What makes a track... Awesome? | Forums

[Dr4gOnsFuRy]

Dr4gOn, originality. Good one. Someone who isn't afraid to try something different. I remember the examples you give, all try that something a little different, and it's a nice surprise when you discover them.

Kal made some great stuff, and wasn't afraid to experiment. His Tornado tracks, for example. The first track I tried when I upgraded to the Bone was Ruby. I loved it, and it was a very early Fusion build as well, with not much to work with.

https://youtu.be/Dz7Dpg8HOJU

One more thing, it is seriously difficult to beat you on a track. You're as tenacious as bloody Regs (Hi Joe).

Yeah definitely. I think that's why I liked Kals tracks, he was always original and experimenting with different things, always had new ideas and would release tracks quick and you knew they were gonna be of good quality. A few other ones of his that were original were his Onstage tracks and his Red & Blue, on top of the Tornado ones you mention those were different and great too. My favourite thing about his tracks were that he really knew how to add atmosphere into his themed ones. Anyone can throw a few sound sources to bring a track to life but his tracks made you feel like you were there.
Same goes for me, his Ruby and other tracks were the first thing I tried on the Xbox One.

I tried to be original and experimented a few times on Evolution, my Conveyor of Trials and my Challenge Room tracks I thought were quite different, but I haven't had that thing to do something different on Fusion, I've kept it simple so far lol.

Haha yeah, I think I've enjoyed tracks more especially when I've been trying to beat a few of your times. Same goes for you though, some of your times are stubborn and don't want to get beaten by me lol. I remember that battle we had not long ago when we just kept beating each others times over and over, that was great. I think it might have been a ConfusedMuscles track, the snowy one in the cave? Can't quite remember if it was that, but that is the kind of track that makes you keep going back for more.

[JoeRegular]

(Hi Joe)

Ello sailor

[Morfyboy]

We absolutely need a post about how important it is to use Checkpoints.. Also, a good C.P placement is a great thing to learn.. If in doubt, use more, rather than 'not enough'.. Getting stuck on an obstacle for a period of time, only to accidentally fail just after it, with NO Checkpoints anywhere near, is very annoying.. Chances are that if you struggle, and find your making no progress through a track due to bad positioning, or hardly placing Checkpoints, will result in a lot of new riders exiting the track.. I think it's called RAGE!!

Checkpoints are your friend..

[ozy]

Yep nice 1 Dragon, originality will go a long way for sure,
Interesting concepts outside of the norm are always welcome.

When it comes to checkpoints...
There is no excuse for poor CP placement!
For MP it is a must to get it right and it's not hard to get right really,
But my personal preference (bearing in mind I am not a beginner) is anything below hard difficulty shouldn't have CPs at all,
For MP and new players, CPs are a must, definitely, and if you want a track to be enjoyed by as many people as possible, CPs must be given special care and attention.
But they are just a pain on an easy track if you cant just reset to beginning easily (not that hitting restart is hard lol, never understood the wishes for a CP off option)

But yea, if you want your track to be repeatably played by as many users as possible and MP friendly, Checkpoints are very important!

[Rudemod 69]

Dr4gOn, yes lots of good Kal tracks for sure. he also made a cool Gecko track, but the name escapes me.It may have been Anasazi or something sounding similar. Been too long.

Can't remember the track we battled on either.Been too many lately, lol.

Joe

Morf, very good point re checkpoints. I don't worry about them personally as I just restart a track if I fault, I like to do the track in one go, never stopping at points unless it's a tricky Extreme I'm playing. To the general community though you have to take varying skill levels into the equation, so they are a big part in building a track.

Oz, MP into the equation I can see that CP's would be extremely valuable. Good point.

[KaliniuS]

I popped in here to see what people really look for in a track. Thanks for the compliments, Dr4gOnsFuRy and Rudemod I've made a bunch of tracks that I'm really proud of (like Swamped and Onstage) and liked to try new ideas in Evo. On the other hand, a lot of my earlier tracks in Evo were pretty darn bad lol. At least I tried to learn from my mistakes and make improvements to future tracks.

I'm regularly inspired by some amazing builders out there, including you, Dr4gOnsFuRy. I always enjoy your drive lines and decoration.

What I look for in a track is of course a fun drive line; free of unpredictable elements and smooth. I love good visuals and scenery. You can really tell when a builder took a lot of time making a background that invites exploration and feels alive. I love themes that are just done well, even if the theme has been done before.

The Awesome Level Max track building contest that RedLynx is hosting has forced me to build another track, and I'm pretty happy with it's progress and hopefully others will enjoy playing it as much as I have had building it.

Here's a small preview of my next track (I've already made improvements since taking these screenshots):

[D2Dahaka]

D2's philosophy below:

First and foremost driving line. Deco and fancy animations are for nothing if the line is not sound. Always sacrfice the latter in favour of the former no matter how attached one may be to a camera angle or custom object.

