Mx vs Atv Reflex: Custom Track Help
Chapter 1: Intro to Track Building (with links)
Chapter 2: Photoshop Heightmap Basics
Chapter 3: Let's Make Some Jumps!
Chapter 4: Let's Make Some Berms/Turns/Rutts!
Chapter 5: Natural Elevation
Chapter 6: Texture Time (RGB)
Chapter 7: Softness Map/Zone 1-4/Topdown/Displacement Map, etc
Chapter 8: Digital Earthworks (Input + Details)
Chapter 9: Digital Earthworks (Object Placement + Water + Nature)
Chapter 10: Digital Earthworks (SP Lines/Raceable Tracks/Raceable AI)
Chapter 11: TheC4Detonator Kit  


Chapter 1: Intro to Track Building (with Links)

Welcome to my "tutorial" document that will teach you everything you need to know and more about building your first track. Unlike the tutorials on YouTube, this document will go in-depth to every little detail that you'll need to build one awesome track. I know people don't like to read, because i dont like to either so i'll colorcoat important stuff, and try not to drone on and on. Most People believe that track creating is super advanced and takes up too much time, but if you only spend 30 minutes or more per day, you'll have your first actual track in no time with amazing results! To start making tracks you will need a few things first:
 Al167's Track Starting Kit: http://www.mediafire.com/download/fz0f3gj7x0djfsl/reflex+track+building+kit+v1.0.rar
 mcm2boy's Digital Earthworks: 
http://twisteddirt.com/smf/index.php?topic=4543.0works 
Photoshop (this link is for the 30 day Free Trial): https://creative.adobe.com/products/download/photoshop?promoid=KSPGV

Al167 put together an amazing starter kit for beginners to be given textures, zone files, and accessories right from the game of Reflex!
It also comes with a few important programs to use, including a Topdown and Displacement map creator. This kit is very useful when completing the last stages of building your track, by importing dirt, mud, sand textures into Digital Earthworks and Zone files, but ill get into that later.

mcm2boy worked really hard to bring everyone the best mod tool to allow track creators to actually create the tracks and share to others. Digital Earthworks is vital to any track, and is needed to put everything you have together into a 3d model track for Reflex.

If you already are comfortable with Gimp or Paint or anything else to 'doodle' with, then by any means go for it. But this tutorial is strictly for Photoshop since i believe it is faster and more detailed to use when making tracks. If you already have it, you dont need to download it again, but if you do not have it, it is a FREE 30 day trial. When your 30 days are up, uninstall Photoshop, then download the free trial again. You can have Photoshop up to 60 days FREE if you do it this way. Or buy it, i guess...

There are the three most important files you'll need to build a track. However alot of other track creators all create tracks differently and some use different programs than each other. Photoshop is the easiest to use in terms of making a track and great for beginners to use. Everyone has their own style to track building, they like different types of jumps, berms, elevation, environment, etc and all of them all do this differently. But i would like to teach you the easiest way to make an advanced track (MY WAY). When you are comfortable with track building, go ahead and experiment with new techniques and ideas, it would never hurt and possibly increase your chances for a greater track.

Chapter 2: Photoshop Heightmap Basics

Photoshop is awesome, yet hard to wield as a beginner. You WILL get angry and rage because of photoshop, but i don't blame you because i know i certainly did. Anyways, when you look at a track, it isnt flat, it has elevation and depression all over it. Even supercross has elevation. Yes, that's right, the berms, turns, jumps, rollers, whoops, maybe even some natural elevation is either above or below the surface, therefore there is "elevation". 

To make a track, you'll need to make elevation (you dont have to, but its better than a blank canvas). To make elevation, in photoshop, you'll need to make a Heightmap. A heightmap is a 2d map that will not have any color, but shades and light to indicate elevation change to make berms and jumps and stuff. Only use non color for your actual heightmap, it'll mess up the heightmap if color appears when you release it. Let's Get Started!

Open up Photoshop. Go to the top left corner of Photoshop, and click on the tab labeled "File". Next click on "New". A new tab will appear. Now where it says "Name" type in a clever name for your track [ex: Coldhedge Supercross]. Now look a bit down and you'll see the size for your canvas with a width and a height.  Make sure they are measured in pixels or your track will be too large or too small to register it as a track. 

You have two choices for your canvas size: Small (1024x1024 pixels)
                                                                         Large (2048x2048 pixels)
Make sure both the width and height are the exact same or it wont be a square and won't become a track. Anything larger or smaller will not be registered as a track so do be careful. 
     There are benefits to both sizes, a Small canvas is normally used for smaller tracks, usually supercross or practice tracks. Becuase its size is limited, the smaller version will allow your computer to run at a faster pracessing power and allow you to place much more objects without lagging too much.
     A Large canvas is normally used for larger tracks like giant compounds or nationals. Because it is twice as large as the other canvas version, your computer processing power will be decreased when placing objects and you wont be able to place quite as much objects if you had the Small canvas. 

Let's try a small verion for now. On the tab still displayed, change the width to 1024 pixels, and its height to 1024 pixels. The resolution can be anything really, it won't matter too much, but let's just set it at 1000. Where it says 'color mode', just leave it as 'RGB color'. To the right of that, it'll will have an option to change its bit size, change that to make it a '16-bit'. Now go to 'Background Contents', select 'Other' and change the color to a darkish grey. To be more specific, Change it to the following: H:0 S:0 B:20. It can be any brightness/darkness really, but i like to keep it a bit towards the dark side so i can achieve the maximum height for my jumps and elevation. Then click "Ok".

A dark grey square is present. That is good. Now before i tell you how to make jumps and stuff, i should probably teach you how a heightmap works so you can apply it to your track later on with a full understanding of what you are doing and how you can do this. When a heightmap is applied into Digital Earthworks it basically scans the 2d canvas you presented to it. It recognizes that the brightest (full white) must be the highest part of the map, and the darkest (full black) must be the lowest part of the map. When making stuff on your heightmap, never release your track with color on it, Digital Earthworks will see this as a shade and mess up your track, so do be informed to be careful. Jumps are created by heightmaps when the brightness increases to where the elevation increases as well to create a rising "pile of dirt" from the ground.

Before you run off and create random jumps left and right, i would suggest having an ideas in your head about what type of track you want to make, how much size you'll need, what environment is it like, and most importantly where is the track going to go. Lets make a temporary outline, first go to the very bottom right of Photoshop, there should be very small icons there, select the icon that looks like a Post-it-Note (next to the trash can). This will make a new layer, no matter what you make in Photoshop, whether its a jump, a whoop, a berms, etc. make sure each and every single entity has their very own layer. Now for the outline, select the paintbrush icon on the left side of Photoshop, go to the top left, just below the 'Edit' tab on the top, and there is a small box with a dot followed by a number. Click on the box and there are several brushes to choose from. For an outline, we need something hard (that's what she said) instead of something too damp and soft (yeah...im running into dirty jokes i see), so click on the dot that appears to be very solid and hard. Now lets select its size (in pixels/px). 1 pixel is somewhat about 1 ft when placed in Digital Earthworks, so try applying this to your track's width. Every track varies between its width and length, but on average, supercross tracks are usually much more compact and have less width than practice tracks or nationals. Arenacross: 28-48. Supercross: 40-59. Practice Track: 28-65. National: 48-70. You can experiment all you want, this is just a brief explaination of the track widths for example. 

