How to BUILD: Tracks
By: Mackie

Ever want to know how to build one? It is a little intimidating at first, I know! Believe me! I know! I was worried I'd never get the hang of it. Now, I love it. Admittedly, I will never be the best track designer; but I can do it and have fun building while providing a place to play!

Ok so to start... Here’s a link to my guide on how to schedule the event. Make a practice event and play around learning the tools etc.

http://info.there.com/idx/4/012/article/How_to__Schedule_an_Event.html

Ok so you've done it... you've booked the practice event, and you are ready to roll! 

Now, if you are in a funzone that is enabled for vehicles, there will be some pieces already in your gear once the event starts… If you want more creative control, you can purchase these kits to play with as well.

Elevated Road Set

Want to take your RaceKit-equipped FunZone to the next level? This set gets you off the ground. You get: ramps, elevated straights and turns, a kick-ramp, and a hoop to fly through.

http://webapps.prod.there.com/catalog/product?id=1002292

Ramps and Turns Set

Ready, set, go! Design your dream racecourse with this expansion set, including a funnel ramp, narrow overpass, and two banked turns. Turn any RaceKit-equipped FunZone into the ultimate challenge.

http://webapps.prod.there.com/catalog/product?id=1002291

The building of the track

Once your track practice building event has started. and you are in the zone, go to your toolbar. . I’ve found it is easiest to build while in aerial view.

Toolbar> views> aerial view> medium zoom. 

Now you see your name tag, right? And the zone from a birds eye? ‘’yay! Good. Now as you move about, you’ll be able to line your gates and hoops up better. OOoooo gates! Here we go! Gotta start somewhere; so let’s start at the start?

 This Place> Gear> Gates> Starting Gate. Take one out. Your action tab will offer you to either “place here” or “put away”. You can do it! Go ahead and set it down. (You can move it around later if you want). This is just practice. If an item is flashing it just means it cannot be placed there.. you are probably too close to the zones wall and need to step away a bit.

You will have the might of a giant as you walk around with these humongous ramps and gates. You alone get to choose their placing in the zone. Walking, sidestepping, and running are the maneuvers I use.

Walking

Well, I’d hope you have this part down pat.. but hey, I’ve learned not to assume anything. You walk in There by using the arrow keys. Hit that up arrow twice and hold and there you are, running. :D One thing: a ‘lil trick maybe, is that I always wear my wonderful hi speed Nikes when I build. The Nikes that make your avie run faster definitely come in handy when track building. Others do their building in a vehicle, I have had not has as much luck with that, but you are the zone god now, it’s entirely your decision.

Sidestepping

You can walk sideways! Yes, to line that ramp up perfectly, you might need this. You only have to hold shift down and then use your arrow keys! Voila, now if only we had ‘dip. You’d be a dancer for sure!

Oh just a tidbit of trivial fun here in the middle of your tutorial. I did find one night while messing around with some equally bored and geeky friends, that indeed the Nike Zoom’s.. well, we found that they also sidestep faster than the regular shoes. Who knew? Who cared? Heh! On with the learnin’s.

OK so a track for a buggy, hoverboard, or a bike is different than a track for say, a pack, right? You can instantly recognize a hoverpack track by all the hoops, but, that doesn’t mean you can’t use a hoop on a vehicle track, just be wary where you place them with your Herculean pixilated pointers. You don’t have to be afraid of your creativity using what you have for other tracks after you get a hang of all this. For now, in your first few tracks, however, you might want to stick with the basics and build a nice flowing track. A track where the turns can be anticipated and the jumps flow smoothly to the next arrow is very satisfying to the participant.

The pieces that make a whole (lotta fun)

Ok in your gear again, you will see what the track provides as well as whatever you have purchased in there. You’ll have the tracks kit as well in there, so don’t freak when you see other things in the listing, you didn’t shop lift; those items come with a race enabled track for your enjoyment. Where’s the pixelated popcorn now? 

Take an item out of the gear and walk a path dropping the ramps, gates, banks, turns etc as you so desire. Use your creativity, but be wary.

There are some tips. Each vehicle is a little different and sometimes the tracks are particular.

*Buggy: when building a track for buggies, be careful not to start off into a turn, the buggies are wider and when lined up to start a race they are 2x2. This doesn’t allow for much room to handle a ramp straight off. You’re liable to have a crash at the start each time. More than likely it will be better to leave the turns to a spot later in the track, allowing the buggies to spread out a little first.

*Hoverboards & HoverBikes: These are able to have a turn right from the start. However, there are some things to test b4 committing the track to your saved file. Your jumps, are they all lined up ok? Do they smoothly land aimed towards the next gate?

*The Bikes – (Hover and Bacio) and the Boards, have different lengths for their jumps. Make sure you are testing these with the vehicle you are planning to use for the event.

Ok there you go! Now! Hop on! Try it out! 

Once you are happy with a track you’ve built and are ready to make it into an event…. BOOK it..

To save that track go to your toolbar once again..

Toolbar>This place>Layout Options>Save> and a window will pop up. Name it (use the funzone name so you remember where you built it)

Now you are ready for the event! Be at the track when the event starts. Make sure you set at least a 30 minute prep time. The prep time will allow you time in the zone to place the track and other items you want to lie. 

Lay track

Toolbar>This Place>Layout Options>Load Layout> choose and it will lay for you! (fun to watch from aerial mode btw ;) )

Record track

Toolbar>This place> Course>Record Track

Get on pack and go thru the gates in the order you want them to be in for the event. You have to start at the start and it will end when you come back to the start: no finish gate.

Things to do in Prep time:

1) Start arcade mode Toolbar>this place> Arcade Mode> on This allows the gates to turn on… so that your participants can know where to go :D Now the lap times will show up on the “Fastest Laps Today” thingee.

2) To determine what vehicles are allowed: go to toolbar> This Place>Race> Setup (also here you decide if you want the races for ratings or not)

Race set up: you can determine how many racers, the length of the races (laps), the type vehicle, and how you want the racers to line up for a race.

Hit Apply to keep any changes you’ve made. 

You can drop a leader board and a grandstand too during this time and also decorate the track if you so desire. :D  

Invites are all that’s left. I covered this in the scheduling part, but please do be cautious of inviting clubs that aren’t interested in your sporting event.

Have fun by providing fun! Hope this helps you in your quest to be a track builder in There. 

Mackie

Community Coordinator