Topics

[Location]

On my track selection screen, the Image tab only displays info for the first 118 tracks. 
After that - no image and the Location/Author bits are either blank or gibberish.  On some of them the word Location is missing as well.

If I remove all the working tracks then all the ones that weren't working work fine.

It's just the Image tab, the Track Info tab is ok.

Can you mix and match .map files?

i.e. make a high visual detail track model and a low detail one - use the same .trk file for both, let folk decide which .map version to use and have both versions able to join the same server.

Could a TRK surface (using LINE or even CASPH values) be added  for dealing with run-off areas that folk shouldn't be using?

Perhaps with server settings?
...so the number of times it was used before a penalty was given could be adjusted by the host.
....or the penalty type could be changed - drop back a place/ride through/time penalty.

"Hit it 3 times = 10 second time penalty" would do to start with.   

[every bike]

Rather than the host server checking that every bike was a match...
...maybe just have it check the particular bike that the client was trying to join on.

Might cut down on joining times.
...and mis-matches.   

[Oliver's Mount V0.5]

Oliver's Mount V0.5
https://mega.nz/#!vlFHAaCK!pUXXUoTL6uRihw9EdbNnbhOseYNFQVNQbbM38lZNOn8

NOTE:  In order to view the track properly you must change:
drawdistance=2000
to:
drawdistance=20000
...in profile.ini
(\Documents\PiBoSo\GP Bikes\profiles\<your profile>\)


Still a lot to add.
...and the hedges need more work to break up the evenness.
Something wierd going on with the podium.

Was there a plan a wee while ago to change the marshals so they were there all the time, rather than having them appear to wave flags?

Usually I'd add another marshal model or two to mark their positions and lessen the pop-up vibe but some of the posts at the track I'm working on only really have room for one...
...so was just wondering if permanently visible flag dudes were a possibility?

[a lot]

It's tree time at last for Oliver's Mount and I'm planning on using a lot of highpoly affairs.

At Knockhill I didn't copy/flip/offset the leaf polys. 
...because with pine trees at a distance it wasn't very noticeable that the polys were only one sided.

This time though they'll have to be copied - much closer and larger frond models.

...so yeah, double-sided textures would be nice.  Would keep the count down and keep the model simple.
....and help with wire fences and the likes too.   

Well, it does say wishlist, and you don't know if you don't ask.   

WLLWOOD - For fences - Like the existing walls but with a woody crunch sound.

WLLVEGE - For vegetation - Allows you to ride through but makes a noise like plants slapping against fairing.  Idealy there would be resistance but I'd be happy with just a noise to begin with.

Thinking that hedges could be made from a combination of those.  A core model of wood with an outer of vegetation, so it'll allow you to skim along it but get too deep and it'll have you off.
Alternatively:
WLLHEDG - Something even better just for hedges.   

WLLAIRB - For airbags - Don't know if it could allow the bike to sink in a little bit?  Not asking for deformable airbags - the visual effect in real life is more 'sink in' anyway. 

At the moment to clear a trainer you have to quit the game(or it might just be to main menu - I haven't really investigated that much) and delete the file manually.  Could a reset button be added to do the same job in-game?

Scenarios that require a reset:
- New session and you can't match the saved trainer - it can be frustrating and is more fun sometimes to just clear it and work your way back up again.
- Testing bike mods where the new version is slower than the old one.

You wonder sometimes where folk get their usernames from.
...so for a giggle I thought I'd wonder out loud. 

To get the ball rolling:

Groove Champion - Auto Vigilante! 
Star of what I'd still rank as one of the most entertaining games I've ever played - Interstate 76.
My heart's racing just looking at a screenshot of it.      Fond memories!



Was the first game I ever played online - when you connected the first time everyone forgot to enter a name, joined as Groove and got a slagging for it (like <unnamedprofile>  )
...so I popped back out the room, added a few letters(always did like names ending in ski - kinda cheery sounding) and popped back in again, thinking 'I'll dream up a good username tomorrow'...

...and here we are - 20 years later.   

[Knockhill V0.7 NDS]

Knockhill V0.7 NDS
https://www.dropbox.com/s/915nnueedqbdh2q/Knockhill%20v0.7_NDS.rar?dl=0

NOTE:  In order to view the track properly you must change:
drawdistance=1000
to:
drawdistance=20000
...in profile.ini
(\Documents\PiBoSo\GP Bikes\profiles\<your profile>\)

Added:
Advertising.
More trees.
Some TSOs.
New landscape skins.
Real windows(& building interiors).
Visual smoothing on the grass and sand surfaces.
First attempt at shaders.
More cameras.
Animated lights, flags, sign and monitors.
(the flags are eye-candy - they only ever show a sou' westerly - actual wind direction may vary)
A little more height to the kerbs.

Still to add:
More people.
More clutter.
More smoothing(on some TSOs).
More cameras.
More hi-poly trees along the wood edges.
3D Grass
More bushes.
(perhaps using the 3D grass function to add woods and bushes in the distance)
Horizon detail on the main hill.
Good road skin and shaders.
Pitlane roadmarkings.
Road detail(bumps and dip on the right at the the hairpin approach to start with).
Background.edf
...etc. 

Known bugs:
Pitlane handrail turns transparent when you get close to the little canopy thingy(my new mystery - I done 3 conversions yesterday trying to fix it  ).
Some things(grass, walls, people..) are a little shiny still.

Could a server option be added that switched off the jump starts/black flags/stop&go system?
..for when it's not that serious an event and we're just having a bit of fun.


