Downtown 1

10 comments on “Downtown 1”

1. I like to think I’m a snob. I have unreasonably high standards and I’m needlessly hard to impress. I’ve seen the words “stock-like” thrown around for tracks that completely fail to capture the Re-Volt fantasy of taking mundane environments you’d see every day and making them extraordinary by re-imagining them from the perspective of a six-inch-tall toy car. This probably makes me a hypocrite.

   All of that being said, I hope my words carry more weight when I turn around and say that this track genuinely feels like it could have been a part of the original 1999 lineup.

   I don’t just mean a racing line that’s (mostly) intuitive where each turn makes sense as an extension of what direction you’re already traveling in; I don’t just mean the excellent texture work and world design that capture’s Re-Volt’s balance of realistic detail with surreal stylization; I don’t just mean the lighting and shadows that give the environment a sense of actually existing in a physical space; I don’t just mean the on-point sound design that seamlessly implies the existence of a world beyond the level’s boundaries; and I don’t just mean the full-sized cars driving down the street acting as a logical extension of Toy World’s trains.

   I’m talking about the *vibes*. This track encapsulates the same fantasy of mundane locations becoming extraordinary through the lens of R/C cars so perfectly that it even puts some stock tracks (like the aforementioned Toy Worlds) to shame. This is the kind of track that little babbey Shred would have spent dozens upon dozens of hours just aimlessly exploring back in 2001-2002. If that’s not the highest compliment I can pay, then I don’t know what is.

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2. After the update I don’t think the pickups are better. There is still only few pickups that are worth going for. Other ones are just too far from the racing line to be worth considering.

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3. Patch – 7/9/2023

   -Fixed minor vertex color errors
   -Adjusted some pickup locations and the amount that spawn in
   -Removed turn.wav (unused)
   -Awning on fish market building now has proper opacity
   -GFX thumbnail updated (for correct awning)
   -Repaired gap at sewer exit

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4. After several races, the verdict falls for Downtown 1 & 2:
   Best track ever!

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5. Well the track is 100% throttle, but there is still some difficulty in it – two jumps/landings and one chicane can wreck a lap when not done properly. So giving the track a “medium” difficulty label is very fair.

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6. Thoroughly awesome quality with this one, again. In the long-run this could get my favourite track from you guys, together with Hospital 1. I really like the cars driving around. The sewer section is lovely! And the colour palette is great as always. I also love the raceline on this one. After some more test runs today I can’t agree with ZZ regarding the 100% throttle, at least for the average non-hardcore Re-Volt driver. The raceline is very pleasant and far away from boring. There are some alternate paths to take, which bring even more diversity. Kipy also did an awesome job with the AI nodes, by the way.

   I’m also VERY honoured to read the market kiwi’s are a reference to myself. And I was proud after reading in the readme-file, that my Spa-Volt inspired you to start building tracks. Job done, I guess. :)

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7. The visuals, atmosphere, even the cars are moving, the surroundings, the water effects, the objects around the track, it’s all great. Unfortunately I don’t have much positive to say about the racing line itself: the track is 100% full throttle the entire lap in Time Trial, effectively making this track a precision track which I don’t like (as the racing line is mostly flat, as it should be as there are basically only pavements and asphalt, so it has to be flat). The turns are cool and well flowing, but they can all be driven without even thinking about lifting of braking. Pickup placement also is not good: there are pickups right in the middle of the best optimal racing line, when at the same time some alternative, but slower line has no pickups or the same amount of them, effectively not adding any incentive to use the alternative/slower lines (like in the water). The last symmetrical V section (driving around the building on both sides of it) is the exception and pickups are placed on the slower path there, which is good. This will be a very good track for picks-on races, although pickup placement is subptimal in my opinion. Other than that it’s a 100% throttle (“precision track”), which I consider boring. Also the Time Trial challenge time is too easy, it should be like ~49secs and not one minute. I crashed 4 or 5 times on my first drivethrough of the track and I almost beat the challenge time.

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8. While playing (just once) Downtown, I said to myself: “Wow! Amazing!”.
   The same “Wow! Amazing!” than when I first played Fairground (my favorite track to date).
   Will Downtown dethrone Fairground?

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9. Amazing track in every way! My only concern is the lack of pickups and I would consider adding some more. Great work guys :)

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10. I finally waited for the release of these tracks. I think many were waiting for them.
    I really like the fact that the city is lively. Texture and custom animations, textures, racing line… Everything looks very good. I like the sewer part. Very good track!
    Video: https://youtu.be/IQExR0oQOA4

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