Track Types

This page intends to provide an overview over the different types of tracks, which have developed over the years. The terms track and map are used synonymous and are often interchangeable.

[edit] B

BASCO Track
A Build A Stage COmpetition is a special community track, where each part (stage) of a track is built by anyone interested in taking part in the competition. Each contribution is evaluated by a group of judges who decide who the winner for the current stage is. Then building begins anew for the next stage, then judging again - until the track is finished. This concept was developed at TMX in 2006.

Bug Map
A bug map is a track which aims to exploit errors in the track editor to create impossible or otherwise sensational parts and transitions. Most bugs involve deleting previously placed blocks and the most famous example is probably the invisible road in the environment island in TrackMania Sunrise.

[edit] C

Classic Track
A classic track is a special track category at TMX. Classic tracks are manually selected by the TMX crew and have the leaderboard rankings of their uploaded record times deleted, because the TMX leaderboard ranking went towards the theoretical maximum. Classic tracks have their own TMX leaderboard, but they are outside the normal rankings.

Community Track
A community track is a track building effort by several members of the player community. Usually four to six players build 10 to 15 seconds of the track.

Cross-Country Track
Though it could be done with other environments too, a cross-country track is mainly referring to a rally track on which the player often leaves the roads, i.e. the racing route does not equal the road layout on the track. In other words, it's a track with many little offroad cuts.

[edit] D

Demo Track
A demo track is a track built with a demo version of any of the TrackMania games. Demo versions of the game usually merely feature one environment and a limited choice of blocks.
Since the release of the free TrackMania Nations ESWC, demo tracks have lost much of their appeal, but back in the days of TrackMania Original and TrackMania Sunrise there had been quite a few players, who never owned the actual game, but extensively played the demo versions and built tracks for those.

Dirt Track
A track in the stadium environment making exclusively or at least mostly use of the sand parts and roads.

Drift Map
From all environments especially coast with the inertness of its car is predestined for controlled drifting and some players especially build tracks for drifting. The idea is not to drive the fastest time, but the best and longest drifts.

Duo Track
Special form of a community track with merely two players building the track.

[edit] E

Endurance Track
A long track, usually in the form of a multilap track, which emphasizes not so much on technical skill, but on the longevity of the player's concentration. An example would be the last coast track from the official campaign of TrackMania Sunrise with 30 laps.

[edit] F

Freestyle Track
Freestyle tracks are the predecessors to stunt tracks. Before stunt mode had been added to TrackMania, players realized that they can do more with their cars on a track then just racing for the best time. They began to build special tracks, which were suitable to do all kinds of crazy stunts, but still were race tracks. Those tracks were never meant to drive the fastest time, but to do cool stunts.

(Full)Speed Track
A speed track has merely a few or even no technical parts and can be driven at high speed levels throughout. If you never need to lower your gas, it's a fullspeed track.

[edit] G

GP Track
A grand prix track is a track in the coast environment, which solely or at least mostly uses the black asphalt "grand prix" style blocks for its layout.

[edit] L

League Track
A track made for or played in any of the leagues playing a TrackMania flavor. League tracks often are tech tracks, which even challenge expert level players.

LOL Track
Usually a very short track with just one major idea, jump or obstacle built into it and thus not really a racing course in the common sense. While not always welcomed for online play on "serious" servers, there are quite a few servers around especially offering LOL tracks.

[edit] M

Maze Map
A maze map is a track with a web of roads, but merely a few checkpoints, and will allow you to make creative route choices.

Mix Map
Not to be confused with a bug map, a mix map is a track where the position of certain blocks stored in the GBX file have been hacked with external tools. The idea is that one block is moved to the position of another to form a new kind of block. Mix Maps started to become popular by the end of 2007 and the availability of tools for the actual mixing in 2008 in contrast to previously having to use a hex editor helped those tracks to become a mass phenomenon.

Multilap Track
A multilap track is a track whose finish is the same as its start and whose lap counter is set greater than 1. All environments provide a special block serving as a multilap start/finish.

