User:Jefe
About Me
I recently began modding Mario Kart Wii, but I've been modding Unreal Tournament 2004 for years, and run an RPG invasion server. (You fight against waves of monsters, pick a class and learn skills as in an RPG.) You can see some of my custom skins here and maps here. My nickname is pronounced with an H like this: Heh-fay.
Links
Xfire: jefejefejefe
Epic Forums profile: jefe
MarioKartWii.com profile: jefe
YouTube channel: reidevjord
YouTube playlist of my custom tracks: watch
YouTube playlist of some of my UT2004 stuff: watch
I maintain a collection of CT models and components on Google 3D warehouse. If you'd like me to any of your models to the collection, upload it to the warehouse and post a link to it on my talk page. You can also find my components listed on the Model Database where they are free for CT makers to reuse. You can also reuse textures and other parts of models from my levels. If you do so, please credit me in the track's readme and on the track's page on the wiki.
Mario Kart Projects
I don't consider the majority custom levels, texture hacks, or character hacks to be actual "hacks" but instead modifications or mods for short. While the first few custom levels to be made for Mario Kart Wii were indeed created by hacking the game, most levels since then have simply used the tools created by the people who initially deciphered the game, MrBean and Chadderz. I approach creating content for MKWii in much the same way I would with Unreal Tournament 2004, which shipped with an official level editor. In both cases I try to make quality mods with the tools available to me.
Rooster Island
My first Custom track, which took about a week to model. It took another two weeks to completely finish. I wasn't sure what from-scratch custom tracks were capable of and what limitations there were in terms of poly count and textures, so I aimed for something simple, with an intentional N64 vibe. Since there aren't any tools for lighting levels properly, I also picked bright, vibrant colors. I based my textures and colors on Mario 64, another game that didn't have light sourcing. I am mostly happy with the results, although I am disappointed in SketchUp's lack of texturing options, and had to change some of my texture choices to simple textures that wouldn't show alignment errors prominently. Otherwise I really like the program.
F-Zero White Land I
Even though I grew up in the era of the SNES, I didn't get into F-Zero until GX came out. I wanted to pick an easy project for my second track and I wanted to do something from a MODE 7 SNES game that hadn't been done yet. I choose this level based on the map images on vgmaps.com. The layout looked good for Mario Kart, unlike many of the other tracks, which are dominated by long straightaways. A cool feature of this track is a series of nine jump ramps surrounded by off-road sections, which translate quite well to MKWhee, but are challenging. This level received a substantial revamp after I was finished with Rezway II.
F-Zero Big Blue
My third track. I wasn't going to do another F-Zero level originally, since I don't want to be strongly associated with making just one type of level. Big Blue is a bit longer than White Land I at the same scale, but is also an easier track. The original level has no jumps or boosts, just a few sharp turns, a very long straight away, a few rough spots and one slippery bend. In my remake, I added several boosts and increased the amount of sand in the rough areas to provide some challenge and shortcut opportunities. I also decided to make some futuristic dome structures to flesh out the level. I'm very happy with how this level turned out. I later went back to White Land and added similar structures.
Rezway II
Prompted by a discussion on Youtube, I had recently written a tutorial on how to remake paint tracks with SketchUp, while keeping the original scale and and KMP layout. I asked Trent Rez if I could take a stab at his remaking his old paint level, and the result was my fourth level for Mario Kart Wii. The billboards I made for Rezway II are available here.
Kitchen Ace
My fifth track will be another original level. Its working title is Kitchen Ace, sharing its name (and only the name) with the song from the DOOM level E1M4. Unlike the DOOM map, this level is set in a kitchen. It's a mini-me level and will feature racing over pieces of a toy track and a counter top. I was getting tired of doing remakes, all of them being flat, so expect plenty of jumps. This project was on hiatus for some time, but I have recently began working on it again.
Possible Future Tracks
(In rough order of likeliness)
- Another original design.
- A reverse Rooster Island, possibly set at a different time of day. (I actually had this in mind when originally modeling the level.)
- Another F-Zero level or something from another Mode 7 game. Possibly something very unexpected based on another SNES game.
- A mini-me level. Your character is about the size of a mouse inside of a normal sized room. These are very popular in FPS games, but I haven't seen any CTs like this yet. Waluigi Pinball and the Block Fort/Plaza battle courses are the same concept.
- A mini-me level based on building blocks or legos.
- A from-scratch remake of a Stunt Race FX level, a game I did play a lot. (I really need to locate another cartridge for easy reference.)
- An iconic level from a FPS game like DOOM's E1M1 or GoldenEye 007's Dam. Story or mission levels tend to have a linear structure, these could be adapted for racing with a little ingenuity.
- Something like DM-Hyperblast2. I will probably never end up doing this exact level, because there are so many limitations to doing the animated texture effects, but the exterior of the ship would be fun for racing.