199 replies to this topic

[john roberts]

Thank you Jim . Three very short words , that are really not long enough to express what is needed to be said here .

john

[dbell84]

Thank you so much. It is truly amazing, as well as an amazing achievement. It’s been quite the odyssey to get to this point and the release of IoM is a great example of persistence and patience paying a terrific dividend.

[Dave_Fletcher]

Thank you, Jim. This has always been my most desired track. Thanks again!

Fletch

[jonny'o]

!!!!!!!!THANKS!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Arturo Pereira]

A hell of a job, Jim!! Thank you very much for this jewel!!

[Brocky05]

Oh no! Jim, i found a mistake you will have to start all over again
one of your sheep is facing the wrong way

[Jim Pearson]

Brocky05, on Jun 05 2019 - 09:54 PM, said:

Oh no! Jim, i found a mistake you will have to start all over again
one of your sheep is facing the wrong way

Your mother told you what happens to those who tease the other boys in the play ground don't you!

So go and stand in the corner, facing the wall and don't come out till tea time !

Seriously though, I modeled a sheep that......how does the song go?....."a poor little sheep that had lost its way"

OR

I meant that!

[Brocky05]

sorry Jim, I couldn't resist may i come out of the corner now that I have learnt my lesson
Seriously though, Jim, words cannot describe the wonderful work you have put in to bringing this track to life I thank you again

[do0g]

Jim, such an undertaking, and such a masterpiece. This is a truly staggering display of skill and commitment. Thank you so much.

Doug

[MLGathome]

Thx Jim for your brilliant and amazing work. It is going to be a good summer.

Greetings, Marcel

[Carlos Cendejas]

Gracias Jim and congrats for your arduous work!


Cant wait to try it.

Cheers to all!

Edited by Carlos Cendejas, Jun 06 2019 - 03:01 AM.

[Royale]

Remarkable. Thank you for this. Just remarkable.

[Claudio Pablo Navonne]

Thank you so much. It is truly amazing!!!

[Saiph]

So more (attempted!) laps, progress being made. I've now learned how to avoid crashing into the corner of the house at Rhencullen - that's good. Unfortunately the seagulls seem to be getting used to my presence now and they're mobbing me even more. Does anyone know the best way to get seagull **** off of my goggles?

Seriously though, I just had a problem in the Mountain Box section. I was trying a lap in the GTX Alfa T33, which feels wonderfully nimble around the course. Unfortunately, I got a bit over-enthusiastic somewhere between the Black Hut and Verandah, and spun the car. As the car went past 90 degrees to the road, I had an instant CTD. I suppose it's inevitable that with large viewing distances in places around the course (especially the wonderful views in the Mountain area), the old GPL graphics engine will be a bit sensitive to drivers doing unintended things, and facing in unintended directions. So a piece of advice to all drivers - don't get carried away and crash your car, otherwise you might lose your entire lap.
(Edit: I should point out that so far I have had lots of crashes and spins in various places while practising the course, and up to now I haven't had any problems at all. Generally the course seems very resilient and bug-free. But it's inevitable that if you keep crashing often enough, you may find a weak spot in the 37.75 miles. I guess that's why people have said that I'm a good QA tester - I'm good at breaking things! )

Edited by Saiph, Jun 06 2019 - 04:27 AM.

[ginetto]

Quote

... I was trying a lap in the GTX Alfa T33, which feels wonderfully nimble around the course. Unfortunately, I got a bit over-enthusiastic somewhere between the Black Hut and Verandah, and spun the car. As the car went past 90 degrees to the road, I had an instant CTD....

Happened to me also on the Alfa T33 at the 3 left at East Mountain Gate; with a Formula 2 instead, at the same spot, the car crash and fly smoothly without CTD.
Guess is some sort of overload issue; polygons or texture size not sure.

[Jim Pearson]

At both points the draw distance goes from 1700 -2000 metres rear draw to 300 odd. this was done for TV cam views, otherwise half the track that you should be able to see in the TV wont be seen.

I guess what is happening is that as you pass that point, GPL is dropping from view, about 1200 to 1800 metres of track in the rear view, but if you spin there, you suddenly change your forward view to the rear and GPL cant redraw the track fast enough. Who knows.

At Mountain Box and between Black Hut [the left before the Four Verandah kinks] and the Verandah itself the track is pretty simple to negotiate once you know your speeds. I don't recall ever spinning in either spot, but perhaps I did early in the build.

Before I start thinking about changing the Draw distances which would start making Pop ups, perhaps see if becoming more familiar with the track solves the problem?

Edited by Jim Pearson, Jun 06 2019 - 05:06 AM.

[Saiph]

ginetto, on Jun 06 2019 - 04:40 AM, said:

..... Guess is some sort of overload issue; polygons or texture size not sure.

I'm sure you're right Ginetto. I've seen problems at other tracks where the closed-wheel cars can cause CTDs. Usually the fix has been to cut down the view-ahead distance, which reduces the polygon count, and that helps a lot. I've also tried experiments with smaller textures, but that doesn't seem to have much effect. I wonder if there is another cause? Could it be that displaying the GT/Can-Am front bodywork in the driver view puts extra strain on the graphics engine? It has to draw the front wheels, and then cover them over with the body texture to hide them, and that makes for extra work. But I'm not expert enough in GPL graphics to say for certain.

I think the best idea for me is to practice the Full IOM in the open-wheel cars until I can drive a reasonable lap without crashing (did I hear someone in the background saying "Hell will freeze over first"?? ), and then switch to the closed-wheel cars! That should be a safer way of doing things.

Jim Pearson, on Jun 06 2019 - 05:04 AM, said:

.....
Before I start thinking about changing the Draw distances which would start making Pop ups, perhaps see if becoming more familiar with the track solves the problem?
.....

Oh I absolutely agree Jim. This CTD problem is not your responsibility at all. I'm 100% sure it's a combination of a slightly-overworked graphics engine, together with a lot of **** driving! It's up to us drivers to improve our technique so we don't do silly things with the cars. It's just another example of how driving GPL demands care and respect from the drivers. Don't go messing with the Mona Lisa just because a few people can't handle it (yet)!

Edited by Saiph, Jun 06 2019 - 05:34 AM.

[ginetto]

I can try driving with an invisible cockpit and see if makes a difference

EDIT: Yes id does; with a 1 polygon cockpit 3DO the Alfa33 can flip around everywhere with no CTDs.

[Cookie]

Just a wonderfull drive! A feeling of holidays on lonesome roads in the nowhere...

I did some Alfa T33 practice last night too and had several CTDs when crashing.

The biggest problem for me ist the server who has to load more than 1 GB (Spa67 needs 311MB), wich needs ~10 minutes to load on this Broadwell Celeron (8GB RAM).

Edited by Cookie, Jun 06 2019 - 05:29 AM.

[db312]

The track released in 2003 was my favorite of all tracks made for GPL, I have no doubt that this version will be even more amazing !
Thanks a lot for this masterpiece Jim !!! And for all these years of hard work and deep dedication !!! It's just amazing...

A DREAM COME TRUE