[RELEASE] Nordschleife Tourist v1.65 beta

Discussion in 'Locations' started by pleclair, Aug 4, 2013.

  1. McFlex

    McFlex Registered

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    I think the best way is to have two differen Versions of the track. One with the kerbs and one without
     
  2. vittorio

    vittorio Registered

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    I will race it too of course (with or without curbestones, even if they are wrong). V1.5 is an awesome piece of work and there are a lot improvements in this version like the new Karussell to name one. The new Karussell is a lot closer how it is in real now.

    If grass doesn't give realistic penalties, wouldn't be the right approach to model the grass more realistic? There is grass everywhere, you would need curbestones everywhere too if curbestones is the answere to unrealistic grass. If it isn't possible now to model grass realistic it should be ISI's task to improve this.

    A tourist getting on grass at 7:30:


    and at 0:25:


    (frightening)

    Some of the curbestones were there sometime (not as squared as in V1.5 though). But where were they, when did they get removed? Looking at old pictures probably ~1980/90. Having two versions would mean then historic ~1980 version and current version. But isn't that a lot of additional work?

    EDIT: @John: Of course it is pleclier's decision, it's his project, no one question this. Donations are only a little "thank you" (compared to the hugh amount of hours effort) for what you got. Nothing to do with the future, ownership, or getting a right to anything.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Apr 27, 2014
  3. wgeuze

    wgeuze Registered

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    I'm wondering, what isn't realistic about the grass right now?
     
  4. Denstjiro

    Denstjiro Registered

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    If we gonna have two versions may I suggest a third version to my liking?

    :p
     
  5. Marc Collins

    Marc Collins Registered

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    Just about everything. ISI hasn't implemented off-track surfaces yet. So the grip, the FFB, the interaction with the tires, etc., is all temporary/wrong/unfinished.

    If you want to see part of the problem, look at the tire temps while you slide across the grass. The tires respond as if they are on dry pavement, but slide like they are on a slippery surface.

    There is also a temporary setting in .PLR (if I recall) to tone down the FFB, since it feels like the gravel traps are made of rock otherwise. Etc.

    Nothing to do with Nords per se--it's a general rF2 issue that affects all tracks.
     
  6. vittorio

    vittorio Registered

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    Look at the huge amount of dust offroad! :confused:



    and at 0:30
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Apr 27, 2014
  7. Marc Collins

    Marc Collins Registered

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    Yep, once in a while in the middle of the summer it stays dry enough for a few weeks to cause that. The other 50 weeks it's damp ;) We could also simulate when it is frosty or snow...but since there is usually only one version of a track (or maybe two if we're lucky), better to make it representative of the majority of the time.
     
  8. Marvin Morgan

    Marvin Morgan Registered

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    That's not my recollection from the 2 years I've lived there. I remember all seasons being well represented in my time there. I guess when I lived there it was during that once in a while time period.
     
  9. vittorio

    vittorio Registered

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    Yes, this video shows numerous offroad situations with various weather conditions. Depending on weather there is none to excessive dust (mostly minor). Probably/hopefully rfactor2 takes weather conditions into account to calculate dust? Would expect so.

     
  10. Axeslayer

    Axeslayer Registered

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    This is one seriously nice track . Thanks .
     
  11. Marc Collins

    Marc Collins Registered

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    Anyway, the point may have been missed that we're not talking about OFF-track dust and dirt. Everyone wants that. It's the dust ON the track and ON the curbs that is unrealistic/too much. Anyone have videos of clouds of dust coming from the asphalt part of the track or the curbing (without putting wheels over the edge of the curbing and on to the grass)?
     
  12. TIG_green

    TIG_green Registered

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    I'm glad I don't know most of the tracks IRL. I can enjoy them all even though they are not 100% accurate. There is plenty of fun and challenge in this track.
     
  13. Ecco_pRv

    Ecco_pRv Registered

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    great work, thanks! as you see by Paul Loatmans post the track is close to perfect, and we're going into details now. so let me re-post this small "bug". looking forward to the next version!!!

     
  14. Rony1984

    Rony1984 Registered

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    It is the trackmaker who is responsible. But according to some posts around here it is fairly difficult to create an appropriate AI line. If i'm not mistaken it needs lots of laps at high speed along the ideal line to 'iron out' distortions as a result of low-speed logging. You actually seem to go around very well:) Maybe you could PM Pecliar of Tosch, who is a kind off AI expert, and help them create a decent AI line.
     
  15. pleclair

    pleclair Registered

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    Greetings guys!

    It's been a while already and things are moving great here!

    Let me just say that the next tme you will be driving the ring, you will have a TOTALLY, BRAND NEW experience on it!

    I'm really proud of what's coming up!

    I'll reveal a couple of things just now, here is what I have been hiding last time I updated my status here.

    You all know the fences and guardrails are now brand new and totally redone, not yet in 3d, and I'm not sure we'll have the extra juice needed for those anyway, as it would skyrocket the poly count big time as they are all around.

    After I was done with the fences, guardrails and tatoos, I started to work on the paddock, and that's part of what I've been hiding :)

    The paddock have received a major facelift. No more jagged edges around, the isles are all redone with a nice border (the kerb stone texture actually) and the inside is filled with billboard grass. I had also changed the ugly glass panel on the green hell cafe, so the paddock now looks pretty decent.

    I also driven on the circle (don't know how you call those in english) near the paddock, and thought it was actually a nice spot to have a little skid pad. So I did major work in the area as well, smoothed the circle, made the middle with the same style as the isle around the paddock, with the kerb stone texture.

