Old Australian Circuits Group (OACG)

Old Australian Circuits Group (OACG)

This thread is to propose a collaborative effort to produce some more old Australian circuits. The idea is anyone interested, be they Australian or otherwise, can get onboard and help with creating an old Australian circuit. By now most of us are well aware that it takes quite a while to produce a good rendition of a circuit, so by pooling talents and dividing workloads we might be able to produce higher quality circuits and more quickly.

Tasks could be divided into circuit layout, terrain, textures, trackside objects, gathering reference material, etc.

Some people have experience with the major programs like photoshop and 3D studio Max, others are quite new track making and are just getting into BTB but are full of new ideas and enthusiasm. Some participants might live much closer to the old circuits or roads and be able to provide material and real-world experience.

Obviously this has a chance of turning out badly with people getting in a huff and withdrawing their work from projects, but hopefully a common interest in the circuits could keep people together and working happily. Users can be as involved as they wish, or merely model a building or two if they choose. There should be no obligation to continue with a project if you lose the inclination, but it would be nice if you could allow others to continue your work.

and here is a link for some inspiration : http://tasman-series.com/misc/lostcircuits/lostcircuits.asp

http://rfactorcentral.com/list.cfm?cat=Tracks&region=Oceania has a list of currently available rFactor circuits from the Oceania region though most are more modern versions.

So, if anyone is interested (you don't need to be Australian), post a reply and perhaps name an Australian circuit that you would like to see in rFactor/Simbin titles.

I'll start the bidding with Lobethal 1937-48 :smile: It would be a lot of work and that's why I wouldn't want to do it on my own. And I don't live anywhere near Lobethal.
more info: http://tasman-series.com/misc/lostcircuits/lobethal/lobethal.asp

Cheers,
woochoo
 
Thanks again woochoo!
It's your attention to those sorts of details that makes your track(s) such a winner....
Meanwhile, I have a couple of questions (for anyone) but not sure if I should ask them in this thread or not, as they're probably
general BTB questions.....
But here they are anyway, Why does my Fast Line have green & sometimes pinkish tinges to it?
Why is it that now my Fast Line is complete that the road feels more disconnected/slippery than ever before?
And relating to here....
Im onto a pair of old long road-type circuits along with woochoo's beautiful Lobethal & legendsatlunch is nearing
completion of a Gnoo Blas 'hybrid'.
Also, Ed's Parra Park is still in the works, but I haven't heard of much else via this thread for a bit, is anyone else
still working on an Oz track?
Anyone interested in taking on an Oz project?
I have the working height data for a couple of tracks here, all around the 6 to 11Km mark along with some period photo's & relating articles.....
Two of which have a rich history......
One dating back to at least 1918.........
Anyone?
 
Thanks Lee
Emery, my wires are a triangle shape, flatside is topside, so pointing down. They are something like 7 or 8 sections long, totalling around 70 meters, and have a bend applied to simulate the natural slackness of the lines. After the bend some of the verticies needed repositioning to retain a uniform shape. I exported them about a meter above 0,0,0 so that the btb positioning balls wouldn't obstruct positioning. Then i xpacked them as s-objects set to stretchable so different spans could be accommodated. They're also not set to follow the ground, so they need to be raised up from the ground and they (unlike the poles) won't move if the terrain is raised or lowered.
Each wire needs to be positioned individually, which takes time too.

Like i said, i'm not sure if this is the right solution. For one, i plan to put a specular map on the lines so they shine in the sun, but just thinking about it, with the two normally visible sides of the triangle facing downwards, they might not produce much specular reflection except for at dawn/dusk. So with just a triangle there is a good chance they'll just be shaded black all day long, regardless of orientation to the sun. Possibly a triangle pointing up or even a square orientated as a diamond would be better for specular. Regardless, having shading smoothing should help a little.
 