Let's just choose an average size for a short track, try its size as... 48px. Now go to the top right of Photoshop, where there are colors to choose from. Select something bright so that your brain can recognize it is an outline. Think of what you want your outline to look like (it doesnt have to be good at all, its a rough sketch for a basic idea of where to put your turns and rythmns and stuff like that. To make a straight line, click once where you want the line to start, go over to where you want the line to end and hold 'shift' then click. This will create a line using the paintbrush. to make turns, just freehand it. Remember, its just a rough sketch, don't waste time by being an artist.

Congratulations! You made an outline for your track. CAUTION: Before you save, always hide your outline, you can do this action by clicking the icon shaped like an eyeball next to the layer you want. you can reappear it by clicking on the icon again.

Chapter 3: Let's Make some jumps!

Yeah! You read all the boring stuff! Now you can... read more about boring stuff? Im just kidding everyone loves Jumps! WHO IN THEIR RIGHT MIND DOESNT LIKE JUMPS. Of course there are hundreds apon hundreds of variation of jumps. A jump basically is a form of elevation as i've explained earlier. There are singles, doubles, triples, quads, tabletops (both National table jump and SX table), step ups, step downs, whoops, rollers, tire taps, walls, and the list can keep going on and on. I will try my best to describe how to make each jump, with small pictures, if i can fit them in here. You can literally make a jump in thousands of different ways, but i like to choose the more controllable way. When you have completed making a jump, make sure to change its opacity on the right side of Photoshop from 100%, to something appropriate, try the range of 8%-50% anything greater than 50% might be a bit too high for realism, but you can do whatever. Jumps like doubles and triples are usually in the range of 15%-35%, while whoops must be much lower like 6%-10% for realism. Other jumps vary as well, but youll have to play around a bit with what you'de like for your track.Once you have a decent jump and would like to copy it to have more of the exact same of its type, go to 'Layer', then click 'duplicate layer'. Also be sure to Free Transform your jumps if you need to adjust them properly. Let's Begin!

Single Jump
Step 1: Create a new layer
Step 2: Click the dotted square icon on the left side of Photoshop
Step 3: Click the screen and spread the square to be the size you want the entire jump to be (that includes the front and backside of the jump).
Step 4: Go to the Gradient icon on the left side of Photoshop, it might be hiden, so go over to the Paint bucket and left click on it, it will show three optional icons to choose from, select the rectangle (it is the gradient icon).
Step 5: go over to the edge of the dotted area you made, at the bottom of the dotted area, start your cursor on the bottom of the line, hold 'shift' then move your cursor forward until it reaches straight across to the other side, then release it.
Step 6: it should be very white on one side and very black on the other. Now go to the top of the screen and select the tab that is labeled 'Image', now scroll down a little bit to where it says 'Adjustments' then go to 'Curves'
Step 7: a graph should appear, now take the two endpoint dots and drag them to the bottom, now click the center of the line. Drag the line to the very top and the very center of the graph. Now click once more on the line on both sides of the line at the top, shape the two dots next to the center one where they make a perfect triangle.
Step 8: slightly push the dots closer to the center to make the triangle have a much more steep approach.
Step 9: If it looks good to you, click 'Ok'
Step 10:You are now present with a jump with a dotted shape around it, to get rid of the dotted shape press "ctrl + D".
Step 11: Now you need to smoothen it out to where it looks natural and appears more smooth than just being a ramp of dirt. Go to the top of the screen and click on the icon labeled 'Filter', then go to 'Blur', then click on 'Motion Blur'. This will blur your jump in the direction you want it to, if your jump hasnt been rotated yet, try 90 or 0 degrees. For the sides of the jump try blurring it 15 pixels (15px), and for the face of the jump and its behind, try something like 0 - 20 pixels (this part is optional).
Step 12: is your jump too large, too wide, too small, or too narrow? Or maybe you also want your jump at a different angle? Go to the top and select 'Edit', then go to 'Free Transform'. This will allow you to move, rotate, and size your jump. But what if you wanted to warp the jump to be adjusted properly to how you would like, go to 'Edit', then go to 'Transform', then try 'Warp', this feature will let you morph your jump in any direction (play around with it, its pretty cool).
Step 13: Now go to the middle right of photoshop above the layers you have made. Click the boxed in word 'Normal', then scroll down to where it says 'Screen'. This will take out the darker part of the jump and blend in  to the dark grey base.

Landing (for Single)- landings can be anything but this is for the single (which makes it a double, or a triple if you fit a jump inbetween)
DO THE FIRST 7 STEPS FROM ABOVE
Step 8: for the graph, make the center dot be more toward the right side (where its 3/4 to the right on the graph
Step 9: make two dots, one on each side, but instead of it being a sloped triangle shape, make the left side not very steep, just a solid 45 degree or less line, this is the part where the rider where land, if its too steep, it wont be such of a good landing.
Step 10: Make the top part of the graph curved a bit, you shouldnt have a sharp triangle to land on.
Step 11: Click 'Ok'
Step 12: Get rid of the outline by 'ctrl + D'
Step 13: Go to 'Filter', then go to 'Blur', then go to 'Motion Blur'. Blur the face of the jump by... lets try 20px, and blur the sides by 15px
Step 14: If you need to you can 'Free Transform' or 'Warp Transform' if you need to 
Step 15: Click on 'Normal', then change it to 'Screen'.

Whoops- this is more advanced, but is easier to control everything where you want it and can change one whoop if something is wrong instead of the whole thing.
Step 1: Click the dotted square icon on the left side, make a thin rectangle, about half the size of the Single jump you made.
Step 2: just do the exact same thing for the single jump you made with its angle and all that
Step 3: you should have a smaller version of the single jump. Turn its opacity down to something below 12%, i normally would suggest about 9% or 10%.
Step 4: copy the mini jump by going to the top of Photoshop and clicking the tab called 'Layer', then go to 'duplicate layer'.
Step 5: take the copied whoop and move it above the first original whoop you have, keep repeating this process until you are happy with the amount of whoops you have.
Step 6: the first whoop and last whoop should be half the size of the rest of the whoops, instead of coming onto a jump, you need to bounce off of a small version to actually bounce onto the whoops section instead of skip it. 
Step 7:go to your layers on the right side. click on one of the whoops, then hold 'shift' and click all of the layers that are your whoops.
Step 8: right click on them, and choose where it says 'Group From Layers', give it a classy name and press 'Ok'.
Step 9: Now by selecting on the group tab, you can move the whoops section all together as one whole entity.
Step 10: Now you will need to blur the sides of each whoop, try 'Motion Blur' and only blur the sides about >15px, then repeat the process for the other whoops.
Step 11: Now for each and every whoop, make sure to change them from 'Normal' to 'Screen'.
 
Tabletop SX VERSION     -small table for on/offs (supercross)
DO THE FIRST 7 STEPS FROM THE SINGLE JUMP
Step 8: on the graph make the center dot on the very top, and make two more dots on the line- one on each side and make both of them on the very top of the graph, the same height as the center dot. the line should ascend quickly, be flat, then descend the same on both sides.
Step 9: Click 'Ok', then click 'ctrl + D' to get rid of the dotted square
Step 10: if you do decide to blur, only do it slightly, SX tables are very abrupt usually, so only motion blur the sides by 5-10 px ­only.
Step 11: lower the opacity to 19%-37% for an on/off table
Step 12: Change it from 'Normal' to 'Screen'
Step 13: normally there arent tips at the ends of the tables for sx, but i like to add them often because im not a pro at Reflex, so i cheat the system, to add a tip you can either use a paintbrush and change the hardness to 0% and make a straight line across, OR make a really thin jump the original way, similar to a whoop, but even more thin, with lower opacity.

