Track of the Year 2024

[dreadnaut]

In 2024, at the end of each race, we asked participants to rate the track from 1 to 5 stars. Single votes and averages have been hidden during the season, but here we are for the grand reveal!

The Track of the Year 2024, with 16 votes and 4.3 stars on average is...
— ZCT281: Eternal Wait, designed by Akoss Poo

Runner up:
4.2 (13 votes) - ZCT270: Swiftshire, by Alan Rotoi

Pretty good ones:
4.1 (14 votes) - ZCT279: Shortwave, by Frieshansen
4.1 (13 votes) - ZCT277: SC2K, by Erik Barros
4.1 (12 votes) - ZCT272: Spiral Architect, by Duplode

And the others:
3.9 (12 votes) - ZCT278: Ghosted, by dreadnaut
3.6 (12 votes) - ZCT280: Marginal, by Zapper
3.5 (15 votes) - ZCT273: Kelvin, by Daniel3D
3.5 (13 votes) - ZCT276: Bonkstad, by Shoegazing Leo
3.5 (12 votes) - ZCT275: Keep Calm and Avoid Palms, by Cas
3.0 (13 votes) - ZCT274: Mirage, by Argammon
3.0 (12 votes) - ZCT271: Dopamine Pathways, by Overdrijf

Thank you all for casting your votes, great to see good numbers across all tracks! Final ratings are on the track list.

Any feedback on the voting system itself is welcome! (see also: 2023)

[Akoss Poo a.k.a. Zorromeister]

Thank you very much.

This track was NOT designed to be the track of the year, it rather intended to be a track to make time difference even between top pipsqueaks, and maybe to open a way to some new tricks to be found even after two and a half decades of racing.

I feel somewhat pity as I didn't have a real effort - but I must confess, I could have not reached a top spot on the scoreboard of this track even at showing full effort. Congratulations to the top drivers, great job.

[alanrotoi]

It's fair to point out that the worst ranked tracks were the most flooded tracks. We have used water for everything to the detriment of fun. Please let's change this a bit. For example instead of big flooded areas we could use crossing rivers if the main objetive is to avoid PG.

About the last track by @Akoss Poo a.k.a. Zorromeister  zct281 I agree it was the best track of the year. It's the only track I gave 5 stars this year.

[Argammon]

First of all I would like to congratulate @Akoss Poo a.k.a. Zorromeister. Well-deserved track of the year! 

[...]

Any feedback on the voting system itself is welcome! (see also: 2023)

I do not know if it is feasible, but I would like a double-blind system in which the voters do not know the author of the track. Otherwise, some voters may not only vote on the track but (subconsciously) also on the author.

[Argammon]

It's fair to point out that the worst ranked tracks were the most flooded tracks. We have used water for everything to the detriment of fun. Please let's change this a bit. For example instead of big flooded areas we could use crossing rivers if the main objetive is to avoid PG.

I do understand that some of us, including me, prefer open tracks with a lot of shortcuts, However, I do not understand how it is possible to like OWOOT rules (R4K) but not like flooded tracks. In my experience, the driving experience is quite similar with the difference that with flooded tracks you do not have to keep checking whether you violated the OWOOT rule, which is an advantage in my books.

[Duplode]

Congratulations @Akoss Poo a.k.a. Zorromeister ! ZCT281 was a track for the ages, and its victory was absolutely deserved.


I wouldn't worry much about the (relatively!) lower scores, considering that:

• Experimental or technically challenging tracks naturally tend to be a bit more polarising, sometimes to the point of having a bimodal distribution of votes.
• In an universe of 15 voters, any two votes can have an effect of up to 0.4 in the average score.
• All tracks this year got at least one five, so each of them has left at least one person very pleased 

I do not know if it is feasible, but I would like a double-blind system in which the voters do not know the author of the track. Otherwise, some voters may not only vote on the track but (subconsciously) also on the author.

Double-blind is not feasible because voting is only open to people who raced in the track, who already know who the author is.

[Cas]

Congrats, @Akoss, on the top track!

@Argammon
Uhm... about flooded tracks... they're not my favourite, but it doesn't have to do with the way of racing them. It's rather that they don't look very natural from inside. So it's more a cosmetic thing that makes some of us not like them very much, I think. I like OWOOT and I run an OWOOT tournament, but in reality, it's not that I prefer OWOOT over free-style. I like variety and sometimes I feel more like OWOOT (for racing, myself) and other times, more like free-style.

@Duplode
It's really an interesting topic to study what people like the most and the least about tracks. I suggest devising such a study. I personally have been having a problem with voting for tracks: the time when I'm requested to cast my vote is a time when I've forgotten how it feels to race the track and also, I don't remember my previous votes, so I can't vote objectively. It'd be better to be able to vote for a track during the race and change your vote any time you want until the race is over or something like that.