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Re: Forest Track

PostPosted: 29 May 2018, 02:46
by QwertyChouskie
One thing you should definitely look into is using stk_generic_grassA/stk_generic_grassB/stk_generic_grassC instead of grass2.jpg. You can use e.g. Shotwell to change the color some (brighter/darker/more saturated/less saturated) and see how it looks. grass2 is IMO a very ugly texture that needs to be depreciated, and it doesn't even really fit the STK style. Also there are some textures here: https://github.com/supertuxkart/stk-code/issues/3053 and https://opengameart.org/content/synthet ... xture-pack though these don't fit the style quite as well IMO.

Re: Forest Track

PostPosted: 02 Jun 2018, 10:12
by GeekPenguinBR
SvenAndreasBelting {l Wrote}:The starting gate isn‘t finished yet. I would love to hear your ideas. Especially if I should keep the finishing line as it is.


Good improvements! You did a nice work.

The gate is nice, IMO. The two trees keep the rustic look which fits with the environment. Then, I would keep it. Maybe the wood sheet "Start" could be straighter.

The only one aspect to alert is the size of the file, that is big. I mean really big (more than 45 MB), "heavy". I think that laptops or PC with no dedicated GPU will need to reduce the graphic settings. It's not a criticism, just a comment, but I think you could consider replacing some 3D trees by trees made of textures. I'm placing a lot of them on the short stretch of the terrain on my track "Viking Riging Fortress" (paused atm) , that's a race in the first days of the autumn season by the 980's A.D. like I said here (https://forum.freegamedev.net/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=6652).

SvenAndreasBelting {l Wrote}:You don‘t need to bother about the following things, I‘m going to take care of them:

6. The cows also have to be improved (this point I‘m not so fond of).


Well, I have a cow...It's very work in progress and it was made for my project "1750" (https://forum.freegamedev.net/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=7049), a track in the baroque era in my country, Brazil. So, I modeled the cow based on Brazilian species of bovines used at that time to track ox wagons. So, It's a different cow, but it's a cow. Maybe it can fit with some small modifications. Look:

Re: Forest Track

PostPosted: 03 Jun 2018, 16:58
by SvenAndreasBelting
Thanks to all for the answers.

@GeekPenguinBR The cow looks good for me, could you send me the file so that I can modify and texture it?

The size of the file is not caused by the trees, but by the amount of the textures. (And I'm not sure if other tracks use much less textures)


QwertyChouskie {l Wrote}:One thing you should definitely look into is using stk_generic_grassA/stk_generic_grassB/stk_generic_grassC instead of grass2.jpg. You can use e.g. Shotwell to change the color some (brighter/darker/more saturated/less saturated) and see how it looks. grass2 is IMO a very ugly texture that needs to be depreciated, and it doesn't even really fit the STK style that well. Also there are some texture here: https://github.com/supertuxkart/stk-code/issues/3053 and https://opengameart.org/content/synthet ... xture-pack though these don't fit the style quite as well IMO.

It's to late to include a better grass texture for the first version. Maybe i will include a new grass texture in the future.

Mr.XX99 {l Wrote}:And there are "rescue issues":
when you drive into the tunnel and hit rescue you are placed in front of it and have to drive the whole tunnel again.
The same happens when you drive in reverse and you jump up the ramp at the train tracks, even if you drove to the rocks after the jump (which is a wide part), if you reset you're placed again in front of the ramp
you loose much time with these

I only have the bug with the Ramp and I have no idea why it is.

Re: Forest Track

PostPosted: 04 Jun 2018, 02:30
by QwertyChouskie
SvenAndreasBelting {l Wrote}:
QwertyChouskie {l Wrote}:One thing you should definitely look into is using stk_generic_grassA/stk_generic_grassB/stk_generic_grassC instead of grass2.jpg. You can use e.g. Shotwell to change the color some (brighter/darker/more saturated/less saturated) and see how it looks. grass2 is IMO a very ugly texture that needs to be depreciated, and it doesn't even really fit the STK style. Also there are some textures here: https://github.com/supertuxkart/stk-code/issues/3053 and https://opengameart.org/content/synthet ... xture-pack though these don't fit the style quite as well IMO.

It's to late to include a better grass texture for the first version. Maybe i will include a new grass texture in the future.

Definitely release a first version soon, though if the track is included in the core game the texture should definitely be changed.

Re: Forest Track

PostPosted: 05 Jun 2018, 10:39
by GeekPenguinBR
SvenAndreasBelting {l Wrote}:The size of the file is not caused by the trees, but by the amount of the textures. (And I'm not sure if other tracks use much less textures)


I know, but, since the houses have customized textures made specifically for this track, these are the untouchable files, so, you could offset by removing some 3D objects in order to reduce the effort of GPUs in simple laptops or PCs.

