Okay, after much racing, some pondering and a little tweaking, the Challenge Pack ver.2 is out.
Get it now at RVZT.
Original files of all replaced stock cars are included.
Descriptions of the vehicles included this time:
There are 25 cars (5 rookie, 3 amateur, 5 advanced, 4 semi-pro, 8 pro). Still more pros than other classes, but that’s the overall ratio out there...
9 originals:
RC Bandit – rookie. The comparison base for everything else, can’t eliminate it ever for that reason <chuckles> At ResMod 1 it turned out to be actually quite nose-heavy. So jumps are a matter of careful negotiation now – certain bumps land you flat on your back going right over your nose, unless taking them at really low speed. It makes for some nice strategic racing for a change.
Phat Slug – rookie. Slow and heavy, but actually quite stable. A pain to climb any steeps.
Harvester – rookie. The best turning characteristics of all the stock cars, but not that stable at jumps.
Volken Turbo – rookie. One of the only two stock touring cars I kept, others were a bit too rehashed or too perfect-handling for me. It’s stable and relatively just as fast in the rookie class as the zipper is in pro class. And there are too many pro cars around, so I dropped the zipper. The negative side of Volken is that it’s not much of an off-roader – spins and shakes too much, obviously due to its street suspension. Although it's quite stable while in air...
Genghis Kar – amateur. Oh what a lumbering hunk of steel on rubber barrels <laughs> It’s the only other stock car to give that feeling besides Rotor, and it’s different enough from it to keep. On the plus side – it’s relatively fast and not that much affected by rockets.
Evil Weasel – advanced. Fast, but with a really high turning radius. Thus requires a totally different racing strategy from others. It was kept in favour of the Pole Poz, as the lower-class item of the pair.
Panga TC – advanced. The other touring car I kept, mainly for its interesting disadvantage – it rolls over more easily than a pet dog <laughs> And off-roading makes it shake – literally, from side to side, as if it could barely keep from rolling. Which it really can barely keep from. But it’s fast for its class.
Rotor – semi-pro. Too original to lose, but a pain to drive. It’s even more a hulk on barrels than Genghis and thus flips over _sideways_ in fast cornering. How much fun is that?! Sometimes, not much... But it’s a good challenge to get through a track with it, especially in first-person camera mode. Not _too_ slow, either, if you can keep it steady.
Panga (the panda bear) – pro. Very original. Very fast. Very wall-humping if facing it. A good relaxation after the Rotor and a good chance to get a 1. pos. at a track if it proved too devious for other cars before it.
16 customs:
Caterpillar – pro. Quite interesting to drive, because the front wheels not only turn slow, but also return to the straight position just as slow. So you have to think ahead and start turning long before the corner, and then stop turning as soon as possible or the thing just keeps on turning and hits the inside wall. On the plus side, it’s a relatively stable jumper – not going over the nose, although it still lands on its front scoop all the time.
Dump-Truck – advanced. It’s just so adorable, like a child’s sandbox toy <smiles>. But it has a body-roll of a real dump-truck (not from experience
), true to its creator’s description. Good turning, but tends to be flipped over by others hitting it.
Aeroplane – advanced. Oh yes, finally a plane. I had to edit it a lot, but the Pack has been deprived of an airplane for too long. Other than that, it’s a good vehicle, if not very fast. It’s FWDriven and RWTurning, of course, being a plane and all, and the “pulling” propeller now spins fast enough to matter. It turned out to have realistically upturned cabin view and weapon aim – nice! When driving, keep in mind that it’s very wide due to wings. The wingspan and lack of suspension make it quite stable on streets, but off-road performance is a bit rattling and somewhat prone to spinouts. When in air, it’s plane-like as it points where it goes, i.e. it takes off nose-up and lands nose-down, but usually not over-the-nose. Landing itself is usually stable. (What was modified: RWTurning, of course. I haven’t seen a small airplane yet that would turn its front wheels – they all turn their tiny tail roller. And I got sick of being deprived of airplanes due to their wings sinking into walls, so I widened the hull of this one. It now realistically scrapes its wingtips on walls. Also, its speed got lowered below perceived take-off velocities, even though the propeller spins faster than before.)
Tractor – amateur. That’s one of the pro vehicles that I modified down to lower classes. In this case, the Pack needed more amateur class vehicles than just one <laughs> And it’s quite tractor-like in handling, too. Not too fast now, but stable. (What was modified: down-classed from pro to amateur. Also, its huge rear wheels now have triple the weight of its tiny front wheels. Some realism, people, some realism.)
K22a Virus – pro. Now that’s an interesting design. It’s obviously based on a high-performance racing motorcycle, thus it’s lightning fast, very sharp-turning and quite over-powered. And rear-wheel-driven, of course. The high engine power means that the rear wheel is a bit slippery when driving. It feels like Virus is constantly trying to break out from under your control. It’s actually a frightening experience driving it with the onboard camera, as it’s not always completely sure who’s the boss and at these speeds it’s a bit unnerving. About off-roading: Virus has no suspension to speak of, but most of the time it still agrees to your terms. Except when landing after a jump. Also, because it doesn’t weigh much, it can go head-over-heels on impacts – all the more to fear when it takes over control from you! (What was modified: made it a RWD (duh!), and gave the rear wheel a bit of a slip, as it was too perfect otherwise.)
