TrackMania

Logo of the TrackMania game series

TrackMania is a game series from the French development studio Nadeo . So far, more than 10 parts of this series have appeared, the last in 2017 as a new environment for TrackMania 2 . TrackMania offers a mixture of building and racing game . TrackMania also has an online mode that, depending on the game, has up to over ten million registered accounts .

TrackMania offers an editor with which the player can easily design their own routes. There are track components such as straights and curves, jumps, loops and tubes as well as potholes , tunnels and decorative elements to choose from. The routes created can then be played in both single-player and multiplayer mode. Is one during a race from a route through z. For example, if you missed the wrong direction of the jump or other obstacles, you can reset yourself to the last checkpoint or completely by pressing a button.

On collisions between vehicles was (except for the Smash -Spielmodi in Trackmania Turbo ) renounces in favor of the game principle. Stunts (1990) and Fatal Racing (1995) already had a similar game principle . Until 2016 the TrackMania slogan was : “ Design it. Build it. Race it! ". With the title “ TrackMania: Turbo ” the slogan was changed to: “ Build It. Drive It. Share It! ".

Game types

TrackMania offers different game types in Solo mode:

• Race: This type of game is a very normal time trial. Depending on how fast the player was, the medals bronze , silver , gold and authors are awarded. The author's medal is obtained if you undercut the author's best time on the route. The player has the option of driving alone or with so-called ghosts . "Ghosts" are recorded replays that show the lines of the various medal times or the line of the personal best within the race as partially transparent vehicles. You can also save your own replays and download replays from other players for Coppers or Planets (the game's internal currency unit).

• Puzzle: At the beginning the player has to complete an incomplete route in the route editor mode with specified route parts. After that, everything runs like in time trial mode. If necessary, the player can return to the editor at any time and change something on the route.

• Survival: The aim of this type of game is to complete as many levels as possible. The player competes against 3 virtual drivers. If he wins the race, he rises 2 levels, for a 2nd place he rises only one level. In the event of a defeat, the player has to start over. After normal survival mode, super survival mode is activated. In this supreme discipline, you drive against the absolute best time on the routes to be driven.

• Stunt: Points are awarded for jumps and turns depending on the execution, duration and difficulty. The player must complete a route in a certain period of time and collect as many points as possible. If the time limit has expired, the player continuously loses the points he has earned.

• Platform: The player has to complete a - usually long and demanding - route. Speed ​​and driving accuracy play a decisive role for success. If the vehicle overturns or falls, the player can sit back on the track. It is important to drive the route with as few setbacks as possible, time does not matter.

• Crazy: The player drives a mostly short, circular route against many ghosts and has to try to undercut their racing time. The ghosts represent different racing times (mostly 20). If you finish before a ghost, it will be replaced by your own ghost. That means that you have to be faster than one of the ghosts every lap. This game mode is only available in the TrackMania Sunrise add-on "eXtreme".

Similar to solo mode, there are also different game types in online mode.

• Time trial: With this type, a route is driven until the time limit set by the server administrator is reached. Whoever drove the best time when reaching the limit wins.

• Rounds: Here the administrator determines a maximum number of points. A route is driven until at least one player reaches this number of points. The standardized distribution of points after each round is as follows: 10 - 6 - 4 - 3 - 2 - 1, all players below fifth place receive one point. However, the allocation of points can be freely selected by the administrator. After the first player has passed the goal, a countdown begins with a specified time (depending on the length of the route). Those players who do not reach the goal within this time do not get a point.

• Team: Similar to lap mode, there is also a point limit in team mode. There are two different types. In the first type, the winning team gets one point. For each additional player who is in front of the best driver of the other team, there is an additional point. The second type, which is also called the alternative team mode , works like the lap mode. Only the points of the individual players are added up. The team that has won an individual race receives a counter. If the number of points set by the administrator has been reached, the next route begins.

