developer blog (kind of)

[megariffer]

hello everyone,

i 'm starting this thread with the intention on posting here regularly about the work i have done on the game.
how long i will keep up doing this? there is no telling that, but i'll try.

my main focus right now is to make a working, playable demo with the garage scene, with a handful of parts (no racing yet), and only one car (note that i will not include every functionality of the old alpha yet, there will be no replaceable mufflers, differentials, shocks and such, only changeable wheels. i'm planning to do that later, when i have proper 3d models for those parts as well)
i'm 60-70% finished with this. for now, i want to mimic the GUI of the old SR3 alpha, just because it's easier that way, i can reuse the sprites for example.

here is what i did so far:

there is the garage, as seen on the video earlier, now with the GUI present, non-functional buttons are greyed out:


then there is the engine view, where you will assemble your motor:


you can check out your inventory of parts:


the newspaper also has a minimal functionality already:



and you can also repaint your car:


that's it for now, i know it's not much but hey, this is all there is for the last 10 years!

let me know how you feel in the comments, see you all later!

[Maxaxle]

I noticed that all of the newspaper text was blurred out; if you want, I could try re-writing them.

[megariffer]

I noticed that all of the newspaper text was blurred out; if you want, I could try re-writing them.

i also took the blurred text images from the old alpha.
what do you mean re-write them? there was no readable text in the newspaper in either of the SR games.

[cdoublejj]

Like i said in the other post it's amazing to see SR3 in the 21st century. Amazing works bud!   

[megariffer]

Like i said in the other post it's amazing to see SR3 in the 21st century. Amazing works bud!   

thanks, cj! good to have some encouragement, i'll try and not give up on the development.
i decided to put aside some personal things so i can devote more time to the project.

[megariffer]

here's a small update, this time without pictures:

• changed the car model's material to use specular shaders, gives a much nicer look, especially at darker scenes.
• implemented day/night cycle, with dynamic ambient sounds + garage lights automatically switch on/off depending on light conditions
• working doors on mouse click, as seen on the previous video (little buggy still)
• adding/removing parts from the inventory to the engine now works
• can buy parts from newspaper
• added a bunch of sounds and effects to the game

i'm planning to make a video of the new features this week.
my biggest problem right now is that i didn't implement the bolts yet, when you install your parts.
problem is, there's only a few parts right now, and for example installing the carb also installs an air filter automatically, so you wouldn't even see the bolts.
i could go with transparent models (so that they are transparent until every bolt is tightened), or i could only add the carb model first, and when you secure the crews, the air filter could pop up instantly.
i could take the carb and air filter apart, and make them separate parts in-game, so could buy them in the newspaper separately, but then again, where should you put the bolts on an air filter?
or maybe i could have bolts for the manifold and carb, but no bolts for air filter.

anyway, if you have any ideas about anything, please comment!

[TSJ]

Really really awesome

Very nice work

I must practice using that game engine it seems
I would love to give a hand with the coding at some point if I can and if I can find time for it.

I have 2 suggestions:

1) add a seat icon for interior cuztomization (down the road I know but it would be stuff like fuzzy dice, skull gearknob, dials, ra ing steering wheel, mirrors, leather seats etc...)

2)  add a door icon for body cuztomization and repair (doors panels, fenders etc...)

[megariffer]

Really really awesome

Very nice work

I must practice using that game engine it seems
I would love to give a hand with the coding at some point if I can and if I can find time for it.

I have 2 suggestions:

1) add a seat icon for interior cuztomization (down the road I know but it would be stuff like fuzzy dice, skull gearknob, dials, ra ing steering wheel, mirrors, leather seats etc...)

2)  add a door icon for body cuztomization and repair (doors panels, fenders etc...)

thanks for the comments,

i'm planning to add an interior button to the paint window, so you can recolor the interior.
right now i'm focusing on minimal functionality, those things will come later.
and body modifications might never come, because i'm struggling right now to find car models i can have for free. for some strange reason, every 3d modeler wants money for their work...

[megariffer]

just a quick note here:

awesome, huge news - Unity 5 is out, and all PRO features moved to the FREE edition as well!
now i can start adding those pro 'AAA' looking effects, like bloom, sun shafts, real time reflections and so on!

stay tuned!

[megariffer]

hello again,

i didn't do much in the last few days, but i made a new video nonetheless.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pg-viE7vFHE

i changed the garage to the one from GRID 2, just because you could see how much of a difference the scene makes. this one look much more alive, and the details add a lot to the atmosphere.
also i showcased some of the new features of unity free, as you can see there are multiple shadows from multiple light sources. also there are some basic sound effects you can check out.

that's all for now, i will be back soon with more updates

[cdoublejj]

Really really awesome

Very nice work

I must practice using that game engine it seems
I would love to give a hand with the coding at some point if I can and if I can find time for it.

