Video - Vehicle Engine Update

I've been updating / simplifying the engine for about a month now. Sorry - no new playable demo yet.

e.g. here is the offroad vehicle in it's entirety ...

;OFFROAD
Data "Offroad"	; chassis mesh
Data "Tire1"	; front tire mesh
Data "Tire1"	; rear tire mesh
Data 1			; id : -1 = explosive , 0 = object , 1 = land , 2 = amphib , 3 = sea , 4 = air
Data 2.0		; ride height
Data 6.0 		; max speed	for turn interpolation
Data .75 		; armour
Data .001	 	; drag	
Data 0			; bouyancy / lift													
Data 14,14,18	; collision
Data 5,	10,10,10,		8, 		0,0,0, 	 			0			
Data 4,	200,4,4,		1.5,	-5.5,-2.5,6.5,		1+128+256	
Data 4,	200,4,4,		1.5,	5.5,-2.5,6.5,		1+128+256	
Data 4,	200,4,4,		1.5,	5.5,-2.5,-6.5,		1+128			
Data 4,	200,4,4,		1.5,	-5.5,-2.5,-6.5,		1+128
Data 5,	200,200,200,	1,		-5.0,6.5,6.0,		0	
Data 5,	200,200,200,	1,		5.0,6.5,6.0,		0			
Data 5,	200,200,200,	1,		5.0,6.5,-6.0,		0				
Data 5,	200,200,200,	1,		-5.0,6.5,-6.0,		0	
Data 30.0		; turn max
Data 10.0 	 	; turn min 	
Data 100.0		; engine force
Data 100.0		; braking force
Data 80.0		; reverse force
Data 4.0		; tire radius			
Data 250.0		; self right force
Data 1.5  		; suspension length
Data 0.1		; suspension strength
Data 2.0		; gear ratio / for sound	
Data 750		; engine pitch / for sound
Data 1			; skid active / for sound

* Added a much better, non hacked, friction model based on tire load & variable suspension. This allows subtle rolling of the car chassis into turns and you can also land most of the time during big air jumps.

* Added ghost car support on race track. Hopefully I'll have a quick demo of this out soon to see if anyone can beat my best lap.

* Added improved vehicle / vehicle collisions.

* Added 'time of day' support for night battles / racing. Not 100% convinced on this but it's really just a test.

* In the process of adding AI - should be fun!

Anywho, it's not the best but here's a quick video. Hopefully you can see the subtle differences from previous versions.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZ8MsOBKfX8

Cheers
Stevie

Whilst watching a.o. i did enjoy the yellow man statue and the trees.

I appreciate it's stylised but this always looks like the physical actions are slow motion and the gravity is comparable to the moon. This isn't a criticism, merely an opinion.

Regarding the style and engine it looks good. Although I'm always wary of 'games' where the starting point is a physics engine.

Generally spoken: Moon feeling like/slow motion-physics-engine driven games are often so (if it's not a wanted behaviour) due to the fact that people aren't setting up the physics correctly. If you're doing it right then you don't notice it.

This moon feeling is due to FRAPS recording at 30 fps when the engine is actually running at 60! I thought everyone knew this?! I can assure you that it looks better at double speed in game :)

The gamplay is not centered around physics - it's simply the underlying engine.

Stevie

Why don't you synchronize it for recording or encode the video stream according to this?

How do I do that? I'm using the fraps demo and windows movie maker for compression.

Playing the demo at 30fps too or grabbing (uncompressed) videodata which you afterwards compress to the desired framerate. I normally do encode either on2vp6 or h.264 videos via Quicktime and there you easily can set the desired framerate.

OK, here is a quick clip at the correct speed ...

http://www.steviegoodwin.plus.com/Videos/Movie_0006.wmv

Yay, much better in my opinion as it shows some action now. I just wasn't able to view it online due to the filetype but it worked after i downloaded it.

I think the visuals and pyhsics are doing a nice job, it'll just come down to what the game actually will be like. If you heading for a good idea then this could be a lot of fun.

