Forgive my blatant ignorance in this post as I've only been on this side of the puddle - but why would the UK measure distances in miles while everything else is metric? Why would you not keep the simplicity of meters, and kilometers... Damn, and here I though the United States was idiotic for choosing a, very odd system for measure. 12in = 1foot, 3feet = 1yrd. WTF? I mean, when you grow up using it there is no problem - until you get into physics and then conversions are just plain stupid compared to the lovely metric system based on 10, imagine that - a system based off the number system that we use! Far too much sense there. But then to go a step further and combine metric volume with imperial distance - WTF??? You just blew my mind...
On the other hand, even though the math is easier and cleaner with the metric system, I can't exactly relate to the numbers. I am still working on it, and I know some of the exact conversion multipliers - but I am talking about being able to judge things without converting. For instance I know a 2 story building is somewhere around 18 to 20 feet tall. But without manually thinking about it I couldn't guess how tall it is in meters. (I can compare 18 feet = 6 yards which roughly equals 6 meters...) Ahh well /rant.
On the other hand, even though the math is easier and cleaner with the metric system, I can't exactly relate to the numbers. I am still working on it, and I know some of the exact conversion multipliers - but I am talking about being able to judge things without converting. For instance I know a 2 story building is somewhere around 18 to 20 feet tall. But without manually thinking about it I couldn't guess how tall it is in meters. (I can compare 18 feet = 6 yards which roughly equals 6 meters...) Ahh well /rant.
I am not sure if you can save it, but can't you just say "test" during a replay and hop into the car with the car's set?
InSim is different than OutSim and OutGauge.
You do not need anything except the LFS Demo, so no the full version is not a requirement. Again, the port and IP are specific to the application you; coded or have.
To enable and use InSim you must type "/insim ##" without quotes and where ## is the port that InSim will be using to connect. Outgauge does not need InSim to be connected, or running so I doubt that if you are using OutGauge that you would receive messages saying InSim is not started.
Good luck.
You do not need anything except the LFS Demo, so no the full version is not a requirement. Again, the port and IP are specific to the application you; coded or have.
To enable and use InSim you must type "/insim ##" without quotes and where ## is the port that InSim will be using to connect. Outgauge does not need InSim to be connected, or running so I doubt that if you are using OutGauge that you would receive messages saying InSim is not started.
Good luck.
It's adult night at the ball pit! :P
-I was making a quote from someone (nameless) on my team forums . . .
-I was making a quote from someone (nameless) on my team forums . . .
Not too bad, but if you would have kept the LFS camera at near the same location of you real life camera and left if there - then the comparison would have been better. Then you could use a time multiplier for LFS now and then to keep them synchronized, so that if the LFS car got behind by a second you would run LFS a little faster. Although parts of it did look pretty close, it was just too hard to compare when the camera kept changing in LFS.
My bike, the day I bought it! Can't wait for a few more months when summer comes around so I can ride it.
Not to derail the topic, but...
That's the thing about evolution, if humans were constantly under negative g's from some strange way things worked, maybe if we flew like a bird?, then over the course of a (very) long time we would become less effected from the effects of negative gs. The brain/skull and blood vessels would (again slowly over a long time) change to handle the required situations...
But that is for another topic, so I let this end.
That's the thing about evolution, if humans were constantly under negative g's from some strange way things worked, maybe if we flew like a bird?, then over the course of a (very) long time we would become less effected from the effects of negative gs. The brain/skull and blood vessels would (again slowly over a long time) change to handle the required situations...
But that is for another topic, so I let this end.
I didn't mean loading/unloading on the fly, I was talking more for when you leave a track and come back. So, you were closer with the previous assumption of textures spanning the track, and you are completely correct, it would be large textures - depending on resolution. I didn't exactly mention negative side effects, just a thought. For a track like Fern Bay Club, Aston Cadet/Club and so on I think this would be reasonable, but certainly for tracks like Aston Grand Prix there would be a considerable surface area to cover. The other good thing though, is the memory for the texture could be something like 4bits, or at the highest of 8bits. The skid mark texture really only needs an alpha channel. Which would save considerable amounts of memory - so I do believe this is a plausible idea. Remember it would only span the track portion of the environment, certainly still a large area, no doubt. Also some texture streaming techniques could do this, requiring a bit of work and thought - certainty.
I know it would work on my card, but I am also quite sure it wouldn't work on the low-end cards that LFS supports at this time.
I know it would work on my card, but I am also quite sure it wouldn't work on the low-end cards that LFS supports at this time.
