Toban Raceway Park Now Available!

Discussion in 'News & Notifications' started by 88mphTim, Mar 24, 2016.

  1. Rocket123

    Rocket123 Registered

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    As a driver I can't find the showers . There really need to be showers . Yes . That hotdog stand is the worst . They don't even have napkins and were out of mustard !

    ;) ;) ;)

    PS . I did not know this track was a fantasy track ! OMG it's bloody brilliant !!!
    Thankyou ISI !!!
     
  2. Juergen-BY

    Juergen-BY Registered

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    and don`t forget the hostess, to hold ready towels :)
     
  3. sg333

    sg333 Registered

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    I am curious now what the current track team could come up with if they were given free reign to design thier own 'from scratch' fantasy track. I believe Toban was Scott's design from RF1.
     
  4. Luc Van Camp

    Luc Van Camp Track Team Staff Member

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    Something with ski jump ramps, upside down tunnels and other craziness :cool: ?! No, not really :) . Personally, I've always liked short club tracks that provide both a bit of a challenge to get the correct lines, and action-packed racing for everyone; not just the few aliens who manage to master the track. Definitely none of that off-cambered decreasing-radius stuff that's artificially crammed into a parking lot ...

    Toban was designed by Brad Shuber by the way. Scott did design the new Medium section.
     
  5. MarcG

    MarcG Registered

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    You mean Michael...that Scott...right? :p
     
  6. sg333

    sg333 Registered

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    True, its ultimately about having a track that provides good racing :)
     
  7. Nitrometh

    Nitrometh Registered

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    If I had some million $$$ I would hire you guys to build this track in rl. Maybe we should start crowd funding. Happy Easter to all of you guys.[emoji6]

    Gesendet von meinem GT-I9301I mit Tapatalk
     
  8. cosimo

    cosimo Registered

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    Mores is still one of my top picks.
    Now if we could have that additional layout ... :)
     
  9. 88mphTim

    88mphTim racesimcentral.net

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    lol, yes. When you already have a Michael and a Mike (and I think another Michael at one point), it's easier to call yourself Scott. :D

    Brad Shuber = https://twitter.com/BShuber
     
  10. 88mphTim

    88mphTim racesimcentral.net

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    We already moved it part by part from Indiana. ;)
     
  11. Rocket123

    Rocket123 Registered

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    Was it the blond , the brunette or the redhead ? Or all three !!!

    :p
     
  12. Rocket123

    Rocket123 Registered

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    Have you guys tried Toban at night yet ? Freeking amazingly fun and I think I went faster at night which I did in the real world also on other tracks of course though I wish this one were real . The great thing about night and also rain driving is the fact that there are no distractions . You only see the track . Works great for me having ADHD and an addiction to speed any way I can get it ... Safely at home works pretty good ...
    Thankyou ISI and all involved ...
    ;) ;) ;)
     
  13. Mydriaz

    Mydriaz Registered

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    Great tracks !
    Thank you.
     
  14. MarcG

    MarcG Registered

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    aahh the good old Tobanator, from Michigan no less!

    GRAB_000.JPG
     
  15. Nitrometh

    Nitrometh Registered

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    Does toban have new tree models etc? The track looks awesome (and yes the buildings too) but I switched several times from toban an mills and it seems the trees bushes etc looks better at mills. Anyway....best track so far. Thank you so much

    Gesendet von meinem GT-I9301I mit Tapatalk
     
  16. Luc Van Camp

    Luc Van Camp Track Team Staff Member

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    CG renders vs photosourced cardboards, different pros and cons. Hopefully, in time, there will be fewer cons.
     
  17. Guiller

    Guiller Banned

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    As a follow up to my first post in this forum, I would like to elaborate a little more on my statement about the buildings for this beautiful track. My intension is to give a constructive criticism on issues that I’m familiar with, no more no less.
    THE EVIDENCE
    Let me start with the grandstand structure that is repeated many times.
    The first thing that cached my eye was the roof structure since you can see it even when you are going fast.
    Clearly it does not make sense. There is no structural engineer in the world that would design a steel structure like that. But the artist that model it when to great lengths to model intricate connections and detail bolts and plates. All wrong mind you. You cannot attach a 50’ plus long steel beam to a column with a bended plate and one bolt. Anyhow you just don’t build canopy structures like that. The picture below is from a very similar structure. A grandstand at a small racetrack in rural USA. See how the roof trusses work?
    View attachment 19655

