New Track : "Green Valley"

[fraang]

First impression: Just awesome!

Will try it tomorrow.

[Auria]

Very nice work, congratulations! This is a great track

I would personally add yet a few more scenery elements to make the various parts of the track more different from each other, but that's a very good start

[code-breaker]

Really nice. Congratulations.

I have a small suggestion. When approaching the waterfall (about the position in the screen shot), the track goes downward until you are just about past the waterfall, and then you go back up again just after. You should make it not go down so much, because the player never really gets a good look at the waterfall, its always cutoff at the top of the screen. You should let players get a good look, to appreciate your hard work!

[hikari.to.yami]

Great, nice looking, and "light-weight".

The track length is compensated by the nitros, so it's fine I think. But I think it would be better if the big nitro tank placed on the roadside rather than in the middle (any place harder to reach).

I love the stones in the middle of the road, it is a new challenge for me
On the other hand there's some road with irregular surface (like in barnyard), so IMO it's basically combines some basic challenge. So IMHO I think it suits for tutorial track.

[Arthur]

You should let players get a good look, to appreciate your hard work!

Sounds like creating even more hard work than what a waterfall makes you do.

[DJHelium]

Okay, I made a music for this
I think that maybe is not enough "acoustic" to fit with the game... I don't know...
So, here it is : http://djhelium.free.fr/STK/DJ%20Helium ... Valley.ogg
And you can tell me what you want, I can do EVERYTHING :P

(I don't know where and how me can change the code for the music... So I tested the music by changing the main music with mine... It's a bit complicated... So if someone can fix it... )

[Arthur]

Very good work for the music!
If I may come with two points of improvement I would like to hear:

1. The first guitar "scratch" sound (at 0:23,5) is a little too noticeable. Maybe you could tone it down a bit?
2. The second half could maybe get another soft instrument introduced - I agree with the calm, soothing vibe of the piece, but you could perhaps make it a little more interesting that way. For example, a violin from 1:35 to 2:07 playing along with the background strings. Maybe not the best idea for it, but I suggest you could try to come up with some variation for the second half of the piece.

A nice track with nice music for it. Splendid!

[DJHelium]

Okay, for the violin... Maybe I'll try... For now, I just added some strings and flutes from 1:35
I added a crash just at the beginning and I put down the guitar scratch

Same link : http://djhelium.free.fr/STK/DJ%20Helium ... Valley.ogg

[Arthur]

Nice improvements!
I'd still add some more noticeable variation towards the end, but that's just me; I won't try to force my opinions. It's a good piece as it is already.

[Auria]

Very nice work but I also agree with Arthur that a bit more variation could make it better

[hikari.to.yami]

Well done DJHelium! I just tried this track again with your music played, calm music for lightweight and all green track, it suits the track very well!

Anyway, when I tested this track again, I notice that many AIs fall for the bananas so easily. I was only against 7 expert AIs btw.

[Wolfs]

Okay, for the violin... Maybe I'll try... For now, I just added some strings and flutes from 1:35
I added a crash just at the beginning and I put down the guitar scratch

Same link : http://djhelium.free.fr/STK/DJ%20Helium ... Valley.ogg

This is a good song, well done . Though it's still a bit repetitive in the end I think that this song fits to the track and I will replace the current song with it.

I would personally add yet a few more scenery elements to make the various parts of the track more different from each other, but that's a very good start

I agree with you, there are still several parts of the track which lack objects. I'd like to add a forest to one of the hills but I think that this would end up in a track with far too many faces. How many faces should a track have at most to remain playable on computers with weaker graphic cards?

I have a small suggestion. When approaching the waterfall (about the position in the screen shot), the track goes downward until you are just about past the waterfall, and then you go back up again just after. You should make it not go down so much, because the player never really gets a good look at the waterfall, its always cutoff at the top of the screen. You should let players get a good look, to appreciate your hard work!

This also seems to be dependent on the screen resolution, because I can always fully see the waterfall on my computer. Anyhow, I think it would be easier to move/resize the waterfall

Anyway, when I tested this track again, I notice that many AIs fall for the bananas so easily. I was only against 7 expert AIs btw.

I noticed this on other tracks, too. The AI seems to have a preferred way through the road and obviously doesn't try to avoid bananas

[DJHelium]

Thank all
I tried the violin and it sounds really really bad so, no, I didn't kept it
Here is another version :
- a new drum before 1:35
- filter on the drum at 1:35
- harp at 1:35

Same link : http://djhelium.free.fr/STK/DJ%20Helium ... Valley.ogg

Is it always to repetitive ?

[Knitter]

How can I test the sound with the track? I have the track inside my tracks folder where should I put the music?

I've tried adding it to the sound folder, where other sounds and musics are, and changing the track.xml file to reflect the new music file but it didn't work.

[Auria]

How can I test the sound with the track? I have the track inside my tracks folder where should I put the music?

I've tried adding it to the sound folder, where other sounds and musics are, and changing the track.xml file to reflect the new music file but it didn't work.

