Racer v0.8.31 released!

[Ruud]

Just before the weekend... v0.8.31

Get it at http://www.racer.nl/download/racer0.8.31.zip (75Mb)

Changes:
- Added racer.ini dev.note_ini_unused to check for unread car.ini parameters. See also http://www.racer.nl/tutorial/development.htm
- Color grade shader improved.
- The wind could get stuck in growing infinitely, making particles shoot away after a while
- Differential reworked, since it had a bug (it accepted ratios <1.0).
- Clutch wasn't restored after shifting when autoclutch was 0 in racer.ini and the car.
- Flare colors could dip below 0 (weird colors) when using non-klux flare color values
- Flare default color is now '40 40 40' (was '1 1 1'), see also http://www.racer.nl/tutorial/car_lights.htm
- TrackEd would save splines where lines.paint_end would always be the number of splines, even if you specified less
- TrackEd would overwrite the gfx.sky values in special.ini with generated values (when saving)
- TrackEd still used Newton 2.26, so loading any track would recreate trackcollision.bin. Upgraded to Newton 2.29.
- Flare billboarding now screen-aligned by default; see http://www.racer.nl/tutorial/car_lights.htm#flares
- A multiplayer client pressing Shift-R would get stuck waiting for a race start. Now modified to let Shift-R behave as Shift-F.
- Smoke/grass particles no longer spawn when a wheel is off the ground.
- Traction control gives a warning if a ratio is <=1.0 ; that gives serious jitters.

 

[BVSX]

Nice, ty RuuD

 

[Cosmo°]

Thanks, Ruud - I'll try to check out the multiplayer fix soon

As with the v0.8.31 preview .exe, type=3 differentials with relatively high locking ratios have gone back to spinning in opposite directions by themselves again, at low vehicle speeds or standstill.

 

[Alexander Knoll]

öhm...lol..are you sure it should be like this? ^^

......with a diff ratio from : ratio=1.75 <-new..... ratio=2.53 <-old....?!

 

[Some1]

Is it possible to completely disable the color grading feature, other than comment it out in the fullscreen shader? I find it makes the night too washed out.

 

[luthobu]

Looks good to me.. SM2 and all

 

[Some1]

Looks good to me.. SM2 and all

Maybe my night is darker than your night?

 

[luthobu]

Maybe my night is darker than your night?

As an existentialist expression that would be utterly depressing..
but since you are smiling I suspect you mean your actual night
(as in Racer night).. heh. Dang... I just have to lay down my books
for a while..

Edit: It is actually rather poetic.. I like it..

Maybe my night is darker
than your night
Maybe we're not subjected
to the same kind of light
Just maybe and perchance
there be hope, not fright
and deliverance too

 

[Some1]

No, really.

with color grading:


without color grading:

 

[luthobu]

No, really.

Wow. Really, for sure.. my night is bright compared to yours.
I have made CG shaders for LC, but that would still not make
it that bright. What time do you use? I set mime to 2100..

 

[Penge88]

Thanks, Ruud - I'll try to check out the multiplayer fix soon

As with the v0.8.31 preview .exe, type=3 differentials with relatively high locking ratios have gone back to spinning in opposite directions by themselves again, at low vehicle speeds or standstill.

Hi again! Long time not writing to here. I allways see new versions coming out, and i allways try them, and I allways realize, that this pronlem is still hear. "The donut problem" When I start a donut, after less than 180 degrees the car stops by like a plastic wall. Strange. I dont know, what would the problem is. But I am sure something is not right. Maybe the diffs or maybe something. Inertia? I dont know. So many graph updates were in the latest betas, which are great, but this problem is still here! In the latest months, the visual quality of RACER improved a lot! I think, it would be hte time to made this problems gone. This was my opinion.

Dream Factory: What you were changes is the final ratio. I think cosmo° mentioned the locking ratio of the differential.

 

[jeffmorris]

If Bloom is disabled, the rear-view mirror at the top of the screen is black. If Bloom is enabled, mirror works but the colors are weird. I have NVIDIA GTX 480 card with version 266.35 of video driver.

 

[Alexander Knoll]

@Penge88
yes i know...the diff locking problem cosmo° talks from...i have this too....
What i want to say is the final ratio...changes from xx to xx so the first gear goes close too 180km/h.....and i'm sure the real Lambo can't this^^

 

[DavidI]

The Lambo in 1st just doesn't seem right, the takeoff from the line seems very slow.

