Highway To Hell/Anarchie Road track WIP progress...

[coffeycup]

Mini update

Finished the material modifiers. Really makes a big difference to the driving experience. Now there's 4 surfaces. The default smooth road, a slightly bumpy with dust cloud for dirt roads and sand, a bumpier one for off-road, and a really bumpy one for the mountainous region. Taking a cross-country shortcut is a jarring bumpy ride.

Also have almost all the noncars (signs and props) setup and in place. I think there's 4 signs left to do. These noncars really add a nice level of detail and some are actually useful. i.e. knowing there's a turn ahead, etc.

Anyway, still chipping away at this beast.

[Deep_Blue]

YEEEEEEEAAAAAAH!

[coffeycup]

Hey, I sent you an email. I wanted to know if there was a particular place the Bedlam and Anarchie road signs go.
I think those are the last of the signs to be dropped into the map.

[Deep_Blue]

Ah, sorry man...I just now saw it...

Either on the northern route (east end of map) where it intersects with the road that goes along the north wall of the city or in between the dirt road and the paved road at the pointy intersection down by the Pinnacles.
Either is good-The choice is yours. :)

Could ya also stick a "Give Way" sign on the dirt road at that intersection? (I DID make one of those, din't I? I disremember...)

roadsigns.jpg (54.74 KiB) Viewed 7115 times

I did the network start positions ya gave me and it started me out midway down Silverton Rd facing east. Are we still using the NW intersection facing Mundi Mundi as the start point? (Just curious if that was just what ya gave me or if ya were actually planning on changing the start point on the finished product.) Everything worked OK-Just wasn't keen on the player start point. I'd like to keep it at that NW intersection heading toward the lookout as per the movie if possible.

[coffeycup]

Yes you made a Give Way sign. Actually, I already put one in that location. But they drive on the left-hand side of the road so that's where it is. I put another further down where that road intersects with the southern loop.

Network start points have nothing to do with the player's start point. I don't know what version of the TXT you have. I tossed out the extra copies because I was getting screwed up juggling different versions.
I do have start point at NW intersection. Try this for starting grid (at the beginning of TXT file)

-5286.36, 3, -1050.63 // Grid start position
180 // Direction that grid faces in

[Toshiba-3]

-5286.36, 3, -1050.63 // Grid start position

Hahaha! Awesome

[Deep_Blue]

Sez Coffey: "I was getting screwed up juggling different versions."


Ah. OK. Heh. I c'n dig it.
I've cut/pasted so much stuff I'm now using Frankentxt. There was an extra line of coords in the start position of the text you sent me last. 'Twas where I ended up facing 270 degrees.

I haven't a clue what I'm doing, but it's still working.

Thanks for putting me back up north.

[coffeycup]

@Tosh - told you it was big.

@D_B - I was figuring these signs were the last of the noncars but just realized I haven't put in any PowerUps. We gotta have some PowerUps right?

[Deep_Blue]

True dat, Coffey. Those couldn't hurt.

Just gotta make sure there's no boingy powerups near the city. ;) A thought I had way back when was those green barrel thingies that had time bonuses in 'em scattered around like C1 had.

I guess ya'd need time pickups if ya wanna play this map without the timer cheat, eh? I chased down all 10 opponents on my mostly empty map last evening and it took the better part of a half hour-and that was taking shortcuts straight across the terrain and roads be damned.
From what you were saying earlier, going offroad is gonna be more difficult now(as it should be) and will take longer due to the terrain attributes.

Time bonus powerups'd be a goodly thing, methinks.


What're ya thinkin', mebbe?

[coffeycup]

I don't know why this stupid application is so damn finicky. I tried adding some time bonus powerups. But in game they're not there. I thought maybe it was because I had renamed them after dragging into the hierarchy. So I deleted them, imported again, renamed THEN dragged to hierarchy. Still nothing. WTF? I have added powerups before with no trouble. Fuck.

That being said, I think I'd have to add hundreds of time bonuses to be able to drive this map without any cheats. I am not up for that. I am going to add a really small amount of peds to the road so that every few miles you might see one. But still that only give you 10 seconds. I dunno what to do. I think we'll need to tell peeps to use the STOPSNATCH cheat.

I am going to import a powerup into my little test sandbox map and see what happens.
I had skipped that step since I figured it was uneccesary as I'd done this a bunch of times before.

EDIT:
Hmmm, on my sandbox map after I preprocess the track the powerups are sitting at the 0,0,0 coords instead of where I dragged them. I don't ever remember that happening before. I need to take a break, this makes my head hurt.

[Fuel]

Sorry to butt in but to 'solve' the time issue couldn't you just tell people to change the initial timer count in RACES.txt? It's what I'm intending to do when I try this map out

[coffeycup]

Hmm, didn't think of that. It will come with a C2T file.
Let me try it on mine. Thanks

[Deep_Blue]

Sorry to butt in but to 'solve' the time issue couldn't you just tell people to change the initial timer count in RACES.txt? It's what I'm intending to do when I try this map out

*Smacks forehead*

Well damn... Good idea.