Tabletop National Version    -large jumpable tabletop with a curved face and landing
DO THE FIRST 7 STEPS FROM THE SINGLE JUMP
Step 8: on the graph take the end dot on the right and place it at the very top. Make a dot in the center of the line and move it to the very top.
Step 9: on the left side, make a curve, so that the rider is able to jump on that side, then click 'Ok'. Then click 'ctrl + D'
Step 10: Click on the dotted square and make its width the same length as the first part, but stretch its length to become much longer (to be an actual jump)
Step 11: Make the gradient with the gradient tool, then go to 'Layer', then 'Adjustments', then do the exact same thing as you did with the first part, but make the face of the curve more like a landing, a sloped line no more than 45 degrees (probably better to make it less). Then click 'ctrl + D'.
Step 12: If you have done this correctly, both parts should be connected and look like one solid entity. make sure they are combined then motion blur its face and its sides as you wouls with a regular jump.

Rollers
Step 1: Basically do the EXACT same thing with the whoops tutorial, but make sure its curves are different...
Step 2: on the graph, put the two endpoints on the very bottom, and create a center dot, placing it on the very top in the center of the line. This should be very simple, and kind of like a smooth, curved version of  'O' (the top half of an O)
Step 3:Just do the same thing as you did with the whoops, but spread the rollers out a bit more, like every four feet or so, the rider should have difficulty keeping a rythmn if placed correctly.

Step-Up
Step 1: make a single jump (seriously just use it, and slightly increase its opacity by 3%-10%)
Step 2: all we need now is a landing that is large and tall, right? its pretty easy, itll be like a gigantic roller, so take your dotted square and make a long rectangle.
Step 3: Make a new layer, then Use the gradient tool to make the gradient
Step 4: Go to 'Image', then 'Adjustments', then 'Curves'.
Step 5: make the curve the same as the roller (like the top part of 'O')
Step 6: Click 'ctrl + D' to deselect the dotted square, then motion blur the landing part. 
Step 7: make the landing's opacity to be pretty high, like 40%-70%


I could seriously keep telling you how to make jumps and stuff, but honestly its getting pretty repitious, isn't it? So if you want to try another type of jump, experiment with the curves, free transform, warp transform, and opacity. Or contact me (info at the very bottom below) if you want.

chapter 4: Lets make some Berms/turns/rutts!

Berms, turns and rutts can either make or break a track. Jumps are the same way as well, but people dont care as much if they dont like a jump rather than if they dont like a turn. Turns should be your second priority. You can make a turn in many, many ways including, but not limited to: paintbrush, warping a jump, the pen-tool (used for rutts above the ground mostly), circle gradients, etc. I will show you how to make a 180 degree berm, a 180 degree slant, a 90 degree berm, and rutts above the ground (to catch the rider)

180 Berm
Step 1: On the left side of photoshop, right click on the dotted square icon. Then select the dotted circle.
Step 2: This is a bit tricky, but imagine a perfect circle and, well create the best circle you can. select the gradient tool, BUT FIRST go to the top of Photoshop, next to the rectanglular box with a white to black gradient icon, there should be five mini square icons to the right of that, select the mini square that has a circle within the square.
Step 3: with the gradient tool, go to the very center of the outlined circle you made, then hold 'shift' and drag up until you reach the top of the circle. This should make the circle white on the outside of the circle and black on the inside.
Step 4: Go to 'Layer', then 'Adjustments', then 'Curves'. Take both endpoints and place them at the bottom.
Step 5: make a dot on the line, this dot should be 3/4 to the right and 1/2 high.
Step 6: On the left hand side of the graph, create the curve you want the berm to be. I could suggest making different berms, but i like to make the curve at a 35 degree angle about, or you can just make it curved like a jump if you like insane turns. Then click 'Ok'
Step 7: Right click the dotted circle icon and select the dotted square. Now drag a square or rectangle shape over half of the circlular berm. Then use the eraser tool and erase everything in the dotted region. You should be left with half of a circle.
Step 8: with the dotted square tool, make a thin rectangle over a little bit of the end of the berm, put this rectangle on the flat part of the half circle berm.
Step 9: Go to 'Edit", then 'Free Transform'. now extend the flat part of the circle very far down to where it stretches the half circle into a long 'U' shape.
Step 10: with the eraser tool (with the hardness at 0%), erase the extended part you just made. And also try to be careful when you erase the middle part of the berm and the outside where anything looks strange and out of place. You are like "why would i do that, then erase it?" its because when you stretched the circle, the entire circle adjusted to the free transforming, making it so when you erase the ends of the berm, it gradually ascends more naturally than being abrupt and very sudden.
Step 11: Go to the right side of Photoshop and change the tab of 'Normal' to 'Screen'
Step 12: Lets blur, but instead of using motion blur, go to 'Filter', then go to 'Blur' then click on 'Gaussian', this blur will blur the entity in every direction, so try something like 2.0-5.0px. Try not to blur it too much or itll look bad.
Step 13: if its size is too big or small, then Free transform it or Warp Transform it.

180 Slant

Step 1: select the dotted square icon on the left side on Photoshop. Then create a decent square large enough to be placed over your turn.
Step 2: select the gradient tool (The regular one, not the circular gradient), place your cursor on the bottom of the outline, hold 'shift' and release it when it reaches the top of the outline.
Step 3: Go to 'Layer', then 'Adjustments', then 'Curves'. Now you want to create an angle that is not too abrupt and isnt like a wall. try making it at a >35 degree angle.
Step 4: press 'ctrl + D' to get rid of the dotted square. Now with the eraser tool, erase the outside of the turn, make it where the white part of the square is the tall part being shaped in a half circle to where the dark part is straight like a line, but the white part is being erased to fit the track path.
Step 5: If you have done this correctly, it should look like a 'D' shape.
Step 6: You can blur it or not, whatever works to be honest. But remember to change 'Normal' to 'Screen'. You can also do the reverse of this and make an off-camber, which is a bit tricky to make, but the easiest way is to make a 180 slant but facing the wrong way.

