T1 Car Racing Simulation

What's New?

2003/27/02

It seems going away from the computer for a few days sometimes really helps. While I was on a business trip, I finally thought of why steering in the same direction in which the car is sliding makes it move very unrealistically, especially at higher speeds. It turned out, that a pretty simple change in the code makes it behave exactly as I wanted it to. The fixed version can be obtained from the CVS.

I'll release version 0.1.3 as soon as I find some time to make the car bounce off the walls upon collision, instead of just coming to a halt. I hope to be able to do it in the next 2-3 weeks.

Finally, thanks to all who commented on T1 so far! Your (mostly positive :-) ) feedback helped me a lot in deciding which direction T1 development is going to take.

2003/23/02

Development is going on. Following is already available in the CVS version:

Compatibility with Vamos is now re-established. If you want to give it a try, you'll need Vamos in version 0.3.0. Watch out not to hit any walls, collision handling is not yet implemented in Vamos model. Oh, and don't forget to give --with-vamos to ./configure!
Speed and revs are now presented in pretty gauges. There is a screenshot in the gallery.

2003/14/02

Announcement on Linux Game Tome (see previous news entry) was a great success! Right now, I'm working on solving problems found by some of the people who downloaded T1. Except for a weird collision detection problem found on one computer, the most seem to be related to compilation.

Unfortunately, it seems that T1 and Vamos got out-of-sync again. At the moment, it is not possible to compile Vamos support into T1. I'm working with Sam on that one. Until the problem is solved, I made a quick-fix release 0.1.2a, which only includes Vamos support if the user explicitely asks for it (configure flag "--with-vamos").

Release 0.1.2a also includes (for the first time) a statically linked binary. I still recommend everybody to try to compile the source version. However, if it doesn't work for you, you can also give it a try with the pre-compiled one. Don't forget to send me a mail with a description of your compilation problems, though - otherwise I won't be able to resolve them in the next release.

2003/09/02

Version 0.1.2 is out, be the first to get it! :-)

Seriously, I have finally found some time to get a new release out. Following has changed since 0.1.1:

First step toward integration with Vamos. If you have Vamos installed on your system, ./configure shall detect it and activate the support (see the new command line option -v).
Improvements in physics
Improvements in collision detection algorithm
Development status changed from "2 - Pre-Alpha" to "3 - Alpha".
A lot of internal improvements

I have announced T1 on Linux Game Tome. It'll be there as soon as the good people keeping that site running find some time to take a look at it.

2003/30/01

Wow, it's been a long time since the last update! We haven't stopped working on T1, we've just had a creative pause. In other words, our lives got in the way... :-)

Anyway, stay tuned for a new version real soon now. I know, I said that a few months ago already, but this time.. ummm... you know, it's for real ;-) Most probably this weekend, or at latest the next one.

The most changes are internal, but there are also some nice improvements on physics and collision detection. Also, this will be the first release also to include an interface to Vamos, a very nice car driving simulation developed by Sam Varner. So, watch out for any updates of this page! Oh, and as soon as somebody actually subscribes on t1-src-announce, I'll start using it. :-)

2002/29/09

Integration of Vamos physics model and T1 is going on much better than what I hoped for. There's still a lot work be done, but I don't think there are any show-stoppers waiting to be discovered. Pretty soon we'll have some results to share with you!

2002/21/09

I have some great and exciting news to announce: Sam Varner (Author of Vamos, see also previous news entry) and myself are working on including the Vamos physics into T1 framework! Actually, the most of the work is done by Sam, I'm just standing around and fixing/extending T1 according to his needs :-). Vamos shall remain available as a stand-alone project, of course, and the development of the current T1 model shall also continue. Stay tuned for further details!

Other than that, Mario is working on at least two new cars. The results I saw a few days ago look great. I'll post some screenshots in the next few days.

2002/29/07

In case you've been wondering: no, I haven't lost interest in this project. Unfortunately, my day job consumes every minute of my time lately, so I had to slow down a bit with T1. In a few days, I'll go on a vacation (the first real one in the past 9-10 years). I'll be away some 3-4 weeks. When I'm back, expect a new version real soon.

In the mean time, I suggest you give Vamos a try. The game is in the similar state of development as T1, except that at this time it lays much more value on accurate physics than on fancy graphics. Nevertheless, it's already fun to play! Just watch out not to push the pedal too far, the car has a HELL of an engine that will instantly send your heck floating around. :-)

Who knows, maybe pairing Vamos and T1 would be a good idea... :-)

2002/12/06

Version 0.1.1 released! It's not really time for a new release, but given that I'll be on a business trip for the next 1.5 weeks, I decided to do it anyway. The difference between screenshots in the gallery and the actual release was getting uncomfortably large...

Anyway, what's new since the last update? Most notably I have started improving the car model towards simulation of sliding in corners. It's still just a first prototype, but nevertheless it already feels quite good!

Go on, give it a try! :-)

2002/08/06

One more week went by without Web-Site update. In the mean time, I did some clean-up, and implemented a simple shadow for the car (looks good!). Besides that, we (Mario and myself) improved the first portion of the track. You can check the results in the gallery.

2002/29/05

I haven't had much time to work on T1-CRS lately (I *do* have a day job, you know... :-) ). Nevertheless, the game is progressing well. The most noticeable news are:

Further improvements of the car model.
2D sprite objects implemented. 2D sprites are flat objects which are always turned directly towards camera. Remember sprites in Doom? Well, these are not much different. T1-CRS uses 2D sprites for e.g. trees.
Mario has built the first larger 3DS object. It's a nice looking tunnel. You can see it in the gallery.

