Correct, custom track data are accepted only from versions 2.5.7+. Standard track data are accepted even from 2.5.5.

To make up for the mess I caused with releasing Airio 2.5.6 and 2.5.7 in quick succession I was working on additional custom tracks. I've added the following as they were: A13 A23 A33 F21 F23 F31 F32. Now I'm working on K33 and there's a problem with that special chicane, where you're leaving the oval (same as on KY3) in the final sector.

There's the Boothy's chicane (if I'm not mistaken about the author). As you probably already know, the only things that Airio checks in layouts to be sure they conform to custom tracks are splits and restricted zones. So, basically anyone can for his server delete all those chicane objects and it will still be K33, with obviously better lap times and WR.

There are two options: 1) Remove the chicane objects and leave it free just like it is on KY3. I would prefer that. 2) Define one or more restricted zones below the chicane objects, so that K33 (and K33R) will always require the longer/slower way around.

Yes, all AIRW custom track data were removed, PBs as well as WRs. (I was announcing this already for some time.) This is because some layouts were re-numbered and updated in various ways. Also Airio now contains hard-coded values that the layouts must conform to, otherwise they're not accepted as custom tracks. Such check was not present earlier, so none of the lap times were reliable. I would hope this updated system is now as safe as possible and all the newly gathered data will be reliable.

New Airio version is released. It adds options into CFG and SRV files, the most important thing is however the finalized support of custom tracks (special layouts on open tracks) in the PROS version. All FULL/PROS version users should have already received an update notification with some important steps to do, that are a result of layout updates and renaming. I've already sent this update to Franky of 500servers, so hopefully it will be available soon. Many new things could mean potential troubles, so if you spot a bug or strange behavior, please let me know either here or using PM/MSN/ICQ/mail. Otherwise, enjoy!

Last edited by EQ Worry, Thu, 4 Aug 2011 11:32.

Quote from boothy :

... F31R has the split where it should be at the island, and F32R has the split at the same place as FE3 ... hmm seems like a mistake on our part so you're safe to rename them ... we'd just keep them on the same layout base track for now ...

Thanks again for all the updates and info. I took most of the layouts as they were, without any changes. I moved the F3x island splits to approx. the same places, switched F21 and F22 layouts (F21 is Silver, without oval, F22 is Silver Alt, with oval), and I also renamed the layouts so that they use proper open track name.

I see your point in having less track reloads, but I found layouts with names like AS2Y_A72 confusing, appearing where I was not expecting them and vice versa. Keeping the mixed name would also require Airio updates and I'm not sure how safe this would be, so new tests would be necessary, uhmmm... Overall, it makes more sense to me to base A7x on AS7x than on AS1x.

Appended are two sets of layouts. One is a set to be distributed with current Airio (PROS version, which is the only one fully supporting custom tracks), containing all the prepared and tested tracks. It is 20 tracks = 40 layouts, I just hope they're all OK and renamed as they should be. All split/finish lines and restricted zones in these layouts are fixed and may not be changed: A11 A12 A14 A21 A22 A31 A32 A71 B11 B21 K21 K31 K32 F11 F22 F24 F25 F33 F51 F52

The second set contains the remaining layouts that are not yet supported in Airio. Some of those will be supported when I have time to create PTH files for them and extend Airio code a bit to accommodate the updates (probably in version 2.5.7). First I'd like to fill the gaps in supported custom tracks (A13 A23 A33 F21 F23 F31 F32) and then probably add some A72+ tracks to have a nearly complete set. This would be one-layout-at-a-time process, so not as confusing as this 40-layouts-right-now crash.

Thanks! I went through all the layouts that interest me, updating Airio and paths as necessary. I noticed two things:

1) Maybe the F21 and F22 layouts are switched? Now F21 is called Silver and includes mini-oval, while F22 is called Silver Aternative, without mini-oval. Is this intentional?

