| TM Interview Project - SapphiroN | 12 Mar, 2012 |
| wormi | (3 comments, 1751 views) |
Yo! Welcome to the third part of my interview series. Today we have a guy who can make any track look amazing – SapphiroN, the living scenery legend. You can find more infomation about the project here in the forum. -- 1. What's the weather today? Haha, it's quite alright. Cloudy yet clear. 2. Could you tell us something about yourself? Well, I'm a 17-years-old dude from Finland living in the city of Oulu (don't ever come here, absolutely nothing to see ^^). My "main" hobby is music: I play drums in a band and I do quite a lot of composing work, and I go to a music orientated school. I am mostly into metal music, but I still remain open minded for different genres. 3. How and when did you find TrackMania? It was year 2007 when I was watching this Finnish game review show, and saw the review of (you'll never guess it) Trackmania United. I remember puking rainbows when I saw all those crazy stunts in high speed. I remember it getting 9 out of 10, so I got interested. So what happened I bought TMU before even knowing TMN existed. Don't regret doing so though, more than happy to support Nadeo. 
4. Being one of the most famous scenery builders here, could you say how to make a good scenery? Umm, wow. You know, I could write a novel about this subject, but gladly I don't have to do it here since I have written a scenery tutorial already, it contains all the things I want to say about scenery building. But to give some extra tips and things to keep in mind: try to create your own style. Instead of blindly following other builders, try to create your own block combinations and stand out from the crowd. Many tend to forgot this simple thing, since taking a look at BotW, tracks there look awfully identical. Don't be afraid to try new ideas, people must have laughed at Da Vinci's sketches too back then when he first showed them. 5. You have talked a lot about being original and searching the limits of the game. Who are the most innovative builders here and why? True, I have a terrible "creativity-fetish" and I don't regret having it, since in combination with perfectionism it really has helped me to think outside of the box. There were some idols of course, like Arild and Alba. Boy I adored their tracks, and I still do. Creating completely new designs is what I really respect in them. Djsisi78 was a beast-like builder, building transitional tracks way before the first wave hit TMNFX. Today, I truely admire Joost's and Flyps' efforts in transitional scene and keeping the creativity alive and pushing the limit even after all these years. Oh, and props to eXtract for being the best active scenery builder. 6. To work online maps can't be too extreme. What makes a good online map? It's really not that hard. Only thing you need is a sense of flow, and a little bit of luck. By luck I mean building addictive slides is more often about luck rather than skill, I have noticed this during my years. Of course you can influence the quality of slides, and add creativity to make memorable tracks, but ultimately, anyone can build a good online track. 7. Have you ever driven in some tournaments? I have driven quite a few tournaments with DFF (Drivers From Finland) back in the days around 2009. Don't remember exactly what tournaments, but the skill level was usually pretty high, so we didn't proceed too far in the tournaments. Nonetheless, I had fun learning the tracks with my team mates and competing with other teams. Today I prefer building tournament tracks rather than driving them. 8. Have you ever tried building a map in some other Forever environment like snow or coast? Yes I have. Once I was crazy about snow, thanks to Wallaby, and tried to build a serious track. My perfectionism came to interrupt my plans so that's that really. A shame since I would've liked to get into the TMU-scene. 9. Well, will we ever see a serius TMU-map by you? Hmm.. I don't really see that happening, since United is kind of yesterday's news. So investing time there doesn't really seem worth it, since there are more lively communities, like NFX and even MX. 10. You have built two maps in TM2. What is your opinion about mapping & driving canyon? The driving physics are fantastic in Canyon, so it's a shame that the editor fails to live up to that, being the reason why I left the game in the first place. A comeback might be possible, since I really don't have any hard feelings toward that game, it's just that the community's pretty dead. 11. What other games than TM you are playing? When I just don't feel like building I like to chill to Battlefield 3, Minecraft with my friends, Kingdoms of Amalur, Left 4 Dead 1&2, or any other game I have happened to buy from Steam sales. 12. Which is the best track ever built in TrackMania? Wow, a tough one, haha. I don't want to place any track on top of my list, but some of my favourites include DarkNoob's Xanadu, Alba's whole later production, Arild's Complete Lunacy and The Epiphany, Djsisi78's Murdered, Fytrim's Black Order 1&2 and bunch of other tracks I can't think of now. 13. Does a track need good mediatracker work to be recognized or is it indifferent? I'd like to think that a great track doesn't need mediatracker, but it is a problem to certain people so it isn't quite the case. I do respect those who'd like to see a nice cinematic intro before their driving experience and I also understand them, but to me, nah. You can surely stand out with a good mediatracker, but it's all about the track ultimately. 14. Your top 3 websites, games and songs Websites: 1. TMX (duh) 2. YouTube 3. Battlelog Games (all time favourites) 1. Final Fantasy X 2. Kingdom Hearts 1 & 2 3. Spyro 1-3 Bands: 1. Opeth 2. Xerath 3. Devin Townsend 15. Describe yourself with four words. Creative, Lazy, Aware, Thoughtful 16. If you have something else to say, please write it here. Umm, hi? But seriously, thanks for all the great support and feedback during these years, I hope to bring you more interesting driving experiences in the future. And remember, keep dreaming and crossing your inner borders. 
That was well said mate, thank you for those answers! I hope you enjoyed 
See you later with another guy! 
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| pantseri writes ... | 16, Mar, 2012 |
| Nice interview! I really enjoy reading these! Sapp is a true legend of TM himself! Thanks Wormi! | |
| wormi writes ... | 16, Mar, 2012 |
Yeah drumming is fun, I do that sometimes for my own fun and others' pain too 
& thx! |
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| Nim writes ... | 12, Mar, 2012 |
Oh cool a metal drummer 
Really cool interview again 
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