I have 2 suggestions:

1) add a seat icon for interior cuztomization (down the road I know but it would be stuff like fuzzy dice, skull gearknob, dials, ra ing steering wheel, mirrors, leather seats etc...)

2)  add a door icon for body cuztomization and repair (doors panels, fenders etc...)

My understanding is that one can do coding in C with Unity. IDK if there is access to engine's source code but, scripts and game components can be done in C from what I am understanding. I could be wrong.

[TSJ]

Really really awesome

Very nice work

I must practice using that game engine it seems
I would love to give a hand with the coding at some point if I can and if I can find time for it.

I have 2 suggestions:

1) add a seat icon for interior cuztomization (down the road I know but it would be stuff like fuzzy dice, skull gearknob, dials, ra ing steering wheel, mirrors, leather seats etc...)

2)  add a door icon for body cuztomization and repair (doors panels, fenders etc...)

thanks for the comments,

i'm planning to add an interior button to the paint window, so you can recolor the interior.
right now i'm focusing on minimal functionality, those things will come later.
and body modifications might never come, because i'm struggling right now to find car models i can have for free. for some strange reason, every 3d modeler wants money for their work...

Well I have had great luck in downloading addon cars made for various games and then asking the original authors of the models if I could freely modify their models for use in streetrod 3 and 9 out of 10 gives me full permission to do so.

I can see the wisdom in getting minimal functionality working first, my suggestions were merely for inspiration down the road

I am going to check out the newest version of unity and see what I can accomplish by following various tutorials

[megariffer]

can you tell me details about the cars you downloaded?
where you found them, who is the author, etc.
the main problem with the models from other games btw is that their engine bays are for example not modeled.

[cdoublejj]

Really really awesome

Very nice work

I must practice using that game engine it seems
I would love to give a hand with the coding at some point if I can and if I can find time for it.

I have 2 suggestions:

1) add a seat icon for interior cuztomization (down the road I know but it would be stuff like fuzzy dice, skull gearknob, dials, ra ing steering wheel, mirrors, leather seats etc...)

2)  add a door icon for body cuztomization and repair (doors panels, fenders etc...)

thanks for the comments,

i'm planning to add an interior button to the paint window, so you can recolor the interior.
right now i'm focusing on minimal functionality, those things will come later.
and body modifications might never come, because i'm struggling right now to find car models i can have for free. for some strange reason, every 3d modeler wants money for their work...

Well I have had great luck in downloading addon cars made for various games and then asking the original authors of the models if I could freely modify their models for use in streetrod 3 and 9 out of 10 gives me full permission to do so.

I can see the wisdom in getting minimal functionality working first, my suggestions were merely for inspiration down the road

I am going to check out the newest version of unity and see what I can accomplish by following various tutorials

i apologize i'm off base this comment. while that's totally cool for the time being, eventually for stuff that makes it in to the final game we have to either make it our selves and or have documentation of agreement.

I still remember some of the conversations and things Hellmark said over the years about such legalities ESPECIALLY with car damage and damage effects. (nothing like getting sued by GM or Ford and shut down before you even know what happened.

[TSJ]

can you tell me details about the cars you downloaded?
where you found them, who is the author, etc.
the main problem with the models from other games btw is that their engine bays are for example not modeled.

i apologize i'm off base this comment. while that's totally cool for the time being, eventually for stuff that makes it in to the final game we have to either make it our selves and or have documentation of agreement.

I still remember some of the conversations and things Hellmark said over the years about such legalities ESPECIALLY with car damage and damage effects. (nothing like getting sued by GM or Ford and shut down before you even know what happened.

I have searched for addon cars for games where I see a screenshot or video of the car and its engine + engine bay...

Suitable cars are then downloaded,

then I check for the ORIGINAL authors contact information and delete the rest,

after this I test what cars can be imported and what cars are locked, the locked cars are deleted,

finally I contact the original authors using EMAIL of the remaning cars and

If I get permissions from authors I then save the email and takes a screenshot of the permission for documentation.

I already have one car that has made it through my selection process.

It is a 1972 Mercury Monterey 2DR Resonably high poly, originally made for GTA 4.
I have the original authors permission on email to modify and use this car for SR3.

I also found some old max files of a more recent version of the 1932 frod custom, as well as the email where I was granted permission to use it for whatever purpose I wished by its orginal author. That car was originally made for NFS 4.

When these 2 cars have been prepared a bit more then they should be very nice test cars for experiments in irrlicht, unity, halflife engine and other game engines