Which one exactly?
Actually mostly only the menu was modified recently, plus some changes in Stadium.
In the game itself, in Canyon, nothing was modified.

It is the same as in the beginning, except the trees which were added after a few years.
So please don't beleive what someone has mixed together in half a comedy movie.

The very first version of Trackmania² Canyon perhaps only exists as demo on game magazine DVDs or download sites.
If you only don't like the new menus, there is still the predecessor version of Maniaplanet 3 available, but this is a frozen version and works only with the tracks which go along with it, and with tracks or maps which weren't updated to Maniaplanet 4.

Originally posted by TMarc:

Which one exactly?
Actually mostly only the menu was modified recently, plus some changes in Stadium.
In the game itself, in Canyon, nothing was modified.

It is the same as in the beginning, except the trees which were added after a few years.
So please don't beleive what someone has mixed together in half a comedy movie.

The very first version of Trackmania² Canyon perhaps only exists as demo on game magazine DVDs or download sites.
If you only don't like the new menus, there is still the predecessor version of Maniaplanet 3 available, but this is a frozen version and works only with the tracks which go along with it, and with tracks or maps which weren't updated to Maniaplanet 4.

The graphics and shadows were downgraded too.

Definitely not. Probably you have now bad settings of your video driver.
Or you're playing maps which were not updated (no new shadow calculation) to the newest version...

Originally posted by TMarc:

Which one exactly?
Actually mostly only the menu was modified recently, plus some changes in Stadium.
In the game itself, in Canyon, nothing was modified.

Originally posted by TMarc:

Definitely not. Probably you have now bad settings of your video driver.
Or you're playing maps which were not updated (no new shadow calculation) to the newest version...

So, the shadows are still in the game? How come Ross can't get them enabled in his video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulp99wSUNgk&feature=youtu.be&t=1872

The car handling was also revamped at some point, and I recall that people preferred the original.

Also, does the Platform mode and tracks still not work?

Don't beleive all the stuff in that video. Many things are mixed together, and in a mostly confusing or hilarious manner, so that cannot be all taken seriously.
That the menus were changed is clear, also that not everyone likes that.
There is still some stuff to do there.

Shadows are well and still there in the game. Possibly the car shadows don't work in the replay editor to some extent, but this is only relevant for rendering videos. In game it is not an issue.
On the other hand, car shadows can be enabled/disabled in the launcher settings as well, perhaps a wrong configuration is the cause here.

According to some reports, there are issues with the ultra shadow computation setting on some systems. But the difference between ultra and high setting is not always noticeable.
And ultra resolution lightmaps are local only, as they get resized before saving in the map.
So, the visual appearence of a track depends a lot on which setting the map owner chose when calculating the shadows and when adding extra stuff like lights and decorations.

The basic handling of the car was not really changed. What was changed is the core game engine, both regarding internal scripting and DirectX, and that might have brought a very subtle difference, noticeable by the very experienced drivers only.
Most players did not complain. And the pro players can take it as challenge to continue improving their skills.

However, if you like to discuss more technical aspects, please visit the Maniaplanet forum.
The chance that the developers will answer is also higher there.

After buying and playing it the downgrade is definitely there, there's like no shadows from my car in near night and night levels

This is really ridiculus to tell that a downgrade, seriously.

I just checked, shadows are well there. Use the camera 7 to circle around the car and you will see.
They are just less noticeable at the places where there is no sun.
And also consider that not all lights in the game are dynamic light sources, they only affect the shadowmap/ligthmap by color and intensity.
Once there is sun (sunrise, day and sunset moods) there is a projected shadow.
Drive on track A07 and you will see it. :-)

Dude it's literally not casting shadows whereas it would have in the previous version, did you even watch that video fully? I assure you he's not trying to be humorous in those sections.

I think this discussion ends here as it makes no sense to talk to you if you react like this.
Anyway the developers won't change it.

So you acknowledge they changed it?

Originally posted by TMarc:

I think this discussion ends here as it makes no sense to talk to you if you react like this.

Not sure what you mean with "react like this". He's trying to understand what's going on with the graphics, and that's a reason for you to end the discussion? What would be the conditions under which you would actually talk to someone? Only if they agree that you are correct and that they can't voice any doubts about that in the conversation? I'm sure people from Nadeo would be embarrassed if they saw they were being defended LIKE THIS.

Chicken paste is entirely beleiving and relying only on a doubtful video, instead of really looking himself in the game, which is what I did to check to confirm.
Would you like to be talked to "dude you're wrong" although you see yourself that those arguments are totally wrong? Certainly not.

I'm playing Canyon nearly since it was released, and I don't see any issue at all here that prevents playing, in terms of graphical stuff.
But some people apparently take the smallest issue as reason to complain, which is really silly.

Here I have better things to do for sure.
I'm certainly not defending Nadeo, they can do themselves if they see the need.

I bought the game and played the game and saw for myself and saw the results were true like the video said.

If you want to play the older version with the original brightness and the shadows, Nadeo has a link to download ManiaPlanet 3 from, here:

https://forum.maniaplanet.com/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=41242&p=284177&hilit=frozen#p283980

I've read it contains all the TM2 modules. I own Canyon, Valley, and Stadium 2, and all those show up in the launcher.

If your MP account was created in MP4 and not MP3, then you might have to do something extra to get it to work with MP3.

Very good hint, Turbo Nozomix, thanks for that!
The frozen version also still has the local multiplayer features like "split screen" which are missed by some users.
Note that the frozen version won't work well with maps which have been created or recalculated in MP version 4. There it is most likely that the lightmaps will be bugged, or that some (newer) blocks don't appear at all, if the map can somehow be loaded.