MTM2.com

[Expo 2003]

Track: Elevation
Type: Circuit
Checkpoints: 12
Garage Settings: 15 med tires/soft suspension
Lap time: 1:53
Music: Elevation by U2

SLO_Fila is no stranger to MTM with roots stemming back to 1998, and his track making experience dates back nearly as far, having debuted in 2000. Early on one’s impression easily could’ve been that he was more focused on making difficult tracks, torturing those who dared download his work lol. Nowadays what we have is a kinder, gentler, Fila, and in some ways it seems as though he’s made an intentional effort to lighten up just a tad by widening corners, minimizing blind jumps, and throwing in more straights. Don’t get me wrong, Fila hasn’t gone soft on us by any means. He’s not out there handing out hot chocolate on Ostego’s Run or dispensing chilled bottled water to the racers after every lap on “Fila’s Adventure”—not at all. It’s just that by in large his tracks are a bit more racer friendly…and overall so much improved.

Which brings us to “Elevation”, which has already been featured in a tournament, serving as testament to Fila’s ability to make tracks that racers love. From a creative perspective, Fila didn’t stray too far from home. By that we mean Elevation has the look and feel of Ostego Run and Fila’s Adventure with emphasis on Fila’s Adventure. That’s not a bad thing; he simply chose to stick with what he’s comfortable with in terms of aesthetics as well as his layout in some ways, and in this case that translates into a mountainous, somewhat wooded region using what looks like textures from the stock track Excavation, with a few customs thrown in for good measure. Given the presence of all the backhoes one could assume that major construction is imminent, which may be to the discontent of the small residential area. Overall there’s really not much to see, but in our opinion the key feature in this track is the long bridge…or lack thereof, which extends across a rather impressive divide. The intent, as explained in the readme.txt, is to give you the feeling of flight once you run out of bridge to drive over. It’s a little scary when the bridge ends because of the slight drop down to the transparent roadway. If you instinctively start looking around for something to grab onto…well, you’re not the first, and most likely you won’t be the last lol.

If racing is your thing there’s no doubt you’re going to enjoy this Elevation. It’s fairly easy to run, but at the same time, in typical Fila style, there are a few spots to be wary of. One of which is this turn just before you start the trek across the invisible bridge. Either by design or insufficient smoothing, the terrain is such that if you fail to take the turn at a relatively slow rate of speed, you’ll lose control of your truck – guaranteed. Trying to cut a few of the corners too much or misjudging the approach to checkpoint 11 could…well, we’ll just sum it up by saying bad things can happen lol. Overall it’s a fast-paced track that’s a ton of fun to race, which is what makes Fila such a popular track maker in the MTM 2 community.

Even though Fila has several years of track making experience under his belt, he normally employs the services of a few reliable beta testers, which we commend him for, and highly recommend to all track makers. This time around he opted to forego that particular “tool”, and suffice to say it’s noticeable. Examples include the backhoes; nearly all of them (examples 1 & 2) are sunk into the ground too far, and this one here seems to be missing its threads. We also noticed a couple of floating trees here and here, as well as a few mountain/hill tops with pretty prominent spikes, and this fence that could have used a minor adjustment or two. With exception of a few minor tile mismatches and blending flaws, Fila’s texture work was well done, however he skimped on properly setting the collision boxes to models away from the course. That’s not a bad thing really since it doesn’t affect the racing line, but if you’re the unfortunate victim of a crash, running into invisible object in an effort to rejoin the fray can be extremely frustrating. Just a little something for all you track makers out there to keep in mind—show some compassion, will ya lol.

It’s fair to say Elevation isn’t Fila’s best work to date, but by no means is it his worst, either. He’s never been big on eye-candy, props and gimmicks, but make no mistake, the guy knows how to throw a layout together, and he’s proven it time and again. Our guess is if you don’t have big fun racing on Elevation, then maybe checkers or tic-tac-toe is more your speed.

[Fila]

[SLO_Jumper]

Still a darn fun track to run. I love it.
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"In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice. But, in practice, there is."
Jan L.A. van de Snepscheut
Team SLO's hall of fame