This map will be something new for most drivers. There are no roads, as such. There are road sections in the shape of arrows to point you from checkpoint to checkpoint, and there are a few short road sections to guide you along the best path through certain difficult areas. All roads are relevant on this map.
The checkpoints are marked by the checkered-flag gates. You must pass through the gate in order to hit the checkpoint. It is a good idea to try to drive up the last few feet of the road before the gate, in order to be absolutely sure of hitting the checkpoint. Some of the checkpoints, (Numbers 2 and 4, for example) involve changes of direction. At these checkpoints, the gate may be angled a bit from the road, in order to better catch the driver's eye as he/she approaches.
There are also places where an arrow exists to indicate a change of direction. These are important, but if there is no gate, it is not a checkpoint and you do not need to concern yourself with driving over it.
This map requires the use of mud flaps. The last two legs will eat your car without them. This is due to some tricky stuff I pulled in the design. Ask yourself sometime how such a big map can have so little map-lag ;)
This map is "open-edged", rather than being surrounded by mountains like most of the stock maps. This means you can wander off course and get lost in the trackless wastes. Calibrate your joystick so that your car drives dead straight, and watch your compass on the last two legs.
This map, like all my maps, is designed to be used in hi-res mode, with a reasonable amount of detail turned on. It may well be difficult to impossible to navigate in lo-res mode. My sincere condolences. The primary test vehicle for this track was a D15 Strider.
From the regen, line up at the first checkered-flag gate that is Checkpoint One. Head dead south. When you see the glimmer of the road ahead, ease out a little to your right. Come back 90 degrees to your left, heading dead east as you pass through Checkpoint Two. Time here should be about 17 seconds.
Come out of Checkpoint Two fast and straight, as this lines you up with the ramp to jump you over the mudhills. Airborne in your jump, you'll see the arrow pointing you back south. As soon as you get on the ground and headed south, you'll see the road section that leads you through Checkpoint Three and back over the ridge. You're headed southwest, and your time should be about 35 seconds.
Immediately on the other side, an arrow points you leftwards to true south, and you hop over another ridge. From here blaze dead south til you see the glimmer of the next road section. Come left 90 degrees again and pass through Checkpoint Four going dead east. Your time at this point should be about 55 seconds.
Over the last ridge and out onto the hardpan, hold the hammer down hard and keep it pointed east. You'll see two arrows confirming your direction of travel. These were added at the insistence of 101 Voodoochild, who kept getting lost along in here. The next road section you see will take you through the next set of mudhills. Slow down for the first bump, and stay on the road. In the middle of this section is Checkpoint Five. Your time at this point should be roughly 1 minute and 22 seconds.
Coming out of the mudhills, you'll still be going east. Quickly, you'll see two arrows redirecting you north and then back west around the end of the hills. A short sprint back west, then you'll hop over another ridge and wind through a rocky canyon. At the west end of the canyon, you'll screech through a 135-degree turn to the right and pass through Checkpoint Six. Your time here should be about 2 minutes and 22 seconds.
Now for the navigation part. You are past all the ridges, and through all the mudhills. From here it's a long, fast run home, but you've got to keep an eye on the compass. Exiting Checkpoint Six, pop up your instrument display and align your car carefully to the northeast. Now put the pedal to the metal and don't let it up until you see the next checkpoint. After blazing across the hardpan for 30 seconds or so, you will begin to see a line of hills. Immediately angle to the left/north until you come to the pass. An arrow confirms your navigation. (When you really know the map, you can make that passage by heading just a bit north of northeast, but if you go too far north, you will miss the range of hills entirely and head off into the trackless wastes, never again to be seen by the eyes of mortal men. Or women) Through the pass and you will make another screeching 135-degree turn, back to the left this time. Line up carefully with Checkpoint Seven as you head back west on the last leg of the race. Your time here should be about 3 minutes and 8 seconds.
Again consult your compass and line up carefully to blaze straight west back across the hardpan. After about 25-28 seconds, you should see a glimmer of road ahead and slightly to your left. Veer gently over towards it and you will pop around the end of a line of hills. Back through the start/finish gate at Checkpoint One, and your lap is complete. Your time at finish should be somewhere around 3 minutes and 45 seconds.
This map is by 101 Possum (aka Chris Joiner). This is the first public version, released in early January of 1999. You are welcome to distribute this map, but only as the complete archive, containing all 4 map files and this Notes file.
Newest versions of this and my other maps can be found at Possum's Garage, on the "Say What?" page.
I can be emailed as possum@crash.cts.com
I strongly encourage you to visit the home of Highway 101, the I76 team of which I am a proud member.