MTM2.com

[Phineus]

Track : Deadman's Gulch²
Maker : Malibu350
Type : Circuit

This one is so fresh off the press, there's no pic for me to snag from anywhere. Deadman's Gulch² is Malibu350's most recent conversion to mtm2. And the first from evo2. Like the name implies, the course travels through some very rocky, extremely barren canyons, gullies, and gulches. By way of scenery, there isn't anything more than a bit of desert shrubbery and TRI's salute to our favourite Skull-Boy via checkpoint markers. There is no trace of a road anywhere but that shouldn't slow you down as the racing line becomes obvious within a couple laps. For the most part, the course is wide open racing that travels high and low but you're always enclosed on either side and the narrower spots come up on you quickly so there's not too much room for error. Now, I'm not given to hyperbole, but I'm going to go out on a limb here and say this is the best track I've seen in a year and it's destined to become my favorite. I can pay a track no higher compliment than that.

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- Phineus

[Malibu350]

there are no short cuts and the cacti are not from krypton

[This message has been edited by Malibu350 (edited 05-05-2002).]

[SLO_COPE]

I'm going to do to Phineus what he does to me:
"...I'm not given to hyperbole, but I'm going to go out on a limb here and say this is the best track I've seen in a year and it's destined to become my favorite. I can pay a track no higher compliment than that."

Well, that's quite a statement there! Knowing Mal's rep though I'm 200% certain this track is yet another one of his high quality products; he seems to settle for nothing less than "outstanding" where workmanship is concerned.

Noticed I said, "I'm 200% certain...", which kind of suggests that I haven't a clue what this track looks like. Yeah, I haven't had the chance to check this one out yet. In fact, GB (SLO_Gutterboy) told me about it this morning, and as soon as I get off work I'm going to d/l this baby and take a few spins on it! I'll be back, though!!

PS - Hey Phin, that hyperbole crack wasn't aimed at me, was it? Hehehehe

[SLO_GutterboyMG]

Wow Mal, your making some great stuff there bud!

This one rocks as do the others! Fun track to play, gotta love tha CP's

Awesome job man!!!

[EmceeMart]

I cannot resist adding to the hyperbole.
Our "favorite Skull-Boy" aka TeamDeath has indeed come up with one of his best tracks to date. Well done Mal for converting it to MTM2... tho' IMO it does suit the physics of Evo2 perfectly. Trying not to repeat Phin's opinion, this is a fast, wide open track with a few unexpected twists. There is another track in the Evo 2 stocks which is comparable (TRI Baja 250) which is probably a little more "straightforward" but just as enjoyable. Both tracks present a true off-roading experience but,again IMO, Ric's takes the prize for originality, innovative use of props and certainly using TRI's Editor to the limit! During beta testing TRI dropped several features (night time etc) to make the PC version of this game workable. Even so, TeamDeath still manages to get his lights shining on this track - take note of the skull checkpoints. As Phin says... there ain't a lot of scenery.. that in itself is a credit to the track maker because it is never "boring", always interesting and a challenging ride. The textures are particularly well done. Don't know what you left out to convert it Mal, but I know the original POD contains around .... um, exactly 1759 original texture and model files. And the original POD being over 8 megs in size. From what I remember from MTM2 days that seems a little large
To sum up... a great track and a great conversion.

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Keep on Monster Truckin'

EmceeMart

[Malibu350]

hey MC, good ta see ya man, and thanks for the comments on the track everyone.

Don't know what you left out....

nothing was left out texture wise except for the ground shadow textures which are not much good for mtm2...
model wise, well of course the evo2 generated vegetation is gone which leaves a huge visual void, but everything else is in there as it was in evo2 minus the exact locations and total count (mtm2 max=541) and also evo2's origami tree's had to be pruned in binedit to be presentable in mtm2, so its all there just fewewer and farerer betweeneener lol



[This message has been edited by Malibu350 (edited 12-03-2002).]

