Ytis Ortsnom

FAQ at the bottom

Foreword
For years, I've slowly been pushing the limits of backwards driving and mapping to new heights. And after a failed attempt at a long quality backwards map thanks to the announcement of tm2020, I started a clean attempt in the new game shortly after its release. So here I am, with many hours in the editor and a 2 month trackmania burnout in between, to present to you the longest and hardest quality backwards map yet.

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Map info
True to Nadeo's way of creating a game, at its core the map is a mess with roads in every direction you can look and sections so cluttered you could barely fit a needle in between. But thanks to the scenery housing cliffs and caves, the route gets structure and is realistically supported at every point. The route is entirely build on grid with the exception of 3 little walls I turned sideways to make some jumps possible. For the scenery, nearly everything is on the main grid as well. I placed some blocks upside down but they are still essentially on that same grid. There are a few other blocks like the pillars which are vertically offset to attach them to the roads properly and some other pillar blocks that just looked better a bit off grid to create more structure.

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Hunting competition
For those backwards tryhards that have kept the style somewhat alive over the past few years, I want to thank you with a little competition.
The map can be played on my "Ytis Ortsnom" server also available in my "Backwards" club, but it's not required to participate.

• The first player to finish the map the intended backwards way without respawning, will win 50€ PayPal.
  
• The second player to finish the map the intended backwards way without respawning, will win 30€ PayPal.
  
• The third player to finish the map the intended backwards way without respawning, will win 20€ PayPal.
  

First place
  Dog

Second place
  theinsane

Third place
Marius89

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Special thanks
  squiki.wp for the amazing screenshots. (More at his twitter)
  theinsane and   Dog for being good backwards buddies.
  Waypoint Mapping for keeping me around even when I'm not the most active member. (waypoint discord)

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FAQ:
I'm not a backwards driver, is it impossible for me to finish this map?
Even for backwards players, many will not finish this map, and very few will finish it without respawning. But if you really do want to finish, it is possible to drive the map forwards. However, your experience might be uncomfortable and your time will be slower.

I've played the map and I am too slow/fast for the map to be smooth, why is this?
The map is very difficult since 95% of the slides are required to finish the map, so being too slow is common and expected. Besides that, the map is designed to be finishable with an as wide range of speeds as I could possibly make. Which means that high speed will sometimes be punished and, although very unlikely, it is possible for some to be too fast.

How many hours did you spend making this map?
Many hours. I didn't keep track but I'd have to guess somewhere around 30-40hrs on the route including testing and about 50-70 more for the scenery.

How long did it take to set an author time without respawning?
It took a few days of hunting for the author time after I completed the scenery. Again I didn't keep track but I'd estimate it at around 5 hours with many hrs of testing when mapping the route.