2) And this is somehow more serious/important. For relatively simple support of custom tracks in Airio the second number of custom track/layout MUST correspond to the third number of the open track. That means AS1X_A72.lyt is wrong layout name, it must be AS7X_A72.lyt. I believe this requirement is rather logical – when someone wants an A3x custom tracks, he would expect it to be under AS3X/Y. Fortunately this is simple renaming question.

I have renamed for Airio all supported layouts that required this according to point 2. So I'm only confused a bit about point 1 above. When it is resolved, we can move forward.

PS: Oh, I also updated an F33 split a bit, so that even the normal version has it close to the island.

Another bug found, causing havoc in certain situations (when not being spectated on race end/track change), leading to many "index out of bounds" error messages. Corrected now in version 1.5.5.

Haaa, it looks great! Just a few comments, all using the new codes (1st column):

• A13 (banana route?) should probably be just AS1X, with barriers showing the right way for normal/reversed version.
  
• A71, F22, F24, F25 Airio PTHs are done.
  
• F24 could be maybe Mini Oval?

I see almost all the tracks that can be supported now are done, the only two exceptions are F23 (for which there is F21 layout in Airio LYTs that could be probably used), and F25 (with F25 LYT, again amongst the Airio LYTs). Once these two are added, Airio 2.5.6 and AIRW could be released in the final form.

Any news? Airio 2.5.6 is fully (uhm) tested, the AIRW database is working as it should, it would be great to have the first set of "official" layouts.

Quote from Eclipsed :

... time comparision stucks very often - I start a lap,everything is ok,and then in random places on track it freezes,shows the value for the rest of the lap,starting new lap it works again ...

AWWWWW, thanks for the report, now it happened to me as well, fortunately I very soon saw what is wrong. The comparison was not stopping when you touched wall, but when anyone pitted or spectated. That is of course completely wrong. I quickly updated the software, so that now it works as it should. Please download again version 1.5.4 using link in my signature, update Aonio.exe and Aonio.pdb files.

Well, it looks like the comparison data bug that I was debugging. Except for the random spots on track, because it should always stop at the same place.

If you have an old combo.pb.txt file in pbs with wrong data, then it would surely cause troubles. Try to find the pb file of your current combo, open it and see if the number of lines is about 10x the lap time in seconds. If it is much shorter, then please stop Aonio, delete the file, and try the combo again. If the problem appears again, then it would seem the comparison bug is still somehow present. In that case, when the comparison stops again, please copy the last 20 or so lines from Aonio.log.txt file and post the log here.

Generally, what about the renaming, is it acceptable, does my proposal look OK or do you prefer something else? Airio 2.5.6 is now ready, all new custom tracks support debugged (uhm), so finalizing the track numbers is the last thing.

We also need a name for the new F21 track, last line of my listing. Maybe a color? It is like FE4 but without the FE1 part and with the mini-oval, so...?

Definitely agreed on that T1 on normal track direction stuff!

Here's an extended table with added proposed codes. The important renames are marked with ! before track code, the ! behind track code means this one will need to be added to achieve continuous numbering. I also added a name for new proposed A13, but maybe it will not be acceptable.


Summary of important renumbering: A13 -> A71, A21 -> A31, A23 -> A33, A24 -> A21 (this is to keep continuous numbers without gaps), F15 -> F31, F21 -> F51 (done already in Airio, F21 is a new/different track there), F26 -> F52 (done) – overall that is 5 important track re-names for me.

Tracks to be supported soon to achieve continuous/smooth numbering: A13 (the proposed banana shape), A32 (now A26), A23 (now A27), F22, F23 – that is 5 tracks to add. When the tracks are renumbered and the new ones added, the following will be supported by Airio/AIRW: A11-4, A71, A21-3, A31-3, F11, F21-5, F31, F51-2.

PS: Yes, all information about all layout objects is available to InSim. This includes checkpoint width/orientation and restricted zone diameter.

Last edited by EQ Worry, Thu, 21 Jul 2011 16:57.

Ahhh, lol, omg, damn attachments. Added now, and big thanks for considering the changes!

