Trackmania

Trackmania is getting to be a pretty old game series; It was not on my radar anywhere near its peak in popularity. The original version was out in 2003 and in design has not changed much. I do think aging games can still have a lot of value even as they lose popularity, and Trackmania is a good example. Servers are still running for it, the developers seem to be still supporting the expansions and the community, but the period of players making names for themselves and one-upping the latest and greatest tracks and videos is likely past.

Racing games have been close to my heart always, especially unrealistic arcade-like ones. Trackmania is no exception, and it has two features that really differentiate it from most other racers I've played. One is that you can easily create your own tracks (as ridiculous as you want them to be), and the second is that you can race against or replay an UNLIMITED number of "ghost" replays all at the same time.

Below is the very first track I made. I just threw it together without testing it extensively, and only used a super limited portion of the track pieces available (I didn't see an option to view more pieces at the time). You'd easily go flying over the edges on it if you weren't careful. On it, I recorded over 100 replays and laughed harder each time as the number of my ghosts increased:

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My second track I really got carried away on. I accessed still mostly basic pieces, but spent lots of time testing and implementing new ideas for track sections, and also seeing how much track I could cram into a small space. A single lap on this endurance monster takes about 10 minutes:

As I started playing on multiplayer servers, I realized I was excluding a large amount of the track content in the game. It took me a while, and I still don't quite understand how to make everything I've seen, but after experimenting with the editor more it became possible to make a "proper" track. After a little planning time while I was away from the computer, in two nights I put together a new track that is finally aesthetically and inventively satisfying to me:

Trackmania - Meteo Track 3 from Meteo Two on Vimeo.

Games that let you get creative and screw around so much are a blast; They become modern toyboxes that you can spend hours in without even following a set objective. Trackmania runs smoothly, makes content easy to create and share, puts everyone on a level playing field online, and definitely embodies "easy to learn, hard to master". Overall it's been a great experience, and I'm glad I was able to catch the last boat before it disappears. Then again, it might never! Also, here are a couple incredible Trackmania videos from other people; Both are collaborations from many players: