Racer v0.9.0 RC5 released

Ruud

RACER Developer
Get it at http://www.mediafire.com/file/zdn8i0kntl3h579/racer0.9.0_rc5b.7z
[URL edited at 16-11-2012, 17:07 for some bugfixes]
Get a racer.exe/pdb bugfix at from http://www.mediafire.com/file/ny6a8gju5oaracb/racer090rc5c_exe.7z (which fixes that braking with locked wheels would give extra force instead of less).

A note about the audio: a bit more is planned to add to audio. Mainly an extra 'noise' sounds for each surface when going off the AI line. Then there's also an idea to use understeer & oversteer values to select samples, instead of taking skid values per wheel, since understeer sounds different from oversteer. Experimental a bit though.

Enjoy!
Ruud

Changelist:
- Ctrl-I now inverts debug readout colors (it used to roll through the debug readout views)
- Onyx compiler improved with bugfixes, type-casting.
- Onyx pointers (hm).
- Onyx now supports float const ('const float x=0.5'), while, for and do-while.
- Onyx supports basic yielding of scripts (coroutines, triggered each frame).
- Onyx internal function abs(), sqrt() added.
- A default Cg shader is created for materials without an explicit shader. To avoid black materials.
- car.ini's now accept wheel<n>.pacejka.negate_camber. Some TIR files/coefficents out there
seem to reverse camber (inverting influence on Fy tire forces). This option inverts camber sign
as it goes into the Pacejka formulae.
- lighting.cg no longer adds Ks (specular) to the ambient term.
- .f32 file support for textures in .shd files; future development for sky colors.
- Added $water_reflection texture map for shaders, in the same way $mirror exists. This works with renderer.water.*
to render a mirror image of the scene into a 2D reflection map, which can be used for a water shader.
See also water_f.cg/water_v.cg in data/renderer/shaders.
To be elaborated.
- The default debug text color is now white again.
- Timing is passed to the Cg shaders in TrackEd for some animations.
- Explicit low LOD steering model removed; use the model LOD available for the regular model (steer.model) (in car.ini)
- Car cameras can explictly turn the steering wheel on or off (camera<n>.steering_wheel=0 or 1). The default is 1 (added to data/cars/default/car.ini).
See also http://www.racer.nl/reference/carphys.htm#campos
- Number of materials in a track raised to 6000 (from 4000) for some nasty import tracks.
- TrackEd's generate template shader generated '<unnamed_QObject>' for unloaded textures.
- Added engine.shifting.cut_ignition in car.ini; instead of cut_throttle=1, you can leave throttle open and cut
part of the ignition instead. A value of 0.5 for example will output 50% of engine torque to the clutch/gearbox/wheels,
so is smoother while shifting.
- Autoclutch during shifting linearized; it was now squared, making for a less smooth experience.
- New combined slip method for tire forces; #7. From Pacejka's book, the Similarity method. Does not require
optimal_slipratio and optimal_slipangle anymore. More info on http://www.racer.nl/reference/wheels.htm#tireforces
- When the tire left the surface, slip angle and ratio were reset to 0. This was not realistic for a bumpy surface,
since you lose a lot of traction when the tire is bouncing a bit. Now it keeps on tracking slipAngle/Ratio.
- Different fonts (Eurostile)
- Added dyn_standard_bump_ao_f/v.cg shaders for ambient occlusion map (much like the mix shaders really).
- After all these years, on Win7/64bits with 32-bits Racer, got PerfKit working with PerfKit v2.2.0.12166 from nVidia ('debug 6 1').
- Added 'float serverTime' uniform for Cg shaders to get (an estimate of) the multiplayer server time. To sync vertex shader effects across multiple PC's.
- Added active differentials basics using Onyx. See http://www.racer.nl/tutorial/differentials_active.htm
- Added a global 'lowpass' DSP option. Mainly used for testing for a future 'muffle' parameter per car to soften incar sounds.
- Added track audio per surface (in special.ini). If not defined, the default global surface type audio is used.
See http://www.racer.nl/reference/tracks_surfaces.htm

------------------------------------------------------------------

Bugs (currently known specific to RC5)
  • Gearbox shift times not working properly, step from 0 > 1 clutch position over the time rather than smooth linear transition.
  • Water reflection not rendering, needs clarification on functionality.
  • Qlog discrepancies (I'll let Boomer clarify those.
  • Odd console readouts about tyre slip angles or something popping up (same goes for gearbox manual/auto setting, doesn't need to be console displayed imo)
  • PerfSDK not working as advertised, broken?
  • Multiplayer joining to IP's seems glitched, the person joining has their brake stuck on and are unable to shift
  • The Multiplayer Lobby does not let you connect, and subsequently let you host, despite the right ports being forwarded. (Anyone else experiencing this bug?)
  • The particles pop-out of existence at the end of their specified lifetime instead of fading away smoothly. It would be nice to have some better control over the fade-in and out over the lifetime of the particle since tiresmoke starts out thick and opaque then disperses and becomes more transparent over time, while gravel or dirt fades in a bit at first then eventually fades away.
  • Smoke flickers in the reflections, as though it's missing every other frame.
  • Replay bugs: No smoke effects, ghost car is left on track.
  • The starter sound plays all the way to the end of the sample instead of stopping when you let off the starter.
  • Ghost doesn't work on endless tracks.
  • track special.ini: timeline.point_to_point=1, timeline.auto_return=0 - The auto_return setting doesn't seem to work here. I have a point to point track and the car resets 3000ms (3s) after crossing the finishing line, but I don't want it to.
  • No reflection in the Racer garage when selecting a car.
  • The unsprung weight apparently applies a downforce, try making a 150kg rear axle with the front
    suspension lighter and the car will act as though it has high downforce when jumping off of a ramp.
  • If the wipers are set to rotate in opposite directions then the intermittent position does not rotate back and forth smoothly. It snaps back.
  • In RC5c at least, the camera bug is still evident, and on Carlswood (spline based cameras) you can often get stuck so you can't get back to the in-car camera view which is really annoying! - Courtesy of Dave
 