Multiroute Track
A multiroute track has several main routes between start and finish, which may or may not vary in length and/or difficulty.

[edit] N

Nadeo Track
Nadeo track is an umbrella term referring to any sort of track included in a TrackMania version for the single player campaign.

[edit] O

Offline Track
Any track especially made for solo mode or a track not suitable as online track.

Offroad Track
A track mainly using landscape and scenery parts instead of road blocks as racing parcours.

Oldschool Track
Oldschool track is a term for any track which is built in a style which is not longer mainstream but once was.

Online Track
Any track especially made for online play, usually with an easier layout since the average time a track is played on an online server is around 5 minutes. Tracks which you need to study 20 minutes to make a good time are unsuitable for online play and thus offline tracks.

[edit] P

Platform Track
A platform track is made in platform mode and usually features unusual or hard to drive jumps and stunts.

Press Forward Track
A PF track is a special track where no steering is necessary. The car is being moved through the track by the means of jumps and bumps only. The player merely presses forward until the car reaches the finish.

Press Nothing Track
A press nothing track is a track where the player drives the car up the first checkpoint and then respawns. The car then moves through the track by the means of boosters and down-hill parts without any player interaction.

Press Left/Right Track
A PL/PR track is a track where the player's car is moved by the influences of boosters that are mixed with other blocks (Block Mixing). The player controling the car only needs to hold the arrow right or left and the track that is blockmixed in a way allowing a boosted start without the need of accelerating. These tracks are very rare mostly because the toughness in creating a PL/PR track.

Puzzle Track
A puzzle track is made in puzzle mode, meaning you have to (re-)add the missing blocks in a way that allows you to drive the fastest time.

[edit] R

Race Track
Race track is the umbrella term for any track on which driving the fastest time counts. In this regard even puzzle tracks become race tracks once they are solved. The term race track is often also used to refer to tracks which are straightforward and smooth to race - in contrast to overly stunt-proned, technical or offroad tracks.

RPG Track
By the end of 2008 TrackMania became an adventure game. "Role Playing Game" tracks were born, long tracks - from around 7 up to 20 minutes - which combine a platformish style with elements of a maze track. The player has to explore the best route, often driving through a labyrinth obfuscated by chambers and non-obvious platforms to jump to. In 2009 special RPG track servers were started to allow online competition on such tracks. So far RPG tracks have a small, but enthusiastic following.

[edit] S

Speedtech Track
Speedtech tracks are a variation of tech tracks where you need to drive with the utmost speed in order to master the following obstacle. E.g. if you slide a bit in a curve, you will not have enough speed to make the next jump.

Story Track
The idea of a story track is to put racing the track into a storyline, e.g. delivering a pizza and having to hurry. Story tracks use in-game media tracker effects like text, images and sounds to narrate the storyline and create atmosphere while the player is racing the track.

Stunt Track
Stunt tracks are tracks built in stunt mode. The goal is not to drive the fastest time, but to drive the most high scoring stunts within the given time. Thus stunt tracks usually have many obstacles for jumping and bumping.

Symmetrical Track
A symmetrical track is a special form of a multiroute track where the road layout is symmetrical. On true symmetrical tracks it does not matter which route the player is going to take.

[edit] T

Tech(nical) Track
A tech track puts the emphasis on chicanes and transitions instead of straight forward high speed, booster and jump parts. To drive a good time on a tech track, you often have to study the track's layout intensely and feel comfortable in its environment.

Theme Track
A synonym for story track.

Time Addict Track
Time addict tracks incorporate little to big chances to shave off millisecond over other players and can also include obstacles where more inexperienced drivers can get lucky over pros, thus allowing for extensive world record hunting.

[edit] W

WTS Track
A long, checkpointless track designed to test ultimate car control. Not uncommon for 99% of drivers to fail. First WTS track was created in Summer of 2005 by the <SD> Clan. WTS Servers were mostly hosted by Demo servers.