Read to understand.IMMIGRATION AND INVASIONSThe first three decades after the discovering of Brazil were a period of exploration of natural resources. Only after 1530 the first Portuguese came to settle my country. Not much time after them, other people arrived here. The first ones were the Jewish escaping from the Inquisition, but, at the same time, some nations tried to occupy Brazil building forts and establishing colonies in the Northeast and Southeast. The main attempts of invasion and colonization were made by the
Netherlands and
France.
FRANCE ANTARTIQUEThe first French in Brazil were Huguenots escaping from catholic prosecution. They came to Brazil aboard of two ships led by the French vice-admiral
Nicolas Durand de Villegaignon, a catholic classmate of Jean Calvin on Theology class.
Villegaignon was a mysterious figure. Being a French citizen, he reached the post of commander of
Templar Knights of Malta, commander of the personal guard of
Mary Stewart, of Scotland and the post of Admiral in the Royal Navy, even if England and France were enemies. In Rio de Janeiro,
he built a fort named Fort Coligny, later Villegaignon, which became the building of the
Brazilian Navy Academy - Escola Naval - in the 1800s. As a Catholic, he received very well the first protestants, but, according to some information, the second wave of French Huguenots was not welcomed by him. He asked the pastor to list his personal creed in a paper sheet; after reading, Villegaignon may have given orders to execute the leader and the rest of the Calvinists were banished from Coligny. Until today historians have doubt about Villegaignon's personality. Nobody really knows if he was a hero or villain or both. Years later, the French were defeated by the army of Portugueses leaded by Estácio de Sá, founder of Rio de Janeiro, with the help of the local natives. Even so, we have a huge population in Brazil with French family names like Jobim, Bertrand, Chauvet, Blanc, etc..
BRAZIL'S GOLD RUSHThe Brazilian Gold Rush started in the early 18th century, mainly in the province of Minas Gerais, Southeast Brazil in the region of a town named Villa Rica, later Ouro Preto (Black Gold). Not only gold, but many kilos of diamonds were founded there. The gold and precious stones were extracted by African slaves and Brazilians who left other occupations to work on the new trend.
The gold was taxed at 1/5 and transported on carros de bois (ox wagons) passing through the
Estrada Real (Royal Road) from Minas Gerais to Paraty, in the province of Rio de Janeiro, and, after turning into gold bars in places called
Casas de Fundição (foundry houses), they received the seal of the King of Portugal. From Paraty, the gold travelled to Rio where they were embarked to Portugal on Rio's harbor. From 1700 to 1760, a monster amount of gold was extracted from diverse points in Southeast Brazil: more than 1,000 tons of gold. At the time, Portugal and England had a Treaty (of Windsor), which had a direct influence over the commerce between both. The goods manufactured in England were sold in Portugal and paid with Brazilian gold.
In 1776, Adam Smith said "Almost all our gold, it is said, comes from Portugal", but the real origins was Brazil.
According to Brazilian, Portuguese and British historians, 60-90% of those 1,000 gone to England and were the financial basis of the British Industrial Revolution. According to some theories, this giant amount of gold turned into money was used by the English bankers - mainly the
Rothschilds - to pay the debt of the United States on bankruptcy in 1870 after the Civil War.
The baroque towns had masonic architecture and were basically ruled by members of Brazil's freemasonry. Some of those, became famous due to the failed attempt of independence - the
Inconfidência Mineira - started supporting the popular hatred against the high taxes, the
quintos, culminating in the execution of Brazilian national hero Joaquim José da Silva Xavier, the
Tiradentes.
BAROQUEThe word baroque is Portuguese and it was originated in Brazil. According to available information, baroque, meaning irregular pearl or stone, was the term used later for anything rustic. However, the real meaning could be
barro oco (hollow clay), in reference to the hollow statues filled with gold sent to Portugal from Brazilian to their Portuguese relatives to avoid the payment of the high tax of 20%.
