Our ReVolt Pub

If you tried my track "The Combine" recently posted at RVZT, you probably remember the big white boost arrows that send you rocketing down the track F-Zero style. Those textures were done using the alternative track piece texture, so they're pretty limited in their placement.

I was looking for some suggestions on how I might go about creating things like that, textures on the track surface that effect car performance, without resorting to the alternative textures. What if I want some boosts on the side and some in the middle, or just one on one side? I can't do it, since I can only place one on each side of the track. I figured the best workaround would be to just create a flat object representing the arrow and placed just above the surface, but if that's going to conflict with the surface texture, it'd be a bit weird...

Lego track pieces get kind of old after a while, and since I'm not sure TrackMK bent pieces are going to cooperate with 50% height tracks, I probably can't use those either. So it'd be nice to create some nice "speed up", "jump" and "slow down" obstacles on the track to work with to spice things up a little bit.

So you are using surface properties to give your cars a boost? I didn't know you could do that.
You can twist physics with farce fields. I myself am still experimenting with farce fields, but I have seen such speed-up fields in action in different tracks. Perhaps an expert such as hil could give you more information.
I'm glad to see that you host an interest in creating intriguing tracks for the community. With time and knowledge, I foresee that you will make some very interesting tracks.

Sometimes I think I must be speaking a foreign language and just don't know it.

The boost arrows did use farce fields. But I still need the texture there to signify that its a boost arrow. I'd like to not be limited to default textures on lego pieces. If I could use instances to "overlay" a texture on a track piece, or just plain replace a single lego piece's surface texture with something else, then use farce fields to create the effect over the "object" that's drawn onto the surface texture, that'd be nice.

Now that I think of it, it occurs to me that RVGlue might have some feature to replace the surface track on all pieces within a track zone, but I'm not sure if that's true, or how exactly to do it.

If all you want is the arrow, why not create a flat .prm, but no corresponding .ncp?
This could be re-sized to suit its use and placed anywhere on the track surface (or very slightly above it).

Geoff

The Track Editor has two road types. There's the wooden one with the star and the other asphalt road with the grass on the sides. Both of these types have different places on the track's BMPs. By editing these textures, you could use one type of road for the normal part of the track and the other type of road for the speed-up part of the track.
Bridges also have different wall colors than roads. You could insert a bridge and cover up the bottom part.
Or you can insert an instance, like GWC said. The .prm is the appearance data and the .ncp is the collision data. I am pretty sure you know that, but I am telling you just in case. Anyways, if the appearance and the collision data each have separate files, then each can be separate. So if the .prm has no .ncp, then you will see it but it will not have any collision effect on the car.
You should not place a .prm with collision data over another .prm with collision data or a segment of a lego track, which is part of the world which has its own .ncp data, if you wish that section to be part of the racing line. For some weird reason, the camera becomes stuck between the two segments until you go off a jump or something. Similarily, if you create a .prm with collision data for the top and the bottom of the piece, the camera will get stuck. This is because the top and the bottom represent seperate surfaces, just like the seperate instances.
Just a little info from me. Sorry that I misunderstood your post at first.
Regards,
APM

Actually, there are 3 basic track textures - as there are 2 different carpets! 1 has a car emblem, the other is plain. You get the alternative version if you select the carpet after thge tile has been placed (it's a long time since I made a track, but I think you press 't'), instead of selecting carpet from the tile menu.

A 4th texture is possible by using the 'jump' tile; and yet a 5th by using the 'crossroads'. But you do have to be careful with the jump tile - put it the wrong way round and the track won't export. (What is the wrong way round? Good question!!).

I suppose you could also arrange to run on the top of a pipe and get another texture!

Geoff

Wow! I never knew that!
Thanks, GWC!
Every game has its secrets, I guess (especially the early Mario games).
But what is this tile thing mapped to? No bmp?

Actually, APM, I don't know! I once made a track using all the different variations of tile that I knew - then I changed each section of each .bmp to a distinctive colour or pattern texture, and then looked round the track to see what I had altered. However, I missed the carpet variation and a couple of other tiles.

I no longer have a copy of this track, but I did re-texture it and improve the AI, etc., and release it as 'Disraeli' - which is available from RVZT. You could dld it and experiment

I suppose that it is not mapped to anything. Instead, the coloration data is held within the model itself.
Surely the track pieces have model files somewhere in Re-Volt, perhaps compressed into the Re-Volt Track Editor EXE or some other file?

Hiya, Aeon. I have taken a look at your track "The Combine" and am impressed with some of the features I see. You have obviously learned how to use RVGlue to texture the blue walls and remove the overhead lights and the car boxes. And you have inserted a wall instance in your map. That is a great start to doing extreme editing. As I understand it, you want to be able to texture your level differently, with more variety.

"If I could use instances to "overlay" a texture on a track piece, or just plain replace a single lego piece's surface texture with something else, then use farce fields to create the effect over the "object" that's drawn onto the surface texture, that'd be nice."
You can texture your track any way you choose--the possibilities are endless, using RVGlue and a couple other programs created for Re-Volt. You can have ten identical track pieces laid consecutively, with each having its own texture.

The programs you will need to use (other than Glue) are Texture Mesh Viewer for Re-Volt, RVTexmap and whatever paint program you are comfortable with. I myself use Paint Shop Pro.

