Planning a track | Forums

[rlmergeuser]

Do people plan there tracks first?

I am only just starting out making tracks and have ideas in my head of what i want to achieve but i always start out with good intentions then kind of lose my way, or come away from the theme that i set out to make.

So this is my question, does anyone pre plan there tracks?

I was thinking that it would be a lot easier to sketch out rough tracks on paper so that it will be easier to know what im doing once im in the editor, and know exactly what ramps, loops, triggers i want and where they will fit in to the map, is this taking things a little too far?

[rlmergeuser]

I tried planning tracks first actually, but I found that the things that seemed to work and not work didn't fall into my plan at all. Now I just decide what skill level the track may be and go free-from from there.

My tracks aren't full theme tracks like some others though. I just wanna make a nice flowing track mainly.
The editor can be really fun if you let it be.

[BMXBandit777]

its always good to start with a ruff idea what u want to do indoor/outdoor/rooftop/underground etc, i try to think of a few things i'd like to have in the track (i.e. physics stuff) then try to get them to work well then build the rest of the track around them tweakin things as u go

[rlmergeuser]

i just build as i go and come up with ideas as i go and fine tune the jumps so it is fun to play

[rlmergeuser]

I think the only parts of a track you should plan are the difficulty,What kind of track [technical or fast flowing] and if its a night or day track.I tried sketching them out b4 i started but found that what works on paper doesnt always work when youve built it and rode it.The best way ive found is to build a section then test the track from the beginning{Not just the last bit youve built},This way you can tell if it all fits together nicely or not.

[rlmergeuser]

i dont plan tracks, i jus usually start with something i been thinkin about, make it, get lost, go somewhere else, make something else, then manage to merge the too...and hope it all works out...

[rlmergeuser]

I use graphic paper with 1cm squares. I use each square as a building block in the editor so that I can fill in blocks and ramps accordingly, and build my track on paper first. I have a pretty good idea on paper about scale, and how an obstacle or ramp will work in game. Usually I only have to make a couple minor tweaks in game to make sure the bike goes where it's intended to.

If I try to free flow it in game from my head, it usually goes to sh*t and I actually have a hard time thinking what obstacle to do next. At least with paper, I can plan out a nice flow to the track, and it saves me a ton of time in the end.

[Elements1992]

I use graphic paper with 1cm squares. I use each square as a building block in the editor so that I can fill in blocks and ramps accordingly, and build my track on paper first. I have a pretty good idea on paper about scale, and how an obstacle or ramp will work in game. Usually I only have to make a couple minor tweaks in game to make sure the bike goes where it's intended to.

If I try to free flow it in game from my head, it usually goes to sh*t and I actually have a hard time thinking what obstacle to do next. At least with paper, I can plan out a nice flow to the track, and it saves me a ton of time in the end.

Wow

[rlmergeuser]

I sketched mine out on paper and put a few lines to say what jumps would land in which place. of course it turned out a bit differently but it was good to have a plan to go back to when I was wondering what to do.