9 replies to this topic

[Storris]

I've been in contact with a couple of Laser Scanning companies about getting the Isle of Man TT Course laser scanned and currently have an unofficial cost of £10,000.  The scanner will be providing a formal quote in short order.

The resultant data would be distributed via the many Sim Racing forums, free of charge to everyone who wants it in the hopes that we can finally get the racetrack that many of us 2 & 4 wheel sim racers have been longing for.

Would the members here be willing to contribute to a Kickstarter to get this done?

Edited by Storris, Apr 11 2016 - 09:40 AM.

[John Woods]

Not familiar with Kickstarter...

Can I use PayPal?
Is it a pledge or payment?
Do I have to join, agree to some EULA etc, or just make a contribution and forget about it?

Seems in the interest of safety and RL motorsports some corporate help might be possible? Honda, Yamaha, Kawasaki, race part manufacturers and race organizers...besides sim racers, real racers would surely benefit with an accurate track simulation.

Like the idea. Maybe it will start a trend.

Edited by John Woods, Apr 11 2016 - 09:53 AM.

[Storris]

https://www.kickstar...acker questions

Kickstarter only takes your pledge once, and if, the project meets its minimum funding goal, but it doesn't currently accept PayPal.

The companies I've spoken to were involved in scanning Rockingham Raceway in the UK for Live for Speed.  I will hopefully have a formal quote in hand by the end of this week, which will be published on the Kickstarter project page when it's 'live'.

Corporate partners would make this a whole lot simpler, but not in a good way.  They would be unlikely to openly distribute the results freely to the sim-modding community.  The video game industry has had a very long time to create this, and they haven't done it yet.  Only Jester Interactive has a faithful version of the TT course, and they have declined to reply to any queries about the potential release of their track data, which is likely unusable anyway.

I'm not sure about starting a trend, I just want race on the TT track.

[Paddy the Irishman]

How about your waiting for Jim Pearson ?

[Saiph]

Storris, on Apr 11 2016 - 09:25 AM, said:

.......
Would the members here be willing to contribute to a Kickstarter to get this done?

There's a project under way already for Grand Prix Legends, so I'll be waiting for that and won't join a Kickstarter. But good luck with the project. After you obtain the data, all you will need is someone to actually build the track!  

[John Woods]

Was suggesting some in the racing industry, not simracing industry, might consider this a good idea as well, especially if connected to racing at the Isle of Man. This kind of money, while significant to most of us, is less so to the heavyweights and middleweights.

The idea of publishing data for all to use does not detract from anyone's vested interest.
It supports safety, good racing, and would be a benefit to everyone.

[Storris]

Paddy the Irishman, on Apr 11 2016 - 10:44 AM, said:

How about your waiting for Jim Pearson ?

I've been waiting.  In that time I've had 2 children, went back to school to get a degree, witnessed geological time periods come & go etc, etc...
JP has made it clear over the last ten years that IoM GPL is not his priority and even when it is complete, he is not going to sanction shoddy conversions, and nor should he be put under pressure to change his plans.

But in the meantime I and many other 2 & 4 wheel racers want to drive the TT course, so the options are to hurry up & wait, or to do something proactive.

Saiph, on Apr 11 2016 - 11:01 AM, said:

After you obtain the data, all you will need is someone to actually build the track!  

There are plenty of people around who want this track, it's just a daunting exercise to create from scratch.  Having the track's basic layout will hopefully be plenty for track builders to get their teeth into and to start building versions for the various moddable sim games. And, depending on the project's success, we may have the opportunity to add 'stretch' goals, possibly employing some professional devs to pad the raw data with some objects & textures.

[jklhill]

Great idea but I will wait for Jim Pearson to complete his and enjoy his abridged version in the meantime.

[Art-J]

GPL community is small compared to other sims and some folks here don't mind waiting for Jim's version. I'd say You'll get better response asking about the idea on racedepartment and AC & rF2 forums (You probably have already?).

Edited by Art-J, Apr 11 2016 - 11:28 PM.

[Storris]

Hi Art,

Yes, this is receiving enough support to let me believe that it will be successful.  I'm currently in talks with a development team who will be using the scan for their own fully featured project, which sounds like it will be a blast.  There will be more information on this when the campaign goes live.  I'm also hoping that we can get one or two more on board to increase the incentives for people to support us.

This should prove to be useful for everyone, including GPL'ers.  JP has done an awesome amount of work, so awesome that no-one has wanted to begin their own project until now, and the results of his work are likely to be incredible.  But if my reading of the situation is correct, the vast majority of his work has been in creating objects & textures.  If we can supply him, you & everyone else, with a 100% accurate frame on which to place those assets then, and I don't want to trivialise the amount of work this might take to accomplish, he'd simply have to populate the track with his assets.

Edited by Storris, Apr 12 2016 - 04:42 AM.