Stay strong Mike, my dad died last year of cancer, it sure is a cruel disease. Sending you a lot of love from the other side of the world.
It's a terrible illness. In my case (father too), after some hard time, it went well. Now he has a medical check every 3 or 6 months, and he has a normal life. My best wishes Mike.
Best wishes Mike my thoughts are with you... anything you produce during the tough time will be an amazing effort thanks so much
Please, somewhere around the track, include a sign, a trackside advert, some little mention of your Wife. Hide it on some armco, or mix it with the smoke from campfires...something...Let her be a part of your effort!
Hi everyone, Another update after having to basically rebuild the track as the elevations were all wrong over the top of the mountain. Things are progressing now to where 90% of the terrain is done and ready to start mapping the grasses and add buildings and trees. This version will also have the Bathurst Drive-In as well as it was operating then. Also, the road markings and repairs will be done before the next video. Mike
Started work on the grand stand. Similar to today, but the back extension missing and the outer stair cases and ramp. What is crazy (besides the poo brown colour) is that the Channel 7 crew are on top using a step ladder and there is no railing up there You can see a red clad reporter there, probably Wilko Getting the details right and then almost done.
Heaps of updates and screenshots. Started doing the fence around the track........what am I doing? It is starting to look like something. Next update will be the house at 66 Mountain Straight Road, the first on the right as you head up. I will also add tress and fencing around it to see how it looks.
Yes Mike, looking really good. your best work yet? Appreciate the time your are taking to create this.
I have been working around and doing the houses and buildings. I have "borrowed" some houses from other old and new Bathurst tracks and finding that none are perfect for the 1985 track except for one house on Conrod and the famous 66 Mountain Straight brick house. Looking at old aerial images there are actually 7 homes at the top end of Conrod, the two near the middle and one which was demolished opposite the drive in. I will try and get them as close as I can. Can not be perfect unfortunately. Power poles are done. That was easy. Just removed those that were not there in the 80's. TV towers...I think there was only one there, so that will be easy. The dirt roads around the track are just being laid over the terrain and actually look OK. The Drive-In screen will be scratch built and I will try and get the whole thing looking OK. Again finding photos are super hard. The biggest single job looks like being the bridge and buildings over the pits. I am using the building from Race Driver 3 as it is the old one but is very inaccurate. Good for a base. More updates and screen shots after the weekend.
I'm loving your attention to detail and historical accuracy, not to mention your hard work. This is a track I'm enjoying, and I haven't even turned a single lap! Thanks for taking us along.
Update......Basically mapped all the track terrain and it looks OK. I tried to use Race Track Builder to do the outer terrain, but that failed as did also Sketchup as the free version had issues as well getting elevation data. So I am using a not so perfect outer terrain until I can get it better. It is OK....sort of. The mapping looks really good and now the next part is to fine tune the track objects (houses, power lines, outer roads etc) and then start planting trees. Hope to have an initial release in mid November but probably closer to the end.
Looks just like the view Mike Raymond would have from the Channel Seven chopper fying in on race morning.... SENSATIONAL
We have a tree!! First of many.....I am using the same trees as my other tracks....not billboard but the old star / cross type. I am not changing There are about 25 gum trees in my collection and about another 15 pines and non-native trees that will be in the track. Grass shading and saturation will be fine tuned section by section. The pits are a pain because the cars were parked at the rear and entered the track near the pit bridge. So depending where you are, you will have to drive all the way down and come out as they did in real life. Simple gantries will be added later.
Bit more of an update. I am working on the end of Pit Straight and Mountain Straight. Adding the trees and they look good as each tree will be unique were possible. 66 Mountain Straight back in the 80s did not have the fancy brick drive entrance, just a farm gate. The road was dirt blending to the white pebbles that were the rage back then. There are a dozen or so small bushes around the house and a long dirt road leading back from the house. Next update I should have that section of terrain done. ****I forgot to check the pointy when I exported....the trees are lighter ****
Hey everyone. Working on the outer terrain, now a 20km radius. The colours are too warn, so I need to add more blue to cool it down and add contrast so it is more distinct. I finally got the background from Race Track Builder to work, and at the moment it is a single 16K image. I will divide it into 4x 4K sections later. Elevation data is Goggle Earth and quite accurate. So these are the latest updates. Going to try and get work done on QR for a few days as the multiplayer side is broken, then I will get back to working section by section on Bathurst.