[coffeycup]

Haha, I feel like a dope forgetting that you can change the time count.

I changed the initial 180,90,60 to 3600,3600,3600 so that you start with an hour at all 3 skill levels.

I still wouldn't mind having powerups though, but I guess it's not as important now. It just bugs me that it's giving me a problems, something that is usually easy and no different than adding other noncar other than how you name them. Meh.

[Deep_Blue]

Hmm...

Ya sure it's not some small detail that's getting overlooked in the fustercluck process that this monstrosity has become that's causing ya grief?

Yer good at it-but by the sound of it, yer processing large amounts of shit all at once.

I once spent three hours looking frantically for a 3/8" drive ratchet that was sticking out of ma back pocket the whole time....

I c'n dig how stuff gets lost in the shuffle.

[coffeycup]

Well, I was half expecting the powerups to work fine on my little sandbox map, which is just a small square map that I test any new noncars (like your signs) in before putting it into the big map. But they were doing the same thing there.

I'll re-look at it later today if I have time.

EDIT
I. am. a. mo. ron. I was doing the equivalent of walking around for 3 hours with the 3/8 ratchet in my back pocket.

When I renamed the powerups I forgot to put a '&' in front. I had them named '£120001.ACT' instead of '&£120001.ACT'.
I think it's almost time to check in to the retirement home, I swear.

I probably am not going to add time bonus PUs, they only add 10 seconds anyway. I'll probably add some turbo, repulsifiers, electro-bastard ray and whatever else seems useful.
That is if I don't fuck it up somehow. damn.

[Harmalarm]

Awwwww, that sucks! It might be some comfort for you to know that this shit happens a lot to me as well... At some point in my scripting adventure I was convinced noncars and powerups would be written with a $ sign instead of a & sign...

[coffeycup]

Heh heh, I'm glad I'm not alone.

The good news is I was able to rename (correctly this time) the PUs I had already added to the map. I put a Turbo on one of the long straight stretches - as Max would say - WayHey!

[Deep_Blue]

EDIT
I. am. a. mo. ron. I was doing the equivalent of walking around for 3 hours with the 3/8 ratchet in my back pocket.

When I renamed the powerups I forgot to put a '&' in front. I had them named '£120001.ACT' instead of '&£120001.ACT'.
I think it's almost time to check in to the retirement home, I swear.

I probably am not going to add time bonus PUs, they only add 10 seconds anyway. I'll probably add some turbo, repulsifiers, electro-bastard ray and whatever else seems useful.
That is if I don't fuck it up somehow. damn.

HAHA!! Ill save a wheelie chair for ya when ya get there, mon!



Glad ya got it sorted.

[coffeycup]

I assume you'll already be at the home when I get there.

Sorry this is going slow but the devil is in the details and all that. Just trying to scroll from one side to the other in PT2 takes a few minutes on this honking huge map.

I added a few more PUs last night and I'll add the rest tonight. Then all that is left is the refinery and converting Wez bike and Landau to drones.

I have a lot of fiddling to do with the refinery between busting it up into multiple explodies as well as seeing what can be done with the bus gate.

[Deep_Blue]

Yeah. I'll be at the home well before you. I turn 49 in a couple weeks (30 Nov.)

I know ya got yer work cut out for ya. I like hearing the updates an' I'm seriously chompin' at the bit to tear into the finished product.

Hope the refinery works as planned.

I c'n relate to the big honking part...It took me an hour just to select all the points on that map in CarEd-and that's with it zoomed all the way out-and another 15 minutes just to move the damned thing where I needed it to be to work on it-for every section. And that was just the part I handed you.

Now it's truly monstrous!

heheh. I luv it.

[coffeycup]

Ok, I have been doing tests and breaking up the refinery model. I discovered I need to recenter each individual object that I want to be explosive so that the explosion animations and blast area align with the thing that's exploding.

Also I need to come up with a strategy on which parts get replaced, which get a texture change and which get removed.

The 'replace model' is sorta misleading because it doesn't actual replace the unexploded model. If you go to the Beaver City track and ram a gas pump, the pump gets blown into the air, not removed, and the broken pump model gets placed in it's original position. So both models are still on the map.

You can see here on my sandbox map that the tanks and column are there as well as is the wrecked versions.


I've set up a big fuel tank1, the small fuel tank4 and column. I realized I only need to set up one large tank that I could then reuse for tank #2 and #3


The tanker and pump/pump arm can get the 'replace' treatment.

But I'm trying to decide if the buildings and tent should just be removed. I'm not sure flying houses will look that great.
I think the fencing can just get a texture change.

The smaller 'stacks' of barrels and car parts/tools I think I will remove altogether and replace with individual barrels and tires that can then just fly off in random directions.

[Deep_Blue]

Hmm... Interesting...So things have to act like the gas pumps do in the city maps...

Ya flying house wouldn't look right atall....

[coffeycup]

Yeah, the gas pumps are a good example of the 'replace model' smashable. I set up the tent today to 'remove' the model as it explodes.
That, to me, seems to work pretty good. I have a nice big explosion and after the smoke clears the tent is gone.

