Posted: 25 Dec 2006, 12:15
I've been downloading lots and lots of tracks, picking through them trying to find the ones I like, and I'm finding that a lot of tracks all seem to have the same problems, which don't result in especially fun tracks. Maybe its just because I haven't been racing with the fastest of cars, and most of the tracks are designed for fast cars (since most of the downloadable custom cars out there insist on being at least a little if not way way faster than every stock car), but I'd like to point out some of the things that have been consistantly annoying me in most of the tracks I've downloaded. Feel free to argue my points if you like - they're just my opinions.
LONG, OPEN STRAIGHTS: They're everywhere. As I said, maybe its just that my cars are too slow, but I'm getting tired of tracks that insist on putting large gaps where you drive in a long straight line to the next turn, hoping that your car can get there before the faster cars do. Its not much fun. Racing should be about making fast choices; do I brake now or try to make it through at full speed? Should I go right or go left? Should I try to overtake that car and risk spinning out? Should I try to go through that turn a little tighter and risk hitting the wall? Should I attempt to make it through that shortcut without crashing? There are no choices involved in driving down a long straight line. No choices = no fun (unless your car goes 70mph+, anyway
. However, when you put a few rocks, some crates, trees, etc... ANYTHING in the middle of the long straight that players have to drive around, then it becomes interesting. A real challenge to get around the obstacles as quickly as possible without crashing into them or any cars that might be nearby.
Second problem: BLIND CORNERS: These are very, very abundant in Lego tracks, which is why I started disliking most of them right away. Its pretty simple really: If you can't see where you're going while in first-person drive mode, then its a bad corner. You might be able to get away with it if the setup REQUIRES that you go real slow, so you have time to digest what you see when you come around the bend, but for the most part, blind corners just suck. For further reference, most anything that's 90 degrees or more is a blind corner. Most lego tracks are just a bunch of 90 and 180 degree turns and they're not much fun at all, because you can't see where you're going most of the time. Now, if you want to be fun, you want to have tight, winding corners where you can see whats coming at you around the curve, you've just got to decide how you're going to react to it.
Third Problem: NO PERSONALITY: This one's a bit harder to define, but every track should have at least one feature in it that makes you think, "Wow, that was awesome". If it doesn't, the track might as well be pitched. Some tracks, though, even the ones that include nice corners and no long straights, are just so boring and repetative that you can't hardly stand to finish anything past the third lap. Some professional games suffer from tracks like this too (XGRA comes to mind...) There should always be at least a neat scene, an interesting corner, a challenging spoit, or SOMETHING that makes you think about the track while you're driving it. Some tracks are just so boring that I find myself daydreaming through them...
Fourth Problem, and probably not a problem for most people: BIG HUGE UPHILL RAMP AT THE VERY BEGINNING: Some cars can't get up them. So for the love of all that doesn't have much EngineRatio, avoid making long, steep ramps anywhere in your track, ESPECIALLY at the very beginning when cars don't have any momentum. Short steep ramps are okay, long shallow ramps are okay, but never ever do long steep ramps - with possible exception to stunt arenas and tracks with specific cars included, like that mountain climb track. Sadly, some of my favorite tracks suffer from this problem.
I'll avoid complaining about huge sudden drops, because I know they're more fun when you haven't turned the ResMod on all your cars to 0, causing them to fall like bricks.
Oh yeah, and my fifth problem, mentioned slightly earlier: LACK OF CHOICES: This occured to me when driving around a lego track that was riddled with little, annoying bumps in the road that did nothing but slow you down. The bumps stretched scross the whole road, so there was no way to avoid them or anything. They were just there - a fact of life on that track. So my final point is, choices are nice. When you have a choice to drive over the ramp for a slight shortcut or around the ramp and avoid the risk of crashing, that's fun. If the ramp has no purpose but can still be avoided, that's still fun. If you're forced to go up the ramp, that's not so fun. Choices are nice. They make things more fun. Add more choices in your tracks, please.
Finally: SHORTCUTS ARE GOOD: There should be more of them. Risky little side detours that give you an advantage if you manage to do them right - and if you don't, you're screwed, which serves you right for trying to take a shortcut. I've seen a lot of tracks that had places which would have made cool shortcuts - dodging between the crates instead of going around them, going down the side alley instead of down the main road. Only trouble is, when you try to take that route, you get the annoying little flashing X that says you're now going the wrong way, so you have to back up through the shortcut and do it properly or you're out of the race. Boo.
One more thought that's not a complaint: I've seen a lot of tracks that -appear- to have alternative pathway that don't actually lead anywhere. It'd be awesome if people built track settings with the idea of making several tracks out of them. They'd all use the same setting (and some of those settings are really cool!), but they'd take different routes through it. That side street you couldn't drive down on the other track; well, when you race the track backwards on the second version, you pop out from that side street and rejoin the familiar areas. Just a thought.
Anyway, that's my rant for today.
[Edit]
Forgot to mention that CROSSING SECTIONS OF TRACK aren't fun, either. Nobody likes getting creamed by a car that was coming at you from the side, out of your sight, and totally unavoidable (because you didn't know it was there).