[Fila]

Awsome Mal... your placement is near perfection. I get the feeling on all of the tracks that i run them in the Evo's but one difference... i like them more Yup... i like them way better in MTM2 then in Evo 1 and 2. Good job Mal !!! Thumbs up


Edit: Yep, one thing i love in Evo2. That dang unlimited vegetation...

[This message has been edited by Fila (edited 15-03-2002).]

[EmceeMart]

Good to see you too mate (and Fila & Phin).
Yeah I was wondering about the textures... being aware that Evo2 don't support "rotating textures" I was kinda curious.
Heehee... I see what you mean about the "origami" trees.
As you may have noticed, I am more into Evo2 these days but I still like to look in here to see what's up. It's great to see that the MTM community is still going strong.


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Keep on Monster Truckin'

EmceeMart

[SLO_COPE]

I guess you could say I'm "fashionably late" with my comments on this one, and I'm sure there's a very good reason for it.. Of course, I can't seem to conjure one up at the moment, but I'll think of something!

Malibu350 - when it comes to importing tracks from EVO II over to MTM 2 he’s the conversion king. Ok so he's the only one doing it, so what! Hehe it’s really rather insignificant as I see it, for his mark of distinction derives from "how" he does it. I've gone into several detailed aspects in other reviews of how this guy puts tracks together, so I don't want to repeat what's already been written. The fact is his work speaks for itself, and you'd be hard-pressed to find anyone to disagree with that. Let me tell ya, if his name is on it, you better be clickin the link to start the download.

Gee, EmceeMart hit the description of this track right on the head, which doesn’t leave room for me to throw in much more, and that’s fine. Heck, I’m kinda behind where track reviews are concerned, so in a way I owe the guy (Emcee). So hey man, when I get Mal’s check I’ll...well, I’ll cash it of course, but if there’s anything left over after I have the detail work on my truck finished up, I’ll forward it to ya! No, I don’t need your address, we’ll probably run into each other some day. Maybe. Hehe

If you like speed with just a touch of finesse here and there, as well as elbow room to maneuver, then this is THE one for you. The way I see it a lot of tracks fall into two main categories: great one-on-one tracks and your every day, slam-bam, run the other guy/girl off the road and into a big rock "rush hour" traffic types of tracks. This one can go either way equally well, where as Treasure Bay and Arctic Waste, which are superb tracks, are much better suited for going head-to-head against a friend (or enemy) . There's nothing remotely tough or demanding about this track, however, there are a few spots where you'd better be sporting an attentive frame of mind because it can trip you up.

According to Phineus this one’s on his all-time favorite list. Although I can’t make that claim, I do think this is an awesome track suitable for all levels of racers. I certainly don’t have anything bad to say about Deadman’s Gulch, so all I’m left with is accentuating the positive. It flows well, and despite not having a definitive road per se, navigation is fairly easy. From an aesthetic point of view my opinion is it’s neither underdone or overdone – it’s perfect, and it works quite well in MTM 2. It can be great fun for 5 or 6, but can also serve up just as much enjoyment if going one-on-one is your cup of tea.

All ‘n all, it’s typical Mal, picking out good tracks to convert over for us MTM 2 lifers. With that said I think it’s time we get down to it and slap a “Copey Rating” on this bad boy. Although I had to run this track a few times before it really grabbed me...when it did, I was hooked! This one’s a 10 – no ifs, ands, or buts. Mal, awesome job man...awesome, but I have just one question for ya; when do I get to pick one for you to convert? Hehehe

*Takes in a deep breath of semi-clean air* Ahhhh, it's good to be back!


[This message has been edited by SLO_COPE (edited 13-04-2002).]

[Malibu350]

I've added a bitmap map to the screenshot so people know just what their driving on :)

TeamDeath (who else lol) made the original terrain bitmap and after two days of tweaking the contrast and brightness and then adding just the right amount of blur it became driveable in mtm2.

[Phineus]

Bitmap or no bitmap, I still like this track :-)