Could call it Late 80's Style    - Between the end of push starts and start of the transponder era the grids used to creep forward a good foot or so before the lights went out.

The whole system is very sensitive -  you don't even have to move forward sometimes, wiggling the handlebars can set it off(on tracks where the startline is on a downhill or cambered section).


If you engage gear between the first light coming on and the lights going out you are automatically booted from the grid to the pit menu. 
...and either the admin has to restart the session or you just plain miss the race.
Everyone does this their first time out - which is embarressing for for new riders and frustrating for everyone else.
...and sometimes it's tricky to explain to the new rider what's causing it(if there's no-one else in the room that speaks the same language).


The stop-and go doesn't appear to work - or if it does I've never managed it. 
(Don't see anything in the surface listings for creating a dedicated stop-and-go box so I'm presuming you can do it anywhere on the TRKPIT area?)
Getting a stop-and-go at the moment just means you can go play for a few laps but then you'll be booted. 
(which in a way is more annoying than just being booted from the grid - because the race is underway and there's less chance of the admin taking pity on you and restarting the session)


After a warmup lap the last person to line up at their grid position has to hit the mark and stop without creeping into position.  If you creep in you may accidentally move after GPB has decided you're in place and boot you back to the pit menu.
(The CAWS guys will be giggling - I had an awful time with this one a few weeks ago - and with everyone having to do another warmup lap after each restart it was even more frustrating and time-consuming than your averege DSQ  )

Could a little tickbox be added next to the draw distance slider that overrode the slider and set it to 20000? 
(Perhaps just with a little infinity symbol next to it)


My computer is pretty old and the tracks are getting bigger all the time, have been using the distance and detail settings a fair bit recently...
...and like them.  They work well.   
...but on the other hand there are a lot of tracks that I know my system can display in full, and folk with quicker machines would get away with even more.

Plus I like making 3D landscapes for track backgrounds.  Have done 4 so far and they're working out at about 40-50k polys with 2-4 images @ 2048 square, so nothing drastic - about the same as a bike.
...but it means manually changing the draw distance in the .ini to view them - then totaly avoiding the settings button for the whole session or the slider setting will take over again. 

Could the time-to-revert when you change the antialiasing slider be increased?

Mine works fine when I go into settings from the main menu but when I try it after I have a track loaded (from the MP lobby or Esc Key menu) it times out before my computer's got it's act together.  I get a brief glimpse of the "do you want to keep this setting" screen then it blacks out again and I have to wait for it to go back to the way it was before.

[alpha'd]

Signs flicker if they're in front of another model(walls, bridges, buildings...).   
The same happens on building models where perhaps the windows have been added as an additional poly over the top of a solid wall. (on old GPL tracks and the likes)

They're worse at a distance and flicker less as you get closer.
If you use a free roam camera you can watch the back polys peeking through more and more as you pull back.



Things I've tried:
Removing the bottom polys of the signs so they don't interfere with the ground - No change.
Checked the sign models for duplicate polys - There weren't any.
Checked sign and wall models didn't overlap anywhere - They didn't.
Reset the white and colour balance of the sign skins - No change.
Sectioned up the sign models into many model layers/objects instead of all on one - No change.
Made the signs thicker (from 10mm thick to 50mm) - worked for some of them but not all - would be fairer to say it lessened the flickering rather than fixing it.
Deleted the back polys and built the signs right into the building/wall models - worked but not always practical, the signs here are supposed to be a different size from the tyrewall.

A possible clue worth mentioning is that it doesn't appear to happen if the back polys are wearing an alpha'd tga.    In the picture above the second row of signs at the left are up against a wire fence - similar model geometry, exact same sign skin and no flickering or peeking through.  It's the same at turn 3 where the sign is against the fence rather than a wall.

Hi Piboso.    Quick question.

Is there a limit on the number of animations (or perhaps animation repetitions) you can have in a track scene?

Made up an LED-style scrolling billboard but in GPB only the 6 middle panels of 8 are working.  The two outers are just showing as black.
The scene already has 6 animated start/pit lights and 6 double-sided flags in it so what I'm wondering is whether I'm seeing a 6 repetition per anim limit or a 24 anim total scene limit.
[Edit:  Oops - forgot about the copies of the start lights on the bridge - that makes 28 in all(using 12 text files)]







 

Could the default dry LINE surface be made more grippy please? 
At the moment it acts like dirty road edge which is all well and good if dirty road edge is what you're after but in reality there are only 3 or 4 companies who produce the paint for FIM tracks and the grip levels of it are only a bawhair off those of the track itself.
Found this which may be of interest.
http://fim-latinamerica.com/w/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/004_CCR_New-FIM-approved-paint-for-starting-grid.pdf

I worked for years in the CAD corner of a road maintenance company and we were happy if SRTs were coming back in the 60s for road and low 50s for dry paint.
...so the average GP track has paint with higher grip than probably any road I've ever ridden.

TrackEd shuts down without saving at the flick of an escape key.
Could you add an 'Are you sure?' dialogue box please?   

Most 3d programs use the esc to close windows or finish commands - not shut down everything without saving and leave you staring at the desktop thinking "Oh man - not again!".   

Hi Piboso.

I've two tracks here that I've made landscape models for but am having the same problem with each.  When you play them the background is too high.





Have checked the models(and Hawk double-checked) and the heights are fine up to conversion(using FBX2EDF). 
The main and background models line up again when the FBXs are re-combined.

It looks like perhaps the insertion point in GPB for the background.edf isn't the same as the one for the main track model.