5-Day Track Build <edit> Day 6 and Beyond!

[bearlythere12]

"My" trackmaker challenged me to a 5-day build. He said that's how Bent Twig came into being...he saw a track layout request online and challenged himself. So I did a little hunt and saw a post @ Reddit from Captain_Hank3. Gave me a chuckle...guy knows what he wants fer sure...

I've never released any of my tracks before, this will be interesting. Will be a miracle if i can even get the ai out there.

Won't be 5 consecutive days as i've got some family stuff this weekend, but it'll be released next week sometime unless i get hit by a bus.


Day 1
Track layout completed. Took 3 complete rebuilds, was up til almost 3am. Tried to trace his exact drawing but ran into severe Sandbox limitations. Plus the track was a Turd Burger, too damn wide. Slimming things up helped considerably.

Chicane on backstretch had to made outside of the centerline otherwise impossible to get the effect of an oval backstretch - not a problem since CaptHank wanted no banking thru there.

Front chicanes had to do a little magic to make his pitlane possible. I ran slightly wider arched turns and slimmed up the track thru there. Much more fun now.




Day 2
Finished up all walls, banking, and track surface textures (all Papy, just did very tiny/quick adjustments in PhotoShop). Still want to add color to the walls, hopefully i'll have time. Added rumble strips, made those 3-dimensional. Did something very WCR-esque on the backstretch, let's leave that as a surprise. Started adding 3dos and making the 3do tirewalls "non-ghosts". Next day have to finish all 3dos to have a prayer of meeting 5-day deadline.

 

[Cynon]

The Interdimensional Rift was made in 3 days, I'm really excited to see what you get in 5. The AI shouldn't be *too* troublesome but I can see how it could be if you're new to it.

 

[bearlythere12]

The Interdimensional Rift was made in 3 days, I'm really excited to see what you get in 5. The AI shouldn't be *too* troublesome but I can see how it could be if you're new to it.

Geez..ya took the wind out of my sails...ha! 3 day build i'd be off to the funny farm in a straitjacket.

 

[bearlythere12]

Day 3
Snow day, all my buddies bitching about sore backs so i'm stuck in the Sandbox. To be fair was probably the heaviest 6in of snow i've shoveled in 20yrs. 2am, can't see straight anymore and making mistakes so time to quit. Added all 3dos, erected catch fences, slimmed up pit lane and fixed a bad hump in turn 2...still there a bit, adds some drama.

Added more tire walls thru chicane #2 and erased "Rockingham" from the front stands (CaptHank insistent about having those stands). Added too many stands..in the turns...but helped me stay on schedule, other than i haven't done any billboards or stp graphics yet...but those are quick to whip up. Next day will be working on pit stall and starting grids, followed by LPs and a more dialed-in setup.

Taking weekend off for family stuff, day 4&5 pushed towards next week.

 

[bearlythere12]

Day 4
Did ini adj stuff concerning ai points of interest - pit stalls, starting grid, named track sections, etc. Ran 10 or so 5 lap races, AI maybe 60% of what i'd like to see.

Ran into major hurdle concerning pits, actually saw this on day 1 when my "special stall" was askew. Good news is that i'm seeing a pattern WCR has had a problem with the last 2 releases that i helped w/ during testing and, well, gave rather worthless advice. I'll go into greater detail in the readme, but for now, looks like placing pitlane/stalls in a corner causes headaches, nothing logical like when placing 3dos. Yes, i'm aware that the pitlane looks straight, it's just that the game doesn't understand [actually in a corner that is "Mark(ed) as Euclidean"].

Bad news is that i'm certain the pits will be a mess beyond simple pitstall alignment, i think the ai will have trouble pulling in/out of their stalls. We shall see. Good news is that this doesn't affect the racing at all, as long as the ai don't pit.

Have gone thru 4 sets of LPs so far, racing better but string out too early. At the end of every race they crash in turn 1 and won't drive beyond there. Must be LP related. But also noticed pacecar doing absolute cartoon stuff trying to park, hopefully an easy fix. Just disconcerting it's all happening in the same area.

Not in the mood for ai adj or a proper setup, so instead decided to do billboards and stp files after running those short races. Final day reserved for fine-tuning. Might put it off for a day or 2, but track definitely getting released this week.