90 Berm/Catch-Ya-Rutts

Step 1: Select the Pen tool icon on the left side of Photoshop, the icon is above the 'T' icon and below the magnifying glass.
Step 2: with the Pen tool, click where you want the berm/rutt to start
Step 3: Then click and hold where you want the end of the berm/rutt to be, drag the cursor across the screen and you'll see the line will curve, when you are pleased with its angle, let go of the cursor (you can let go of the left click).
Step 4: on the end dot you made, go to it with your cursor press 'alt + left click' this will make part of the line (extra line thats in the way) disappear.
Step 5: now click the beginning dot and hold the left click while doing so. now where you move your cursor, the connected line will respond according to so, so try to move your cursor (while holding down left click) to where the lines make an outline to your berm/rutt. When you are pleased with what you have, let go of left click.
Step 6: With the Pen tool still right click inbetween the inside of the outline you made. Then select 'Fill Path'. A tab will pop up, and go to 'Use' and make sure it says 'White' at 100% opacity.
Step 7: Now right click with the Pen tool again, but this time, go to 'Delete Path'.
Step 8: if you want you rutt/berm to have a small amount of depression beside it so that the rider sinks into the turn, then go to 'Layer', then 'Duplicate Layer'. Place the new layer on the inside of the old one.
Step 9: Use the paint bucket icon to color the new layer 100% black (everything is zero on the color chart).
Step 10: Your inside depression rutt may need a bit of tweaking, so go to 'Edit", then 'Transform', then click on 'Warp'. Now move the ends and the entire inside black rutt to fit beside the white layer perfectly.
Step 11: Create a new group (next to the layer tab at the very bottom right of Photoshop) and put both layers inside it. Then lower the Black rutt's opacity to >40% and the white rutt at 100%. Click on the group and lower its opacity to 1%-30% (rutts are normally smaller than berms so try 3%-15% for Rutts, and 15%-30% for 90 berms)
Step 12: Now you will have to combine them. Shift click on the two layers, then right click, and go to 'Merge Layers'.
Step 13: Now go to 'Filter', then go to 'Blur', then click on 'Gaussian Blur'. Make the blur 1.0-3.5px.
Step 14: You can warp transform of free transform the berm/rutt if you would like to.

Chapter 5: Natural Elevation

Natural elevation is not man-made, so it should appear that way, as if nature had always created it to be like that. Even though it is man made because you're using a computer to make elevation.... so i guess its not really natural. Anyways, im talking about hills, mountains, cliffs, etc. This can be done very easily in Photoshop, here are a few ways to make them: Paintbrush, selecting clouds to be generated, a gradient, and you can also use programs like Leveller (which costs $55) or L3DT which had came with Al167's builder. Elevation concerning nature should appear to blend in with its environment  and not stick out like a sore thumb.

Paintbrysh Style

With the hardness either set to 100% or 0%, or if the size of the brush is large or small, it doesnt matter, just set the color to full white then draw random circles and thick lines. then just Gaussian blur the heck out of it. That's it. yeah i know, pretty basic, buts thats why im here. To tell you making tracks is pretty basic.

Cloud Generator

This will make random hills and elevation all over the map. To do this, create a new layer, use the paintbucket, select the color (H:0 S:0 B:20) then fill the entire image with the dark grey shade. Next go to 'Layer', then 'Render', then click on 'Difference Clouds'. This will create alot of random white/grey/black shapes all over the image, which creates random natural elevation. You can either keep it, or Gaussian Blur it to be a bit more smooth.

Gradient Slope

This is a pretty straight-foraward process, although this slope is pretty much only going to face one way. Click the dotted square, then create a giant rectangle. Next click the gradient tool, on the wide side of the outline, go to the bottom with your cursor, hold 'shift' when you left click and drag up until you reach the top of the outline. Then go to 'Image', then 'Adjustments', then 'Curves'. Now make the curve for the elevation you want, i would normally suggest a straight line at a 35 degree angle, but you can experiment to see what works. Then click 'Ok' then 'ctrl + D' to get rid of the dotted square. Now Gaussian Blur it at around 5-20px.

Chapter 6: Texture Time (RGB)

Now  that you've made a heightmap, you need textures for your track. What, you want it all to be white? Ok then dont use textures.... ARE YOU JOKING?! Use textures! This tutorial i will teach you what and how to make an RGB map. RGB stands for Red.Green.Blue (RGB). This means that it will only read three colors (technically more, ill get to that in a sec), of course red, green and blue, so when you create your RGB map, it will be colored with those three colors. When you put the RGB in Digital Earthworks, it will have an option for you to choose what kind of dirt/sand/mud/grass/etc texture you would like for that specific color. If i paint everything red on my map and import it into Digital Earthworks, if i choose the red to be a certain dirt texture, then wherever there is red is where there would be that type of dirt. Note that an RGB does not give the ground any different traits, so if you import Mud or Sand or Snow as a texture, it wont change how the track handles (those are zones files which can be explained later), it will only change how the track looks. You will just paint over your heightmap basically, but make sure that all of the colors are at the very top of the layer list so they can block out the elevation, jumps and berms.

Now lets get an idea in our heads of what we want the track to look like. Do i want there to be grass on the outside of the track and on the track, there will be just plain dirt? Maybe i can add a sand section? Ok, thats fine. Lets now make the grass texture going to be GREEN, and RED for dirt, and BLUE for sand. There is also another color that the RGB can read, its BLACK, because black is the base texture (what your rider leaves as he goes over), it too can be in th RGB, but try to refrain from using it too much. With BLACK, lets make it the damp rutts of the track.

Green will be grass:
Step 1: Create a new layer called 'Green'. 
Step 2: Choose the paint bucket icon on the left side of Photoshop, then choose the color (H:120 S:100 B:100) and fill in the image.
Step 3: The entire canvas should appear bright green.

Red will be the Track Path
Step 1: Create a new layer called 'Red'
Step 2: Choose the paintbrush icon, then choose which type of brush you would like. Be cautious, the type of brush matters, if it is hard, then the track will look a bit unnatural, if its too soft, it will be too faint to detect where the width of the track is. Depending on which type of track it is, itll depend on what type of brush you should use. if the track is a nationals, try a rough brush for the outline, if its supercross, try a standard brush with hardness at 85% or so.
Step 3: Just like when you were creating the outline, just paint where the track path is, the only difference between this version and your first outline is that this RED outline should be done very neatly and elegantly, take your time on this one, itll appear on the game.

Blue will be sand (or mud or maybe another type of dirt)
Step 1: You want the sand/mud/dirt to blend in with the track, so choose a paintbrush with hardness 0%-30% and color on the track path where you would like your new dirt/sand/mud to be.
Step 2: its pretty simple i won't lie, thats it.

Black will be rutts
Step 1: In TheC4Detonator Kit i have provided, there will be a few types of brushes i found, one of them is labeled 'rutt brush.abr'. To select that brush in Photoshop, go to the paint brush presets (where you would select new brushes) and on the right side of the tab, click on the small gearhead. Next click on 'Load Brushes'. The file will appear empty and thats good. On another window, take the custom brush you want, drag and drop into the window for the Photoshop tab thats up on the screen. Then select that brush, then click 'Load'. Now your custom brush is in Photoshop! Look for your brushes at the bottom of the brush presets, it should be there. The rutt brush should make alot of tiny lines when you start to paint in a line.
Step 2: Paint on the track path with the rutt brush with the color (H:0 S:0 B:0)
Step 3: Pat yourself on the back.

Important Note: Before you save this as an RGB map, on the middle right hand side of Photohop, go to the little tabs that say "Layers. Channel. Path". Click on the 'Channel' tab. Now go down to the bottom right of the screen and choose the icon that looks like a Post it note, this will create a black layer channel named 'Alpha'. By doing this, your track will not be shiny like melting snow or wet mud. If on some parts of your track you DO want shiny parts, then on the Alpha layer, with your white paintbrush, paint where you want it to be. The Alpha map controls the reflection of the track, Black is NO reflection while White IS reflection. Before you save make sure the Alpha map is hidden and the top four channels are present. Now go to 'File', then 'Save as'. Make its name the same as the heightmap, but add "RGB" at the end of its name.