• Cup: This game type is a modification of the round game type. When a player reaches the point limit, he will initially only achieve finalist status. Now he still has to win (another) individual race to win the cup. If he does not succeed immediately, other players may catch up with him and also achieve finalist status.

• Stunt: There is a time limit here. Whoever has achieved the most stunt points after this time has elapsed wins this route.

Environments

The ten environments that have appeared so far, also known as environments , differ mainly in terms of vehicle, location, road surface and driving behavior. Of the ten environments, six can only be played with the older versions of TrackMania (up to TrackMania United Forever or TrackMania Wii ). There are currently four TrackMania² environments available in ManiaPlanet . The same 4 environments exist with slightly changed names in TrackMania: Turbo . Each environment is driven by a vehicle, all of which differ from one another in terms of design, driving behavior and speed. The maximum speed in all environments is 1000 speed units, but this can only be reached on normal routes in the areas of Iceland and Canyon or Canyon Grand Drift (TrackMania: Turbo). The vehicles cannot be changed technically, only optically. So-called mods are often created for the environments. This means that certain parts of the route are optically processed so that they change their appearance.

Desert / Speed: This environment represents a typical North American desert. On paved roads you drive past pipelines, cacti, ravines and lakes. Occasionally, sections of the route lead through tunnels or sand. The vehicle is similar to a Ford Escort or an Opel Rekord C .

Rally / Countryside: In this area the routes lead through a European forest. Mainly the routes lead over asphalt castle walls, tunnels, earthy forest paths or platforms made of wood. The vehicle is a Renault 5 Turbo.

Snow / Alpine: This environment leads through an Asian winter landscape with a Suzuki Samurai pickup. You drive on wooden platforms, paved roads, through tunnels or over frozen water. The routes are surrounded by ice canyons, Asian houses, trees and mountains.

Bay: In this environment you drive a crossover through a city of high-rise buildings by the sea. Many routes also lead through port areas surrounded by containers and ships.

Coast: Here you drive a Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren through a green Mediterranean landscape. Some routes also lead over racetracks with curbs or through tunnels.

Iceland: This vehicle (a Ferrari F40 ) has one of the fastest average speeds of any other area. You drive on asphalt roads or tunnels, surface platforms or tubular tunnels.

Stadium: Here you drive on concrete or earthy roads in a stadium. With several updates, new components were always added. The car is a mix between Ariel Atom and Formula 1 monoposto . Although it was the last environment that could be counted among the first generation of environments, it is the most popular environment thanks to the free game TrackMania Nations and its successor TrackMania Nations Forever . Due to the high popularity of the stadium and its importance in e-sports, this environment was adopted as the only environment by TrackMania United in TrackMania² and TrackMania: Turbo (2016) .

Canyon: In the environment modeled by Desert , the race is completed in a Ford Mustang. The vehicle is easy to steer on solid ground; Sharp turns and high speeds make it interesting on the desert floor. The environment represents an American canyon, in which the player can build huge dams, loops, tunnels, caves or even real racetracks like in the Coast area. The driving behavior is very different from all other environments in that extremely long slides can be made with practically no loss of speed even in very tight corners.

Valley: Valley is visually very similar to the rally environment, but differs significantly in its driving behavior. The vehicle resembles a Mini Cooper with cross-country rally equipment. In the valley you drive on narrow roads or highways through a French landscape with lakes, forests, mountains and now and then a few small towns.

Lagoon: This environment, which was first published in Trackmania Turbo , looks visually similar to the Iceland environment with its tropical design and high-rise buildings. The driving behavior is very different from Iceland . The car, which resembles a beach buggy / Seat 20V20, is very manoeuvrable and therefore difficult to steer. The driving behavior is similar to the Bay environment. In addition, magnetic tracks can be built in which the car is attracted to the track by means of the magnets built into the track. So even passages upside down are possible. This environment was published on May 23, 2017 in TrackMania² and ManiaPlanet .