In cfg.txt:
Mode 0 - Inactive
Mode 1 - During playing
Mode 2 - Playing and Replays
Delay is in Milliseconds. 1000 = 1 second, 100 = 1 tenth of a second etc.
IP and PORT should connect to where your application is running, likely 127.0.0.1 (on your own computer), with some port number that you would need to look up based on the application.
ID is optional.
Mode 0 - Inactive
Mode 1 - During playing
Mode 2 - Playing and Replays
Delay is in Milliseconds. 1000 = 1 second, 100 = 1 tenth of a second etc.
IP and PORT should connect to where your application is running, likely 127.0.0.1 (on your own computer), with some port number that you would need to look up based on the application.
ID is optional.
I would say a bit that evolution would have a bit to do why we can handle more G's pressing up against our body, (positive Gs) than which we can handle of forces pulling our bodies down (negative Gs). I mean, consider first that we are constantly under 1G pull, and typically that is downward. When we walk, run, jump or fall we get more than 1G (positive) of force. It is rare when we actually get negative Gs in anything besides man-made vehicles, which in terms of time have been around for a very small slice of time compared to how long humans have been around...
The could 'bake' the skid marks into an additional texture layer over the track. And save/reload these textures. Which would add more video memory to the requirements, but it would be consistent, not adding to the rendering time, and not growing in size.
The main problem with rubber that stays on track permanently is the fact that eventually all, or most, of the track will be rubber marks and they wouldn't disappear. Even in real life the rubber marks fade and disappear with use/wear.
The main problem with rubber that stays on track permanently is the fact that eventually all, or most, of the track will be rubber marks and they wouldn't disappear. Even in real life the rubber marks fade and disappear with use/wear.
That is too funny, I just came here to post that 5g lateral + 4g down (or whatever it was) is not a possible way to come to 9g. The force needs to be normalized, which gives the value 6.4 (I think, I didn't check Marsaz's math and I was going to do it here until someone kinda beat me to it).
Though now I continue to watch the rest of the videos, as I am only partway through the first and had to correct people that it isn't 9g's because of 5g+4g, even if it seems so at first glance.
Though now I continue to watch the rest of the videos, as I am only partway through the first and had to correct people that it isn't 9g's because of 5g+4g, even if it seems so at first glance.
You need to create a new skin/color before changing the colors of the car/rim.
I would actually prefer use of InSim and OutGauge, because I'm not a huge fan of brute forcing things that aren't meant to be forced with. You can have many InSim ports, and with a simple forwarding application even OutGauge packets can be sent to multiple OutGauge apps, so I don't think ports remaining open for other mods is very useful.
Sorry but that is not an average pc. That may (possibly) be an average new pc, but by no means is that the average pc. DX9 is an appropriate average for graphical capabilities; hyper threading / simple dual cores are possible average, or still a little above average. And by average I mean what people actually use in their homes, not what they would buy if they went out to get a new computer.
Sure I would like to see DX9 effects, but changing the engine over from one version to the next really won't add ANY improvement in the graphical quality, it will be a large pain for the developers and not get very far. The only way it would improve is if the developers actually added new effects, some of which even DirectX 8 would support, although in my personal opinion graphical quality of LFS is perfectly fine, it is fully immersive, and to me that is all it needs. To many games these days jump on the 'better graphics' boat. And when new techniques come out they get over used. Sure bloom is a nice effect, and can be present in certain situations, but games over bloom so that their players can recognize it as a special effect.
Gameplay is what is important, graphics need to create an immersive world, and nothing more. LFS's gameplay is all in the physics and racing 'rules'. Meaning, adding features like brake fade, engine overheating would add to the physical gameplay of LFS and adding things like a proper burnout, staging and tree for the dragstrip would add to the racing 'rules' area... These are things the developers should focus on. There are still a few more graphically immersion related effects LFS could benefit from, and I am sure the developers will get there, in their own time, as they knock off the list of things they are implementing.
I can't tell much about it but I have an idea that the problem lies somewhere within this:
Connections[GetConnIdx(Players[GetPlyIdx(BTC.UCID)].UniqueID)]
Also, I noticed that that was copy and pasted several times throughout that code snippet, as an improvement, both for speed and readability you could do:
Connection c = Connections[GetConnIdx(Players[GetPlyIdx(BTC.UCID)].UniqueID)];
and using c.InShop, or c.UniqueID etc for the code rather than the long, and slower access of Connections[...] each time. Small improvement with speed, but a large improvement for readability. Anyways, I have a hunch that your problem would lie within the Connections[] IDs somehow, if possible.
