Infineon Long (New)
Project Page
| Tracks List Page | Pending |
| Category | Real Road Course |
| Configuration | 12-Turns 2.5247 Miles |
| NR2K3 Track Author | Hmmm.... |
This 'little' project stems from an encounter with another Infineon Long (details here). While working on a few fixes it was pointed out to me that the layout and the drive was "wrong". I started looking at it a little closer and indeed it was. I don't know if the inner loop/carrousel are based on an older layout but if you check the game track (orangish line) versus Google in the following photo you will see that they are not very close. (Ed. note: I saw a post that mentioned a layout with carrousel used from 1989 to 1997. This was bypassed and basically replaced in 1998 by The Chute (at least for Nascar). My best guess is that the carrousel itself was reworked after that (1998-2003?) but I have not seen the definitive story. The satellite views though plainly show the current configuration.)
Click on image for a larger view.
I initially tried several approaches. I opened both the original Infineon and Infineon Long in Sandbox and tried to remake the track there. After struggling for a bit with all the section lines and detail involved I decided that it might be better to start over from scratch and then add the extra sections and import the needed TSO's. The jury is still out. The layout was much simpler without all of the baggage. I used a Google Map image to create a background and scaled it to work. With a drag-strip marked off at 1/4 mile this was pretty easy. When I layed the track down I ended up with a final track length within 1 meter of the stated 4055 meter length (2.52 miles). Using the path ruler in Google Earth on the actual track seemed to confirm the length was real close.
So what do I have? I have a bare-ass naked strip of asphalt that hovers at approximately the right elevations. Due to several power burps to go along with a number of Sandbox crashes I need to go back through the track sections and work on the bankings again. And after that I will need to decide on my next course of action. It's not the priority it should be; I like working on the more short-range projects where the results show up quicker. But it would really be a kick to see this turn into an actual racing surface
On a side note I tried throwing the mountain 3do's into the fray just for grins. Which kind of worked. Hard to say how well without expanding the section widths and adding other track objects. However, the infield 3do will be a whole 'nother story since it obviously impinges on the new track surface area (undoubtedly due to new grade-work). I have no experience with any of the 'qualified' 3D editing programs (nor do I have them on hand) so until I decide which program(s) will give the smoothest learning curve and desired results that part of the project will be stalled.
Update 10/20/07
I revisited and changed directions again. I went back to the newer Infineon files and removed and replaced sections to get the configuration with the inner loop/carrousel. At one point I was successful at joining the old and the new. However, Sandbox seems especially inclined to crashes when working on elevations and I didn't save often enough. So I'm again thinking about my next attack.
Project Files
| Orig. Track DL (or Loc) | None |
| Supplemental Files | None |
| Revised Track DL | Pending |