    Basically, I have redone the whole object the paddock is located. You won't be needing to hide the paddock no more on your videos :)

    The next thing that was on the list was the trees. Oh god... those darn trees... so scarce and so floating.

    I started doing them with the script I had used back then to make my test billboard bushes. Ultimate Painter. And it was really taking ages, and sorting out the flickers was a mess. For a 1km track, maybe it's suitable, not for Nord...

    So after looking at all the free options, I came down to conclusion that spending on a nice scatterer would be highly needed for the task at hand. Cause I did not simply wanted to sit down the existing trees, there wasn't nearly enough of them.

    When I first did the trees, on my first searches, I had found something called Forest Pack. It was really expensive, and looked exactly what I needed, but I couldnt afford it, and think of asking you guys to donate for it. So I did all my tree work manually. I had tried the free version back then, and it was way too much for me at the time.

    I didn't wanted to ask my girlfriend for permission to buy Forest Pack, as I had already bought a few tools to redo the paddock and other stuff, and the vol9 of the trees collections. So I found out ScatterFX. It looks really nice and when I saw the price, it was really a no brainer given the other bigger scatterer's prices... so I bought it.

    It was good, and had really interesting features and lots of options.. it's really nice actually, except for a terrain this big... a script isn't powerful enough.. the object generation is fast, but for few thousands objects... hmmm, just blew up another cover right now :) I also want the full "grassation" of Nord :) and I wanted to do it at the same time as the trees, but I'll wait after and do it once they are done... otherwise it will take too long and I like when things moves a bit... I'd rather make mods to the track at a rate of a few days per lap, instead of few weeks :) If you want an idea of how big this thing is, fire up google earth, spot Nordschleife, and trace the full track...and see how it takes time!

    So, I managed to convince my girlfriend that Forest Pack would be a really good idea. Actually, it didnt took much, I made a test patch of grass, that was taking me like 30 mins to generate with ScatterFX in 1-2 seconds with Forest Pack. I first thought that we wouldnt be able to have full grass around a track as large as Nord, but it seems possible actually. I already grassed nearly the whole dottinger hohe, including the fields out there, and yeah, fps took a bit of a hit, but it wasn't nearly as much as I would have expected for such a high number of polys added. So things are looking good. And the objects weren't nearly optimized.

    So at the moment I'm doing MAJOR work on the trees and bushes... it will be green hell, I tell you.

    I'm working with a large scale satellite image I made and I put trees where there should be, and try to make forest in similar shapes as I see, and about where it should be.

    Gone will be the ugly tree lines as well... The mountains will be filled with trees.

    I would have liked to send a few screenshots, but it's a lot of hassle now that imageshack gone paying only... and to tell the truth, I don't really wanna look for another image hoster... so I will let go of the screenshots, and you will see when the update comes around.

    You should see the Nurburg castle standing thru the huge forest around the mountain it is located. The whole mountain is filled since we actually see that mountain from lots of places. The other mountain at the other end of the dottinger hohe (at the start of it, on the right) is also fully tree'd. The dottinger hohe is actually fully done now, except for the grass.... and it is looking amazing.

    I have worked a couple of days with Forest Pack to get acquinted with it, and after a couple of days, I managed to make myself a preset that put forest for maximum density without collisions. So no flickers coming from any trees. :)

    I'm telling you... I should have gotten this a long time ago.. but when you are tight...tax return is the one time of year I can spend a little. So I made my own contribution to the track too.

    The forest are also laid out a lot better too, this software is realllllllly nice. It can group up similiar trees together, and highly customizable. So the trees that have an odd shape have a very low chance of appearing, and those made to cover most of the forest, are used with a much higher chance of appearing. The sizes are also varied in an highly natural way. The border of the forest have smaller trees than the inside.

    It's a whole new Nord coming up! I'm really excited! Things are getting a lot more as I wanted them to be now.

    Oh and no worry, the grass will actually be a separate mod package available as an addon to the track. The performance hit is noticeable, but I'm still getting above 60fps with maximum details on my modest computer, so like I said, it's not as bad as I thought it would be, but those with lower end hardware might not be able to run it... so it will be separate.

    The performance hit from the added trees isn't as bad. I can hardly notice the two fully tree'd mountain visible at the same time on the dottinger hohe (the nurburg castle and the one at the start)... the optimization to mats and objects, along with the new guardrails in one texture let us have all this added stuff... cause I remember that during the late 0.97 days, things were getting tight.. I had worse performance then, than I have now.

    So I'll be back when this will be done.

    I have also read a bit the last few posts, and see talks about the grass... I have made adjustments to the tdf.. the grass should feel different now, and the sand is highly different. Actually slows you down now... before it wasn't. And revised grip a bit, but I think I'm repeating myself now :)

    Hang tight, 1.6 will be nothing short of awesome :)
     
  16. gagipro

    gagipro Registered

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    Ho ho I'M EXCITED TOO NOW !!!
    Cannot wait !!!
     
  17. jimcarrel

    jimcarrel Registered

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    Hanging....
     
  18. o0thx11380o

    o0thx11380o Registered

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    :D I lol'd at that. Can't wait to drive the next release!
     
  19. ZeosPantera

    ZeosPantera Registered

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    http://imgur.com/ 225 free images including albums and I think a 5meg size.. I bought a pro account for $25/year and I get unlimited images and 10megs each. Totally worth it. You can add descriptions and links to your albums as well http://imgur.com/a/Qgmay
     
  20. Twista

    Twista Registered

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    I can second imgur. There's also Flickr, I think they have a larger free capacity, and don't compress their images as much as imgur does.
     

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