neteye had the old forum links, here's the current:
http://www.racedepartment.com/forum/threads/making-a-fictional-track-look-real.46259/ That thread was very useful, am in huge debt to neteye for that discussion...
I was afraid that this would happen.. One thing i had to learn the hard way: track building takes time. A lot of time. you can create a driveable track with all the features it needs, make it functional and even esthetically somewhat pleasing in 6 hours. But to complete a track... For one man doing 8 hours a day, it takes a month, at least. I'm not kidding, from the first alpha release (100% playable track) to final beta it's hudreds of hours of work. There are shortcuts for a certain kind of tracks (country roads that consist mainly of randomly placed vegetation) where you can make it under a week (downside is that they have really no soul... Wertingen is a good example of a track that is created in three days..).
Trackbuilding is very close to composing music. The initial thrill, that first rush, flow of ideas is absolutely wonderful. Everything happens smoothly, every new idea is the best ever any one has thought of, you see where it's gonna end. But... You are the only one that sees that creation like that. You make up things unconsiously to fill the gaps. When composing, you may skip the long harmony parts, the second vocal entirely since it's simple, follow strict rules, that are intertwined with the melody: you can hear them in your head while others surrounding you can't.But finishing a masterpiece takes a buttload of sweat and tears. And coffee, that's our blood, right?
Finishing an artwork takes the longest. It's arduous task, boring, repetitive, a well trained chimp can do it. Or gold fish, it certainly doesn't require intelligence or creativity.
For tracks, that means taking care of viewpoints ( what you see on track, in car, what you see on TV cameras, what can you see with swingman view...those three viewpoints are used most in simracing. ) : Estimating material counts. Polycounts. Making highlights (pitbuildings, granstands, distant city skylines, mountains..). Every part you've done, needs re-editing.
If the object has no purpose, it should not exist. You need to go behind every object in track, check where they are seen, what is hiding behind them. Why should be question for every triangle, why is this here? Can it be better? Filling gaps, moving things, adjusting mipmaps, optimizing. Optimizing. And once again, optimizing..
Don't lose the spark thou, it's nice to see someone that has discovered this wonderful world and is so excited. But be careful.. It's addictive as hell...