Racer

[Ruud]

Welcome to RaceDepartment.
As RSC has been offline for quite a while, RaceDepartment has been gracious enough to host a temporary Racer forum.

To kick it off, here is Racer v0.8.0. Warning: all things are set to target relatively high-end graphics card. nVidia 7950+ somewhat. Onboard cards will not do.

The download is at http://www.racer.nl/download/racer080.zip (42Mb).
If you have an ATI card, Cg shaders may not work due to a bug in Cg 2.1. Try the patched racer.exe from http://www.racer.nl/download/racer081a_patch.zip (1Mb).

Hope you can enjoy it!
Ruud

The patch (really a preview of v0.8.1, so interesting for nVidia users as well) changes these, although no data files are included you can check out some things already:
- Added envmap.live_track.sides_per_frame to set update count of live envmap
- Car.ini camera<n>.view variables were read, but never used. Removed loading them, they are (and were) obsolete.
- LOD (level of detail) for objects is now adjusted to take into account the camera FOV (normal FOV=50).
- Split fullscreen_shaders directory into LDR and HDR variants (data/renderer/fullscreen_shaders_hdr and _ldr).
- Added car.ini engine.idle_method to avoid throttle being slightly open all the time. See http://www.racer.nl/tutorial/engine.htm
- Now enforcing engine.stall_rpm to be at least 100 rpm less than idle_rpm to enable the new idle_method 1.
- Added engine.braking_torque_curve to specify a curve for the engine braking instead of the linear parameters.
(the Lambo now uses such a curve for demonstration)
- Modified smoke particles to have no velocity. Also increased the brightness somewhat.
- Bloom map was 16-bit, now 8-bit.
- Added car.ini audio.skid audioset based on skid amount (around 0..2). This allows subtle scrub sounds before
going to screeching & screaming.
- Added 'gearwhine_off' audioset for gearwhine under deceleration circumstances.
- Fuel consumption was based on engine output torque, added internal friction (engine braking torque) in fuel use calculations.
- Renamed racer.ini variable 'collision.report_car_trk' to 'collision.report_car_track_collision'
- Added car.ini's reboundstop_len and reboundstop_k for much the same as a bumpstop, only to prevent wheels falling through susp<n>.maxlen
see http://www.racer.nl/tutorial/suspensions.htm#reboundstops
- susp<n>.restlen no longer needs to be smaller than maxlen. It ignored precompression that way.
- Added fuel.rof to overrule the fuel grams/liter parameter. Normally it's around 700 for regular petrol.
- Added views.ini 'invert' field (0/1) which inverts the variable (like 'factor' which multiplies it)

The list of changes since v0.7.3:

- Bugfix: OpenGL3.0 drivers would crash Racer due to a mistake in getting some extension function pointers.
- Bugfix: track's with special.ini gfx.time below 1000 (10am) were not interpreted correctly.
- Bugfix: turning on projected lights no longer kills some 3D dials
- Heavily modified Cg shaders. Also added a lot more. See http://racer.nl/tutorial/gpushader.htm
- Projected lights used alphafunc, which made lights on semi-transparent object pixely.
- Added car.ini's model_reverse_l/r models for true rear lights. This should do away with the views.ini hack to add reverse lights.
- Modified live track envmapping to not do all sides every frame. Lots faster.
- Removed dbg_stats tree in racer.ini (it was obsolete).
- Added 'clouds' script command for Cg-shaded skies, added 'clouds' uniform float parameter for Cg shaders (0..1).
- Also added 'clouds' in a track's special.ini (env.clouds)
- Added resolution.vsync to sync to display frequency or not (0=max fps, 1=sync, >1=set interval)
- Added moving helmet (+pilot body) model option in car.ini. See http://www.racer.nl/tutorial/helmet.htm
- Raised the number of possible flares for each car to 20 (was 10)
- Simple (single-polygon) shadows for car views without a body model are now turned off.
- Removed 'fx.sky_enable' option. The sky is always on.
- Removed 'gfx.reflections' option. Was/is obsolete.
- Added graphics.show_names to be able to indicate driver names floating above cars.
- Added mirrors.texture.fbo setting to render into an offscreen framebuffer object (faster)
- Added mirrors.texture.fbo_samples setting to enable anti-aliasing of the mirror.
- Added HDR rendering basics (renderer.hdr.enable=1). Uses data/renderer/shaders_hdr directory if enabled, shaders_ldr otherwise.
- Added Bloom rendering for HDR mode (renderer.bloom.enable=1).
- Split data/renderer/shaders directory in two: shaders_ldr and shaders_hdr. HDR is the way to go. LDR will be deprecated.
- Added ini.auto_lights setting (0/1) to determine with time-of-day controls a car's light automatically
- Added shader 'reflect' material property for reflective Cg shaders (in the same line as diffuse, ambient, specular etc).
Use this in conjunction with [dyn_]shader_reflective_v/f.cg for example.
- Added car.shd/track.shd 'motion_blur' variable to turn off motion blur velocity map generation for certain shaders (wheels mostly).
- Added auto-exposure settings for HDR rendering (racer.ini:renderer.auto_exposure.*)
- Added fx.sun.auto_time_of_day to track real current (PC) time for the time of day in Racer
- Added fx.sun.fast_time_factor to set time speed. Normally 0 for no time change, 1 for realtime, >1=faster than realtime
- Added fueltank in cars. See data/cars/default/car.ini (fuel.* settings). Currently in alpha. No fuel means no throttle.
- Added fuel view variables for views.ini files (for cars). See http://www.racer.nl/tutorial/fuel.htm for details.
- Added formatting option for views.ini; 'float_1' displays a value with 1 decimal (for example: 123.4).
- Added 'sample_hold' option for view elements to get slow-updating dials (mostly useful for digital dashboards)
- Added fx.sun.flare option to remove sun flare. It doesn't match with the Cg sun position.

 

[2o6]

For RACER, to make the car "lighter" in terms of polygons, you could remove pieces of it before export. (most notably the parts of the frame that are under the body)


I really like it, Racer doesn't seem to have too many one-seat, focused road/race cars.

 

[2o6]

I'm not too sure if It's been answered, but mine doesn't work well as well. It flashes and sputters, and I get glimpses of the wireframes/meshes of the track, car, and background elements. When it is working, (barely) it does look great.......

 

[Silver Ranger]

My AWD version

60/40 split
5.5 to 100 kmh
Slalom speed: 70.8 mph at the carlswood slalom course

 

[Tiberius]

For the HDR greyish look, try playing with renderer.auto_exposure.offset and gradient (possible min/max as well). More exposure (offset higher or gradient higher) might give more contrast back.

Seems my monitor gamma was out quite a bit, sorted that

More exposure changes things a lot. After some trial and error I got these (and another shameless plug for my XJ-S :doh:





I know, they're over exposed but the sky and the bloom on the white parts of the car looks great when it's moving around the track, I like the dark look Carlswood has with the HDR but I'm a sucker for the bright summer's day look too .

My env map reflections are still in LDR, I think that's why I'm getting red tinged clouds on the glass?

 

[Knut Omdal Tveito]

That looks so good! You made this car?

 

[Knut Omdal Tveito]

Yeah. I was gonna remove the details, such as the frame Would you happen to know how many polygons that is normally used for a car in racer?

 

[KS95]

Awesome

 

[Alexander Knoll]

Yeah. I was gonna remove the details, such as the frame Would you happen to know how many polygons that is normally used for a car in racer?

Hi,
i'm sure most car's for Racer have so ~25k-35k, but Racer have a great engine and models with up 90k are possible (i have one with ~100k and it works)....
This one is ~50k, body only, +2310 for each wheel......it's a GTA SA conversion.....

http://dreamfactory.forumieren.com/unbearbeitet-unedited-f8/the-beautifull-t14.htm

LG Alex

EDIT: This one is 140k+ @ ~30fps....

 

[Alexander Knoll]

Did some testing, I can run at most 800x600x32 above 30 fps on an E8200 (2.6GHZ core2 duo) CPU with 4Gb Dual channel ram and a 9600GT. 1024x768 stutters around 15-20fps, nVidia control panel settings all at default.

Hi David,
witch driver version do you use?
I got the 182,50 working with:
AF 16x
AA 16xQ
VSync off...
res.. 1024x768x32 @ fullscreen
stock lambo @ carswood = ~68fps with wheel, with mouse ~90fps...
I have a 8600GTS/256MB/Pcie16...
AMD 3200+ X2 @ 2,1GhZ
3,0GB Ram...
I'm sure you should get some fps more than me.....
Try the driver tool Bob posted!

LG Alex

 

[P0w3R_Theino]

I like the new version although I do have a problem with the "fast based texture method" motion blur, if my AA or AF (whichever) is set above 1 or even 1 will give me a black screen excluding the rear view mirror that shows perfectly. :/

 

[Alex Forbin]

Not really what Bruce was talking about; this is force, Bruce was talking about friction (also force, but another kind). Indeed, with high-end hardware here we have 'static friction' which keeps the wheel a bit rigid until you start driving. Didn't know the G25 was smooth enough to let you feel different levels of friction like that. Have to get myself one one day...

Ah, of course I see what you're talking about now. I think it would work fine
with the even the DFP. There are some inis that apply a constant side force until the
car begins to move then it becomes easier, I realize this is due to errors in
the ini but it still shows that the wheel is capable of supporting the function
at the hardware level for what it's worth.

Alex Forbin

 

[2o6]

Yeah. I was gonna remove the details, such as the frame Would you happen to know how many polygons that is normally used for a car in racer?

As skybh pointed out, 100K is the threshold for vehicles, and not everyone could use Skybh's Scenic. around 50K is better.

 

[davidiau]

After updating nForce drivers to current and Forceware to 182.08 off nVidia's website, i can get 30fps with live envmap @ 1280x1024 on Carlswood, but stuttering, and changing the samples from 16 to 4 makes it smooth. My previous drivers musta had an OGL issue. Least I can drive again.

 

[Knut Omdal Tveito]

OK thanks guys. Will try out some more effort soon. But none of you have tutorial for making a car in racer? I remember I downloaded a tutorial ~3-4 years ago, but I can't find any now.

Here's some pics of a car I made for a project at school. Just exported as .3ds from Solidworks and mapped textures in ZModeler. I could do that for this car aswell (ZModeler was painfully slow to work with though, any way to improve this?)

 

[boomer541]

Ruud,
Animated trees on Carlswood have white edges needs track.shd file fix.
Still have Bleed thru on some objects. Sun bleeds thru grass @ 4:00 am and 10:00 pm on my snstest track. I guess Ruud didn't fix the bleed thru, only lowered the headlight intensity.
Fastime=5000 invalid, as is time 2400.

I mucked around with my racer.ini file and the sun intensity went south, back to square one to find the problem. Sun intensity=3000 setting in special.ini file makes sun too bright and big, see the two sun.jpg images below.

I am trying to get a sky box/dome to go dark with the vf_sky cg's that Ruud used on Carlswood on a different track to no avail. See the time images below. I want a plain skybox/dome to transition from day to night like carlswood but without the use of that dark cloudy mess Ruud used. Does any one know how to make the sky work properly? Any help will be gratly appreciated!

 

[Alexander Knoll]

OK thanks guys. Will try out some more effort soon. But none of you have tutorial for making a car in racer? I remember I downloaded a tutorial ~3-4 years ago, but I can't find any now.