Chapter 7: All the other zone maps...

Ok, i know this is getting boring so ill just simplify what each map file in Digital Earthworks does and how you can adjust it.

Heightmap: You just made a heightmap, but this controls the elevation and height of the track by converting white, grey and black shades into a 3d map used for reflex.
Topdown: When you are playing your track, you'll see that in the distance, no matter if you have an RGB or not, it will be white and kind of foggy. To prevent this from happening, you'll need to create a Topdown map of your track. The Topdown creator is located in Al167's Track building Kit, open this up after you have made a track in DE with a heightmap and an RGB map. Launch up topdown creator, then load your '.track' file you made from DE. This will take a second to make a Topdown of your track, then close it when finished. The topdown map file should be located next to your other track files and be called "[name of track file]-topdown" as a .BMP file. Load the topdown into DE and the whiteness and fog are gone.
RGB Mask: This is the RGB map you just made, i explained it earlier, so yeah.
Base Texture: This is the "standard" texture that the rider will leave down on the track as he rides it and makes rutts into the ground. On the RGB mask map, the base texture is the color BLACK. Change the texture to any type of dirt you'de like the rider to leave on the track as he/she rides.
Texture R/B/G Channel: These seperate three channels control what the RGB map spits out. As explained earlier, whatever texture you put over the color, is what will be on the RGB that will translate onto the track. Even if you import mud or sand textures, it wont change the riding of the track.
Bump Textures: This applies to the rest of the bump textures... The bump textures detail how the textures look, if you import a rocky texture for RED, then the R Channel should have a rocky texture followed by a color overlapping it. This will turn the previous flat and 2d rocks into 3d rocks that "pop" out of the ground and look alot more detailed and natural, this also applies with dirt and sand and mud. If you want the texture to appear more rough or smooth, then choose a bump texture for it that you want it to be detailed with. With Al167's Track Building Kit, go to 'sample track files', then go to 'textures and bump maps', then match up the bump maps to the accurate channel that you had selected for your dirt as your bump map.
Chrominance Luminance Map: I am still getting familiar with how to make a decent chrominance map, but this basically controls how bright the textures will be, between complete blackness or complete whiteness on the track. Talk to Logan2050 or JamieT if you  would like to know how to make one. But i havent even used it on any of my tracks and they turned out very well.
Spherical Light Map: Leave this alone, it controls how the sun and brightness can be applied to every entity. If you change this, then there probably wont be any shadows and Reflex would look unnatural.
Spherical Reflection Map: Leave this alone as well, this one controls the light's reflection of all entities applied. If changes, the reflections would not appear realistic.
Shadow Volume Map: I've only used this a few times for my tracks and ive got to say, i probably should use it more. It basically allows more shade to be applied in appropriate areas that you can control. Say you want alot of shade when your track goes into a heavy forest but not be dark anywhere else, use the shadow map and that will do the trick. the shadow map can also make it a bit brighter if you do the opposite (with radiosity map). In Photoshop, just make a 1024x1024px canvas colored completely black (H:0 S:0 B:0), then with a White paintbrush, paint where you want the shade to be applied, then load it into DE. Play around with the Shadow map and you can tell what your actions actually do.
Radiosity Map: Now, i used to think this made the track brighter in certain areas that you apply a paintbrush with, and for the most part, i believe im correct when i say its the opposite of the shadow map. I would recommend playing around with both maps, the radiosity map and Shadow volume map.
Zone Map 1: In Al167's Track Builder kit he allowed every zone file you'll ever use and an explaination for what each Zone File does, I would recommend taking a solid look at that. Zone 1 controls the traction of the track in certain areas that the certain color is applied. Below is Al167's explaination for what color(s) to use on Zone 1:
index 0 - (black) R0,G0,B0
      -very grippy, nearly no slip
index 1 - (red) R128,G0,B0
      -still very grippy with ever so slightly more slip than index 0
index 2 - (green) R0,G128,B0
       -this is the normal slip for most tracks like Lost Meadow, Moto 448, Grassland, Kingston 1, Manchester 1
index 3 - (yellow) R128,G128,B0
        -this is slighty more slip - tracks Kingston 1 - Sand, Sugar Ridge Sand mix of 2 of 3 with 3 being like brush
index 4 - (blue) R0,G0,B128
        -even more slippery now -  Moto 448 - Water 
index 5 - (purple) R0,G0,B128
         -very slippery - ice / snow
index 6 - (light blue) R0,G128,B128
          -does nothing
index 7 - (grey) R128,G128,B128
         -rider position reset- use this to prevent riders cutting the track and cheating.
If you want only a certain area to have either more traction or less traction for Zone 1, Open up one of the colors in Photoshop, and paint one of the mentioned colors above over the area you would like changed. Now the traction will be different on that area than on the rest of the track. 
Zone Map 2: Zone 2 controls drag, so basically it can make it very easy for your rider to speed through the track with almost no resistance, or alot or resistance, like thick mud, or thick sand. Below is Al167's explaination for what color(s) to use for Zone 2:
index 0 - (black) R0,G0,B0
       -no drag 
index 1 - (red) R128,G0,B0
       -normal drag
index 2 - (green) R0,G128,B0
       -sand/mud
index 3 - (yellow) R128,G128,B0
       -super mud/snow - When used on a normal track it feels like you have lost a lot of power
Zone Map 3: Zone 3 is the area that when the rider is inside of it, he/she will cause a certain particle effect to happen. It can be water splashes, or thick dirt, or rocks...
Below is Al167's explaination for what color(s) to use for Zone 3:
index 0 - (black) R0,G0,B0
       -combo of brown dirt and grass roost(small spray)
index 1 - (red) R128,G0,B0
       -combo of grass and dark dry dirt roost.
index 2 - (green) R0,G128,B0
       -big grey rocks and brown mud clumps roost.
index 3 - (yellow) R128,G128,B0
       -dark dusty dry roost
index 4 - (blue) R0,G0,B128
       -fine water spray.
index 5 - (purple) R0,G0,B128
       -no particles
index 6 - (light blue) R0,G128,B128
       -grey rocks and grass clippings roost
index 7 - (grey) R128,G128,B128
       -big spray of loamy brown dirt
Zone Map 4: When the rider is inside the applied area, specific environmental (from the ground) sounds will be emitted. Below is Al167's explaination for what color(s) to use for Zone 4:
index 0 - (black) R0,G0,B0
       -riding over sticks or coarse gravel or dirt
index 1 - (red) R128,G0,B0
       -muffled sound like riding on carpet with sticks/gravel/ leaves noises.
index 2 - (green) R0,G128,B0
       -water noises - without splashes 
index 3 - (yellow) R128,G128,B0
       -water noises- with splashes
index 4 - (blue) R0,G0,B128
       -no sounds
index 5 - (purple) R0,G0,B128
       -no sounds
index 6 - (light blue) R0,G128,B128
       -no sounds
index 7 - (grey) R128,G128,B128
       -nobbies on plywood or metal, would be good for a freestyle ramp.
Softness Map: This is what controls how soft/hard the track is. That being said, it also controls how deformed the track can get, up to ALOT or down to NONE. The standard color (the regular deformation) is a wierd type of yellow, but with a paintbrush in Photoshop, paint it White to be soft  and deform greatly, or paint it Black to be hard and deform poorly to wherever the color is applied. For every single I've ever released, i hve always made a softness map, and i would recommend making one as well for yours.
Sky Map: This controls what will be shown on reflex as the Sky. It is hard to adjust a sky map properly, but if you are decent with photoshop, youll find a way to blend in the sky with itself. Make sure the sky is 1024x1024px when you load it into DE. DE will greatly stretch your sky, it wont look the same as it did in Photoshop. 
Water UV Map: If you are planning on adding water to your track (which is quite hard for beginners) this controls what the waves of the water is like and what motion it will do, i will talk more about water later.
Water Depth Map: Again, ill go into more depth of water later, but this controls how "deep" the water will be. Honestly water isnt working too correctly, the deepest it can ever get is a few inches. But water is better than no water!