Looks great! I really love this game, still play your old demo every once in a while.

Does that rocket car have a sweeping light on the front a la KITT, or was that just a video artifact? :)

@ 95722AD - Yip, that's KITT ;)

Thanks folks. I'm gonna start doing some AI now - should be fun.

Cheers
Stevie

Stevie i really like it but i would tone down the rolling of the car chassis a bit. everything else is just great

@ Pete - agreed, it's overdone on the offroad vehicle to show the effect better. I'll make it more subtle.

I love this stuff (both physics and graphic style). Good job Stevie.

It made me check my own car games roll, i can't beleave id been so dumb but i made a mistake in that the cars body rolled the wrong way i thought it looked odd when going round corners.

Cant wait to play the full game

Looking very slick, Stevie. Is Stramesh finished, or shouldn't I ask? :P

Heh. :) Maybe the active suspension is just over-compensating too much? :P

I always liked driving games like this. Hurry up and make a game of it ! :)

I was a bit dissapointed in the lack of feedback when I posted the demo of Stramash .. but yes, I'm working on both at the same time. As a result of the better vehicle friction model I've implemented similar in Stramash. The two kinda compliment each other and mean I don't get bored. You know the drill ;)

Yeah, I do. :) I did try an early version of Stramesh and meant to try the latest demo but never got aound to it, for some reason. Sorry about that. :/

I added heat-seaking missiles to the choppers as a secondary weapon this afternoon. Great fun!!

I've been playing 1 on 1 deathmatches with some mates - offroad vs chopper :) Seems a bit one sided but it doesn't work out that way 'cos the missile doesn't aquire a target until a second after launch.

Couldn't resist uploading some footage. One of the parts is in slow mo in case your wondering. I'm the offroad vehicle.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHV9ikfzcJQ

Stevie

Stop torturing us and release a demo :D
And that vid doesnt work on my computer, just a black screen... for 2 minutes...
Oh well
*goes off to play verson 6*

Must not be availble to the public. I just uploaded it a couple of hours ago. It'll be a while before a demo. Need to get a front end and a couple of structured mini games / scenarios to play first.

Alright, there HAS to be a demo for this by now!? :-)

Ah data statements. I used that technique in the racer engine, then later I made it write the data to files and read from them, so you could modify the cars in notepad with the final EXE. I like modability. ;-)

Not yet .. sorry .. there has been alot of additions though ... as you can see in these screenshots ...

Police Truck .. ( there's a van as well as the original car )


Mini Gun Trailers


SUmo game prototype


In Gallery


Deathmatch .. trailers which can be reversed up to and connected to your truck


I've also added dormant vehicles which can be possessed ( coloured white ) , respawning , weather effects , some new objects, timetrials , brand new collision system which is more accurate and equaly as fast, faster low res shadows , option to change to double res shadows , new landscape types etc....

I've been working on Stramash this week but it has received the usual lack of interest ( I love it though ) so I'll be returning to this eventually.

Stevie

MAN! Where'd you get the idea for the sumo game? I've always liked the idea myself and sumo mode was the core of my original car game. It was based off of terrains though and fake physics. I really think i'll enjoy this!!!! Your screenshot of the sumo bit really really looks like a 3d version of a game i did on the old BBC micro, where the cars would bump each other off the side of te platform. awesome. simply awesome.

I got the idea from a mini-game on Crash Bash (ps1). Haven't really played with the game mechanics on this one yet.

Looks great stevie. I really like the basic graphics look.
The crash bash mini game wasn't the the one on the ice was it? think you were riding a polar bear and had to kncok each other off the area :-)

I have come in here only to say that those trailers are the greatest innovation in gaming since the land shark cannon!

THat's the chap ;)



You forgot the 'chopper shark'. All combinations are possible :)

Looking great, I also am looking forward to the next demo.

On a graphical note, is there anyway you can add an anti-aliasing option on the next demo? I recall there being a DLL that enabled it or something since B3d's is pretty much broken.

Loving the trailer idea btw, how are they handled exactly? Are they present prior to the match, or can you attach/detach them at will during a round?

