Welcome to
the ManiaExchange Monthly Track Contest (MTC), June 2013, hosted by
MX. I will be your host for this month
In the MTC, your task is to build a track on a given theme (see below). Later on, all of the entered tracks will be rated by our judges and a winner will be found.
The Details
Let's have a look at the details of the contest:
Theme of the Month: Dual Drive: Build a track with author time not more than 90 seconds in which the player's car touches at least 10 tiles in a "duality" manner (explanation following). "Duality" means that you first touch the block in one way (say - you drive on a concrete tile), and then, later, touch it in a different way (such as you drive through the tunnel INSIDE the concrete tile). There must be at least 10 tiles used in this way. More explanation follows below.
Driving on a wallride and then later driving normally on top of the wallride is considered a "duality manner" as well,
Deadline: Sunday, June 23rd 2013, 23:59:59 Pacific Time.
Prize:
Honour and the right to brag! (Jozii used to say that
)
Top 3 tracks will be featured in the News section, getting extra spotlight.
The rules:
You can build in Stadium or Canyon!
Explicitly, driving through the same road or block in opposite direction is NOT "duality manner". There must be a clear distinction between the two surfaces that you drive on or through -- but if you would manage to drive on two different sides of a FENCE, then it would count. Similarly, driving through the same block twice in the same direction also doesn't count unless there is a visible separation (fence or other barrier).
Good examples include:
- going through a tunnel and in another time driving on the top of the concrete block,
- doing a wallride and in another time driving on top of the blocks
- doing a loop and in another time driving on top of the loop block
- driving on the lower loop segment and at another time driving on the rear section of that same block (there's a driveable area behind the loop :-) )
In case of wallrides, since they typically need more than just 1 tile level to work, every vertical column of the wallride counts as a duality tile, if you before or later also drive on its top.
Blockmixing is allowed, however there will be a 2 point "fee" deducted from the DESIGN category if your track uses blockmixing. Please state clearly in your track description that your track is blockmixed. Also: If your track REQUIRES
Unlimiter to be installed on player's computer, it will be rejected!
Attention! If your map uses some sort of custom object / custom block, it is your responsibility to make absolutely sure it works "as is" after downloading the map file. Judges are not required to download anything else besides the track file (in fact, they get all the tracks in one package -- if anything is missing, too bad!).
Include the sequence of letters "MTC" somewhere in the track name so that it can be easily discovered on mania-exchange.com.
The track must have been uploaded to the exchange before June 24th 2013 00:00 Pacific Time.
Important: To enter a track, simply upload it and post a link to your submission in this thread.
Theme suggestion
The theme was proposed by one of the participants.
The Judging System (Attention! Change in point limits!):
Confirmed judges:
volunteers welcome!
A number of judges will rate the tracks on the following topics:
Design – Layout, respawnability of checkpoints,
learning curve, scenery, the general "feel" of the track. -2 if you use blockmixing.
Max 15 points/judge
- I am adding "Learning curve" to this section: Ideally, a player who never raced the track should be able to get further and further in your track with each try, or become better and better with each run. Try to avoid building sections which are show-stoppers for less skilled players.
- As a general rule of thumb, the faster a player goes through the track, the harder it should get, not the other way round.
Creativity – The creativity of the track itself and especially the "duality tiles". This is where the THEME is judged.
Max. 15 points/judge
Fun Factor – Sometimes a track can be poor in every way, but still extremely fun to drive. Depending on how fun the judges find your track, a few extra points can be given.
Max 10 points/judge
Regarding the final results, the lowest and highest score of each track will be deleted and the average of the "medium scores" decides - if the number of judges is at least 5.
We need reliable and committed judges, so if you want to volunteer as a judge, please send a PM to Alcator!
Good luck! If you have any questions, please ask away