 

[bearlythere12]

Day 5
Threw some multiple grooves in the turns to try and get the ai to pass each other more, helped but still too single file for me. Also took a bunch of grip out of the track, really gotta throttle it around the place, i think it's a riot. Got a decent setup done, pretty even tire temps on the right side and it's very catch-able if you respect the throttle.

Also redid LPs another 3 times, still, uh, i dunno...not where i want things. Really needs tighter LPs, esp thru the chute. AI tend to crash thru there on lap 1 but sometimes make it thru.

Good news, finally figured out the big crash in turn 1 at EVERY finish. Made wholesale changes to the ini files concerning when the ai latch onto pit LPs leaving and entering the pits. I must have had too low of a value, too close to the exit of the pits and the ai got confused by it. Got lucky.

Pits still a mess, but the ai get close. Pacecar a bit cartoon-y but at least he stays off the track under green. I'm wondering if a 2nd set of pit LPs would fix the pacecar and maybe even the pitstalls that are in the "Mark(ed) for Euclidean" section. But alas i'm out of time, 5 day deadline hit. Feel free to pick up the torch if you like the joint.

And sorry for the corny name, i blame it on 'The Little Rascals' being on last night.

Track in Downloads: Rascal_ Roval_Raceway_BT12

 

[Daniel Barbosa]

for some reason that track reminds me of the Nascar Thunder 2003 Hawaii Track(PS1 Version if im not mistaken)

 

[bearlythere12]

Day 6
Okay, a couple of folks have gotten a ctd so I'm gonna attempt to fix what i think is broke...since i don't really know as its been stable for me. That said there are 2 obvious problems which have to be the culprit(s).

(1) I just noticed a streak coming off the front grandstands from time-to-time. I had to resave the Rockingham grandstands using 3dsimed b/c simply grabing them wouldn't work (track won't load in either Sandbox or the game). I have this problem infrequently when using original Papy 3dos. Anyone know what i'm doing wrong? Is there some sort of hidden mip that 3dsimed can't see??

Weird thing is that 3dsimed recognizes the object fine and i assume it "Export(ed) Textures" correctly. But the only way to get them to work is to resave the object. But sometimes 3dsimed doesn't save stuff correctly and i wind up w/ said problem.

Even now w/ the track complete, you would think i could just grab the original Papy 3do and copy it straight to the track folder. But nope, track won't load.

The streak might also be from a detached x-section, but my money is on the grandstand.

(2) Pit problems galore...so...

Bulldozed the original pits, it's a construction area now which fits the theme going on outside the chicane. Pits moved to backstretch. I think as long as the pacecar is parked on the original pitlane (somewhere where the f-section is straight and not "Marked as Euclidian"), i shouldn't have to move the s/f line to the backstretch. Pacecar can follow its own pace LP like you would do w/ an under 1/2mi oval (Butters Rule). All theory of course.

There were a couple other options i could've taken, such as making the current pitlane 2-wide in the section not "Euclidian". Or maybe even what i described above in day 5, 2 sets of pit LPs; ones for the cars in the "Euclidian" areas and the other for the cars giving me fits. Not sure if that's even do-able b/c if you look at the ini stall values you'll see some huge differences (angle or rotation? not sure what you call the 3rd column). Probably chasing my own tail trying to get that to work.

This is an attempt to fix the problems i saw on day 4&5, i think the game doesn't like the fronstretch layout. Even though pitlane appears straight, it's really in a corner.

Day 7 may or may not be consecutive, we've got some 50deg weather coming so i'll be wrenching stuff outside in the garage instead of doing the Basement Ogre routine.

 

[bearlythere12]

Day 7
The weatherman lied, never got close to 50 and the 20mph breeze cut thru my oil-stained coveralls. I lasted 2hrs outside.

Laid down new pit LPs, had a bit of trouble w/ drunken ai but now they're cooperating. A couple guys crashed after the race in the pits. Still not certain if i've got the max/min lines 'bassackwards'. Hard to wrap my head around it b/c of the odd pit location. But should be the same as any oval.

Pacecar works but when i watched him during the race he rotates from side to side in slowmo, like one of those golf course sprinklers. Very bizarre. And he's useless when the yellow comes out, takes a 45deg sharp turn and cuts across the infield grass. This was in a non-"Euclidian" section.

