 DirtTwister
takes a lap around "Lost Meadow"
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Lost Meadow starts out the MotoCareer National Series 1. There are 3
National series in the game. The first series consists of 3 National
tracks (Lost Meadow, Sugar Ridge MX, and Moto 448).
This is a great track to open up the National races. It's easy to ride
but has several tricky sections that help you learn how to control
your bike and rider. The first turn has a traction breaking bump and
the first stretch is an easy rhythm section that will introduce you to
the benefits of matching your bike's trajectory to the rhythm of the
track. There are several turns that make you jump while turning and a
nice big air finish where you can practice landing the big ones.
This track will rut up but not as bad as others. It's a good
introduction to the terrain deformation that happens in the game. In
several places the AI will leave ruts that are a good indication of
the best line to take through the course. All in all this is a great
track to practice your skills and a great place to race when you are
racing others with similar skills.
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The Start
Don't get caught sitting at the start gate because you were looking at
the scenery. As soon as the gate drops you have a slight uphill climb.
Right after the top of the small hill you drop down across the bump
into turn 1. If you are tight on the inside it's easy to kick sideways
and
catch the bales or lose momentum. Stay smooth through here.
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Turn 1
The first time through this right hand downhill sweeper turn is easy, but every
other time you come to this turn you will have much greater speed and the slight
bump as you enter the turn will cause you to go airborne. You better plan for
it.
As the laps go by the surface will get a little rougher and it is very easy to
turn too much and get sideways. It's tough to be patient to wait for the bike to
settle. It won't rut much here, but that bump and the little traction available
will keep you on your toes the entire race. Of course as always it is good to
keep your speed up through this turn so that you can clear as many of the jumps
as you can on this next straight.
There are plenty of options to help you. If you look at the takoff under the
foot bridge you will see a nice big bump just to the left of center, that will
help you depending on your speed. This takeoff is at it's lowest on the right,
it is higher on the left, and it is at it's highest where the bump is. The
variation across the top of this jump will let you fine tune how you attack this
straight. Based on how well you did in the first turn, you need to decide which
part to use. If you do get a little sideways or get taken out, it is possible to
stay to the right where the first jump is a the lowest. This will let you get
your speed up and double the first jump fairly low. It is quite possible to
carry a lot of speed down this straight and if you find yourself on the left at
the end it will be tough to turn inside any other riders. There is a slight bump
entering turn 2 that will make it difficult to turn at speed on the inside.
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Turn 2
If you take the time to putt around for a lap or two you will see that the
tracks are already slightly rutted before anyone rides on them. The rutting that
the tracks start with is almost as much as people that made tracks for Motocross
Madness 2 (MCM 2) and MX vs ATV Unleashed (MVA) were rutting their tracks. The
fact that they can do this and rut the track even more as each rider passes by
while maintaining the control of the bike is quite an accomplishment. In MCM 2
when you rutted the track it didn't take much to make the bike act very oddly
almost sticky and then it would be difficult to turn. The bike still reacts to
the ruts, but it does it in a way where the rut feels like dirt and not
concrete.
If racing the AI they will all stay up high out of turn two and a rut will build
up there.
Turn 2 is a more then 90 degree left hander. It is good to keep your speed up
here, because if you do the next series of double, double, tabletop into turn 3
will go alot smoother. Usually there is alot of bar to bar going on into and out
of this turn. It usually causes some exploration of the dirt to the left and
right of this straight. Keep your speed up and you should be able to stay near
the middle and smoothly jump through this section. If you do lose momentum it is
usually better to roll a jump and make sure you get a good run into the next
double or you will waste time casing your way through. You can waste a lot of
time trying to get back into a rhythm, so it's usually best to do whatever it
takes to get into the rhythm right way.
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Turn 3
This turn is very fun especially when closely racing others. If you did the last
straight correctly you will have more then enough momentum to clear the table
top. You need to actually lift a little or scrub some speed in the air to make
sure you land before the right hand turn. This is a nice sweeping almost 180
degree turn. It's very fast and very easy to go wide. It's best to remember and
treat it like a 180.
I find having decent track maps helpful because the turns don't always seem what
they are. Sometimes a turn looks like 90 degrees or slightly more then 90
degrees and it is really 180. I did not realize that this turn and the next one
were 180's until I looked at the track map. If you click on the screenshot on
the right you can see just how tight turn 3 and 4 are. The race track is coming
back by and if you look just to the left of the bike through the trees you see
the hill that can cause you problems in turn 5. The foot bridge to the left is
the same one that you can get quite familiar with if you go too wide on turn 5.
