Racer v0.9.0 RC3 released

[Ruud]

Get it at http://www.mediafire.com/file/67b1mep0z1evvbh/racer0.9.0_rc3.7z

Changes:
- Reverted SMD camera up orientation, since it sticked to up even if the car was rolling.
- Added 'uniform float2 resolution' parameter for Cg shaders. Used in the motion blur shaders.
- Added theoretical sprung mass weight distribution under Ctrl-9, see also http://www.racer.nl/index.php?jump=reference/carphys.htm#bodymass
- Motion blur on by default; improved by detecting non-moving objects better.

 

[SwiftPL]

Finally, I was able to run this version. Looks very good, I liked new cameras system. But I still have problem... I can't hear any sound in game, car sounds anv even game sounds. What's the matter ? I would like to play this version, but on my way are only problems

 

[Ruud]

My Racer.exe priority was already at above normal. I put it to high but no difference. Tried realtime but it wouldn't let me. I got a message saying "Unable to set priority to realtime. Set priority to high instead. Fraps is the only thing that fixes it for me...

Actually, I took that out of the next version (it currently raises Task Pri). I had problems on some PC's where the network UDP driver (or whatever task delivers the packets) was jerky. This meant packets arriving jittery. I'd think it would not affect a single-PC setup, but perhaps it does. The next version will use 'Normal' instead, which fixes a multi-PC setup anyway.

 

[Ruud]

Does any one know why we can't just run paint variables from the scripts in physics folder any more?

It's extremely frustrating from a development POV having to edit two files just to debug simple stuff by having the physics script and the paint script to tinker with each time, copy new variables to etc etc...
Yes optimise later, but during development it's a pain

Dave

Depending on what you visualize, I normally use 'graph step...' with a system signal. You can also use 'run examples/racer/paint_system_var.oxs' in the next release. That oxs goes like this:

//
// Paint a system variable onscreen
// Example Onyx script, 8-8-2012
//
 
#include "racer.oxs"
 
string s;
float x,y;
 
void OnPaint2D()
{
  float f;
  
  x=y=100;
 
  f=GetSystemFloat("car0.wheel0.load");
  s="Wheel0 load ";
  s<<f<<" N";
  PaintText(s,x,y);
}

It might already work in v0.9.0 RC3.

 

[Alexander Knoll]

Hello Ruud,
is this possible too?

Hello Ruud,
sorry, a question, again...
Is it possible to get a ambient sound for pavement (not sure if i write it right), please?



THX
Alex

 

[luthobu]

Was thinking about sounds last night while driving P&G. Could it be
possible to add reverb to a surface? In the same way we now map
kerb, sand, snow etc.? That way one could use a special texture
for tunnels..

 

[Mr Whippy]

Reverb should be done as an effect just like the current radius for ambient sounds imo.

I do thing generally the whole sound system needs to move to high dynamic range though, it'll do for sound what moving to HDR did for graphics.

So we set the actual dB output (or something with a tangible scale we can relate to) and then Racer will kinda auto-gain control to match the total scene volume. That way you can then user-scale the gain amount you want at your preference.



Right now we have a linear sound space, so to get wind right at 200mph needs say volume = 1, and that means that engine at idle might be 0.1

That is great but you need to have your speakers turned up super loud so it sounds right at idle, but then at 200mph your making enough noise to wake your neighbours.

What Racer should really do is calculate all the noises as real volumes, then 'fit' them into the space you want them to fit in. Like a scale for compressing things down. Then those with a mega hifi can run a linear space (if they want to), but normal people with PC speakers can get realistic sounds but all within the same SPL at their desk (not waking neighbours up hehe)

GT5 does it and it works really well. Just go sit idling then beep the horn and notice how it's almost clipping at first, then very quickly the engine noise subsides and the horn then becomes the dominant noise in the scene.

HDR for sounds with auto-gain control is probably pretty easy to do too, and there is LOADS of data out there for how loud cars are in 'real' dB values as well, from race cars to road cars!

Hmmm

Dave

 

[luthobu]

Reverb should be done as an effect just like the current radius for ambient sounds imo.

You lost me there.. way too complicated

 

[johnthelemon]

I think Dave means being able to define a sphere in which every sound reverberates, engine sounds, surface sounds, horn, etc., just like in real world. And the effect fades away.

I don't have a Ferrari or a Zonda in real life, but revving the engine up in a tunnel in Racer would be cool.

 

[Mr Whippy]

You can set reverb on a track now iirc, but you have to set it as an effect you turn on as you pass a certain cross-section on the track and a script activates it...

So one each end of a tunnel to turn it on and off. If on, turn off, if off, turn on... then you should be safe unless you manage to warp into the tunnel with the reverb off hehe


But sphere volumes make more sense to me, or some kind of dummy model that gets processed like the physics mesh so it becomes a volume we can attach properties to for audio etc. If your in it, then the properties in that mesh volume are applied... hmmm...

Dave

 

[camsinny]

Yeah, isn't that how most sounds are defined on tracks at the moment anyway? (I remember that yodel or something on swiss stroll has a "radius")
That's how effects should be implemented too, that way you don't get a hard cut-off when exiting, say a tunnel, where the track spline suddenly says "reverb=0" or whatever.

