Hello, i would like to know from you guys what you think makes a track good.. is it the smoothness? speed? scenery?

Please List Few Things! (by this i think some will still learn to make good tracks)

i think
-Smoothness
-Space (not too tight parts (e.g. turns)
-Scenery
-Reuse (Creativity!)
-Name (plays a little role)

I think what makes a track "good" is always subjective. This is what I wrote somewhere when I commented a blog.

kruemelyeti (83) says:
A track is a good track, when the author feels satisfied with it. Anything else has not to do with how good or how bad you track is. It's just about like it or rather not, which obviously is a personal taste and has nothing to do with the quality.

There are many tracks I don't like, but I still respect, because I can see the author's effort. Don't try to build a track that you don't like, just so others do. Build a track that you like and which others respect!

Despite this you may take a look at tracks with lots of awards to get an impression of what most people prefer, but of course tastes differ, so there's no chance to build a track that everyone likes. (Some prefer trial, some prefer nascar, some might prefer mini- or lol-tracks. I think it could be kinda hard to combine trial with nascar and mini. )

Anyways there are some basics you should always pay attention to:
- CP's should be respawnable (It's always a disappointment, when you play great track and recognize then that there are unrespawnable CP's. Always build CP's that way that you are still able to finish the track, when you restart from a Checkpoint. It doesn't matter, if you should do it to make your track beginner-friendly or make it possible for Rounds-Mode. Just do it!)
- use signage (Same as unrespawnable CP's, it's always an anger to see not enough signage on a good map. It can't be this hard to place some signs on confusing parts to make the track more comfortable to play.)
- prevent cuts (This is really a fun killer, when you play maps online. Drive the map normally and get last or use the cut and therefore skip half of a great map - both can be stopped by using enough cp's or some more walls, sometimes using the mediatracker helps, too to prevent cuts. You still have to be careful here. Adding scenery can eliminate a cut, but it can also make new cuts possible.)

I still prefer transitional tracks (even if they are not this common anymore in tm2), tracks that are nice to play online, so the track length should be somewhere between 35 and 75 seconds, not too hard to finish, but also challenging enough to make them fun to hunt. I also like it when you work with the flow, don't build a turn in the other direction, when you are right in the middle of the drift. Try to support the natural driving line and keep the flow. Fullspeed or Tech doesn't matter (in the case of building myself I prefer fullspeed though), of course the fun factor is the main aspect in my opinion.
So of course I will award a track with a length of 3 minutes, unsmooth transitions and which is ultra-hard to finish, when it still have fun on it and it keeps motivating me (anyways, this won't happen quite often I guess ).

To the points you listed:
- Smoothness (Yes, in a certain way. The track should not be that unsmooth that players will be frustrated by bumping all around the track. As opposed to TMUF you don't lose control of your car as easily as before, so you won't have to pay that much attention to smoothness, if you don't want to.)
- Space (I think that's really a question of personal taste. I like tracks with tight turns as well as tracks with more space, which makes them more forgiving. Just don't make the turns too wide, this could make the track pretty boring. )
- Scenery (Scenery is always good. It's nice when you don't drive through empty space and scenery can also give your track a personal style. Just care that you don't build too much, maybe not everyone's PC is good enough to handle tracks with an overload of scenery.)
- Reuse / Creativity (Thats a good point. Not reuses specificly, but creativity in general. I always love to see something new and innovative and of course also the track layout can be a part of that as well as some rarely seen or new transitions or a unique scenery. Moreover reuses can be very funny when you play online and cross other players drving routes. Another point is that many players prefer a compact building style. On the one hand this can be positive, because the track itself is it's own scenery, but on the other hand you have to be careful to do not build it too compact, so it becomes confusing.)

I hope I could help you a little bit. Of course they are all personal advices, maybe other players will tell you something completely different.

I didn't read kruemelyeti's answere yet, but my opinion about a good track is:

• smoothness and totally awesome transitions aren't important. It's good when a track has it, but it's not necessary at all
  
• the track should be fun and be challenge to the driver. It can be a challenge to get a good run or to finish the track at all (in case of a very hard track, like some by pjw ). To make it short, it should motivate the author to drive it
  
• originality is always great. I don't mean specific super-uber-mega-transitions noone used before, but the generel style of the track. I personally don't like it when a track is totally like every other track. There should be a reason why people should drive especially this track.
  
• I personally don't care that much about mediatracker. It's a nice, but a track shouldn't be judged by an awesome Intro if you ask me
  

well, I guess that's it

this is a very hard question, and sure there are many different opinions about it, but that is somehow what I think about it

btw, that list-formatting is kinda great

When I saw the length of my answer I already thought that noone wants to read it. xD

kruemelyeti (83) says:
When I saw the length of my answer I already thought that noone wants to read it. xD

I gonna read it later when I'm bored later, I know this will happen

edit:
I just read your post, have to agree your points. I guess you explained this difficult question very well

Mostly for me it's if I get that feeling to drive it again. And that feeling is very much derived from the idea that I could possibly improve my time and have fun doing it; that I could feel an adrenaline rush when I push the car to the limits and take every corner with as much speed as possible. When every turn leads into the next and creates a perfect rhythm, like a thread flowing through the track and leading the driver to the finish. These feelings can be enhanced with majestic scenery. Big jumps over canyons, driving next to big dams, or driving through a patchwork of badlands on narrow roads.