Chapter 8: Digital earthworks (input + Details)

Digital Earthworks is very, very important and highly advanced. There are so much stuff in DE that i can't possibly cover all of it without taking up ten more pages. I will cover what i can and just the basics, if i find any further information, i will probably included it on this tutorial. Great job mcm2boy, i mean it is amazing that he was able to make DE, without DE there would be 0 custom tracks possible. Let's Start with the basics of the upper right tabs in Digital Earthworks. Note: When you import your heightmap into DE, it will display a tab that will ask you what scaling you want your heightmap to be, this will control how High or low the jumps, turns, and elevation will be. With the kit i have provided down below, use scaling set to 30.00.

Terrain: The tab you choose to select all of the track map files, as listed in the previous chapter.
Objects: This tab will allow you to place available models that you can select from the left hand side of DE and place on your track, i will get into Object placement later on.
Options: This tab allows you, the creator, to have a bit more flexibility in your controls. In this tab, you can adjust the resolution, enable/diable logging, expert mode, and image editor previewer. I would have all three of those enabled, just in case (it makes it easier to see the logs). If you are having trouble placing objects and scrolling around in the previewer screen, the bottom of the Options tab has the controls for both things, just in case you forgot or want to try maneuvering in a different way.
Tools: This tab, as of right now, hasn't worked too well for me when i tried experimenting with it, but basically its supposed to take one of your custom tools you have and load it into DE to work. It doesnt work as well as i thought, so beginners should stay away from this one until they feel comfortable enought to tackle on this tab.
Activities: This tab controls if your track is raceable or not using SP lines. When you make the SP lines, you can save it as either an SX track or a National track, when you save it in DE, it will either only be raceable when you are in the Supercross category, or the National category. I will go over SP lines later.
Eco System: This tab is very similar to object placement, but with trees, bushes, grass, and weeds instead. I love environment and im a sucker for this tab. I will teach you how to place trees and bushes and stuff later.
Scene: This tab can do alot of things surprisingly. The most important thing this tab does is make it able for you to change which beta slot you want it on (#1-8). It can also adjust which way the sun is facing and how low or how high it is (causing shadows).  You can also adjust fog, light settings, and mud buildup.

On the right side of Digital Earthworks, there are several icons and buttons to choose from. The RED button is the 'Off' button, shutting DE off. The BLUE button is the 'Create a New Track [From Scratch]' button, creating a completely blank, new file for you to work with. The GREEN button is the 'Load Track' Button, allowing you to load a track that you might have been working on recently into DE; note that it can only load ".track" files. The BROWN button is the 'Save Track' button, however saving is kind of.... wierd. 

To save your track, click the brown button, then click on 'Compiler Track', then save the track in a file with a cool name. Now before you exit DE, if you want the track in your game, then click the brown button again, but this time click 'Beta Track', this will load everything about this track in DE to your version of Reflex under the beta slot you saved it as. Notice that the 'Release Track' feature isnt working, maybe someday it will, but as for this version, it does not.

Under the 'Resources' tab on the left side of DE, there are three icons that show up, one is a house, one is a pair of blue balls, and the other is a tree. The house icon, when clicked, will display all of the files holding available models and objects that you can place on your track. The house icon is full of objects only. The blue balls icon is filled with loaded preset models, like all of the Supercross stadiums, Sx bridges, FMX ramps and landing pads, National and Supercross Startgate presets (which are somewhat messed up at the moment, so ill teach you later how to make stargates and finishgates). The tree icon is the environment, when you choose the tab on the right called "Eco System" you will need to select an eco system from one of the documents and place trees and bushes that are available. I will get more into environment placement later on.

Chapter 9: Digital earthworks (Objects + Nature + Water)

This should be the largest chapter by far, but i know people don't like to read, sorry. I will try my best to shorten this chapter as best as i can and hopefully this wont be too long. This tutorial i will teach you how to place objects onto your track from pre-made models in DE, how to create water for your track (which will require changing your heightmap), and how to create a natural environment with trees and bushes available in DE. I will teach you how to make a proper startgate and propaer Finishgate when on the SP line tutorial later on.

Object Placement

Step 1: Open up Digital Earthworks and make sure you are on the track you want to place objects on.
Step 2: On the left side of DE, on the "Resources" tab, click on the House icon. There will be alot of files named different things, like Bales, Barriers, Vehicles, Track names, etc. Click on a file for the category you believe the object you want to place is. This will open up alot of blue balls with Names and possibly a picture of the model on the bottom (most don't thought), then select the object you want.
Step 3: When you have selected the object you would like to place on your track, scroll your cursor to the right side of DE. Two green things should pop up on the upper right of the objects tab. These are green arrows pointing inward, click on the one that does NOT have the blue and tan hand over it. When your cursor moves over it, the text: "Place the Selected Model" should appear below it, click on that one. 
Step 4: When you click on the arrows facing inward icon, the preview screen should be facing the ground, this is a bird's eye view of the track and is necessary to place an object on the track. Before you place an object, there are a few icons that are useful for placing objects correctly: a white icon (idk what is looks like on my screen), a red bale icon, a finishgate looking icon (and two other hidden icons that will appear if you click the finishgate looking icon). 
            White icon: "Set Positioning to Nudge Mode" 
            Red Bale Icon: "Orient Objects to the Ground"
            Finishgate Looking Icon: "Rotate Objects to Face the Direction of the    
                                                    Last Object Placed"
My personal preference is to almost always have the Red Bale icon turned on, it'll make the object you place on the ground, if placed on elevation, it will adjust according to so.
Step 5: Click the screen with your selected object, and the object should appear present wherever you had clicked. You can adjust the object by using the object positioning controls, to move the object use the icon that is on the left side of the three green arrowed icons, to rotate the object use the icon in the middle, the curved arrows will rotate the object and the upward and downward arrows control the objects height in the air (rise/sink), to rotate the object sideways and upwards choose the icon on the right.
Step 6: if you ever want to edit an obect or delete it by hand, unclick the inward pointing arrows icon so that you are not facing the track straight down. With your cursor, click on the object on the preview screen to select the model.