Moved him back near where i originally had him, appears to work better, actually follows the pit LPs and no longer popcorns all over the place. Not sure how i fixed that and my theories concerning pitlane look to be complete nonsense. Hmm. But no matter what i do the pacecar won't park straight. But he works now so whatever.

Also noticed that many of the pit boxes near the rear are floating a good foot or so in the sky. Never had that problem before. And the ai crash a bit too often, will redo all LPs i guess.

 

[bearlythere12]

Day 8
Threw some x-sections down pitlane to help w/ the floating pit boxes near the rear. Pitlane banked near the back so i flattened it to match Taylor Swift's current backside. Added caution light below flagman. Moved and added a couple differing grooves to hopefully improve race and realism. Got pacecar parked straighter and he seems to behave better. Recently learned about "road_caution_advance_dlong" (thanks riviera71), should help w/ the ai under yellow if i get it right.

Made new race LPs, much wider thru high banked sections, slimmer thru the technical stuff. Liking it so far, ai still wreck thru cement chute but less crazy pileups. Not sure how i feel about that yet. Will devote an entire night to dialing ai in.

Took 2deg out of the rumble strip banking entering and leaving the concrete chute. Will cut back on the chuckles (ai got airbourne) but should help w/ the accidents thru there. <edit> Nope, they're still wrecking big. Might add it back later or if someone here calls me a fool and loved the nuttiness. Took 2deg out of the high banks, made it a sliver less cartoonish and a bit easier for the transition into the new pitlane. Can add back later if track demands it. Now there's a pronounced hump outside pit entrance. I kinda like it, will smooth it out if it annoys me later.

Thanks to Riviera71 for finding the missing front grandstands mip and Mystical for a tutorial on why you don't want to convert original Papy 3do's w/ 3dsimed. If you have a flash across the sky this might be your issue, consult my thread in Technical Helps. Simply copied the missing mip and original Rockingham grandstand 3d0 over, problem should be history.

Was thinking of going crazy w/ updating the graphics, but i've grown fond of the look. Feels like an addon track you could've downloaded in 2006. Maybe that can be my niche, a grumpy nostalgic trackbuilder stuck in the past. "Ya know, back in my day us trackmakers used to script in DOS while slugging back Jolt Cola which used to cost $1.39 for a 12-pack!" Ah, the good ol' days...

 

[bearlythere12]

Day 9
Reflap day. Made 6 sets of LPs, racing got duller and single file the more i trudged ahead. Went back to my 3rd set as it was the most entertaining. Not the most realistic, road course guys will turn their noses up, but anyone w/ a sense of humor will appreciate it. Really is fun though.

I hate how slow the ai go thru the concrete chute, but that just pushes you into mistakes and crashes when you get brave. Ai no longer wreck thru there, but now it's happening on the frontstretch. Hoping a few ini adjustments might tame things a sliver, but the more i race the more i like dodging the wrecks. Rest of the night dialed in the racing (10 lappers), next day will be upping it to 30 laps. I guess one more day and she gets re-released as a 10-day build.

No one is gonna believe i didn't cause the wreck below. Jacked up ai_line_mod the culprit here, i like my ai a tad insane.

 

[bearlythere12]

Day 10
Testing day mostly. Kept running into crashes on lap 3 and 7. Tamed the ai down but not by much, crashes less frequent. ai have trouble with the last 2 turns, sometimes tangle and/or bounce off the wall. Real fun dodging them though.

Added track logo to the walls in 3 places. Nothing like a stupid track name staring you down lap after lap. Only did this to challenge myself, never messed w/ tex seg on w-sections before, i always "cheated" it by just spliting track sections down to whatever size i needed for a graphic to fit.

Made some underlying (invisible to you) grooves all over the place thinking it would make the ai pass each other more frequently. Sure did but now every 2 laps it was a wreckfest..like huge huge pileups. So, resorted back.

Found a better cam from Homestead. Kinda goofy cam2 for like 2-3sec before the cement chute, but worth it for the much improved angles everywhere else, plus the pit cams match up. Cam program doesn't work for me, have to learn the older DOS one at some point.

Having a pacecar issue again, coming up to green after a yellow he just cuts across the infield grass right after the s/f line. Not sure why he's acting different than he does at the beginning of a race...now this is interesting...