I also agree with most of the ideas stated above by Nimrod and Kruemelyeti, especially in regards to CP respawns and making sure you don't introduce cuts into the track.

Having CPs spaced at a good interval in the track also serves another purpose, and that is to let the driver know how he's doing for each section of the track. It enables you to see where you're gaining or losing the most time and where you might need to improve.

Lighting is also very important to me. It can be done really well so as to smoothly transition through the track and highlight the route. It can be used to create a certain atmosphere. But it can also be ignored and ruin an otherwise good track.

So, again... a good track is one that motivates you to drive it over and over, regardless of difficulty level.

You should get this feeling as the author too. If you don't feel it, don't expect anyone else to feel it.

eyebo (741) says:
... a good track is one that motivates you to drive it over and over, regardless of difficulty level.

You should get this feeling as the author too. If you don't feel it, don't expect anyone else to feel it.

My thoughts exactly.

What people like in a track is very different from person to person i think.
I love a good tech map with transitions and overall good variation, it very much reflects in the tracks i try to build.

Much have been said already, so i just add this:
Scenery: it's always nice with some good looking scenery and i very much love a track with nice surrounding scenery, but for me the scenery that is most important to add is the scenery that adds that guiding feeling that makes it easier to see where to go, many times i have checked out tracks uploaded here that lacks this, it makes it frustrating to drive and very fast i lose interest in it(sometimes even before i have made it to the finish line, extreme cases hehe..).

I want to thx all for this hope you learn something from me to

Its great info and imo i allways tought that people dont like to brake but that is just bs i think or is it. ?
There is funny tracks where you need to brake or release the gas, sometimes it not destroys the track, depends alot on your own temper, sometimes you like to brake in a track or even an anti booster is ok sometimes and sometimes not , so anything is fun, except to hard track that is very hard to finish, (respawn is both good and bad, becouse this game is about time attack need i say more * ^^.) dont get me wrong its fun with lunatic tracks but you lose many players interest, and if you build those impossible tracks remember to make an easy way, even do, this is against what i wrote above.
About respawn i want to finish a track in a clean run mostly, and even a lol should be easy to finish for all players.
and dont use to much overspeed i know its hard to make a slow track unless you have turn after turn after turn and that can be extremly difficult unless you are a good player, as we all are.
don´t build confusing tracks unless they are un-confusing. And if its a pf (push forward) start, add a text that tell the player it is pf start. and when you jump down in a tunnel remember to have enough time to let the player to aim and put a sign so we know where we should land, if you know what i mean, something that eyebo write on a track, dont remember the id, hehe sorry anyway.
About anti booster, use the thin road or platform so no one can skip the anti turbo becouse than its unfair unless its a lol track and that is your tought with the track, but not on long tracks,30+ sec, just on short ones you should be able to avoid the antibooster. and avoid long straigh parts unless you want the track to be like that ofc, and yeah agree build the track so you are happy with it, build your own style if you got any ' haha --i don´t.
scenery is the hardest one in canyon so practice on some nice scenery, i am bad at scenery, i think. so some scenery tip would be nice. and night track is bad sometimes becouse if you have a bad settings some spot in a track be extremly dark as i notice in KO recently..

And my times i submit on the eyebo project "play all tracks" is far from perfect, but maybe i come back to a track and hunt it, just so you know i play to find some fun and good tracks and maybe to increase his awards a bit and get him noticed.
And i hope you are happy with us that play all tracks even if the time suck simetimes hehe, anyway that was abit offtopic in away,, sorry.

if you have a map with few dl just start a planet contest in the forum, or pm 1 or 2 players, not more - then its spam, i think ?, not sure where the limit is but remember the more player that submit the funnier it be even if your time is bad just submit even if you played it only once, its okey.
* = respawn is allways good

play other tracks and maybe they look at your tracks, dont wait for them to come to you
if we all wait no one get a singel replay.
haha.. this is some news to me to so iam happy that i found this thread and wrote this to share ^^
i hope you have time to read my post.
see you. SPIDER.

You mentioned reverse boosters SPIDER. So now I must give my opinion about them.

In 99% of tracks, they're unnecessary and always kill the fun for me.

If there IS a reverse booster, I have certain expectations.

I expect that the author calculated the track with the reverse booster in mind.... meaning... I should not have to let off the gas or brake at all after hitting the reverse booster. If you're going to brake for me, then I shouldn't have to brake at all.

In Canyon the power of the reverse booster carries over and holds the car back like a speed limiter... which makes it possible to calculate jumps and such after it.

I still think it generally feels quite bad. There are other ways to slow someone down without resorting to the use of reverse boosters.

The only environment I never really minded reverse boosters was Bay... in fullspeed tracks. Mostly it felt okay because you got a little loss in speed, but the car didn't lose enough to kill the fun... and the car picked up acceleration very quickly after it again.