PIRACYThe French pedlars knew about the travel of the gold from Minas Gerais to Rio. This information reached the ears of
Louis XIV,
Le Roi Soleil, almost bankrupted circa 1710, after years of war against the Netherlands and others, including the support for the War of the Spanish Succession and the absurd expenses in banquets with useless members of the French noblesse.
In 1710, the buccaneer
Jean-François Duclerc came to Rio in an attempt to steal the gold what came from Paraty to Rio's port. Duclerc and 600 pirates were captured. Duclerc was exterminated in the prison by hooded men. One year later, Louis XIV authorized
René Duguay-Trouin, Lieutenant-General of the Naval Armies of the King", to travel with a fleet of 17 ships and more than 6,000 men to steal the Brazilian gold. The English secret service warned the authorities in Brazil, but no special providence was taken by the king or the governor in Rio.
THE BATTLE OF RIOThe fleet of Duguay-trouin arrived in the last days of autumn. He planned to attack Rio precisely on September 11 (these people like this date), but, at the time, the Rio's bay was the most impenetrable in the world due to the two fortresses, each one with batteries of 20-30 cannons, which crossed fire in both sides of the bay's entrance. No one could invade Rio. However, Duguay-trouin was tuned on the Weather channel and watched the weather girl (this is a joke, it's obvious
) informing about a dense fog in Rio in the next morning. He waited until the next day and involved the impenetrable bay and a battle happened. The pirates landed and invaded the streets of Rio and the local population escaped to the unban Forrest in panic. Then, the pathetic governor asked for help and troops came from São Paulo.
THE TRACK, A TIME TRAVELThis is my main, preferred and best project ever. Not only due to the fact this is in my country, Brazil (or a fictional Brazil), but because this portraits a "epoque" whose history and music has strong attraction over me. The complexity of some textures and buildings, as well the galleon makes this one better- by far - than Las Dunas Stadium, which already represents the first attempt to take the game to a next and upper level of details instead the old style with very simple tracks with boring textures.
When I play Sonic All-Stars or Formula 1 Race Stars a lot of ideas comes to my mind - my brother too - and I wish to make Supertuxkart looks even more like a pro game for sale. This track tries to reach another level with much more objects and realism, always respecting the style of the game.
This track is situated in a fictional town named "Vila do Ouro Branco" (White Gold Village) located somewhere in the fictional Brazil-like country. The town has strong references taken from the baroque towns of the, at the time,a province called Minas Gerais (General Mines), Paraty and Rio itself. As a Brazilian, I have a lot of information about the national baroque architecture and I have seen a lot of buildings in Rio, which has many examples of this style in churches, public buildings and monuments, but, even so,
I started a deep research which ended with more than 500 pictures, some ten videos and many texts about the history, architecture, costumes and habits at the time.
On my history, the village was founded by the french
Nolokas de Ville Gagnon, so, the first name of the town was
Ville de Gagnon (nothing to do with any other character) changed,
later to Vila do Ouro Branco, a reference to the famous town Ouro Preto (black gold).
As always,
the project is totally mine, not copied or inspired by any other game. All the city plant and the 3D objects were made by myself except some objects like the cannons, cows and horses, as well a new Tux and all the hats and costumes for soldiers and pirates, which were made by my brother
tuxkartdriver. All the textures that are not part of the STK repository (ground, buildings, houses, canons, ship and costumes of the soldiers and pirates) were made by myself and they are finished except the church. The textures of nature were just applied with no special care, but the textures will be improved on Blender. The most complicated was the
peacock.
The track allows three possibilities:
1. the daily track at 6:00AM with a gradient blue sky;
2. the daily track at 6:00AM with gradient orange dim light; and,
3.a cloudy track in a rainy and cold day. I did some renderings showing the two first possibilities as well,
some renderings with fog.
The driveline is simple, but exciting, with highs and lows, no jumps, no hard points. Just a normal map. The purpose is focused on the mystery of the environment and the history itself, which is about the baroque times, gold, piracy and a small paradise in a fictional place located in Brazil, I mean a fictional-Brazil. So, the names on the plates are all in Portuguese.
