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Max007x’ Ultimate Guide to Track Design

Discussion in 'Tracks' started by Max007x, Jul 10, 2014.

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Max007x Forum Moderator Staff Member Administrator Forum Moderator VIP Official Author

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3r4nd0n said: ↑

I, for one, think you made this guide so long to get 3x the amount of likes.
I love how in depth you got with this, and specifically how you don't just force the seemingly current belief that "heavy heavy heavy detail is the only good detail".
I think you should of pointed out somewhere (probably Smooth Curves) that when erasing a line, be sure to put the new one's starting point directly on the last line's endpoint. I see it too often where a track maker has a ramp where the lines aren't connected correctly.
Click to expand...

Hahaha well I didn't know there was a word limit of 1000 so it's not what I aimed for .
Yeah that makes sense to add, I added it to the smooth curves part.

Max007x, Jul 11, 2014

#21
viiruMIAIMIAU Well-Known Member Official Author

Sometimes I work on a brand new track for half an hour when in the end I decide to delete it all and start over again. Yes. That would be a perfect introduction of me.

A track where all the top times are the same is not that much fun. You are too right. I always try to avoid these tracks.

Making the player have to re-ride parts of the track. Yes, yes! This is what I always want to do!

viiruMIAIMIAU, Jul 11, 2014

#22
Max007x Forum Moderator Staff Member Administrator Forum Moderator VIP Official Author

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viiruMIAIMIAU said: ↑

Sometimes I work on a brand new track for half an hour when in the end I decide to delete it all and start over again. Yes. That would be a perfect introduction of me.
Well I'm just being honest here. The start is the hardest part of the track and you need to get it right. I can understand that this may not sound great to everyone but you have to understand that you can't make a great track in a couple of minutes.

A track where all the top times are the same is not that much fun. You are too right. I always try to avoid these tracks.
What I mean here is tracks where the average player has the same time as the best player, because the track does not give oportunity to get a faster time because of bad design. I think a track has to include some time savers and shortcuts to be really entertaining for the best players.

Making the player have to re-ride parts of the track. Yes, yes! This is what I always want to do!
http://www.freeriderhd.com/t/50067-country-cycling
I'm sorry for linking my own track here but I couldn't think of a track atm. "Making the player have to re-ride parts of the track or making the track circle around the same spot is good track design and makes sure that you don’t have to detail for weeks." What I'm talking about here is for example that the ending is really close to the start. Also on the part to the left you re-use a ramp by hitting it with a different speed, giving you the chance to get higher up. I try to aim for this as I find it good design.

Oh here's another one http://www.freeriderhd.com/t/8964-aqua-marine
This one is really old and doesn't have checkpoints but it really does a great job re-using parts of the track.
Click to expand...

edit: obviously your own taste matters here as well. This is like I said still just my opinion on track design.

Last edited: Jul 11, 2014

Max007x, Jul 11, 2014

#23
Goosey021 Active Member

This really helped. Thanks.

My gallery:
http://community.freeriderhd.com/threads/lechickenmans-gallery-finally.430/

Goosey021, Jul 12, 2014

#24
Maple Love to draw VIP Team Balloon Trackmaker Of The Decade Official Author

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^ I agree i luv this, it's very helpful

Maple, Jul 12, 2014

#25

Cynic likes this.
Max007x Forum Moderator Staff Member Administrator Forum Moderator VIP Official Author

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Maple said: ↑

^ I agree i luv this, it's very helpful
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I'm not sure if you'd need this, your tracks look great ! They're really original and good looking as well. That the greatest view track looks beautiful, respect !

Max007x, Jul 12, 2014

#26

Maple likes this.
Max007x Forum Moderator Staff Member Administrator Forum Moderator VIP Official Author

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Bump

Max007x, Sep 19, 2014

#27
Sono Well-Known Member Official Author

Max007x said: ↑

Bump
Click to expand...

Holy moly.. I never saw this thread.. This is awesome
I tried doing something like this back when the FRHD Wiki was being made. I only got part-way done though. Props to you staying dedicated. Feel free to add anything to what I have xD
http://freeriderhd.wikia.com/wiki/How_to_make_Decent_Tracks

Sono, Sep 23, 2014

#28

Cryogenic and Max007x like this.
Max007x Forum Moderator Staff Member Administrator Forum Moderator VIP Official Author

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And here's another 2 month bump ! I'm going to bump this topic every month or 2 from now on because I feel like it could be really usefull for newer track creators

Max007x, Nov 12, 2014

#29

Dakoziol-2nd, viiruMIAIMIAU and Cryogenic like this.
Cryogenic Well-Known Member Official Author

Max007x said: ↑

And here's another 2 month bump ! I'm going to bump this topic every month or 2 from now on because I feel like it could be really usefull for newer track creators
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True!

Cryogenic, Nov 12, 2014

#30
pssst Forum Legend Elite Author Team Blob Official Author

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Thank you for the wisdom great mouse warrior

pssst, Nov 13, 2014

#31

Dakoziol-2nd, TheSouthAmericanGuy, codrey and 1 other person like this.
Hashplant Active Member Official Author

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Nice thread man. Seems tasty.

