Trackmania Nations - Frequently Asked Questions
Contents
Folders mentioned all live under the game's install folder
The Game's Default Install Folder is:
C:\Program Files\TrackMania Nations ESWC\
If you installed elsewhere, you'll need to go off your install's folder structure.
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Miscellaneous
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Troubleshooting
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Add-On Questions
Miscellaneous
Where Can I Get TrackMania Nations?
How Much Does TrackMania Nations Cost?
TrackMania Nations is a FREE game. When I say "free" I mean you get to download it and install it on your computer free of charge.
But as with most free pieces of software, they embed advertising in the software. TrackMania Nations allows thid parties to place ads on in-game billboards. You will see these advertismenets in all game modes, both solo and online.
Troubleshooting
How Do I Clear My Cache?
Send FNG_ThatOneGuy all of your money ... oh wait, that's CASH, not CACHE. My bad.
To clear your cache, delete everything in the following folder:
GameData/Cache
I'm Lagging Something Fierce While Playing Online. What Can I Do To Minimize Lag?
We recommend you do things in this order to avoid having to lower graphics settings if you don't have to.
Optimally, you're going for at least 30fps consistent. To check how you're doing, hit "0" (or whatever key you've mapped) in-game to bring up the "Analyzer."
Anything less than 30fps and your controls won't be as responsive as they are supposed to be. So get crackin' and hackin' and make your game zoom so you can go show off your mad driving skills against your opponents!
Force the Maximum Opponents the Game Will Render
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Start the launcher by double-clicking your TrackMania Nations icon
or by going to:
Start >> Program Files|All Programs >> TrackMania Nations ESWC >> Play TrackMania Nations ESWC. - Click the Configure button on the initial launcher box.
- Click the Advanced button on the "Configuration" box.
- Click the Game tab on the "Advanced settings" box (see image.)
- Check the "Opponents limit count" box.
- Enter "4" into the "Opponents maximum count" box (the game doesn't seem to like anything less than 4 - if someone figures out otherwise, please let me know.)
These options will only be available to change if you have "Customize" selected on the "Display" tab.
You can tweak the other settings in here to lower settings to see if it helps your lag factor as well.
Disable P2P
Since the game is extensible (the tracks and vehicle can be skinned) - the game tries to download any Mod and Vehicle skin information from the server you are playing on, if the server allows it.
Because of this, a lot of your bandwidth might be eaten up downloading the updates, taking away from the game updating your car's and other cars' position information.
To help alleviate this, you can disable the Peer-To-Peer (P2P) options in TrackMania Nations' launcher configuration:
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Start the launcher by double-clicking your TrackMania Nations icon
or by going to:
Start >> Program Files|All Programs >> TrackMania Nations ESWC >> Play TrackMania Nations ESWC. - Click the Configure button on the initial launcher box.
- Click the Advanced button on the "Configuration" box.
- Click the Peer2Peer tab on the "Advanced settings" box (see image.)
- Uncheck all "Enable" and "Auto-Update" related checkboxes.
- Manually download Mods and Vehicles you're intersted in seeing, install them and clear your cache.
Dumb Down Graphical and Audio Settings
There are two ways to mess with the Graphics/Audio Performance settings:
The "Easy" Way
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Start the launcher by double-clicking your TrackMania Nations icon
or by going to:
Start >> Program Files|All Programs >> TrackMania Nations ESWC >> Play TrackMania Nations ESWC. - Test the settings in the "Performance / Quality" pull-down box.
If these work for you, happy day... If they don't, or you otherwise want more control over your tweaked settings, see 'The "Hard" Way'.
The "Hard" Way
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Start the launcher by double-clicking your TrackMania Nations icon
or by going to:
Start >> Program Files|All Programs >> TrackMania Nations ESWC >> Play TrackMania Nations ESWC. - Click the Configure button on the initial launcher box.
- Click the Advanced button on the "Configuration" box.
- Click the Display tab.
Play around with these settings to have more control over your tweaks and better refinement options. Click the "Compatibility" button for even more options. I'm not going to try to explain them, because some of them I honestly don't have an idea what they do. But if you experiment, you should be able to find a happy balance that will allow you to play smoothly online.
Press Forward Starts Won't Work For Me
If you are playing on a track where the creator designed a special beginning that allows you to just floor the gas until you reach a certain point, and you are not reaching the desired point in the intended fashion, do the following:
- Press Alt-Tab to revert to Windows
- Alt-Tab back into TrackMania Nations or click the TMN button on your taskbar to return to the game.
Your "Press Forward" starts should begin to work now. We can't explain why, but we were tipped off while playing on the 440 - Team KOFS server and I tried it myself since I experience this problem. It worked for me, hopefully it will for you.
Add-On Questions
How Do I Install a Mod for TrackMania Nations?
(Click to enlarge)
- Download the Mod's Zip file from the appropriate website.
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Save the Mod's Zip file to:
GameData/Skins/Stadium/Mod
If when saving, your filename contains a number within brackets (example: [1]) - make sure you delete that portion of the name, leaving the .zip extension. - To ensure the game uses your downloaded Mod and not attempt to utilize the game's cache, see the "How Do I Clear My Cache" section.
How Do I Install a Vehicle Skin for TrackMania Nations?
- Download the Vehicle's Zip file from the appropriate website.
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Save the Vehicle's Zip file to:
VEHICLE_SAVE_LOCATION
If when saving, your filename contains a number within brackets (example: [1]) - make sure you delete that portion of the name, leaving the .zip extension. - To ensure the game uses your downloaded Mod and not attempt to utilize the game's cache, see the "How Do I Clear My Cache" section.