Has modding changed how you look at and play the game?

A refreshing discussion for a change, nothing to do with textures, shaders or weird BTB crashes. For me, track building has changed the game forever. One could say that it has ruined it. There is no illusions, immersion is harder to achieve and there are no secrets. On the other hand, track learning takes fifth as long as it did before. Three laps and i got the authors style figured out, all the important objects, track-cues are visible immediately. Will i ever forget that i'm driving a bunch of parameters defined in few files in a field triangles, all containing a separate pictures in different layers?
 
I feel the same way somewhat, although it didn't start for me when I began building racetracks (which was only about 6 months ago). For me, it started when I started attending college for graphic design. I couldn't play a game without analyzing textures, animations and poly models. That said, My overactive imagination usually wins out in the end. I still seem to be able to immerse myself in the game. Recently, the time I spent with the PSN game Journey reminded me of that. Although, from time to time I'll see an amazing texture in a game and stop playing long enough to think to myself "How the heck did they do that!?"
 
I bought rFactor to have a platform for BTB. To have a game, so i could export the Hondsrugring into a game. Before i discovered BTB i tried Sandbox and earlier i tried to get a grip on the old fashioned way of building tracks for GPL. I wanted to build that track that much.
Three years i spent building this track and while building it, i learned to use the program.
I don't think i will build such a track again or in the same way as i did. There are still bugs in it and the frame rate is not its best feature.
Just like Kennett i recognize someones style while driving a few laps around.
 
i'm driving a bunch of parameters defined in few files in a field triangles, all containing a separate pictures in different layers?
For me this has been the case for a long time. What has changed is that I get annoyed with the sort of mistakes that I know are not hard to fix, e.g. angular corners of poorly done AI. If you can't fix things like that yourself, why not ask for help?
 
For me this has been the case for a long time. What has changed is that I get annoyed with the sort of mistakes that I know are not hard to fix, e.g. angular corners of poorly done AI. If you can't fix things like that yourself, why not ask for help?

You hit the nail there, my friend. I've been so frustrated lately with those stupid small mistakes that appear alarmingly often.. Two examples: Le Mans 2004: XSector2.gmt is 1m too high so that F1 and a like can drive the inside of Indianapolis corner and miss the gate. Otherwise faultless. Hungaring 2011: max vehicles 20! 20! What the hell, there 102 gridslots in the AIW and then a stupid stupid mistake. PrstoGP had to make huge compromises when selecting track for next season, all because it's not enough that i can fix the issues, the faulty one is still in all sites that hosts tracks, author refuses to update even with a ready made fix uploaded... Mostly this because of converters, who i am starting to dislike, taking easy credits and ruining the author repuration in the process.

Getting off topic.... But i simply can not understand such behaviour, i wouldn't put my name on those travesties.
 
For me, playing computer games has always been difficult, especially on the immersion side of things. I guess most people with a mind like mine will feel the same, no matter what they're doing. For me to become 'immersed' in anything much is extremely difficult, that goes for everything someone can do in life. I'm actually not entirely sure what being fully immersed in something feels like, unless it's water, then it feels like drowning, and I know what that feels like, unfortunately. -.-

Anyhow, track building, as with all the other forms of 3D modelling I've done, seems to give my acute attention to detail a bit of exercise. Back in the days of ToCA 2 Touring Cars on PSX, I used to get really miffed that these big game producers had messed up bits of the circuits like they had. The first one that springs to mind is Silverstone's Copse and Woodcote corners; I mean come on, they look nothing like that IRL!

So yeah, I strive to create highly realistic looking content, even when creating fantasy objects or scenes. Just because my circuit is a fictional one, doesn't mean I can't make it look totally real, right down to the fire extinguishers on the marshal's posts and the light switches in the garages!

All in all, I guess I must really enjoy racing games, or I wouldn't play them like I do, but I can't say as trackbuilding has made me lose the connection I should have once had with the game. I've always had a very 'odd' connection with games anyway! ;)
 
You hit the nail there, my friend. I've been so frustrated lately with those stupid small mistakes that appear alarmingly often.. Two examples: Le Mans 2004: XSector2.gmt is 1m too high so that F1 and a like can drive the inside of Indianapolis corner and miss the gate. Otherwise faultless. Hungaring 2011: max vehicles 20! 20! What the hell, there 102 gridslots in the AIW and then a stupid stupid mistake. PrstoGP had to make huge compromises when selecting track for next season, all because it's not enough that i can fix the issues, the faulty one is still in all sites that hosts tracks, author refuses to update even with a ready made fix uploaded... Mostly this because of converters, who i am starting to dislike, taking easy credits and ruining the author repuration in the process.

Getting off topic.... But i simply can not understand such behaviour, i wouldn't put my name on those travesties.

I remade Le Mans 2004, was a hell of job, I was never aware of that the x-sector was too high. Is the first time i read this complain.
Would be a 1 minute job to fix it.
The other complain was that some people though some of the curbs where to high.
But without those higher curbs, half of the field at our league would do straight lines instead of chicanes.
 
The XSector was the only bug i found, otherwise it's so beautiful. Curbs are perfect IMHO, you can climb on them with F1, they can't be then too high.... And you can't really slip under that XSector with F1 (possibly some other open wheelers), all others are tall enough.

The converter critique was aimed at both Hungarorings conversion and such... If you know who did Spa2008 conversion tell him that i'm going to release the track fixed since i can't get in touch on any of the authors/converters, i send them message with ready made patch and full update versions, all they needed to do was upload it... no reply... Also i will fix both Hungarorings too and release it, i'm tired of waiting.
 
I'm definitely more critical of the tracks / games I drive, having said that I've also got good ideas and inspiration from different engines. I keep dropping out of races and chug around the track in first gear studying textures and details. :)
I also go overboard with the details, my approach to track making is more like accurate architectural visualization than a representation of the track, I just keep adding detail, to the point where I wonder if it's worth it when people are shooting around at 200kmh, that's why I always design with screenshots in mind ...that's my excuse anyway. ;)
 

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