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 CREATING A NEW TRACK
(page 3)

 

SPACE SYMBOL LABELING
The next step in creating a track is to label any spaces with the appropriate symbols. Starting Grids, Corner Arrows and Pit Paint need to be applied for the track to be playable, so let's dive in.
(If you still have the Filled Polygons option on, press F Key to go back to Wireframe Mode)

First, let's assign Starting Grids to 8 spaces, allowing up to 8 players to race on the track.

Select the space on the Left lane that is just to the left of the Finish Line.

This is where we will place our Pole Starting Grid space.

Pole space selected


Click on the Starting Grid dropdown

Starting Grid combobox


Select "Pole Position".
You should see a Starting Grid symbol appear on the space.

Pole symbol applied


Now select the space on the Right lane that is to the left of the of the Pole Position space.

Starting grid space 2 selected


Go to the Starting Grid dropdown and choose Space 2. You will again see a Starting Grid symbol appear on the space.

Go back to the Left lane. Skip a space to the left of the Pole Position space, select and then apply the Starting Grid Space 3 symbol. Continue this pattern until you have applied 8 Starting Grid spaces, 4 on the Left lane, 4 on the Right lane, with a space skipped between each.

Starting grids complete


Next let's tackle the Pit lane. Thanks to the Tools menu, this one is easy..

Select the Pit lane space that is adjacent to the first Garage (black).

Select 1st Pit Paint


From the Tools menu, choose Create Pit "Paint" Spaces.

You'll see Pit Paint spaces appear along the length of the Pit lane.

Pit Paint complete

Once finished, the Pit paint colors should match the Garage colors and should be in this order:
Team 1, Team 6, Team 2, Team 7, Team 3, Team 8, Team 4, Team 9, Team 5, Team 10.

The last step in symbol assignment are the arrows that dictate movement in the corners. Formula PC actually does not use these arrows when determining a player's next moves. Due to the complexity of the shapes of spaces in corners, arrows don't provide a concrete logic to which the game can adhere. For an easy example of this, try grabbing your Monaco gameboard. Look the corners, specifically Loews-Portier. Notice how the arrows point to the left and right, but only through careful study is it clear to which space the arrow is actually referring.
Rather than have Formula PC "guess", we use a system that lies beneath the arrow symbols shown on the spaces (we'll get to that system in a moment). The arrows are strictly for the player's benefit, giving guidance as to what moves can me made through a corner.

So let's begin.
If you're adapting an existing track from Formula De, then things are easy. You simply go along each lane, selecting the appropriate space and applying the appropriate arrow.
But when you're creating your own track, you have to determine what moves should be legal for players to make. Studying the existing Formula De tracks is a good idea. It will help in understanding what lines are typically accepted through a corner.
For now a simple rule will do:
You cannot move from the inside lane of a corner to the outside.

This will, of course, not apply when corners begin to have compound curves ("Esses" as they are called) but since our track has corners that only go one way, we can adhere to it for now.

Start by selecting the Right lane space just before Corner 1, where the lane starts to curve.

Inside lane, space before 1st corner


If you look at most tracks, a heavy arrow dictates forward-only movement going into a curve at this point, so that's what we'll do.

From the Space Symbol Dropdown, select Arrow, Single, Heavy (This can also be accomplished by pressing the H key).

You'll see a heavy arrow appear on the space.

Inside lane, Heavy Arrow applied


Right-click to accept the change to the space (or press Enter Key, or click the Add Space button on the toolbar) and the cursor will move forward.

Place an Arrow, Single, Light on all the spaces of the Right lane throughout the curve.
(This can quickly be accomplished by pressing S Key once each space is selected).

Once you have tagged all spaces on the Right lane curve your track should look similar to this.

Inside lane, 1st corner symbols complete


Now, select the space on the Middle lane that is to the left (1/2) of where we placed our first heavy arrow.

Middle lane, space before 1st corner


If you study the Formula De tracks, you notice that corners start sooner and end later the further out the lane is, so we'll make the tagged area of our Middle lane a bit longer than the Right.

Place an Arrow, Single, Heavy on the selected space and apply the change.

Middle lane, Heavy Arrow applied

Now, as we move forward on the Middle lane, we can't just place Single, Light Arrows as we did on the Right lane.
Remember our rule, you can't move from the inside to the outside. But in most Formula De corners, you
can move the outside to the inside on certain spaces.

It is entirely up to you how you would like to lay out the arrows on the Middle lane, but I would suggest something akin to this, since it is a vague interpretation of how Formula De handles curves similar to ours (i.e.: Tarzanbocht at Zandvoort).

Middle lane, 1st corner symbols complete


Finally, select the space on the Left lane, directly above where we placed our first heavy arrow. This is where we will start the corner on the Left lane.

Again, you are free to create your corner arrows as you like. Here's the pattern I chose:

Outside lane, 1st corner symbols complete


Once you have all the arrows to your liking, it's time for another round of congratulations. You've just completed symbol-tagging your first corner!

Repeat the previous steps for the second corner.
I would suggest making the corners identical in their arrow paths, since the corners are basically identical in shape and size, but again, that's all up to you.

After the second corner is tagged, the track should look similar to this:

Symbols complete


Feel free to press F Key and view your creation fully-shaded!

Symbols complete, rendered

 

We've now completed all symbol tagging for the tutorial track, which means we're over half-way to having a playable circuit.

 

That completes the creation of the track layout.
Next Page of the Tutorial
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 CONTACT:
If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to contact me: onyx@malagraphixia.com

 

Formula PC ©2000-2001 ONYX (J Boen) This page and all items pertaining to Formula PC
are in no way related to or endorsed by EuroGames, the makers of Formula Dé.