Ok, I've been working on a lot of tracks in the past few months, and I'm wondering if the quality of some of my Nationals tracks is reasonable. So, I'll post a few screenshots of a few of my projects here. Tell me if they look at least somewhat realistic. (the colors looked different in the game :-\ ... dunno what happened...)
Oh yeah... keep in mind that I used MicroSoft's Paint in the making of these tracks.
(http://img02.picoodle.com/img/img02/9/8/17/f_WindyHills1m_0ed66bc.png) (http://www.picoodle.com/view.php?img=/9/8/17/f_WindyHills1m_0ed66bc.png&srv=img02)
(http://img02.picoodle.com/img/img02/9/8/17/f_SunburnCampm_9a15c07.png) (http://www.picoodle.com/view.php?img=/9/8/17/f_SunburnCampm_9a15c07.png&srv=img02)
(http://img02.picoodle.com/img/img02/9/8/17/f_Palenville2m_1cb637f.png) (http://www.picoodle.com/view.php?img=/9/8/17/f_Palenville2m_1cb637f.png&srv=img02)
Not bad, but there is room for improvement, just as we all have room to grow.
The one thing that stands out to me is the monolithic form your textures take. Except for the ruts, your track surface is exactly the same from berm to berm. Look at some tracks or dirt roads near your home or on the net and copy what you see.
Likewise, do the same on the grass portion. Add some different color grasses or dirst spots or sandy sections. It should be variable in appearance, unless of course you have built your track on a golf course.
Try mixing it up a little, look on the net for ideas. You are making good progress, keep at it.
Ok, thanks for the advice :) . I already changed the terrain texture and color for the first track to make it look less cartoony, and I'll find out what else I can do (I guess I'll look at a bunch of photographs or something).
Expect to hear from me again sometime soon. I think that, after a few fixes (or many fixes) , I'll upload my tracks :) .
If you want, you can email me a beta version and I'll take a look before you release it.
Just a suggestion. ;D
P.S.
I almost forgot, another good place to look for terrain ideas is other MCM2 tracks too!
My tracks will have to wait a bit, because I don't get much time on them anymore, and I have school in the way. I think I'll upload one of them on Saturday.