Changed <merge_to_pit_line_dlong> further away from the pit entrance (690 to 605) and lengthened <merge_to_pit_line_length> from 80 to 100. Now instead of cutting across the infield grass he just keeps trucking along the racetrack even after the green. Need to wrap my head around this. Did 750/40, same deal. Went back to orig setting, and he continues to stay on track .....FFFFffffuudge.

Okay, i followed him around after the green and he does what he's supposed to, just 1 lap later. I did think my crew chief was announcing the upcoming green too late, i thought the game had him announce at the s/f line 1 lap beforehand, right? (been a long time since i've raced w/ yellows).

Guess the release gets pushed back while i figure this out, still haven't run any races beyond 10 laps.

 

[bearlythere12]

Day 11
Meant to post this last night but got stuck watching my nephew overnight. This meant 5 straight hrs of Forza 5&7 along w/ some demolition derby racing games...bedtime @ 1am...then another 5 hrs straight starting at 8am. Graphics are amazing but the game play and physics engines are just awful. I actually liked the demo racing better than Forza even though its all very cartoonish. He likes them all, and when i was his age all i had was Pole Position and a BMX bike for transportation to the arcade. Maybe why we were so skinny compared to kids today, i dunno.

Anyway, success right off the bat for my just awful track. Recently learned about "road_caution_advance_dlong", so that's what i adjusted and got lucky w/ a stab in the dark. Seems like Riviera71's advice on such matters rings true, you want this value somewhere around 1/2 the track length, probably even less. Watkins Glen something like @ 37%, short of 1/2 way. I did 44% (952.285). For some reason i had jacked that # to 1300 (track length 2148m), forgot i was experimenting with it on this track. I dun goofed. Pic of pacecar success.

Now i'm learning the ai are crash happy on a restart. Playing w/ "ai_dlat_pad", the slimmer the #, the happier the ai seem to be. Sprinkled a few more rock formations around the track and a couple trees, stopping before i go overboard.

Onto 30 lap tests, 1st race finished 4th but took 5 laps trying to get around Tony Stewart. Need to adjust "strategy_lap_time_wear_loss", currently @ 2.960. ai slow down too much later in the run. Finished 2nd in my 4th race w/ the setting @ 2sec, gonna trim it down a bit more and try to get the ai a bit more nutty but they seem to wreck 2-3 times in these 30 lap stints.

I'm hoping for 1 solid night of testing before release.

 

[bearlythere12]

Day 12
Tried laying down a couple different sets of racing LPs for added realism, kinda hate how the inside guys latch onto the maxrace LP around the last set of turns. But too many wrecks so back to LP set #3. Made some minor ini changes, finished 3rd and was right atop 2nd at the s/f line. A couple wrecks @ lap 16-17.

Now onto testing w/ yellows. No wrecks when the green comes out but still average about 7 laps between wrecks. Gonna tame the ai another tick or 2, see if i can get rid of at least 1 of the 3 yellows. Finally got a yellow after 15 laps, but a couple races later happened @ 5 laps. At least it's more random now.

Track is done but i don't feel like packaging everything up tonight since Benny Hill is on in 1/2hr! Look for the release probably Mon/Tues, gotta visit the old folks tomorrow. Thanks for putting up w/ my nonsense.

 

[bearlythere12]

Release Day
Ran 3 races:
(1) finished 9th (saved my tires until lap 17). A few ai scraped the frontstretch wall but no cautions.
(2) 6th (ran aggressive from the onset, burned up my tires). Again some front wall scrapers but no yellow, huge pileup lap 29 turn 1, backmarkers tangling, finished under caution.
3 - 2nd, winner only .6 ahead. Pileup lap 17th, ran a clean race, 34.871 on the last lap, still in learning mode turns 3&4.

You should be able to win from the back in a 30 lapper with a little luck once you figure the track out.

Track has one party trick - qualifying. With a cold set of tires can really slide the car around + rewarding when you get it right (I'm biased of course). Try and beat my 34.994 time...i think you can slice another 1/2sec off, turns 3&4 my kryptonite. Plus i'm old, 15yrs beyond my prime and full of excuses. Speaking of excuses, ai still crash, mainly b/c of how slippery the last couple of turns are. If you're running an aggressive carset the pileups might be too frequent and huge.

Track in downloads: Rascal_Roval_RacewayV2_BT12