Hi everyone,
Around 2 years ago now, I decided to give this track creation thing a go and have been quietly working away. As someone with no previous experience in anything like this, the whole process turned out to be very, very difficult indeed but I’ve always wanted to produce some sim-racing content and I think I've managed to create a decent track that people will enjoy.
The track is scratch built and is of course based on a real-world track in Canada which I’m sure is not particularly difficult to deduce from my translated name. I used GPS data from 2009 (in car trace from a Porsche GT3 I think), converting the longitude, latitude and altitude data into XYZ data, before then converting this into a mesh to act as a reference when creating the track mesh itself (in combination with the traditional method of using reference plane satellite imagery). So, the track itself should be reasonably accurate to the real-world location. There are however, some bumps in the track mesh (mostly around T5 and the joins in this infield area) and the terrain is also quite bumpy in several places too, which is the result of my not-so-great workmanship - but overall the track is pretty good I'd dare say even if it's a little rough around the edges so to speak.
The track is fully DX11 and makes use of the real road shader (on all track sections), real kerb shader (on all curbs), multi grass terrain shader (on all terrain + armcos [allows for blending of different sections, e.g. rusty sections, etc.]). The track also has a working puddle map so puddles will form in the lower sections and dips around the track during heavy rain.
The track has been optimised so everyone should be able to run their usual settings though I should note that the sheer number of trees in the track (I believe around 20,000) does have a significant impact on CPU/GPU usage and of course FPS. Because of this, the outer trees (trees beyond the immediate edges of the circuit) are set to be removed when circuit detail is set to MEDIUM and lower. This removes about ¾ of all trees, leaving only those close to the circuit (hills, etc. still covered with treelines). Hopefully though, this should not be needed, certainly for those with decent GPUs. The only time I've encountered poor FPS was with a nearly full grid and rain. But, of course, let me know if you encounter any issues and I will make further adjustments/optimisations.
I should mention that the vehicles, portable lights, tents, porterloos, crowds and grandstand have all been recycled from previous ISI/S397 content, which I believe is permitted (I read this on the forums long ago at the start of this project) but please correct me if I’m wrong and I will of course adjust accordingly (I hope this is the case though as I think it would be rather unnecessary and time-wasting having to remodel and re-texture these smaller items). The rest of the track though is of course completely scratch-built, including: all racesurfaces (track and curbs), all terrain (grass and gravel), tyre-walls, walls, fences, fence posts, armcos, trees (billboarded and treelines), buildings (control tower, infield buildings) and the bridge, all of which have custom-made textures.
There are 10 layouts in total:
Please note: only the two club layouts are included in the free version from the download above – the other layouts are available at this link for a total of £2.50 – which I think is fair for 2 years' work as I didn’t want to charge more than a drink’s worth!
Link to all layouts version:https://sellfy.com/vintageracing
FOR VERSION (ALL LAYOUTS) NOW AVAILABLE FOR FREE - V1.2.0
Known issues:
I definitely urge everyone to try the club layouts first before even considering purchasing the other layouts just to see what you make of it. I've also attached some screenshots below taken in the DX11 scene viewer so you can get an idea of what the track's like.
IMPORTANT: please make sure to uninstall PREVIOUS VERSIONS.
Please let me know what you think and especially if you have any issues/problems.
Hope you like it!
Cheers,
Leighton.
Around 2 years ago now, I decided to give this track creation thing a go and have been quietly working away. As someone with no previous experience in anything like this, the whole process turned out to be very, very difficult indeed but I’ve always wanted to produce some sim-racing content and I think I've managed to create a decent track that people will enjoy.
The track is scratch built and is of course based on a real-world track in Canada which I’m sure is not particularly difficult to deduce from my translated name. I used GPS data from 2009 (in car trace from a Porsche GT3 I think), converting the longitude, latitude and altitude data into XYZ data, before then converting this into a mesh to act as a reference when creating the track mesh itself (in combination with the traditional method of using reference plane satellite imagery). So, the track itself should be reasonably accurate to the real-world location. There are however, some bumps in the track mesh (mostly around T5 and the joins in this infield area) and the terrain is also quite bumpy in several places too, which is the result of my not-so-great workmanship - but overall the track is pretty good I'd dare say even if it's a little rough around the edges so to speak.
