Level Design 101/Circuit

Circuit stages are played in Race mode. They have a circular layout on which the players start at the goal line and have to complete several laps around the stage. To make sure players are going the right way, numbered Star Posts are placed along the track that players have to activate in order to continue.

• Make sure your stage is simple. Complicated stages with multiple paths detract from the race, and since one path is always going to be the fastest, the rest of the stage won't even be used.

• Flow is essential to Circuit. The player should never be stopping in a Circuit map, although there should definitely be things that keep them from going at full speed in some places. Circuit is a race; make sure it's fast-paced.

• Make sure the stage isn't too long. A good lap time is around 20–40 seconds. Longer stages will tend to drag when using the standard four laps.

• The player should never be able to skip a Star Post. If a player misses a Star Post, they cannot continue their lap until they come across it again, which causes them to lose a lot of time. To prevent this from happening, use sectors with the Star Post Activator sector type that span the whole area that the Star Post is contained in.

• Have plenty of turns. Turns make Circuit stages more interesting because the players have to try and cut the corners as efficiently as possible. If the path is wide enough, right-angle turns are especially interesting because they are more challenging than subtle turns.

• Thokfests are bad. Make sure there is more to the stage than just thokking repetitively. Placing walls and hazards in places that make the thok more difficult to use effectively is the key to good Circuit design. Springs and other movement methods can also provide variety which keeps the map from getting too stale.

• Shortcuts, if used at all, should require a lot of skill to pull off. If your shortcut is too easy to access, then the main path won't be used at all; if your shortcut doesn't improve your time enough, then the shortcut itself won't be used at all. Shortcuts which will improve your time but require risk or skill can make Circuit maps more interesting however. Balanced use of shortcuts will improve the replay value of your Circuit map.

• Enemies are generally not accepted in a Circuit map. Because enemies will go after the first player they see, they break the fairness of the gametype and are generally annoying and disruptive.

• Use caution with placing hazards. Hazards such as lava are great to use in Circuit maps to make them harder and more interesting. It's important not to overdo it though, because if players constantly find themselves falling into pits or traps, then they will get frustrated quickly.

• Obstacles that modify the player's movement are optimal for Circuit. For example, conveyor belts and slippery ice are used in official maps to make them distinct from the rest of the rotation. Since Race depends entirely on fast movement, modifying or restricting said movement makes Circuit maps more enjoyable.