Racing Level: Concept

For my racing level I was interested in recreating the feeling of exploring the twists and turns of subterranean caverns like the beautiful Cave Without A Name found in my home state of Texas. I thought this would provide an interesting opportunity for both large and tight spaces, as well as effective visual guidance due to the flexibility of the environment, and perhaps a chance to make use of cave-ins, multiple levels, or secret caves to add interest to the level. Here are some of the inspiration images I looked at in designing this level:


Different parts of the level could transition between moods and therefore color palettes-- here are the two main ones I'm looking to use, the left for most of the cave (enclosed areas with some manmade lighting) and the right for a cool, more naturally illuminated look of one special section:


Here's a rough layout for the map, with cave-in that prevent players from taking old routes marked with letters. The place marked A is a cave-in where the floor falls out from underneath the players that allows cars to fall back to the starting point/finish line, marked in green.