Level 3
Lloyd2k4 wrote:A small note on MGO Raceway, Myles: The ramp in the center of the track that takes you up to the balloon 'string' of pods causes snags on karts moving quickly into it due to its high angle. I could not successfully launch into the air from this ramp once when I raced the track a little bit ago.. I just kept getting caught.
One of my pet peeves about UFG's ramps is that they just don't work well for people going very fast until they're very low angle :/
Thanks for the heads up - shouldn't be too tricky to fix. I tried to make the pipe driving bit a bit easier (but not trivial since it is a skill-cut) - they're about 40% wider though overall. Seem a bit more fair now? I also jazzed up the visuals in the hope that its a bit less generic 
If you guys are looking for something else to try - give the ravamped launch base a go. Its a bit of a fast one though not too difficult. This one is heigh-glitch less too as that doesn't seem to work on vita version.
Most of the other tracks got fixes and tweaks too so give them a run if you're bored 
Level 3
atheistsw wrote:Tried out 'Darkwood Vale' earlier, certainly one of the most impressive uses of the haunted props i've seen, you really did a great job creating this forbidden environment with which to race in and there were lots of neat little touches along the way, particularly liked the clever way you twisted the track going through the building so there were pits either side, caught me out more than once!
Just a couple of things I'll mention as issues: The spider web bounce to the tree trunk doesn't work, if you don't double jump you just miss the opening and if you do double jump you actually go OVER the trunk! Also, that green boost pad going up the ramp near the end (think it's a horse kart?) is horrible, far too easy to snag on that prop, I actually lost the race by repeatedly attempting to take it, once it actually sent me sideways over a nearby fence!
All in all though really good job, very fun to race!
needs a few more tweaks still - the tricky thing with this one as I'm trying to get it to work well with the vita speed and the PS3 version elite speed.. which is proving difficult.
Need a bit more detail on the spider web - first off you have to hit it around the center or it wont bounce you far enough - this does require a bit of practice. I think what I'm going to do though is make it more of a platform then a tube so if you overshoot you're still ok. Going to be tricky to do this without it being trivialized though.
The last jump thing I'm going to either get rid of or change I think - it was kind of a 'for fun' extra but the green pad seems to draw people there much to often.
Level 3
Yeah Myles, the pipes are much better now. They still have an element of skill to them without being extremely frustrating (cylinder platforms are a *****...). I nailed it on my first try but still had to be careful not to fall off, so I'd say they're good now. A skilled racer is still going to think twice whether they want to take them or not, because I doubt it can be done with 100% proficiency (but still much higher than before, thanks!).
Level 3
Just as another note, I'm actually racing these tracks on Action now so I'm getting to see where pod placement is and what traps and such are active. For example, I noticed there are beariers in the enclosed part of Desert Dash. I never noticed these before because I was always TTing the tracks. I'll be doing more Action from now on since Action tests pretty much everything whereas TT doesn't cover every aspect of a track's design.
Level 3
Lloyd2k4 wrote:Just as another note, I'm actually racing these tracks on Action now so I'm getting to see where pod placement is and what traps and such are active. For example, I noticed there are beariers in the enclosed part of Desert Dash. I never noticed these before because I was always TTing the tracks. I'll be doing more Action from now on since Action tests pretty much everything whereas TT doesn't cover every aspect of a track's design.
Cool. I actually added those barriers in with one of the recent revamps on desert dash - the pillars that used be there made the AI dumb as bricks so I tried something a little different
I think I've got a bunch of your older feedback rolled into the new versions of the others as well.
Level 3
Tested Launch Base today. I have to say I like the new track layout and use of Moon Colony props. How is your prop budget looking? I'd say you could add some additional props to some of the more barren areas of the track, but it's not 100% necessary. Just a suggestion for some of the emptier sections as you race around.
The first issue I encountered with this track was the first launcher on the target surface at the start of the race. If you get blown up in just the right spot, you will respawn after the launcher, but still on the ground. I'd double check your reset zone to make sure there's no wiggle room for that to happen, or adjust the launcher's position accordingly.
The only other issue I found was the fan dynamic prop from moon colony on the landing platform after the launcher from above. It does not lift karts into the air on landing... wasn't sure if that's how you intended to be or not. I don't know if it's because the landing is just too far ahead of its area of effect, or if it has something to do with karts just landing from launcher paths not being affected by its lift. Either way, it served no purpose whatsoever other than for show.
Couldn't find any other issues. Everything else ran great. Good track and I'm glad you stayed away from the height glitch with this one. Not a huge fan of that stuff 
Level 3
I tested Prehistoric Pass and Frosty Coast today.
Prehistoric Pass
No major issues encountered. I went around trying to break everything that I thought might pose a problem, but nothing really bad happened. Only one minor thing popped up: the rock shortcut after the big rock waterfall type section (before you enter the tunnel... there's dinosaurs and crocs in the water). If you get blown up on here so that you get an MRC reset, it respawns you after the shortcut back on the track. I figured it had something to do with how you placed the crumbs. It's not a big deal at all, and probably preferred to so that karts don't get caught between each separate rock placement (if that were possible).
I tried breaking all the other sections as well that might act wonky, but everything seemed to respawn well. The track is a bit lacking in solid boost generation, and I know you don't like to use rechargers because you use up all of your budget on red and green pads. Consider changing the row of Reds when ascending the hill right before the 'rock waterfall' section to greens. It goes Row of Reds -> Row of Greens -> descension to Rock waterfall and pod set. The red set isn't really necessary... changing it to greens would make the racing line smoother here.
Frosty Coast
Track ran great. Only one thing that bothered me about it and that was the first shortcut that cuts a heavily banked corner on the 'coast' part of the track. When you come off this cut (it's kind of hard to take because of the angle you have to get your kart), the track is actually still banking upwards here so your kart will clip the bank as you come off the iceberg and it can cause some wonky behavior and also a lot of slowdown, kind of nulling the purpose of this cut.
The only other thing that caught my eye was the one very good shortcut that requires you to time a good jump (or be going fast enough) to reach across to the icebergs. This cut is extremely lucrative when done correctly, but it's definitely a skill cut. I don't really think it needs adjusting at all... but it's definitely a more unique shortcut that you don't see in a lot of tracks. I tried breaking it by selecting as I was in mid air, but it just respawned me back on the piece of track before it nicely, so no problems from what I could see.
Seems like this one is pretty well built.
Level 3
Lot's done today... first off fixes:
- Darkwood got its shortcut changed new version ready for testing... now I'm worried the shortcut is a little bit imba but looking for feedback on this before I make further changes
- Fixed that reset issue Lloyd found on Launch base and made a few other minor tweaks
- Savanna had those boost pads removed - try the new version and let me know what you guys think.
- MGO Raceway had the ramps slightly lowered - not much more I can do beyond that
And...
The new and improved Hectic Harbor! This one was a massive remake and its a little bit bonkers so let me know what you think. I even through a little bit of Capital Port in there for those of you that miss that one. Really hoping its free from snag issues (I haven't found one yet) as fixing them will be a nightmare. Enjoy.
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