I know this didn't really help you much, but I figured I'd give some friendly advice. (By the way, if the Connection has a UniqueID why can't it just be something like Connection c = Connections.GetConnection(BTC.UCID); or something similar, rather than searching through the player, then the players connection etc... Could that be the source of the problem? If it was my code, obviously it isn't, then GetConnIdx(Players[GetPlyIdx(BTC.UCID)].UniqueID) would be GetConnIdx(BTC.UCID), which is what I was mentioning with my "GetConnection" method above. Anyways, good luck.
Connections[GetConnIdx(Players[GetPlyIdx(BTC.UCID)].UniqueID)]
Also, I noticed that that was copy and pasted several times throughout that code snippet, as an improvement, both for speed and readability you could do:
Connection c = Connections[GetConnIdx(Players[GetPlyIdx(BTC.UCID)].UniqueID)];
and using c.InShop, or c.UniqueID etc for the code rather than the long, and slower access of Connections[...] each time. Small improvement with speed, but a large improvement for readability. Anyways, I have a hunch that your problem would lie within the Connections[] IDs somehow, if possible.
I know this didn't really help you much, but I figured I'd give some friendly advice. (By the way, if the Connection has a UniqueID why can't it just be something like Connection c = Connections.GetConnection(BTC.UCID); or something similar, rather than searching through the player, then the players connection etc... Could that be the source of the problem? If it was my code, obviously it isn't, then GetConnIdx(Players[GetPlyIdx(BTC.UCID)].UniqueID) would be GetConnIdx(BTC.UCID), which is what I was mentioning with my "GetConnection" method above. Anyways, good luck.
Well, if it is money toward LFS Developers directly I have 24 + cost of hi-res skins x 1.
Other LFS related costs include servers that I've borrowed and donated money for, my teams web-site hosting and other costs associated with the team. I am glad I have help from the other founders as well but those costs are 100% "to LFS entertainment" deemed by me.
Then I have the hardware stuff that I bought purely for my LFS enjoyment / immersion. My PC itself can't be described as completely built for LFS, though 1 gfx card and 1 monitor was purely for driving LFS with 3 monitors. TrackIR was purely for LFS as was the ButtKicker, Obutto cockpit (with personally made monitor stand), and the G25 (I had a momo when I started LFS and quickly realized I wanted all three pedals, an h-shifter and things that allow me to get more immersion from the simulator.
These are all costs I attribute to LFS, even if they are useful beyond LFS my original intention was for racing simulations, of which LFS is the only I played at the time, and currently the only I still play. (Tried iRacing for a month but I don't have the funds for a subscription based game, especially when I can't even race multiplayer. . . Damn internet connection.)
So over all, I've spent a lot on this 'hobby' in relation to LFS. But I would, and will likely do it all again. Of course these upgrades happened over quite some time, it isn't like I went out and bought it all in one night.
Other LFS related costs include servers that I've borrowed and donated money for, my teams web-site hosting and other costs associated with the team. I am glad I have help from the other founders as well but those costs are 100% "to LFS entertainment" deemed by me.
Then I have the hardware stuff that I bought purely for my LFS enjoyment / immersion. My PC itself can't be described as completely built for LFS, though 1 gfx card and 1 monitor was purely for driving LFS with 3 monitors. TrackIR was purely for LFS as was the ButtKicker, Obutto cockpit (with personally made monitor stand), and the G25 (I had a momo when I started LFS and quickly realized I wanted all three pedals, an h-shifter and things that allow me to get more immersion from the simulator.
These are all costs I attribute to LFS, even if they are useful beyond LFS my original intention was for racing simulations, of which LFS is the only I played at the time, and currently the only I still play. (Tried iRacing for a month but I don't have the funds for a subscription based game, especially when I can't even race multiplayer. . . Damn internet connection.)
So over all, I've spent a lot on this 'hobby' in relation to LFS. But I would, and will likely do it all again. Of course these upgrades happened over quite some time, it isn't like I went out and bought it all in one night.
That goes against everything I've ever taught myself. . . When the car tilts up I react too quickly to put four on the floor... I already know if I got the car up on two wheels, at a stable position and speed, keeping it there wouldn't be much of a challenge when driving in circles like you did. Drive a lap on a circuit with two wheels and I'll be very impressed :P Nice setup though, easy to get it started but my reaction always puts the tires down, and I don't want to train myself otherwise.