While I'm whinging, still not happy with shadows at larger distances along walls & treelines & such. The shadow edge blurring causes an unwanted blurred edge at the baseline of the object, it looks plain unnatural & wrong.
Could blurring be removed from the object side of the shadow, or could the shadow along the object line be stretched backwards so the blurred bit isn't visible?

 

[fsr]

Hi again! Long time not writing to here. I allways see new versions coming out, and i allways try them, and I allways realize, that this pronlem is still hear. "The donut problem" When I start a donut, after less than 180 degrees the car stops by like a plastic wall. Strange. I dont know, what would the problem is. But I am sure something is not right. Maybe the diffs or maybe something. Inertia? I dont know. So many graph updates were in the latest betas, which are great, but this problem is still here! In the latest months, the visual quality of RACER improved a lot! I think, it would be hte time to made this problems gone. This was my opinion.

Dream Factory: What you were changes is the final ratio. I think cosmo° mentioned the locking ratio of the differential.

Donuts? No problem



Well, that's not quite true. It is a problem, but not impossible to work around. Basically it's a combination of many factors. First of all, it's a pacejka issue. By tweaking the values so that the balance between lateral grip and traction becomes right, you will notice it becomes easier. Stuff like changing the optimal_slipratio to ~0.06 and optimal_slipangle to ~0.27 also seem to help for me.

For now, you would also need a type=4 diff (fully locked) as the LSD lets go, as you pointed out, after half a donut or so.

Finally, you might want to tweak the max_tan_sa in racer.ini. By default this is set to 20 (87°), but the higher the number, the closer you get to 90°. However, you'll never reach 90°, so I put something like 9999999999999999999999 in there

This will help a lot, and allow you to make some nice, black donuts. However, it's still not 100% controllable, and for every "lap" you will feel the force feedback jiggle as though the forces on the steering drops to zero for a split second. I have no idea why though

Another issue I've found with the current physics is calculation of inertia. It just doesn't feel right. For my racecars it works ok with normal values, but for the Supra I'm currently at y=7000 to make the car rotate at a similar speed as in real life. Maybe the inertia somehow gets it wrong when the angles exeed the norm?

Anyway, all of these factors may play a role in the donut problem, allthough I think they are more likely symptoms rather than the cause...

 

[Penge88]

Another issue I've found with the current physics is calculation of inertia. It just doesn't feel right. For my racecars it works ok with normal values, but for the Supra I'm currently at y=7000 to make the car rotate at a similar speed as in real life. Maybe the inertia somehow gets it wrong when the angles exeed the norm?

Anyway, all of these factors may play a role in the donut problem, allthough I think they are more likely symptoms rather than the cause...

Well, yes, maybe there is a problem in the calculation of the inertia... Maybe there are other problems too. Because I have no experience of
coding... I cannot say exactly, what would be the mistake and how to solve it. All I know, is the result, that this thing not act like it should.

Finally, you might want to tweak the max_tan_sa in racer.ini. By default this is set to 20 (87°), but the higher the number, the closer you get to 90°. However, you'll never reach 90°, so I put something like 9999999999999999999999 in there

Hahaha Yes, because the freakin tan... because in tan90° is "endless"... Must be find another method, to define this value?

yes i know...the diff locking problem cosmo° talks from...i have this too....
What i want to say is the final ratio...changes from xx to xx so the first gear goes close too 180km/h.....and i'm sure the real Lambo can't this^^

That's why I said that I did. You changed the final gear ratio. Eg. 2.5 means that if you want to rotate the wheel one time, you have to rotate the cardan-shaft 2,5 times... If you lower that value, the reachable speed rises in every gear.

 

[Some1]

Wow. Really, for sure.. my night is bright compared to yours.
I have made CG shaders for LC, but that would still not make
it that bright. What time do you use? I set mime to 2100..

The time is 00:00 and I've modified my track's TOD curves to make the night darker.
I wanted to get near pitch black night, so...

 

[Cosmo°]

Penge88, first of all welcome back I think Ruud tried something with the default Lamborghini in this beta, because the differential ratio has changed from previous versions. That's what Dream Factory pointed out, but he didn't change it himself. In any case, I wouldn't worry about the Murcielago's gearing too much, it wasn't that precise before either - but who knows, somebody might just be working on it.

 

[Alexander Knoll]

Penge88....i know this too the final ratio changes every gear on all car's....
You miss understand me....all what i want to say was, Ruud forgot to change the final ratio back to the original value...witch was in all releases before....^^

 

[Alexander Knoll]

he he...Cosmo°...same min. THX for the explanation ^^