Parts of the series

All parts of the TrackMania series according to system and rating

title	year	Metacritic	Win	PS4	XOne	Wii	NDS	Remarks
TrackMania Original (TMO)	2003	74		-	-	-	-	Desert, rally, snow
TrackMania Sunrise (TMS)	2005	82		-	-	-	-	Island, Bay, Coast
TrackMania Nations (TMN)	2006	-		-	-	-	-	Free game; stage
TrackMania United (TMU)	2006	80		-	-	-	-	all 7 previous environments
TrackMania United Forever (TMUF)	2008	-		-	-	-	-	Free for TMU owners; all 7 previous environments
TrackMania Nations Forever (TMNF)	2008	-		-	-	-	-	Free game; stage
TrackMania DS	2008	75	-	-	-	-		Rally, desert, stadium
TrackMania Turbo	2010	77	-	-	-	-		Snow, Iceland, Coast, Stadium
TrackMania Wii	2010	74	-	-	-		-	all previous environments except Bay
TrackMania 2 Canyon	2011	81		-	-	-	-	Canyon
TrackMania 2 Valley	2013	79		-	-	-	-	Valley
TrackMania 2 Stadium	2013	77		-	-	-	-	stage
TrackMania 2 Lagoon	2017	77		-	-	-	-	Lagoon
TrackMania Turbo	2016	79, 81, 76				-	-	Canyon, Valley, Lagoon, Stadium

Remarks:

1. ↑ The first part was only called "TrackMania" at first.

TrackMania Original

TrackMania Original
Studio	Nadeo
Publisher	Focus Enlight Deep Silver Digital Jesters
Erstveröffent- lichung	November 2003 November 2003 worldwide: May 2004
platform	PC ( Windows )
genre	Racing game
Game mode	Single player , multiplayer (Internet & LAN )
control	Keyboard , gamepad
system advantages preconditions	Windows 98+ 500 MHz 128 MB RAM 32 MB graphics card
medium	1 CD
language	English German
Age rating	USK PEGI

"TrackMania Original" (originally TrackMania ) offers the player a solo mode and a multiplayer mode.

The game types Race , Puzzle and Survival are available in solo mode . Both the race mode and the puzzle mode each consist of 51 courses. These routes lead through the Desert , Rally and Snow areas . In addition, you can drive on the routes you have created yourself in solo mode.

In multiplayer mode, players can choose to compete against each other in the local network , in hot seat mode or on the Internet . You can also drive the routes you have created yourself. Due to the small size of the data set for the sometimes very long routes, route data can be exchanged with fellow players in a few seconds.

The track editor is also integrated in TrackMania Original, with which players can create their own tracks. The more Coppers won in solo mode, the more track parts can be built.

On October 21, 2005, Nadeo released a free add-on that renamed TrackMania to the now known TrackMania Original . This add-on was called Speed-Up in its alpha phase and Level-Up in its beta phase . It brings the old TrackMania graphically and playfully up to the status of its successor: TrackMania Sunrise . The graphics engine and the stunt and platform game modes were adopted from this.

The import functions of own vehicles and shield motifs as well as the MediaTracker have also been integrated from the successor. In addition, the route editor has been supplemented with many new route parts.

TrackMania Sunrise

TrackMania Sunrise
Studio	Nadeo
Publisher	Focus Enlight Deep Silver Digital Jesters
Erstveröffent- lichung	April 29, 2005
platform	PC ( Windows )
genre	Racing game
Game mode	Single player , multiplayer (Internet & LAN )
control	Keyboard , gamepad
system advantages preconditions	Windows 98 - Windows XP
medium	1 CD
language	English German
Age rating	USK PEGI

On April 29, 2005, the second game in the series - TrackMania Sunrise was released . Compared to its predecessor, the graphics have been significantly improved and three new environments have been created: Island , Coast and Bay . The game modes are Race , Platform , Puzzle and Crazy . In addition, the player now has the option of importing vehicle models that they have created themselves or that have been downloaded from Internet platforms.

A lot has also been changed in the editor. The biggest novelty is the MediaTracker. This makes it possible to improve the self-made routes with texts, effects, camera settings, intros and outros. In addition, street signs with your own motifs can now be integrated. These can also be animated by using the Bink format.

