xSharpshooter94
06-17-2009, 10:02 PM
All right well when I look at race maps I look and I can think of a million things to say about a track. Even from just the pictures of the track. Then I go down to look at other people’s responses and what do I see? I see the same generic response: Great track, very smooth, 5/5, blah, blah, blah. Then I go into the competitive maps section and I see all of these 5 paragraph long responses to these maps. I find myself thinking well why can’t you do the same for racetracks? I asked around and everyone says that there isn’t that much to say about it. Well that is not at all true. There are a lot of things to look at when reviewing a track. To proof it I wrote a guide to reviewing a track based on 5 principle parts that may or may not seem familiar. So have a look.
Smoothness/ Construction
Yes it does have to do with it, but it isn’t the only thing. You have to take into account the entire construction of the track. First of all, you should evaluate the smoothness, because lets face it nobody likes driving on a bumpy road. Secondly, take into consideration the layout of the track. The track has to be made in such a way that anyone with a little bit of competence can finish it. Sharp turns and difficult jumps do not facilitate this very well. You want to have nice wide banks and not to wide of a jump. And if you have these sharp turns and wide jumps, how does the creator help the racer overcome it. Does he use shield-door assisted turns or mancannon jumps? These all go into the construction.
Breakability
Well this is taken more into account for racetracks then for slayer map. If a track is breakable it needs an honor rule which basically makes the track not so great, despite structure. Two things can define breaking a track. The first is being able to cross the finish line more than once a lap. It doesn’t matter how the maker does it but the VIP score point should only be able to be crossed by a mongoose, and you should have to complete the entire track to cross again. The reason that entire is bolded in the previous sentence is that that is the segway to the next part of breaking a track. If you can skip a part of a track what is the point of even having that part. You should make sure that you must drive every single part of the track for a track to be un-breakable
Originality
If you find yourself saying “Have I seen this track before?”, when you really haven’t, that is not a good thing. It is really hard to have originality in racetracks today but if a maker can pull it off then it makes the track ten times better. Tracks that are just a bunch of banks and twists aren’t that interesting after a while and get boring. One thing I enjoy that I don’t see very often in tracks is seeing is having a tack go into a part of a map that nobody really uses, such as the dues on Sandbox and such. But anything that you have never seen before can count as originality. This is basically in the experience of the reviewer. One other tip I can give is to add some scenery to the track. That leads us to our next topic…
Aesthetics
Nobody likes just driving on a track with nothing to look at. Give the racer something to look at while going by. The next thing to look for while reviewing a track is how the maker used his resources and creativity to create an atmosphere for his tracks. Whether it is a giant spaceship hovering over the track or just a few barrels placed on the side of the road, it is just to create a feeling for a track. Something to look at while going by also makes the player less likely to notice some of the little things wrong with a track. So this can be a little thing to compensate for the previous aspects.
Enjoyability
The final thing is the culmination of the previous four aspects. Basically did you have fun racing this map? Was it smooth and easy to drive? Was it fair and unbreakable? Was it original and did I see something new? Did I actually feel like I was on sandbox or foundry? All of these and your own opinion make up this category and this is the main thing to look for. A track can be beautifully interlocked and have a great layout but if it isn’t fun, then what is the point of racing it?
Well I hope this helps you guys and opens your eyes to the effort a race track maker puts into creating a map. So please drop a review if you like a track, because just like any other competitive map maker, race track makers like constructive criticism and compliments.
Smoothness/ Construction
Yes it does have to do with it, but it isn’t the only thing. You have to take into account the entire construction of the track. First of all, you should evaluate the smoothness, because lets face it nobody likes driving on a bumpy road. Secondly, take into consideration the layout of the track. The track has to be made in such a way that anyone with a little bit of competence can finish it. Sharp turns and difficult jumps do not facilitate this very well. You want to have nice wide banks and not to wide of a jump. And if you have these sharp turns and wide jumps, how does the creator help the racer overcome it. Does he use shield-door assisted turns or mancannon jumps? These all go into the construction.
Breakability
Well this is taken more into account for racetracks then for slayer map. If a track is breakable it needs an honor rule which basically makes the track not so great, despite structure. Two things can define breaking a track. The first is being able to cross the finish line more than once a lap. It doesn’t matter how the maker does it but the VIP score point should only be able to be crossed by a mongoose, and you should have to complete the entire track to cross again. The reason that entire is bolded in the previous sentence is that that is the segway to the next part of breaking a track. If you can skip a part of a track what is the point of even having that part. You should make sure that you must drive every single part of the track for a track to be un-breakable
Originality
If you find yourself saying “Have I seen this track before?”, when you really haven’t, that is not a good thing. It is really hard to have originality in racetracks today but if a maker can pull it off then it makes the track ten times better. Tracks that are just a bunch of banks and twists aren’t that interesting after a while and get boring. One thing I enjoy that I don’t see very often in tracks is seeing is having a tack go into a part of a map that nobody really uses, such as the dues on Sandbox and such. But anything that you have never seen before can count as originality. This is basically in the experience of the reviewer. One other tip I can give is to add some scenery to the track. That leads us to our next topic…
Aesthetics
Nobody likes just driving on a track with nothing to look at. Give the racer something to look at while going by. The next thing to look for while reviewing a track is how the maker used his resources and creativity to create an atmosphere for his tracks. Whether it is a giant spaceship hovering over the track or just a few barrels placed on the side of the road, it is just to create a feeling for a track. Something to look at while going by also makes the player less likely to notice some of the little things wrong with a track. So this can be a little thing to compensate for the previous aspects.
Enjoyability
The final thing is the culmination of the previous four aspects. Basically did you have fun racing this map? Was it smooth and easy to drive? Was it fair and unbreakable? Was it original and did I see something new? Did I actually feel like I was on sandbox or foundry? All of these and your own opinion make up this category and this is the main thing to look for. A track can be beautifully interlocked and have a great layout but if it isn’t fun, then what is the point of racing it?
Well I hope this helps you guys and opens your eyes to the effort a race track maker puts into creating a map. So please drop a review if you like a track, because just like any other competitive map maker, race track makers like constructive criticism and compliments.