By Jim Rossignol on August 9th, 2011 at 1:11 pm.
Our eagle-eyed internet informants have spotted Trackmania 2 footage – actual game-being-played-by-a-dude footage! – and I’ve posted it below. Might be one of those Soon To Be Zapped typed situations, as we don’t seem to have got this from Mr Ubisoft directly. It looks suitably slick, and just about mad enough to be Trackmania.
And yes, I used the same screenshot again, wanna fight about it?
09/08/2011 at 13:23 Shakermaker says:
Really looking forward to this game. I played a lot of TMN.
09/08/2011 at 13:30 DeathHamsterDude says:
*EDIT* – wrong comment reply! Argh! *EDIT*
Very well, Mr. Rossignol, we shall convene outside at noon on the morrow. Bring your pistol . . . and a pogo stick. The pistols are to scare off the rioters, we shall be fighting . . . with pogos!
11/08/2011 at 09:50 Dhatz says:
must use G25 and 60 fps of 1080p on this
09/08/2011 at 13:26 wodin says:
I hope you can race against AI cars in this one…rather than just a ghost of your fastest lap…
09/08/2011 at 13:43 Donkeyfumbler says:
You could race against the bronze, silver and gold medal timed cars in the last TM game (as well as your ghost), so I presume the same will apply here.
09/08/2011 at 13:43 Norskov says:
AI cars in what sense? You could race the ghosts of the medal times(Bronze, Silver, Gold). I don’t really see the reason for other AI cars.
09/08/2011 at 13:59 Bhazor says:
For me it’s because ramming cars off the road and trading paint on a corner is my favourite part of arcade racers and is why I’ve never been able to get into Trackmania. Except for a slight daliance with the free version of Nations.
09/08/2011 at 14:25 Norskov says:
While I agree with your sentiments that ramming into cars is fun, I’m not sure it would suit the game.
09/08/2011 at 16:28 StenL says:
I think Bhazor should get some sort of award for missing the point of the game so hard.
On-topic, this looks incredible and actually seems to capture the brilliance of Trackmania Sunrise instead of the absolute mediocrity of United.
09/08/2011 at 13:32 Antsy says:
This looks delicious. How come those cars aren’t simulating a pinball though? My cars always do…..
09/08/2011 at 13:38 TheDreamlord says:
This looks ridiculously difficult. Even for a TM game.
09/08/2011 at 13:43 Shadowcat says:
I was pondering that as well. I think a large part of the apparent difficulty is the fact that the drivers clearly know those tracks inside out, and consequently are driving them at absolutely insane speeds. Those lap times would be SURELY be far faster than was required for even a gold medal. Mere mortals will drive the tracks rather slower, and consequently the margin for error will be much higher, and the perceived difficulty level lower.
09/08/2011 at 14:49 Calneon says:
That driver is basically doing the track perfectly, it IS incredibly hard to drive like that.
09/08/2011 at 16:48 JohnnyK says:
I sure hope the final tracks have direction indicators (like the overhead arrows used in TM and TMN), otherwise the first order of business will be learning those tracks by heart, and that isn’t that much fun.
For the narrowness of the tracks it also looks a bit on the fast side to me – I fear my reflexes won’t be able to keep up…
09/08/2011 at 16:49 SAM-site says:
That was my problem with all previous TM user created tracks – you had to be clairvoyant to drive them. Personally I just enjoyed making tracks that you could nail flat out the whole way round, where it would become all about shaving fractions of a second off your time.
Good times.
09/08/2011 at 13:39 rocketman71 says:
Once again, if they put UbiShit DRM on this, I’m getting my shotgun.
09/08/2011 at 13:48 Antsy says:
For once I don’t think I care. I never play Trackmania offline so I’m not sure I’d notice.
10/08/2011 at 12:11 Avenger says:
I’m sure you’d notice the performance drop.
09/08/2011 at 13:39 Skeleton Key says:
I like the concrete bit of wide-spaced track 28 seconds in. I’m looking forward this game.
09/08/2011 at 13:48 Phinor says:
They lifted the beta embargo last Sunday so the video won’t be pulled, nor will the other videos available now at Youtube.
http://forum.maniaplanet.com/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=2652
I wonder when they will finally release this game. It’s been heavily delayed already.
09/08/2011 at 13:51 Jubaal says:
She sure is a pudy gal
09/08/2011 at 13:52 Edawan says:
They also have map editor footage.
http://youtu.be/byGSRBSJC5s
09/08/2011 at 14:24 Shark says:
Definite day one buy for me!
