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Topics - Battlewagon

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Development / The Vega Project
« on: July 29, 2016, 08:52:35 am »
Hello again everyone.  About two years ago, I tentatively expressed interest in modelling a Chevy Vega for Street Rod 3, but didn't promise anything because I had no idea whether I would have a chance to do it.  I've now got as far as the interior model, with the UV map for it the next thing to do...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIAQAhLzlbE

Another thing I'm looking for is dimensions for parts like the steering wheel, console, and so on, because so far I've just been eyeing these from photographs, and I'm sure the sizes are wrong.  Therefore...this is a request for blueprints or measurements, if anyone has them.

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Development / Cross-Compatible Parts
« on: November 16, 2013, 03:19:33 pm »
I tried to add this to one of the existing topics, but I was advised by the system to start a new thread.  I have a few thoughts on development.  My understanding is that a game engine is close to being selected, if it hasn't been already.  In any case, there are many available.  While I don't recall if I mentioned it before, I wondered if parts of TORCS, which is open-source, could be used for the racing scenes.  The physics files are a lot like Redline, so I would find them easy to work with, but I should move on to my main point.  Not being a low-level programmer, I should leave the serious technical stuff to others.  My point is this....

While the engine is being chosen and modded, the content will have to be created.  I would argue that it would save us time if we use the models from the beta, and I've worked on modding them slightly, as I assume many others already have.  I also assume that most of my mods, if they survive, will do so in concept only, as all of them will likely have to be recoded for the new beta.  However, while I've already outlined this point elsewhere, I've thought of taking the intiative (when I have time in a month or two) to produce some new cars and mods.  Presumably, the tracks will have to wait until we know what engine (and preferably app) we're making them for.  I could test them in TORCS, obviously, although I'm still figuring out that program and have only built one mod for it so far. 

At the moment, it seems the Beta lacks some of the basic building blocks of the Street Rod concept.  What are these?  I would argue that they would be the basic cars that a player would start with, and the cars they would end up with.  At the moment, the cars in the beta like the GTO, the Mustang, and the Deuce are more mid-level cars.  There isn't any C3 Corvette yet, there isn't any Camaro yet, and there aren't any entry-level cars to start with.  In the old game, these were cars like the Falcon and the Fury, or possibly the C2 Corvette (in SR2).  If we're going to do an early 1970's game this time, then, it would make sense to have a Ford Pinto (or another Falcon), a Chevy Nova (and/or Vega), and a Dodge Dart.  I'm not joking about the Vega, actually.  These cars were supposedly excellent track cars, better than some of their European competition, they could be fitted with V-8's (Chevy actually did this with the Monza), and were very cheap.  Yenko also had a version with turbo for the 4-cyl. engine, which was already unusual for a Chevy of the time as most were 6 or 8 cylinder.  Novas were similar, of course, and very popular hot rods, but in hindsight they aren't as interesting as they were far more conventional, and many, many of them survive today.  The same can't be said of the Vega.  I haven't seen one in over 20 (maybe 30) years, not even at a car show.  Other oddities and newcomers (for SR3) could be as follows:

Plymouth Roadrunner (or the Plymouth GTX)
Dodge Charger Daytona
Dodge Challenger
Dodge Monaco (maybe with the 440)
AMX
Lincoln Continental (for the 460)
'57 Chevy Belair (which is before the time period of the game, but neglected in both SR1 and SR2)
Ford Thunderbolt (like the Belair, old but neglected, and an excuse to include the 427 side-oiler)

What the King will drive is another question.  I think I've said elsewhere that he could have a GT40, an A/C Cobra, or a Corvette L88 or ZL1.  None of these fit the ideal of a muscle car or a hot rod, but they all use American big-block V-8's, and would give the King the edge over everything that isn't a very extreme hot rod. 

Finally, it would be especially cool for the cars in the old games to reappear.  That would give the game a great deal more depth, but would require a lot of modelling.  This is what could be done while the engine is being prepared, however, as any good game engine will take a model format that either the models will be built in, or which they can be converted to.  In the meantime, the new models could be used in TORCS. 

I'm just posting this now while I'm thinking of it, partly to see what other people are thinking of or working on.  I've been distracted by this for a few days, even though I can't built any actual models yet.  Another thing to consider is that I don't want to build anything that other people are already building.

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Suggestions / Basic List...
« on: December 04, 2012, 08:03:54 am »
As I've said elsewhere, I'm not a coder so much, but am an enthusiastic SR fan of 23 years.  Having played all three games this week, these details come to mind...

-Following the modern-day trend in gaming, SR3 should probably have the option of never ending, so that people can build their cars indefinitely, particularly for the proposed multiplayer mode.  SR1 and 2 were very 1980's in that you could finish them in a few hours, but this is disappointing today.

-Speaking of that, multiplayer should be done right (a reliable way to host games without a central server, Teamspeex-style communications, etc.), both to make the game more enjoyable and to attract additional developers.  In open source game development, social networking is crucial, and at the moment this project is suffering from a lack of participants.

-The decals should include flames.  This is obvious, isn't it?   :)

-Fix the sound, and please don't add cheesy music like in the SR1 and 2.   :D  Don't worry, I know you're working on this.  Support for user MP3's via the radio is in line with what was done with Redline, and would be more welcome.  Redline actually took this a step further by being integrated with iTunes.

-In SR2, Chevy lacked an entry-level car.  It seems obvious, therefore, that SR3 should have a Nova, a Corvair, or both.  The Corvair would require a flat-six engine and a turbocharger, but these would be easy to make.  The weight distribution should be made to be accurate, too, but that I assume will be in the new physics model.  The Nova, however, would be the more important of these two, as it was a favorite with hot rodders.