@Woochoo - your power poles look just perfect and they are simply made, great!
But I think that positioning every piece separately can be a nightmare... Maybe some other solution could be making couple different complete poles with wires - like on the picture? I know that this way you can't really make any pole you want (could be too many possibilities ;) , but putting them to the project could be very easy.
So, I just used say 3-4 poles - one leg, two legs, some other details and named them like A,B,C,D. Then for SObjects they could be set as longer "random" order, like e,g, A-C-B-A-D-B-D-A-C-A-A-C-B - any order you like to create non-repetive (visually) pattern. What do you think?
I did it in Sketchup and found this was the only position for them - along the red line - just like on my pict.
When making object which contain from separate parts (pole, wire, details) - everything must be ungroupped before export to get single object - if you export groups you will get more of them (in btb you see one, but it will export parts separately), so it can affect the performance in meaning of global using many items.

You pay so much attention to the details :thumb: - I was lazy and made wires from small transparent texture (stretched), so they are flat. For me they work enough :)
 

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Thanks martinez. If you, or someone else, really want to i could send you my xpacker folder and you could upgrade it with s-object strings of poles and wires. I made them all individually so i could waste as much time as possible trying to the most accurate representation of the poles in Longford, and there just weren't enough instances of similar patterns to make it really worth the effort of rigging up a better system, but for fictional tracks or for normal people who don't care about that sort of stuff i can see it would be a good solution.

Any takers? one condition i would put on it is that there should be triangle profile polygon wires. Feel free to add super low-poly flat wires too, but at least include polygon wires. The extra polygon count with poly wires is nothing compared to having one more car on screen, and poly wires look decent at all angles, whereas flat wires will disappear at the wrong angle.

edit: it might be a problem getting the ends of the wires to line up if you make s-object strings and there is a curve in the path of the lines. not sure
 
I have dowloaded your xpack and I can take all objects from it and assembly single poles of different configurations. Did you do it with Blender (I don't know Blender)? Or Sketchup - in this case maybe if I had Sketchup models, it could be faster /so I woudn't need to export them to .x or rF, then import to Max and work again. Anyway, the more I learn Max the more I like it :)
How long should be the lines? And how deep should be the curve?
I think I can do it some day - also - place everything on one texture and reduce the number of materials. BTW - when exporting from Max to .x and converting tracks to original RBR format, one object can use just one material, otherwise there will be a problem. This maybe works the same with rF in such operations.
You are absolutely right saying that triangle profiled wires are better.
And finally - yes, there will be some space between segments in s-objects unfortunately. But, say - we try to drive fast on tracks, then maybe do anything else, like sightseeing, don't we?
 
I've made the files in max 2008, exported to collada (not the autodesk dae exporter). My lines are around 70 meters. I just guessed the curves/sag. I got very close to putting the textures on one sheet/atlas, but in the end i decided lazy was easier, since i had made them before the atlas idea sprung up :D
If i understand you correctly, no, there is no issue with multiple materials on objects in rF.

Will it be possible to have an s-object wire group stretch or contract while the poles don't change? That would be nice.
 
Oh, good - I could also use .max files. I have Max 2010, so there should be any problem to open them in mine. I can collect all texture parts, make one atlas and remap again. Call me a maniac, but I always try to help the fps/performance at all costs :D The same thing I would like to do with your collection of houses if you don't mind. I like them very much.
Stretching - I'm not sure - maybe? There are some options in XPacker for that I guess, but everytime I click on them, I see red letters "RBR Warning" ;) No problem with doing something dedicated to rF :)
For now, I can tell what happens with one of phone(or power) lines from my "Polish" XPack - when I add to the track quite short s-object of them, the lines are short, then when moving one of the balls, they stretch and from some moment the stop stretching and just more and poles appear. I think it's because I've made more complex (longer) setup, like I wrote in previous post. (maybe not that long, but I'm quite sure at least 6 positions from 3 items). Maybe you can check it yourself, it's hard for me to explain.
And sorry for my bad English :pcbeat:
So, If you would like to share with your .max files, I can work on it. If you have made also wires, that's even better.
m.
 