I have an idea on what I might try for the 2 buildings. Maybe the there's a static wrecked version INSIDE the buildings.
So when the buildings explode and disappear there's rubble left behind.
I might need to modify the wrecked versions slightly so they will fit inside and be hidden. I haven't tried yet.

[Deep_Blue]

OO!

I *LIKE* the sound of that!

[coffeycup]

Hiding the wrecked building inside works great! I just had to move a few vertices inward on the big shed to keep it from poking out.
I ended up making a new wrecked house by making a copy of the unwrecked one and collapsing it down on itself so that its footprint remained the same.

I think I'm a little more than halfway through converting the parts of the refinery. I still have to do the quonset hut, pump, fencing,
tire gateway and tanker. I'm hoping to do the quonset hut tonight so I can cross it off the list.

Oh yeah, still need to figure out the moving bus gate.

EDIT

I was going to try and do a texturechange on the quonset hut. With an alpha channel on the second TIF to take a chunk out of the roof.

I thought it would be an easy thing considering I did the replace model and removemodel without any problems.

Why doesn't this work? TIF and material are the same name 'quonsett'
Game doesn't crash, I think I hear a smash sound. But texture doesn't change.

Code: Select all

// Start of smashable item 7
0			// Flags
quonsett		// Name of trigger material
texturechange		// Mode
quonsett		// Intact pixelmap
1			// Number of levels
.5			// Trigger threshold
0			// Flags
passthrough     	// Collision type solid edge
// Connotations:
1			// number of possible sounds
4202
0			// Shrapnel count
0			// Explosion size
none			// Slick material
0			// Number of non-cars activated
0			// Radius of side-effect smashes
0			// Extensions flags
0			// Room turn on code
none			// Award code
0			// No run-time variable changes

1				// Number of pixelmap
quonsett_W	// Pixelmap - waiting for Russ to name

0					// Reserved 1
0					// Reserved 2
0					// Reserved 3
0					// Reserved 4
// end smashable 7

Do I need a 'damaged' model for a texture change? Is the idea to swap models like you do with ped heads? The fencing and ground will need texture changes too, so I have to get this to work.

[coffeycup]

Ok, nevermind. I figured it it out. There wasn't anything wrong with the paperwork at all.
When I couldn't get the quonset hut to change, I figured I'd do the fence. Fences, I've done. A bunch.
Import new fence and set up like the others I've done and.....nothing. Obviously something is different.

Aha! All the previous fencing was a part of the map. It wasn't something I imported later as a noncar, didn't have an .ACT at the end of its name or begin with a '&'.

So I renamed them without the extra characters and it works. D'oh.
I guess at this point they are just part of the scenery and no longer a noncar.

[Harmalarm]

good thing you sorted it. Smashables are so error-sensitive!

[coffeycup]

Why is nothing easy? When I used texturechange on the quonset hut it worked great (once I figured it out). If I hit the building anywhere the entire texture gets swapped.

But I tried doing the EXACT same thing for the square of ground the base sits on and it behaves more like a fence. Only individual polys change where I hit. So it looks like a pathwork quilt? Damn.

[coffeycup]

I gave up trying to get texturechange to work on the large patch of ground. Instead I am hiding a wrecked version a fraction of an inch below the good one. Then remove the good to reveal the one underneath.

Is there a limit on the amount smashables? When I get up to 9 or 10 things start to act strangely.
I am setting up my sandbox for a third time, importing things in a different order. This time started with the ground cover.
So far so good, but only have 6 smashables set up.

[Harmalarm]

Wow I'm impressed! Those shots look amazing.

Smashable, just like Funks and Grooves, can act strange when the camera is too close to them. Perhaps the ground texture won't budge because it is too big for the camera or too close to it... That would be my guess.

The number of smashables should not be limited to only six. At least, it would surprise me if it was. Perhaps, to avoid a lot of trouble you can combine multiple models into one?

[coffeycup]

Ha, yeah it is starting to come together. Tonight I am going to try and add the other 6 or so pieces that make up main refinery. If that's successful then I will add some noncar tires and barrels.

Then if that all works out, I can call this dry run done. I was probably being paranoid doing this as a separate test map, but I really didn't want to mess up all the work done so far. Besides, this little sandbox map loads a lot faster than the huge one. For every little tweak I need to test again and again. But once I get this working I should be able to reuse the paperwork, with smashables it's all about the paperwork!

[coffeycup]

Luck holding out so far...still needs pump and tirewall.

[Deep_Blue]

Hellz ya....
Fookin' AWESOME!!!!

[coffeycup]

I'm done fiddling with the sandbox. I did the pump and arm setup. Arm is just a non explosive object, but when it goes it swirls through the air like a huge hammer.
Pump gets removed to show hidden rubble underneath. I'll do same with tirewall since that's the method that has yet to give me problems.

Now I'm duplicating the steps, trying to stay in the same order.

Game#032.jpg (320.96 KiB) Viewed 6644 times

Game#033.jpg (299.38 KiB) Viewed 6644 times

I got the first two working
I spent some time trying to get the camp ground tiff to blend to the surrounding one. Still a few spots, but not too bad.