 

[Alex Forbin]

You can set reverb on a track now iirc, but you have to set it as an effect you turn on as you pass a certain cross-section on the track and a script activates it...

So one each end of a tunnel to turn it on and off. If on, turn off, if off, turn on... then you should be safe unless you manage to warp into the tunnel with the reverb off hehe


But sphere volumes make more sense to me, or some kind of dummy model that gets processed like the physics mesh so it becomes a volume we can attach properties to for audio etc. If your in it, then the properties in that mesh volume are applied... hmmm...

Dave

The only real problem I have with the current system is when I exit a reverb section the sound will clip with an audible pop due to the reverb not having enough time to fade to zero. It should fade up or down between the triggerlines I think.
Spheres might be a problem in the case of a long tunnel with a road running around the outside of the mountain, since you will need to make a sphere large enough to enclose the tunnel it will undoubtedly cover the road outside of the mountain as well giving us an unwanted echo.

Alex Forbin

 

[Mr Whippy]

Yeah, stuff like pit straights and tunnels would need an array of spheres which would be messy and maybe give weird results.

And the fade is something you'd need to program so the triggerlines just trigger a command to change the reverb to a target amount and then some code can manage smooth transitions.


In any case whatever we want to do is possible, maybe just not really elegant. The triggerlines with nice code could work really well, you'd just have to manage the triggerlines and code elegantly

Dave

 

[DavidI]

I must protest Dave, elegant & Racer don't mix.

 

[Mr Whippy]

I did put a big grin at the end, I know it's gonna be tough to be elegant with Racer haha

 

[Alex Forbin]

Yeah, stuff like pit straights and tunnels would need an array of spheres which would be messy and maybe give weird results.

And the fade is something you'd need to program so the triggerlines just trigger a command to change the reverb to a target amount and then some code can manage smooth transitions.


In any case whatever we want to do is possible, maybe just not really elegant. The triggerlines with nice code could work really well, you'd just have to manage the triggerlines and code elegantly

Dave

The way I currently use the system is to make a triggerline set to volume/reverb "0" then another set to the desired volume/reverb. At the other end of the tunnel I simply do the opposite. The problem arises when the reverb has a lot of echo and you are driving fast, the sound doesn't have time to finish echoing before it's clipped by the last triggerline to volume "0". The obvious question is why not move the last trigger farther away, but the problem still exists.

Alex Forbin

 

[Mr Whippy]

I suppose this is where you have the triggerline not setting the reverb but triggering an event to ramp the reverb to a defined value.

I suppose it's something like

if reverb > target reverb
{
reverb - ramp rate
}

So you just keep taking reverb rate down every step and if it's still not reached the reverb target amount then it keeps reducing till it reaches it, or the other way around...

With some fancy script with a trigonometric function you could get a nice smooth transition too, so you just keep setting target reverb rates and the script will always be trying to smoothly transition the actual reverb rate to that target rate...

That is something a programmer like Ruud could probably do in about two minutes but something I have no idea about.

Imo such little features should be built in to Racer, so we still script and define a target reverb and a ramp rate which Racer then uses to change the actual reverb rate in an elegant way

 

[RaoulEmilian]

Is there a way to make the game stereoscopic 3D? I use a nvidia graphic card and other games work with stereoscopic 3d pretty nice, but Racer not.

 

[Ruud]

Is there a way to make the game stereoscopic 3D? I use a nvidia graphic card and other games work with stereoscopic 3d pretty nice, but Racer not.

Do you use a driver setting, or do the other games support it natively?
I've pledged for an Oculus Rift HUD which should arrive somewhere in December. This does a split 1280x800 view (640x800 for each eye) with some distortion. At that point I want to dive into 3D a bit more.

 

[Mr Whippy]

I didn't bother pledging because I'm guessing there will be a decent consumer one for a similar price in another years time (Christmas 2013!) with higher res screens designed for actual end users.

That said, it'd have been nice to test your Oculus enabled Racer between now and the time a consumer one arrives!


As for the 3D, I believe you need to render a 2nd pass still, and then blend appropriately for the displays used.
So it might be high frequency with shutters, scan-line skipping, or good old fashioned cyan and magenta or other colour combos, or something else again.

All the games that support it have support programmed in from what I've been reading.

There is something on GPU gems about nvidia's basic approach to 3d using a parallel offset camera view, which is the only ideal way to do it for games unless you can track the users focus point in scene and converge the images appropriately.

I think some games just use a pre-set distance too, say 30m in front of the car... still gonna be annoying if you want to glance down at your speedo and can't read it easily.
I've not run GT5 in 3D but I think they run it around the dials/gauges area so interiors feel to pop out, and then everything else just pushes further into the screen.

Dave

 

[Ruud]

nVidia does have some settings which interfere with the Cg shaders, and add some stuff to render a 2nd view with slightly different vertex positions (read: camera offset).
It does need to use heuristics to find out what is 2D and what is 3D, to avoid 2D dials for example to appear at some depth (instead of just at Z=0, right at the physics screen depth, I suppose).