MTC - Ritornello

MP4 Update: Shadows have been recalculated, and a bug with the GPS has been fixed. I also changed the double-stacked signs to remove the ghost blocks in light of MP4's sign stacking feature. As such, the course had to be revalidated.

Ritornello. Noun. A recurring passage in Baroque music for orchestra or chorus.

My entry for the March 2016 Monthly Track Contest! In short, you had to build a multilap track where at least two of the laps went completely separate routes. This track covers that by going backwards along the route the second lap with a few segments that only occur on either the first or second laps.

Overall, there's not a whole lot of crazy stuff going on. It's mostly asphalt, but there's a few notable dirt segments mixed in. There's quite a few spots that threaten to downshift you. I tried to make sure the signs were adequate and clear, so you shouldn't have a hard time finding where to go. Regardless, there's a GPS in the false finish to the right of the start. Also of note: this being a large Valley course, there's a lot of trees. The display cost of this course is a bit on the high side, so lower-end PC users might have trouble with this course.

This theme provided a surprising amount of stuff to think about. First off, the first lap had to be notably slower than the second lap, or else people could just respawn and do the first lap again. Secondly, the second lap had to be accessible only after completing the first lap; you shouldn't be able to simply turn around and take the second lap as your first lap. Besides those, you also had to be conscious of CP placement. They all had to be hit no matter what lap you were on, so you couln't place any in segments unique to the lap. This made cutblocking much harder. As you might notice, I used quite a lot of items to prevent (or at least disuade) cutting. The communal CP requirement is also why I always paired up my CPs; one for each direction you pass. If I didn't do this, respawning would be a pain for one of the laps.

Features
- Ultra quality shadows!
- Intro, In-Game, Outro, and Podium sequences!
- 16288 coppers of scenery! Trees are expensive...
- Modified medal times!

Good luck and have fun! Also, thanks to Music Appreciation for teaching me the word "Ritornello!" At least I got something out of that class...

Want to see some fancy screenshots? Find this track on the Steam Workshop!

Get a feel for the course by watching my YouTube video! Alternatively, if you don't want all the fancy cams, you can watch this version instead.