ZCT298: A Bridge Too Far

[HerrNove]

Thanks @Spoonboy for the kind words! It might be time for a post-mortem.

The main idea for this circuit, the "floor is lava" jumping among scattered pieces of track, came from @alanrotoi 's replay of @Overdrijf 's ZCT271 "Dopamine Pathways" (especially the part starting at 1:20). Watching Trackmania's "Deep Slip" tournament last year, with Wirtual's commentary, was another ingredient for my project. The other main influence was, as you correctly cite, @Argammon 's attempts to explore the limits and possibilities of trackbuilding, an ongoing effort of which ZCT274 "Mirage" is possibly the best example. I wish to thank all the four cited rаcers for inspiring me.

It might be observed that neither ZCT271 nor ZCT274 were well received. I still felt that my concept was worthy to be realized and played, whatever the reactions would be. I was encouraged by the fact that both race and story required a surprisingly small effort to create, much in contrast with the toil that my GPC mod is taking.

The idea of an accompanying fiction came much later. At first I just wanted to write a couple of lines to suggest that a secret path was available. Gradually, however, I found myself daydreaming about this track and the surrounding race. Some of the scenes I imagined found their way into the backstory. Obviously my relocation to Switzerland in the past October had a big influence on the final result.

Many veteran rаcers have appreciated "A Bridge Too Far" but I still wonder about the opinion of other players. We will see at the end of the year, but any kind of feedback is welcome!

I have a vague idea for another project, but I think this kind of concept tracks should not show up too often. We will probably get something stimulating from Argammon later this year, so my next creation will have to wait late 2027, or even further. But I'd love to read other stories and other voices in the meanwhile...

[HerrNove]

P.S. I forgot to thank @KyLiE for test-driving this track and pointing out improvements!

[alanrotoi]

I love the background story with hints. It's a great idea and I would like to see more tracks with this feature. Even if there aren't hints on it but still a good story to place us in the concept of the track.