| Track Map | 26 May, 2013 |
| Falkers | (13 comments, 2199 views) |
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When do you call it a Track or a Map?
Question above is something i have always wondered about, and to be honest i'm at this point just confused. Here on the front page of mania-exchange you see things like 'Find Tracks', 'Upload Track', ' Remember to award and rate the tracks you like!', 'MX Supporter Tracks' just to name some, now if you look in the forum Your Tracks you will see topics containing the word Tracks as well as Maps...why is that??? Closer look in-game in Canyon you will see 'New Map', 'Load Map', 'My Maps' and the fact that the folder where your maps or tracks are stored is called Maps, and besides the name of your map or track they all end with the extension 'Map.Gbx' makes me think the correct word is Map!. But then again if you look closer inside the Editor you will be greeted with 'Save the Track [S]' if you click the Disk icon, also if you click the Green flag you will see 'Validate the Track' !! 
Personally for me i always felt it more natural to Call it Track(s), i guess that's because it is a racing game, and cars drive on tracks?? Anyone can shed some light what to call it?, use both? Me mad?  
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| zarexz writes ... | 01, Jun, 2013 |
Ass usual on the internet, the poorest translation wins. MAP it is 
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| Forzyy writes ... | 01, Jun, 2013 |
| The beta version of Mania Exchange uses 'maps'. | |
| wormi writes ... | 31, May, 2013 |
stevenamtaan says: Agree with this. |
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| stevenamtaan writes ... | 29, May, 2013 |
In my opinion..  .. the "map" is the entire building area - 32x32x32 of which then contains scenery elements i.e. hills , canyons , water , trees , structures , etc , etc of which then contains a "track".. start line , roads , CP's , platforms , jumps , signage , finish line etc , etc.
So when referring to 'upload track' , this is theoretically incorrect as you are uploading the entire map.gbx and not just the track itself. Some may comment - 'nice map' meaning they like the scenery as well as the track and others may say 'nice track' whereas they like the track but there was very little or no scenery elements. A difference of opinion... I guess..
Often wonder what you could call some map/track that has a 'start line' , Cp's on ground/earth , hills , water , trees , structures and then a 'finish line' with no connecting road/GP/platform pieces/sections ?? - a route ??..  .. as there is no real 'track' to follow , except for signage as a guide , but this is still a 'map'.. 
I think that most generally understand tho.. 
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| Tuta writes ... | 27, May, 2013 |
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I think they call it "Map" ingame just because it is easier to mix code or sth between the games.
In TRACKmania you play on TRACKS  I will always say TRACKS and no one can change that
Remind me of a Chatbot on some old TMU server, every time you wrote "Map" it would reply something like: "It is called Tracks! Maps are what those shitty fps gamers play on" hillarious
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| zarexz writes ... | 27, May, 2013 |
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Technicaly with "Challenge" you're never wrong.
For SM it could also be "Area". The best thing is with "map" and "track" used in context with TM everybody will exactly know what you mean. 
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| GR. writes ... | 27, May, 2013 |
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for me
map = shootmania track = all tm's including tm2 
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| zarexz writes ... | 27, May, 2013 |
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[map]
1. a representation, usually on a flat surface, as of the features of an area of the earth or a portion of the heavens, showing them in their respective forms, sizes, and relationships according to some convention of representation: a map of Canada. [track] 1. a structure consisting of a pair of parallel lines of rails with their crossties, on which a railroad train, trolley, or the like runs. 2. a wheel rut. 3. evidence, as a mark or a series of marks, that something has passed. 4. Usually, tracks. footprints or other marks left by an animal, person, or vehicle: a lion's tracks; car tracks. 5. a path made or beaten by or as if by the feet of people or animals; trail: to follow the track of a murderer. [circuit] 1. an act or instance of going or moving around. 2. a circular journey or one beginning and ending at the same place; a round. 3. a roundabout journey or course. 4. a periodical journey from place to place, to perform certain duties, as by judges to hold court, ministers to preach, or salespeople covering a route. 5. the persons making such a journey. [Racetrack] 1. a plot of ground, usually oval, laid out for horse racing. 2. the course for any race. |
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| Falkers writes ... | 27, May, 2013 |
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Thanks for the interesting answers to my blog here, it seems there is no right or wrong here
For me personally i think i'l just stick with 'Track' from now on, at least when referring to Canyon, feels more natural when it's a Racing game. But then again....Hmm
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| eyebo writes ... | 27, May, 2013 |
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If I'm deliberately thinking about it, I try to use "map" anytime I'm talking about TM2 or SM. And I try to use "track" any time I'm talking about TMN/TMNF/TMUF.
"Track" certainly isn't wrong when you're talking about TM2. It is TRACKmania after all. And we drive on "Tracks". But I guess it's more universal to call it a "map" since TM2 now shares ManiaPlanet with ShootMania (and later QuestMania). "Map" is therefore less specific to any one genre of game and just refers to whatever you've built and saved in that file that you're sharing around. I also think of the "map" as the entire building area that has been modified, whereas the "track" is just the driving portion and any elements that directly relate to it, like directional signage and the immediate scenery. I'm sure that's not how most people think of it though. Certainly in TMUF, whenever we talked about the track, we were referring to the whole thing. Funny enough, I sometimes slip and call ShootMania maps as "tracks", especially the TimeAttack/TimeTrial/Obstacle ones.
Well that's my thoughts on it. To be honest, I don't think it makes a big difference. You can use either term and people will know what you're talking about. |
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| MiniGod writes ... | 26, May, 2013 |
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What used to be called Track or Challenge in TrackMania(<=forever) was renamed to Map in ManiaPlanet. Probably because we now have shootmania, which makes map a more correct word to use as a general term for both games.
In the XML-RPC before ManiaPlanet, we had methods like AddChallenge, GetChallengeList, RestartChallenge, etc, and only one method with the "track" in it: GetTracksDirectory. In ManiaPlanet these are all renamed to use "Map": AddMap, GetMapList, RestartMap, GetMapsDirectory... and a lot more of them.. |
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| Voyager006 writes ... | 26, May, 2013 |
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My own definition:
Track : To follow a path Map : A zone, an area So it can differ between different creations
Nadeo's own definition: TrackMania - Challenge TrackMania 2 - Map The term Track is just derived from the name of the game, i guess. "Map" is most frequently used on official pages. Nadeo needs to change TrackMania to MapMania
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| doppler writes ... | 26, May, 2013 |
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Good question, I wondered that myself too. I only play TRACKmania, so i guess I'll call it a track.
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