Add-on

As with the previous TrackMania Original , Nadeo released a free add-on for TrackMania Sunrise called TrackMania Sunrise eXtreme on November 16, 2005 . The game modes Stunts and Crazy , a new racing series called Extreme Race and new track components have been added. Extreme Race offers three times three courses that contain some of the new components. Some of these components include: tubes, banked turns and accelerators for the Iceland area and parts of the surface for the Bay area.

There are also new options in MediaTracker, such as fade-in effects, your own images and sounds, camera shake, etc. It is now also possible to play your own music instead of the standard music on routes you have built yourself.

Reviews in gaming magazines

• PC PowerPlay (May 2005): 80%
• GameStar (June 2005): 86% + Gold Award
• PC Games : 89%
• Computer picture games : good (1.82)
• Bravo Screenfun : 2+

TrackMania Nations ESWC

TrackMania Nations ESWC
Studio	Nadeo
Publisher	Focus Enlight Deep Silver Digital Jesters
Erstveröffent- lichung	January 28, 2006
platform	PC ( Windows )
genre	Racing game
Game mode	Single player , multiplayer (Internet & LAN )
control	Keyboard , gamepad
system advantages preconditions	Windows 98+ 500 MHz 128 MB RAM
medium	256 MB file, purchase CD
language	English, French, Dutch, German
Age rating	USK PEGI

On January 28th, 2006 Nadeo released the free version TrackMania Nations ESWC , which was specially programmed for the eSports World Convention (ESWC). This only includes the stadium area . The route editor is also included here without any restrictions. Checkpoints exist as in previous versions, but the routes can only be repeated from the start, not within partial sections. The focus of this version is on the multiplayer mode (Internet, LAN). In the multiplayer mode over the Internet, each player collects points for himself and the nation he has chosen. The points collected are added up and form the nation ranking. In addition to the nation ranking, there is also a player ranking, whereby this rank is logically derived from the points you have earned yourself. However, it is also possible in single player mode to train in three levels of difficulty, each with 30 routes. There is also a team rating for which individual players can team up. TrackMania Nations ESWC is based on TrackMania Sunrise.

There are now over 6 million registered accounts . But since you can open several accounts as a single player, you can assume that there are fewer actually existing players. Up to the release of TrackMania Forever there were about 1500 to 8000 players at the same time on the servers of TrackMania Nations , meanwhile this number has been significantly lower since the publication of "TrackMania²: Stadium".

ESWC final 2006

TrackMania United

TrackMania United
Studio	Nadeo
Publisher	Focus Enlight Deep Silver Digital Jesters
Erstveröffent- lichung	French-speaking countries: November 2006 , Germany: February 23, 2007
platform	PC ( Windows )
genre	Racing game
Game mode	Single player , multiplayer (Internet & LAN )
control	Keyboard , gamepad , joystick
system advantages preconditions	Windows 2000+ 1.6 GHz 256 MB RAM (512 under Vista) 16 MB graphics card
medium	DVD, download
language	German, English, French and other languages
Age rating	USK PEGI

TrackMania United was released on November 16, 2006 in France and some other French-speaking countries. The German version did not appear until February 23, 2007 due to the late Gold Masters . Nadeo, however, in cooperation with Metaboli, a French company for downloading computer games, offered 10,000 copies of the game for download at the same time as the French release, so players could also download them could purchase a copy of the game in other countries.

TrackMania United includes all environments of the TrackMania trilogy , which are unique due to their completely different driving behavior, including the features of the add-ons . In addition, the TrackMania Nations stadium environment has twice as many blocks.

In TrackMania United, the routes of the old TrackMania parts can be imported and played. One innovation is the increased integration of the game into the Internet. So you can now drive so-called official times on all routes and compete with the official times of the other players. The Nadeo routes can be officially driven as soon as they are released. In order to officially play self-built tracks, these must first be added.

