So, a major project is about to be underway on the server. After doing the Scavenger Hunt and realizing how much fun it is to ride boats on top of ice, I was contemplating the idea of doing a race track of some type. Of course, this is Cemetech, so we needed to go big. So I though, why not go to one of the most well known Auto Racing Tracks, Daytona International Speedway.

So, the plan is to replicate the track as well as possible in an approximately 1:5 scale. This results in the backstretch of 200 blocks in length. (For reference, the backstretch is listed at 3000ft. To make calculations easier, we are assuming that each block in Minecraft is one yard for this build). The track is fast, with times down a current model of the backstretch at around 10s to complete, give or take. This should result in times right in about the 40s to 60s mark around the track if people are able to handle the conditions.

There is a current mock-up that Elemental and myself started on to see how the scale was going to work, as well as the turning on ice. With a small section of tri-oval completed, as well as Turns 1 and 2, and the backstretch roughed out in a creative test world, this resulted in quite a bit of fun to handle the boats in a confined area as this.

In addition, we have mocked up a Start Finish line system. For races held there, we have the ability to do standing starts (as opposed to rolling starts more common in auto-racing). Standing starts will be easier to control. We have a set of pistons pushing up blocks that prevent people from using the track until lowered. This will be placed far enough back from the Start/Finish line so that traveling over that section will not slow boats down (the Start/Finish line will not be made from Packed Ice). We have also mocked up a way of doing Pit Road as well. Boats will be slowed down to a point that they can climb a water stream and then float on through past pit stalls. This will increase accuracy, as well as not allowing shortcuts to be taken. Pit Road tasks may be added to races as well (e.g. Each Player must travel down pit road once and enter their Pit Stall, come to a complete stop, and then exit).

In addition, the track will feature a set of Grand Stands surrounding the Tri-Oval section to match what is current use. One top will be a control area similar to a media booth. The controls will be placed in that room, for the race official to use (or have in an area for a flag waver to start the race).

Once the track is complete, I would like to host a racing event to christen the track. The plan would be to build up the track outside of the Packed Ice. Once the build is complete, the ice would be laid out on a Monday, and the track open for Practice from that point on. Qualifying for races will be conducted on Thursday and Friday evenings, with a race (or races) on either Saturday or Sunday.

Of course, a build this big will require help from the server to make happen. While we don't have number yet on the amount of materials needed, some I can tell you know that will be needed in great quantities will be:

Packed Ice (Racing Surface)
Yellow Wool (caution strip around the track)
Nether Quartz (Potentially, the wall material is still being discussed).
Grass Blocks (for the infield)
Smooth Stone (between the infield and racing surface.
Iron/Iron Fence

The grand stands will likely be made from:
Dark Oak
Birch
Acacia

Please note that this is not an extensive list of blocks, but those willing to help with this project would be greatly appreciated. Once a location of suitable size has been located out, terraforming can start for the initial layout. We are looking for an area sufficiently large enough to accommodate a structure that will be about 325 blocks * 250 blocks (either orientation will work), and flat enough that the terraforming will not be a large project in and of itself. I will be providing beacons to assist in this part (and get good use out of some new Unbreaking V tools).

A rough image that we have so far is:



Please note that items may not be in the correct locations as of yet, this world is for testing, but I wanted to help put the scale of items into perspective. The taller black pillars along the back wall are at blocks 0 and 200. The green pillar is 100, and the purple are blocks 50 and 150.

Any comments on this project will be greatly appreciated. We are open to suggestions, and any assistance people are willing to give will be greatly appreciated.

I have a lot of sheep, so I'll be willing to donate uncolored wool for the project (and colored once I get a flower farm up and running).

A quick update. The basic modeling of the track is complete. The corners are in need of a little refinement to get the look just right, but barring a major redo of that, once the area is picked out and terraformed up, the track building will be able to commence on the server itself.

Elemental, LittleMoonBeam, and myself were racing around the test track for a bit today, with some quite interesting results. As for right now, the track record stands at 31.1s for a lap, held by Elemental, and he says that there is room to still bring it down a little bit more. This track is fast, and should create lot of enjoyment once built up. Looking on the map, it will also be a well defining feature given its size. The dimensions are going to rival the spawn area once complete.

The location has yet to be finalized. If you have ideas on where we should place this structure, we are all ears. The dimensions as they stand for the track (without Grand Stands) is 353 x 187. Ideally, I would like to run the 353 dimension in an East/West Direction, as it would look better on the DynMap (the Cemetech Logo will likely be placed in the Infield, and the logo will face the Grand Stands), so it would be nice for the Cemetech Logo to be the correct way on the map. If you know of a good area to start, please let myself or Elemental know so a decision can be made and the terraforming can begin. Beacons will be setup for anyone willing to assist in that part of the project.

