MiniZyko
• Stadium - Red Speed, by Olda_X

Enjoy

Contests: Driving & Gambling (a killer combination)

… too bad they aren’t merged together

I’m brining you two announcements today:

1. Island contest by -homie- and JakeOIL
2. TMU Lottery update

1. -homie- and JakeOIL have pulled together to host an offline Island racing contest! There are plenty of copper prizes to be won by the top six participants, including 6000 coppers to the winner (and 16500 coppers in total).

The contest consists of four Island tracks and the cost to enter is 100C. For more rules, click here.

2. The TMU Lottery at our forum has been improved! I’ve had this stored up for quite some time but wanted to wait until someone won the jackpot before I made any changes. I almost forgot about it but then (yesterday) THREE people won the jackpot at the same time :O

That made me think of the changes I planned long ago, and now they’re here:

You can now not only play for free as before, but also play at a higher level by paying coppers (in other words, there’s a free version with lower prizes and one that costs but which has larger prizes). The paying version also includes more freedom and possibilities

To ease up paying possibilities (so we don’t have to send coppers to each other all the time), there’s now also a new feature called the TMU Bank. The name is silly, I know, but it works. Simply, you can send a larger amount of coppers to the blog (read: Jozii) and state that they are for the bank. Then, when participating in the lottery, coppers will be removed/added as you give and receive coppers. A lot easier for everyone!

Of course, you can ask for your coppers in the “bank” back at any time

To participate in the lottery, click here.

Track Advertisement - UrbanLegend

Written by DABH. 

6,264 is a big number. Then again, an awesome track deserves to have as many coppers as it wants! Micster, who is one great track author, has created a track nothing short of a masterpiece! This bay race features some nifty tech elements and sports a terrific flow throughout the whole track. Even if you have just started TMU, you will be able to finish this track; however, it will take a great player to get the world record! Your speed is always kept high - even through some great stunts - but you can still restart from any checkpoint if necessary. The track, however, isn’t the only amazing part. Micster has also tried his hand at some MT work with great success. There is a good intro with camera and text effects, along with neat in-game and outro work. All in all, UrbanLegend deserves its 27 (yes, 27!) awards! Just to see what other people think, here are some awards from some famous players:

This is definitely one of the best bay maps ive played - smok3y

Beautiful crowded design. Cool ideas, great transitions. - SkunkY

This track is what i call: The best Bay that exists - *speedy*

With all these fabulous comments (and of course the fabulous track), who wouldn’t want to download this? I’ll give you the answer now - nobody! Check out the track page at TMX, or download straight away by clicking here. Thanks to all for having a go at this track. More importantly, though, thanks to Micster for designing such an extravagant Bay map!

Track Advertisement - MiXT Wickt

“Are you sick and tired of your lonely life? Do you want something exiting to happen? What we have for you is sure to bring you right up, leaving you with a sensational and long-lasting feeling that you won’t get anywhere else. Check out our…”

Oh, wait! That was from the TV ad for my mother’s underwear store. Give me a sec… ah, here it is:

“Are you sick and tired of your lonely life? Do you want something exiting to happen? What we have for you is sure to bring you right up, leaving you with a sensational and long-lasting feeling that you won’t get anywhere else. Check out this awesome track - MiXT Wickt - by Cephid!”

MiXT Wickt is a great and very fast Island track, featuring some original and very cool jumps. The high speed and superb smoothness will give you an adrenaline boost, and the tight corners are sure to keep you on your toes.

To top that there’s something else that makes MiXT Wickt so special (besides the name, which I find quite difficult to write ): its level of difficulty! It’s not the hardest ever, but it is quite a challenge to drive, and especially to make a good time on. The good thing about Island tracks - and MiXT Wickt especially - is that even though a track is full speed (which this one definately is), which in for example Stadium would mean it’s difficult to improve your time further, it still has room for improvements in time due to the many skid sections.

The track also has some cool MT stuff and nice scenery.

So, if you’re looking for some exitement in your life I suggest you, besides visiting your local underwear store, go right ahead and download MiXT Wickt