JackMProductions

Sign-ups for Season 2 of The Long Game will open on Saturday May 9th at 6PM EST. Any posts before the start time will be disregarded. Sign-ups close on May 23rd, one day before our pre-season event. Here is some important information to read before signing up: When choosing your truck, be specific as to which variation of the truck you will be running, if you're running a truck with multiple variations. - A truck like Grave Digger or Bulldozer runs on multiple chassis with multiple setups, so be specific as to which one you will run as you must run that setup for the entire season. (Wild Hair must run the Replica setup) - The name of each variation will be in parentheses next to the name of the truck on the official sign-up list, if it has more than one. - Different paint schemes do not apply if the base of the truck is always the same, so there is no need to clarify in that case. Just make sure it is period-correct. Some trucks may not be finished before sign-ups open, but if the truck is far enough along in progress to where it can be spawned ingame, it will be included on the sign-up list. - More trucks may be added in the following weeks prior to the first event of Season 2 as they get finished, so keep an eye out for fresh picks in case your favorites get taken. Already-released trucks may be updated as well before the season starts, so be sure to download the latest version at all times. Each sign-up entry must follow the blank format below: Full Name: Truck (and variation if necessary): Hometown: Discord Name: Years in Competition: The full list of trucks to choose from will be posted below. Our two current champions Trevor Alston and Danny Walker get first choice 24 hours before sign-ups open. They have yet to choose their trucks. Reserve Drivers: If every truck is chosen, drivers can still sign-up as reserve drivers and would leave out the Truck part of the sign-up format. In case any driver decides to drop out of competition or leaves the league for any reason, the next reserve driver in line would take their spot. If it happens during the regular season, they get their points as well. Reserve drivers must take the soonest available truck if they are first on the list.

It will be posted soon, either today or tomorrow.

Season one of The Long Game comes to a stunning conclusion as 12 of the league's best drivers descend on Sam Boyd Stadium for the World Finals! Will Danny's racing win-streak remain intact? Who will be bold enough to win the freestyle championship? Find out now!

In this thread, we will post all video coverage relating to The Long Game. Be sure to subscribe to our official YouTube channel for instant updates on future videos! Here's a playlist of every video from Season 1 of The Long Game, minus the World Finals, in case you missed it. (Note: The editing quality drastically improves by video #3)

Welcome to Rigs of Rods Monster Jam: The Long Game! The Long Game is a replica league centered around different eras in the history of Monster Jam, going in linear order. TLG has already completed its first season earlier this year (1998-2002) before expanding to Sim-Monsters, and is preparing to start a new one this month(2003-2006). Official sign-ups will open on May 9th with the first events starting later this month. This upcoming season will include: - A set list of trucks to choose from - One pre-season event, followed by 10 regular-season events - A World Finals championship-event at the end of the season - 16 competitors per show, each qualifying to enter - Era-appropriate video coverage of each event on YouTube - Replicas of trucks that competed in Monster Jam at the time We are still working hard on various trucks and tracks for this upcoming season, trying to make things even more faithful and true-to-form than before. We hope you keep watching our content and choose to compete in this season yourself! This thread is here for those who want to find any important information about The Long Game. Announcements and important news will be posted here as well. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ In order to compete in The Long Game, you must join our official Discord server. All events will be held on the server, and it's the best place to contact any of the administration. https://discord.gg/WGJqyN9 ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Important League Links Rigs of Rods: The Long Game Official Rulebook https://docs.google.com/document/d/1nGH4Jjq4I5v7jghtWY5PGz8PcbHa8HZMbmpU0XD4poc/edit TLG Season 2 Tour Schedule (Events/Dates subject to change) https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1rZeq04qbJYJMZ-aGiUg9Bfp6Jh5QDIPtbsdZ0oQ8Awc/edit?usp=sharing TLG Season 2 Points Standings https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1LKTrrTxXlT4XX4BPZR7F1pldSPISQ-9owihycw_Aijs/edit?usp=sharing Required Light Tree (Used during Racing competition, created by Andrew Wamsley) https://drive.google.com/open?id=1ZDnTd5l-8nuU3el19-p0G08kQulYEcR3 Required Crush Cars (Used during Freestyle competition) https://drive.google.com/open?id=18fu6JqOoeljmk3tlHA_fM33IuPIiz61S ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Important Threads/Topics Season 2 Sign-Ups Thread: TLG Video Coverage Thread: ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

MTM2 tracks are made of various objects that are placed on a fixed, textured plane that acts as the ground surface for said track. It's more like a formula, where everything is placed at certain coordinates along with their collision surfaces and the ground textures as well. The original concrete RoRMJ tracks were made roughly the same way but with collisions already there by default. Not counting those, almost all RoR tracks are one single 3D model made in Blender with all the objects, collisions, and the ground surface already attached to it, so there's no need for coordinates to tell the game where they go. It's all one piece.