For this you need Coppers , the TrackMania currency, as well as for driving an official time or z. B. for changing the region of the profile. One way to earn Coppers is by getting medals on Nadeo tracks in the official mode. In addition, every day you get 50 Coppers when you open the game. If you own TrackMania Original or TrackMania Sunrise, you will receive 10 (TrackMania Original) or 20 more Coppers (TrackMania Sunrise) per day. With these coppers you can buy skins or routes on the so-called “ManiaLinks”.

As in TrackMania Nations ESWC, a ranking list is also integrated in this game in internet mode.

TrackMania Forever

TrackMania Forever
Studio	Nadeo
Publisher	Focus Enlight Deep Silver Digital Jesters
Erstveröffent- lichung	United: April 15, 2008 Nations: April 16, 2008
platform	PC ( Windows )
genre	Racing game
Game mode	Single player , multiplayer (Internet & LAN )
control	Keyboard , gamepad
system advantages preconditions	Windows 98+ 1.2 GHz 512 MB RAM 64 MB 3D graphics card
medium	Download
language	German, English, French and other languages
Age rating	USK PEGI

TrackMania Forever includes 91 nations and the option “Other Countries”. There is also a ranking list in TrackMania Forever.

TrackMania United Forever

The Forever update for TrackMania United has been released since April 15, 2008 . With the update, it is now possible on pure Nations servers to play together with TrackMania Nations Forever players. The disk query has also been abolished, and from now on you can always start the game without an inserted DVD. The points for the online ranking list are assigned according to a new system and some new components have also been introduced in the route editor. The graphics of the desert, rally and snow environments have been heavily revised and have thus reached the level of the stadium environment. In addition, the add-on contains 21 new stunt routes. The purchase version also includes 3D glasses and a Nadeo autograph card.

TrackMania United Forever contains TrackMania Nations Forever , for example you can choose between United and Nations for the solo routes.

Star Track Campaign (Update)

On November 24th, 2009 a new update was released for TrackMania United Forever under the name Star Track , in which 147 new tracks were released for the single player mode and a number of bugs in the game were fixed. Users of the free version "TrackMania Nations Forever" only received the bug fixes.

The tracks in this issue were created exclusively by the community of players and were selected in 2008 during a one-week competition under the name TrackMania StarTrack Contest .

TrackMania Nations Forever

Since April 16, 2008 the second version of "TrackMania Nations" is available for free download. Like the first version, this only contains the Stadium environment . The route editor is also completely included again. However, this has been significantly expanded compared to its predecessor, so that all parts can now be used there that were also in the TrackMania United stadium environment. It is also possible to play in multiplayer mode (Internet, LAN) and the nation ranking is also included again. In addition, there are now also sub-national rankings, i.e. at the state level and including at the metropolitan level. In addition, this game contains 65 new tracks.

In December 2008 TrackMania Nations Forever reached the 3,000,000 player milestone.

Since December 2010 it is no longer possible to play easily on TrackMania United servers with TrackMania Nations Forever. The possibility of a direct connection has been removed. This version of the game is only able to connect to a few special servers hosted directly by Nadeo. The vast majority of servers must first be saved as favorites in order to access them.

Guinness World Record

In April 2008 TrackMania Nations Forever got an entry in the Guinness Book of Records for the most drivers on one track. The previous record holder was TrackMania Nations with 132 drivers on one server. The current record is 254 drivers.

TrackMania DS

TrackMania DS
Publisher	Focus Home Interactive Atlus
Erstveröffent- lichung	November 14, 2008 March 17, 2009
platform	Nintendo DS
genre	Racing game
Game mode	Single player , multiplayer
Age rating	PEGI

TrackMania DS, released in Germany on November 14, 2008, is the first game in the TrackMania series that was not developed for Windows. It includes the rally , desert and stadium environments . The player can decide whether he should complete more than 100 routes in the game modes race , puzzle and platform in solo mode , or compete against up to four friends in multiplayer mode. The route editor, which contains over 150 components, is also integrated.