SvenAndreasBelting {l Wrote}:@GeekPenguinBR The cow looks good for me, could you send me the file so that I can modify and texture it?


The object is simple, not much elaborated and not mapped yet. Download and check out the file. I will post the text with the :gpl: license If you consider it good enough for your purpose. Then everyone may use too. If not, I may try to improve it to upload the cow with the respective map and - maybe - a texture, but I don't know when it will be finished.

My brother (who is more skilled in complex modelling) has a better cow for that same track (1750) mentioned above, but the object with the map will be not completed as soon as this simpler can. So, you decide.

Re: Forest Track

PostPosted: 06 Jun 2018, 04:38
by MTres19
For supporting low-end devices I suggest configuring the objects for automatic hiding based on the user's GFX settings.

Re: Forest Track

PostPosted: 06 Jun 2018, 04:47
by GeekPenguinBR
Sorry, but only now I downloaded the previous cow. So, I noticed that I uploaded the wrong file the mistake (It has two useless plans and the cow was not centralized). This is the correct file :
Cow.obj
(133.47 KiB) Downloaded 349 times


This cow is smaller than the official cow in the game. The cow in STK is purposely bigger to be noticed, I may suppose. This one (mine) has a shorter size in Blender units because I made it for my personal project and based on the dimensions of a real cow.

Re: Forest Track

PostPosted: 05 Jul 2018, 03:31
by QwertyChouskie
SvenAndreasBelting, do you have any updates on the progress of the remaining bugfixes? I really want to see this track completed, and maybe even brought into the game as an official track (probably as a green valley replacement). If you don't have time to work on this more, could you provide the blends so we can make the remaining tweaks?

Thanks again for such an awesome track!

Re: Forest Track

PostPosted: 25 Jul 2018, 21:29
by SvenAndreasBelting
Hello – it’s been a while.

In the meantime I finally managed to finish the track “Black Forest”. There are probably a few bugs here and there and I also will make a some improvements in the near future. But for the time being I call this a finished version.

I put together a trailer I hope you will enjoy. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7XPtQE8gmJo&t=2s

Hopefully, in a few days you will find “Black Forest” on http://addons.supertuxkart.net/

@ GeekPenguinBR – thanks for the cow, it’s not yet included. Will do when I have time.


greetings,

Andreas

Re: Forest Track

PostPosted: 25 Jul 2018, 22:12
by QwertyChouskie
Looking good! Just make sure to upload the source files when you upload the track. :)

Re: Forest Track

PostPosted: 26 Jul 2018, 02:02
by GeekPenguinBR
SvenAndreasBelting {l Wrote}:@ GeekPenguinBR – thanks for the cow, it’s not yet included. Will do when I have time.

Not at all.

Good job! The trailler is very nice, too.

Re: Forest Track

PostPosted: 26 Jul 2018, 09:58
by Ludsky
This track is so wonderful <3 Very good job ;)

PS : I hope, include for 0.9.4^^ I hope ^^

Re: Forest Track

PostPosted: 26 Jul 2018, 23:13
by QwertyChouskie
Me too :) IMO it would be a great Green Valley replacement.

Re: Forest Track

PostPosted: 29 Jul 2018, 10:07
by SvenAndreasBelting
Hi there,

When I tried to upload Black Forest last night I ran into a couple of problems:

1) The file scripting.as was autmatically removed by the Addon application. As a consequence all objects that should only be visible in the reverse view also show up in forward mode.

2) apparently the file size of Black Forest (31.3 MB) exceeds limits. What is the actual size limit?

Thanks for your help

Re: Forest Track

PostPosted: 29 Jul 2018, 18:42
by SvenAndreasBelting
Here is a bit of an update. I have noticed that the track was uploaded. However, because the file was missing the „scripting.as“ I have trashed it in the meantime.
Anyway I‘ll be gone for vacation for 3 weeks starting Tuesday. Not sure, whether this can be fixed in such a short time. So maybe you‘ll have to wait for the track for a bit longer. :(

Re: Forest Track

PostPosted: 30 Jul 2018, 09:21
by Ludsky
No problem Sven, i think some other people on this forum is on vacation same.

We can wait September :) Your track is so wonderful ^^

Re: Forest Track

PostPosted: 05 Aug 2018, 08:50
by tuxdroid
wow, tracks that are really full of beautiful scenery. I saw some amazing screenshots, unfortunately my PC does not support graphics in order to feel the actual graphics.

some karts in super mode can't even chase me because a lot of sharp turns slow them down, even so I don't let my guard down. :lol:

Re: Forest Track

PostPosted: 29 Aug 2018, 14:06
by SvenAndreasBelting
Thanks for all the help in the last half past year :)

You can download the track now in the addons!