09/08/2011 at 14:00 Monchberter says:
Am i the only person who thinks that Trackmania MAKES NO SENSE WHATSOEVER.
Why not just stick pod-racers in it? It would make more contextual sense given the bizzareness of the tracks
09/08/2011 at 14:09 skymt says:
They don’t call it Tracksanity, do they?
09/08/2011 at 14:14 Keilnoth says:
Can’t contextuel non-sense be called creativity or fun as well ?
09/08/2011 at 14:10 Jams O'Donnell says:
Is that a bot controlling the cars? I don’t think it’s possible to squeak those corners any tighter. I was wincing while watching the video, expecting the front of the car to come to a bad end.
Also, straw poll: Does anyone ever drive from a third-person camera like this? Surely that’s unpossible — I have to have the camera in the car.
09/08/2011 at 14:14 Donkeyfumbler says:
I’ve always driven third person – I find it easier to see the road further ahead that way usually.
09/08/2011 at 14:16 Shark says:
I tend to hit more walls than a pinball if I use that front-of-the car camera, so yes, I prefer seeing what’s next to my car
09/08/2011 at 14:39 DUFFKING says:
TM is far easier in third person – only racer I play with outside view, in fact.
Tracks in these videos look great – if they’re Nadeo’s own tracks then they’ve definitely stepped up their game since TMU, it was very rare to see official tracks online.
09/08/2011 at 15:12 LostViking says:
I am totally opposite. I can’t understand how people can control the car properly from the inside. The third person view gives you better feedback to the movement of the car and whats going on around it. IMO.
09/08/2011 at 16:30 Sinomatic says:
I only switch to the in-car camera on loops and walls, can’t drive it round the normal track like that though – I like the farthest camera from the car for that.
09/08/2011 at 16:45 DarkNoghri says:
All racing games are to be played in third person. Surely everyone knows this?
09/08/2011 at 17:53 masiif says:
I was wondering the same. Some section are so insanely difficult its hard to believe somebody is able to do them with that amount of precision in a single run.
Great display of gameplay especially compared to all the footage that has been released within the last years showcasing FPS games played by some bad console player.
10/08/2011 at 10:00 NTmS says:
i usually only use 3rd person cam when driving arcade races and first person when it actually helps because you get a bit more feedback on your car (mostly ralley games)
09/08/2011 at 14:11 felisc says:
ellen allien for a trackmania gameplay video, mmmh… unusual choice.
09/08/2011 at 14:16 Turbobutts says:
Where are the loopings? I don’t see any loopings.
09/08/2011 at 14:37 Shakermaker says:
I’d like to see some stunt tracks as well.
11/08/2011 at 09:54 Dhatz says:
this wasn’t about the classical stuff from nations, as you see, the landscape is a thing in this 1.
09/08/2011 at 14:19 theSeekerr says:
Have they fixed the physics model so that it actually feels like a car?
Have the fixed the track design so it’s remotely fair to drivers who prefer to drive from the cockpit, LIKE A CAR?
No?
Really? Why not?
09/08/2011 at 14:37 triple omega says:
“Have they changed the game from extreme arcade to semi-realistic?
No?
Really? Why not?”
There, fixed it for you.
Also, to answer your question: Because they wanted to keep trackmania a very arcade racer. It’s not a flaw, it’s a design decision.
09/08/2011 at 14:55 Inph says:
This is not the racer for you
09/08/2011 at 19:15 Oreb says:
I have to admit that I hate the way cars randomly bottom-out and slow down during some loops and jump landings in older TrackMania iterations. I didn’t see any hard landings in this video.
As to the camera angle – some accommodation has to be made for the inability of the driver to turn his head in the cockpit. Sans head-tracking magics, the third-person perspective allows the gamer to see corners and obstacles to either side that a real-life driver would turn his head to see.
11/08/2011 at 09:56 Dhatz says:
Calm down, there are enough modders to convert that car to actual racing games. TM is car circuss(now that would be cool to have competition with such name).
09/08/2011 at 14:21 Milky1985 says:
Wheres the loop the loops!
its not a trackmania game without a silly loop the loop firing you off into the air towards a small road with a piller on it you have to avoid!
[EDIT] Having a quick look at the map editor vid as well, couldn’t see any looping stuff on there, anyone care to ask/comment if they have played it if they are in, fun use of hte loop the loops was invovled in some great trackmania maps!
09/08/2011 at 14:25 MonkeyMonster says:
Wowser, lord knows how many times he’s practiced those tracks to manage such a smooth lap… Does look purdy though. Needs takedowns to get me behind the wheel though.
