Problem with cannons and lap counting

Problem with cannons and lap counting

Postby Anon » 03 Jul 2014, 21:23

Lap counting doesn't work in my track when I put a cannon in it. I have my checklines and drivelines all set up correctly, and everything behaves as it should when I remove the cannon.

Running supertuxkart with --check-debug shows that the checklines are never actually activated. Instead, the cannon is highlighted red.

Is there a workaround for this? Or do I have to remove the cannons and replace them with something else?
Anon
 
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Re: Problem with cannons and lap counting

Postby hiker » 03 Jul 2014, 23:17

Anon {l Wrote}:Lap counting doesn't work in my track when I put a cannon in it. I have my checklines and drivelines all set up correctly, and everything behaves as it should when I remove the cannon.

Running supertuxkart with --check-debug shows that the checklines are never actually activated. Instead, the cannon is highlighted red.

Is there a workaround for this? Or do I have to remove the cannons and replace them with something else?


Checklines would not be triggered if they happen during the canon, so make sure that the checklines are outside the canon's path.

Otherwise, could you post your .blend file here? Then I can have a look.

Cheers,
Joerg
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Re: Problem with cannons and lap counting

Postby Anon » 04 Jul 2014, 00:17

Here's the .blend. The cannon is on layer 5, and the checklines and driveline are on layer 20.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0ByWaabmvuBr_bGthd2xHeHJKV2c/edit?usp=sharing
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Re: Problem with cannons and lap counting

Postby samuncle » 04 Jul 2014, 07:31

Hello :)

I have tested your track and I know it's a bit off topic however I have some advise

First I love your track. It's very original, I like the shape of the mountain something crystal like. very original. We never saw something like that. It's something truly beautiful and paradise peak is a cool name :).

1) The idea of adding peaks in the background is cool :).
2) The bridge and barriers are awesome and you used my wood texture. It's very cool (btw Can I use your barrier for my own track ?)
3) The fluffy clouds are fun
4) I don't know what was your original skybox however I just add a generic gradient to test the track and it looks cool. It remembers me Beep beep coyote
Image

However I spot several problems and stuff that might be improved
1) I suggest to find something different to make clouds. During my test I had ~55 FPS in my powerful computer. Transparency blending is a performance killer. I'm sure you will find something else. I don't have a solution right now but I'm sure there is a lot of ways to achieve the same effect. If you are motivated you might try to use the next gen engine. In our upcoming engine, The fog can have a height value so we can achieve effect like this one. http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_V4SYpI93l98/S ... esized.jpg
2) It should have something at the bottom of the peaks. Maybe there is one I don't know since I haven't your original skybox
3) Add more variations. Currently all rocks structures are too similar. The geometry is good however there is a lack of diversity with texture. Start by having two different textures. One for the rocks and one for the sand.
4) In prevision of the next gen engine the sand texture should be less bright.
I made a quick test with a more detailed, less bright and with a bit of reddish hue. IMHO it immediately looks way better.
Image
5) All plants, and objects. Even in a dry desert there is rocks, little plants, bushes.
6) you MUST use always references, here is some nice one
-> http://www.jenkle.com/wp-content/upload ... paper1.jpg
-> http://fc09.deviantart.net/fs70/i/2011/ ... 3iovrr.jpg
Of course you might also try to make a track with a crystal theme since your mountains look like giant crystals.
-> http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_5tXNCI3P-WI/S ... 0films.jpg
-> http://www.hdwallsource.com/crystal-wal ... 29296.html
7) There is no paradise :(. I know it's only a title but it should have a little hidden paradise at the end of the lap. I might be a little oasis, a special structure or even an abandoned sign with written on it PARADISE. You should reward the player with something like that. It will be also a nice touch :).
8) A little section inside a cave might be interesting. Also maybe some stone arches.

Don't take it bad :). Don't give up. I like your track it's a very promising start. The general shape looks good. Fix the cloud performance problem and then you can start to add details.

I want also to request if I you are interested in helping me to make a next gen track with your current concept. If you are not interested, I can understand so can I use some part of your track for my own projects ?

Sam
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Re: Problem with cannons and lap counting

Postby hiker » 04 Jul 2014, 07:45

Anon {l Wrote}:Here's the .blend. The cannon is on layer 5, and the checklines and driveline are on layer 20.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0ByWaabmvuBr_bGthd2xHeHJKV2c/edit?usp=sharing

Thanks. It looks like a bug in the exporter. I've opened a ticket: https://github.com/supertuxkart/stk-code/issues/1386

Till we fix the exporter, you can open the created scene.xml file, and copy the cannon section to the end of the check section, e.g.:
{l Code}: {l Select All Code}
  <checks>
    <check-lap kind="lap" same-group="0" other-ids="1" />
    <check-line kind="activate" other-ids="2" p1="178.97 92.60" p2="187.94 131.58" min-height="73.35" same-group="1"/>
    <check-line kind="activate" other-ids="0" p1="-12.31 137.00" p2="-3.34 175.98"
                min-height="81.34" same-group="2"/>
    <cannon p1="150.47 76.38 124.81" p2="148.23 76.38 115.07" target-p1="12.79 84.20 156.88" target-p2="10.54 84.20  147.13">
       <curve channel="LocXYZ" speed="50.00" curvetype="bezier" extend="const">
      <point c="149.347275 76.381363 119.938797" h1="150.000610 76.157242 119.787399" h2="111.032333 89.525093 128.817337" />
      <point c="11.665024 84.199425 152.005997" h1="55.425858 95.435211 141.865234" h2="10.719940 83.956772 152.225006" />
    </curve>
    </cannon>
  </checks>

