You may have seen this coming over the past few months but I'm developing the Valencia Street Circuit for rFactor 2 to assist my AI series for next season, and I have decided I will be releasing it to you all as well. I don't have 3D Studio Max which is a problem so the way I'm going to develop this track is use Bob's track builder and develop the important things such as the track, kerbs, barriers, terrain etc and make that for rFactor. I'm then going to convert that to rFactor 2 Dev Mode and build all the track objects from there, so I can hopefully release it around November time. When it's released, feel free to use it for anything without having to ask my permission, for example leagues (you will also have permission to modify the sponsor banners as well), or for your own leisure, At the moment I am struggling to find reference material for BTB, I need a high quality satellite image of the track, and I'm struggling to work out how I can download one from Google Maps, I've found some methods but they are incredibly complicated. I also need a parked car xpack, so I can measure the car against a real car in the satellite image so I can have the track the perfect width etc. If someone could also send me more useful reference material then I'd very much appreciate that as well. About the track; The Valencia Street Circuit is a street circuit that hosted the European Grand Prix from 2008-2012. This circuit has been known for it's harbourside nature and glamour, however despite all this, it is a track much criticised by drivers and fans alike, as it's races weren't producing the action anyone would've liked. However all those critics were silenced in 2012 when it produced one of the most thrilling races of the season, where Fernando Alonso took an emotional home win from eleventh on the grid. Since though, many bad things have happened to the track as poor maintenance as a result of the economic situation in Spain has resulted in the track falling into disrepair, as many of the valuable items have been stolen, even with arsonists striking one of the billboard bridges and setting it on fire, and as a result of the economic situation, a chance of the circuit ever hosting another motor racing event, let alone an F1 race again is very far from likely.
Wow I did not know that! Sad stuff, I really enjoyed the track. Maybe one of the few who did. But great that you're working on bringing it to rF2 man! Can't wait.
Yeah I was sad to find it was in disrepair. Always liked that track, got a nice flow. I mean it hosted a thriller in 2012 and now look what has happened to it just 7 months later! http://www.carthrottle.com/meet-the-abandoned-f1-track-that-was-once-an-epic-street-circuit/ Back to the project before I can start work, I need some decent reference material
I need help everyone, I'm struggling to find an HQ sattelite map of the circuit that I can use as a reference point to the size, terrain etc. If anyone knows how to download HQ maps from Google, then I'd appreciate it cos all the tutorial's i found, i followed the instructions, and nothing worked. I also need a parked cars XPACK so i can measure the size
OK, development work in BTB on this track has started. Work on this track will be a bit delayed as I have my GCSEs coming up in a matter of weeks, however after that I can continue work. Here is my first WIP screenshot from BTB. http://gyazo.com/c6d60fac13a3a5108ddfaa46e097acbf As you can see there is a lot of work to be done, firstly, the node points need to be smoothed out, and many more things need to be done. In terms of kerbing, I'll be modelling the kerbs myself instead of using the ones in BTB, cos I'd then get a much more realistic result. I also need help in finding a reference for the elevation changes, I know there is no major bits of elevation however when watching videos I've noticed there are parts where the track goes slightly uphill/downhill etc.
Due to the fact that I would love to start building tracks myself (if only I had the talent, knowledge, time and so on...) I am going to ask you a lot of stupid questions. What are "node points"? And how do you smooth them out? How do you go about modelling kerbs? How do you go about finding elevation references?
I'm talking about bob's track builder here, which isn't free, however if u do get BTB, there are plenty of tutorials on YouTube on how to do it.
Ok this project is going well so far, the past few stints on this project have basically been perfecting and neatening up the corners. However do expect progress on this project to be slow till around mid-June time, as I have my GCSEs to take, however once their done, expect progress to be a lot faster. In terms of elevation. I have been analysing video footage of laps round the track, and I know the elevation is minimal but I'd like to get every section of the elevation as close to perfect as possible, it's going to be a challenge. If anyone has any good reference material for this sort of thing (could even be just close up pics of the track) then I'd really appreciate it.
Ok guys, so far what I have done is the track layout, and the width of the side of the track (green painted areas). Haven't started the elevation yet because first what I have to do is smooth out some of the corners, to add more node points, This may take a while, I've only done Turn 2 so far and that took around 20 mins/30 mins. Here is a few screenshots of the progress so far. T1 http://gyazo.com/88af11255bfb3fd8d0f0e2b0b0eff0af T2 http://gyazo.com/88af11255bfb3fd8d0f0e2b0b0eff0af
Made a mistake in the first post, both pics are of T2. Here is a pic of T1. http://gyazo.com/6bd47066473c49ed9b092aa63450df62 Another thing I want to ask is are the green areas at their correct width or are they a bit too wide?
Need a little help. Is there a way in Bob's Track Builder where you can have different parts of the track at different widths or will I have to do that manually some other way?
In case your wondering why I've been a bit inactive with this project, it's not dead so don't worry basically the reason why I'm a bit inactive is 1. I've still not finished my GCSEs yet and 2. I've been focusing attention on the current season of my AI series but my plan is once I've got all the tracks prepared, I focus a lot more attention on next season which will include development of this track.
A little help please. Looked at tons of footage and reference points of the circuit and I've realised at Turn 8 I think is slightly cambered, and I know on both straights it goes slightly uphill at the start but on the approach to the corner it goes downhill. Is there any other elevation?
Tonight, I managed to find time to do further development on this track. There is a bulge on the right side of T1 that I'm struggling to perfect, but I'm working on it... T2 is pretty much complete. http://i.gyazo.com/246a0ea6c394c0dbd7d4feaf213cb17e.png
I've decided that Bob's Track Builder isn't the best way to develop this track as there is so many messy areas it's unbelievable no matter what I do, it is so hard to make a part of the track look like it should do. I'm looking for a piece of freeware that can develop rFactor/rFactor 2 tracks in a good way that is not BTB, because the idea is I'd like to make this track look as accurate as possible and even when it's finished there would be noticable areas that look messy.
Can't use 3d studio max, way too expensive, especially when I'm saving up for a new PC. I've decided what I'm going to do with this project step by step. 1. I'm going to continue with BTB making the surface, terrain and elevation as accurate as possible. 2. I'm going to make a string object of walls and tyre barriers and insert them onto the track. 3. I'm going to import the surface itself into ZModeler and neaten each and every corner, and map all the surface textures, such as the blue run-off, astro turf, yellow and orange lines etc. 4. I'm going to model the kerbs and anti cuts, also in ZModeler. 5. I'm going to import the track into rF2 ModDev mode and model the buildings in ZModeler. 6. I'm going to give the track it's final finishing touches. 7. The track will be converted to the main game and will be tested in many different ways. If there are any bugs, they will be sorted. 8. V1 will be released. This will all take place over at least 5 months.