09/08/2011 at 14:28 Shark says:
The trackpieces, the cars look and handling seem like a combination of tmuf’s desert and coast. I like it.
Alsooo, Jim, that last line of yours was the perfect mouseover text for the screenshot. I am disappointed.
09/08/2011 at 14:46 King Kong says:
I’m really disappointed that they’re only releasing one type of car/track. I think their next ‘project’ is to add the action game aspect to it, so who knows when we’ll get the other types.
09/08/2011 at 14:47 Khann says:
Impressive driving in an impressive looking game.
09/08/2011 at 14:49 Kollega says:
After watching the editor video i have only two questions.
One: these concrete pieces remind me of storm drains. Can you create a map that convincingly emulates an actual, many-kilometres-long storm drain? Because as we all know, storm drain chases are awesome.
Two: does it come with ridiculous Ubi-DRM? If yes, then i’m not even going to consider it.
11/08/2011 at 09:51 Dhatz says:
pyraci :3 ?
09/08/2011 at 15:01 Joe Duck says:
That is ridiculous driving…
09/08/2011 at 15:12 fallingmagpie says:
Maybe it’s just actually a very easy game? Please? Maybe?
Yeah, no. He/the bot is simply awesome.
09/08/2011 at 15:16 Commander Gun says:
Beautiful tracks! If i was able to drive these with the stadium car, it would be instabuy. However, i hate driving the canyon car in TM1 and considering the video this is exactly the same.
NP however, TM1 is still very good so i’m in no haste to buy the sequel. When stadiumcar gets released, i will though!
09/08/2011 at 15:23 Ravious says:
I hate the “desert” car in TM1 too, not as much as coast though, but it definitely does not feel like the desert car. More like island with a little coast drift and a little desert top heaviness than anything.
Anyway, I hope RPS won’t mind the plug, but I put up my beta impressions here:
http://tap-repeatedly.com/2011/08/08/mania-potential-trackmania-2-beta-impressions/
09/08/2011 at 15:39 neolith says:
The graphics are SO good that they are kinda wasted on a TM game. Not that it doesn’t deserve a cool looking engine, but I can see the visual becoming a real distraction when trying to do perfect runs on tracks like the ones shown in the video…
09/08/2011 at 15:51 Cirdain says:
I’m so turning motion blur and depth of field off.
09/08/2011 at 16:36 Sinomatic says:
Yes, yes, very pretty…
Now where is stadium?
09/08/2011 at 16:59 Urthman says:
Am I the only one who’s getting a bit tired of drifting in racing games? I’m a little bit disappointed to see it featured so centrally here.
Other than all the drifting, the track design and everything else about this feels very much like a prettier version of Trackmania United (although like others I wish there was more of the crazy Trackmania Nations looping madness). Let’s hope the new editor allows you to do stuff like this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvEu_4r61Gs
09/08/2011 at 17:22 alilsneaky says:
Holy shit that video is crazy.
09/08/2011 at 20:09 gwathdring says:
…. That was amazing. That is an incredibly dedicated mapper.
09/08/2011 at 16:59 ibloat says:
looking good! they even have an RPS quote on their site.
now all they need to do is be sensible on the pricing.
aww welcome to page 2
09/08/2011 at 17:04 jay35 says:
Yep, the cars still sound like vacuum cleaners.
09/08/2011 at 17:38 Chizu says:
Is Canyon the new Island then?
In the previous games Canyon was fast and twitchy, with your cars constantly up on two wheels weaving through pitfalls and over narrow planks.
This vid looks much more akin to the Island gameplay, with its faster cars, and more drifting.
Looking foward to this though, I loved the first couple of games.
09/08/2011 at 18:21 Engloutie says:
I have already bought this, in my future.
09/08/2011 at 19:48 Leelad says:
Looks nice and i’m sure it’s viewing in a small box but it feels too busy for a TM game.
Part of the beauty of the predecessors was that it had a great balance of nice graphics and aesthetics but not loads of clutter. This seems to close to a NFS game for my liking.
I hope i’m wrong too.
09/08/2011 at 20:10 gwathdring says:
That definitely looks like the sort of driver that saddled me with all the gold/green medals I’m still working on. Beautiful bastard.
10/08/2011 at 01:27 pupsikaso says:
Mr.Ubisoft? What does he have to do with this? Don’t tell me he’s publishing it! FFS TMN! What a dumbarse choice for a publisher!
Also, I really really really wish I can turn off the motion blur.