aiw~thing video (6)

Discussion in 'Track Modding' started by Bink, Feb 13, 2015.

  1. Spinelli

    Spinelli Banned

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    I don't know much at all about modding. Soon I'll be modding tracks just to make reverse versions of them (Eg. Mills and Quebec). I'm just going to do the most basic, minimum changes to make the track work in multiplayer. Switch direction, pit in/out, 1st/3rd sector, etc...

    My question is: Will this tool help me in anyway?

    Thanks. I don't know much about this stuff so excuse me for my ignorance.
     
  2. Bink

    Bink Registered

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    @ lagg, Butters, Hazi, Jka, and mschreiner... Thanks for the 'well wishes' guys... It's just a matter of being ancient... sh__ happens. Was laying there thinking, 'what happens to my aiw project if I don't make it out of this place?' In the next few weeks, I'll try to make arrangements (thumb drive & track modding forum address) with a friend, so that it gets posted 'as is' should something not work out well in the future. Might seem overly dramatic... but you'll understand exactly what I'm saying 40 or 50 years from now. Anyhow... thanks for the props.

    @Spinelli ... I saw your thread about reversing aiw, and wanted to respond, but I wasn't really in any condition to do so before it was locked (... ?). Reversing aiw programmatically would NOT be an easy task.

    Tuttle was absolutely correct about that (and all the other help he provides us with). It would be like writing a new, moderately complex program to do it, which is probably why ISI haven't shown an interest in doing so. It's possible... but quite a bit of a pain to code.

    To answer your question... yes, the aiw~thing toolset would help. I use it for exactly that task during development (of itself). Lately, while working on the toolset's fast-line software, when I finish testing new drive-line generating code on a track in the initial direction, I make a copy of the track, and work through the script's process to make and test the aiw in the reverse direction. [..to insure there are no un-wanted surprises hidden in the code (you know.. "undocumented features")].

    aiw~thing does NOT have a 'magic button' to reverse tracks... but it can make aiw files very quickly (10 to 15 minutes depending on track complexity & toolset familiarity), so it doesn't need a 'reversal button'.

    It is so quick and easy to make a track's aiw file from a 'raw' track mesh in Max, that it is not worth it for me to spend the time trying to program reversal functions.

    At the moment, its not finished, so in that sense, it won't help you now. I am rather determined to finish it, and 'get it right', though... so eventually, it will be a reasonable toolset for making aiw files (in any direction).... if you have a few spare minutes in your day.

    When I read your thread, it reminded me of me... and most of the rest of us here.... when we first started with rFactor. Eventually, I realized that complaining about DevMode on the forum wasn't getting me anywhere, so I started coding my own toolset.

    I don't really know when it will be 'finished', but I post progress reports here if you are curious. Best advice for now is to use DevMode to learn how this all works... until an alternative is available.

    Also... check out this image (particularly the pit-box waypoints) to see some of the reasons why one cannot merely invert direction vectors and transform matrices to reverse aiw:
    View attachment 18611

    ---------------------------------------- ..

    Oh Yea... Congratulations to mschreiner on becoming an ISI Tester! Hadn't noticed that before now. Good choice for the job [that Kentucky track you sent me was beyond great].
     
  3. Spinelli

    Spinelli Banned

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    Sweet, thanks. 10 to 15 mins is awesome and much shorter than I thought. Even a couple hours (since it'll be my first time) would be great.

    I didn't realize your condition. I just saw the OP and that's it. Best wishes of course :)
     
  4. Butters

    Butters Registered

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    Jeepers 40 - 50 years I doubt I'll be doing this when I'm 80 or 90 lol. Sincerely hope things aren't that serious that it could deprive you of the opportunity to release this tool yourself when you are ready but appreciate the sentiment of thinking of your fellow modders.

    Sent from my SM-G928I using Tapatalk
     
  5. Juergen-BY

    Juergen-BY Registered

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    Maybe a dumb question...but would it be possible to add a new aiw to an existing track with this tool, without using 3DS?
     
  6. Bink

    Bink Registered

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    @Jurgen-BY... sorry, but aiw~thing requires the 3dsMax API. Most of the 'stock' functions in Max are either maxScript, or C++ plug-ins that access the 'parent' API. It's handy, because you don't have to write the entire environment. You only need to code whatever functionality you're looking for. Since most rFactor tracks are built in Max, it seemed like an easier, more precise place to build aiw files.

    @Butters... It's weird, but with a life-time of globe-trotting to implement high-tech entertainment projects, it's really hard to turn it off when you retire. After movies, tv, concert tours, and other such nonsense, the next logical thing to learn was 'video-game' technology. Besides... I don't know how to play golf.

    Sent from my huge, coal-burning workstation using codger drivel.
     
  7. Butters

    Butters Registered

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    Well I know your work is as much appreciated as it is anticipated. So we are grateful for your efforts.

    Sent from my SM-G928I using Tapatalk
     
  8. Bink

    Bink Registered

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    Working on detection and handling of corners that gradually tighten or loosen (spirals). [Look at an overhead view of Shanghai's F1 track for a close enough example... or two.]

