I agree the changes to TM look very drastic. I also agree that changes to promote safety and good racing is necessary as time goes on and people get smarter.
However, TM as we see it takes some strides in becoming a proper racetrack, yet is still a ways from actually being one, as other members have pointed out the total lack of runoff and safety on the track. This I think makes it a rather identity confused track, because it attempts to appease the nostalgic fans and FIA at the same time, yet it doesn't feel like it does either at all. Of course, with this being a very early build, things could, and are most likely to change. But with the entire trailer based in TM, I don't know how much they
can change it before release before people start calling BS all over again.
Me personally, I've always loved the death chicane in the OG TM, simply because it was a quick and easy way to flip cars to check out their underbodies (look, I'm weird, okay? Leave me alone). Again, with no runoff and being rather blind, you could very well be taking the corner full speed, only to be greeted by the front bumper of a car that just spun out, held on the driving line by the pit wall. Not to mention all the accidental side nudges such a chicane would induce. I want to be optimistic and say that the changes to TM are indicative of the planned improvements to the rest of game; maybe we will actually have consequences for bottoming out or scraping a lip of a car. Maybe we will actually have suspension damage simulation for mowing over humps and bumps now.
If it were up to me, I'd keep the changes to TM as seen in the trailer, with one exception: the final chicane. I'd carve out the new chicane, while leaving the old tarmac of the old chicane completely untouched. I'd then put yellow lines and chevrons over the old tarmac to act as track limits, so anyone who crosses the line gets penalised for track cuts. That way, the track is FIA ready, while OG fans get to drive the old chicane casually for fun.
It really is a shame about the flattening out of the back straight, though. It's Trail
Mountain, it's
supposed to be hilly and rocky. Can GT3 cars not handle something so gentle? I guess that means we're never ever getting Seattle if that's the case
I'm going to miss the rock outcroppings and the monkey on that one tree trunk on TM.
Here's the thing though: I don't know if TM
should have been FIAtified to begin with. Not every road in the world is meant to be raced on. Heck, not every
track in the world is meant to be raced on, with the Nordschleife being the most prominent example. Yet, even tracks that aren't meant to be raced on have their merit and value. The Tokyo Expressway tracks in particular, born in the e-sports focused title GTS, is a well known nightmare for racing. No way would FIA ever certify those tracks for racing, yet they're raced in the FIA sanctioned Nations and Manufacturers Series. I don't really know if TM really needed the extensive redesign to be better suited for racing. I'm willing to bet most people who clamour for classic tracks don't even play Sport Mode. I think TM would be better off catering to the nostalgic crowd, because I don't think you can keep the atmosphere and theme of the original TM while making it safe and civil enough to race on. The walled in by rocks feeling and constant elevation changes are what made Trail Mountain Trail Mountain.
Besides, as a ex-frequent Sport Mode player myself, I think the Sport Mode players have more than enough tracks to have a proper race on. We don't need TM. I actually think Grand Valley and Apricot Hill are the only original track that's worth racing on, as much as I love the classic tracks.