PS: That T1 knowledge would be good, the problem is that when the forward version has the usual T1, the reversed version of the same track will almost certainly have a different T1. The way to deal with this would be to use a non-symmetric numbering, meaning that e.g. the reversed version of A22 would be something like A3xR. Uhm. That would be rather even more confusing!

Last edited by EQ Worry, Wed, 20 Jul 2011 14:33.

Quote from boothy :

Yes I remember when we were using it on the Z30 server that some people took to the pitlane as it gave them a better line for the next right hander, so I blocked it off with barriers. ...

OK, I updated the layouts for F15, F21 and F51/2 and I also updated Airio so that it now recognizes them as the correct ones. Appended is the current layout versions that I'm providing with Airio PROS. Anything in the layouts can be changed, except split/finish lines (no additions, removal, movements, updates are allowed) and default restricted zones (you can add new ones, but the existing ones must stay as they are).

One more note, probably too radical now, but maybe worth considering. Airio currently supports 20 new custom tracks (plus all of them with reversed versions). That is A LOT of new tracks with highly unexpected turns (for many). Many of the proposed tracks are also very similar, difference is just in one turn or part, which will no doubt keep confusing people for a long time.

But my point is that on some sites the current custom track numbering is not really helpful. For example when I see AS1 (that is all A1x tracks), I sort of expect a custom track around the AS site center, rather short one. When I see AS2 (A2x) I expect to race in the site left part, while A3x would take me further to the right. With A4/5/6x I would expect very long tracks all around the site. And A7x would hint on a custom track stretching from the middle to the right. I hope you see my point?

At present the custom track numbers are basically random, they were added as new ideas came. I'm really not sure this is such a good idea and I believe trying to adhere to what some people might expect would be much better. I read here that we're running out of A1x numbers, so A7x would be used, again just randomly, the A1x and A7x will bear no information at all concerning probable custom track location/turns.

So, to conclude, concerning the currently supported A1x tracks, A11, A12, A14 are OK. On the other hand A13 should be A71 or something, because it is much closer to AS7 than to AS1. Same applies to A15, A16, they should use AS7 as the base, not AS1. On the other hand the proposed banana track needs to be AS1 and not AS7.

Separating A2x and A3x seems to be also possible, based either on the upper parabolic curve (then A21 and A23 should be A3x in fact) or maybe rather by the bottom site part (then A22, A25, A26 should be based on AS3, while A21, A23, A24 are correctly based on AS2). A27 and A28 need to be something completely else, based on one of AS4/5/6, the one they resemble most closely.

Something very similar should be applied to FE custom tracks, but I guess the changes there are not so drastic. Would the result be worth all the renumbering? Well, as I see it, spreading the custom track names more evenly around the available open sites would be really helpful. It would help the old-timers to recognize open tracks, applying a lot of track knowledge they already have. Also voting would be more reasonable, not e.g. for 7 tracks based on AS1 and 1 track based on AS7, but for 4 tracks based on AS1 and 4 based on AS7.

So, please consider the proposal seriously. I was doing all the track paths, going through layouts a lot, and I still have no idea how most of the tracks look, where should I drive. We need to give people more hints, make the tracks more recognizable, and using names of similar standard tracks seems to be a good option.

Last edited by EQ Worry, Wed, 20 Jul 2011 14:02.

Yup, these two lines are in fact the only addition now. One is just a comment, the other creates a file with car location (X, Y, Z) and a movement angle. Basically, I created this only for easier path file creation for custom tracks, so you can as well ignore these lines. Path files creation is still a highly manual process, for which I'm using a custom-build application, but with this feature I was able to about halve the time needed, so it helped me.

Updated Aonio version is available, which I strongly recommend to use.

1) The wrong lap time/speed comparison data are fixed now. (What a nasty bug, thanks for the reports!)

2) On open tracks (layouts with no nodes) the race field panel shows last known time difference, instead of zeros.