And whatsmore, its nice when you can tell where you're supposed to go on a track. Wide open tracks with a few obstacles that you're supposed to race around _ARE NOT FUN_. Use walls, people. As long as you aren't using blind corners, you shouldn't have a problem with banging into them all the time.
LONG, OPEN STRAIGHTS: They're everywhere. As I said, maybe its just that my cars are too slow, but I'm getting tired of tracks that insist on putting large gaps where you drive in a long straight line to the next turn, hoping that your car can get there before the faster cars do. Its not much fun. Racing should be about making fast choices; do I brake now or try to make it through at full speed? Should I go right or go left? Should I try to overtake that car and risk spinning out? Should I try to go through that turn a little tighter and risk hitting the wall? Should I attempt to make it through that shortcut without crashing? There are no choices involved in driving down a long straight line. No choices = no fun (unless your car goes 70mph+, anyway
. However, when you put a few rocks, some crates, trees, etc... ANYTHING in the middle of the long straight that players have to drive around, then it becomes interesting. A real challenge to get around the obstacles as quickly as possible without crashing into them or any cars that might be nearby.Second problem: BLIND CORNERS: These are very, very abundant in Lego tracks, which is why I started disliking most of them right away. Its pretty simple really: If you can't see where you're going while in first-person drive mode, then its a bad corner. You might be able to get away with it if the setup REQUIRES that you go real slow, so you have time to digest what you see when you come around the bend, but for the most part, blind corners just suck. For further reference, most anything that's 90 degrees or more is a blind corner. Most lego tracks are just a bunch of 90 and 180 degree turns and they're not much fun at all, because you can't see where you're going most of the time. Now, if you want to be fun, you want to have tight, winding corners where you can see whats coming at you around the curve, you've just got to decide how you're going to react to it.
Third Problem: NO PERSONALITY: This one's a bit harder to define, but every track should have at least one feature in it that makes you think, "Wow, that was awesome". If it doesn't, the track might as well be pitched. Some tracks, though, even the ones that include nice corners and no long straights, are just so boring and repetative that you can't hardly stand to finish anything past the third lap. Some professional games suffer from tracks like this too (XGRA comes to mind...) There should always be at least a neat scene, an interesting corner, a challenging spoit, or SOMETHING that makes you think about the track while you're driving it. Some tracks are just so boring that I find myself daydreaming through them...
Fourth Problem, and probably not a problem for most people: BIG HUGE UPHILL RAMP AT THE VERY BEGINNING: Some cars can't get up them. So for the love of all that doesn't have much EngineRatio, avoid making long, steep ramps anywhere in your track, ESPECIALLY at the very beginning when cars don't have any momentum. Short steep ramps are okay, long shallow ramps are okay, but never ever do long steep ramps - with possible exception to stunt arenas and tracks with specific cars included, like that mountain climb track. Sadly, some of my favorite tracks suffer from this problem.
I'll avoid complaining about huge sudden drops, because I know they're more fun when you haven't turned the ResMod on all your cars to 0, causing them to fall like bricks.
Oh yeah, and my fifth problem, mentioned slightly earlier: LACK OF CHOICES: This occured to me when driving around a lego track that was riddled with little, annoying bumps in the road that did nothing but slow you down. The bumps stretched scross the whole road, so there was no way to avoid them or anything. They were just there - a fact of life on that track. So my final point is, choices are nice. When you have a choice to drive over the ramp for a slight shortcut or around the ramp and avoid the risk of crashing, that's fun. If the ramp has no purpose but can still be avoided, that's still fun. If you're forced to go up the ramp, that's not so fun. Choices are nice. They make things more fun. Add more choices in your tracks, please.
Finally: SHORTCUTS ARE GOOD: There should be more of them. Risky little side detours that give you an advantage if you manage to do them right - and if you don't, you're screwed, which serves you right for trying to take a shortcut. I've seen a lot of tracks that had places which would have made cool shortcuts - dodging between the crates instead of going around them, going down the side alley instead of down the main road. Only trouble is, when you try to take that route, you get the annoying little flashing X that says you're now going the wrong way, so you have to back up through the shortcut and do it properly or you're out of the race. Boo.
One more thought that's not a complaint: I've seen a lot of tracks that -appear- to have alternative pathway that don't actually lead anywhere. It'd be awesome if people built track settings with the idea of making several tracks out of them. They'd all use the same setting (and some of those settings are really cool!), but they'd take different routes through it. That side street you couldn't drive down on the other track; well, when you race the track backwards on the second version, you pop out from that side street and rejoin the familiar areas. Just a thought.
Anyway, that's my rant for today.
[Edit]
Forgot to mention that CROSSING SECTIONS OF TRACK aren't fun, either. Nobody likes getting creamed by a car that was coming at you from the side, out of your sight, and totally unavoidable (because you didn't know it was there).
And whatsmore, its nice when you can tell where you're supposed to go on a track. Wide open tracks with a few obstacles that you're supposed to race around _ARE NOT FUN_. Use walls, people. As long as you aren't using blind corners, you shouldn't have a problem with banging into them all the time.
And missing the target is a lot easier to do on an ice track, and while you're in the air.
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