D2's Track Building Guidelines as per my reply in Nova Dark Storm's discussion topic regarding what makes a track awesome:
Driving Line:
Driving line should be first and foremost. Deco and fancy animations are for nothing if the line is not sound. Always sacrifice 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 achieve 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).
Decoration:
- 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.
- Incorporate 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.
- Incorporate 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 response to the rider's presence. There needs to be some response 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 shouldn'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 no-one 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 foreground and making it all blend.
I've probably missed something, So I'll keep adding to this post as I recall other tips.
I also have the PC version and it runs very well for me...much better than Evo Gold thank goodnessOriginally Posted by Blastergamer Go to original post![]()
I plan to, but we'll seeOriginally Posted by Claudia Go to original post![]()
I'll try not to disappoint, but no promises thereOriginally Posted by morrillo Go to original post![]()
ha, with your skills, attention to detail, thoroughness and appreciation of drive line and decor I doubt you will disappoint D2! (Flattery over, get building buddy!)Originally Posted by D2Dahaka Go to original post