    Instead of spending time on silly detailing, cool things like the press booths on the back, grandstand lighting (for the patrons watching those 24hr races) and speakers could have been incorporated.
    Let’s look a little bit further.
    This is an image of the grandstand bleachers.
    View attachment 19654


    Who in his right mind would design a 5’ plus thick solid concrete base for the columns? The most offensive though are the access steps, railing and ramp. The landing platform looks like 4’ to 5’ above the ground and it would need 8 to 10 risers instead of four. The ramp needs to be 48’ to 60’ long to meet handicapped requirements and the railings as shown won’t meet any construction code on the last 30 years. It all looks out of scale when you compare the bleachers (possible a mapping?) to the rest of the model.
    Next, the bridges. These are also structures that are repeated all over.
    They look out of scale. The stair is clearly wrong, the stringer should be about 12 to 18 inches, the railing 42” above nosing and pickets or a mesh so people don’t fall is required. Anyhow the concept is wrong, in permanent tracks; full height opaque panels are design to prevent people from standing in the stair and watching the race from there. Same with the bridge, the truss concept is ok but the detailing is capricious and kind of out of scale to my eye. For this type of project, the cross beam decorative overhangs would be eliminated on the first value engineering meeting and the bracing shown on the bottom cord is not required since the truss beams are braced on the top. These pedestrian bridges are rather simple to meet budget.
    View attachment 19656
    View attachment 19657


    Let’s move to the pit’s building.
    This one being the largest and more complex gave the modeler and artist more opportunities to screw up.
    Let’s start with the premise that it is a two story structure that has garage bays on the ground floor and VIP suites on the second floor. A balcony is on the front to provide to some lucky people close view to the race and the activities on the pits. The building is part of a small local race track in Southern California and was probably built 10 to 15 years ago. Preferred structural building materials in the area are concrete and concrete masonry units. There are three buildings arranged in a symmetrical lay-out.
    Below is an image of the end of one of the buildings.
    View attachment 19658


    From the design point of view the interesting issues are; why somebody would design a solid balcony parapet wall that obstructs the view to the track to the VIP’s instead of a metal railing? Why the balcony wall after it turns the corner go all the way to the back with no purpose? What holds this portion of balcony? How do the VIP’s go out from the suits to the balcony? And for the ones with very keen eye, why is there 12 bays on the ground floor but only 11 VIP suits on the second floor and 6 RTU’s on the roof?
    On the detailing side; the RTU’s on the roof look a little out of scale but are a nice touch. The glass storefronts at the suits are all wrong. There is no manufacturer on earth that can produce economically fissile glass panels of that size (about 15’ w x 9’ h per my estimate). Where are the suits doors? What is the parapet wall made of? It looks like a precast concrete panel but there are no construction or expansions joints.
    View attachment 19659

    On this image the obvious comment is again about the structure. The bottom of the second floor structure for the most incredible reason in the world is map as a random plank wood deck. Clearly it does not work structurally and only a derange builder would put a decorative wood ceiling on a racing car track garage, not to mention all the violations of the fire code. Also for the thing to work you need a beam aligned with the front columns as heather for the garage doors. How is the second floor balcony supported? There is some strange light metal framing from the missing beam on top of the doors to the balcony parapet wall but what holds everything? You can see corbels at every other pier but no beam on top. My guess is that they forgot to model the sky hooks……!
    Just a few comments on the detailing side; the fire extinguishers are mounted too high, the downspouts look a little out as scale as do the straps. Why would you do it like that anyway? On a rainstorm the water from the balcony will create a problem on the pit area. Putting a catch basing at the foot of the downspouts will solve the issue and look very cool…….. Sectional glass garage doors look nice but are too expensive……The first two bays don’t have doors but the tracks are there….The light switch is in the middle of the room and not next to a door as usual….. And I could go on and on……
    Lastly a couple of detail images that I guess don’t need any comment.
    View attachment 19660
    View attachment 19661