3) When connected to Airio PROS server it will recognize custom tracks and store timing/fuel data.

When updating the application, please be sure to update also the Aegio library, otherwise you may be getting many unknown packets.

Quote from Eclipsed :

Is there any chance that open config/autocross track times/fuel consumption could be saved? ... Other thing - in open configs in field data it shows 0.0 time distance to all cars,could it be changed to show the difference time from the latest split?

The latest Aonio should support custom tracks, but only on Airio PROS 2.5.5+ servers. That is because that Airio version is properly checking custom tracks (open configs), sending the track info to Aonio on race start etc. Then indeed all split/lap times and consumption should be saved for that one custom track. When all bugs of the upcoming Airio 2.5.6 are solved, I'll do more tests about how this all works.

Quote from Tur8o :

... keep getting unknown UDP looked into it nothing has changed was wondering if you had this occur before

I've never seen this, but it seems Aonio is receiving UDP packets of unknown size/structure. So either the LFS client is sending such malformed packets, or maybe there's some other application running, sending its own UDP packets to the port where Aonio is listening. Uhmm... Well, I would try to stop/start Aonio. If this does not help, try restarting both LFS and Aonio...

Quote from Neto_r :

i already create the 3 files for: ... my 3 servers ... and i enter to the server and nothing happend...

Hard to say where's the problem. But if you have still problems using CON files 2 and 3, check NumServers in Airio.cfg.txt file and make sure 3 or 4 is used there. Then, if the data in CON files are correct, there should be no problem connecting.

Quote from DANIEL-CRO :

on AA servers JOIN NOW timer counts down even when race is full ( can't join ), then it shouldn't, right?

The countdown starts when there are 12 cars on track, more than 12 connections, and somebody spectates/pits. Also, during countdown people joining race should be spectated, they can only join when the countdown reaches zero. However, lags may introduce problems, like when spectating someone takes many seconds.

Quote from xfirestorm :

Is Airio capable of checking all cars for their paths and alert the server admins or selected players about a violation of the path, like all 4 tyres of a car leaving the road? And it would report in a maner of player name(login and display name), lap/time of race and sector?

Race path and ground is indeed checked, but the information is mostly kept internal, e.g. for invalidating server/AIRW laps. The info is stored in Airio log, but it is not reported directly to anyone. Lap timing is mostly private, only e.g. good times can be reported to everyone.

Haaa, great, I see we're making progress! I'll check the attachments and update the LYT files if needed, then send it again. It is probable though that will have no chance to be online for the next 3 days, so please be patient concerning my responses. If you have on the other hand time to go through the other files, it would be great. When I'm back online, I'd love to release Airio 2.5.6 with all the 20 custom tracks fully supported via AIRW. The test versions so far look good, though Dave of CarGame has a tendency to always find some weak spots. But of course that is good! Concerning FE6 pitlane, if there something to be gained for people using that line?

Quote from boothy :

Hi, maybe I didn't make myself clear enough in the previous post, so I'll explain it again

Hehe, well, I just want to stay in synch. We need to check the splits of all the layouts supported by Airio. The splits (and if necessary also restricted zones) must be positioned so that no cheats (shorter, faster ways) are possible on the track, even when all barriers are removed. The we're reasonably save with all the custom track lap times. Other objects do not matter now, I believe admins will be adjusting the layouts anyway, both adding and removing objects. However, to be recognized by Airio certain things must NOT change: The layout name (it must be the short version, e.g. AS2Y_A23), split/finish lines, restricted zones.

Today I was re-checking the included files, A11, A12, A13 passed without problems, A14 (former A16) did not pass. I edited this layout, moving the finish lines closer to start and the split lines too, so that the track is more evenly divided. No other changes. If you accept the update, please use this A14(R) in official pack.

Here are the tracks where I do not expect any problems:
A21, A22, A23, A24, B11, F11, F25, K21, K31, K32.