The alternative path through the tunnel of batteries of cannons leads to a subterranean cave with a beautiful lake and hundred stalactites where the bunch of pirates is hidden. The karts passes over the shallow waters and get off through an exit that leads to the side of the fort.
The environment is divided in 7 parts:
1.
The entrance, with a ground in brown chess and the big palace of the province's governor built in 1606, which looks like typical palaces built with neoclassic architecture in the XVII/XVIII Centuries across Brazil.
2.
The square, with the Casa de Cadeia e Câmara (a mixture of city hall and jail), the Casa de Fundição (the foundry house of the official mint), the Casa dos Quintos (the office of the royal treasure, where the locals and gold miners paid the taxes of 20%), the house of the Contratador-Geral de Diamantes (the General contractor of Diamonds, the man who had the official contratc with the king to buy diamonds from the miners. The general contractor was the wealthiest man in Brazil. At the time of this track, Felisberto Caldeira Brant (which is named in this track as Feliz Alberto Caldeira Abrante on the house's plate), the building of aduana (the customhouse) and a big church, not showed on the renderings because the textures;
3.
The fort of Ville Gagnon, buit by the French in 1572 which became, later, the Regimento de Artilharia da Vila de Ouro Branco;
4.
The João Sebastião Ribeiro street, a homage to Johan Sebastian Bach (translated into Portuguese) where most citizens live - including the teacher of music, father Antônio Vivaldo;
5.
The hill with the gold mine inside;
6.
The rural area;
7.
The beach;
8.
The harbor, the berth; and,
9.A stunning
cave with the most dangerous, scary and famous pirates at the time leaded by Nolok -
Jack Penguim,
Captain Shark and two seaman:
Wilber and
Octopus.
The rest of the places are just landscapes where the karts don't go on.
The shipThe ship, a typical galleon of the 1600s, is inspired by four real ships:
Nau Pedro I (Portugal and, later, Brazil);
Santísima Trinidad (Spain),
HMS Victory (England) and,mainly,
Soleil Royal (France).
References:Brazilian palaces built between 1580 and 1730:Palácio Anchieta (1551):https://www.google.com.br/search?q=pal% ... AQ_AUIBygCPalácio da Redenção (1586):http://cdn.c.photoshelter.com/img-get2/ ... 5-6310.jpghttp://redescobrimento.com.br/wp-conten ... dencao.jpgPalácio dos Leões (1624)https://www.google.com.br/search?q=pala ... le%C3%B5esPalácio La Ravardière (1689), the main inspiration for the palace of the track:
https://www.google.com.br/search?q=Pal% ... sQ_AUIBygCBig BuildingsCamara de Vereadores de Salvador (1524):
https://www.google.com.br/search?q=cama ... UQ_AUICCgDThe Baroque towns of the state of Minas Gerais:
http://www.panoramio.com/photo/4023768https://www.google.com.br/search?q=muse ... AQ_AUIBigBhttps://www.google.com.br/search?q=ouro ... cQ_AUIBygChttps://www.google.com.br/search?q=tira ... sQ_AUIBygChttps://www.google.com.br/search?q=ouro ... diamantinahttps://www.google.com.br/search?q=ouro ... ngonhas+mgCasa de Fundição:https://www.google.com.br/search?q=casa ... 0Q_AUIBigBBaroque Architecture in Rio de Janeiro:
https://www.google.com.br/search?q=ouro ... o+imperialhttps://www.google.com.br/search?q=arqu ... de+janeiroParaty City:
https://www.google.com.br/search?q=boni ... h&q=paraty
https://www.google.com.br/search?q=para ... 8Q_AUIBigB
[b]The Cave of Pirates:https://www.google.com.br/search?q=boni ... 8Q_AUIBygChttps://www.google.com.br/search?q=ciaw ... diamantinaFortresses in Rio de Janeiro:
https://www.google.com.br/search?q=fort ... AQ_AUIBygChttps://www.google.com.br/search?q=fort ... C3%A9+urcahttps://diversaoemfamilia.files.wordpre ... 11/136.jpghttp://3.bp.blogspot.com/-P9syjVSg1g0/T ... o+jose.jpghttps://trilhaserotas.files.wordpress.c ... m_1125.jpghttp://www.riodejaneiroaqui.com/figuras ... terias.jpghttp://www.riodejaneiroaqui.com/figuras ... cruz-3.jpgIlha de Villegagnon/Escola Naval:[/b]
https://www.google.com.br/search?q=ilha ... gQ_AUIBigBhttps://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/ ... val_2.jpegCentro de Instrução Almirante Wandenkolk:
https://filoteologia.files.wordpress.co ... /ciaw4.jpghttps://am3004.files.wordpress.com/2011/10/ciaw.jpghttp://folhamilitaronline.com.br/wp-con ... tro-de.jpghttps://www.mar.mil.br/ciaw/noticias/20 ... ficial.jpgShipsNau Pedro I:
https://www.google.com.br/search?q=nau+ ... cQ_AUIBigBSantísima Tinidad: https://www.google.com.br/search?q=sant ... sQ_AUIBigBHMS Victory:
http://www.hms-victory.com/ (Official website)
https://www.google.com.br/search?q=nau+ ... ms+victorySolei lRoyal: https://www.google.com.br/search?q=sole ... 4Q_AUIBigBRural Houses of baroque period:http://imgms.viajeaqui.abril.com.br/1/f ... 1322733768http://s936.photobucket.com/user/Rarios ... 7.jpg.htmlhttp://mw2.google.com/mw-panoramio/phot ... 178959.jpghttp://www.ferias.tur.br/imgs/10315/val ... flickr.jpghttp://s936.photobucket.com/user/Rarios ... 3.jpg.htmlOx Wagons:Obs. Ox Wagons became a tradition in some rural areas. Even in times of high technology, they are part of annual parades and parties. In other places, they are used as tourist curiosity.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4irtv52UScQUESTIONS YOU MAY ASK1.Can I test the game now?No. As I said many times, my projects are modeled on Maya, not on Blender. The process of applying textures on Blender takes many time. I mean, some months and you will not able to drive on among gray blocks like I can, because I know what I did and where everything is placed. Anyway, we will change the plan of the drivelines until we get the best possible, main and optional drivelines. This plant allows many options for start, ways, etc.
2.Can I suggest modifications? The project is closed. The track and it driveline
3.How fun and exciting is the track?The track has a fort with cannons, a gold mine, a big galleon, soldiers, secret paths, a stunning cave full of stalactites and the gang of pirates as well the Brazilian baroque architecture. The driveline allows the gamer to drive across many beautiful places with not much difficult.In the language of Formula 1, it's a mixed circuit with medium speed curves, straights of high speed and two curves of low speed.
4. Do you buy/use 3D models sold ny another artists or sites like Turbo Squid?
No. Actually, we have made models for Turbo Squid.
5.How long is this track?1:10-1:20 minute.
6.Does this track is narrow, bumpy on has jumps that don't work at all levels and speeds?No. I'm not a retarded to make this, but if it had minor issues, you simply could ask me to make the necessary changes if you had the minimum interest.
WarningSTK has existed since 2003. In 13 years, no one track based on the baroque time or pirates was made.The only one track with the nearest concept was Mystery Island, which has nothing to do with this one.
So, I wanna notice that I and my brother - who is busy, with much less free time than me - spent more than one year until this phase. This is a free game and an open source project, so, in theory, anybody has the right to do what he/she wants to contribute. However, we will turn very angry in the case of someone starts and finishes a track about pirates or baroque time or something inspired in
Assassins Creed Black Flag,
Ravens Cry or anything that may looks like our project!
"Making cool harmless games makes the world a better place".