WOOHOO fellas!
I finally got a working route for the second half of Bungonia!
46380.33Km long for the second section & about 15minutes in BL'72's valiant!
Ive had a working first section for a while now but this HAS been holding me up!!
Maybe it was that I started on a pit building the other night.....
Or, maybe it's that I think Ive found a 'thing' with BTB......
For test routes in one section, the panel lengths need to be extended from 5 to 10meters or more for distances over 34/36Km's.....
Although, I had tried this a few times now, but this time it's worked!
Now the question is should I finish/do, decently, Peel & then Bung', or just jump strait to Bung'?
I might post a link in the next few hours of the 2sections.......it's still 'ribbon-in-the-sky' type of thing as well as still a pair of point-to-point jobs but Im just stoked to finally figure out a breakthrough!!!!!
Woo-Bloody-Hoooo!!!!!
(Cut & pasted from Bungonia link.....Im so chuffed I just had to share it!)
 
Great to hear you're making progress Lee, I'm sure it's gonna be a great drive when it's up.

I've been working on some spectator and race cars for the paddock at Longford, including beetles, kombis, cortinas, minis, and currently an FX. I plan to include a falcon wagon (already got source material) and a couple of caravans too.

They've added a bunch more life to the scenery, though i'm yet to have spread them about the circuit. I'll have some pics soon and i'll share out an xpack once i've got a good collection.

The circuit was running at the Longford revival festival a few weeks back now too. That was great fun. As far as version updates go, i'm planning on a 0.99 hopefully by mid-year, then a v1.0 not too long after i hope.
 
Oh come on man..... give the rest of us a chance!!

How the hell can us track makers compete with the likes of yours?? You awesome bugger you lol

And to top it off, you just keep on making it better and better...... i think someone needs to pay you a visit ;)
 
Hey Kris,
If it's about competition then hopefully i can inspire you guys, and if it's not about competition, i plan to share out a paddock car xpack anyway :)

And again, if it is about competition, you can blame ISI, VLM, Com8, ORSM, Carrera4, SLN, Culmone and the likes of them for inspiring me :wink:
Honesty, despite the amount of time it takes i'm really having a blast making this track and I'm also inspired by and enjoying being a part of this forum with everyone here
 
GDay Woochoo,
Did you make it to the Longford revival?
And if you did, what did the blokes that used to race there think of your recreation of the place?
Last of all though, hows Lobethal coming along?

Sorry about that the spell'n there!
Meanwhile, is that an R or S series Valiant I see in that pack?
(Front-left, first photo....)
 
edit: Hang on... "Gay Woochoo" ?! :p
Hi Lee,
Yeah i went to the revival it was good fun. The track was set up on the Shannon's Insurance super-rig, which had two g25 rigs set up. Out of the people who actually knew the circuit it was mostly local residents that gave it a try. They all seemed pretty happy with it. Comments such as "my wife spun the car here in the rain one day" and "my dad grew up in that house, and it's not there anymore - that's fantastic" and "oh yes, you've even included the old barn there" and things like that which was very satisfying.

There were a few old drivers and at least one old motorcyclist and they all seemed to think it was pretty good. One of them made mention of the run-off paddock gate at Tannery corner, he was happy to see that there. Generally it seemed like the track was doing its bit to revive Longford for a few of those old guys.

As for Lobethal, i've been itchin' about it a bit lately, but still haven't touched it since mid-december i think. The new 1928 Mercedes mod and Brooklands got me a bit interested... From my progress on Longford i've got a few new textures to throw at it too. It's a great drive, perhaps i'll do a full lap wip video during mid-year uni break. Youtube has a 15 minute limit now so technically i could do TWO laps!
 
Yeah, that mod had me quite interested a while back- i think it may have dropped off. I'm a relative of Dr Dudley Benjafield who won Le Mans in '27 in a 3.0L Bently so it would be pretty sweet to get around in one of those.

In related news the Lobethal revival has be postponed til 2012. I recieved the DVD and book of their last event as a christmas present - good stuff, but by that stage the track was already back on the shelf. I think MGs were the main thing for Lobethal in the day so i'm hanging for an MG mod too
 
Thanks Lee, I took the 1928 Merc around. Good fun. You might like to add maybe 0.03 of vertical randomness to the track profile on the three centre nodes, maybe the outside two if you're feeling adventurous as well, just to give it some more life, particularly on the straight bits.
 

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