As you may know, I'm trying to finish this round of test patches and release an official version so I can focus fully on tyre physics.

Unfortunately, finishing always takes longer than expected but I'm getting there. One thing to add was the dashboard version of the engine damage light. I did that on Monday, but noticed certain issues with dashboards while I was in the dashboard editor. Remembering various issues and requests for improvement, on Tuesday I started to add options for the tacho (allowing x100, steps of 5, set maximum value) and on Wednesday for the speedo (set maximum value, make mph and km/h have the same needle position). On Thursday I added several options that can be applied to all the dials. Finally today I've added the option to show and position the unit (km/h or mph on speedo, x100 or x1000 on the tacho).

I'm sure many of you will find these options useful and they will add some variety and realism to the traditional style dashboards you set up. I don't suggest that this is complete or allows all the possibilities you would like, but these are the things I could do quickly, in a semi-compatible version.

To see the effect of these options in game, you will need Test Patch D26.

By "semi-compatible" I mean that versions before D26 can still load vehicles you save with this new version, but they won't see the effect of the new options.

Vehicle editor:

Engine damage light can be enabled (in Transmission tab)
Maximum value for main body drag increased from 1.0 to 6.0
Some tooltips added and descriptions adjusted in Aerodynamics tab
Estimated max speed (in Aerodynamics) shows speed in mph or km/h
FIX: Dashboard for electric vehicles was switched off in editor

Dashboard editor:

Speedo:
- set maximum value in km/h (steps of 5)
- option to show units (km/h or mph)

Tacho:
- set maximum value
- x100 or x1000
- gap 1/2 (x1000) or 5/10 (x100)
- options to show units (x100 or x1000)

Options on all gauges:
- needle colour = text colour
- needle is long
- needle above pivot
- hide pivot
- hide numbers
- hide symbol (if applicable)
- hide marks
- smaller text

Download: https://www.lfs.net/forum/thread/102626-Editor-Test-Patch-0-7D34

Track editor didn't want much, but I would really like to see more gravel circuits and rally zones.

well u're right and I had doubts very much too, but I tested a lot of export options before posting and am rly puzzled with that.
so I tried with editor 0.7C and still have that issue, alright.

I test like 15x exports with different options again on 0.7C, I don't get it working no matter what I try. Seems there is some bug somewhere in LW.
No clue, but i'll find another way.

Before I can even think about this, you really should verify that something has changed between the versions (which I doubt very much).

You can simply put an older editor exe in place of the new one. You can figure out the download link as well.

well, I updated Editor to D33
now it seems I cant import an obj with smoothing groups anymore
I am using same options which worked before update, so am a bit confused about why it doesnt work as expected

here is some test files with 3 angled polys
on first object "test" I have set all polys with same group at export
editor will load with one group per face.
on second object I have set 2 groups, one with 1 poly, the other with 2 polys
editor will load with one group per face.

I cant attach obj file in that post : "file type not permitted", so i put a zip archive

Update D33 improves the screenshot that will appear in game or on the website. Also there is a warning about unsaved changes if you press the top right X button in modeller or vehicle editor.

Vehicle editor:

A sky reflection (environment map) is included in mod screenshot
Undo "edit model" is removed if no changes were made in modeller
More tooltips in Allow, Light Colours and Object Positions tabs
Unsaved changes warning on clicking the X button to exit LFS

Modeller:

Unsaved changes warning on clicking the X button to exit LFS

Editor crashes if you select cutout with no texture while overlay is ON, or you select cutout with no texture and then enable overlay.

I have done the overlay option, REDO functions and the square mapping function in editor test patch D31.

Modeller improvements:

Map / cutout / page selections are preserved when possible
Undo and redo deal correctly with map / cutout / page modes
Cutout mode works more like map mode and avoids button overlap
Overlay function from page mode is now available in cutout mode
Square buttons in map mode match mapping aspect ratio to cutout

https://www.lfs.net/forum/thread/102626

Update D31, now includes REDO functions for vehicle editor and modeller.

Also modeller improvements:

Map / cutout / page selections are preserved when possible
Undo and redo deal correctly with map / cutout / page modes
Cutout mode works more like map mode and avoids button overlap
Overlay function from page mode is now available in cutout mode
Square buttons in map mode match mapping aspect ratio to cutout

Hello,

I have come up with some kind of tool that can be used to create basic skeleton for LFS Layout.
It uses Blender 3D editor and outputs LYT file than can be directly loaded in LFS.

