Small City 2009

luthobu · Jan 6, 2010

Tiberius said:
Nice, really improved on the original

Thanks

A couple of things, you can turn off compression for textures like the sky (compression=0 before the first layer), this makes some textures look a lot nicer - skies suffer badly from compression for some reason.

Ooooh... so that is why the sky always looked pixelated.. I was wondering about that. Thanks.. I´ll test it and update the release.

Any plans to CG it? CG is really the way to go in the future, fair enough if you want to keep a version compatible with older hardware but technology moves on and we are in 2010 now . This track would look really great with CG shaders and some proper sky fog.

CG is not on my list at the moment as I would need a better computer. But some time in the future, who knows.. if I find the time.. but if you feel like CG-ing it, go ahead, it is a Racer and RSC (R.I.P.) community project

KS95 · Jan 6, 2010

Maybe it should be like a tribute track to RSC, being a community project.

luthobu · Jan 6, 2010

KS95 said:
Maybe it should be like a tribute track to RSC, being a community project.

Yeah.. it is already though.. the RSC logo is on SIMS wall, and everyone is credited, both in the large Welcome sign, in the street names and in the documentation. So, yeah.. it is

KS95 · Jan 6, 2010

Ah, I haven't got to test it yet, my PC could barely handle the original.

EngineOfDarkness · Jan 7, 2010

Did you "split" (or however you want to call the process) with tracked? Ruud made this some time back for better performance: http://www.racer.nl/tracked.htm#split

luthobu · Jan 7, 2010

EngineOfDarkness said:
Did you \"split\" (or however you want to call the process) with tracked? Ruud made this some time back for better performance: http://www.racer.nl/tracked.htm#split

Well, not exactly, but it was pretty much the same. The whole point was to be able to load only smaller portions of the track at a time, so that I could focus on a selected area. Otherwise I got both lost and distracted by all the parts that were just in my way.. I used tracked a lot, but mostly for other purposes. What I used the most was Zmodeler and Truespace. And of course Modeler to convert and optimize.

Tiberius · Jan 7, 2010

The splitter is fine, but works better on large tracks. I got an extra 40fps on Le Mans and Spa but splitting didn't gain me anything on Detroit, in fact some grid sizes actually increased loading time and took a few fps away - you really need to play around with the settings and see what you can gain for that particular track.

If you do use the splitter, KEEP A BACKUP OF THE ORIGNAL DOF MODELS, GEOMETRY.INI, SPECIAL.INI AND TRACK.SHD - this is important

. Not sure whether I was hitting a bug but splitter always minces up my shader, and the split models can't be converted back afterwards - so make sure you have a backup somewhere.

Otherwise, LODs work great to lose small details when you're X meters away, and don't damage the original models either. No point rendering poly heavy stuff like parked cars when you're on the other side of the map.

luthobu · Jan 7, 2010

Tiberius said:
Otherwise, LODs work great to lose small details when you're X meters away, and don't damage the original models either. No point rendering poly heavy stuff like parked cars when you're on the other side of the map.

This is good advise. I was playing with this for a while, then forgot all about it.. I`ll see if I can optimize the track some more, meaning rewriting shaders, optimizing models (splitting seems like a good idea from your description) and see if I can downsize some more images without loosing anything.

FiftyOrange · Jan 8, 2010

Is the ship a model of a specific ship, or just a kind of generic cruiser? Did you make the model yourself?

Also, is that the "hammerhead" ?

luthobu · Jan 8, 2010

FiftyOrange said:
Is the ship a model of a specific ship, or just a kind of generic cruiser? Did you make the model yourself?

Also, is that the \\\\"hammerhead\\\\" ?

Freeware model: http://archive3d.net/?a=download&id=9936
(Forgot to add it to the credits.. will do in next release)

EDIT: It IS in the credits: (CREDITS.rtf)

Various models also from:
* http://archive3d.net/
* http://www.turbosquid.com/
* http://www.3dmodelfree.com/

EDIT 2: Has anyone actually read the CREDITS.rtf file?

FiftyOrange · Jan 9, 2010

I have now.

Thanks. I'm not getting at you for using things. I'm just interested.

luthobu · Jan 9, 2010

FiftyOrange said:
I have now.

Thanks. I'm not getting at you for using things. I'm just interested.

It`s ok, just want users to read the credits, so they understand what Small City (2009) actually is: a work of gratitude towards the Racer community for the work they have put into their own models, tracks and cars - for without them Racer would really be "crippled". And I also wanted to show - or rather, to prove - that it still is possible to make good non-cg tracks.

About the models, I have for the most reused all I could from Small City, but I have altered alot - both textures and models. Also I used freeware models since it would take too long to make my own, and I see no point in reinventing the wheel. Some models I have, well.. ripped apart so to speak, in order to make "my own" objects which originate from an already existing model - again, just to save time.

I will update the credits file with links so it will be more accurate, but I admit, some models I cannot recall where I found, and a search last night revealed nothing. So, some models will still be N.N.

Ok, that was all for now. Hope this makes things clearer

Tiberius · Jan 9, 2010

It all seems fine to me, you've tried to credit where you can and you've used stuff out of the public domain. sounds like Fifty was curious, that's all. Read the credits? LOL, nobody ever reads the readme ;-). I always write a readme when I release a car but I don't think anyone ever reads them, people still ask about things that they could have found on line 2 of the readme

This track was going to be bigger but a few of us never got our slice of the terrain, the whole thing just got too big to manage for the guys who were going to put it all together.

Would you mind if I do a CG version then? I won't change anything that I don't have to, the only texture I think will need to be edited is the sky, to add an alpha channel. So really just a special.ini, shader and a couple of revised textures for the people who want CG..

luthobu · Jan 9, 2010

Tiberius said:
Would you mind if I do a CG version then? I won't change anything that I don't have to, the only texture I think will need to be edited is the sky, to add an alpha channel. So really just a special.ini, shader and a couple of revised textures for the people who want CG..

A CG version is most welcome! Please do

My next box will most certainly support CG so I am actually looking forward to that. About your second §, I did invite users on RSC to send me models, but no one did. A shame really, especially since I even expanded the terrain. If you have anything you wish to add, models or whatever, just go for it

Oh, but if you do alter much, you might want to change the name slightly as well, just to point out that it is an - expanded - as well as CG`d version. Right? Or?

PS: I am actually hoping that someone "picks up the ball" and makes a Small_City_2010 version..

Splashonda · Jan 9, 2010

I've been so much focused on discovering every detail of this track that I haven't said untill now great it is!

One of my favourites in Racer, we really need more stuff with this kind of quality!

Congratulations luthobu!

Splashonda · Jan 9, 2010

Looks like that I found a bug! ^^

There is a elevation/depression in the ground in this area!

luthobu · Jan 9, 2010

Splashonda said:
There is a elevation/depression in the ground in this area!

Really strange.. as there is nothing there other than road.. I also did some test-runs a cpl min. ago and it looked fine to me. But, I´ll test it on my other computer, and even try out various cars. Making a check-list and changelog already

And thanks for the nice comments in your previous post (#35)!

EDIT: Found it.. seems like the road isn't wide enough there. Think your bug-find might be related to this. Thanks

(Image)

luthobu · Jan 10, 2010

Ok, been doing some bugfixes. But the thing is, I really want to move on to my next project, so I will release a final version called Small_City_2009_final. After that, any bugfixes will be postet here and on Alge, but there will be no more "releases". Ok? Next project to complete.. Elan Valley (former Four Oaks)