For the finish line, you could put the white and black colored wool underneath regular ice so that there is still visibility but no slowing.
Or put cobble slabs over the whole track so it looks more like a racetrack.
A Redstone timer clock that records your time would be an interesting endeavor, although possible very difficult.
Lining the track with slime blocks would be cool as well, or at least the turns so that you don't get caught on blocks. This would be very expensive, but cool.
These are just some ideas.

I think the layout we have makes sense. As long as you hit the Start/Finish line at speed, there is no appreciable affect on your speed with the blocks there (and it is made using Coal Blocks and Pillared Quartz for textures). With the testing done so far, hitting the line at speed is fairly easy, and most people should have little issue navigating the tri-oval after a couple test laps.

[quote]Or put cobble slabs over the whole track so it looks more like a racetrack.[quote]
Are you talking like a roof over the track so this way it appears normally on DynMap? I don't think slabs will let the boats move at ice speed.


Would be good to use for Qualifying and Solo practice laps. Different ideas Elemental and I have tossed around for a way to keep track of laps completed, but haven't really found one that wouldn't have issues with multiple racers, and there is some fun to be had when there is a little bump drafting going on.


Are you talking about replacing the caution strip (the yellow wool) or the outside wall with Slime? The wall has been a non-issue in testing. We have not issues hanging up on the wall, and more with the boats bouncing off of them.

As for the caution strip, it actually brings in a level of challenge to make sure you keep the boat off of the strip around the track. Having the track in such a way that you can just keep moving at full speed will result in boring races for all involved.


I do appreciate them, even if they may or may not work out. Ideas people have is how these things come along and are refined to create the best experience. With a project on the scale of this, we want to make sure that it is done correctly.

When the track is made maybe consider doing special races where 2 people for each boat and one person drives and the other lays webs and shoots at others. Anyways hope the project goes smoothly!

I am sure lots of different types of races would be interesting.
Lap Time trials, races, elimination (would require some heavy moderation), Weapons allowed, select items allowed, obstacle courses, etc.

What I was intending was to directly cover the ice with slabs, but I don't really know if that would affect speed. I though that it didn't, but maybe that is only when walking.


I only notice now that you aren't intending to have outer walls for the track itself, and instead using a caution strip. That will probably work just as well as whatever I was intending.

If you are going for a more difficult race, an obstacle section may be interesting on the straightaways. Of course, a conventional racetrack would do just fine, but if you put some occasional barriers or more solid blocks to slow people in certain sections, or something even more entertaining, it could be interesting.

I have seen some interesting slime block elevating contraptions for the track to go uphill (See Here). They are pretty cool. Maybe you could add a separate obstacle course section altogether near the Daytona track. That way you are able to have the classic track, but also have some entertaining variety.

If you want some more variety, having horse races and/or pig races on the track could be interesting.
And, before we get back on topic, Jousting (with horses or boats) could be used on the straightaways.

I guess what I'm getting at here is that this is a great project, and could be used for any number of games or competitions. Could provide some variety to the common Abba Caving (although we did see some new fun with the Scavenger Hunt).

Caleb, the track will have a wall around the outside of it, with the warning strip on the inside. When I get home, I can post up a better Screenshot of what I have so far, and it should paint a better picture (test track actually has a grass infield now, so the track can easily be seen).

Yes. From the old pic, it looks like the warning strip is pretty far from the wall. DO you intend to leave it that way?

Yes, the plan is to have a 9 block wide track to allow the boats a fair amount of maneuverability while still providing a challenge. With some practice, most people should have very little issues navigating the corners. Any closer and Elemental and I were constantly bouncing around trying to get things right, and we feel too much further away just makes the track too easy. I think this strikes up a good balance.

A new image of a more completed track (the target was some other fun Elemental, LittleMoonBeam, and myself were having):


This is most likely the dimensions we will run for the track, as well as the layout. Some fine tuning might need to be done to get the curves fully right, but I am happy with the result as we have it.

The glass that is in Pit Road you see is designed to purposely slow boats down. It is not designed to be a shortcut around the track. We will likely add in some incentive to going to Pit Road, so there will be a cost/benefit to actually using it, but what that is has yet to be determined.

Also, the location has been selected and the terraforming will begin tomorrow evening. My main goal will be to layout the track dimensions fully as I have them, once that is complete, let people help with clearing the infield out.

