• Replay: N/A - it won't produce a complete lap
• Garage Settings:
1700 med tires/soft suspension
• Fast Lap to date:
2:30.61 by SLO_Jumper
He doesn’t fire up Traxx all that often anymore, but when he does, he makes darn good use of his time. In November of last year, SLO_PreaCheR surprised quite a few us by releasing a little number he dubbed, “Scars MX”. Apparently it was something he had started but never completed, which is also true for his most recent release, “Omou”. The first time I saw this track was the latter part of 2001. The little delinquent (uh, that would be PreaCh lol) tried to pass it off as “a friend’s track”. Supposedly he told this “friend” he’d let us (SLO) beta test it to see what we thought, get our input. Isn’t it amazing how teenagers think they’re your equal when it comes to intelligence and common sense? Nevertheless, we humored the twerp (didn’t want to hurt his feelings ya know), told him his friend’s track was garbage and suggested he find some another hobby or interest . . . like pulling wings off of flies or chasing cars on the freeway lol. Truthfully that’s not too far from the truth—about the track being garbage, I mean; not our suggestions about what hobbies his “friend” should pursue lol.
Fast-forward five years to April of 2005. He messages me on MSN about a track he’s resurrected from the dead and wants me to have a look at. I recognized it immediately, of course, and if I recall correctly I even commented on how we knew he was blowing smoke when he tried to pass it off as someone else’s track years ago. At any rate we discussed a few things, talked about potential changes, as well as why I felt he should post it in the Beta Room here at MTMG. I’ve reviewed tracks by PreaCheR in the past, and I’m sure I mentioned how “challenging” it was to beta test for the guy. I’ll go one further this time. Here’s an excerpt from a conversation we had on April 29, 2005:
COPE & PreaCheR
That pretty much sums up our relationship. It’s been four of the longest years of my life lol.
Upon first inspection of Omou, some would say, “What’s all the fuss about? I don’t see what’s so special about it—it’s plain.” Well, that depends on how you look at it. What it has in abundance has nothing to do with bells and whistles or wiz-bang special effects, but rather a layout that flows extremely well. It’s also challenging due to a few areas he “didn’t” make more racer-friendly, which was by design. For instance this entire area
here is essentially a puzzle for a pro racer. It’s not what I would call an extremely difficult puzzle to solve; anyone can stumble through it reasonably well and proceed on through the track. Mastering it, however, is quite a different story. What makes it tricky is that particular section consists of about three to four “mini puzzles” strung together. The racer’s job, of course, is figuring out how to best navigate through it all as efficiently as possible, minimizing air time, slow downs due to bumps, etc. When I posted times for this track I believe I ran a 2:32/2:33 – somewhere in there, which is a fairly decent lap time. Enter SLO_Jumper, who refines and cleans up the line, culminating in a 2:30 lap, and I’m here to tell ya, that’s just plain cruisin’. What I’m sure he did to shave most of the 3 seconds he smoked my time by was figure out a more effective way to traverse that rough section. Sure, he obviously ran the entire track better than I did, but there’s no doubt in my mind he was much more economical in that specific area than I . . . and I hate that lol.
But enough of this Jumper guy; I’ve said too much about him as it is. Early in the review I made reference to Omou’s look, how some would classify it as plain, dull . . . maybe even boring. I’m not here to debate/defend/support the possible perspectives of others. Besides, it would probably turn this review into a 30-page dissertation for which I’m sure Phineus would take exception to, resulting in my prompt removal from this forum, and my name stricken from every place in here lol. So uh, I think I’ll play it safe and just say I personally love this track, and in fact, I’m still trying to decide if it’s my favorite among all the tracks he’s made, and let me tell ya, the guy has produced several gems. If you’ve been around a while Omou may remind you of a superb track maker by the name of Enocell—specifically tracks like On the Edge, Stereo Valley, and The Däng. PreaCh forgot to mention it in the readme.txt, but that’s who he borrowed the texture sets from. When I spoke to him this morning I told him I had it covered, but there would be a $20.00 service charge for cluttering up my review with the extra text lol.
As far as objective criticism goes, I have two observations. The first is
this little bump as you round the corner to checkpoint 12. I’m quite certain I mentioned it to PreaCh, but as I said, he’s a pain to beta test for; probably has the hardest head in all of Australia (quite possibly the world lol). It’s actually not a big deal as long as you can remember to swing just a hair wide when executing the right turn. But if you don’t know the track, by the time you see it . . . if you see it at all, it’ll be too late, and usually the result is an overturned truck because after your truck pops up in the air, the momentum carries you into the wall on the left side, usually causing your truck to flip. For those to know the track, you look forward to getting to cp 12 because if you’re behind or looking to separate yourself from someone hot on your heels, that’s where it’ll all take place . . . or could.
My second observation is he didn’t make Omou long enough lol. I think it speaks volumes about a track maker who can get away with grossly understating visual characteristics, yet still make a track compelling, exciting, and fun to race—even if you’re racing by yourself. Psyco was a master at that. His tracks would never win a beauty contest, but boy oh boy they were (and still are) great fun to race on. As for what PreaCh did with Omou, the altitude changes, hairpin turns, up and downhill stretches, coupled with assorted nuances and subtleties, and the way he put it all together combine to make for one heck of a ride. This baby earns a Copey Rating of “
10” out of 10 possible points! Oh, and thanks to my new software, the Copey Rating machine can also generate little reminders. For this track it printed out a note that says, “Don’t forget to collect that 20 bucks!”
PreaCh, as much as I hate to admit it (mostly because I know you'll never let me hear the end of it lol), you're one heck of a track maker. Yeah, I usually give you a hard time, bud (probably because you
always give me a hard time lol), but this is one jewel of a track—I absolutely love racing on it! In theatre there’s a saying that goes “Always leave them wanting more; just don’t give it to them.” I sure hope we haven’t seen the last of your work, because I’m quite sure I’m not alone when it comes to wanting to see more tracks from you. Awesome job, partner!!