ArcadePak (Thanks for playing!!)

[Open Assets] ArcadePak (Thanks for playing!!) 1.8.1

This content may be freely modified and/or maintained by anyone.

ACStriker

SRB2Kart ArcadePak dev - living enigma
Haven't got enough from SRB2Kart? Doesn't feel like you have played enough tracks? Want to Record Attack some more? Well, not sure how you will fill your pockets for what you want, but here's something for you, kart racer, and something more for you, record attacker:
ARCADEPAK!
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...The original description with 1.3 update is below there; as some stuff will need some readjusting later on (namely the ghosts, which could be a bit inaccurate in some slightly modified sections of certain tracks; and entirely missing for the new track). However, this 1.4 update not only applies some pending fixes, but also adds a whole new track: Tricolored Space Zone!

That said, there were some tweaks that I finally applied (and detailed v1.35 changelog after a while), and of course I will try to finish the polish in this update as time goes on. Feel free to let me know about any new feedback regarding old and new tracks!


1.3 description
If you have been around since the release of SRB2Kart, you should know how (relatively) easy it is to make tracks, but not so much to make them quality. And you should also known that I have made some few tracks here and then in the past, including Dinosaur Canyon (Daytona USA) and Big Forest (Virtua Racing). Well, for those that have been waiting for more, and after my arrival from being absent 3 months ago, here's what you wanted! 5 tracks (maybe) for you to sink your teeth, all with ghosts for Record Attacking; some new ones, and some returning from my previous follies.

While this pak had already been released some beginning December, the new 1.3 update packs some neat stuff in store, including an addition to the previously 4-track lineup:
Big Forest has returned big time! The beginner course from Virtua Racing, that I previously released standalone back in April 2019, was given an update with higher accuracy to source, decoration additions, and the addition of what everyone expected last time...MORE TREES!
...oh yeah, and the ferris wheel is (mostly) in now :3

Several bugfixes and visual improvements to the other tracks have been done too, and on top of that, there's now the aforementioned Record Attack ghosts (absent in the initial release), featuring Yoshi, Pilzkopf, Star, myself, and MrNin. The Thunder-colored Sonic ghosts are my first recorded attempts, while the black Sonic/Metal Sonic ones are the ghosts I grinded my best >:3
And then there's MrNin ghosts, which defeated all of my aforementioned ghosts...but summing it up, there's an variety of ghosts, ranging from intermediate skill to real tough, so good luck for you all speedrunners!

I want to thank everyone on this community for such awesome support and creations, as well as the SRB2 Staff and KartKrew for their excellent gems that are their games; and HUGE thanks to the fellas that submitted their ghosts for this release. I hope you enjoy playing this as much as I did (and hopefully much more as I did to get unstuck during this trip).

Until the next update!

Current maplist:

Hidden Map - MAPE0
A blast from the past? Maybe. Is it new from this update? Actually yes. Are we going to know what it is? Not if you don't find it out yourself.
Thanks to Bluegen for the assistance with this one.

MAPE1 - Virtua Circuit Zone:
A 5-lap circuit inspired by the Model 1 and 32X games, with flat colors used for the style of this short but speedy track. Watch out for the colored glowing pads, as green ones are boosters, yellows and reds are springs, and blacks are hazards!

MAPE2 - Snowdust Valley Zone:
Jump over the valley, drift near the drop, and fly over a fan-filled pit in this snowy mountain; now filled with trees overwatching your race!

MAPE3 - Mount Acres Circuit Short:
This track returns from the past in ArcadePak, bringing some new few additions, but the same fun layout as before!

MAPE5 - Polychrome Polygon Zone:
Flat colors are back, and this time with a vengeance: This unique track, filled with floating cubes and crystals has an alluring artstyle and many speed-heated turns; and with items it gets much more hectic! Will you take it safe over the upper path to lob spikeballs at others? Or will you go through the lower path for faster times?

MAPE6 - Tricolored Space Zone:
Looks like space, but more polygons and 5-lap goodness! Make sure to stay on track, take the closest turns and make the best of all the jumps you can find!

MAPEB - Big Forest
The beginner course from Virtua Racing once again shines with its polygonal trees, mountains, and a nice view over the lake from the bridge. After you are done racing around, check out the ferris wheel!