The track is fully DX11 and makes use of the real road shader (on all track sections), real kerb shader (on all curbs), multi grass terrain shader (on all terrain + armcos [allows for blending of different sections, e.g. rusty sections, etc.]). The track also has a working puddle map so puddles will form in the lower sections and dips around the track during heavy rain.
The track has been optimised so everyone should be able to run their usual settings though I should note that the sheer number of trees in the track (I believe around 20,000) does have a significant impact on CPU/GPU usage and of course FPS. Because of this, the outer trees (trees beyond the immediate edges of the circuit) are set to be removed when circuit detail is set to MEDIUM and lower. This removes about ¾ of all trees, leaving only those close to the circuit (hills, etc. still covered with treelines). Hopefully though, this should not be needed, certainly for those with decent GPUs. The only time I've encountered poor FPS was with a nearly full grid and rain. But, of course, let me know if you encounter any issues and I will make further adjustments/optimisations.
I should mention that the vehicles, portable lights, tents, porterloos, crowds and grandstand have all been recycled from previous ISI/S397 content, which I believe is permitted (I read this on the forums long ago at the start of this project) but please correct me if I’m wrong and I will of course adjust accordingly (I hope this is the case though as I think it would be rather unnecessary and time-wasting having to remodel and re-texture these smaller items). The rest of the track though is of course completely scratch-built, including: all racesurfaces (track and curbs), all terrain (grass and gravel), tyre-walls, walls, fences, fence posts, armcos, trees (billboarded and treelines), buildings (control tower, infield buildings) and the bridge, all of which have custom-made textures.
There are 10 layouts in total:
- 24-hour
- 24-hour chicane
- Club
- Club chicane
- Grand Prix
- Grand Prix chicane
- International
- International chicane
- National
- National chicane
Link to all layouts version:
FOR VERSION (ALL LAYOUTS) NOW AVAILABLE FOR FREE - V1.2.0
Known issues:
- As mentioned, the track has some bumps, especially around any joining sections but none of these are too significant (it’s just that they’re not realistic to the actual track). Some of the terrain is also quite bumpy and you may notice that it often rises and falls in comparison to the armcos. This is because I removed many terrain polygons at a fairly late stage to help performance but it has created some rough terrain here and there - but nothing too bad.
- Fairly aggressive LOD and shadow out settings mean that you may occasionally notice distant objects clipping in/out of view. This is necessary to ensure smooth performance though.
- The AI have a tendency to run a little wide at T1 onto the grass and spin. From testing, I’ve adjusted the line a little to reduce how often this happens but it does still seem to occur in certain situations: when cars go side by side into T1, when the track is still relatively green, when it’s raining and sometimes with AI drivers of lower skill levels.
- I have been unable to add ambient sounds to the track unfortunately as I’ve not been able to find any info on how to do this nor find out from existing tracks how it’s been done (the “special2” line that was apparently used in rf1 seems not to work in rf2 unfortunately).
- ImageSpaceInc/Studio 397 for documentation and information regarding mod development, GJED and GMTexporter plugin for 3DS max (despite removing GJED and the wiki half-way through this project!).
- Gysbers for his videos on using Maya and exporting into GJED for rf2 (would have been impossible without them!).
- Mark Pearce for his videos on AIW creation in rFactor 2 (really helpful!)
- Dave Noonan & 3dSimEd (also invaluable!).
- Maya 2017 & 3DS Max 2017 for providing this software free of charge under a student license.
- sketchuptextureclub.com for royalty free seamless textures.
I definitely urge everyone to try the club layouts first before even considering purchasing the other layouts just to see what you make of it. I've also attached some screenshots below taken in the DX11 scene viewer so you can get an idea of what the track's like.
IMPORTANT: please make sure to uninstall PREVIOUS VERSIONS.
Please let me know what you think and especially if you have any issues/problems.
Hope you like it!
Cheers,
Leighton.
