Here it is finally, the first Community Patch.

Before we go ahead and go into descriptions of what to expect please remember the most important thing:

This patch is provided as is. TRI and Microsoft have nothing to do with it and will offer no support. If it doesn't work please post in here but my knowledge of troubleshooting problems is limited. And please BACK UP YOUR ORIGINAL FILES!!!! I can't stress this enough

Changes from MTM2 2.0.42

- version number changed to 2.0.44 (multiplayer is compatible with people using the original version, 2.0.42)
- Increased visual distance from max 20 units to max 50 units.
- Visual distance is fully controllable from within the game.
- Increased maximum verts limit (less crashes)
- Maximum number of objects limit increased (stops tracks from crashing with the new visual distance)
- Box count has been increased - groundbroxes shouldn't crash the game anymore.
- Added a multitude of more modern resolutions.
- Added new UI to go with the new resolutions
- Video clips are working again (for those of you who it didn't work for anymore)
- All 4 truck tires leave track marks
- Tire track life span increased
- Game should not crash if somehow wrong resolutions are selected (the resolution doesn't match the prefereddisplay in monster.ini). If resolution doesn't match it defaults to 640x480.
- Added a BLIMP button in graphics option. Now you have full control of whether you want the blimp to appear or not (can help stop certain tracks from crashing)

HOW TO CORRECTLY USE THE PATCH

- After every resolution change YOU MUST quit the game and restart it. Otherwise the game either won't work or will work very weirdly. (for Windows 10 the game might linger for a few seconds in taskbar under background process. Either manually use End Task or wait for it to go away)
- The 3dfx compatible resolutions (for those using nGlide) are clearly labeled with 3dFX. Do NOT attempt to try a different resolution, the game will crash. If you want to use 3dFX wide screen please select 856x480 and in nGlide 1.05 (mandatory 1.05) use the "fit to screen" option.
- fixmore.pod is still needed!
- If in Windows 10 the game refuses to go into full screen using Direct3D when using compatible resolutions (like 1920x1080 for example) try to run the game in compatibility mode using Windows XP SP2. I've had this issue and running with compatibility mode fixed it.
- This only works starting with Windows XP Service Pack 3 and later.

Known Issues

As mentioned, this is provided as is and while effort has been taken to try and get it working crash free, my knowledge of coding is at a beginner level, I am learning as I am going along.

- Dashboard doesn't work. If you want to use first person view please use non-dashboard camera.
- Software Renderer resolutions are unreliable. While most of them work there are specific tracks where it randomly decides to crash. Decreasing visual distance fixes the problem.
- Track appears as completely black in Driver's CheckIn when you start the game. After a race it will display correctly.
- Once you go above 1600x900, the checkpoint finder is a bit messy. It's still functional but ugly.
- Instant Replay page has a weird bug with one of the buttons. If the grey box covers the other buttons then it stops you from being able to click on them. Sometimes a few reloads of the instant replay page is needed. The button itself works even if it looks like a grey square.
- The joystick calibration has an extra green line to the left. Does not affect usability in any way.
- 1440x900 and 1536x864 - DO NOT WORK IN FULL SCREEN DIRECT3D!!! I'm starting to believe this might be a DirectX limitation based on the game behavior (game refuses to maximize even when only in the menus) hence there is nothing I can do about it.
- Multiplayer latency isn't calculated in the lobby (bar shows up empty or 0ms) but the game otherwise works correctly.

What to expect in the future

- Increase visual distance.
- Increase in the object limitations (models, textures etc)
- Fix multiplayer latency display
- Fix black truck in driver's checkin.
- Fix checkpoint marker - this might need to be replaced so I will have to look into doing that.
- A fix to remove the menu bar during gameplay in Windows8/10.
- remove the 99 pod limit
- 

Long Term Plans - these will take forever to do as it requires a more advanced coding knowledge but ultimately I want it done

- Port the game to DirectX9 to fix many of the compatibility issues/crashes and allow even higher resolutions (2560x1440 etc)
- Port the game to OpenGL - same reason.
- Re-introduce Drag system from MTM1
- extra options in the .trk file, namely a second set of axle bars and different front and rear tires.
- make it read more than the first 8 letters of a sit file name to be the tracks ID
- accepts Axis Z for controllers? (this one will be looked at only after game is finally ported to DX9)
- Incorporating an ingame FPS limiter (not quite Vsync but rather a manual box where you can the maximum limit to whatever you want)
- Decoupling the physics from the FPS count. Right now the game physics (and AI behaviour) is dependent on the frames per second count. This means, the higher the FPS the more different the game behaves. Ideally physics will work the same whether it's 20fps or 100fps.

Low Priority fixes - I don't consider these essential so they will be fixed whenever, could be tomorrow could be in 5 years

- dashboard
- instant replay page
- extra green line at the joystick calibration screen

Credits

Thanks to Cale for supplying the bulk of the pictures used in the patch.
Thanks to Gamer121 for supplying HD artwork used in the patch.
The fine folks at TRI that made a game that has stood the test of time for so long and turns out to be very modable.