Welcome to the ManiaExchange Monthly Track Contest (MTC), April 2014.

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: Diagon Alley (Diagonally…get it? Ah, Harry Potter…):
Entrants should create a track which emphasizes diagonal movement. The placement of blocks in the editor means that tracks primarily move left-right, up-down; we want something that focuses more on the diagonal.

Deadline: All tracks should be submitted by the end of Sunday 27th April, 00:00 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.

Rules:
- Build in any TM2 environment
- Tracks should be between 30-90 seconds.
- Blockmixing is allowed, however there will be a 2 point "fee" deducted from your track uses blockmixing. Please state clearly in your track description that your track is blockmixed.
- Do not build your track inside a custom titlepack such as the RPG Titlepack, or it may get disqualified.
- 1 map per author

-Include the sequence of letters MTC somewhere in the track name so that it can be easily discovered on mania-exchange.com.
Important: To enter a track, simply upload it and post a link to your submission in the thread linked here.

The Judging System

We’ve slightly modified the judging criteria this month. We’re still looking for suggestions and this may change again in coming months!

Each judge will rate every track using the following categories:

Route: Flow, smoothness, layout, speed, diversity, transitions, difficulty, etc.
The general "feel" of the track while driven.
Max. 15 points/judge

Theme: The judges will look at how creatively you implement the theme into the track.
Max. 15 points/judge

Polishing: Signage, Scenery, MT. Does your track feel like it has the finishing touches?
Max. 10 points/judge

Fun Factor: Depending on how fun the judges find your track, some extra points can be given.
Max. 10 points/judge

We need reliable and committed judges, so if you want to volunteer as a judge, please contact us!

Good luck! If you have any questions, please ask.

Sounds good, I just hope I'm not too busy

Dayum this theme is sweet.

I already made something like that...
"Diagon Alley by   erikfzr

I hope I'll get some inspiration for something new!

PapyChampy says:
Dayum this theme is sweet.

Couldn't agree more, now to find some time to build...

PapyChampy says:
Dayum this theme is sweet.

banjee says:
Couldn't agree more, now to find some time to build...

I agree - shame I'm judging again so can't enter!

erikfzr says:
I already made something like that...
"Diagon Alley by   erikfzr

I hope I'll get some inspiration for something new!

That's unfortunate. I'm glad we share the same bad of terrible punning though!


I'm looking forward to seeing all of your creations

Would it be possible to advertise the MTC a little, e.g. a post in the Latest News?
A link to a track search for the current month/theme would also be nice...

erikfzr says:
Would it be possible to advertise the MTC a little, e.g. a post in the Latest News?
A link to a track search for the current month/theme would also be nice...

I agree. There are currently 2 news posts involving map creation on the home page. I think MTC deserves no less. We still have a week before the submission date, which is plenty of time for the majority of builders to create something great. A post with the banner, a brief and interesting description, and various links would be nice. Sweet and simple.

Not to mention that the winners from last months contest have yet to be featured there. It could be a 2-in-1 post.

I was kind of waiting for the results (sept+dec), so we could post everything together. But yeah, maybe it was a bad idea to wait.