2002/21/05

I haven't updated this section for a week now. However, it doesn't mean I was sleeping (I almost never do :-) ). Here's the list of the most important improvements/new features added this past week:

Toyota Supra is released and set as a default car. It's a beauty! If you want to go back to Golf GTI, change the last parameter in the call to NormalCar constructor in file src/t1_crs.cc.
Car model has improved considerably. It's still not ready for prime time, but it already allows for a nice game-play.

2002/14/05

Preliminary solution for collision detection with track walls implemented. If you want to give it a try, you can get it from CVS (or wait until the next release, of course).
Some first great looking snapshots of Toyota Supra added to the gallery.

2002/11/05

Version 0.1.0 released! If you want to compile it, you'll also need Steve Bakers' PLIB library. If configure can't figure out where you installed it, there are two new options you can use: --with-plib-includes and --with-plib-libs
Important new keys are Q (gear up) and A (gear down).
If you give it a try (it starts being worth it!), remember that I'm a sucker for feedback... :-)

2002/08/05

Spinning rear wheels implemented, including tire screeching sound and loss of power (watch out not to spin your wheels too much). Breaks come next.

2002/06/05

I have added some preliminary sound support using Steve Bakers' PLIB library. Having a sound adds a whole new dimension to the game! It wasn't quite planned for this release, but I couldn't resist. :-)
Speaking of release, please bear with me for one additional week. After I have spent some time thinking about spinning wheels and correct implementation of breaks, I started seeing "the big picture". It's not really possible to implement just a bit of tire physics. Either you go all the way, or you better leave it. I decided to go all the way. In the mean time, you can always check the CVS to get the current version.
Mario showed me some first snapshots of a new car he's working on. It's a beautifully looking Toyota Supra.

2002/03/05

I have managed to implement quite a few improvements since the last web-site update. Most notable improvement considers a pretty good engine model including configurable gear box and RPM/torque relationship. Some external factors (air drag and roll resistance) are also in place. The old track is replaced by a new, much bigger and more interesting one. A bug in track definition loader is fixed, now track width changes gradually according to specification (except if you configure an abrupt change, of course).
What's still missing before I can make the next release is a model for breaks (right now the car stops instantly if you hit the breaks) and maybe a simple wheel spinning model (current model assumes perfect tires which never slip). I hope to find some time for that in the next few days.
On the artistic side, Mario did some nice new 3DS objects (most notably a very good looking gas station), and has also improved the Golf GTI model. He has also started working on a new car, first screenshots pending for tomorrow.
For the case you go and get the current version from the CVS (does anybody actually do that?): gear up is mapped to Q, gear down to A.

2002/27/04

Roll & pitch movements (rotations around Z respective X axis) are now implemented. It was much easier than I thought it would be. I'm tempted to make a new release right now, but I'll restrain myself to just bragging about it :-). Expect a new release in 1-2 weeks. If you can't wait, you can always get the current version from CVS.

2002/25/04

Work is going on quite well. Yesterday I converted the car drawing function such that it now uses display lists instead of just throwing a bunch of triangles one by one at the GL engine. Performance improvement was impressive: between 5 and 16 percent, while adding only a few lines of code. Lesson I learned while converting to display list mechanism: don't create the list using GL_COMPILE_AND_EXECUTE! Stick with GL_COMPILE, otherwise your display list could even lower the performance!

2002/21/04

Version 0.0.5 released! The game starts looking as a real game! :-) We decided to change status to pre-alpha. Don't expect it to be actually playable yet, though. The most obvious change is that now you get to actually see a car running in front of the camera. Steering (heading changes) works quite well. Roll and pitch changes, both functions of track layout, are still not implemented (watch out for the next release). Maximal steering angle is set to 14.3 degrees. Try it out, it's worth it!
t1-src-announce mailing list has been created. Check this link for details about subscription.
It seems a week ago I forgot to upload the news section for 2001/15/04, so I'm doing it now.

2002/15/04

A Golf GTI was added to the gallery. Other than that, the work is going on quite smoothly. I expect to be able to release 0.0.5 in a few days.

2002/13/04

Now we also have a light source! Surface normals are calculated for each vertex and for each 3DS object in the scene. At the time being, lights are only turned on for the car model. You can check some new snapshots in the gallery.

2002/11/04

Mario has provided some nice renderings for the web site and a logo for T1-CRS. The Golf GTI model, which can be seen on the main page, shall be published with the next release.

2002/07/04

I have finally begun working on a real car model. A new class NormalCar is implemented, derived from class Vehicle and implementing the interface Car. This step could take some time. Nevertheless, I expect to be able to make a new release in 2-3 weeks, with at least some basic functionality (a car gets drawn correctly, wheels attached at correct positions, pointing in direction of the steering wheel). Check out the new option -n, if you want to see how far I got with it (only available in the CVS version, for the time being)
Mario has the next car model (a Golf GTI) almost done. Looks great! I'll release it as soon as I get his OK.

2002/05/04

Version 0.0.4 released. No major changes, just making it compilable with gcc 2.96. It seems that 2.96 has a very restrictive set of default options, including -fno-builtin. Also added libm to the set of standard libraries.
What's New section added (you're reading it right now).

Alex Pozgaj

Last modified: Fri Feb 28 00:17:59 CET 2003