I don't know about the licensing behind PPJoy, although I would believe free. It is something the end-user would need to install, or if you're creating special sim-pod type thing you would install it, in which case you might need to look into the legal side. As far as end-user support, I stick to the fact that PPJoy should not be expected for the general public to download, install and use. It can be confusing and not "plug and play" enough for public use. The AIRS project is still in development, although I may need to change gears a bit and develop a simulation world for testing my AI. AIRS stands for: Artificial Intelligence in Racing Simulations. It is a project more for simulation AI Drivers instead of GAME AI drivers which I strongly believe there is a difference. Games are meant to be fun, while the simulation is meant to _simulate_. See the A.I.R.S. thread for more info about that particular project. Beware the length and discussion that has taken place so far.
For the most part I am sure you can do what you need to with the LFS interface just with LFS itself, there are numerous options available from custom camera views to virtual gauges and so on.
For the most part I am sure you can do what you need to with the LFS interface just with LFS itself, there are numerous options available from custom camera views to virtual gauges and so on.
Much better, now it somewhat resembles the patterns I feel. I don't know about how accurately but enough to get the point across in a graphical fashion! 
While I agree with a lot being said by your post amp88, I would have to disagree with the image. I don't have the motivation to draw my own thoughts on it. You seem to nail my idea though if you were to reverse the colors (IE: the blue is the grip and the red is the temperature). I say this because in the beginning 10 laps your temperature spikes and grip drops because of this spike, but is regained as the spike levels back off for a slow decent of temperature. Then throughout the life of the tire the temperature drops slowly as the grip is increasing. I love tires at about 65 to 70% worn in LFS, (assuming they are worn to my driving pattern which is typically the case) because during this time the tires actually seem to have their own natural 'worn' camber working with me and my setup to provide the best lap-times possible. During the late stage of the tire, the temperature drops significantly because the tread is too thin. This effectively reduces the grip levels and warns the driver to start thinking about a pit stop.
I *just* got done doing 35 laps on R1s with the FOX at AS7 (Aston North), and I ended up popping my right-rear tire on lap 33, though if I wasn't so distracted with watching certain things I likely could have made the tires last all 35 laps. There were a few spins and slides that cut deep into the tires and wore them faster than necessary.
I *just* got done doing 35 laps on R1s with the FOX at AS7 (Aston North), and I ended up popping my right-rear tire on lap 33, though if I wasn't so distracted with watching certain things I likely could have made the tires last all 35 laps. There were a few spins and slides that cut deep into the tires and wore them faster than necessary.
Just as a note there are places where that flag can be set even under racing conditions, so slowing the cars down might set the flag in even more conditions than you would think. These are just words of caution for you to think about as you develop, sounds good but it doesn't seem much like an actual pace car - though is nice to keep people in the ordered manner.
Perhaps make the admin command something like this;
/ignore_car username1
/ignore_car username2
/start_safety
... safety is running
/ignore_car username3 //this guy spun while under safety condition
/finish_safety
Something along the lines of that, where finish_safety clears all 'ignored cars' and any ignored cars are safe to be passed by other cars that are not ignored. Just an idea, it is less automatic, but it is more accurate under different situations.
Perhaps make the admin command something like this;
/ignore_car username1
/ignore_car username2
/start_safety
... safety is running
/ignore_car username3 //this guy spun while under safety condition
/finish_safety
Something along the lines of that, where finish_safety clears all 'ignored cars' and any ignored cars are safe to be passed by other cars that are not ignored. Just an idea, it is less automatic, but it is more accurate under different situations.
You can pause with AI, as long as you were in Single Player mode. If you started your own private host and added an AI it wasn't because of the AI but was because it was a multiplayer game that you started.
'P' to pause, just pressing escape won't pause the game even if the menu appears.
'P' to pause, just pressing escape won't pause the game even if the menu appears.
I don't know what data you actually need to get, but as AndroidXP pointed out PPJoy works for inputting data from a virtual steering wheel. A few things I've noted while working on my AIRS project using the LFS racing simulation as it is retrieving information from LFS and inputting it back in through PPJoy:
1) PPJoy is likely someone as a casual user would not be able to simply download, install and go. They need a bit of technical knowledge to do this, and the ability to trust unsigned hardware, by clicking "install without certification".