Placing Bales Quick and Easy (For SX Tracks) (Objects)

The Finishgate Looking Icon is VERY important when placing Bales for a track (like Supercross when you need to place alot), but once you click the finish gate icon, you MUST click on the grey fence icon, this icon will make it so whatever the last object you placed down, the next object you will place down will be next to the previous object. Try it for yourself: select a haybale and click on all three icons, the red bale, the finishgate, and the grey fence. To the right of those icons is an adjustable gauge with numbers 1.0, drag the orange stick to the far right until the number says 2.0, this will make more spacing inbetween your bales when you place them. 
Step 1: Select a Bale you would like to use (a single or double) or an object
Step 2: Click on the arrows facing inward icon to make the screen face down on the track.
Step 3: Place your first Bale onto the track
Step 4: Now click on these three icons: the red bale, the finishgate, and the grey fence.
Step 5: Adjust the numbered gauge to 2.0 instead of 1.0.
Step 6: On the Screen, click where you would like the next bale to face, this will make the object face the direction of the cursor, but not extend more than 2.0ft or so.
Step 7: Keep clicking with your cursor which direction you want the bale to face, then repeat until you reach a turn or an end.
Step 8: Before you place a different type of object, make sure you unclicked the grey fence or the other objects will believe that they should be like the Bales (which you dont want).

Natural Environment Placement

To place trees and bushes, you could try placing the old, outdated version of trees which are 2d under the objects tab, but....why?! You can have 3d trees and bushes that look cool! Instead of being on the 'Objects' tab, you will need to be on the 'Eco System' tab to be able to place trees and stuff. Unlike placing objects, the eco system functions differently.
Step 1: On the left side of DE, click on the tree icon. This will open up multiple files with track names. The trees and bushes you can use are ripped straight from the stock tracks, so choose a file, then click the blue ball inside it.
Step 2: When you click on one of the blue balls in the Eco System tab, alot of text will pop up on the right side of DE. As you may notice, they have plant, tree and bush names. 
Step 3: When you want to place a plant on the track, select the plant text on the right side of DE, then click on the icon above that shows a tree with a yellow + sign. This icon will let you add whatever plant you have selected onto the track when you click the screen.

Its hard to tell what each plant looks like, but try placing it down onto the track to see what it is. NOTE: DE will only let you use one environment at a time, meaning that you cant place one tree from one track and try to place another track from a different track. You can save and load your environments with the icons on the top, next to add plants, delete plants, and place your plants on the ground according to the elevation(if it has been changed at all recently).

Adding Water

Adding water can be a bit easy at times, but hard to understand at first.
On DE, under the 'Terrain' tab on the bottom, there are two labeled maps known as: Water UV Map, Water Depth Map.  As explained previously, these two zones are key to making water for your track. NOTE: Water in DE can only be present on a heightmap in regions 100% Black (H:0 S:0 B:0). Let's start.
Step 1: In TheC4Detonator Kit I provided, there will be three Water files to chooose from: A water UV map, and two water depth maps. Lets choose a depth map for now. If you choose the shallow version, the water will appear a different color (which can be adjusted) and be lower to the ground. Because DE hasnt quite worked out all the bugs with the new features, water can only be about a foot above the ground MAXIMUM. I would recommend choosing the Deep version of the two, the water will appear a different color than the shallow water (which both types can be adjusted).
Step 2: Load the Water Depth map into Photoshop. Now paint black over the parts of your track that you DO NOT want there to be water on. everything else will have water on the track.
Step 3: Load the Water Depth map into DE under the Water Depth Map tab.
Step 4: Now Load the Water UV map i have provided from TheC4Detonator Kit. The water UV map controls the direction that the water will flow, so it controls the waves, if there ever are any. Load that water UV map into DE.
Step 5: In DE, you will need to go to the 'Terrain' and scroll down to the 'Water Settings'. There will be shown alot of properties and values to access. First to make sure water can appear on your track(s), click on 'Include Water: False' and change that to 'True'. Down below is the flow rate of the water, if you want a rough ocean like feel with crazy waves, change 'Flow Rate: 0.015' to a much larger number, if you want to make it a quite pond with no waves, decrease the number greatly. If you want a regular water flow rate, just keep it as is.
Step 6: Down below are alot of colors of the water including: the color itself, the amount of the color, its clarity, its filter, deep color, and its reflection. If you leave everything as it is, the water will be a muddy, turd brown color. Like in my White Beach Baja track, the color of the water isnt brown at all, but a cool aqua blue. I just messed around with the water colors and clarity and filter until i had a nice looking water.

Bump Models

Unfortunately for this topic, i can not be useful. These four properties need their values to be a '.surface' file, but i have not found any yet. Im sure that these bump models are useful if you know how to use them, but as for me, i cannot say i have used them yet. My apologies, but you dont need this to make a good track, its just an accessory.

Chapter 10: Digital Earthworks (SP lines)

Now you can make your track raceable to be either a Sx or Mx track. SP lines can be a bit glitchy at times and are not always perfect, but if you spend enough time on them, it will turn out great. To make a track raceable and cooperative, you will need there to be SP Lines that work, a Startgate, and a Finishgate (which can actually not be needed, but it helps the rider realize which jump is the last). We are almost done with the tutorials, so sit back and read how to finish up your track!

Step 1: Open up DE, then open up the 'Activities' tab above.  Before creating the SP lines decide what type of track you would like it to save under, a supercross track slot, or a national track slot. Choose one, then click the blank page icon to the right.
Step 2: Click the preview screen on the track where you would like the rider to start. This will create 5 white dots. Now to make boundaries, click another spot on the track to create 5 solid, mulit-colored lines. The green, middle line controls where reflex sees the track's center (which can also direct AI units too). The Red and Dark Blue lines should be placed right on the outline of your track, there are the "Soft-Zone Lines" meaning that when the rider goes beyond either of those two lines, text labeled "Off Track" will appear on the rider's Screen. Those lines help indicate the rider is off of the given track, but will not actually reset the rider. The Purple and Light Blue lines are the "Boundary Lines" meaning that once the rider goes beyond either of the lines, the rider will be reset (instantly). When adjusting these lines, try to give the rider a bit of freedom on the track and extend them a little bit outside of the track outline.
Step 3: Just click a point where you want your SP lines to go next, and repeat until you want to make it combine with the track to make a track loop around. With the last SP line you have selected, hold 'ctrl' as you click on the other SP line you want to connect your with.
Step 4: Your SP lines will be much too tight and not fit your track correctly, so you will need to adjust each and every single SP line dots seperately. To select a specific dot, click on the center, green-lined dot with your cursor. Watch out, if you accidently click away from the SP dot, it will create a new SP line and possibly mess it up. with each dot, just 'left click' each dot while holding it down until you have placed them correctly. If you mess up, press the red X icon, to delete the selected SP line.
Step 5: All done adjusting?! Really, done already...ok, normally takes me ALOT more time, but hey.....i cant argue, i guess. What you'll want to do now is place THREE different Flag icons onto your SP lines. There should be 1 green flag, the startgate. 1 white checkered flag, finish line, 1 blue flag, holeshot trigger.
Step 6: Select the SP line where you would like your finish gate to be, choose the white checkered flag icon. Every time the rider passes this line, the time will reset and the lap count will increase accordingly. This is the Finish line.
Step 7: Before your first turn on the track, select an SP line. Then choose the blue flag icon, the Holeshot trigger. This won't do anything fancy, but will tell you who go the holeshot on your track.
Step 8: This will take some work because i know errors are bound during this step process. Ok, so all you need now to finish up your SP lines is to make a Startgate Trigger, using the green flag. Because your startgate will be larger than the rest of the track, you will need to stretch the SP lines to fit around the size of the startgate. Remeber the first dot you placed? well make that go BEHIND the startgate, but not collide. Now place the Startgate trigger (the green flag) in FRONT of the startgate, not behind, not on, nor colliding with anything.
Make sure your SP lines do not touch the startgate (except the middle green SP line) or errors will occur.
Step 9: Experiencing errors? Don't worry, I'll help with some common errors.
        Error: Section # of the spline has less/more than # nodes.
              - This means that there is a sneaky pest problem at hand. There is a Square dot on your SP lines that is not supposed to be there. How can you colve this issue? Select all of the Square dots on your SP lines, then on the right side of DE, select the icon that shows two blue arrows with a yellow, green, and red dot. This will make that square a regular dot. This might have happened when you had deleted an SP line previously.
       Error: There is an invalid spline in activity (National/Supercross)
              - Well, you messed up somewhere huge. This does not explain where, what, nor how, but it implies that something is not right.
        Error: (if this error message says anything about the startgate)
               - Im sure 80% of your SP line problems will have to be related to the startgate, fix the lines around the startgate and try testing it again.
Step 10: Lets place an actual Startgate and a Finishgate. For the rider(s) to race any track a Startgate must be made up by two seperate entities ( Dropgate + T0 StartingGate). Although in the model section, there are some working, premade startgates with attatched dropgates, they are unreliable to work with. To find the dropgate and startgate seperately, you will need to go to the object files, then click on a track file with the two entities available. You will have to place them down just like an object, but when you place the dropgate, try your best to make it look like the dropgate and startgate are combined. The Dropgate actually controls the rider's ability to be spawned and drop for the rider to race, and the startgate holds support for Reflex, allowing there to not to be any racing glitches when the dropgate is spawned. Although a startgate + dropgate are neccessary to make a track raceable, a finish line is not needed. It is just a standard object and holds no actual properties, but will make your track look alot better, if its an sx or a really good national track. Just choose a finish gate entity from a track file, then place it down where you had your finish line SP line. 
Step 11: Do ALOT of testing. Before you release a track, test everything, from the startgate on all sides, your track outline boundaries, the turns, etc. Allow your friend to also try it, or post your track as a BETA track on reflex central so others can test it and give useful feedback to you directly.