Go into Re-Volt's level directory and open The Combine folder. Rename The Combine.taz file to The Combine1.taz and then start Re-volt. Choose MAKEITGOOD editing mode and select track zones. Choose The Combine level and press F4 after the level begins. Zoom in on a flat track piece and carefully try to identify the edges. Hit insert and try to place a track zone over the flat track piece. You must embed the piece entirely in the track zone, or the process won't work. After you have a flat piece embedded, hit Enter, then Control + F4 to save the .taz file.
Hit Tab + Alt to get back to your level directory. I assume that you have RVGlue's necessary files in your The Combine folder. If so, type this into your Command text file:

create flat.prm
TheCombine.w (
tazsplit (
TheCombine.taz
default ( off )
0 ( )
) )

Run Glue and see what happens. Glue should create 3 files for you: flat.prm, flat.ncp and flat.i-p. If this happens, you have just ripped a .prm from your track. Congratulations!!! Now, delete the .taz file and tab back to Re-Volt. This time choose instances and start your level--see if you have an instance named "flat".If you do, we can go on to the second step. If any of the above steps don't work for you, post here and we'll sort it out. Then we can go on to the second step. Good luck. PatS

Clearly you old people are trying to get more Re-Volters to make full custom tracks. I can tell by the way I did not understand a word you said, PatS. xD
He was talking about Lego pieces. GWC pretty much covered that.
If Aeon wanted to place an instance directly on top of a Lego piece, then the instance would have to have no .ncp, otherwise the camera would be messed up upon reset until the instance ended.
Regards,
APM

I'm talking about lego pieces, too, APM. and the endless possibilities that can be realized by using Glue. Geoff only covered the possible texture variations using current track pieces; why wouldn't you want to learn how to actually "create" something from scratch? I have read countless (pointless) posts from you on every subject imagineable; don't you have any desire to actually learn how to take a step up from lego tracks? Aeon has shown a lot of promise with his level The Combine--with a little more effort he can easily be creating extreme levels.If he rips an instance, clones it, determines its mapping coordinates, applies different textures to make different instances using RVTexmap, and uses them in a CUSTOM map, I will be the first one to commend him for his efforts. What the community needs is more imput from new authors--like BurnRubr has lamented recently, most of the new levels are lego--nothing wrong with that--but does anyone want to actually take the time to learn how to use some of the great programs created for Re-Volt?

I'm off my soapbox now. If anyone is interested in making a move from lego to extreme, let me know. It's a lot of work. I had people helping me when I started. Everyone needs a little help with the programs. But they DO make all the difference.

Geoff--a question for you, sir. I know that you are a rabid collector of all Re-Volt cars you can get your hands on. Do you possibly have in your collection The Mule vehicle? It used to be my favorite car, but I lost it years ago in a 'puter crash. Antimorph was kind enough to send me a copy, but I lost it also in a crash. The Mule is very similar to Scloink's Baja Bug, but the params are a lot different. Please tell me you have this car in an old hard drive or something!!!! PatS

I found Pat's instructions straight forward and simple to follow, and would think anyone who takes the time to read the documentation included with RVGlue would appreciate it.
Another useful little tool to add to the above mentioned is RVsizer, this tool allows you to resize prm's/instances in all three axis, so you can enlarge, shrink or stretch an instance to suit your needs.
And don't forget the RGB values when placing instances, as these can allow one instance mapped to just one bitmap to appear as several different sufaces, or is that in STEP 2 ?

As to advanced track building, I think that most people feel what can be done with lego's has been done, one way or another, but moving to advanced 3D programs to create new tracks may sound great but once a person gets involved with the 3D world they see their talents being put to better use on other games rather than just Re-Volt, BurnRubr himself went to Trainz. I think it's because the limitations of Re-Volt wont allow for some 3D projects to be realised, they need the newer platforms and engines.
Knowing the limitations of Re-Volt and the full capabilities of your 3D program can help to produce some really memorable tracks, from such creators as Gabor Varga, Skitch2 and Human.
But don't think you need 3D to be impressive, just take a look at the King of lego extreme... 'Hilaire9'. How that guy's mind works is unbelievable.

I don't really feel that urge to "step up" from legos.
Nonetheless, sorry for misunderstanding your post.

Hmmmm I see Aeon tracks as very promising

He did not fall in the trap to make easy tracks to improve flow

Flow is a strange word,the better the flow,the easier is the track...

I like the Combine,though I was able to make a clean race on it,which aint very good(Venice for example,is still a pain in the bottom for me to make clean laps)

But you dont even need to be a great follower of glue to be a good track maker

I am surely not a good track maker,my 3 creations were liked and disliked at the same

Photon launcher->War God Fortress(I did all the racing line and instancing,though got no credits for it,never mind)->Museum 4

I've got some tracks halfway done,but they always miss something

It's because I dont have a clue(NOT A CLUE) of how to use Rv-Glue

That makes it harder for me,since I always need to work in symbiosis with another fellow track maker,which aint good nor bad,but can lead to a few problems

For instance,one of my favorites tracks(Attrition) is hard as hell,domestic disturbance also

Besides all that post,i want to ask you a question PatS,how did you make Domestic Disturbance?3dMax?

And also,why dont you make another track for us?

And please remember,you create it,we race it,we learn it,we master it

Tracks learned are often forgotten,tracks which cant be fully learned are made to live forever....keep that in mind on new tracks

Pat S,

I have 2 versions by SPBTool - The Mule and The Mule SS (an improved version). I also have Mule Wheeler by TMAM. Is it any of these?

Geoff

Hiya, Geoff!! I think the vehicle I'm searching for is the Mule, though I must say I'd be interested in an SS version. I would love it if you could send me a copy to supatddr@hotmail.com. Sometimes I have trouble with attachments, so I may have to ask you for another solution. But can we try e-mail first? Thank you very much. PatS