OK Everyone, so basically I've decided to leave my Arcade Game project alone at the moment, and instead explore a field that is interesting to me. Level Design, I just borrowed a book on Level Design and I've found the perfect place to start.
OK, so this is about the Daytona USA 2:Battle On The Edge track Astro Waterfall Speedway, AKA Forest Island. Which I consider one of the most underrated levels in Video Game History in my opinion.
So here we go.
Astro Waterfall Speedway is more than just any track, it is an Oval circuit located inside a massive dome, that has a forest in it. And the dome is just amazing, the forest section is on the 2nd straight. And as well as that, it is a fully functioning racing circuit inside a dome. Now the Dome's location is undisclosed, but strangely enough, there is something similar to this dome, called Tropical Islands just 50 Km south from Berlin. The dome is like I said, one of the most intricately designed levels in Racing Game history. And it might not be one of the best levels in the world(it's too underrated), but it has several waterfalls with realistic water particles, birds flying ahead.
Apparently though, International Speedway Corporation weren't too pleased about this speedway, so they asked Sega to make a "Power Edition" of the game so that it looked more like Daytona International Speedway.But I like this version better.
Now what I also like about this circuit is it's realistic implications, so indoor kart racing circuits are a thing at the moment, and so is a basic Indoor Stock Car racing league in Virginia called Arena Racing USA. I watched Logan Lucky last week, and they said that Charlottesville Speedway is "Practically a City" so it's got a condominium and all that. Stuff like this Speedway could only possibly exist in the future. But revenue through the racing means that they probably realistically would make a lot of money. Also this circuit is larger than Tropical Islands resort, and unlike Tropical Islands, which was converted from an Airship Hangar, this must have actually been the original case for the Structure, who knows how much it costed. But when Daytona was recently Facelifted, it cost $400 Million. So that's one thing.
Anyway, I think I know what inspired the "Forest Island Dome", Center Parcs in the UK. They have a dome similar to Tropical Islands and I'm pretty sure that this "Subtropical Swimming Paradise" may have been a research location for Sega.
Daytona USA 3 is merely a rehash compared to Daytona USA 2, which actually features original, intricate track design and really good graphics. The main mechanics of Daytona USA 2 and graphics just make this level work. Here it is in action.
Anyways, that's it, I'll see you later when I do more level design featuring Kingdom Hearts II, Tomb Raider 1 and Ridge Racer.
Shinji.
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