TrackMania Turbo (Nintendo DS)

TrackMania Turbo
Publisher	Focus Home Interactive
platform	Nintendo DS
genre	Racing game
Game mode	Single player , multiplayer
Age rating	USK PEGI

TrackMania Turbo is the successor to TrackMania DS, released in 2010, not to be confused with the game of the same name released in 2016. As with its predecessor, there is a solo mode and a multiplayer mode in which up to four players can compete against each other. The solo mode comprises over 150 routes in the four different worlds Stadium , Snow , Coast and Island , which can be driven in the game modes Race , Puzzle and Platform . Furthermore, you can create your own routes with a route editor or generate them randomly.

TrackMania Wii

TrackMania Wii
Studio	Nadeo
Publisher	Ubisoft
Erstveröffent- lichung	September 23, 2010
platform	Nintendo Wii
genre	Racing game
Game mode	Single player , multiplayer
Age rating	PEGI

TrackMania Wii is the version for the Nintendo Wii game console that was released on September 23, 2010 . It contains six environments, Stadium , Island , Coast , Desert , Rally and Snow . The only thing missing compared to TrackMania United Forever is the Bay environment , which could not be implemented for the Nintendo Wii due to too detailed textures .

The player can either play with other players on the Internet via the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection or play on one device via split screen with up to three other players. TrackMania Wii also has a route editor, as with the other games in the TrackMania series, with which you can build your own routes, which can then be uploaded via the Internet.

ManiaPlanet and TrackMania²

→ Main article : TrackMania 2

The successor to the TrackMania series, TrackMania² or ManiaPlanet , was released on September 14, 2011. It includes an improved graphics engine, new environments and is partially compatible with its predecessor. TrackMania² currently includes four environments ( Canyon , Valley , Stadium and Lagoon ), which have to be downloaded individually as titles via the associated platform ManiaPlanet . In contrast to TrackMania United , the environments are not explicitly combined. The so-called title packs have also been added. These are an additional expansion that appears in ManiaPlanet like an independent game. They are mostly based on one or all of the 4 TrackMania² environments.

TrackMania Turbo

→ Main article : TrackMania Turbo

TrackMania Turbo , the latest in the series, was due to appear on November 26, 2015, but was postponed to March 24, 2016 due to the lack of time for fine-tuning and bug fixing by Nadeo. It contains many new game features, better graphics, new driving physics and will not only appear (as originally planned) for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One game consoles , but also for the PC. TrackMania Turbo contains modified versions of the TrackMania² environments including the Rollercoaster Lagoon environment introduced with it .

TrackMania: welcome to the club

TrackMania: welcome to the club is scheduled to be released on July 1, 2020.

Dedicated server

Nadeo provides the software for creating your own servers in the TrackMania series games free of charge. There are several different versions of it, whereby all versions contain interfaces through which one can access the command list in the dedicated server via an external script. This resulted in some nifty tools from the community that actually use all options of this command list and have many functions. Records can be saved, routes managed and many other things (see on this topic as well).

copy protection

TrackMania Sunrise , TrackMania Original , TrackMania Nations and TrackMania United are supposed to prevent the creation of copies of the original CD through the controversial StarForce Keyless copy protection . A copied game cannot be played online as each serial number is registered on the main server. However, offline copied games have no restrictions. Each serial number can only be used once, is tied to a player and is verified with the login. This means that all key generators (" keygens ") are superfluous. Another disadvantage of StarForce is that these older games (except TrackMania 1.0 and 1.1) can no longer be started normally from Windows 8 onwards , as the copy protection incorrectly prevents the game from starting due to insufficient compatibility with the operating system.

Web links

• Official website

Individual evidence

1. ↑ website
2. ^ Metacritic.com search for "Trackmania" , August 28, 2016.
3. ↑ Official announcement of the new release ( Memento of the original from October 12, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
4. ↑ Toolbox of the official forum
5. ↑ Official forum from TrackMania 2