What is Medium? | Forums

[VPeliteFTW]

I've played quite a few tracks lately that were labeled medium but it was almost immediately clear they were hard or even an easy extreme. Got me to thinking what is it you guys consider medium? For me this is a pretty important question because the line between medium and hard is also kind of the line between more casual just for fun type players and those who are a bit more hardcore and really riding for the challenge. In my mind labeling a hard or extreme track medium is kind of shooting yourself in the foot since those more casual players will be more likely to try the track and when they find it hard as f**k will be more likely to dislike the track and you as a creator. I feel like this also incorporates some previous discussions I've been in about the variety of tracks on TC. When we share hard tracks labeled medium we are giving the impression to less skilled players that the good tracks are not for them so they go play all those ****ty levels we like to ***** about and rate them well because that's what they have to play. I like harder tracks but I think it's in everybody's best interest to be a bit more considerate to the medium range players and maybe make some quality tracks for them from time to time, they actually outnumber us by quite a lot (but that's a whole other topic).

For me there are 2 things that I often see in medium labeled tracks that immediately identify them as harder than medium
- Locked to Phoenix. To me a medium track must be doable on the Scorpion. Maybe the best line is for the Phoenix but if the track is locked to the Phoenix it is immediately hard or above IMO. The Phoenix is the hardest bike to use in the game, even on an easy track a less skilled player could struggle a lot riding with the Phoenix.
- Must not have any obstacles that require A license test skills. Again, maybe there is a speed run line or some time savers that use these techniques but if there is an obstacle that requires A license test skills to pass it, hard or above.

[mutetus]

You should be able to complete medium tracks with Piranha or even Rattler and should use the obstacles up to the B license.

[Lukeyy19]

From speaking to people a lot of people seem to assume that the editor sets the difficulty of your track automatically and so it says medium therefore they don't change it and assume the game has decided it's medium.

[rlmergeuser]

The problem is that everyone on TC seems to have their own definition of difficulty and often label their tracks according to their own skill level. This is one of my biggest pet peeves in the history of track making. Always - ALWAYS - compare to the in-game tracks. But even this isn't foolproof, cause if for example you look at the original extremes and compare them to the DLC extremes, you can see they're not in the same league at all. It's the same with hard tracks. Compare Lab rat to Dystopia. Which one is miles harder?

Overall, people tend to label their tracks one notch down to what it should be, i.e they label what is really a hard track as a medium. Happens all the time. I don't really have a set system for anything and I certainly don't think a medium has to be playable with Rattler or Piranha (seriously does anyone even use those bikes for anything unless they have to? = early license tests).

A medium for me is often a track that is quite easy to pass but still has tricky and intelligent timesavers. Nothing is really carved in stone but I know a hard track when I see one, a medium when I see one and certainly an extreme when I see one.

[RetiredRonin]

Because of the way that RedLynx trials tracks progress through a difficulty level you can often find a track from an easier difficulty being harder than one from a higher difficulty level. The only real way to make sure you are labeling correctly is to see which moves are needed and to check the license tests.

[DJ_2wItchY]

medium is a difficulty between easy and hard. in all honesty, who the **** cares about difficulty.

[RetiredRonin]

Just about everyone who mentions that tracks in TC are all labeled wrong, which actually happens to be a lot of people.

[DJ_2wItchY]

my bad shifty. my post wasn't a reply to you're above post from my 1st. it was a stubborn reply to the OP. see you're point nevertheless.

[Blastergamer]

I also have a question:

I often see very bad medal times especially those who are in the top 2000 on the LB's. I can sometimes pass a hard track 0 faults and still I have bronze.
Like on FLYER80's "Under Sky" track, I finished it with 3 faults and still bronze and I weren't slow.
Hard tracks gold medal times should be from 3-6 faults, silver 5-16 faults.
So, what are good medal times?

[stllbreathnbdy]

medium is a difficulty between easy and hard. in all honesty, who the !"#¤ cares about difficulty.

I see it as just another gauge of the track creators ability. If the creator cant get his difficulty labeled right, I'm going to second guess anything questionable in the tracks design(like my first two tracks, labeled wrong, and they sucked d***).Make sense?

Tags on the other hand seem a little more difficult to understand, the only one I really look out for if it's used right is ninja.