View File JackM's Collectors "Sling" Truck Sound Pack Here's my first sound pack that I'm releasing on the website, and my first file period. These sounds were meant to be used for a truck like Gunslinger/Slinger when I was making them, hence the name "Sling" in the file, but can be used for any truck that uses collectors. I encourage you to do the same, because I think these turned out pretty well. I may go back and make changes at some point and may have made a mistake or two, but it's my first file, after all. Let me know what you guys think. For this pack, the trucks I sampled were Gunslinger, Reptoid, and Xtermigator. Here's a video of what they sound like in game. https://streamable.com/9j9xzo Be sure to give proper credit when using these in your truck. Submitter JackMProductions Submitted 04/01/2020 Category Truck Building Items  

This is my go-to example when thinking of a joke truck that people can make for RoR, not being serious, and here you are actually making it. Bravo.

Not to mention, I don't know how much "integrity and legitimacy" monster truck racing really has, honestly, at least in the eyes of the audience. For as long as I can remember, it's been seen as corny and low-brow. Hardcore fans were arguing that back in 2001 because of freestyle taking over racing. I usually say that monster trucks are for people who only like NASCAR for the crashes, and considering most people my age don't like NASCAR, the destructive nature of monster trucks can't be so bad. We've been over this same topic before, too. Of course people enjoy seeing the trucks race each other for the sake of competition, but I'd say the vast majority of the audience wants to see the overall performances a lot more, whether they come in racing or freestyle. It always been a spectator-sport. It was all about racing back in the day because all those trucks really could do was jump onto cars at high speeds, and that was the performance. That was the most entertaining thing you could see, and we've come a long way from then. I yawn at backflips, having seen ten thousand of them, but that's still one of the most entertaining things a monster truck can do. Not that racing and fair competition don't matter to me, of course. They should always be there, but it's not what people care about the most.

Some highlights from the first monster truck show in Aloha Stadium in over 20 years. I'll update this post with clips from tonight's show once it happens. May 4th May 5th

I'm all for getting rid of cars in arena shows if it means making those safer, considering how badly Monster Jam had to take it in 2009, as far as safety concerns go. I can tell you that the 4 first-timers I brought to Monster Jam today were disappointed at the lack of crush vehicles, but they still really enjoyed the show, to no surprise. It's obviously not the key factor in making this sport entertaining, but destroying smaller, insignificant vehicles is always a nice touch. Both Oakland shows were good, with the second standing out the most. Dirt was very soft all weekend. Lots of broken trucks all weekend, and no Dalmation for show 2. Digger won both racing events and Max D won both 2 Wheel's. Mohawk won freestyle on Saturday and Grave Digger on Sunday. El Toro and Saigon had one of the closest races I can remember seeing, with Scott winning by three hundredths of a second. Saigon really stood out this weekend. Was the racing runner-up on Saturday and finished second in freestyle on Sunday with an amazing run. Some highlights from Instagram

They do contribute to the entertainment value of a show, but not for you. I don't think the spectacle of a truck destroying something is lost on most of the fans in attendance. That being said, "free-standing" cars have been antiquated for at least 15 years now. Even back when there were still some steel-bodied cars around, they were flattened halfway through the show. Kozak is right in that modern cars are worthless against a monster truck if they are to act as any kind of obstacle. Part of why most promotions give them a dirt base to sit on or place them on top of tires. My idea for Monster Jam is to place them on top of the jumps so they can get destroyed, like you would see in the late 2000's, but don't take anything away from the jump itself once they're crushed. That being said, I also saw a video yesterday of Avenger landing on two "free-standing" cars and popping two tires in the process, so it seems BKT's have a hard time doing any crushing of that sort. Cars are still expensive and tough to bring in and out, but it's not like they're using two dozen cars per track like the were a decade ago.The pre-crushed cars that they put in the jumps now are nice decoration, but not using them wouldn't make much of a difference. It's kind of a rock-and-a-hard-place scenario.

