Welcome to
the ManiaExchange Monthly Track Contest (MTC), Decmber 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: Maze : Build a maze-like track.
Deadline: December 26th 2013, 23:59:59 Pacific Time (Dec 27th morning in Europe)
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.
Theme explanation:
By MAZE, we understand a track which branches off on several occasions. The objective of a maze is to either find THE ONE path that leads to the finish, or the find the FASTEST path that leads to the finish.
! Do not confuse the theme with SECRETS theme ! In "secrets" MTC (September 2013), some builders built tracks where secret paths allowed significantly faster progress. While it is still possible to include super-secret shortcuts in the MAZE, the splits (branching) should be, in most cases, immediately clear to the player,
and GOLD TIME should be attainable without any secret shortcuts.
You are of course clear to use heavy MediaTracker or custom signs to further enhance the maze-like nature of the track.
The rules:
You can build in any Trackmania 2 environment.
Max. 1 track per author. Single author per track.
There must be
at least 4 reasonably spaced Checkpoints which MUST serve as
confirmation of progress (in other words, player should be able to rely on checkpoints as confirmation of finishing a section of the maze). Checkpoints should also serve as respawn points if the player gets stuck or lost in the maze and doesn't feel like backtracking.
The track must be a maze (see theme explanation above). Combining this with the previous point,
there should be at least 1 split (branching) before (or after) each checkpoint.
If possible, do not exceed 2 minutes gold medal time. It is the creativity of the maze, not its length, that matters.
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!
Include the sequence of letters MTC somewhere in the track name so that it can be easily discovered on mania-exchange.com.
Deadline:
The track must have been uploaded to the exchange before December 27th 2013 00:00 Pacific Time.
Important: To enter a track, simply upload it and post a link to your submission in this thread.
Confirmed judges:
N/A
The Judging System
Each judge rates each track in the following categories:
Design – Layout, respawnability of checkpoints,
learning curve, scenery, the general "feel" of the track. -2 if you use blockmixing.
Max 15 points/judge
- 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 "Maze" aspect. We are looking for new, inspiring combinations of building blocks, and adherence to the theme.
Max. 15 points/judge
Fun Factor – We rate REPLAY VALUE (how likely it is that a player would race the track repeatedly) and FUN (how much fun does a player have during each race). Frustration and the need to respawn over and over generally reduces this rating..
Max 10 points/judge
We need reliable and committed judges, so if you want to volunteer as a judge, please post in the JUDGE POOL thread!
Good luck! If you have any questions, please ask away