Experimental Track: "Invert"
Posted: 11 Feb 2019, 12:41
I want to start off with a clear disclaimer. This track is an experimental proof-of-concept. It is not intended to be in STK main. It violates many important STK style guidelines. It is not polished or pretty and the outside lane of the track is glitchy. (Fixed!)
News/Updates:
- Version 2 uploaded on 3rd March. I have fixed the glitchy track; the mesh faces were too short and wide, resulting in dodgy interpolation)
- Space theme chosen for when I remake this track as an add-on. This will take a while, probably will be released after STK 0.10.
Track: https://files.catbox.moe/1x2hsh.zip (version 2)
Video: https://youtube.com/watch?v=AAdWCYx4AwA (old glitchy version)
Blender project: https://my.mixtape.moe/opwkzy.zip link died (old glitchy version)
So, let me introduce you to this wonderful track:
The start.
Oh, that's disappointing...
Yes, I am new to Blender and have no experience making materials or textures or trees or any scenery.
But don't worry, it gets better.
A loop!
Yes, with the magic of magnets you can drive upside down without fear of falling. I haven't seen a track yet using magnets for anything past 90° banking, so hopefully a better modeller than me can use this as inspiration.
Those who have made tracks before may notice the checkline at the top of the loop. We wouldn't want you taking a shortcut through the middle, would we? (although I did manage to throw a bowling ball through the middle, hitting out the kart in second place.)
Before you get to the loop, there's some other exciting track parts.
That's an inline twist! Notice that the support structure hangs over the top, because you drive along the bottom. Maybe someone more skilled can make a Mobius strip track using a half twist instead?
I can't make cutscenes yet, so here's gameplay screenshots of it: (They would look better if I had time to do proper decoration)
Look at that strange minimap!
So, about that small white arrow sign after the twist.
After the twist, the Bezier curve I used to create the track was twisted at almost 360° and for the sake of the driveline I assume it has to go back the other way to return to 0°. But two of the same twist might be redundant. So I made this... thing.
I don't know what it's called.
I don't think it even has a name. Let's call it an inverse banked U-turn ribbon, or something. Whatever it is, it's fun.
The reason for the arrow is so you have a bit of warning before the track vanishes from under you. When driving the track quickly in reverse, you can fly into the air into orbit around this curve and somehow land on the track, if you are lucky.
? ? ?
Anyway, after that is the loop, as seen before. And to end all this excitement, there is a simple tunnel.
Are those Nitro cans on the roof? Yes.
"But how can we reach them if they are on the roof?", a player may ask. That's alright. I made a tutorial.
Yeah, you just drive up the wall. Just make sure to get back down before the tunnel finishes.
Can you even drive on this thing?
Yes! As discussed in later posts, the driving experience is not perfect but it is still fun.
Can AI drive on this thing?
They're great at it! I've seen no issues with AI yet. UPDATE: on some difficulties a couple of them may drive too fast on the strange inverted-banked curve and fly off the track.
I didn't make the roof of the tunnel an alternate driveline, so they won't drive up those walls.
Any other known issues?
The track (and some other small objects) is 2D and appears one-sided due to how the graphics work (I guess), so the opposite half of the loop may be invisible while driving towards it, along with some other twists and turns in the distance.
If a properly made track had these same road features, this likely wouldn't be an issue, but I didn't know an easy way to fix it. Fixed in version 2!
Feel free to try the track out, it is rather fun I think. I have also uploaded the blender project.
News/Updates:
- Version 2 uploaded on 3rd March. I have fixed the glitchy track; the mesh faces were too short and wide, resulting in dodgy interpolation)
- Space theme chosen for when I remake this track as an add-on. This will take a while, probably will be released after STK 0.10.
Track: https://files.catbox.moe/1x2hsh.zip (version 2)
Video: https://youtube.com/watch?v=AAdWCYx4AwA (old glitchy version)
Blender project: https://my.mixtape.moe/opwkzy.zip link died (old glitchy version)
So, let me introduce you to this wonderful track:
The start.
Oh, that's disappointing...
Yes, I am new to Blender and have no experience making materials or textures or trees or any scenery.
But don't worry, it gets better.
A loop!
Yes, with the magic of magnets you can drive upside down without fear of falling. I haven't seen a track yet using magnets for anything past 90° banking, so hopefully a better modeller than me can use this as inspiration.
Those who have made tracks before may notice the checkline at the top of the loop. We wouldn't want you taking a shortcut through the middle, would we? (although I did manage to throw a bowling ball through the middle, hitting out the kart in second place.)
Before you get to the loop, there's some other exciting track parts.
That's an inline twist! Notice that the support structure hangs over the top, because you drive along the bottom. Maybe someone more skilled can make a Mobius strip track using a half twist instead?
I can't make cutscenes yet, so here's gameplay screenshots of it: (They would look better if I had time to do proper decoration)
Look at that strange minimap!
So, about that small white arrow sign after the twist.
After the twist, the Bezier curve I used to create the track was twisted at almost 360° and for the sake of the driveline I assume it has to go back the other way to return to 0°. But two of the same twist might be redundant. So I made this... thing.
I don't know what it's called.
I don't think it even has a name. Let's call it an inverse banked U-turn ribbon, or something. Whatever it is, it's fun.
The reason for the arrow is so you have a bit of warning before the track vanishes from under you. When driving the track quickly in reverse, you can fly into the air into orbit around this curve and somehow land on the track, if you are lucky.
? ? ?
Anyway, after that is the loop, as seen before. And to end all this excitement, there is a simple tunnel.
Are those Nitro cans on the roof? Yes.
"But how can we reach them if they are on the roof?", a player may ask. That's alright. I made a tutorial.
Yeah, you just drive up the wall. Just make sure to get back down before the tunnel finishes.
Can you even drive on this thing?
Yes! As discussed in later posts, the driving experience is not perfect but it is still fun.
Can AI drive on this thing?
They're great at it! I've seen no issues with AI yet. UPDATE: on some difficulties a couple of them may drive too fast on the strange inverted-banked curve and fly off the track.
I didn't make the roof of the tunnel an alternate driveline, so they won't drive up those walls.
Any other known issues?
The track (and some other small objects) is 2D and appears one-sided due to how the graphics work (I guess), so the opposite half of the loop may be invisible while driving towards it, along with some other twists and turns in the distance.
If a properly made track had these same road features, this likely wouldn't be an issue, but I didn't know an easy way to fix it. Fixed in version 2!
Feel free to try the track out, it is rather fun I think. I have also uploaded the blender project.