-I noticed that the alpha does not yet support 6-barrel carbs, triple intakes, superchargers, or fuel injection.  SR2 at least had FI and superchargers, so I assume it's coming.  I'm just making sure....  Nitrous would be another obvious mod to add.

-I've already "built" a Pontiac Tempest for SR3, and I can do a Plymouth Satellite, too.   ;D  Please, let's not have a 6-cylinder Deuce, GTO, or Roadrunner.   ;D

-All three SR versions fail to accurately depict the speeds involved.  SR1 and 2 limit you to 120 m.p.h., which is accurate for a 1950's American sedan or wagon like an original Crown Vic or Country Squire (or something with a 4.11 differential), but far less so for a Corvette, Chrysler 300, or Charger.  One variant of the real 300 could hit 160 bone stock, after all.  The alpha of SR3 is just the opposite, in that a car with a "small" engine can blow away something with a "large" engine, reaching speeds in excess of 160.  This will probably be fixed in the new physics model, but is worth remembering.  Modern car simulations, even NFS, can easily get this right (even if the NFS cars are not accurate depictions of the specific real-life cars), so SR3 should as well. 

-The same as the above should apply to things like burnouts, donuts, torque steer, racking, body roll (crucial for depicting American cars of this era), and spinouts.  Amazingly, SR2 could simulate drifting, if crudely and without wheelspin, which is impressive when you consider SR was the same era.  Neither Test Drive version of the 1980's (1 and 2) could do this, although TD2 could do slides.  However, hot rods aren't much fun with NFS-style physics.  Redline was far better than NFS, TD, or SR in that a six-cylinder was really bland, while an L88 could burn through all four gears, write or draw on the pavement in skidmarks, throttle steer sideways, and envelop itself in smoke.  That, I think, is exactly what we want, plus loud and realistic sound.   :)  Redline also had handbrake simulation, which would be a cool thing to have in SR3. 

-Although traditional hot rodders scoffed at spending money on good brakes, they are a realistic part of racing.  Hopefully there will be ways to upgrade them?

-Modding of the game should be made easy, but this is obvious nowadays, isn't it?

-I noticed that SR2 used to always have an ad for a Desoto in the margins.  Perhaps just for the fact this car was so ridiculed.....it should be included.   ;D  I could make it, if I have the time.  A Studebaker, Packard, Hudson, Nash, or Edsel would be interesting too, although it would be possible to get carried away...

-Every big-three brand was in SR2....except Cadillac, Lincoln, and Buick.  The model choices here are obvious:  Eldorado, Continental Mk.III, and Electra 225 (although a Riviera or '53 Skylark would also be great).

-Basic engine blocks to add (as of the SR3 alpha):  Pontiac 400; Ford 221 (for the Deuce); Chevy 283, 327, 350, and 427 (for the cars already in the alpha, plus the classic 327); Mopar 318, 383, and 426; Ford 302, 427, 428 (for the GT500), and 429; Olds 455.  If a Cadillac is eventually built, having a 500 would be great, too.  I presume that add-on developers could add dozens more of these, but I think the above would be ideal for the built-in engines. 

-More transmissions are needed.  This is something obvious, but the built-in variety needn't be immense.  Seven trannys would do if game modding is easy, as each of the big three needs an auto and a 4sp, and there needs to be the existing 3sp for the Deuce.  I've already done an M22 4sp., a T10 4sp., and a Powerglide, and the first two of these could be any manufacturer, so theoretically the next alpha could get by with only three, the Ford 3sp, the T10 or M22, and the Powerglide.

-Crate engines, anyone?  They already existed in the 1960's, and Chevy in particular built a range of them, including the 377, the original 409, the 427 HD, and the 433 CanAm.  Indeed, hot rodding was the only thing that crate engines were for.

I think I'm out of the obvious things for now...

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Development / Tags in kit parts, and the need for an SR3 wiki.
« on: December 03, 2012, 03:11:35 pm »
I have a question about the exhaust kits in Street Rod 3, particularly if there's a comprehensive list of the performance bits in the game.  I've never seen the code, so I have no idea.  I did spend a few hours over the past few days (since discovering SR3), making mods, but what I can do is limited by the fact that I don't really know how the game works. 

Some sort of Wiki connected to this site or Sourceforce would be a welcome addition to help developers, since this is supposed to be a mass amateur effort (right?).  I've previously developed plugs for Redline, so I have some experience, but everyone would benefit from the Wiki, I think.  For that matter, they would probably benefit more than me.  At the very least, we should know what tags are used in SR3 files for performance variables, etc. 

I also note, and I know this is nothing new, that SR3 is still in Alpha, so there are a number of little bugs like the fact that engines can rev up but not down.  That's fine for drag racing, but not for a track.  But....everyone knows this.  The reason I discovered SR3 is that I had been thinking this would be a good idea, after experimenting with SR2.  For that matter, I'd love to know how to mod SR2 while SR3 is still in development, and I understand that this project started out as that.  It also still needs sound....but the removal of the horrible soundtrack of SR2 is probably an improvement.   ;D

In any case, it would be interesting to know more about this project.  I can't devote my life to it, but it would be an interesting project to be involved in.

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Development / Street Rod Cheat Pack
« on: December 03, 2012, 03:03:31 pm »
Okay, first question...is the Cheat Pack for Street Rod 2, or Street Rod 3?  I'd love to mod either one of them, but it doesn't seem to work in Windows 7 64-bit.  I've tried compatibility mode to no avail, so I can't open it to see what it is.

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