    The vast majority tracks that have similar corner sequences simply place a looser corner before (or after) a tighter corner of the same direction. That is.. loose-->tight, or tight-->loose. So, splitting the curve into 2 corners, then finding the apex on the tight portion of the corner (which will be the only apex used in the pair) is much easier. It was one of the first type of corner sequences written for aiw~thing to handle back when I started it.

    In contrast... on smoothly spiraling in (or out) corners, it's harder to find the proper place in the corner to split it into a "loose" & "tight" sections. Again, the apex needs to be placed at the proper point of the tight portion of the corner, so defining where the split point is (between loose and tight portions) is important for finding the "tight" apex.

    There are several flavors of these spiraling corners, and the difficult ones to fit the drive line through are between 120 and 360 degrees of total turn angle (like Shanghai turn 1).

    Anyhow, in statistics there are some solutions that deal with number sets called "Measure of Central Tendencies" [... more specifically: "Mean Absolute Deviation" (about the mean)]. So the data set will be the angular deviations between the waypoints in the corner, and some tests this week should verify if this procedure will work for detecting the split point (or not).

    It's another one of those things that's simple to do with your eyes... but not as easy to math about.
     
  9. Butters

    Butters Registered

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    All sounding awesome Bink. Would love to see a video of the current features if you ever get a chance.

    Sent from my SM-G928I using Tapatalk
     
  10. lagg

    lagg Registered

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    This project is being, everyday bigger and more impressive.
    I'm really looking forward to this work.
    You're the man :cool:
     
  11. Bink

    Bink Registered

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    @Butters ... Yea, I've been meaning to do that. Watched the main video at the start of this thread the other day, and realized how much some things had changed. Some of the tasks that used to require user input are now calculated (so a number of controls are no longer on there)... Standardized control panel layouts, and the inclusion of the progress bars + "next step indicators" beside each control so the user knows what to do next. The video probably won't happen this week as I again need to do some other unpleasant things away from this project. But I do want to make a new video.. something more representative of the current state of the project.

    @lagg... Actually, the list of things it can do is getting bigger, while the size of the program is getting smaller. I've been having some "2am Ideas" on how to also generate Wet, Block, and Pace-Car lines computationally. At the moment, aiw~thing has an optional control panel ("Drive Lines") that allows you to clone the fast line & rename the clone, and then manually edit it (in the Spline Editor rollout) so as to make these other drive lines. But lately, I've been thinking about ways to automatically generate wet, block, and pace lines also. Probably need to wait until the fast line generator is completed, at which point the other lines could (perhaps) be done by having the existing fast-line functions do these other driving lines using different sets of input parameters. We'll see....

    Thanks for the encouragement though.
     
  12. Butters

    Butters Registered

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    Any chances of an AIW Christmas Beta gift Bink? :) Bit of time off over the festive period and would love to get some AIWs completed.

    Sent from my SM-G928I using Tapatalk
     
  13. Bink

    Bink Registered

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    yea.... I wish ... Back up to 6 days a week on this thing... here's what I've been working on:

    [To be clear, "in" radius (on the 3 corners in the below drawing) is 80m ..... "out" radius is 12m.]
    View attachment 18812
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Dec 20, 2015
  14. rhamm

    rhamm Registered

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    Having not ever messed with the AI I've read that the game accepts different fast lines for different mods. I've been wondering if it was in scope to have AIThing be able to make different fast lines based on a certain engine power and grip levels or if that's a whole other can o worms.
     
  15. Bink

    Bink Registered

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    Sure... You can manually edit any of the drive lines.... (check out the "Spline Editor" video on post #1 of this thread... the fast line is the purple spline in the video).

    You would start by using the "Drive Lines" control panel. It allows you to clone (copy), rename, and / or re-order the existing drive lines.

    After cloning your fast line & re-naming the clone in the "Drive Lines" control panel, you could then edit it in the "Spline Editor" control panel, and modify the line to suit a different car mod.

    This is what the "Drive Lines" control panel looks like:
    View attachment 18823
     
  16. Bink

    Bink Registered

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  17. Butters

    Butters Registered

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    Looks amazing. Keep it up Bink and hope all is well on the health front.

    Have a good Christmas all. :)

    Sent from my SM-G928I using Tapatalk
     
  18. rhamm

    rhamm Registered

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    Thanks for the info Bink. Looks great!
     
  19. lagg

    lagg Registered

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    Merry Christmas. [emoji3]

    Enviado desde mi E2003 mediante Tapatalk
     
  20. Mario Morais

    Mario Morais Registered

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    Hi Bink great work so far. I have some curiosities .. :)

    Code:
    wp_pathinfo2 = (ID, OFFSET, B, C)
    In wp_pathinfo2 you know the meaning of B and C values??

    Code:
    wp_oriantation=(0,-0.1735,1.5512,-3.1347)
    Why path point need orientation??

    Thanks for you great work..
     

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