Changelog:
v1.4:
Tricolored Space Zone
-exists
Snowdust Valley:
-Finished the starting lane details (lol)
-Lowered tree density to avoid clipping/framerate drops
-Altered one of the pits in a semi-hairpin turn
Maybe other stuff I have forgotten

v1.35: Hotfixes including checkpoints.
Virtua Circuit:
-Finished barriers (outside area)
-Finished first hairpin walls
-Added extra detail to road and finish line
-Removed green glow from section

Snowdust Valley
-Changed booster pad appearance and adjusted locations
-Added a FOF on the first big jump
-Extra visual details

Big Forest VR:
-Made some lines impassable, thanks to Scootie for pointing me that out
-Start lane flag says START now (accuracy)

V1.3: Everything above, and the details here:
-Virtua Circuit Zone now has glowing panels, unintentional skip patch, and there's some extra details added.
-Snowdust Valley has extra decoration.
-Mount Acres Circuit Short had some checkpoint issues and a death sector on the bridge fixed.
-Polychrome Polygon Zone received some slight extra details, unintentional skips patched, and the lower area now has offroad in the rightside path, so you need to either go left there or bypass the offroad.
-Big Forest has several changes from its initial standalone version: Name conflicts fixed, checkpoint bugfixes, expanded decoration like flags, mountains, trees and the ferris wheel, visual accuracy changes, skybox slight adjust and minimap replaced, and the entire map has been scaled to an slightly bigger size overall.
-There's an extra secret map added.

V1.0 to V1.0b: Initial release, as well as initial patches to fix some things broken out of the box

Credits:
-LJSTAR: Sky texture for Big Forest
-CoatRack & RoyKirbs: Additional assistance for Big Forest
-Eldog: Tipped me over like a cow to make me do the ferris wheel rounder...and it worked out well
-Bluegen: For helping me a lot in updating...the secret map, while I was without internet.
-Yoshi: Helped me test several checkpoint issues in Mount Acres Circuit Short
-MrNin: Pointed me out several unintentional skips to patch (Thanks a lot!)

Staff Ghosts Contribution Credits:
Virtua Circuit Zone: MrNin, Yoshi, Star
Snowdust Valley: MrNin, Yoshi, Pilzkopf, Star
Mount Acres Circuit Short: MrNin, Yoshi, Pilzkopf
Polychrome Polygon Zone: MrNin, Yoshi
Big Forest: MrNin, Yoshi, Pilzkopf, Star

Special thanks to Eldog, Faytstayx, Cactus Fantastico, Onion Knight, Mr. Logan, Halatnikov, and everyone else in the KartKrew Discord for their great feedback.

NOTE: The GIFs on the post are currently outdated, but I'll update them ASAP.

BONUS: Video with a Making of Polychrome Polygon Zone, having almost everything of the track being made from scratch to what it is now.
 

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Last edited:
V1.3 has been just released! It includes bugfixes, extra decoration and stuff, record attack ghosts, and Big Forest!

...and maybe something else out there, who knows.
 
Heads up about that I replaced the PK3 with an RAR compressed WAD since I had been reported about how the PK3 for some reason didn't add any maps.
 
I really like the design for these stages, it makes me wish more people knew about this map pack. Though I should point out in Snowdust Valley you can't get over the gap at the beginning if you are in the shrink effect. Which will make you loop back to the beginning until shrink wears off. Just a little heads up for those that forget to disable shrink when playing Srb2 Kart.

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V1.4 is out!
On top of a new track being added, some fixes were made overall!
 
ACStriker updated ArcadePak v1.5 (NEW TRACK - Ridge Turnpike Zone) with a new update entry:

ArcadePak v1.5 - First 2021 update arrived!

At long last, after many months of inactivity and GBJ/cheap skip reports, today I finally officially deliver ArcadePak v1.5! The new big features are PlayerBots support, several issues getting patched, Snowdust Valley having a touchup, Polychrome Polygon Zone getting the orange lower tunnel removed, and a brand new track: Ridge Turnpike Zone!

While the current post also has the changelog, you can check it below here as well if you want

General:
  • All maps (except...

Read the rest of this update entry...
 
ACStriker updated ArcadePak v1.5 (NEW TRACK - Ridge Turnpike Zone) with a new update entry:

ArcadePak v1.5a - Triblue hotfix moment

So just one day after v1.5's release, Triblue had found some few unchecked unintentional skips/GBJs :oh:

  • One of VR Big Forest stretches no longer has slope physics, preventing a weird hop from happening if going too fast in there.
  • An invisible safety bridge in Snowdust Valley was not in the right place for some reason; its fixed now
  • A slight change in Tricolored Space...

Read the rest of this update entry...
 
