[Discussion] Track Design Philosophy and Aesthetics
Jan 26, 2016 3:04:09 GMT
cloudmcshort, tompearson, and 2 more like this
Post by bladecruiser on Jan 26, 2016 3:04:09 GMT
So, I got into a rant the other day with some other crew members about track layout and prop usage and how I feel it could be done better on some tracks, and figured that I'd just start up a discussion about such things here and hopefully spur some thought and creativity from others in the process.
Like others, I enjoy making tracks for the crew to race on. It's fun for me to be driving around in freeroam and go down a path of roads, and get that little spark of inspiration and immediately jump into the creator to attempt to bring it to life. Over time, I've adjusted my own creation techniques from the amateur Tight Spaces track (one of my first, and worst, creations) to my most played and most liked Atomic Tire Raceway (constantly under construction to incorporate new tricks and prop placement techniques). The months in between the two tracks have been filled with talking to others and getting their thoughts about prop layouts after racing around the tracks I'm showing them. Those chats have taught me a few things that I make sure to keep in mind whenever making new tracks, or adjusting older ones to more modern designs.
One of the major topics for this thread is Checkpoint Placement, which can easily change your track from a flowing well laid out track, to completely unplayable and confusing. In ideal situations, proper checkpoint placement can completely remove the need to block off areas that would use up multiple props and take away from a track's aesthetic theme. Granted, not every checkpoint can do so much work, but as the track creators, we should strive to make them do as much work as possible in guiding the racers around the track. This contributes a great amount to the track's flow, and allows a more liberal usage of props in an aesthetic form over purely functional.
Two great examples for this topic exist in a single track that's fairly popular, and for good reason, within all platforms of the crew - Broughy1322's R.O.N. Raceway. Love it or hate it, the track is great for a multitude of reasons - it forces the drivers to their limits of consistency, precision, patience, and stamina. Checkpoints are placed in such a way that the apex of the turns are marked visually only by the natural layout of the airport, freeing up usage of props later in the lap for massive blocking walls to form a more complicated section and to block off traffic from colliding with others on different parts of a lap during a very high speed portion of the track.
The first example of checkpoint placement to talk about is the Silverstone style chicane as the track passes by the Weston hangar, leading into a left hander towards the backside of the airport. The checkpoints are placed to allow only the tiniest bit of tire tread in the dirt, but still keep a high speed and tight racing line through the section. They could have been moved in tighter to discourage wider lines, but that doesn't really restrict the pathway any and wouldn't serve to make the track flow better. Moving them in closer would also require some prop usage to form the apex of the chicanes, and would be a waste of props. Utilizing the massive open area of the airport, keeping the checkpoints wider cuts down on the props required to direct the flow of the track, and opens up more options to use them later on. In this example, the three checkpoints saved at least 3 props, more if there was a reason to curve the barriers around to make them more aesthetically pleasing.
The second example of checkpoint placement is the final knuckle shaped u-turn before you head back into the start/finish line. I'm of two minds about this section of the track. On one hand, the checkpoint placement here is very minimalist, only the ones that are absolutely needed are placed. On the other hand, the checkpoints there require a large amount of shaping with props to direct the flow of the track. Having only the two checkpoints in this section benefits in keeping a clean view towards the u-turn and not distracting the drivers with additional color breaks along the path. A trade off of this is the massive wall of tire wall props stretching to the left of the section to stop drivers from swinging out wide and skipping the technical bit of the turn all together. A similar effect could be achieved with fewer props by placing a checkpoint between both that are there now, and using a few props to block a wide sweep around the outside, creating a "tunnel" on the track to direct the flow of traffic. However, this would clutter the visual lines of the section. Trade-offs must be made in either case, and only the creator can determine which they value more.
Like others, I enjoy making tracks for the crew to race on. It's fun for me to be driving around in freeroam and go down a path of roads, and get that little spark of inspiration and immediately jump into the creator to attempt to bring it to life. Over time, I've adjusted my own creation techniques from the amateur Tight Spaces track (one of my first, and worst, creations) to my most played and most liked Atomic Tire Raceway (constantly under construction to incorporate new tricks and prop placement techniques). The months in between the two tracks have been filled with talking to others and getting their thoughts about prop layouts after racing around the tracks I'm showing them. Those chats have taught me a few things that I make sure to keep in mind whenever making new tracks, or adjusting older ones to more modern designs.
One of the major topics for this thread is Checkpoint Placement, which can easily change your track from a flowing well laid out track, to completely unplayable and confusing. In ideal situations, proper checkpoint placement can completely remove the need to block off areas that would use up multiple props and take away from a track's aesthetic theme. Granted, not every checkpoint can do so much work, but as the track creators, we should strive to make them do as much work as possible in guiding the racers around the track. This contributes a great amount to the track's flow, and allows a more liberal usage of props in an aesthetic form over purely functional.
Two great examples for this topic exist in a single track that's fairly popular, and for good reason, within all platforms of the crew - Broughy1322's R.O.N. Raceway. Love it or hate it, the track is great for a multitude of reasons - it forces the drivers to their limits of consistency, precision, patience, and stamina. Checkpoints are placed in such a way that the apex of the turns are marked visually only by the natural layout of the airport, freeing up usage of props later in the lap for massive blocking walls to form a more complicated section and to block off traffic from colliding with others on different parts of a lap during a very high speed portion of the track.
The first example of checkpoint placement to talk about is the Silverstone style chicane as the track passes by the Weston hangar, leading into a left hander towards the backside of the airport. The checkpoints are placed to allow only the tiniest bit of tire tread in the dirt, but still keep a high speed and tight racing line through the section. They could have been moved in tighter to discourage wider lines, but that doesn't really restrict the pathway any and wouldn't serve to make the track flow better. Moving them in closer would also require some prop usage to form the apex of the chicanes, and would be a waste of props. Utilizing the massive open area of the airport, keeping the checkpoints wider cuts down on the props required to direct the flow of the track, and opens up more options to use them later on. In this example, the three checkpoints saved at least 3 props, more if there was a reason to curve the barriers around to make them more aesthetically pleasing.
The second example of checkpoint placement is the final knuckle shaped u-turn before you head back into the start/finish line. I'm of two minds about this section of the track. On one hand, the checkpoint placement here is very minimalist, only the ones that are absolutely needed are placed. On the other hand, the checkpoints there require a large amount of shaping with props to direct the flow of the track. Having only the two checkpoints in this section benefits in keeping a clean view towards the u-turn and not distracting the drivers with additional color breaks along the path. A trade off of this is the massive wall of tire wall props stretching to the left of the section to stop drivers from swinging out wide and skipping the technical bit of the turn all together. A similar effect could be achieved with fewer props by placing a checkpoint between both that are there now, and using a few props to block a wide sweep around the outside, creating a "tunnel" on the track to direct the flow of traffic. However, this would clutter the visual lines of the section. Trade-offs must be made in either case, and only the creator can determine which they value more.