Honestly you could make 20 Deja Vu's and they'd all be worthwhile. The simple but impressive aesthetics of your paintjobs are what really make them stand out the most.

I've noticed that too. Probably why a group of 50k people don't make the best judges. There's quite a few ways Monster Jam could go with this. I don't think they've ever had professional judges, at least not as a regular thing, since freestyle became scored nearly 20 years ago. They should definitely try that, having hired judges, so the fans don't have to boo themselves and so it would be more fair to the drivers and their points. Also, I remember at the Back to School Bash last year they scored on criteria, rather than just an overall number. That might be worth trying out, too.

To clarify, I never actually called you an oldhead. It's just that there's a lot of people out there who constantly talk about the "old days", and those who are sick of hearing about it. There's good points to be made on both sides though, and that tends to get lost in the mix. You're right about Monster Jam having this Disney-esque gloss coating on it. It feels kind of patronizing, and I don't think most people are going to care about how pretty the presenters and drivers are at a monster truck race. I think most people like an announcer who is knowledgeable and actually has information to give, instead of someone who is very zany and doesn't offer much insight or knowledge. This goes for all sports. You don't have to be cynical or pessimistic to notice that, either. Obviously little kids won't mind, since they don't have that critical eye yet, but I learned a lot listening to the announcers when I was a kid and people who aren't that knowledgeable about the sport can as well. My dad was watching the NBC debut show, and noticed that all the drivers at the Monster Jam University were all being trained to perform the same moves; all the stoppies, moonwalks, backflips, etc., and how they're being trained to be homogenized performers. Kind of takes the uniqueness out of the many different competitors we can have. That being said, I think the playing field in Monster Jam is the most even it's been in almost 20 years. The trucks now are stronger than ever, so if we're pushing them harder and harder in freestyle, why not do the same in racing? Your idea of a put-your-truck-to-the-test racing show is great for that. Like I was saying before, the trucks are much tougher and stable under pressure now, so the racing would have to accommodate to that in order for it to really be as entertaining (generally speaking) to watch as it was in the past. Monster Jam bringing back the points series makes things much more legitimate, instead of all those time in the 2000's where we'd wait for all the company trucks to be announced for the World Finals and find out which indy trucks were going to make it in the final 5-6 spots. It makes sense how the freestyle overtook the racing in terms of interest, where the more generally entertaining aspects took place there (aside from the World Finals racing). It's really fascinating in hindsight, because I think people have felt the same way you do for almost two decades. Not just people who are allergic to change, either. I was going back and reading all of the old Truckworld articles from the early 2000's, and after World Finals 2, there were plenty of people who didn't want Monster Jam to become a stunt show where it was all about destroying the trucks, which is when ProMT was in their heyday. This was also when Monster Jam was starting to build their own trucks, and there were worries about every truck becoming homogenized and the company trucks getting the best parts and the most money. We've been seeing the effect of that ever since. Really, most of my gripes are about the presentation, and less so about the competition. None of it makes me hate FELD or Monster Jam, unlike how a lot of Tim Horn's out there love to do. steiale is right in that the events are aimed primarily toward kids and families, and has been for many years now, but I don't think it's impossible for that audience to enjoy something that takes itself more seriously or has more legitimacy. Meaning, it doesn't have to strictly be appealing to them in order to get their attention and money. Even if 90% of the audience doesn't care about the presentation or legitimacy of the sport, why alienate that 10%? I don't think the 90% will mind if things are a little more professional, while still keeping the main aspects of a great and entertaining show/experience. As far as your political argument goes, the gun debacle is over two years old, and I don't think it was done to be PC as much as it was done to not seem in poor taste after the Orlando shooting, considering they go to Florida every year and Gunslinger is from Florida. It's not like they had a truck called "Gun Nut" or "Mass Shooter", but they decided to prevent any possible controversy before it happened, even though it's now having the same effect from the opposite crowd. It can get annoying when anything is hammering you over the head with morality, but I don't really mind it because it doesn't effect the main product, and it's coming from a good place regardless. I mean, them saying that there's great male and female drivers isn't factually wrong. We just get cynical about it. It's not like the sport has to be offensive in some way, either. Also, El Toro Loco is huge with the hispanic audience, so doing an interview in Spanish isn't completely illogical.