Make  AI  Actually Race Like Its a Stock Track (Expert)

This tutorial is for experts only who have alot of time on their hands. If you are still a beginner, keep scrolling down. This is how you can make the computer racers actually  RACE the track VERY well. All custom tracks have SP lines that only are suited for other human riders, but ive found out how to make them ride custom tracks as if they were stock tracks and be quite difficult to beat. No one on Reflex central has yet made this, so blow everyone away by making the first track to actually have real AI that rides the track instead of go in circles and not do anything. I hope you enjoy this one, it took me awhile to experiment and research this by myself.

 On the 'Activities' tab, scroll down to the tabs called 'Spline section' and 'Spline Node', these are the two functions you will mainly be using as you select each indivdual SP line.
          Change the AI's speed as they are in the selected SP line (for a distance until they reach the next SP line) by changing the value of 'Entrance Speed' from 30.00mph to what you would like. If there is a jump or a straight that you want the computers to speed up at, increase the number (max # is 100mph, but it only works with alot of straight runways). If you are approaching a certain section or turn that will need the AI to decrease thier speed, decrease the number (min # is 0mph, but that means the AI will give up and stop on the track).
          Want the riders to be more focused on one side of the section, like hug the left side or the right side, maybe just random? On the 'Branch to this Section' tab, to the right side you can change what the rider will do when inside that specific SP line. You have limited options, but they are: At Random, Below Speed, Matching Speed, Above Speed, Always, If Left Lane, If Right Lane. When the AI riders are inside that specific SP line, they have the option to either, be slower than normal, be the same as the others, be faster than the others, go to the left side or right side, or do random stuff.
         Leave the next three properties as they are, these are called: 'Allow this vehicle - True', 'Drive on Directly - True', 'Obey Node Behavior - True'.
         Below are more technical, and not as important as those mentioned above. Target speed is at -1.000, which is what the AI will do when coming across the entire SP line (this is hard to explain, so ill skip it). 'Dont Restart Here', this is self-explainatory, do you want ANY rider (that includes you as well) to spawn here when reset or crashed? You can change it from True or False. 'Dont speed up fo...' i believe this controls if the SP line should increase/decrease the overall speed. This can also be applied with the next tab below, 'Dont slow down fo...'. 'Use Clutch', this controls the AI when inside the SP lines, should they use their clutch, True or False (yes or no). 'Preload at %', this also controls the AI when they are in the air and also in the SP line. the % number is the percentage that they are in the air that they should preload, increasing their velocity in the air. 'When between min' this controls the AI's ability to realize how fast they are ALLOWED to go when in the SP line, this is the slowest speed that they can go (if they want). 'and max speed' the same logic applies to the previous sentence, but it is the fastest speed that they can possible go while in the SP line, this doesnt mean they will go this speed, but it puts a restriction on their top speed (bike settings). 'Scrub at %', ok this is pretty sick, just like the preload at % property, this one is the same, but instead of preloading, the AI's thrown down some sick whips while in midair, in the SP line, and at a certain height percentage. The next two properties are repeats, but apply to the Scrub at % value, these two are 'When between min' and 'and max speed'. 'Lean IN' controls if the AI will lean as they get into the SP line, if the SP line is turning, they will lean into the turn, if you change it from False to True. You can also change how much they lean with the 'Lean %', the greater the number, the greater the angle that they will lean.

Chapter 11: TheC4Detonator Kit + Info

I've got to say, im pretty proud that i wrote this. I have never, in my entire life have ever written more than half of this document. I tried to make a Video tutorial instead, but OBS only records for 2 minutes then stops recording, and i tried downloading CamStudio, but it gave my laptop a major virus and now its slow.... Great. I really hope you've read this document, i spent several days typing this for you. I have nothing to gain by typing everything I know AND MORE into this pain in the butt. If you used this tutorial, please just give me a shoutout, It would make me so happy and feel that this wasnt a waste of time. 

I took alot of time figuring out what i should put into my very own custom track building kit, but here it is. This kit includes:
    -Custom Paintbrushes for Photoshop (with installation help)
             -Tractor Tire Marks
             -Rutt Paint Brush
             -Rough Track Outline
    -Textures (Stock and Custom ones from my tracks)
             -Dirt
             -Grass
             -Mud
             -Rock
             -Sand
             -Snow
    -Already Made Jumps and Turns for Your Heightmap
             -I made several simple types of jumps and turns for you to use for your heightmap, seriously, you dont know how hard it is to startch from scratch. When you load my models on your heightmao into DE, to make them appear realistic, set the scaling to 30.00. You can have it set to anything you want, but that will make it more realistic than almost anything else.
     -Already Made Water Zone Files
            -Just load up the files into DE, its that easy. Or edit them and find out what you would like better.
     -Example Heightmap and RGB bmp 
            -These are just for you to look at to realize what a heightmap and RGB are supposed to look kind of like in Photohop
     -Extra Zone Files I Made for You
            -Enjoy these free-to-use zone files i made, just edit them around in photoshop, or load them right into DE!
      -Sample Sky Maps just in case (they need some work though)
                     LINK:
https://www.mediafire.com/?30psxe7oom9jost


My Steam Name is: C4Detonator if you have any questions, comments, concerns, or just want to thank me for spending my time to help you out.
