I've just fallen in love with Trackmania and after a few months of racing I finally made a few tracks myself:







I'd really love to know what you think of them. Yet, I wonder why. Point is, I'm having fun and would love to share it, but I still need to learn so much. I'll scour the forum for info as much as I can, but I hope you forgive me, if I ask a few dumb questions every now and then.

Anyway, thanks in advance for some feedback!

Cheers

Hey just checking out your tracks. I submitted a replay for Lime, I feel like there might be an unintentional cut on that map so I uploaded a replay of me taking it. I like the map but I feel like there could be a little more direction on where to go, like signs or GPS would be even better in this case. It's a fun map however.

I liked Bidirium. It was a little bit frustrating figuring out what could be taken at what speeds. A little less "smooth" than I'm used to but after some trial and error I figured out when to cut the gas and when to brake mid-air. Not that these things are unnecessary, it makes the map more challenging, but it also makes the map take longer to appreciate and might not readily be as welcomed to drivers looking for a map they just "click" with from the start. That said, I'm someone who can appreciate un-intuitive technicality and I think it has character in the right settings. All depends on what you're going for with a track.

I'm about to try the third one, I'll check back in!

EDIT: Wildbore was just frustrating for me. It took quite a few tries just to learn how to take the first jump without smashing the rock, but I got that down. Then it took me several more runs to try and figure out what's going on with that boosted jump straight into a hard left, but I finally conceded that I can't find a way to hit it smoothly, and then the section immediately following it I am at a loss as to how that should be driven, or where to go even. I end up just driving over a ramped dividing wall awkwardly to get on to the rest of the track. Another case where signs or GPS would help a lot. It's a difficult track in a very punishing way, which for me - in this case at least, not always - took away from some of the fun. It could be argued that it does however keep things exciting. Overall nice job on the tracks, will look forward to more!

WAHHH, THANK YOU, what a freaking wonderful reply! That's awesome feedback!
JUST today I figured out how to do custom signs and GPS, which should help me a great deal to improve my maps. I think I'll go over those first ones and fit them with proper signs and guidance.

The very same day I found out about the "Unlimiter" the update killed it again. I played around with it and fell in love right before that big bummer.
Anyway, this thing can make smooth maps really exciting. But with the normal tiles a smooth map quickly feels boring to me, too. However, a few challenges and even the normal tiles can make for a sweet experience. It's quite gratifying to solve a tough section and swoosh through it like through butter... hummm, I love that.

However, those are literally my first maps and it's exactly your kind of feedback that gets me excited to do better!

I've just uploaded my MTC-bidrectional entry, which is completely nuts, but it has GPS and signs (and I'm making a big fuzz about it, too, LOL, "YAY I CAN DO IT, TOO!"...eh...it's a big deal to me, damn it... lol.

I still gotta check out how to best hook up custom music, because I'd love to make a few songs for my maps.

Well, thanks again, and I'll do my best not to let you down!

Oh nice, do you make music? I use my own stuff on my maps, too I'd be happy to answer any questions you may have about getting your tracks into TM or just describe my process if that'd be helpful. The info's out there but it's fairly scattered across a couple diff sites and referencing several mania games so it can seem a little unclear at first but it's really pretty simple - step-intensive - but simple.

Also, gonna check out your MTC entry

Oh yes...oh, never posted my website: www.taron.de ...scroll a bit down and you'll find player with a bunch of my songs, too.
Cool, I'm having a blast with pimping up Lime, haha, it's getting a bit crazier. Now there are 3 major choices you can take and I remodeled a major chunk of the original route. Two official GPS and one secret, but this route needs a bit more thought for fluidity. I'm having too much fun...plowed through last night for some reason, which is something I hadn't done in years for a game, pffff.

Oh, so, yeah, if you have some tips on dealing with music, cool. I already tried locally, which works fine, of course. So conversion to ogg to mux is already in the bag. It's just about how to deal with the online portion that I'm still shaky on.

I've noticed that every info on TM (particularly 2) seems rather scattered on the web so I frankensteined together my knowledge thus far from all sorts of snippets. But where there's a will...

Thanks again. OH, and I tried one of your recent maps "La Quinta" with a song of yours. Straight up Electronica with a strong urge of classic inside. I have to check out some more of yours before I make anything sound like a general feedback, but it feels as though you have two independent desires that play tug'o'war a bit, hehe.- in this song at least. In the mix the drums are buried in reverb and pushed into a small corner nearly mono, while the various synths ooze the whole spectrum far an wide and leave no breathing room, even if there are segments in which it tries to open up a bit. I'd suggest to take all bass sounds out of reverbs and big stereo, tuck them into the center and pull down mid-high eq so the rest up there gets more alone-time, hehe. Take the drums higher sections and spread them a bit or even a lot (hihats, cymbals, room of the snare) keep the kick center and without reverb or just a tiny touch. Balance the volume a bit more and you'll have a nice gangster track with it, hehe. Don't forget to check your mix on lower volumes. It's often hard to judge while you're blasting it.
Anyway, you have a great deal of musicality and apparently a decently firm grasp of theory, too. I get a bit of a "clockwork orange" feel from it, hehe, if you know it, putting Beethoven into electronica, hehehe.
What tools/apps are you using?
I'm currently using MuLab for vst based songs and my own mod of musagi for chiptune like tracks, which are great fun, too. I wrote a few synths, effects and mixer for that one a while ago alongside a few editing improvements.

Woops, that's a lot...sry, hehe.

Updated LIME now! Oh, it's precious, hehe. Now I'll have to make a song for it, too!

Oh yea I should post a disclaimer for that song. The song on La Quinta is an old track I just threw together for a friend to rap over, it's not really my normal style really so I didn't spend any time on the mix - you're right the track doesn't leave much room to breathe as it is, not to mention how badly the track is smashed under compression. I could go back in and mess with that mix but I don't really have any drive to put much more into that song, it's not really my "baby" by any means like some of the other stuff I do. Nice to hear someone else who knows what they're talking about with music though! I work in cubase, i love it!

EDIT: Palm Springs is a map that has something a little closer to what I normally work on
sorry off topic

A Brand New Map I call "ARTS" and for the first time I made music especially for a map... or should I say: "A track for a track"?

Anyway, I hope you try and enjoy it.

Now... properly!

I'm on fire... LOL
...this may be my favorite TM map, yet, hehehe... I don't know why it makes me so damn happy, I even made a song for it, too... probably will become a habit:


OH, and: THANK YOU, SPIDER! You've really pushed me to try make this track better. I have no idea, if it meets your suggestions, but I tried and had a crazy fun time trying. Some pieces could probably be better, but once you play it for a while you get a feel for its wackiness and even the wilder sections start to be tremendous fun.

Also, I really recommend driving the Shelby Cobra around this track, haha, it's AWESOME... perfect toy car in there! The End Race clip will have some trouble with different cars, but it's still worth it, I think...