Alright, finally had a chance to give all of these at least a short run with AI and I have one major criticism I have to get right out of the way as I feel it's probably the most important to the idea of this pack especially going forward.
I think each track needs to look more distinct.
Every track has the same color kerbs, the same large sand traps, the same abundance of booths, banks of stands. With the exception of Florida and Wajeer, each feel very difficult to pinpoint where they would be geographically. I know a circuit like Tallinn has a flag on it but it doesn't invoke enough like Estonia (okay, difficult country for me to choose but the point stands, I guess)
Even simply introducing those colours into the kerbs would make a difference.
One thing that is probably a really difficult thing to do but I would look primarily into different dithering patterns for grass and tarmac. When I think of Brazilian circuits, I often imagine something a bit more damp and muddy, definitely a lot of green and yellow around. Something like Latvia could take some insipration from Bikernieki, where both sides of the circuit are forested in and the overall state of the circuit can look more worn (that's not disparaging Latvia/Bikernieki, but the state of the circuit gives a great character that can be used) All your circuits except the French one have very open wide paddocks, that can definitely be played with a lot more.
I would also look into different ideas for runoffs and paddocks. Don't be afraid to make a skidpan here or there, maybe make a village nearby, use water (which I can't find in any circuit tbh), use cliffs. I find making environmental elements for some tracks are notoriously difficult but I would recommend giving some a go where you can. It'll make a night and day difference.
I really want to see more of these tracks because a lot of these layouts are absolutely fantastic and deserve some great scenery treatment. Lechia and Torino are great fun, always feeling like you need to have small adjustments around the lap to get a great line.
This will all feel really critical, this doesn't take away my enjoyment of these circuits at all, I just know there's a lot more potential for some truly amazing work. You got the driving and layouts down well, I think you can pull the scenery up with it too and make some outstanding work
A few other tidbits I will add:
- Maybe zoom in on the circuits a little bit more. I feel a bit far away and I tried different resolutions to no avail
- Push the starting AI line (the red/active AI line) just a bit further from the S/F line. The AI have a tendency to drift across the grid into each other (and me) on race starts
- Some circuits need a tiny bit of tighetning up on the AI line, Patras comes to mind as one that feels a bit slow
- Grids could be spaced out a tiny bit more. Make the first corner less of a lottery.
TLDR; Amazing layouts, good racing, need some work on scenery
x4
But even so I just want to share my opinion too and leave a comment as well, because you seems to put a lot of effort into this.