Hello everyone! I have taken a while into providing a new update despite several reports of weird issues that showed up in certain tracks, but I wanted to know if people wanted to give additional feedback about the current version of the tracks, since I could see if I do tweaks for the next version (which is something I'd like to hear as soon as I can, since I want to add reverse versions of tracks and I'd need to have the tracks fixed before starting work on that.

One thing I can mention is that the blue ramp jump in Tricolored Space Zone is being replaced with a bridge to the red area to address two reports related to that part, that it might be made slightly bigger as I heard some people mention that its a bit small, and that I'm still trying to decide what will be my next track featured in the update.

Any feedback you can provide here would be incredibly useful and I would appreciate it, since as I have got internet back since some few months ago, I'd really like to deliver a new ArcadePak update for everybody to enjoy :)
 
ACStriker updated ArcadePak v1.5a (NEW TRACK - Ridge Turnpike Zone) with a new update entry:

v1.5b - The long due meme hotfix

First of all, apologies for the many months that the reports "went unchecked"; I was aware of most that were fixed in this bugfix since months but either I happened to be incredibly wrecked with university, or was offline and couldn't really access Internet outside of rare instances.

The changelog is as it follows:
Virtua Circuit:
-Raised a bit an outside orange wall
-Fixed a small sector missing the finish line effect

Snowdust Valley:
-Made those out of bounds fence areas...

Read the rest of this update entry...
 
Tricolored Space has a death loop if you die and respawn at the check point right before the red section.

Also, I think VR Big Forest's item set distribution is relatively dense for how small it is. Five item sets on a 4-lapper, with two pairs of them being ~7 seconds from each other makes the map heavily item-dependent.
 
ACStriker updated ArcadePak v1.6 (NEW TRACK - Dynamite Wilderness) with a new update entry:

ArcadePak v1.6

Changelog:
  • A new track, Dynamite Wilderness Zone, has been added, complete with PlayerBots support! (MAPE7)
  • Ridge Turnpike Zone had some few visual tweaks (mainly replacing some textures and removing fences in the starting areas)
  • A small detail regarding cup names was changed (TCZ used to have an erroneous "Villa Cup FINAL"; now its renamed to "Stratos Cup 1"). I might end up rearranging and renaming cups in a future version, though I don't know when.

Read the rest of this update entry...
 
ACStriker updated ArcadePak v1.6 (NEW TRACK - Dynamite Wilderness) with a new update entry:

ArcadePak v1.6a (Another day-one patch...with a gift)

So uhhh the reason why I call this a "day one patch" despite having taken some few days is because I wanted to fix this ASAP...but only recently I could somewhat sort out my internet connection (spent entire day trying to fix between modem and router...right now I could only do with plugging directly to modem while its late). The thing is that I had left maps using v1.5a versions instead of v1.5b...but along with rectifying that, I had enough time to do some extra adjustments...

Read the rest of this update entry...
 
Did some playtests on the new map we found two issues:


All the replays files can be found on here.
Ah, I didn't see this before (MB notified me about a review but not about a message here? weird); sucks that I happened to miss this for the first patch. I'll see if I can patch it up and find anything else to tweak so that v1.6b doesn't feel like a microscopical change
 
ACStriker updated ArcadePak v1.6a (NEW TRACK - FIXES - BONUS TRACK) with a new update entry:

ArcadePak v1.6b (yah, yet another hotfix)

Changelog:

General:
  • Renamed "Nagoshi Cup" to "Arcade Cup"
  • Renamed Tricolored Space Zone to Trichromatic Space Zone
  • Patched some unintended oddities using impassable linedefs (FL_GUI, Triblue)
  • Due to changes in Big Forest and Jungle Fort Long, both tracks have new ghosts
Big Forest:
  • Fixed misplaced seat on the ferris wheel (Saturn)
  • Relocated and reduced item box sets to 2 (RetroStation)
  • Reverted to no booster on pit lane (RetroStation)
...

Read the rest of this update entry...
 
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The Final ArcadePak Update? Thoughts on a new canvas...

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While I was unsure where to post this (on a pastebin or something), I thought in doing so here as it happens to be directly related to ArcadePak and would make sense that its kept here for future reference.

