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Messages - Duplode

#61
Quote from: Duplode on February 20, 2025, 03:33:04 PMI have added a link to it to the Restunts Wiki article. Looking forward to part 2 already!

Speaking of the Wiki, I was going to create an initial version of the SuperSight article to cover the red link, but it turns out you've already done that 👍
#62
Stunts Forum & Portal / Re: Competition Archive updates
February 21, 2025, 12:10:43 AM
@Cas BTW, when you get the chance, you might want to update the R4K mirror of the Archive as well  :)
#63
So, @Matei , here goes a general point. Broadly speaking, there are at least two kinds of Stunts-related projects, with rather different aims:

  • On the one hand, Stunts might be a source of inspiration, and possibly of game assets as well, to a new racing game, created according to the author's own vision. That's a valid and worthwhile goal.
  • On the other hand, Stunts itself might be reverse engineered and modded, be it for the technical challenge, for documenting the original game (perhaps even with an eye towards remixing it with other projects), or for the sake of compatibility with a 35-year history of playing, racing and modding. That's also a valid and worthwhile goal.

These are different high-level goals, and "solving" one of them won't "solve" the other. And that's okay! Progress in one front can still spur progress in the other, and projects of different kinds can cross-pollinate just fine. Comparing projects of different kinds as if they were trying to achieve the same thing, though, leads to an apples-and-oranges situation.

And now, back to our regularly scheduled programming.
#64
Competition 2025 / Re: ZCT283 - Shadowplay
February 20, 2025, 04:13:47 PM
Here are some notes on the current PTB situation:

Alan Rotoi (197:17 at last midnight, the end of the public days) is still in contention for PTB +2 (528 stunts hours). To achieve that, he can afford to lose no more than 29:43 of PTB time in the remainder of the race (that is, 15 days from midnight to the start of quiet days, or 360 real hours). That means he must swiftly deal with the lead challenge by Argammon (148:47 at midnight), who, by retaking the lead in the morning (about ten hours ago), has already consumed almost five hours of Alan's 29:43 margin.

Elsewhere, both MiDiaN (60:56 at midnight, currently 3rd) and KyLiE (72:56 at midnight, currently 4th) have decent odds of reaching PTB +0.5 (132 stunts hours) in this race (360 real hours amount to 120 stunts hours from 3rd, and to 72 stunts hours from 4th). There's plenty of racing yet to happen, though, and ensuring that might yet require them to defend their positions or push upwards.
#65
Competition 2025 / Re: Guest tracks 2025
February 20, 2025, 03:47:14 PM
Quote from: alanrotoi on February 19, 2025, 12:44:29 AMAs far as I remember https://zak.stunts.hu/tracks/ZCT159 was the only track built originally for OWOOT rules.

There are also ZCT166 (4AM) and ZCT188 (AbuRaf's Boulevard), which were originally submitted to the WSC track design contest in 2006.
#66
Quote from: HerrNove on February 20, 2025, 02:36:28 AMThe first part of the writeup is online!

https://marnetto.net/2025/02/20/broderbund-stunts-1

What a great writeup, thank you! It's also a useful read for people getting to know Restunts -- I have added a link to it to the Restunts Wiki article. Looking forward to part 2 already!

P.S.: I also enjoyed finding out about the other "DSI". Gotta try it out, too!
#67
I'm glad to announce the Volume X update of the Competition Archive is now available! Here is a direct link to it. The update includes:

  • CCC: The 2023 and 2024 races.
  • DOSReloaded.de: Updated to the current race.
  • ISA: CAP's winning lap from Adelaide.
  • Kalpen: CAP's winning lap from CTRACK33. This is the first replay from early Kalpen to be added to the Archive!
  • Le Stunts: Thirteen races from 2023 and 2024.
    • Additionally, the six tracks from last June's Stunts Online live racing event.
  • NTT: The 2023 races.
  • Stunts POP: The Dani track from September 2003, and its winning replay by Alan Rotoi. Though Stunts POP has been listed in the Archive main spreadsheet since the first edition, no tracks or replays from it had been found until now.
  • Race For Kicks: Updated to the current race, as usual including both main scoreboard and NoRH laps.
  • USL: The Minsk track from USL 2010, which had been left out by accident.
  • WSC: The unused guest tracks from seasons 2006 and 2007.
  • ZakStunts: Updated to the current race, including main scoreboard, Am League and GAR (!) replays.

Also new to the main spreadsheet, though with no tracks or replays recovered so far, is a competition ran via mailing list by SergioBaro in 2005, whose existence hadn't been reported at all until now!

With these additions, the Archive now covers 1314 known races, and includes 1085 tracks, 1165 replays, and 53 custom cars.

