A LOT of submitted levels are resembling beyond "Monolith" level of difficulty...and a LOT of the people submitting these levels seem to have no knowledge of how to make a sprint level fast, satisfying and free flowing.

Look people I know you LOVE throwing in surface transfers, outside loops, and ridiculous ramps, but not every level needs to have EVERY single prop in place to be memorable...especially not a designated sprint level!


This is a racing game reminescent of F-Zero and while yes F-Zero had varying dimensions and angles and split second corners, that was a lap based racing game. In this game, during sprint, you go from Point A, to Point B. One shot. The designer needs to make their map with this in mind and create the track in ways that will encourage the player to get there as quick as possible, leave them guessing what's gonna happen next, but also not throw in segments that break game flow!


What follows IN MY OWN OPINION are some things that I feel should be thought about when making a level.


Outside quarter loops: Vertical to horizontal in an instant, from the outside. It leaves your car hovering in mid air like an idiot...please either stop this, or make the transfer from vertical to horizontal a LOT more gradual...give the player a bit more time to react so he doesn't fly off the track for the 5th time. This goes for road twisting and bends as well.

Surface Transfers: Fun and challenging...when given time and appropriate amounts of space to execute said transfer, making one after the other is a challenge and isn't that difficult, but making one after the other, at different angles, with very little room for error, at top speed, is a damn frustrating mess. Ease up on the surface transfers PLEASE.

Obstacles: Seriously..watch your obstacle placement. A pop-up wall appearing at the crest of a hill the player cannot possibly see over until the moment his car is fused with the wall is just bad level design.

Ramps: Again, like surface transfers, they can be fun and challenging, and even No-Fly zones can make it even more interesting. But for the love of god, don't make us accelerate, have to hit the Jump button off the ramp, to land on a pinpoint target at top speed, and don't make us jump off a ramp and expect us to land on an angled surface that's off too far in either direction.

Checkpoint Placement: I shouldn't even have to bring this up...but seriously...fix that people.



I'm submitting all of these pointers because during a sprint, a player (like myself) does not wanna have to mash the restart button over and over again because of some misplaced wall or surface transfer messing up a really great run. I keep the boost down almost all of the time to get the best time possible, my reaction time is just as quick as it was when I was 18, please don't make me feel like I'm getting older by putting in impossible things in EVERY ONE OF YOUR LEVELS.

If I was a lot of you, I'd study the way Refract made their levels, and go from there. Study the flow, the learning curve, the subtle way they teach you about the game through the car, and the track. They don't often throw in impossible obstacles or surface transfers but when they do, and you get it right on the first try, it's satisfying as hell.

TL;DR VERSION MOST IMPORTANT BIT

You're submitting your level to a public forum, you KNOW the layout by heart after spending hours designing it. The player however, does not. If you want a really satisfying level to get noticed, make it so that your million surface transfers, loops, bends, and obstacles are easily noticed and exploited by the player...use arrows, straightaways, and clear pointers to show the player that they're about to be in deep poop if they don't react. Don't expect us to be happy with you after we run into a wall that you didn't make visible until the last second.