So now the first three entries in checks are the check-lap/line entries, then the cannon (notice that the check-lines refer to each other using the indices in the other-ids fiels, which are 0, 1, and 2., but with the cannon originally listed somewhere in between them, the check data structure had indices 0, 2 and 3).

Thanks for the report!
Joerg
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Re: Problem with cannons and lap counting

Postby Anon » 04 Jul 2014, 18:06

First I love your track. It's very original, I like the shape of the mountain something crystal like. very original. We never saw something like that. It's something truly beautiful and paradise peak is a cool name :).

Thanks!

Can I use your barrier for my own track ?

Sure.

1) I suggest to find something different to make clouds. During my test I had ~55 FPS in my powerful computer. Transparency blending is a performance killer. I'm sure you will find something else. I don't have a solution right now but I'm sure there is a lot of ways to achieve the same effect. If you are motivated you might try to use the next gen engine. In our upcoming engine, The fog can have a height value so we can achieve effect like this one.

Noted. Would it be better if i cut the number of cloud planes by 80%-ish and used them along with the fog?
EDIT: Where do I find this option? It's not in my supertuxkart panel, which I installed only yesterday. Do I have to edit scene.xml or something?

2) It should have something at the bottom of the peaks. Maybe there is one I don't know since I haven't your original skybox

I was planning on having the player get rescued as soon as he hits the cloudtops, to keep from distracting from the main track.

3) Add more variations. Currently all rocks structures are too similar. The geometry is good however there is a lack of diversity with texture. Start by having two different textures. One for the rocks and one for the sand.

I'll change the textures, but I'm really not sure what I can do about the rocks. There's only so many ways you can configure a mesh with only six faces.

4) In prevision of the next gen engine the sand texture should be less bright.
I made a quick test with a more detailed, less bright and with a bit of reddish hue. IMHO it immediately looks way better.

Yeah, that does look better. I'll definitely change the texture.

5) All plants, and objects. Even in a dry desert there is rocks, little plants, bushes.

In a desert, maybe. But I'm not sure that anything would grow on a barren rock face above the stratosphere. Maybe some twisted, oxygen deprived bushes. I'll do some research and act accordingly.

6) you MUST use always references, here is some nice one

It's a bit late to implement these in this version of the track now, with the mountains already modelled and the road mesh finalized. I'll definitely use references if I make another version or another track, though.

7) There is no paradise :(. I know it's only a title but it should have a little hidden paradise at the end of the lap. I might be a little oasis, a special structure or even an abandoned sign with written on it PARADISE. You should reward the player with something like that. It will be also a nice touch :)

"Paradise" originally referred to the track's placement above the cloud layer, but I guess that isn't enough. I'll try to add something.

8) A little section inside a cave might be interesting.

Agreed, but I'm not sure it'd be possible with the current geometry of the mountains, since I'll have to slice through dozens if not hundreds of faces to make it. Honestly, I think I was lucky to even figure out how to get the road connected smoothly to the scenery.

Also maybe some stone arches.

I'm not sure that would fit with the current crystalline style of the track, but again, I'll probably add these in the next version.

Don't take it bad :). Don't give up. I like your track it's a very promising start. The general shape looks good. Fix the cloud performance problem and then you can start to add details.

Thanks :)

I want also to request if I you are interested in helping me to make a next gen track with your current concept. If you are not interested, I can understand so can I use some part of your track for my own projects ?

I could definitely try, but I can't promise that I'll be able to deliver anything too good (this is only my first original track). I'd like to ditch the crystalline theme, though, because it made the track much harder to work with. In any case, you are welcome to take any part of this track and use it however you like, as long as I'm given a proportional amount of credit.
Last edited by Anon on 05 Jul 2014, 00:13, edited 1 time in total.
Anon
 
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Re: Problem with cannons and lap counting

Postby Anon » 04 Jul 2014, 18:21

hiker {l Wrote}:Thanks. It looks like a bug in the exporter. I've opened a ticket: https://github.com/supertuxkart/stk-code/issues/1386

Till we fix the exporter, you can open the created scene.xml file, and copy the cannon section to the end of the check section, e.g.:
So now the first three entries in checks are the check-lap/line entries, then the cannon (notice that the check-lines refer to each other using the indices in the other-ids fiels, which are 0, 1, and 2., but with the cannon originally listed somewhere in between them, the check data structure had indices 0, 2 and 3).

Thanks for the report!
Joerg

Thanks for the help.
Anon
 
Posts: 208
Joined: 03 Jul 2014, 16:30

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