LE7: Submit your maps

**mazzyfred** · Posted: Thu Mar 16, 2006 11:15 am Post subject: LE7: Submit your maps

With the LE7 start schedules in a bit more than one month (early May, with likely a 7-8 round schedule), you can start submitting the maps that you wants us to test for the upcoming map-packs.

We have some rules/conditions regarding the maps:

- Playtest your maps so that there are no cuts, that CPs are well located and ensure that the map has a good rythm for competition.
- Only place usefull decorations (150 trees or houses where we cant even see them is useless decorations for exemple) on your maps.
- Copperlimit: 2500-3000
- Creative and good use of blocks.
- No night maps

- Regarding Media Tracker, use this wisely (in loops for example) to help the player, dont make it harder for the player by using all kinds of strange camera angles.
- If you add text with the Media Tracker, it has to be in english.

What we want besides the map:
- A replay of your nadeo time or a lap that shows the way you want your map to be played.
- A screenshot

-Dont use prefixes as SL2 or LE7 in the map name as this can cause confusion if your map isnt selected to be part of the map-pack.

Advice: If your map can be found on TMX with a screenshot and a World Record just give us the URL.
You can also mail maps to mazzyfred@electronictournaments.com or waffer@electronictournaments.com.

Happy mapping!

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Keep an eye on this thread as it will be updated with news regarding the selection of maps for the map-packs!

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AND NOW, AASSIE'S LITTLE GUIDE OF LEAGUE MAPPING (thanks mate for this it's excellent)
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Some things you should think about when you make a league map (additions to Mazzy’s post).

Do you make and propose maps for leagues, but have problems getting them accepted? Or maybe you are new to this and want some helpful pointers? Maybe you’ll find this guide helpful. I’m hoping that this could increase the quality of the maps (not that earlier maps aren’t good, because they truly are. But things can always be better).

Basics:

1. Avoid Media Tracker (MT) unless it makes things easier (f. ex. in loops). Don’t put MT on jumps just to make the jumps more fun. If you want to have an intro on your map, make it short (max 5 seconds). Maps with bad use of MT could be dismissed even before the selection process starts.

2. Don't put "SL2-" in front of your map name. This tag is reserved for the maps that make the league.

3. Decorations will make a map better, but use as little as possible as it makes the map bigger, and therefore increases the risk of lags. Think about what the driver will actually see when he drives. What he doesn’t see is unnecessary. Try to use as little coppers as possible. Even though maps up to around 3000 coppers will be accepted, don’t aim for this amount. To reduce the amount of coppers on your map, you can put as much water as possible on your track.

4. A press forward start is a no-no on a league map. It gets old really fast when you train on a map. Players should have to do something within 5 seconds, for example a turn.

5. Don’t propose maps that don’t have the right length. If you map is too long, find a part you don’t like and remove it/make it shorter. A round map is supposed to be between 55 and 1.15. This means that the best possible time on the map should not be faster than 55.

6. Make sure that you can respawn well from every check point (CP). This should be quite easy to check. Try to put many CPs on your tracks. Remember that in league matches the role of the CP is just as much as a respawn point after crashes, as it is a check point.

7. Don’t make lots of maps and hope one of them will be good enough. Instead use time to make a few maps good. Go back and edit your map a day or two after you created it. This way you’ll easier see what works and what doesn’t.

8. Ask someone you know to test your track before you propose it. This way it’s easier to find bad elements.

9. Jumps are fun. But make sure that the take off and the landing does not create random bounces etc. For a league track it should also be possible to make it across the jump with lower than normal speed, for example if you slide and touch something just before the jump.

10. For lap maps: Try to make the start work both on the first lap and on the ‘flying’ laps. No one likes a boring start, neither is a difficult braking a good thing.

11. Signs: Put sensible signs (so they are easy to understand) where they are needed, usually this applies to blind turns. Don't put signs where they are not needed, because then they only confuse the player.

Other tips:

1. Try as best you can to locate trouble spots. Where will people crash on your track when they have trained the map? Usually there are 3-5 spots on a track where lots of players will crash during a match. Try to put a CP close in front of these spots, so that they can get back into high speed quickly.

2. Test your track for short cuts (SC). The farther between two CPs, the bigger the chance of a SC.

3. Be careful where you put CPs after a jump. Just because you as an author don’t hit the CP, doesn’t mean someone else won’t. (Mazzy's note: and AAssie's certainly knows what he's talking about... hehe)

4. Jumps where you are supposed to jump a certain distance to land well (so-called “well designed” jumps that just seems to be perfect) can work very well the first times people try a map. But often when they train more these jumps doesn’t work. When at first you land so smoothly into a tunnel, suddenly you may start to crash in the ceiling and end up upside down. So keep in mind that players often will jump further. (Mazzy's note: another solution would be to teach AAssie how to brake ^^)

5. Be aware that you have to have a bit of trackmania experience to make good trackmania tracks. After some weeks or months you have a much better perspective on what works and what doesn’t work. The same thing goes for league tracks. If you have played in some matches, you’ll have a better idea what people like and don’t like. A good league track will most likely not receive a lot of awards on tm-exchange, and certainly not from non-league players. Likewise will a track on tm-exchange with many awards probably not be a good league track. (Mazzy's note: some great examples can be found on the latest LE6 map pack regarding this. At best, the maps we select have 5 awards on TM Ex. Others don't have any award)

6. Try not to use the same bloc combination over and over again. New and original creations are always appretiated, as long as they can be driven well.