Always put the rider first and never let them feel like they're not in control, to acheive this D2 tries to observe the following:

- slowdown/frame drops are a nono.
- significant screen tearing is a distracting nono.
- no camera angles that disorient the rider or obscure their view.
- no objects significantly obscuring the camera.
- smooth out all obstacles and ensure no dodgey collision glitches.
- ensure the randomness of any physics obstacle is as close to zero as possible, but the greater the randomness the greater the level of forgiveness. Nothing more annoying than a wonky physics obstacle that requires perfect timing.
- thoroughly test all your obstacles both slow and at speed where applicable and ensure they work as intended.
- ensure all obstacles connect/flow well and that the rider has ample time to transition between obstacles at varying speeds. eg. no sudden high speed setups into vertical inclines.
- ensure the difficulty of all obstacles is consistent. No sneaky ninja obstacles in the midst of a medium track.
- mix up obstacles. There's nothing more boring than doing the same obstacle over and over again.
- design obstacles around the strengths/weakenesses of the intended bike(s). Eg. if the suspension doesn't handle that high drop or those tight tech obstacles that worked so well with the Phoenix don't work so well...change.
- be generous and thoughtful with checkpoint placement.
- most importantly, test, test and test again both individual obstacles and driving line as a whole.
- get other people to test where possible. They'll catch things that have been overlooked and point out inconsistancies missed due to familiarity with the build.
- If one can't zero fault their own track, there's a big problem. One needs to build to their own riding skill and if attempting to do something above that, then regular feedback/testing is likely required from an experienced rider. Best just to build to one's skill level as improvement will come over time (I don't do ninjas for a reason).

Disclaimer: The above mostly applies to driving line only. This is by no means a guide for anyone, but rather the things I try (and often fail) to adhere to when building a track based on the little experience I've accumulated over the years.

D2's Deco Philosophy:
- tracks should resemble a believable environment even if it's fantasy based.
- detail/disguise the entire environment not just foreground or background. Nothing worse than seeing a nice track that's clearly smack bang in the middle of the world map with no attempt to blend the two.
- environment design should generally make sense eg. walkways, ladders etc should all go somewhere logical.
- environment design should be consistent. eg. don't have a beautifully detailed section unaturally transition into a lifeless deco-less section.
- encorporate the environment into the driving line as much as possible and try to use as few ramps for obstacles as possible.
- customise everything to guarantee a unique look and try to use as few out of the packet editor pieces as possible.
- encorporate 1 or several memorable moments or wow moments into the track.
- environment options such as lighting, fogging etc need to be tailored to make your environment believable (and beautiful if possible).
- avoid ugly contrast between horizon line and bg, transition should look natural not like a card board cut-out.
- when using terrain mods blend objects into the terrain. Nothing uglier than seeing an unnatural line between an object and the terrain it's been placed in. In fact use this principal when placing any objects down anywhere. If it looks unnatural or there are visible seams - disguise them or blend them somehow.
- bring the track to life with effects/animations. They don't need to be massive showcases, but to make an environment believable stuff needs to happen both passively and in reponse to the rider's presence. There needs to be some respose to the riders interactions with your track. It can be be as simple as a water splash as you ride over a puddle. Little things like this help bring things to life.
- sounds effects and ambiance are part of bringing a track to life. Incorporate and test them with and without bg music to ensure it sounds right in both scenarios.
- as part of testing check that everything looks right from all possible angles. eg. how do things look when someone shoots high up from a ramp or when they roll back somewhere they shouodn't. Crash cams are a good way of enforcing what a player sees.
- focus attention/detail where it's needed and draw the riders attention where it's wanted. Don't waste complexity on silly things way out in the background noone will notice, it's generally easy to get away with less detail in the background and create the illusion that there is more by detailing the forefround and making it all blend.

I've probably missed something, but that's most of it.

[emcee]

I really like drive lines that feel great when you hit them right, and take a few goes to get the hang of. That is my main thing i look for in all trials tracks. Its great to have so many things to build with, but a huge background to me is not as important, i spent 1000's of hours in a warehouse after all :-)

[Morfyboy]

I think builders have to primarily take into consideration when building a track, is that although there are a lot of core players that will no doubt run any great track, there is the fact that it will also be run by new people to the game.. So, my point being, when building, EVERYTHING has to be taken into consideration.. Regular, and the best builders that have done this for a long time,will do this naturally, like a lot of things that have been outlined above.. It's all about the learning process. If you commit, then, obviously you will improve. It takes time and effort to become 'a recognised builder'.. I would say to anyone new, don't be put off by this.. Some creations in T.C. Are mind blowing. Amazing creative skills. But these guys started from scratch too..
Just 1 of the many points that I feel needs to be considered in the planning, and has yet to be mentioned.. I suppose this could come under a sub heading called 'Planning/Prep' work when/if this list gets written up..

[Rudemod 69]

On the other hand, a lot of my earlier tracks in Evo were pretty darn bad lol.

You didn't see the track I made on HD, Kal.

The new track you're working on, any chance of a version with Roach/Viper? Saw you in the editor and got a little excited there, lol.

Its great to have so many things to build with, but a huge background to me is not as important, i spent 1000's of hours in a warehouse after all :-)

Fair point, emcee. However, I feel we became a little spoilt with outdoor vistas and recently, more powerful tech to push the boundaries, and the community have pushed the boat out in regards to what can be achieved in a track.There was only so much that could be achieved in the old trusty warehouse, and line was definitely king. Don't think there was a duff track in that game. Unfair Bombardment does cause the odd nightmare flashback though.

https://youtu.be/gqoVIf6JLnE

D, that's a pretty thorough, and impressive analysis.

Morf, sound words.