TrackMania
| TrackMania | |
|---|---|
| TrackMania box art | |
| Developer(s) | Nadeo |
| Publisher(s) | Digital Jesters (UK), Focus (France), Enlight (US) |
| Platform(s) | PC |
| Release | November 2003 (France & UK), May 2004 (Rest of World) |
| Genre(s) | Racing game |
| Mode(s) | Single player, multiplayer |
TrackMania is a racing game for the personal computer. It is developed by the French team Nadeo. Instead of following the usual trend of choosing a set car and track for playing in the game, TrackMania allows the player to create their own tracks using a simple 'block' process in the spirit of the 1990 game Stunts.
Tracks
TrackMania includes some pre-made tracks for racing on. These unlock 'Coppers', TrackMania's unique currency. These are used to buy blocks of varying track, for example: checkpoints, long bends, loop-de-loops and jumps. The user then makes up track by joining the blocks together. There are three themes to choose from: Rally, Alpine and Desert.
Cars
TrackMania has 3 styles of cars: Rally superminis, Alpine 4x4's and Desert muscle cars. Each has varying skins already available, but by using a bitmap graphics editor the user can create their own skins, modifying them to suit their tastes when imported into the game. With the update of TMO, 3D models are also creatable.
Other features
TrackMania features a network option, which lets players compete via LAN or over the internet. Also, the game's website allows players to upload their created tracks or skins for others to download and use on their copy of the game.
The community driven site TM Exchange contains a large number of tracks for both the Original and sequal. Skins and 3D models are also available from the community, Trackmania Carpark being the most prolific For 3D Models and TM SkincenterFor Skins ranging from the Original Trackmania Sunrise Models to the ones available from Trackmania Carpark.
TrackMania Sunrise
The next installment of TrackMania, TrackMania Sunrise, has been released. The sequel, again, features 3 environments, Island, Bay and Coast, and again, features three cars. But this time the game features two new extra modes.
Platform gives you a start point, a finish point, and mandatory checkpoints / restart points between; your task is to finish the race, restarting as few times as possible.
Crazy returns to the race course, but this time pits you against a few AI ghosts.
TrackMania Sunrise has further additions over the original. You can now import 3D cars and customize many more aspects of the game. The game features improved internet connectivity with a P2P system that allows players to share their skins, cars, and more. The new track editor makes special effects like displaying text and changing the camera possible using Media Tracker.
Also, a recent expansion pack was released, eXtreme, which added multiple pieces to enhance the speed and stuntyness of the game. Also, a new mode - stunt mode, has been added, where the player has to obtain points by doing stunts, such as spinning the car around in mid air and doing flips. The player then has to finish, with the best score, before time expires.
TrackMania Original
TrackMania Original is a new version of the original TrackMania that runs on the Sunrise-engine. It will also feature over 100 new blocks, from the PowerUp! and (unreleased) SpeedUp!-patches, and some functionnalities from Sunrise, like ad-pannels, mediatracker effects... It will be released free of charge for owners of TrackMania, and will also be available to buy as a cheap collector's edition in stores with an extra present.
Trackmania Nations
Partly as a promotion for the Electronic Sports World Cup, and also for Trackmania itself, Nadeo have released Trackmania Nations. This stand-alone game has one new environment, Stadium, and almost all of the features of the full game. Despite containing about 100 single player tracks, it is largely pitched as an online game. One of the main attractions is the leader board, in which people compete for the best times and points. The top 5 players can be seen on the homepage. Due to the extremely high popularity of Nations, the leader board was taken down soon after launch, and improved to meet demand.
Mini Trackmania
Mini Trackmania is an online mini-game of the new version of the game, Trackmania Sunrise. It is hardly like Sunrise at all, but has similar features to that of Sunrise with a side profile view. The terrain is always the same, with a jump and a nitrous boost on both sides of the road, and a few islands on water in the background. The only two buttons you can press are Left and Right, which are Brake and Accelerate respectively. In the game, you drive towards the right side of the screen, having to keep the needle on your speedometer between the yellow line above and the green line below, as it goes to various speeds on your speedo. If the needle is exactly on the green line when you leave the jump, you will get bonus points, and the car will spin whilst in the air. When you get a streak of bonuses your score gets multiplied by 2, 3, 4, and then 10, where it will stay until you don't get a bonus for a jump, and the bonus will reset. Also, the closer the needle is to the green bar, the higher your score will be. But watch out, it's not as easy as it sounds, because if the needle isn't in between the two bars, then your car won't make the jump if too slow, or it'll crash upon landing if too fast. As you go through runs of successful landings, you'll see the green and yellow bars get closer together, making it slightly harder to get the speed right. Your score is updated each time you beat your record, and your score is added to the global database, and your rank is shown below your score.
Controversy
Trackmania uses a copy protection system called StarForce, which serveral users have said to have caused computer crashes.