7. How does the track feel when you drive it? Does it have a good flow?

edit: some new points was suggested by Vautour and added.

AAssie

**Insomnia** · Posted: Thu Mar 16, 2006 12:26 pm Post subject:

Hehe, as I already promised to you Mazzy, a very beautiful map pack, with the classic old style of racing tracks, modified a lot during the seasons to fulfill the league criterias after some matches were already done on them, so they improved a lot, they are quite perfectionated, not too technical but not too easy, simply fun fun fun, but league spirit of course: PDT_001

//EDIT: I left out the screenshots, that would explode this post a little bit PDT_001

//EDIT4: Of course NOT ALL of them are german maps ^^

GREETZ
Inso
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matteo · On fire ! Joined: 20 Dec 2004 Posts: 56

a pack map Inso its possible ? stopspam

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Toubib · Posted: Thu Mar 16, 2006 7:22 pm Post subject:

I just post two tracks, but i will release some other in the nexts weeks. I like to believe that they are technical and amazing.

(speed) DRive : http://original.tm-exchange.com/main.aspx?action=trackshow&id=170978#auto
(speed) DFine : http://original.tm-exchange.com/main.aspx?action=trackshow&id=179585#auto

EDIT : new track :
(speed) DSign.R : http://original.tm-exchange.com/main.aspx?action=trackshow&id=187441#auto

Klocristel · On fire ! Joined: 23 Feb 2005 Posts: 67

rally: http://original.tm-exchange.com/main.aspx?action=trackshow&id=151684#auto

**mazzyfred** · Posted: Fri Mar 17, 2006 11:04 am Post subject:

lol inso... yeah... a map pack ? please...? cause if you really want me to test these maps (and i sure know you obsessively do), donc expect me to download them one by one...

**Insomnia** · Posted: Fri Mar 17, 2006 11:47 am Post subject:

Hehe that was more or less to show you, that I dirty my hands for that map selection, so you should at least have an eye on it :P
Furthermore it's just allowed to post maps and not packs ^^

But well here ist the archive:

http://home.arcor.de/de-clan/tp-clan/maps_tmo_ESL.rar
In my previous list I just took out the MARS-Map (what's still in here), because that won't become an LE7 Map anyway, that way of sucking... no no no PDT_001

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Fragle · Just Joined Joined: 03 Feb 2004 Posts: 28

je prÃ©sente en prioritÃ© escape :

le replay 1.04.15
le lien de la page TMX : http://original.tm-exchange.com/main.aspx?action=trackshow&id=178074#auto

je prÃ©sente aussi pour snow : la bourkifrag 4Â°realÂ°Frag KartoFrag

et desert, ma bonne vieille Fragadaboombass dont je suis pret a modifier la fin pour la leageu (elle est un poil longue)
voila

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-LrK-dislOck · Posted: Fri Mar 17, 2006 7:09 pm Post subject:

http://original.tm-exchange.com/main.aspx?action=trackshow&id=13810#auto
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Dislock...

**Rax** · Posted: Sat Mar 18, 2006 11:47 am Post subject:

heres a couple of mine:)

http://original.tm-exchange.com/main.aspx?action=trackshow&id=14025#auto
http://original.tm-exchange.com/main.aspx?action=trackshow&id=12758#auto

Hornet · Just Joined Joined: 28 Apr 2005 Posts: 14 Location: France

Here is my first submission....

FroadKanar : http://original.tm-exchange.com/main.aspx?action=trackshow&id=187774#auto
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matteo · On fire ! Joined: 20 Dec 2004 Posts: 56

Wity · Posted: Wed Mar 22, 2006 3:34 am Post subject:

Whats the reason for not nightmaps??
I played before in rounds nightmaps.Dont know what the prob is...

im afraid my best map is made in night. help

im not gonna make that map again.
spend 4-5hours too make that one.Still need some testdrives with an other mapper too make it better and then
I send it too you and you can see what you gonna do with it.
+ some other tracks

matteo · On fire ! Joined: 20 Dec 2004 Posts: 56

Track laps for TnT Grobi PDT_028

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**Vautour** · Former ET Staff Joined: 21 Aug 2005 Posts: 816