The environment would be called "Glacier". I was thinking about having a snowy environment reminiscent of the classic Snow environment, similar to how Canyon is reminiscent of Desert, Valley is reminiscent of Rally, and Lagoon is reminiscent of Island. I decided on "Glacer" instead of something like "Tundra" because glaciers create cool formations that I think would make for some awesome offroading sections. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/ ... r_3178.JPG
I think the environment should handle more like a classic TrackMania environment, and distance itself from the slide-y qualities of Canyon, Valley, and Lagoon. Unless you are driving on ice. In which case, the slide-y quality of TrackMania 2 physics would be perfect. However, I think it should handle more like a halfway point between Stadium and the original Snow environment. I think it would be cool to have the GlacierCar's turn radius be small in comparison to the other TrackMania 2 environments whilst also being able to go quite fast. But I also think it would be nice to have braking, drifting, and lifting off as important skills for driving instead of just fullspeeding through almost the entire track and only slowing down occasionally on difficult maps. Also, the crispiness of the handling in the classic environments would need to come back. As much as I appreciate the fact that Lagoon tried to pay homage to classic TrackMania with the car's small turn radius, the actual responsiveness was sluggish. I would like to test my quick decision making, not my ability to predict the future.
Since glaciers seem to have a lot of rocky and dirty areas in addition to snow and ice, this could be an opportunity to implement several different handling styles in a single environment. Driving on dirt would be almost identical to that of Stadium, whereas driving through snow would cause you to slow and slide a bit like it does in the classic snow environment.
I also have an idea for a gameplay quirk unique to Glacier, like how Canyon has high-speed drifting, Stadium has freewheeling pads, Valley has a heavy emphasis on air control and offroading, and Lagoon has the magnetic tracks. I think the GlacierCar should have honeycomb wheels with an extendable/retractable spike system built into them. When you go over a "spike pad", spikes will come out of your tires to allow you more control on snow and ice. They could also give you an absurd amount of grip on asphalt and arena track segments, making your handling more reminiscent of the original Snow environment. When driving like this, drifting and sliding could be completely eliminated and create track sections that require you to basically fullspeed through them. Although on more difficult tracks, some turns may be too harsh to fullspeed through and would require slowing down by braking or lifting off. Also, it would be cool if water bouncing was a thing in Glacer. I like water bouncing.
I think the GlacierCar should look something like this: https://i.ytimg.com/vi/1Ty7mweWQUI/hqdefault.jpg This to me looks like a way to pay homage to the original SnowCar, which was a truck, whilst also doing something new. I think there should also be some design tweaks to give the vehicle a slightly sleeker and more futuristic aesthetic to go with the honeycomb tires.
If I have any more ideas, I will jot them down. Do you have any ideas for a TrackMania environment that you think would be super cool? Let me know!
Thanks in advance to anyone who responds.