Look at the track.xml file :

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<!-- Generated with script from SVN rev 8296 -->
<track name = "Green Valley"
version = "5"
groups = "Add-Ons"
designer = "Wolfs"
music = "garden.music"
screenshot = "sshot.jpg"
>
</track>

Replace this part with something else, like "valley.music". Then in the music folder duplicate "garden.music" into "valley.music" and edit it to change the name of the Ogg file inside it

[Auria]

I would personally add yet a few more scenery elements to make the various parts of the track more different from each other, but that's a very good start

I agree with you, there are still several parts of the track which lack objects. I'd like to add a forest to one of the hills but I think that this would end up in a track with far too many faces. How many faces should a track have at most to remain playable on computers with weaker graphic cards?

there is roughly a big maximum of 30,000 polygons for a track to be playable by reasonably enough people on the desktop (I'm speaking of blender polygons here), but around or below 20,000 is much better (for less powerful computers like netbooks, for instance)

[hikari.to.yami]

there is roughly a big maximum of 30,000 polygons for a track to be playable by reasonably enough people on the desktop (I'm speaking of blender polygons here), but around or below 20,000 is much better (for less powerful computers like netbooks, for instance)

I'm using netbook here, so far so good. As comparison when I'm using XR591 and Scotland they're both a bit heavy (especially when I'm against lots of AIs). Makes me wondering how many polygons are there in XR591 and Scotland?

[Kinsu]

I did not notice the change in the track length, but I like it as it is, so it's OK to me

The sheeps are cool, but maybe have too much polys and should not be included in that number in the track... If you send me a blend file of the sheep only, I can try to get the poly number reduced (without much graphic quality loss), with Emule I'm getting expert in optimizing meshes I can also add a little animation (eating grass...).
Auria & Hiker, would it be possible to add some STK property to the blender object so they can randomly play a sound (eventually from a little "baa" sound collection), when players drive around ? This could then be added to the river & the waterfall, with water flowing sounds...

I agree with you, there are still several parts of the track which lack objects. I'd like to add a forest to one of the hills but I think that this would end up in a track with far too many faces.

In places players only see from a long distance and if they do not see the side, you can add cheat using textures to create illusions like this :

Also note that if we can see it's only an illusion, a lot of players do not give a lot of attention to the decor, as they are focused on the race. So sometimes, even if it feels a little like a handcraft, it can be positive for the atmosphere of the track, as this will not be noticed (and of course, these handcraft should not be placed where we can see them a lot !).

Regarding the waterfall, it's cool (and I can also see it entirely without problem), just maybe it feels like the water is flowing from the rock, not really from a river up there. Could the cliff be modified a tiny bit to see a kind of riverbed ?

Makes me wondering how many polygons are there in XR591 and Scotland?

What's important is not so much the total tri numbers than the highest tri number that is seen in STK (of course, these are related values, but still different). I think that the Tux Tollway is the track with the most "seen tris" (in some places, more than 100K!). If you want to see the tri number, check the "show FPS" box in the options menu.

FYI : in blender, the polygon number which is shown is not the same than in STK, as STK shows the triangle count. I.E. In blender, quads are counted as 1 poly (4-edged poly), whereas STK counts 2 polys (3-edged polys).


@DJ Helium : I like your (music) track, it fits well the (race) track (haha). If you have the time & the will, the zen garden needs a japanese-like music (you know, traditional but not too calm either as it's a race... a kind of difficult balance to find, a little challenging ).

[hikari.to.yami]

What's with this tri(s) number? Can you give some explanation or a link?

I used to try the "show FPS" feature, but I don't really get it. I can see numbers, but can't interpret them. Help me please...

[DJHelium]

Okay, maybe it's the last version, I changed a part in the middle to change a bit...
I noticed that was the guitar who give the impression to be the same thing during all the track...

So... Here is the new (and I think definitive) track : http://djhelium.free.fr/STK/valley.ogg

You can compare with the link above

Kinsu : I will see if I can do anything for the Zen Garden

[Kinsu]

I used to try the "show FPS" feature, but I don't really get it. I can see numbers, but can't interpret them. Help me please...

The 3 first values are FPS (min/max/current if I'm right), and the 4th is the current displayed triangle count (/1 000).

@DJHelium : I feel that the drums that begin at 0:31 are too loud, and from 1:05 to 1:39 it's kind of too "night-club-like" for a green valley in STK... Otherwise it's not as repetitive as before

I will see if I can do anything for the Zen Garden

Cool, thanks a lot

[hikari.to.yami]

I see, thanks Kinsu!

[Wolfs]

@Kinsu
Your idea for the forest ist good, I will try that soon .
Concerning the sheep, I use level of detail there: If you are more than 50 meters (or whatever units of measurement blender uses ) away, they are replaced with a white and a black cube. I think this should be enough to keep the number of triangles low in the game. But reducing the number of faces is always good, of course. Though, recently LOD is no longer working within my track. I'll have to check whether this was a SVN commit or me messing around with it .
Animated sheep would be great! They could not only eat grass, but also walk around a bit. Of course, there would have to be some option in STK to start the animations at random times, otherwise all sheep would do the same movements simultaneously, which would look weird . It would of course also be possible to modify the animation of each sheep, but this would be a lot of work. Of course, it would also be important that animations could be combined with level of detail.

@DJ Helium
It's even better now . Great work!

[Kinsu]

I can only see a strange sphere with no texture in the blend file... I am missing something ?

[Wolfs]

That's strange. I created it with Blender 2.5x, but it does also display well in Blender 2.4x for me