Matchbox (Mbox) – semi-pro. Oh my, what a good original idea! But a pain to drive, as its low weight means that it spins easily in place when trying to get going after a crash. The weight-induced spinning problem is even more evident on grass and other such places. On the plus side – it’s one of the few vehicles that don’t dip its nose when in air. (What was modified: changed its engine from glow to electric – it’s made of paper, after all, and that doesn’t go well with gasoline and internal combustion <laughs>).
B19 Sh1t – pro. Yes, it’s big. Yes, it’s a monster car. Yes, it rolls over a lot. Basically, it combines the characteristics of three previous cars in the Pack, so it freed some slots and inspired me to review the scene again. Thank you, B19 Sh1t, for the new version of the Challenge Pack <smiles>. It’s fun to drive, as long as you slow down for sharp turns and don’t mind ending up on the other side of lower track-border barriers from time to time. Oh, and you can’t really go under low ceilings and into narrow passages with this car.
Peterbilt 359 – rookie. Every collection needs a heavy truck that actually handles like a heavy truck. Slow, heavy, wide turning, body-roll – overall a good challenge to drive and gives a very realistic sense of trying to race a semi. Not much stops it once it gets going, except high jumps, because it throws its nose in the air after hitting the ground with it, sometimes it even flips over tail like this.
Soquet – semi-pro. The speeder and an almost last-resort race-winner in the collection (the last-last-resort is the Wardog). If I can’t win a track with this one, the only other probable possibility in any near future is a bit unfair win with the Bimota Tesi motorcycle. Fast, sharp turning, glued to the ground – exactly what I have avoided in assembling my collection
It’s the only one like this, and kept solely as a frustration relief (well, it does look good, too). The only disadvantage is that it’s rubber-knobbed tires (they do feel like that when driving) sometimes manage to send it rolling sideways, but only if being really careless in a high-speed turn.
Super Peat – amateur. That’s another pro I downgraded, as I wanted to have a good monster truck in the lower classes. All-wheel turning makes it good at cornering, and it’s not too fast, and it’s a pain to get running after a stop. (What was modified: down-classed from pro to amateur.)
T-Bucket – pro. Totally a challenge-vehicle. It took me a while to learn to actually control that insanely over-powered hotrod, but it is actually possible when not flooring the gas all the time <laughs>
Bimota Tesi – pro. The only bike I have found that looks decent and also leans correctly (Very Important Point!). Although I had to correct a mistake in its parameters to get it realistic – the creator has accidentally left one of the technically two rear wheels insanely high-powered. After getting that in line with the other “half of the rear wheel”, it suits well in the pro class (instead of hyper-pro or something). I keep it as a novelty variety, because it is still too easy to win a race with it, but it’s worth it to experience the leaning action of a real motorbike speeding along the tracks – an exhilarating rush of adrenaline. A somewhat stupid quirk/effect of this bike is that when a corner is too tight, the bike can actually climb the outer wall a bit while speeding along it in a heavily leaned position with its wheels on the wall. I usually try to overlook it because I don’t want to go searching for another bike. And also, it sometimes confuses the game so it’s not allowed to go past some checkpoint node (whatever they are actually called). So it’s not an all-wins vehicle, either. (What was modified: corrected the hyper-powered rear wheel.)
APC – advanced. Oh boy, you don’t want to jump in this iron box. It lands on its nose and immediately kicks the said nose in air, losing all steering ability for a while. Alternatively it lands on its tail and immediately kicks its tail in the air, skidding _and_ spinning 180 degrees at the same time. And it has a very wide turning radius. And it has a low acceleration. But it’s not too slow in top speed, and can be handled well if handled with care. A scream to drive, as Beetlejuice would say. Thus, a good challenge. Also: it’s now down-classed due to Pack balance issues. And it’s an iron box, after all
(What was modified: down-classed from pro to advanced.)
E-Type Dragster – pro. What’s the point of driving a DIY dragster? Going really fast? Not really. It’s pulling wheelies!! You can actually do that with this car. Even the AI does it at the starting line! The AI can’t really drive it, of course, because it’s just barely driveable for even a human. But it keeps its front wheels on the ground enough to allow steering, though not in all situations <grin>. It’s obviously a challenge vehicle, because it reacts very badly (i.e. spinningly) to collisions, but it’s entirely possible to finish the Neighbourhood track with it, for example. Also, it’s a pure street-racer and has no business on anything that’s even remotely bumpy – you won’t be able to steer it there. (What was modified: I took the original not-for-racing parameters and made them just barely drivable.)
Thunder Tiger BX – pro. A classic shape. A terrifically good active suspension (I can actually feel the nose wobbling a bit on the front springs after a jump). A great tendency to slip-and-grip-and-slip-and-grip in speedy turns, thus making it a bit hard to end the said turn in a perfect direction. And flips over the nose in some jumps. But overall, a good responsive racer.
Wardog – semi-pro. Eight working wheels, wheee!! What more could you ask for a custom design?! It’s also fast and has a _reasonably_ good turning radius, but can’t stand hitting an obstacle head-on, as it bounces backwards like a rubber ball then. And it’s long, thus it’s sometimes a bit difficult to manoeuvre in tight spaces. Overall, a good way to end a track and a last chance to get that redeeming 1st pos. if you haven’t really managed it with any of the other vehicles. Also: it’s now down-classed due to Pack balance issues. It’s still fast enough to offer a smooth race, though. (What was modified: down-classed from pro to semi-pro.)
Have fun!
That's weird now it works.