4 - Namtlade

Namtlade
@namtlade
also known as: Ed, namt, nam

Best known for his big scenery tracks, namtlade was a huge inspiration for sceners because he was not a great artist like many, but made his tracks really fun to watch by picking a simple theme and persistently sticking with it for the entire track, creating a really nice cohesive experience that was lacking in so many tracks in the early years. That combined with his signature speed + scenery endings made him an immensely popular trackmaker. His scenery, and maybe more importantly his persistence in maintaining the theme through the entire track, has been inspirational to many sceners and remains a mostly-indirect inspiration to this day.

But let's not forget his innovations with bare tracks and early contributions to quirk. Namtlade was the first, if not to create then to publish, an infinite blue nose manual with his video Stoppie. Along with anomaly76, iamsorrydude, and OwlFlavored, he popularized "no-boost" tracks (which later became called "all blue") as well as the term "quirky". After iamsorrydude made the first anti-gravity wells (video has been removed), he was the first to make a nose manual out of them with his video Glitched. He invented the Head Manual (in which Bosh is balanced on his hand and shoulder and the sled does not touch the ground) in a video release, and then popularized it with its use in his track, Trance. He was the first to make the iconic nose manual X-line start and publish it with his tutorial, Quickest nosie start tutorial. This was all in the first half of 2007.

After the release of Trance, namtlade was pretty burned out (in the video he states that he never wants to draw another green line again). He released a few unscened tracks afterward but just couldn't keep up with the rising standards of scenery and tracks and eventually announced he was done with making tracks. He remained a moderator on IRTL for a number of years, and then after he retired he popped back in every once in a while. His last visit to WRTL was in November 2011.

Demonic [2007]

Spoiler:

The first track with namtlade's signature simple, consistent scenery at high speeds, and also some great early manuals. The best I can figure, this is also the origin of the popular "abandoned mine" scenery theme as well as the precursor to Cydonia. You can clearly see the influence of TechDawg Labs in this track. (Also, it used Muse before it was cool)

Ad Infinitum [2007]
(entry for quirky no-boost contest on Linerider.org)

Spoiler:

One of the best quirky tracks before gravity wells were discovered. Took second place in the first-ever quirky "no-boost" contest - the winner was Gravity Wells by anomaly76. Namtlade was aware of anomaly's discovery of the gravity well before the track was posted, which implied that they had somehow discovered it simultaneously or were in contact after anomaly discovered it, before it was made public. Namtlade and anomaly co-hosted the contest (at the time they had to explain to everyone what "quirky" meant)

Cydonia [2007]

Spoiler:

Often cited in 2007 as one of the overall best tracks, and also one of the fastest tracks and largest scenery tracks of the time. It won Movie of the Week on IRTL and .org, and placed in the top 8 in the first Tournament of Champions. The manuals were very good for their time, and the highspeed section at the end, with namtlade doggedly persisting in maintaining the scenery consistency even in highspeed situations, was remarkable.
[.sol file]

Zen [2007]

Spoiler:

This track is worth noting, though rather short, as it has namtlade's most detailed scenery, the only real "shading" he ever did (you can see he understands light sources), and his first and only attempt to synthesize his no-boost quirky style with scenery.

Hypersonic [2007]

Spoiler:

An epic-for-its-time all-blue manuquirk (before the term manuquirk existed) that would have been considered "highspeed" at the time. This track appears pretty dull to anyone watching it today, but imagine that flings were not yet discovered, tracks rarely got faster than about 25ppf, ZNF was not around yet, and blue manuals were considered extremely difficult.

Quirkology [2007]
(collab with Owlflavored, Iamsorrydude, anomaly76 and x612nt13)

Spoiler:

The first large-scale collaboration in Line Rider, and the first "quirky" collaboration, in which namtlade played a major role. These guys are the grandfathers of quirk.

Trance [2007]

Spoiler:

Namtlade's largest track, both in size and line count. A simple but original and pleasing scenery theme that is maintained consistently throughout the entire track, even when it goes highspeed at the end. Not to mention some excellent manuals, including the first head manual used in a track that actually looked good and caused them to catch on, and a seriously highspeed (for the time) nose manual loop at the end. Undoubtedly namtlade's best and most-celebrated track. (and also a Movie of the Week Winner on IRTL)
[.sol file]