So I was thinking I must be missing something basic when I couldn't find a way to freely/easily switch a track from platform back to race.
I'm pretty surprised that the solution for switching a track mode is for the end user to create an empty script file. Yes, this is simple, and yes, it works, but...who at Nadeo possibly thought this was an adequate way to approach this issue?! You should never force an end-user to create extra files to access basic functionality for a game they paid for. And why the hell haven't these files been added to the game in an update?!
This surprises me all the more when you consider that Nadeo had a perfectly functional system in the first TM, where you could quickly switch game modes and types within an environment.
Now, with TM2, they decided to make a separate "Platform" game, which uses the "Canyon" environment but occupies a different slot. Why not just add platform functionality to Canyon (and all other games) rather than start separating games by mode rather than environment? Now it turns out that you have to start making random text files to make things function properly.
I was always really impressed by the solidity and ease-of-use of the original TM, and while the TM2 gameplay itself is excellent, it seems like the overall game structure of Maniaplanet/TM2 has this sort of slapped-together, "making it up as we go" feel to it.
Okay, rant over, I'll shut up now.
Thanks for the info and solution!