Hey. So it has been a long ride up to here, and I definitely have a lot that I want to say about that...but right now I want to focus on a message that I've been thinking about a recent feeling of...tiredness, or burnout? I'd say that it is more about feeling a bit stumped on how to work or improve upon the current track bases...without starting from anew. I wanted to try and improve some of the tracks visually and even tweak their layouts, like Virtua Circuit Zone (which has some few a bit oversteep turns, a lot of panels with stuff and the visuals definitely could be better now), Snowdust Valley Zone (I had started working on a revamp from scratch with UDMF as a test some months ago for that matter), Mount Acres Circuit (visual tweaks, potentially smoothing out the layout itself, and having a proper groundwork to make a new "Long" variation) and Jungle Fort Long (which would quite benefit from a complete makeover and layout tweaks considering its an unreleased track), while on others I simply don't have much to add or change outside of any small tweaks/fixes needed, which would be with the rest of the maps.

Why do I mention all of this? Because between the maps that I would like to rework potentially needing (or preferrably using) to start from scratch, and the rest not needing any overhauls (or not having any idea for them), I might end up rolling out the following update or series of updates as the "last" ArcadePak versions as they stand now, considering this one new update with a new track is basically v1.6 but with the new track being basically DLC (aside from a couple of possible tweaks from recent feedback), and if I were to continue making tracks for the pack, it would stay in that same way. Now, its not that I would feel angry about adding more maps on my pack...but more about the "number incrementing version" system starting to fizzle out as the closest to a current "final" version aside from new maps this is getting to be. It is also somewhat related to my idea about, if I would make a full rework of most if not all the maps, THAT would be what I'd want to call "ArcadePak v2" from the tracks having a new coat of paint and tweaked layouts based off the original tracks after years of work.

In the end, what does all of this mean? I have shown a couple of screenshots here and there on the Discord server, but there is a new track that I'm basically done with and outside of waiting for feedback and maybe some extra decoration, it should be good to go. However, I'm unsure if I will be continuing to push ArcadePak updates after this one, and right now I don't even know if I want to push this update as "v1.7" or a "v1.65" or "v1.6z" as the number considering that, outside of what is likely going to be a few midtexture corrections, fixing the bots in VR Big Forest (because recently I stumbled upon the bots messing up on a turn now for some reason) and a certain item position change in RTZ that I don't know if I will go through in first place as I haven't seen more people mention that. And yes, there was at least one or two more tracks that I had on the works but so far I've been stuck with and thus not likely that I will get to push them out soon either. However, considering my spotty record of actually keeping up to roadmaps or planned ideas (I haven't completely forgot about SRB2Xtreme...but I certainly haven't thought on working on that since the last release either...), the whole "ArcadePak is now final" deal should be taken with a pinch of salt with how sometimes I feel on the floor and then the next day I just pump out something at record pace (the new track literally started as an April Fools joke idea that I didn't finish in time :oh:)

Pictured below, the current state of what would be this new upcoming map, "Backroom Velocity Zone"; the story on that name as well as the track itself will definitely be something I'll talk about in another time, as I will mention below...

kart0086.png



TL;DR: Likely burnout, lack of ideas to change some maps, and feeling like I need to start on scratch for others to make a proper revamp/overhaul, that are making me think on making the following update the "last ArcadePak v1.X" version until something new comes to my head or I change the release number formatting so that I can still push maps like "DLC"to what would be an otherwise unchanged map-pack.

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The Future for the Pak: Tentative ideas for "ArcadePak v2" and writing about the development history of ArcadePak and its tracks

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So the title does explain a lot by itself so I will try to be brief with that:

  • This "ArcadePak v2" would be about the "v2.X" versions of the pack, though I've been thinking about tentatively giving it the name "Super ArcadePak" as well, though I'm not sure if I would want to reserve that for the hypothetical Kart v2 version of ArcadePak...but as it obviously stands now, both of these names wouldn't be about a "ArcadePak for Kart v2", but rather about the next big leap for the mappack which would involve visually and/or layout-revamped tracks.
  • That new revision idea came from wanting to attempt a Snowdust Valley revamp by testing the UDMF feature in SRB2 v2.2, which is where the video below comes from and why it is with Modern Sonic instead of...well, Kart. While it is obviously rough and not completed in any way, it is the closest I can offer to a glimpse of the idea (as well as what I had thought for a revamped SVZ) that I would like to bring in the future.

And what about the ArcadePak "development history writing"? Simple, in the situation of not having much new content to provide for ArcadePak itself in the meantime, I thought on the idea of talking about how some of the tracks came to be, the ideas that came through making them, how they changed between versions, how other people helped me on their creation either by feedback or by contributing something, inspirations, my own personal thoughts about working on them and how they are now, and so on. It would pretty much be a diary/retrospective devlog of everything I've made here up to this point, and it would be genuinely fun for me to leave all those thoughts immortalized somewhere as part of my small but fun legacy here.