Here's some pics of a car I made for a project at school. Just exported as .3ds from Solidworks and mapped textures in ZModeler. I could do that for this car aswell (ZModeler was painfully slow to work with though, any way to improve this?)

look at my site there is Boomer541's Blender tut..

www.dreamfactorysracerweb.eu

 

[camsinny]

Boomer, wrt fast time and the time settings, I believe the console command is "fast_time 5000"
Also, I believe that "time 2400" is invalid, the time never actually reaches 2400, instead it goes to 0000.

I have no idea about the bleed through, don't know if it's a shader or implementation thing. I also noticed the tree edges, I believe it's a depth/alpha problem or something.

Speaking of depth, Ruud, is a depth map possible? easy/quick DOF?
Also, with the motion blur: it just looks strange to me, especially around the edges, you can obviously see where the previous frame's edges are. Is there a better/easier way to do this?

 

[2o6]

OK thanks guys. Will try out some more effort soon. But none of you have tutorial for making a car in racer? I remember I downloaded a tutorial ~3-4 years ago, but I can't find any now.

Here's some pics of a car I made for a project at school. Just exported as .3ds from Solidworks and mapped textures in ZModeler. I could do that for this car aswell (ZModeler was painfully slow to work with though, any way to improve this?)

One: Those wheels are separate entities, correct? (The wheels and steering wheel) for some reason, they look attached.

Two: Try boomer541's tutorial. Exporting and mapping in blender is much easier, but IMO scaling and doing minor alters is what Zmodeler is good for.

 

[AMGfan(BPM)]

Hi

nice car first of all...

second thing... the size of the cars... more than 40k is too heavy, and my poor pc cant support. But i always get gta cars to convert with more than 100k like dreamfactory said, and i need delete the engine, details inside the trunk, and others details which you cannot see in racer. Heavy rims i change for light ones, more textures qualitys and less modelling polygons.

third... i have made some years ago a little tuto how to convert and put the car ingame, you can look on and have an idea in some points how can you do it. If you have any doubt about how to put the .dof model ingame, PM me.

http://www.speedyshare.com/193446751.html

best regards!

tom, aka amgfan

 

[Tiberius]

Ruud,
Animated trees on Carlswood have white edges needs track.shd file fix.
Still have Bleed thru on some objects. Sun bleeds thru grass @ 4:00 am and 10:00 pm on my snstest track. I guess Ruud didn't fix the bleed thru, only lowered the headlight intensity.
Fastime=5000 invalid, as is time 2400.

I noticed the trees when I cg'd the Detroit GP track, haven't found anything that fixes them yet. Also viewing through alpha'd objects like trees, fences etc plays havoc with the motion blur, really notices on Bathurst where a lot of the trees overhang the road. Perhaps there's a shader setting which will fix it.

I mucked around with my racer.ini file and the sun intensity went south, back to square one to find the problem. Sun intensity=3000 setting in special.ini file makes sun too bright and big, see the two sun.jpg images below.

I am trying to get a sky box/dome to go dark with the vf_sky cg's that Ruud used on Carlswood on a different track to no avail. See the time images below. I want a plain skybox/dome to transition from day to night like carlswood but without the use of that dark cloudy mess Ruud used. Does any one know how to make the sky work properly? Any help will be gratly appreciated!

The alpha'd clouds layer works quite well, I did a couple of sky boxes for 074 where they had two layers...one an inner textured cloud dome with alpha and an outer dome set to recieve sky colour, looked quite good but Ruud's idea works just as well...and it's also backwards compatible with old skyboxes if you can alter the texture a bit in Gimp etc. Carlswood's skybox is a bit stretched at the edges, that's all

Maybe you could make something work through the cg now that the time variables are passed by Racer. Your sky staying light could be that you've got texenv=replace on? You really need cg shaders to make the day/night lighting work properly.

The shots I posted of Carlswood last night were with hdr offset=2.8, hdr gradient=1.0, sun intensity=2000..yeah, it's a bit light and way from perfect but the colour depth is there, things just need tweaking a bit.