    SUMATION
    After all this lengthy post there are two questions in my mind;
    The first one is directed to ISI……What’s going on guys? Is there any quality control? I try to put myself in the shoes of the artist that did the above detail of the post connection to the wall. Clearly he or her spend some good time modeling the plate and the bolts and carefully painted the rust on the wall etc. But amazingly failed to see that the top expansion bolts need at least 3” from the top of the wall to work.
    There are some elements that I have to recognize might be difficult to model properly doe to their complexity or some other technical issues that would require unnecessary amount of time and effort to do them. But in most cases commented above I will say it would have taken the same amount of time and effort to do them correctly.
    It appears to me that ISI need someone on board that can spot these silly errors. Or as suggested on my previous post, consult with an architect or at least an engineer. . BTW, ISI, if you cannot afford one just a few blocks from your offices is Michigan State University. It has one of the best and most prestigious schools of Architecture. I’m sure that if you ask them, a senior class would gladly take the design of the next fantasy track buildings as a semester project. And what a nice way to interact with your city community.
    The second question is more complex. It deals with more on philosophical issues and I’m sure every one of you will have an opinion. It’s born out of very valid comments posted before like:”I was too busy racing to notice buildings” or “but being a fantasy track, I believe it's ok to give ISI license”.
    In other words……why should we care at all………..
    There is no doubt that these elements play a secondary role in the simulation. Is like the supporting cast in a movie…….And to make the issue more difficult, the perception is that we are getting this for free…..There is an old saying in Spanish “a caballo regalado no se le miran los dientes”
    But on the other hand, shouldn’t we strive to win an Oscar on the supporting role too? As I stated before I view this as a simulation…..as such it should be as close as possible to reality…….no artistic license or interpretation should be tolerated……..or should be?
    The old question is always there….to be or not to be…….
    VEREDICT
    Up to all of you………
    P.S. ucfquattroguy, I hope my credibility is a little notch up…..
     
  18. IT-Trader

    IT-Trader Registered

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    It shows how fantastic rF2 is these days given someone feels so incensed about the structural engineering of the grandstand.

    Since you want to be picky, I'm going to call you out as being plain wrong

    You state "just a few blocks from your offices is Michigan State University"
    ...erm, no! NO! NO! NO!
    The ISI office you refer to is in Ann Arbor. Michigan State University is in East Lansing, about an hour up the road. Have you heard of Google? try it some time.
    Next you'll be walking through the streets of Ann Arbor shouting 'Go Green'...and promptly have your legs broken by University of Michigan Architecture students. How will you feel about the 'best and most prestigious school' then?
    My point here is if you're going to be fastidious about detail, then you need to be fastidious about detail.

    GO BLUE!
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Mar 29, 2016
  19. ucfquattroguy

    ucfquattroguy Registered

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    Bingo, Guiller!

    I was just thinking about prospective track builders. To know *why* something is not right will serve them better in the long run.
     
  20. Marc Collins

    Marc Collins Registered

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    I am just glad that ISI tracks have graduated to the point that this is the only remaining major criticism. Yes, the buildings could be better and more realistic. But the track DESIGN is 10/10. The landscaping is plausible and realistic and most importantly not distracting. The buildings are again not distracting due to garish colours or mismatching textures or a dozen other problems that many buildings at sim tracks exhibit. Given the entire universe of sim tracks for any/all titles, this one is very close to the top of the list. And remember also, that this track has a long and storied history. The designers clearly intended an homage to the original, right down to the comical "water tower at the lowest point of the track." Those of us who cherished the original Toban wanted a recognizable update, not an engineering-perfect re-do.

    Passion and attention to detail is wonderful. But to go crazy over off-track building construction details at a track of this superlative quality when about 98% of the other tracks out there have more serious and/or racing-related deficiencies is quite curious. The only deficiency I can find with Toban is some transparency-related AA (jaggies) on the portable metal fencing in the pit area, on the stairs leading to the overhead walkways and on a couple of other seams and textures. These could be fixed fairly simply and affect the immersion because you are driving past objects that suddenly appear digital and artificial in an otherwise solidly simulated environment. If everything was solid from an AA perspective, you could pretend Toban was abandoned and get rid of all the buildings or just leave piles of rubble where we pretended they were purposely demolished and it wouldn't detract from my enjoyment of the best (or at least top 3 by most accounts) fantasy sim track layout ever devised.
     

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