Thanks a lot to @alanrotoi for unearthing long-lost replays, and to Victor Narl for pointing out omissions. I'm always happy to get files, information and corrections for the Archive, so if you discover anything, do let me know!  :)
#68
Oh, I see, so it's the other way around  :D As you say, DOSBox is generally well-behaved, and the obvious ways of making it perform poorly lead to graceful degradation. Setting the cycles too high for one's CPU (100k+ will very likely be too much, and max with competing CPU loads doesn't work well either) can lead to music slowdowns, but not outright glitches as far as I remember. Trying to use MT-32 sound while relying on the OS's default MIDI support (rather than the Munt emulator or a real MT-32) does funny things to the sound effects, but that seems different to what you're describing.

If you want to experiment with configuration in an environment that's closer to DOS on a real retro machine than DOSBox, one option might be setting up FreeDOS and Stunts on the 86box emulator.
#69
Competition and Website / Re: Position Time Bonus
February 19, 2025, 04:03:00 AM
Quote from: HerrNove on February 18, 2025, 10:09:50 PMSo, driver B would be punished for doing too well on race 1. To avoid this situation, top drivers who are having a bad month might be tempted to artificially stay under the 1-point threshold, giving up half a point but gaining useful carryover that can be used in the next race to hopefully reach the 2-point threshold. Is this a too artificial situation? Maybe, my analysis is just based on abstract game theory while you have decades of concrete experience in this tournament.

That is a reasonable concern. In my experience under the old LTB system at least (others might want to chime in), this kind of coldly calculated move in which the immediate goal would be not getting LTB +1 wasn't really on my radar. What would sometimes happen is a more natural variation, that has more to do with pacing oneself and keeping the energy expenditure across the season sustainable. If at, say, 160-200 h it felt like pushing for LTB +1 (240 h threshold) would be too much trouble, I might let it go and try sorting it out in the next race. Such an option isn't without its risks: besides the matter of leaving 40-80 h on the table for everyone else, who knows how the next race will be like ("a bird in hand is worth two in the bush").

(There is also an additional, PTB-specific complication in the way of the calculated move. Under the new rules, losing the lead no longer stops you from earning hours; rather, it just reduces the rate at which you gain them. That being so, intentionally stopping as close as possible to the PTB +1 threshold is probably harder to do now.)
#70
Competition 2025 / Re: Guest tracks 2025
February 19, 2025, 12:39:18 AM
Quote from: HerrNove on February 19, 2025, 12:34:18 AMI have a nice track concept in mind but it might be more appropriate for R4K. The basic sketch has no loops/ramps/hills because they do not fit the theme (also no splits but this could change), so it seems suitable for clean and precise driving but not for the usual jump shenanigans and tricks that the pros seem to like.

Sounds nice! And yes, OWOOT track design can be a rather distinct affair -- but one that's no less interesting  :)
#71
Competition 2025 / Re: Guest tracks 2025
February 19, 2025, 12:21:24 AM
@Cas Noted, thanks! Though again, we might wait a little longer to see if anyone not yet on the calendar wants to join. (In particular, @HerrNove mentioned elsewhere he might want to.)
#72
Competition and Website / Re: Position Time Bonus
February 18, 2025, 09:47:39 PM
I believe it already is. If you bring 131:59 of carryover (the maximum amount in the new system) into a race, and then earn 396:01 in it, you'll get PTB +2, and from that point no further bonuses will be available in that race, even if you lead all the way through the rest of the month.
#73
Competition and Website / Re: Position Time Bonus
February 18, 2025, 08:17:33 PM
Yes, there is. I think HerrNove meant 2.5 points over two races.
#74
Hello and welcome @Fmarci75 ! For the quickest way to get Stunts running, begin by installing and starting DOSBox. On a PC, you'll see a number of "cycles" on the title of the DOSBox window, which will probably be 3000 the first time you run it. Press Ctrl + F12 a few times to increase it to about 20000, to make sure the game runs well. Then, on the DOSBox prompt, enter...

MOUNT C path\of\your\stunts\folder

... to make your Stunts folder available, navigate to C: and start the game as you would in DOS.

To avoid having to redo these steps every time you want to run the game, it's indeed a good idea to have a dosbox.conf file. Below is a small example configuration file. Change the Stunts folder path and the name of the Stunts executable to the ones you actually have, then save it as a stunts.conf text file and start DOSBox with dosbox -conf stunts.conf from the command line (or create a desktop shortcut which runs that).

[cpu]
cycles=20000
core=dynamic

[render]
aspect=true
scaler=normal3x

[autoexec]
mount C path\of\your\stunts\folder
C:
your-stunts-executable

Feel free to ask us about anything you need to get started!
#75
Competition 2025 / Re: Guest tracks 2025
February 18, 2025, 03:24:24 AM
Let's update the calendar, then, with @alanrotoi (thanks!) now on ZCT284. ZCT291 and ZCT293 remain available!