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Turn 4
After a very short straight you head into another very fast almost 180 degree
left hand turn. There is plenty of berm to rail around the outside. If you end
up getting one with the dirt, stay to the inside of the turn, the beginning of
the next straight is smoother, so it should be easy to get back up to speed.
Coming out of the turn there are about 4 bumps that go from about 1/5th of the
way from the left side of the track all wthe way to the right side. You can
pretty much ignore them if you are at speed and it is very important to get
setup for this next section, which can be very tricky.
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Turn 5
The straight between Turn 4 and 5 is really an arc. At the end of an arc is a
double (really a table top) that throws you into turn 5. You are already turning
as you enter turn 5 and you are carrying a lot of speed. If you continue on with
this arc through turn 5 you will end up hitting the right side of the foot
bridge that crosses the track right before turn 6. It's important to not over
jump the small double going into turn 5 and to setup to stay tight to the left
over the small hill that brings you to the foot bridge.
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Turn 6
As you go under the foot bridge the track turns slightly to the right as you go
over a double. It's important to land this double in control so that you can
setup for the next double that brings you into turn 7. As you take off on this
last double before turn 7 you need to make sure you keep turning to the right as
you thread between hitting the trees on the right and jumping too far to the
left, and missing the turn. This is because turn 6 really goes from turn 5 all
the way into turn 7. You want to land on the left side in turn 7, but it can be
tough to stay smooth and thread the needle so that you land in perfect position
for turn 7.
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Turn 7
It is really important to adjust your speed and stay in control as you enter
turn 7. It is very easy to either over jump into 7 because you have stayed in
control and timed your jumps perfectly or miss turn 7 completely because you
have jumped too far to the right or left or lost control a little and cased the
landing.
Now that you are in turn 7 stay on the gas and rip around the slightly more then
90 degree corner. Prepare yourself to start doubling around a tricky corner. You
can double 3 or 4 times and throw in a triple if you feel like it.
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Turn 8
Turn 8 is really a series of doubles with a possible triple. Stay centered or to
the left and avoid the rocks on either side. This turn will lead you into a
right hander.
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Turn 9
This almost 90 degree right hander is a small jump into turn 10. You should stay
centered or to the right of center. It is very easy if you have your speed up to
jump to the left here and clip the rocks on the inside of 10. I think it's a
safe bet to say that if you have ridden this track you have done it.
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Turn 10
This is an almost 180 degree turn that is very easy to treat like a 90 degree
turn and end up in the rocks on the outside. You want a good exit speed here, so
that you clean the triple-double coming up.
If you look up into the rocks on the right you will see a photographer up there.
He spooked me once when I was turning around after a spill and I saw something
moving in the rocks. He walks around and squats down to take a picture, so look
good.
You can see him in the 2nd picture on the right. Also take a look at the ruts
and how rough the outside is in the area where there isn't any ruts. This
picture gives a good look down the next straight into turn 11. The jump with the
Shift banner is the triple and the next banner is the double into 11.
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Turn 11
It is very easy to over jump the double leading into turn 11. You may have to
let up or drag your brake slightly. When in a tight group racing you can pass
people here by cutting inside them or railing around the outside.
The exit to 11 is really important because it will determine whether you
triple-double, double-triple, or skip skuff your way through the next series of
jumps. You should make your decision as you exit turn 11 which you want to do.
If you can't triple in, then be sure to adjust your speed for the double.
Something in between will cost you a lot of time as you case a couple of the
jumps.
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Turn 12
Hopefully you have exited the triple-double at a nice pace and can rail around
the outside of this almost 180 degree turn. Speed is rewarded here because you
have a long straight coming up to bring you to the finish line.
The first table top jump that you will hit will suck you into jumping too far to
the right. Just realize that the face of the jump is at a slight angle to the
straight. So be sure to either be going absolutely straight or angle slightly to
the left as you take off. Try not to overjump so you can put the power to the
ground for the uphill charge to the finish line.
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Finish Line
Plenty of air here to do tricks. It is easy to get very casual here. Remember
because you have so much air it is important to adjust for your landing. More
then one cocky rider has done some tricks as they begin their last lap and
knocked their front wheel out from under themselves.
Enjoy the view, but remember to use the throttle to get your front wheel back up
so that you land nice and smooth and setup for the fast turn 13.
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Turn 13
A very fast almost 180 degree left hander. As the race progresses this turn will
develop several ruts. It's important to be smooth to keep the bike moving
forward.
You blast down the start line straight and head on in to turn 1. Remember what I
said about turn 1.
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Scawn7's - Riding Tips for Lost Meadow
