Part 5: ConclusionIt’s been good for me to type this all out! I’ve learned a lot over the years, and collecting and applying these principles has personally resulted in a big improvement in quality. Quality has become far more important than quantity to me over time, and I have been able to substantially improve satisfaction with the designs I create.
The Amazing Race is one of the best television shows for fans to create their own custom “fantasy” materials. I have been highly influenced by the folks here at RFF and our Fantasy Game section, and I can say that RFF has been the best place for discussion of all types of Amazing Race content, real-life and fan-made. These tips given in this guide were written with the aim of designing “fanfic” legs, however. Fantasy game designers don’t operate the same way that World Race Productions does. In a fantasy game, you don’t have to explicitly consider camera angles, potential TV ratings, seasonality at filming time, security, minimizing costs, what the network executives think, etc. It is okay to create your designs without using all the constraints of the real show.
If you’ve created some designs and aren’t sure what to do with them, consider sharing with a friend who is also into the Amazing Race, or feel free to join the conversation here at RFF. While the number of projects launched in the Fantasy Game Board (reminder: only available to those with an account that has made at least five posts) isn’t as high as it once was, there are still a lot of passionate Race fans that are involved. RFF members have launched voting games (where users make posts to help their favorite teams) and traditional games (where members sign up, create a team, and complete challenges given by the host). Others have also showcased their custom races in this section, with no game elements attached.
Designing Race legs can be tough sometimes. What if you’re just starting out and it all feels like a steep climb? First, we all began somewhere, and most people who stick with it improve a lot over time. Second, it might simply take a while to finish a design- it often does for me. Third, it doesn’t hurt to just go for it and not overthink it too much; it’s not the end of the world if you don’t finish with something perfect. If things still feel overwhelming, you can not worry about the specifics of each leg and instead just try designing a route. Users have posted their routes in
this thread.
You can always post on RFF and bounce things off of us. There is a good chance that one of our members will write a constructive reply. Not to speak too much on behalf of others, but I think a lot of us would be happy to give feedback and advice on ideas you have as well as answer any questions.
I’m sure that I missed something over the course of the guide. Throw your comments at me! I also hope that these posts inspire conversation about Amazing Race design. It can be a fun and rewarding activity, and it’s always better to have correspondents with whom you can discuss and share the fruits of your labor. So thanks, RFF, for all the inspiration and community! And thank you, reader, for making it this far.
The world is waiting!
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