DIY stage creator

[Prisoner Monkeys]

This thread is inspired by a bit of recent discussion in the "How do you see the future of rally?" thread. I posted the suggestion that the WRC could look at getting some more rallies going, and that Austria would have the potential to produce some good rally stages (completely forgetting about the Alpenfahrt as I did so). In order to demonstrate what I meant, I quickly drew up a 'stage' using the Google Maps Pedometer. Rather than run that discussion off-topic, I decided instead to create a dedicated discussion for stage creation, because I have quite literally wasted hours of my time doing this. It's a bizarre hobby, I know, but once you get into it and you start spotting the ways that roads could be linked together, it becomes surprisingly addictive. In order to do it, you will need to use a mapping program, like the pedometer, QuikMap or Scribble Maps (I recommend the pedometer; it's the easiest to use).

This is one of my better efforts, a 39 kilometre stage near Cripple Creek, Colorado that I call Bauxite (yes, I know it's a gold mine - I just find the word "bauxite" to be hilarious, kind of like "mazipan"; it's just the way my mind works). I think it would be particularly challenging, since most of the stage is ten thousand feet above sea level, so the air is thinner, forcing the engine to work harder. It starts out on tarmac, on a well-built road that follows the countours of the countryside to the town of Cripple Creek. Then it loops around to the south through some more technical bends to a second, smaller town, Victor, at which point the surface changes to gravel. The roads here stop being well-built and start being temporary roads made for the adjacent open-cut mine (the route does not match the roads under the 'map' tab, but they do match the roads on the 'satellite' tab). They meander around the pit before opening back out onto faster, more permanent roads that are sealed for the final five kilometres. Getting out of the stage is a little more difficult because there are no roads that bypass the stage start. To this end, the end of the stage would serve as a regroup for the cars, and the stage would temporarily be suspended after every tenth car to let the finished cars back through the first five hundred metres of the stage. Alternatively, the mining equipment could be used to carve out a temporary road to let the cars out; there's certainly enough space.

The second stage that I have invented is Iron Mountain. While I think Denver would be a good base for a rally in America, there is also some good stuff outside Rapid City, South Dakota (isolated as it may be). I think this 9.7km stage would be great as a power stage, because it would be very fast and goes past Mount Rushmore (though naming the stage after Mount Rushmore just seemed a little too on-the-nose for my tastes). It starts with a fast and narrow descent through a forest before doubling back and climbing up up past Mount Rushmore with a series of long sweepers.

Okay, yeah. These stages are probably never going to be run. Not unless we all somehow end up organising rallies for a living. But it's just a bit of fun to fill in time between Christmas and the New Year.

So, who's up for some stage design?

[EightGear]

Nice thread! I sometimes too like to play around a little with some nice roads. I've 'made' one stage, close to my home and it isn't really suitable for WRC at all, but it might be good as a part of a national rally.

[kirungi okwogera]

This is a really cool idea, and it joins up my map-obsession and rally-obsession interests... I'll have to have a play with that pedometer. I've driven so many roads in New Zealand that I couldn't believe haven't been rally stages. But I guess that's NZ for you...

[N.O.T]

this fits better to the simulation section of the forum...

Also the guy who desined a program that has a tool named "pedometer" must have the best sense of humor ιn the history of humanity....

[Prisoner Monkeys]

It's not a made-up name:

A pedometer is a device, usually portable and electronic or electromechanical, that counts each step a person takes by detecting the motion of the person's hips. Because the distance of each person's step varies, an informal calibration, performed by the user, is required if presentation of the distance covered in a unit of length (such as in kilometres or miles) is desired.

[Juha_Koo]

Also the guy who desined a program that has a tool named "pedometer" must have the best sense of humor on the history of humanity....

I so totally cracked up. You're a funny guy NOT.

[Prisoner Monkeys]

Some more that I've made.

I was attempting to find the old Wellington Dam stage in Western Australia, but when I couldn't do that, I decided to try and find somewhere that I could create something similar. Somehow, I ended up in New York, and made this, New Croton East, which was quickly followed by another, New Croton West (they were originally one stage, but it was over 50km long, and even though Rally Argentina will see a 66km stage next year, I though it was a bit much). I like the roads for the New Croton stages because the hug both the terrain and the waterfront, even if they're both tarmac - but I think the WRC needs more tarmac rallies. Not as many as the IRC, of course, but maybe one or two more.

And finally, I made this stage, Pembroke, from some of the most notorious roads near my old home town. Most of the roads here get very little use, and so are in horrible condition: rather than dig the road up and resurface it properly, the council has been content to simply patch it up as needed. This has gone on for so long that some sections, particularly along Rolands Plains Road, are a patchwork of surfaces that feel like Belgian cobblestones.

[ShiftingGears]

I just made one consisting of 44km around Sydney, including through national park and the Sea Cliff Bridge:



It is quite a drive.

gmap-pedometer.com

[tfp]

I just made one consisting of 44km around Sydney, including through national park and the Sea Cliff Bridge:



It is quite a drive.

gmap-pedometer.com

Nice picture!

Unfortunately I dont think I'd have the patience to create my own rally stage, but I'd be happy to look at others attempts.

The Ugsquirrel, Prison Monkeys - If you live near these created stages, you should film an onboard (obeying speed limits, of course:crazy and post them on here