Hashplant, Dec 27, 2014

#32

Max007x likes this.
Elibloodthirst DeadRising2 VIP Team Helicopter Forum Member Of The Decade (2014-2024) Official Author

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Meh/10 tl;dr

Elibloodthirst, Dec 27, 2014

#33
pssst Forum Legend Elite Author Team Blob Official Author

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All this knowledge is overwhelming me

pssst, Dec 27, 2014

#34
EliteKitten Well-Known Member Official Author

Hey, Max007x Can you view my tracks to let me know if I'm doing good on the detail... I try to make my tracks like an adventure idea /theme.. My detail is much of lines following the ground and simple background like mountains or hills... Please reply and tell me what I should improve on!..

EliteKitten, Dec 31, 2014

#35
Max007x Forum Moderator Staff Member Administrator Forum Moderator VIP Official Author

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EliteKitten said: ↑

Hey, Max007x Can you view my tracks to let me know if I'm doing good on the detail... I try to make my tracks like an adventure idea /theme.. My detail is much of lines following the ground and simple background like mountains or hills... Please reply and tell me what I should improve on!..
Click to expand...

link to your tracks?

Max007x, Dec 31, 2014

#36
EliteKitten Well-Known Member Official Author

Freeriderhd.com/u/elitekitten (you know when you are at your page you can change the link from max007 to elitekitten

EliteKitten, Dec 31, 2014

#37

TheSouthAmericanGuy and Max007x like this.
EliteKitten Well-Known Member Official Author

http://www.freeriderhd.com/u/elitekitten idk why it didn't make the link

EliteKitten, Dec 31, 2014

#38
Max007x Forum Moderator Staff Member Administrator Forum Moderator VIP Official Author

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EliteKitten said: ↑

http://www.freeriderhd.com/u/elitekitten idk why it didn't make the link
Click to expand...

I'll check tomorow. Remind me if I forget to do that

Max007x, Dec 31, 2014

#39

EliteKitten likes this.
Scarpa Well-Known Member Official Author

Max007x said: ↑

3 Track Design
At this point you’ve decided what kind of track you want to make. You chose a theme and decided how hard you want your track to be. The next step is designing the driveline. I always keep the theme in mind when drawing the driveline, so that the theme and the track itself will blend well together. For example, if your track takes place in a city, a lot of straight lines instead of curves would make sense when designing the track. Keep the theme in mind! Now you have to ask yourself: what makes a fun track?
To me, a good track is a track with a lot of room for time improvents. A track where all the top times are the same is not that much fun. I can’t really tell you how you should design your track but there are a few things to keep in mind:

-Don’t use to many power-ups. I see this a lot. Power-ups make you lose controll over the bike and should only be used when they really improve the track. If you do want to use a power-up, use a single one. multiple power-ups doing the same thing looks ugly.

-Stay away from the curve tool. This is a tool that I never use. If you use this for your driveline you track WILL be bad. This line should be drawn using the straight line tool.

-Is a part of your track not as good as it could’ve been? erase it! I feel that the eraser is not used as much as it should be. If a curve is not as smooth as you want it to be, draw it again!

-Practice makes perfect. Don’t expect to draw perfect curves on your first try. This takes time and effort. Same goes for good track design. Link your track on the forums and ask for feedback. This way you’ll find out what works and what doesn’t. If you’re not sure if your work in progress is good, PM it to someone you think knows something about track design and ask them for feedback.

Smooth Curves
This seems to be the most asked question on the forums. How do I draw smooth curves? Being able to draw smooth curves is a great skill to have. These curves aren’t needed in a track but most tracks that don’t really go for a theme have smooth curves in them. so how do you draw them? First of all, don’t use the curve tool. Use the straight line tool. With this tool selected you should draw small lines after eachother, each a little bit steeper than the previous one. To help you do this you should hold shift each time you draw a new line. This makes the new line start where the previous line you drew ends. That’s all there is to it. Remeber to erase a few lines if you mess up a part of the curve and try it again. You’re going to make a few mistakes when trying to draw smooth curves so don’t be afraid to erase. When doing this make sure though that you still make each line start exactly at the end of the previous line or else your curve won't be as good. Also test your curves a lot to make sure they are as smooth as possible.

Landings
The second part of a smooth track is the landing. Your track can have the smoothest curves out there but if the landings are bad, there won’t be any flow to it. You should avoid boosts to help with the landing. To make a good landing you should ride your ramp while just holding ‘up’. Then, if you’re at the point where you want the rider to land, press space to pause the track. Now draw a line here. After this restart your track and try the jump this way again. If the landing is perfect, continue the track there, if it’s not, change the line slightly and keep trying untill it’s perfect. If you want your jump to be harder, try the jump while holding up and leaning and draw the landing that way. This way you won’t be able to complete the jump if you aren’t leaning, making the track harder. Making good jumps just requires a lot of practice. You will find out what works and what doesn’t but these are the basics.

With these 2 tricks you should be able to draw a smooth track. Since smooth tracks are a big part of this game these are some good skills to learn. Try to make your smooth track challenging though by making hard jumps and force the player to turn a lot in the air. You could also use gravity switches to make your track even more interesting.

Tip: don’t use too much space for your track. Making the player have to re-ride parts of the track or making the track circle around the same spot is good track design and makes sure that you don’t have to detail for weeks.
Click to expand...

why? just wondering.

Scarpa, Jul 24, 2015

#40

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