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Uhhh...where all of this does come from?

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I know that's probably not a question that you're really thinking of when reading this, considering that having to consider a mappack or some creation like this as "completed" or wanting to "retire" from it for any number of reasons is not uncommon, but I would want to address that on top of what I mentioned at the beginning, the drive to make revamped maps and write about the current ones, while yet having motivational issues on work on what's already done, is about a certain personal thing that happened recently. To put it simply...a lot happened and ended up missing the mark on a university project, which means that I pretty much now have an entire year of mostly free time as I had done everything else "well enough" but have to redo the year just for that. Barring the strange reasons for why it happened, it sure has left a dent on my thought process, and while it does objectively leave me with more time, the issue stems on how it stresses me on...not being able to use effectively or creatively this spare time, which is why it gets me frustrated to want to do more for this on revamping some tracks but feeling stumped, and not finishing track concepts. I guess that at the same time, the whole idea of "oh hey so I should pour EVERYTHING OF MY SOUL AND HOUR OF MY LIFE IN KART NOW THAT I HAVE SO MUCH TIME" is also what gave me some unexpected whiplash on my creativity, with my head having ideas on how much more bigger I could make ArcadePak be with ported tracks, new tracks, reimagined tracks, and so on, but between my shaky attention span, having sometimes some falls on my mood, and certain ideas getting much more complicated to work on than I'd imagine or not working out as I envisioned, getting me thrown for a loop when I think on promises and can't deliver them even for myself...

Sorry if this (as well as everything else) comes out as unexpected, and it probably does sound like a rant, but all of this is something that I felt I needed to get out for myself, for anyone that would express interest in this, and even for my own expectations, thinking that this is some big DLC project with a worldwide public of fans awaiting for each next new thing and my head running with what to impress everyone with and solidify ArcadePak as something noteworthy on Kart history...but objectively being simply a mappack that I started on the wake of a passionate drive from Kart's release back in 2018 and my first shabby maps turning into a drive for making fun maps to drive on my own, and while I would definitely get the joy to eventually see people enjoying my maps, at the end being nothing in the grand scale but some maps I made for a fan-made racing game that, even if I think still deserves more attention from the public from everything awesome it does and everybody else's creation, feels that has been dwindling in popularity to me for whatever reason, and even my own drive falling apart with my own growing up process making me realize things being much tougher than what they are and having not much to do but to clench your teeth and smash your face in, while having less free time to work on stuff like this, losing attention for the game itself, and the fact that since Kart's release in 2018, I've practically developed and designed these tracks for my own racing because I don't really know anyone on my country that plays Kart, only having good 150ms ping on certain USA servers at certain times long ago and everything else being 200ms and upwards because I'm fom Venezuela, and recently my internet connection making the idea of trying to join netgames much harder...





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but is there hope?

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I do hope that with me putting all of this out, I can free some steam off my head, work on those plans that I've mentioned so that I can fullfill that what I have wanted to do (very likely the first will be those ArcadePak "devlogs"), and also see if I can get myself on a better mental headspace for the rest of the year while waiting for that next chance to do things right, finally go into the last year of my university career which should have started on THIS year, and even work on a trailer for this new ArcadePak version considering that there's barely any footage of these tracks online as well as my last ArcadePak trailer EVER being of v1.3, which definitely doesn't reflect anymore the tracks featured (and several new ones being absent as well).

wish me luck, thanks kart community for everything, love you all, my birthday is near the end of this month which is also why I want to see if I can make the trailer thing as a gift of what will be my 20th birthday and what has been 4 years of my life karting and making maps for people to kart and get karted on :sadthumbsup:
 
ACStriker updated ArcadePak v1.6b (NEW TRACK - FIXES - BONUS TRACK) with a new update entry:

v1.7.0 - Backroom Velocity Zone is here

  • New track: Backroom Velocity Zone, complete with bots and ghosts
  • Bots in VR Big Forest got fixed; there was an incorrectly paced gather point out of bounds for some reason :oh:
  • Fixed an incorrect linedef in DWZ
...and yes, that's all, though this is also coming with a new versioning number system (thanks Ashnal): 1.X updates will be for new tracks, while 1.X.X updates will be for hotfixes, instead of the previous "a/b/c" method.

Read the rest of this update entry...
 
Even if it feels like stuff is stressing you, I still adore this pack. Good work!

PS: You might want to double check VCZ's botpath...
 

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