A guide is part of the zip package, however it assumes some basic familiarity with Blender.

Currently in version (v0.2) only slabs, ramps and wedges are fully supported. But those are most used blocks when creating new layout.

Basically I have pre-modelled all possible variants of these blocks so you only need to copy paste them and put them together into layout.

The script for actual export is included in .blend file and can be directly run from Blender - it exports all selected objects to the output layout.

Any feedback, suggestions or improvements are welcome.

What a pessimistic mood here. At the moment is nothing better in the LFS than the official servers. All that the crack can offer is a brazilian servers with a huge ping, no mods, and with inadequate players whose management ddosing the LFS official master server. Fish rots from the head.

It looks like the Scawen is already finishing physics and Eric is finishing Fern bay, which is probably is was the last aspect of this update that needed to be done.

I believe that if the update with graphics and physics is not delayed anymore and comes out at least this year, it can bring new players in LFS, and a lot more players will bring Track Editor, if it comes out some time after the update. Since in all aspects (car mods, track mods, graphics, physics) the LFS can compete with the popular Assetto Corsa. And now it's losing because it doesn't have enough tracks and the graphics are not at a sufficient level.

Quote from denis-takumi :

testing geometry editing

That's awesome! Any updates on this? Would love to model some things outside the editor.

Cheers!

Quote from Drifteris :

Could it be possible to have overlay option that is now in page tab to be in cutouts tab?

I'll have a look at this, hopefully it may be easy to do.

Quote from Drifteris :

I can make 1:1 proportion skin by calculating cutout size and mapping size ratios though.

I wonder if, to avoid the need to use a calculator and switch between two screens, there should be two new buttons, beside the W: and H: buttons in the mapping editor.

These buttons would call a function to set the width or height of the selected mapping so that the aspect ratio of the mapping matches that of its assigned cutout.

Here is a new update, D30.

It annoyed me too much that on exiting the editor it always warned "Any changes will be lost" even if you hadn't done anything. I knew the best solution for this would be an undo function (because it tracks changes). The trouble is the undo is quite a lot of work and it took me about 3 days. Sometimes it's simple but sometimes some rearrangement is needed. I was a bit shocked by the actual size of the vehicle editor source code file. Luckily most of the more complicated side of the undo function was already done for the track editor undo.

I found some bugs along the way and improved some things as I had to test nearly every button. I hope there are no new bugs!

Vehicle editor:

Undo function for all editor operations
Exit warning only if changes have been made
C key to clear selected point and selected tube
Delete key deletes a point or tube (if only one is selected)
CTRL+RMB (copy) SHIFT+RMB (paste) now work with frame point values
Hide the bottom right buttons now hides the whole settings block
Rim modifiers moved to top right in rim editor avoiding overlap
Special view no longer includes wheel mass cuboids by default
Error message displayed if a vehicle file cannot be loaded

Modeller:

FIX: Bottom right screen layout was wrong in 2D views

Animation editor:

FIX: Driver in wireframe mode could be obscured by the vehicle

Even if I'm suggesting this as an event organizer to be able to check cars for their aerodynamics better,it would be also a valuable information for drivers to know about car's extra grip. Some cars have added bodywork or undertray negative lift,but that currently can be seen as a non-exact value in forces view on track or you have to load .veh file in the editor. Additionally also visible drag values would allow to determine if a car for some reason has very unrealistic values to weed out badly made mods out of consideration of using them for events.
I hope this is an "easy" change and can be done in nearest future,as there should be no compatibility issues.

Yes, that can works for off road events and will expand the horizons of the game. I can imagine nature, hills, woods, rivers, rocks, canyons.. I hope to see that stuff ingame soon or releasing the track editor for public.

after looking at the new proposed maps and running my own rallycross championship on LFS for the last 3 years, i'm running into the roadblock of having to re-use tracks because the options to make good tracks is very limited and the new maps don't show any rallycross roads on them.

that's why i would like to request either some new layouts for rallycross on the planned maps or adding a gravel/dirt underground to the layout editor like we have the concrete sections.

don't know how much work this would be but it would greatly help me to create a more varied and exiting championship in the future.

