Race track design help

OK, I admit I'm a racing junkie! I really enjoy the racing toy boxes and the Speedway. I've designed a few races, usually starting with an "new race track toy box" from the menu, then customizing as I go. I want to really design one that's all my own, though. I've got some design questions, though. If anyone knows of a good book or article about this, please let me know.

What I'm wanting is to know how to design "areas" in the race, so that certain parts of the track have a different feel from others. An example is the Sugar Rush track in Speedway. I notice they use "drop ins" fairly often to change scene, often with a turbo boost just before you go over the edge. I tried doing a canyon-style section, but the minute you try to change elevation up or down with a curved track, the track pieces don't want to exist in the same area as the canyon walls. The only "fix" I have found is just keeping those sections flat. Moving to a higher or lower section of the track is problematic anyway, as even regular terrain doesn't want to coexist with track pieces unless they're flat. It seems to me the track should just lay down over whatever terrain you use rather than trying to compete for the same physical space, you know?

How do you guys get around some of these issues?

Thanks!

I haven't tried it myself yet, but having looked at a couple of videos, if you use the 'path creator' toy instead of laying track, then I think the race can just follow your terrain instead of laid track.

For following terrain, your best bet is indeed the race path creator. It is right next to the regular path creator. It automatically creates it as a loop.

There are some terrain slopes that match with the sloped tracks. I used them in my AXIOM level for my Pixar Grand Prix. That track is very simple but does have an elevation change that follows terrain.

One key to regular or path based races is to make sure the track pieces are far enough apart. If they aren't, you may reset either earlier on the track or further ahead. I spent a couple weeks redoing the Pixar Grand Prix to eliminate most of those week points without redoing the track layout.

Another option is trying to layout the track pieces via a replayer. Clear the replayer then put down the terrain. Once the terrain is down, playback the track.

Thanks KoalaBoy and pjhaan! I thought the path track creator created races with the "frames" you had to go through. Am I wrong? I never cared for those type of race, personally. But I'll give it a try.

I like the replayed idea, though. Will it avoid the "you can't put that piece here" problem? I'll find out!

Thanks guys, it helps to get other eyes on the problem.

If you use the race path creator, the race is just the cars. I used this for two of the tracks on my Pixar Grand Prix level (Cars and Incredibles). This toy is right next to the path creator and looks like a racetrack starting gate.

If you use the regular path creator, it uses the gates or collectibles...

OK, thanks for clarifying that. I love what you did with the Pixar Gran Prix, especially the whirlwind traps and the Monsters U "pranks." Really shakes things up, doesn't it?

Thanks! I am glad you enjoyed it. Hopefully, you played the updated version if you saw a checker board border around the hub, it was the updated version.

I was trying to have some stuff that set it apart from most tracks. I also hoped that having two races on the same track in different vehicles and with different "seasons" would be unique. There were just too many quality entries for me to crack the top 5 for that challenge.