1. External Editors. This is one that will probably be mentioned to every person that makes a track only using the default Track Editor. You can export/import bitmaps for Land Maps (Lmaps). These bitmaps can be opened, edited and saved in paint, or any other editing program. A great program is Photoshop or the GIMP (free alternative). This can make it easier to border things, organize layers, do texturing (more advanced tip).

MS Paint however, can do pretty much anything with GR tracks as well, so for beginners, MS Paint is a good start, and this will most likely become the backbone of all your tracks. Very, very few tracks purely rely on objects and hmap for the layout.

2. Dithering. On the grass, use the spray function in Paint, select mud, and spray to create a dithering effect. Don't go overboard, just try and find a limit with it that looks decent. Use other colours if you like (Keeping in mind, red, yellow and white generally don't work out well.). It will look more interesting than just plain grass, and can create nice effects like dirt and such. This step is not 100% vital to a good track, but without it, most tracks will look plain boring.

3. Do more than just place stands or trees everywhere. There are a fair amount of objects you can use (trees, booths, houses, signs, lightposts). Try and use them in a manner that will actually look like that object is meant to be there, and use them in a way that also seems logical.

With trees, try and break a gap between them, so its not dense, organised forests. Most forests in real life have some gaps, and aren't in perfect symmetry, so why should yours?

After this, draw some LMap that would suit the objects (or vise versa in fact). For example, make the buildings have concrete around it, houses with paths to it, stands with paths linking them, trees with grass, you know, kind of make the LMap correspond to the objects, and sometimes the objects correspond to the LMap. It's no point having a skyscraper have no path lead to it, or have some tree placed in a parking lot. Try and think logical.

4. Designate an actual area for the pits. You can either make a lane and bay, or just simply bolt on some extra tarmac to the side of one section of the track. Make it look quite presentable and neat (don't just tack it on, plan ahead).

A good beginners tip is to make sure your S/F line and straight is Either 0, 45, 90, 135, 180 degrees on the Lmap. This ensures an easy way to make grids for the start/finish, and makes it easier to place pits. This is especially helpful in paint, grids, pits and even object placement, as it also gives you a visual to see if objects are aligned.

5. Don't use writing on tracks. This isn't much of a problem, but if you insist on using writing on your track, use it so it sort of incorporates into the track. For example, in a small WS track, having the word "track" may look acceptable on the S/F line, but having "Compulglobalhypermeganet" on a piece of grass in yellow writing doesn't. Best advice here, stay the heck away from adding text onto the track. It just looks too tacky.

6. Make the width of the track consistent (when necessary, mainly [cir], [stc], [ovl]). It will take time and patience, but it is truly worth it. It makes the track incredibly more desirable. Believe me, I can get fussy over 2-3 pixels of difference in points, and if something is incredibly wide compared to somewhere really thin, it just doesn't work.

This will also add for better racing, as you know that ahead of you, you have the same amount of width to squeeze past a car, not to mention that it looks more realistic.

This tip however, will actually require you to plan some way to make the track like this. Using photoshop and the GIMP's pen tool, this can become quite easy. For paint however, it can be a bit more tedious. I do recall there being a tutorial helping people in paint, but I cannot seem to find it.

7. PLAN AHEAD Oh, I cannot stress this enough. I can spend DAYS trying to figure out how to make the track look right. Be fussy about what you do, it seriously helps you get through it. Not to fussy, but enough to make sure that you are getting what looks right. This involves everything from layouts, to objects... Just plan ahead.

Another good tip is to even draw your track on paper, and jot down where certain aspects are like sand traps, side roads, stands, houses, even pits!

8. Experiment with stuff. No track is perfect, no matter what anyone says, there will be someone that won't like something on it. Just keep going, try new stuff when you think you have a grip on some basic things.

A good start for a beginner is by making [cir] rather than [stc] or [ral]. The reason being is that it esentially means that more focus is put on the track rather than surroundings, which means that you don't require focus on as much detail (like road markings and gravel road dithering). It's plain and simple. It also helps you try to draw kerbs.

Again, kerbs can be easily done in Photoshop or GIMP, but for paint, will actually require some patience, and the pencil tool, and alot of pixel editing. It is the only way to do it neatly, even Photoshop and GIMP require that at one stage.

9. Try and get ideas for your track off your own tracks. If you have read something about your track before, and someone suggested to do something to benefit you. DO IT! People comment so you know what to do next time.

It can take some people 1 track to do it, the others, 100's. It's no excuse, if you are asked to do something to your track. It's really no use doing it on your old track. Do it for your next one. It will only help, and it means that you will progress, rather than leave gaps (a trend I've noticed with some people is that they get asked to do something, they do it, but on newer tracks, don't consider it). Learning requires piecing together the gaps.

By no means does this mean mistakes are evil. Mistakes are often the best way to learn.

10. Look outside, inside, on the web and look at others for inspiration. Track Masters tracks are often a great way to start, as their tracks are usually of a very good quality. The web will have many pictures of real tracks to help assist you plan yours, and looking outside can help plan stuff like trees and buildings and such. It's amazing what you get

Get inspired to do it also. If you feel like You are forced to make a track. Stop! Take a breather, and rethink why you are doing it. It's good fun, and a boredom killer.

So learn from track masters, and other tracks by others also, they can seriously help you pick up. Heck, Gabor Kozma was pretty much my main inspiration to tracks for a while.

11. Patience is the key. Most track masters will tell you this. Don't churn out a track a day because the idea came in your head. I jot the track down on paper, by the end of the week, I could have 5 tracks... I might do 1, might do 2, 3, 4, 5... sometimes don't do them at all. Wait for the idea.

Patience though, does not equal time spent on track. People are different in how efficient they work (I for one am very slow). You will build it up eventually, tracks will become easier to make as you seem to find a groove to make tracks. If something on your track isn't right to you. Change it so it is

12. Find Your style. It won't be mine, won't be anyone else's. You will find a style that suits you, but works for many others (not all, as I mentioned earlier). By this I mean trying to find how you do certain things like dithering, layouts, even Point Of Views. All requires some experimentation. Find what you are happy with.

13. Don't forget HMap. The program GRHMEditor is a wonderful program to use for Your HMap. It is quite a beginners tool for making HMap, and I assure you with a little practice, it will make everything alot better HMap wise.

Also, try to include HMap with your tracks (should be pre planned, with everything), and make sure it suits the track. I don't expect to see a huge cliff on the road, or anything like that Also try and use HMap outside of Your track. It can make for great effects like water, cliffs, it can even change the heights of buildings! As I said, experiment so it looks right and clean!

14. Practice. Shouldn't need to explain it, but put all of this to practice, and just try and improve every time!