Here are the unresolved things:

B24 - B23 with grass restrictions. If still possible, I'd love to call his B21 instead of B24, because very probably this will be the only BL custom rallyx track directly supported by Airio and AIRW. The current B21 and B22 track are rather useless (my opinion), B23 can never be part of AIRW. If rename is possible, AIRW would support B11 and B21, which looks reasonable.

F15 - like F12 but going around the tree island, driveable (?), can it be part of official pack?

F51 - this was called F21, but I really think it makes more sense to call it F51 instead, also a split added.

F52 - alternate F51, going around the tree island, which seems interesting and challenging.

F21 - a new track replacing the rallyx long (called F51 now), incl. minioval and shorter right part.

F24 - minioval with access from one direction only. Note that even the long access route can be used, the important thing is to keep the split/finish line, oval direction and probably also to make sure first finish line is crossed and then split line in the 1st lap.

Overall, that's 20 custom tracks (all with R config) supported now. Appended are the complete layouts as I have them now.

PS: Sorry for the renames and edits and updates now, it is the most hectic time, but only temporarily. A lot of track to be triple checked now, some changes too, but I hope in the future this will be much simpler.

Last edited by EQ Worry, Thu, 14 Jul 2011 11:57.

Thanks for the responses and ideas! A17 seems cool, and I do not see why there could not be an R version. There are several tracks already with start outside the racing path and with layout objects to point cars to the right direction at the 1st intersection. True, there can always be confusion, people going shortly the wrong way, but with PTH files there's the wrong way spectate feature, also WRONG WAY message showing in the latest Airio.

Concerning layout edits, I'm afraid we could be soon working in several parallel lines, confusing everyone. As I said already, any changes to the layouts supported by Airio are possible, except adding/removing/moving split lines and removing/moving restricted zones, if defined. LFS patch 0.6A+ is sending complete layout info (all objects) on layout load, so yes, Airio is directly checking the actual split/zones positions, comparing it to internal hard-coded values.

Again, I'm appending all layouts currently supported/recognized by Airio. It is the split/finish/zone positions and dimensions that matter for now, everything else can be changed. But we need to agree on the split/finish/zone positions now, future changes will be nearly impossible.

Unrestricted B23 can never have AIRW best lap times, because going through grass always invalidates the lap. So I guess B24 is the way to go. K33 is certainly doable, I'll try to have a look at it soon.

Last edited by EQ Worry, Thu, 14 Jul 2011 11:30.

Quote from raftor :

11.07.03 22:58:03 AONIO ERROR: Índice fuera de los límites de la matriz.
en LiveForSpeed.InSim.Aonio.Aonio.MultiCar_Handler(Connection handler, MultiCar m) en d:\Development Files\LFS_Aonio\Event.cs:línea 124

PS: the words in spanish mean: index out of the bounds of the matrix at....

Understood, but I'm afraid this does not help me much, it is a too general error report. I'll try some more tests.

Concerning Aonio config update, I'm using PSPad's file comparison. It nicely shows all new lines and makes them easy to add those to the existing config.

Quote from (The Stig) :

1 minor problem as i'm still using the 2.5.3 airio full at this momment in time I have tried to start the Airio and have found this error ...

I believe this is solved in Airio 2.5.5 and newer.

Quote from Litro :

When there will be available BLS on open tracks for standart cars? Now it saves only custom cars.

In a week, when I'm back home and online I will take a look at the AIRW database code and add display of custom tracks. One reminder though: When Airio 2.5.6 is released (in a few days), all custom track lap times will be removed and then accepted only from Airio 2.5.6 and newer. This is because only this Airio update is doing proper layout checks to make sure the right custom track is loaded.

Quote from SJB :

I got a little problem we change layouts sometimes with !axo and then then !tr doesnt show next track anymore and !end stays at the same track and doesnt change to next one anymore

The problem is that by loading a layout you leave your rotation string, you change from TRACK to TRACK_LAYOUT. Probably a small Airio update could be done, making you optionally always stay in rotation when just changing layout. But I'm not sure how easy and transparent this could be...