The location for the Start/Finish line in case people are wondering will be at 200,1050 in the Ice Plains south of Spawn. There may be a small hike for people, but I would hope eventually the rails will work there way out there to make travel faster. A nether portal will of course be setup as well.

For people asking on where to send items, if you want to send them, there is now a small hut at 148,1079 that is full of chests to store items. If you have questions on what items to bring out there, or how much we might need, feel free to let me know either here or in game when I am on (also, if someone wants to be awesome and provide me with beef/chicken/similar sustaining food, that would be awesome, as I will probably be doing through the food).

There is of course planning to be done on the Grand Stands, and how to fill in the infield of the track (it is a big area), so open to ideas. One I have heard is to build RV's out there, and maybe have them become small sign shops.

By the way the first shipment of yellow wool has arrived at the shack. I also /sethome there so I can get there easily from my home/farm. I also mined some ice blocks for you, because ice.

Anyways, I'll try be of as much help as possible in this process!

I added some more yellow wool to the chest as well. About a little over a stack. There's also more ice blocks ^_^ more deliveries coming soon!

I would like to thank those who have started to provide materials so far. It is great to know that people are willing to help out with a project on a scale like this. Would make more large builds just more fun to complete on the server if people are willing to offer their assistance.

That being said, I have started work on laying out the perimeter of the track. The plan for me is to dig that out before laying down beacons, as this is a bit of precision work and I hate over shooting things. Once I have the perimeter all laid out, I will setup the 5 beacons I currently posses in the area to provide Haste II for people who want to help with excavation (if someone wants to loan a few more, not going to argue). That will be a huge part of the project.

If you look on the Dynmap, the scale of the project can be seen (works a bit better at night I think because you can see the torches I have placed). I have set down the Start/Finish line already (because it is nice and distinctive), and have started working on the chutes leading into and out of the tri-oval of the track. The chute coming out of Turn 4 all the way down to the Start/Finish line is complete, as well as half the chute going from the Start/Finish line to Turn 1. My plan is to finish up the chutes tomorrow and start on Turns 1 and 2, followed by 3 and 4. Once the turns are complete, beacons laid down and the Backstretch built (it is a straight shot, the precision work will be done.

Also, thoughts on the outer wall is appreciated. While I like the look of the Nether Quartz for it, I don't think there is sufficient quantity on the server for the build (about 34 stacks of blocks by rough calculation), so I am open to ideas on materials to use. Currently I have cobblestone laid out for a temporary wall just as it is distinctive when people might come across it, but it will come down before the build is complete.

I am thinking that either Polished Diorite or Iron Blocks might be a good look to have a white wall around the track (I am aiming for that color). The Diorite I have in my storage and can be made available quickly, and I am sure I can easily get the iron from my farm (especially if I can be allowed to AFK Hawthe at my base to let it run). Thoughts will be appreciated.

What are the coords for the build?

By the way I have an idea for the start/finish line for time trials: A stopwatch.

Video of implementation in creative:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_rRGhX27sY-eFczUlFteDFyLWc/view?usp=sharing

The Start/Finish line is laid down starting at 200, 1050. The chutes for the tri-oval extend out from there, one going to the West by Northwest, the other East by Northeast.


Good for time trials, and with a track this size, I doubt tenths of a second will matter, but would still be nice to have one more digit in both directions (people learning the track might take a minute or so to complete a lap). Of course, once you have multiple people on the track, any timer system goes out the door, so that has to be considered as well.

I actually did some experimenting with a 10 Hz clock and a non-piston counter, and results were poor to terrible, so I can't extend that way. As for going the other way, this timer is infinitely scale-able, so that shouldn't be a problem.

Thanks for looking into that. In all honesty, I think a simple stop watch might be good enough to get the times good, but we can look at some other things though.

Quick progress update. I have laid out Turns 1 and 2 today, and went about a dozen blocks into the backstretch. Plan for tomorrow is to lay out Turns 3 and 4. We are starting to really show up on the Dynmap.

Also, I am going to make a change to build materials list. Unless there is a severe objection, the walls will no longer be made from quartz and instead will be made from Iron Blocks. LittleMoonBeam and I looked into it today and agreed that for a white block, it was the cleanest one readily available on the server. This of course can still change, but something to keep in mind.

Do you have efficient iron farms for that many iron blocks?

I see it now. Origionally, I was looking for the image you had posted earlier, thinking that that was the actual track you had already finished. but I see it now. Its looking good

While it is no iron titan, I do have a 4 village farm running that I haven't used my iron from lately. Been letting it stock up though as I was thinking of setting up a sign shop with it once the rails reach my place. I will probably need a bit more, and I will talk with Kerm when I get the chance to see if I can park my 2nd account out there.