I had the original idea for this track back in January, so I built a start, it was quite an original transition but I had no idea how to continue it at the time so it just stood there in my folder.
A couple months later, eyebo and I wanted to build a duo, and thus I thought about using that start and letting someone else find an idea on what to build next (evil idea, I know). But unfortunately, he was too busy with all the amazing work he does for this community so our duo project is on pause (But it’ll happen someday).
Finally, in early August, Racho cashed in on his promise to make another duo someday and then it really took off.
We exchanged back and forth quite a number of versions (42 to be accurate) while building as we kept changing small details all around the map. It is something I really like about building with Racho btw, we didn’t just do a part one after the other, but each of us changed things no matter which one built it in the first place, both whithin the route or the scenery.
Speaking of, this route is a bit unusual, as we experimented with what could be done with the dirt uphills, and off-grid items while trying to maintain a flowy path all along.
Even after the map was finished, we kept sending each other back and forth ideas for the MT and screenshot and all of the artsy stuff around the map so I guess it’s as close to a 50/50 split on the amount of work done as possible.
The « Saltating Sands » are the sand particle that leap when pushed by the wind (as Saltation comes from the Latin word Saltus, which litteraly means « leap »), and we chose this name for two main reasons : You will do some leaps while driving and the general atmosphere of the track is rocky/sandy. And also because alliterations in map names are cool (at least to us), so we wanted one.
Special thanks to Plaste and eFFect for testing the map, as well as eyebo for being busy thus giving us the opportunity to build this map !
As I pretty much said everything I wanted to say in this already too long author coment, I let Racho choose the last words and this is what he came up with :
So long and thanks for all the fish! Grab your towels and enjoy the track!
[09/09 Edit] Resaved an item and recalculated shadows to fix some aesthetics issues