Both, but only trailers of your team colour. It auto targets enemies when attached. In 2 player mode .. one of you can control the mini-gun .. the other the truck ..





Maybe, doubtful though. Anti-Alias never works for me anymore.

Wow this looks great, I love the style of the game :-)

Good going :)

This reminds me so much of "Big Red Racing" which I loved.

Can't wait for this!

Stevie G:
You could make also a 'Carrier Commander' type of game with this great stuff

I can't wait for this to come out, loved the earlier demos, still looking great, especially with the new additions. I'm literally drooling here to play this.

Just wondering Stevie. Have you thought of updating the graphics? I know it's the style you want, But surely if you made 3d models and just made them rotate and follow the exact positions/rotations, you would only need to use the current vechine models you have for collisions and physics. I wouldn't mind taking a shot at some graphics if you want?

Nope. I like the look, so do others and it also means I don't have to rely on a modeller to do all the graphics.
My custom meshloading & saving functions rely on a mesh being uv'd a specific way amonst other things.

If you can model in my style then I'd be happy of the help though.

Stevie

Yeah, i'll give it a go. Good practice :o)

Ok - cheers.

I need a vehicle that can launch SAM's about the same proportions as the truck - maybe a bit longer. Any items of scenery are also welcome. I also need some decent boats. If you can keep the poly count to under 500 all to the better.

You mentioned you have a certain way you want your stuff modelled, because of the UV's and such. What do i need to do to comply with this?

Well all my models use vertex colours which are consistent for things like windscreens, tires, metalic parts, lights etc... I only use a small 2x2 pixel texture to colour the main part of the vehicle so I do not need textures. For the parts of the vehicle which are coloured then uv's are set to .5, .5 and vertexcoloured grey ( 200,200,200 for the lightest parts ) . The uv's for all non-textured parts are set to 0,0. I only use the first set.

For all objects ( other than physics based ones ) I need to create proxy collision versions and a shadow mesh which is the underside of the mesh. For objects which receive shadows .. I do all the uv mapping in my own editor.

I can easily build a quick editor to import models and I can scale, unweld, flatshade, vertex colour, texture them and save them in my own format.

I am picky though and if it doesn't fit the consistent style I won't include it in the game.

Cheers for the help.
Stevie

Ok, i have whipped up this:



I tried to keep in with your style of using primatives and i used the same number of segments for the wheel. Not completely finished yet. Is it any good? As i say, it's good practice so be honest :P

.

I like it ... don't worry about the wheels .. I'll be able to add my own. Are you using vertexcolouring there btw?

I think the missile thing needs to be a bit smaller .. all the vehicles have a stretched cube as their collision cube so best that the weapons are not really high.

So reduce the height of the weapons? I thought they may have been a bit small compared to the real life comparisons. I've not vertex coloured it yet, i'll do that in ultimate unwrap. I will make groups out of the relevant parts, like the rotating weapons launcher.

Yes - the weapons are too high .. picture the vehicle blown upside down.

Also, don't worry about the missiles ... I have plenty to choose from .. the missiles need to fire from inside a launcher which looks like it's hiding them .. see the chopper for example.

Hey, even i didn't like the style when I saw that the first time, I start loving it :D
I'll also try to make a model. Racing boat maybe...
I'll show it to you when it's done.

First attempt:


I think the front doesn't look to good and all the thing isn't looking very close to a real hydroplane, but it's fun to model in this way.
You could think of doing a cel-shade effect to your game, so that the models all have these black edges. Only if you'd like of course, but i think it looks pretty nice...

Can't model. But a missle launcher should look like:

Not bad ELcoo - I'm looking for boats rather than hydroplanes if you fancy a go at them.

I tried celshading ages ago and hated the look.

I like Ross's missile launcher as it'd work better in the game.

Cheers
Stevie

Ok, I'll try modelling a "normal" boat. Just thought a hydroplane would do it great for races^^

Sorry, i get round to posted a link to the model :o)

Is it ready yet?

What about now?

now?

NOW!?