I posted a message on Youtube and realized I had never seen this specific topic addressed. I see these rookie mistakes, of which I was guilty of commiting several at one time. This a list of common problems, with brief solutions included. Detailed solutions can be found throughout the forum, just look for it.
Rule #1: No ****ty cameras, period. It doesn't make it harder or cooler, it makes it suck more.
Rule #2: No blocky lighting. Take em out or move em apart. Looks amateur and is distracting.
Rule #3: No Lag. Turn off some physics, unglue some stuff, take out some lights. Lag= unplayable. Check forums for more info on this.
Rule #4: Don't? steal, borrow. If you're going to "borrow" an idea, acknowledge the creator in your msg or video and contact him before posting and all will be well. Otherwise, you're a thief and will be labeled as such. Don't be a ***** and play like you don't know whats going on either. (Thieves, you know who you are! *cough*COG SOLDIER5*cough*)
Rule #5: Don't forget to include your gamertag or an abbreviation of it in your title. Otherwise, your tracks show up all over my list of 400 tracks and I have no way of remembering who the hell made them. A simple capital letter will do. As a matter of fact, I rarely download them without one because it screams, "I have no idea what I'm doing and I suck!", which, of course, isn't always the case.
*I edited out one that was more of a preference : No awkwardly angled objects against the driving line. This is when an object on the driving line is rotated to the left or right of the driving line, not up or down from it. This makes the driving line nearly impossible to detect, and while sometimes forgiveable, it almost always causes unnecessary frustration.
Any other experienced builders out there feel free to add anything I may have missed.
Originally Posted by Ajuvix
I should definitely follow these, but i have one question. What do you guys think is good decor and driving line. I have an idea what people think is good decor, but I don't really understand what people mean by fun driving lines![]()
Theres a thread for this already but I think we def need good guideline for common sense building Jorma says this:
Originally Posted by Jorma
Here are some other resources:
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I was looking for another topic and didn't find it. Maybe someone else knows the topic I'm thinking of.
Zoid - the exact definition of a fun line is going to be different for everyone, but there are some things that most people will have in common.
I'm not a super picky rider - I'll ride most tracks, but here's what i look for in a riding line:
- I generally don't want to stop to wait for something to happen so i can keep riding. slowing down is fine, but if something is supposed to fall so you can keep riding, then it should fall before you get there. If you're not the greatest rider, get a good rider to test this for you, as chances are, they might be able to get there more quickly than you.
- I need to be able to see the line. I want to know where I have to go. don't put a hundred objects between the rider and the camera. This doesn't make the track harder, it makes it harder for you to see the rider and the line. There's a difference there. It's annoying, and not fun.
- The track doesn't need to be "flowy" (like Pipe Network from the DLC, for instance), but a good rider should be able to find flow in the track. Putting things that stick up out of the ground or having the rider go super fast and then putting a wall at the end of it are again, just annoyances.
- I don't want to ride on something that's broken. debris should ALWAYS be off the driving line as it may affect your approach to the next obstacle.
- All physics should be as polished as possible. There are plenty of people here who will help test physics and give feedback on how to make them work. Good examples of complicated and polished physics can be found in tracks by DrittesAuge, Jook, Iron Warlord, and plenty of others.
- Tracks should feel like they've been tested and tested and tested before I ever try them (unless I am the tester). I don't want to have to download the updated track 2 hours or 2 days after you released it because you had to update stuff. (Heet mentioned that in one of the links above.)
I'll stop now and let someone else contribute.![]()
Originally Posted by lespritdelescalier
Thanks hopefully now I can put out some decent maps, also I mainly make sure everything is right and its doable when i'm making the vid for it, other people might do this too, but this way I can make sure if someone plays it once that it will work okay, but thanks again. and i should test it more![]()
Something I'd like to add here is to make sure you reward riders for doing an object really well. It can be really frustrating to get past a section perfect with a lot of speed only to hit your head cause you went too high off the next jump or land in some dynamite. This sort of stuff gives the player no real incentive to get better at these sections. But if you are rewarded with a better landing, a shortcut, or being able to skip some obstacles, people will keep playing the track over and over till they get everything perfect. There can be exceptions for this if you are trying to make them take a different line that you find more fun.
I would also like to add something as a rider if there is an alternate route that turns out to be a trap i will quit the map, these add nothing but frustration and annoyance and I would really suggest not using this idea.Originally Posted by Lifeonaboard
There is a similar topic with a lot of good info here..
Note to all track creators - Things us riders find annoying.
Yeah i hate it when deco is placed in front of the riding line and prevents me from seein the rider even if for a split second when im approachin the next obstacle, i find that a major annoyance. It should always be camera angle to rider/riding line to the deco in the background. I can understand that creators try to make it 3-D as possible which is fine by me but i prefer the rider to be visible from start to finish.
That's the one I was looking for! Thank you!Originally Posted by shotaneric