Looking back, I think one of the biggest draw features for the defunct Need for Speed World was the level of customization that players could do to and with their cars. From mild to wild, I saw a lot of unique and sometimes interesting designs. The results were the product of hours, even days of effort and attention to details. I even tried my hand at it a few times.
Through my copy of Need for Speed World Offline, I have attempted to recreate the few cars I visually experimented with. Take this Mada RX-7 for example....
Now, I am not going to make any outlandish claims to be any kind of an artist, the sample you see here is a recreation of a "hmmm....how hard could this be" moment. Although an exact match to when Need for Speed World was still an up and running, online game, but close enough to satisfy my memory of what I had.
With recently acquiring the Xbox One with the full version of Forza Motorsport 6, I noticed more customization features than what PC version of Apex had to offer. One car both games share is the Mazda RX-7. Although they are slightly different models, both share the same racing spirit. Once again, I had a moment and created this....
Perhaps, I should accept I have....artistic limitations?
However, I stumbled across a few folks that have time to spend, a steady hand and most importantly, an eye for detail....
In case you have never seen this car before, it's the General Lee, a customized 1969 Dodge Charger from the long running television show (and tv movies, big screen feature, merchandise galore, etc) Dukes of Hazzard. When I was a whole lot younger, I watched this orange car have adventures and pull stunts that dreams were made of. Definitely one of those cars that I and no doubt, thousands of other youths and adults, wanted in real life. I will just settle for a digital version.
Like many others in Need for Speed World, I tried my hand at creating a version of the General Lee too, but the creative time consumption kept me from playing the game, which is what I wanted to do more of. This example, created by Camaro68396, is one of the better ones I have found, as close as one could get within the limitations of the game. It's too bad that World didn't have a sharing function like Forza does.
Of all the shared models within Forza Motorsport 6, I picked Warduke's. A lot of time and care went into getting this to look just like the very first General Lee seen onscreen, since latter versions lost the crossed flags behind the rear window. A little fact that real, die hard fans would know.
However, it's one of those crossed flags, including on the roof, that have caused some controversy in recent times. The tragic shooting of nine parishioners at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina on June, 2015 reignited the public debate over the interpretation surrounding the historic and modern symbolism of the Confederate flag.
The fallout that followed included this flag officially removed from State Houses, local and State government offices and license plates, just to name a few. Major retailers have pulled consumer goods with the flag from the shelves and vowed not to sell them again. However, it was Warner Brothers, who owns the rights to the Dukes of Hazzard itself, stated that General Lee merchandise will not not carry the Confederate motif on the roof on future produced miniature replicas.
I am not going to enter this debate and take either side. I will just hold on to the memories of my youth and experience the adventures of tomorrow, with a certain orange and decaled car, that could do the impossible.
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