Boat tracks

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kiwi
Posts: 557

Boat tracks

Unread post by kiwi » Tue May 07, 2019 1:44 pm

Trixed released a boat some weeks ago, and this reminded me, that I had the plan to do a boat track some day. Theoretically, RVGL is already supporting boat tracks since some time. But here in this forum no information can be found about this topic. So I've created this topic, to discuss about this topic, and to gather all informations which are necessary to get a working boat track or boat.

This questions came to my mind:

1) TRACK:
a) How must the waterboxes be placed?
b) How must the force fields look like?
c) Is the AI able to drive boats? How must AI nodes look like?
d) The track files ROCKTYPE 1 value has something to do with boat tracks? What does it exactly do?
e) Is there anything else to take care off?

2) BOAT:
a) How must the boats parameters look like, so it can drive on a boat track?
b) Which carclass should a boat be in?
c) How can we avoid, that the different boats can't drive against each other, because not matching parameters?

3) Are Singleplayer races with only boats possible? If yes, how can this be achieved?
4) How does oil slicks and ball bearings work at boat races? The other weapons should work without any issues?
5) Are there any further RVGL changes necessary, to fully support boats / boat tracks in the future?
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kiwi
Posts: 557

Re: Boat tracks

Unread post by kiwi » Wed May 08, 2019 7:43 am

I've fiddled around a bit at a test-track, and already found out a few things. This are only the personal experiences I made while doing some tests. If you experienced something else, or have more technical background to some of my findings, please post. :)

For testing, I've used Trixed' Tiger Tooth Boat.

1-a) How must the waterboxes be placed?
Theoretically, there is no waterbox needed at all, to get a working boat track. The waterbox only do the following:

+ Generate a "waving effect", by doing mesh-transforming to the nearby meshes.
+ Add splash effects when hitting the waterbox (visually, and also a splash SFX will be played).
+ Change the color of the screen when you are inside the waterbox (tinted blue/turquoise).

However, I would strongly recommend to add a waterbox, to get this effects and which make the boat track more realistic. While driving with a boat, it can happen that the boat dive into the waterbox a bit sometimes, which generates a splash effect. And this is looks pretty nice and realistic.

As the maximum size of a waterbox is limited, it can happen that you need to place more waterboxes. The waterboxes have to be alligned carefully, so there are no gaps between them and there are no differences in heights. Inaccurate placement could cause unwanted splash effects.

In the end, you should have a completly flat surface, filling your complete boat tracks raceline. All areas which are reachable by the boat, should have a waterbox.

I didn't tested, but maybe differences in the height of the waterboxes could also be a positive thing, cause it would generate splash effects while driving on the flat surface, which maybe add more realism. However, this is only theory, I have to try this out first.

Attention! The waterbox generates no visible water surface. Without a water surface, it looks like the boat is flying in the air. The water surfaces have to be placed seperatly. For example, by using the Water Ripple objects. This objects have to be placed at the waterbox top surface. I placed it slightly above the waterbox top surface, so it looks like the boat is a little bit underneath the surface. Otherwise it would look like the boat is flying above the water, and not swimming inside the water.

You can also replace the stock Water Ripple objects with custom ones, by replacing the *.m models of the water ripples, and place it in your tracks /custom folder.

Another possibility is, to model the water surface directly in your tracks .w-file. Also placing it as an Instance would be a possibility.

Using a texture animation on your water surface add some realism. You can add an animation manually (for example by using Marv's Blender plugin), or by using the standard animations from the stock water ripple objects. Some of the water ripples have different animations.

1-b) How must the force fields look like?
The Farce Fields are the heart of a boat track! This are the objects, which let your boat swim. Not the Waterboxes, not the Water Surfaces, not the Collision polys from your tracks *.ncp-file.

You have to place 2 Farce Field objects. This have the same values as used in the Toytanics pools.

1) Orientation (Green Box) with Mag 5000 and Damping 0. Arrow pointing to the Bottom
2) Linear (Red Box) with Mag 2300 and Damping 5.5

This Farce Field objects should capture the whole area where also your waterboxes are. The top surface of the Farce Field boxes should be on the same level as your waterbox top surfaces, or slightly below (which will cause more splash effects).

At my test track, it looks like this:

Image


4) How does oil slicks and ball bearings work at boat races?
At my tests, oilslicks as well ball bearings fall through the waterboxes/farce fields to the ground, where the ncp surface is. So they have no effect to the boats and are completly useless. (As long the "deep" of your water is higher then the ball bearing)


This is all I've tested so far.
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