StuntsLegacyEngine

[Cas]

I just wanted to demonstrate that it can be done. In fact, I believe Stunts internally can do this; it just chooses not to give the option. Original Stunts shapes do not include dirt and ice, so they have to be converted from the paved versions. This means that Stunts has a routine that performs this conversion, so I implemented this same thing. The conclusion is that Stunts could use it on any object that has pavement materials, but it limits this. I'm not surprised that it puts a limit for things like ramps, because it looks weird, I must admit, but for slaloms, tunnels and chicanes, it'd probably look OK. My engine can do it easily, but again, I think Stunts can too.

[Cas]

OK... This is an update... an important one!
I'm uploading the current state of the engine. The zip file includes the binaries for Linux 64bit and Windows, plus a couple of configuration files the program uses and the two game?.3sh files from Stunts. These last two files, you all have them, but because they have to previously be unpacked, I preferred to just pass them.

To test the engine, you will need a track, any one. Just copy the track file to the directory and run the program. It will ask you to enter the track file name. If you omit the extension, it will assume ".trk". Use the arrow keys to navigate over the track terrain and A and Z to move up and down. Also, < and > to "strafe". Visibility is set to full track. With very, very populated tracks, you may notice a very mild slowdown. I'm surprised that it takes so much to slow the engine, as it can still be greatly optimised and as I said, visibility is going to infinity (almost).

Of the strange things you will notice, there is one that I know exactly how to fix, which is the fact that large objects (bigger than 1x1) may look incomplete on top of hills sometimes. Apart from that, almost every other strange artifact is due to the fact that I use a culling algorithm that's different from that of Stunts and I have no way to guess exactly how Stunts does it, so it will always be different. A solution for all that is to redesign all shapes (not necessarily from scratch; a few modifications on each may do the trick). The most annoying thing is the tunnel as it is seen from outside.

Let me know what you guys think

[GTAManRCR]

This is a helpful software if you want to see the map from 3D before driving it, but feels like Test Drive 1's keyboard controls (Only reacts to 1 keypress at a single time)

[Daniel3D]

Wow. It looks good.
Can't install it just yet. But I can't wait.
You said you'd have a fly over ready by the end of the month three weeks ago and I wasn't sure you would make it.

Great job.
I'm really looking forward to seeing the physics engine work. Then we can drive in higher detail.

And maybe online multiplayer this summer 

[Cas]

Hey, guys!  Thanks for your reviews

feels like Test Drive 1's keyboard controls (Only reacts to 1 keypress at a single time)

It's only the graphics engine you're testing. I've done nothing about input and physics yet. The idea of this demo is to showcase the graphics capabilities and also, yes, with a few touches, it can work as a track previewer. I still have a few things to do before getting to physics.

I'm really looking forward to seeing the physics engine work. Then we can drive in higher detail.
And maybe online multiplayer this summer 

To get into physics, I have to do a few things still. First, fix that problem that causes incomplete large objects on hills. Then, make the horizon rotate (the track elements can be rotated in every way, but still not the horizon). The landscape and clouds are not being drawn, but I could leave that for later. What I should do is facilitate creating new track elements or new versions of existing ones so the visuals can be improved. With that possibility open, I can start to write some physics.

About multiplayer, it all depends on how easy or hard physics turns out to be. I've never tried making something like that. Making a game multiplayer isn't very hard if you've left the "slots" for that during the making. And probably, before multiplayer, I will have to think about sound. In many games, that can be left for the end, but hearing the engine and the skidding is very important in a cars game.

[Daniel3D]

hearing the engine and the skidding is very important in a cars game.

That's very true. And important for debugging.
Although in the beginning there is no direct need for high end sound effects. Pc speaker style generated sounds are good enough for the beginning.

[GTAManRCR]

So you are creating Stunts v2.0?

[Daniel3D]

That is the general idea. Since there are wishes for improvement but no source code the only option is to remake it.
Hence the research on corner signs, camera placement and what quirks define the game.

I can't program myself but I am a happy supporter of the project. (For a big part because I want to see it succeed unlike for instance Ultimate Stunts)

[GTAManRCR]

Ultimate Stunts just feels off in terms of gameplay, those cars have worse controls, I hope this project will have a very good handling model of cars (As the other Stunts fanmade projects have much worse, than the vanilla Stunts)

[Daniel3D]

Exactly. And TrackMania for instance has similar gameplay, the original version has most if not all the track elements of Stunts, sort of the same game modes. It even stores replays by player inputs.
But it added a scoring system and options you have to buy or unlock. Frustrating as hell..
It's completely the other end of the spectrum in my opinion.

CAS wants to update and add features but stay true to the look and feel of the original. All old content can be imported. So all custom cars will be available to. But they may be converted to accommodate the new features. You will drive car0 and not car1 for instance.

[Ryoma]

You will drive car0 and not car1 for instance.

That's sound good to my ears. I am always disapointed when I saw my car under stressed with a lot of détails and on stunts.

[Cas]

What I'm making is not a new game; it's a new engine for the same game. Of course, it's not trivial to make it feel really like Stunts, but since that is my number one objective in the project, I guess I'll end up getting closer in that aspect than any other previous one.

About car models, I still haven't reached that part, that is, my engine can already load car models, but still not put them on track and such. So there are many alternatives on which to use. My engine uses floating point vectors, so models can be scaled from any base shape. The best option, I believe, is to create a new car format that can carry floating point vectors and can surpass the limit in number of vertices and primitives. You will be able to convert either the car0, car1 or car2 if you want of an original or custom car into this format and you can also create a new model from scratch specially designed for it (with more primitives or vertices than Stunts cars). Still, I think we shouldn't go much further than the 255 primitives. I think a car with some 500 primitives will look very good already. The engine allows up to 32767 primitives, but that would be too slow.

[GTAManRCR]

Are you planning to also remove the 32 car limits, and make tracks bigger than 30x30?

[Daniel3D]

Yeah,
More cars, bigger grid, more levels of track and terrain.
Possibly:
- underground tunnels and new track elements.
- Besides different track types also different terrain types (like sand, dirt, snow and/or rock)
- content manager to upload/download share and create new cars, track or scenery
-Multiplayer modes

But first. Get to equal the original. Then build on.

[Cas]

Are you planning to also remove the 32 car limits, and make tracks bigger than 30x30?

This is pretty much like Daniel said. I'm concentrating in being able to reproduce Stunts first, but I'm leaving all the "slots" for the new things we all want to be able to add. Some are super easy to do, like the two you mentioned. They are immediate. Others require some work, but not necessarily a lot. For example, multiple layers is not hard to implement, but I have to be tidy and it forces me to create a new track file format.

I want to add more features, but more than that, I want other people to be able to add more features. That is, I want to make this engine "moddable".

One thing that a few people here don't like very much is that I chose FreeBasic to make the engine. I really had no choice. C is more standard, but it provides no graphics and I do not want my project to depend on external 3rd-party graphics libraries. But I can make it easy to plug C-based mods into the engine.