Regarding Torque Curves.

If my Curve peaks @ 515nm, When i normalize it, 515nm becomes 1.0.

How is this related into the car.ini? as peak torque is now "1.0" and not 515nm.

Is there a Debug option i can check to see if it is producing the correct power?
 
Sorted it.

My car just seemed alot more fast and powerful than originally intended. Ive set torque to 0.7, and the results seem a bit more realistic!

Actually we've started setting the torque in the engine section where it should be and then we add the NM of loss under the differential.friction section it will be in NM. This is more realistic since it puts the drivetrain loss in the drivetrain where it belongs.

Alex Forbin
 
Torque graph i used was ATW anyway, This wouldnt make a difference?

Yes it would, since Racer adds the transmission losses from the engine by using the differential friction variable.

Correct for losses to get flywheel figures, and then tweak the diff friction value to get acceleration about where you want it from real figures.

Or, measure performance now with ATW but no friction, ie, peak G force when accelerating in 3rd say, then correct the torque to be flywheel value.
Then add friction until the peak G force when accelerating is the same as it was before.


If you run ATW values then the engine will not rev up properly when in neutral for example, and you may then choose the wrong engine braking amount to match an under-powered engine, which then impacts lift-off throttle characteristics incorrectly etc.

Dave
 
"The Multiplayer Lobby does not let you connect, and subsequently let you host, despite the right ports being forwarded." Remind me, was this confirmed?

Have I missed anything? I added that the ghost doesn't work on endless tracks and the starter sound bug.
 
Meh, I just turn it off, it plays havoc with lighting in general. I just dismiss it as an experiment that didn't work.
Good idea.
Now if I change time thru the console to 2330 or some other night-ish time, on Carlswood & other tracks it gets a little darker, but with a very red-ish tinge. Anyone suggest how to fix it?
 
BUG:

track special.ini
timeline.point_to_point=1

timeline.auto_return=0

The auto_return setting doesn't seem to work here. I have a point to point track and the car resets 3000ms (3s) after crossing the finishing line, but I don't want it to.


Anyone else seeing this problem?


It'd also be nice to be able to set more things per track with regards to the auto-reset feature. Ie, cut-throttle on/off, auto-braking on/off, keep steering control on/off, and also the reset time being configurable.

There are times for example when ramming the brakes on after passing the finish line just looks stupid hehe...

It just seems that hard-coding so much to racer.ini doesn't leave much freedom for track creators to make nice point to point tracks. If all you do is config racer.ini for one use and one track then fine, but when you have many tracks to load and use then racer.ini hard-coding starts to limit the quality feel of Racer in my view.






Generally it's also not ideal that track timelines are forced to the first and last splines on a point to point course.

AI can't work without being over splines but as soon as you put splines under the start area so AI will work the timeline moves back and so the AI won't trigger it.

Ie, imagine a hill-climb course. There is just no way to make AI work and have timing work.

The time lines should be independent of splines really, especially when on a point to point track where you want splines under the starting area for the AI, but can't then put a timeline ahead of the starting positions (instead Racer hard-codes it back to the first spline!!! argghh!)

Cheers

Dave
 
That doesn't strictly seem to be the case here. With manual clutch and manual h-pattern shifting, Racer recognizes the correct gear selection on startup, be it reverse, neutral or a forward gear. With autoclutch and manual shifting, this is still the case. With manual clutch and automatic shifting, the vehicle is loaded in neutral, regardless of shifter position (in my case, paddle shifters automatically take over when automatic is selected anyway, since I defined them for sequential shifting in my controller file). Finally, when both autoclutch and automatic shifting are selected, the vehicle always spawns in first gear (and, annoyingly, we have to press the clutch pedal to start the engine because autoclutch doesn't assist us enough).
 
This is why I made explicit gear choices in the Lambo config tool, so you can pick the one YOU know you will use... rather than try have the auto-detect work properly.

It does work well a lot of the time to kudos to Ruud for getting the logic almost perfect.

Maybe something as simple as auto_clutch_when_starting=1 should be a setting so you can start the car in gear, ideal for sequential type gearboxes/cars?!

Imo we need shifting_ai too, so we can define shifting for the AI independently of what we might use.

Dave
 

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