I realize that. I'm saying it's remarkable that it didn't end up worse than it was. Looked a lot worse when I saw it live from a different angle.

Megalodon's wreck from San Antonio. It's remarkable how undamaged the truck ended up being.

Since almost every other post I see that's critical of Monster Jam is usually pessimistic, melodramatic, or whiny, this is definitely refreshing to see. Honestly I think it's almost impossible to reminisce about the older aspects of monster truck racing without sounding like an oldhead haha. I've also been thinking about ways to revamp the racing courses, since the racing in Monster Jam seems a bit too smooth and controlled, if that makes any sense, especially compared to freestyle. It's still "real racing", but doesn't feel like it's on the ragged edge. That might just be because of how much the trucks have developed in terms of handling and performance. Not that they should jump through flaming hoops, but I know there's people on this site who have come up with some great new racing ideas, Danny Mackey being one of them. I think the common caricature of a monster truck show has almost always been that of a wacked-out, low-brow stunt show, rather than that image being something that's developed over time. As much as Monster Jam adds to that, I don't think they're solely to blame. I'd guess somewhere around 80-90% of the attendees are casual fans and usually expect those high levels of carnage that you'd see at a Monster Jam or Throwdown show. Monster trucks are kinda like NASCAR for people who only like the crashes. I've seen plenty of backflips, stoppies, moonwalks, etc., so I'm not really excited by them anymore unless they happen unexpectedly, even though they're always impressive. Most of the fans love them though, so I can't really get upset. I do think it's making things harder for independent promoters though, like you mentioned, and has for years. Since Monster Jam has taken the entertainment aspect so far, it's a lofty expectation for other promoters and drivers to be able to hold their own in comparison. Now don't get me wrong. Fans aren't only capable of enjoying the stunts and destruction, and can absolutely enjoy intense racing. I just don't think a racing-only monster truck show is viable in this day and age, especially since most people don't know that these shows even have racing to begin with. However, it would have to test the trucks in a similar way to how freestyle does in order to really work. I think you're right in that there's still much that needs to be done in order for more of the audience to enjoy the competition as much as the entertainment. There's got to be a happy medium somewhere between intense racing and entertaining freestyle, I would assume/hope.

You didn't think to write "Dear Gary Busey's mom..." before that? I don't even dislike him, actually

It sucks because I really like the look of that truck, and then you did that to it.

Not that I know of. I think the NRA just found out about something that happened two years ago, and assumed that it was because of some kind of recent outrage or backlash, even though there wasn't any. Really it's just a non-issue that they didn't know about until now. San Antonio Zimmer won racing and crashed, and Pauken won 2-wheels, I believe. Saw freestyle on a livestream. Lots of trucks broke early, and two of them on the first hit on the same jump. Megalodon Fire had an intense double-rollover crash but somehow looked to be unharmed. Whiplash won.

Ah, you're right about that. I only saw the isolated clip on Instagram of the incident and thought that clip was it. That being said, Brodozer could have still done the same thing in any other spot before Hurricane completed his run, like in one of the turns where he's rolled before. Even if the race was already over for Hurricane, them almost colliding is still not okay.

Another issue I noticed with the 4 truck racing is how when Brodozer spun out, Hurricane Force wasn't able to complete his race properly, to no fault of his own. I don't think that's fair to the other driver who isn't able to finish their race because of what happened to a completely different truck. Here's a clip of what I'm talking about.

Not only do I doubt this, but your argument is very narrow-minded. You're acting like people can either want any possible innovation/evolution at all, or none whatsoever, when most people are making clear arguments of what they do and don't want and aren't talking about absolutes. I think four trucks running two different races all at once is definitely a bad idea.. It reminds me of why tandem freestyles were nixed, one of them being that it's too difficult to focus on multiple trucks at once unless they're all doing the same thing. It just turns into an assault on your senses and not to mention, doesn't serve any real purpose or fix any issues.