There is a section about this in LFS Manual (Loading a model into LFS Editor):

Quote :

Transform:
- Y forward / Z up (so the model is oriented correctly in LFS)

Geometry:
- Write normals (so LFS can work out smoothing groups)
- Triangulate faces (as LFS geometry is based on triangles)

Quote from Changes in Editor 0.7D29: :

Vehicle editor:

Included whole words "load" and "save" for setups and colours
New message on clicking "Animate" if the vehicle has no driver
Tooltips added to Steering tab and some in Object Positions tab
Question button and tip are shown for unusual FR configurations
Caster angle reduced to 2 decimal places (3 seemed excessive)

New vehicle:

Better initial values for engine and fuel tank positions
Light colours are now initialised (all were black except rear fog)
FIX: Editor buttons appeared during dialog in new vehicle screen

Animation editor:

Eye view button (beside origin and object buttons)
Keys O (view object) and SHIFT+O (options) now work

In case you wondered what this means: "Question button and tip are shown for unusual FR configurations"

It's in the Object Positions tab, in the case of front-engine RWD cars (with 4 wheels) the editor tries to indicate that it is usual for the engine to be longitudinally mounted and rotate clockwise as viewed from the front.

I couldn't see such a strong rule for any other configurations so I only did it in that case (FR vehicles). I know that the engine rotation is a common mistake so I hope the yellow question marks can help prevent that (along with the more user friendly options).

Crashed when trying to enter the modeller from the "new vehicle" screen:

- Open Vehicle Editor
- Click NEW
- Select a vehicle layout
- Click "linear" next to "suspension layout"
- When the dialog appears, click "Edit" at the bottom right - LFS editor seems to get to an invalid state
- Press Esc and then keep pressing E until it crashes



Exception code: 0xc0000005
Error offset: 0x000f14c4

Happens already in version C up to D28.

I guess the buttons at the bottom right aren't supposed to be shown when that "suspension type can't be set" warning dialog appears.

Bug: In the animation editor, when I select the "wire" mode, the driver wireframe is drawn under the car model.

Thanks for adding all the new tooltips in the Vehicle Editor!

Regarding the buttons "sv" and "ld" under "default setups" and "default colours", do you think you can fit the full words "load" and "save"? It would look less cryptic.

Here are comparison images of the editor screens with notable changes from D27 to D28:

Without vehicle loaded
With vehicle loaded
Special draw mode
Vehicle Class
Transmission / Audio
Wheel Object
Suspension
Allow
Object Positions
Mass
Aerodynamics

I want to release all the recent updates (in Editor and LFS) as a new official version, but after recent time in the vehicle editor I had to do some updates first. I found it too ugly and hard to use, without tooltips, with some overlapping text and general disorganisation. This is the result of it being an old in-house development editor that was thrust upon the community without enough time to polish it. So I've spent 2 or 3 days making some improvements which should make it a better place to work and in turn can help you make nice mods.

Doing tooltips is harder than you might imagine and I haven't finished them in all tabs. My head is spinning now. I would be grateful if you would test the vehicle editor updates and let me know if it seems OK.

Changes in Editor 0.7D28:

Various improvements in layout and organisation
Tooltips are now available (allows reduced button text)
A new button to show the view from driver's eye position
Editor sliders now have both arrows on the right
FIX: Spare wheel pitch now expressed in degrees
FIX: Nudging of RPM sliders in engine editor

Last edited by Scawen, Tue 23 May 2023, 18:35.

didnt read everything back so it may already have been suggested and i missed it

polygon selection by angle threshold would help assigning those smoothing groups, wich is a painfull and long process when importing models built on other 3d modelers.

something like this :
click one poly, set angle threshold, click some "select by angle" button, and editor would select all adjacent polys with a normal angle difference below the threshold.

ex : if threshold is set to zero, all adjacent polys on the same plan (a flat surface) are selected.

Threshold should have at least one digit precision ex: 15.7

About the "reduce detail" function:

There are new limits for LOD2 in Editor D26. Maximum 8192 triangles / 12288 vertices. This is because of load glitches when people leave the pits in high-polygon models, with high-polygon LOD2 (which really should not be the case).

To help with this, for those who want to work down from a high poly model, I've added a crude "reduce detail" function that acts on the selected triangles.

I suggest using CTRL+SHIFT+LMB to flood-select groups of triangles, then click "reduce detail" (or SHIFT+R) on the small groups. Inspect them each time and undo if the effect isn't good enough.

Automatic LOD reduction is a challenging problem so this crude version is about all I can do for now. I'd like to know if anyone finds it useful.

Also to help with optimisation / load glitch reduction: Groups are also compressed when exporting for test or upload. This should have no effect on the appearance of the model.