Trackmania United Forever has one of the more unique attraction I find in games. In Doom I use to use the walk through walls code just to see what kind of messed up graphics I could make. After hearing about the negative world in Metroid I attempted to get there as well. Things like the highest point in Bubsy 3D interest me. I love to break games and go where I shouldn’t.

The most memorable moment I had in Oblivion was when I found a seam in the wall of a city and broke into the area before it properly loaded. In order to cut down on the resources for a PC/Console to display an entire world Oblivion’s towns were loaded only when you entered them through designated areas. In order to give the player a sense of scale the size of the city is represented in the overworld, just less detailed in case you peek over the walls. When I was inside the town it was deserted of everything. When I threw or dropped any items they would slide on the ground as if it was ice until arriving at a seam in the polygons, in which case it would disappear.

Sometimes there are small things that let you into these backstage worlds in games. Other times you just have to think a little outside of the box. In Shadowrun (2007) the player is given an option of having glider wings bolted to their back which allows a small degree of flight. The player also has the ability to learn the magic spell gust which can push enemies back with a gust of wind, or can allow the player to break their fall with a cushion of air. A smart player thinking outside the box can combine these tools to get places the developers didn’t intend you to go. Besides just breaking the game and gliding around outside the limits of the planned arena there were also some partially built levels revealed by skilled players who explored in the right areas.

Aiming for self set goals is one of my favorite things to do in games, and when the opportunity presents itself even in the least expected places I take it.

While playing a particularly challenging desert track on Trackmania United Forever I happen to launch right off the track and into the landscape. At first I thought it fun just to see how far out things went.

Notice the awesome custom sheriff’s car with the welded-on spikes at the front. So I continued to drive off through the sunset where the atmosphere ends.

From there I was curious to see where things went. I cautiously crept up to the edge of what looked like all land.

Looking back on it I probably should have tried to drive off the edge and seen what awaited me. Instead I chickened out and turned around back towards the track.

While not the most interesting adventure off the beaten path I’d ever had, it did at least let me know that it was possible to break the limits of the game and explore secret worlds.

On my fifteenth million attempt at bay course C3 for the damn silver metal to move on, I happen upon a far more interesting situation than being in the desert. Shortly after a very sharp turn there is a speed boost right in front of a ramp which will launch the SUV (or in my case a Monster Truck) quite the distance in the air towards a small tunnel entrance. In my case the wheel wasn’t straightened out well enough before the speed boost which launched me diagonally into the ocean.

I noticed that my truck had somehow landed upright and was capable of driving underwater. Since the camera was forcing me to look at a small dot at the bottom of the ocean I aimed for land as best I could and hoped that I’d eventually come up for air.

I was greeted on the beach by a small group of apartments–or perhaps condos–in a state of seeming disrepair. At the bottom of the buildings it looked as though overgrowth had taken the first two floors. Upon examination the growth wasn’t vines that climb three stories of the building and cover all the windows, it was actually the trees that would look like they’re in front of the building from a long distance away in case you happen to look.

I found a misshapen and discolored road out front of the condos leading to the city which made up much of the backdrop throughout the race.

It looks like not just the outskirts have been taken over by the shrubbery.

On the way out of the city buildings are far more grim–the takeover becoming more hostile.

With the city far off in the distance fleeing the infested place, I feel a bit better and head for the hills.

The mountain bluffs surrounding the bay range in size. Some are much smaller than they appear because they are closer. When you finally drive for five minutes only to see that the taller peak is in a different direction. Why are you looking for the tallest peak? no particular reason honestly.

On the way up a mountain all the way at the back of the bay I found a wrinkle in space.

Following it I found the rift opening into a similar black space that was beneath the desert. I decided to give it a try and see what happens. When I drove over the edge I took many pictures which I will refrain from posting to save the weak at heart.

Strangely enough I happen to graze something with my back tire on the fall into blackness. It righted me in mid air and I safely landed on an absent ground.

The way that the geometry of the landscape worked under everything was wondrous. It was like ribbons of earth suspended in time over me.

Approaching the city buildings hover eerily in the air over me with their infected green bases all the more macabre in appearance.

Condos hover over me like cavity infected dentures.

Off in the distance is the racetrack where I started.

Unfortunately my subterranean expedition was ended early. I didn’t realize that I would be able to slide out from under these buildings into the water.

I’m honestly a bit sad that I got to explore so little of it all. I wanted to go check out the area that had even more growth infested buildings than the part I did get a shot of from underneath.

My instinctive curiosity prods me compelled me to keep going on, to look over the edge while still being a cautious enough to hold on to ground firmly. It’s a great feeling. Most games now have either unbreakable walls, or artificial ones which keep the player restricted from seeing the man behind the curtain. It keeps the games focused and the fourth wall erect, and for all intents and purposes it’s how you want the game to be. That’s why when I can I look behind the curtain I do.