Re: Forest Track

PostPosted: 29 Aug 2018, 17:35
by Ludsky
Yes; it's very good and i hope this track is avaible for 0.9.4 after :p

PS : I have send an E-Mail for you Sven ;)

Re: Forest Track

PostPosted: 29 Aug 2018, 19:56
by GeekPenguinBR
Congratulations!

The track seems improved (is it just me or you have done some subtle changing?). I liked most the flowers and the flying animals; mainly, the butterflies. This is the kind of animation I have to post in my tracks, no doubt.
Forest Track - Alados - Copia.jpg


Forest Track is one of the best at the moment. :)
Good job!

Re: Forest Track

PostPosted: 29 Aug 2018, 23:07
by QwertyChouskie
Congrats in the release! @STKdevs can we get this added as an official track (maybe as a green valley replacement)?

Re: Forest Track

PostPosted: 29 Aug 2018, 23:29
by Auria
Congratulations! I know you haven't uploaded the sources because of file size limitations, though I'm still wondering why your source file is so large. Many lossless images perhaps?

Re: Forest Track

PostPosted: 30 Aug 2018, 03:38
by Alayan
Great to see it released as an addon !

Now my review of this first release :
A)Actually, I still had your dev version installed, and I was wondering why the track names didn't match. I wasn't far from reviewing the wrong version. :d
B)I like your new track picture, very nice and it fits better with the name than the old one.
C)I see you added a village to the right of the starting point. Great ! The view there was too empty before, this village is not seen in detail when racing, but it is enough to give depth and the impression that there is something more.
D)There is a weird red thing on the bridge. But nothing visible when looking under the bridge, it's just a small object.
E)I wondered why the road seemed so narrow. I was convinced for a moment that you had downscaled the track. It was only retesting the previous version for comparison that I could convince myself that no, you didn't downscale it. I know changing road shape is not easy, but there is at least a significant number of spots where you could slightly enlarge the road without (I hope) too much work. If you want, I can suggest spots.
F)The new ruined wall of the monastery fixes the "go directly over the hill" unintended shortcut nicely !
G)The bananas certainly help to spot the monastery road in reverse, but... You really overdid it. There are too much bananas on that road, which even without them is harder than the regular one. This makes the path uninteresting in actual races. Suggestion : in all the spots with 2 bananas blocking the road, remove one of them, allowing to "slalom" between bananas. With that change, this path has a good potential to be "harder but faster".
H)Many other things I reported have been fixed, like the point where the train disappear, or adding a road behind the railway crossing. Great !
I)Suggestions D1, D2, D4, E, F (first part only), H, J, K, N and P of my 23 May post still stand. For E, I suggest making the invisible wall trigger an automatic rescue. For K, it may be due to the fact that to test your track, I run it for several minutes, longer than an usual race, and so with more opportunity to desync. Further investigation is required.
J)I notice that the railroad has been made much more drivable with the kart. However, there is a weird black texture in one spot in the tunnel.
K)A few old issues I noticed still do exist. The first one is the grass texture - you've replaced it in many place, and added other plants in many other, making it a much much lesser issue, but there are still a few ugly spots. Another one is the nitro can distribution which is not very well balanced in some spots and somewhat "too generous" in a few spots.

On the current dev version, there is a bug in multiple downward slop where the kart "jumps", but it's a code bug, not a track issue.

Final thoughts :

This version is a very solid improvements over the previous one. Most issues have been fixed, and few remains. This tracks make me regret that there is no option to get a bigger FOV ! With so much goodness, I'd want to see more at once. It is a very good mix of visuals, interesting details & gameplay.

I hope you'll be able to improve it even further, especially on the issues/suggestions noted in this post, that you'll get a nice custom soundtrack (maybe OzoneOne could do one ?), and that it will be integrated into STK official release. It is definitely one of the very best tracks ever made for STK.

Re: Forest Track

PostPosted: 03 Sep 2018, 21:11
by SvenAndreasBelting
Thanks to everybody :)


@ Auria The file has a lot of textures and also I duplicated all trees with shift D (not linked) so every single tree has an own mesh.
At the moment I can't check the blend file because I have a login loop problem with linux mint.
When I can check the file again, I will take a look and see what I can do to get the file smaller.

Re: Forest Track

PostPosted: 03 Sep 2018, 21:17
by QwertyChouskie
If possible the trees should be linked for performance reasons (STK's renderer benefits from linking). This should also reduce the size of the blend.