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2 types of track designers I'd like to see

6 posts by 3 people · 16 Apr 2001 16:00 UTC - 17 Apr 2001 11:49 UTC

andrew 16 Apr 2001 16:00 UTC#190667
1) "Follow the Leader" - There is an existing landscape with roads, towns, buildings, etc., or you could place your own - then, you simply "drive the track" to create it, on road or off, or both, and the game puts appropriate roadblocks (if necessary), etc. in place. This would also work to create standard racetracks on varying terrain - slopes and otherwise. 2) "Flying" track editor - you have control of left/right as well as up/down "flight" - and the program "builds" a track under you as you navigate, then the landscape is added afterward. Ah, just wishing.
On Mon, 16 Apr 2001 16:00:16 GMT, andrew <[email hidden]> wrote:
Quoted text (10 lines)>1) "Follow the Leader" - There is an existing landscape with roads, >towns, buildings, etc., or you could place your own - then, you simply >"drive the track" to create it, on road or off, or both, and the game >puts appropriate roadblocks (if necessary), etc. in place. This would >also work to create standard racetracks on varying terrain - slopes and >otherwise. > >2) "Flying" track editor - you have control of left/right as well as >up/down "flight" - and the program "builds" a track under you as you >navigate, then the landscape is added afterward.
Both of these will result in very much fantasy tracks. My 1st incarnation of a track format was using an ASCII file like: straight 10 turn 65 minRadius maxRadius subDivs straight 20 Stuff like that. Works nicely enough, but it's hack'n'slash and the real art that we want today requires more control. Which is why most tracks are created in 3D editors (like Max). Ruud van Gaal, GPL Rank +53.25 Pencil art : http://www.marketgraph.nl/gallery/ Free car sim : http://www.marketgraph.nl/gallery/racer/
What makes you say they would be fantasy tracks? I assume by "fantasy", you mean unlikely, or with a lot of stuff you wouldn't ordinarily encounter. I'd personally rather use them for creating tracks which are as realistic as possible, very quickly - I often drive through an environment which i think would make an excellent racecourse, and this would be one way of doing it. A few years ago, I posted a suggested F1/Indy track through Philadelphia - this would be a great way to create tracks through areas we know about, too. Ruud van Gaal wrote:
Quoted text (27 lines)> On Mon, 16 Apr 2001 16:00:16 GMT, andrew <[email hidden]> wrote: > > >1) "Follow the Leader" - There is an existing landscape with roads, > >towns, buildings, etc., or you could place your own - then, you simply > >"drive the track" to create it, on road or off, or both, and the game > >puts appropriate roadblocks (if necessary), etc. in place. This would > >also work to create standard racetracks on varying terrain - slopes and > >otherwise. > > > >2) "Flying" track editor - you have control of left/right as well as > >up/down "flight" - and the program "builds" a track under you as you > >navigate, then the landscape is added afterward. > > Both of these will result in very much fantasy tracks. My 1st > incarnation of a track format was using an ASCII file like: > > straight 10 > turn 65 minRadius maxRadius subDivs > straight 20 > > Stuff like that. Works nicely enough, but it's hack'n'slash and the > real art that we want today requires more control. Which is why most > tracks are created in 3D editors (like Max). > > Ruud van Gaal, GPL Rank +53.25 > Pencil art : http://www.marketgraph.nl/gallery/ > Free car sim : http://www.marketgraph.nl/gallery/racer/
On Mon, 16 Apr 2001 17:15:21 GMT, andrew <[email hidden]> wrote: >What makes you say they would be fantasy tracks? I assume by "fantasy", you >mean unlikely, or with a lot of stuff you wouldn't ordinarily encounter. Yes. >I'd personally rather use them for creating tracks which are as realistic >as possible, very quickly - I often drive through an environment which i >think would make an excellent racecourse, and this would be one way of >doing it. It will still take quite a lot of time to get things right after 'driving' it. The way you drive may not represent the turn you want, and straights should be approximated by straights (much more optimized). >A few years ago, I posted a suggested F1/Indy track through Philadelphia - >this would be a great way to create tracks through areas we know about, >too. Actually, creating a spline through a model and then hooking up the road to it is quite easy, and can be used with little trouble. The problem is in details later on, and splitting the track into bits for the rendering engine. I still think the time it takes to do the detailing far outweighs the time it takes to create the initial spline, be it from a driving line, or just a bunch of vertices in Max. Ruud van Gaal, GPL Rank +53.25 Pencil art : http://www.marketgraph.nl/gallery/ Free car sim : http://www.marketgraph.nl/gallery/racer/
"andrew" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]... : 1) "Follow the Leader" - There is an existing landscape with roads, : towns, buildings, etc., or you could place your own - then, you simply : "drive the track" to create it, on road or off, or both, and the game : puts appropriate roadblocks (if necessary), etc. in place. This would : also work to create standard racetracks on varying terrain - slopes and : otherwise. : I'd love a "track" for GPL like the cities in Midtown Madness. I know this sounds like that piece-of-crap Stallone movie "Driven" but, I still think the Lotus would be a hoot in San Francisco. Purely for blowing off steam purposes of course, not serious racing. :-) Dale.
On Mon, 16 Apr 2001 13:30:51 -0700, "Sideshow Bob" <[email hidden]> wrote:
Quoted text (12 lines)>"andrew" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]... >: 1) "Follow the Leader" - There is an existing landscape with roads, >: towns, buildings, etc., or you could place your own - then, you simply >: "drive the track" to create it, on road or off, or both, and the game >: puts appropriate roadblocks (if necessary), etc. in place. This would >: also work to create standard racetracks on varying terrain - slopes and >: otherwise. >: > >I'd love a "track" for GPL like the cities in Midtown Madness. I know this >sounds like that piece-of-crap Stallone movie "Driven" but, I still think >the Lotus would be a hoot in San Francisco.
It can't be done. The problem is in the track design of GPL; it uses longitudinal coordinates, where you have a distance-to-left and distance-to-right side. So you can smuggle a bit (see Solitude), but there's a limit. But for blowing off steam, MM is really cool in itself. :) GPL would lack the pedestrians and buses. Ruud van Gaal, GPL Rank +53.25 Pencil art : http://www.marketgraph.nl/gallery/ Free car sim : http://www.marketgraph.nl/gallery/racer/

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