2) I personally had some issues with PPJoy to LFS as a form of input. It took me a few days to get this setup. Within the first day I had input in LFS, but it seemed to me that all axis controls did not center themselves right. For all I know I did something idiotically wrong with the programming interface, though I tried to make it right, in the end I just hacked it so that it moves it offcenter and allows LFS to think it is centered. Enough to the point where the car stayed within 5 inches of the white line down the dragstrip.
3) Getting information from LFS is the easy thing, and I don't know of anything else that supplies the information like LFS (or as much/detailed). If you haven't found it yet Insim.txt in the documents folder would deserve a look over for you. There are three protocols:
3a) InSim Protocol: This is useful for almost everything you would need. When a race starts, what mode LFS is in, are you connected to a server. There is some information available about the car position and orientation. Lap times / split times / qualifying times, etc the list goes on.
3b) OutSim Protocol: Admittedly I haven't been using this like I thought I would need for my AIRS project. Though I may need to in the future, it give more detailed information about the currently spectated / driven car and the motions it goes through. As with my AIRS project though, tabbing to spectate other cars will mess up the 'data output'. Which might not be important to your project.
3c) OutGauge Protocol: This gives you all the information that the driver could get from the gauges and controls of the car; what gear is it in, what location are the pedals / steering wheel actually at? Headlights / indicators on? Fuel level (for player only), speed, rpm etc the list goes on. Again, tabbing to spectate other cars mess this output up, at least for my AIRS project which the AI driver depends on the information!
4) To control LFS, LFS _requires_ focus. Meaning if your application requires focus to get steering wheel input and send it to LFS you will not be able to drive in LFS. Your application will need to run in the background, silently collecting information from the G25 and feeding it back to LFS which is in focus. Otherwise you won't move the car.
5) What about FFB I don't think there is any output of this from LFS, so it might be hard to apply FFB to the wheel. Although, during my AIRS project I believe if the FFB in LFS was still on that my G25 would thrash around even if a PPJoy virtual controller was being used as well. So maybe this is a moot point that will go away.
Finally good luck on the project, although I don't know anything about how you will be manipulating the data. I hope my post is helpful since I've had a bit of experience with things your trying to do, at least it seems.
1) PPJoy is likely someone as a casual user would not be able to simply download, install and go. They need a bit of technical knowledge to do this, and the ability to trust unsigned hardware, by clicking "install without certification".
2) I personally had some issues with PPJoy to LFS as a form of input. It took me a few days to get this setup. Within the first day I had input in LFS, but it seemed to me that all axis controls did not center themselves right. For all I know I did something idiotically wrong with the programming interface, though I tried to make it right, in the end I just hacked it so that it moves it offcenter and allows LFS to think it is centered. Enough to the point where the car stayed within 5 inches of the white line down the dragstrip.
3) Getting information from LFS is the easy thing, and I don't know of anything else that supplies the information like LFS (or as much/detailed). If you haven't found it yet Insim.txt in the documents folder would deserve a look over for you. There are three protocols:
3a) InSim Protocol: This is useful for almost everything you would need. When a race starts, what mode LFS is in, are you connected to a server. There is some information available about the car position and orientation. Lap times / split times / qualifying times, etc the list goes on.
3b) OutSim Protocol: Admittedly I haven't been using this like I thought I would need for my AIRS project. Though I may need to in the future, it give more detailed information about the currently spectated / driven car and the motions it goes through. As with my AIRS project though, tabbing to spectate other cars will mess up the 'data output'. Which might not be important to your project.
3c) OutGauge Protocol: This gives you all the information that the driver could get from the gauges and controls of the car; what gear is it in, what location are the pedals / steering wheel actually at? Headlights / indicators on? Fuel level (for player only), speed, rpm etc the list goes on. Again, tabbing to spectate other cars mess this output up, at least for my AIRS project which the AI driver depends on the information!
4) To control LFS, LFS _requires_ focus. Meaning if your application requires focus to get steering wheel input and send it to LFS you will not be able to drive in LFS. Your application will need to run in the background, silently collecting information from the G25 and feeding it back to LFS which is in focus. Otherwise you won't move the car.
5) What about FFB I don't think there is any output of this from LFS, so it might be hard to apply FFB to the wheel. Although, during my AIRS project I believe if the FFB in LFS was still on that my G25 would thrash around even if a PPJoy virtual controller was being used as well. So maybe this is a moot point that will go away.
Finally good luck on the project, although I don't know anything about how you will be manipulating the data. I hope my post is helpful since I've had a bit of experience with things your trying to do, at least it seems.
FGED GREDG RDFGDR GSFDG