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I deleted all the models...again and i was loading another one i suddenly got another error.. The hide know files..seems not working or what is this problem?

Im not gonna fix this every time..

I see the billboard but it is all black. I checked the texture and it is black, hence the in game appearance.


> I deleted all the models...again and i was loading another one i suddenly got another error.. The hide know files..seems not working or what is this problem?

You should have mentioned you were getting errors before. Those warnings happen for a reason. What is the new error? Anyway, you have to remove the models, save and shut down traxx. Traxx stores the model info in memory so you must close traxx in order to clear them and start with a clean slate. Once you do that, you should be okay. Everybody who has ever encountered this problem has used the same procedure to fix it. And it works.


> Im not gonna fix this every time..

I understand your frustration... but you should have mentioned the errors sooner. I only discovered the problem because of the black billboard. Upon closer inspection I discovered the rest of the problems.

I had mentioned it, but not very expressive, I'm sorry. All models are loaded now, whew

Just to let you know, i've been extremly busy these days so i didn't have much time to beta / participate in the beta process as much as i would've like too. Still, i did download it and had a look. I liked what i saw. I can hardly make serious comments as i didn't extensively beta it. But just so you know, i think this project is well on it's way to be a darn nice track. The time you spend / spent on it will likely turn it into something we'll be riding on for a long time. keep up your good work bud.

It should all be fixed now! I used the same link for Beta 3: http://www.freehen.raiderhosting.us/ash ... _Beta2.zip

Nice track Ashes!

Now as for what I think needs more work....

I don't think there are enough checkpoints for such a long track. <a href=http://mtm2.com/~trackville/tmp/airbetareplay.zip>This replay</a> ( 3:15.38 ) shows how the roads could be ignored. I'd suggest you grab the extra checkpoint markers from MTMG and use them all. <a href=http://cownap.com/~mtmg/models/Custom/cchkpnts.html>link</a> / <a href=http://cownap.com/~mtmg/models/Custom/Mtmczips/C98chks.zip>zip</a>


The track palette doesn't allow the textures to look as good as they could. As an experiment I'd suggest generating new custom track palette (using "palette", in the "special" menu). - http://cownap.com/~mtmg/traxx/palette.html


Be sure to find the right NIR billboard texture, the one in the pod now is (still) just a small, all black one (though the model itself appears to be correct - the mapping is right and it's assigned the right texture name). The one in your art folder is wrong, but I'd bet you have the right one in one of your mounted pods, and that pod is mounted above yours in the pod.ini. Mount your beta pod at the top of your pod.ini and you'll see the black texture too.

Also be sure to purge unused textures before creating the final pod (there are 265 unused in there now).

Ok, thnx for the tip Wint. I am gonna add 1 more cp. There arent other necesary because I designed the track so it isnt possible to cut the road so its faster. I have made a 2.40.96 lap and that should be a time to beat. there was only 1 road you showed on that reply that needs to be taken away. It should not affect the time above. Thanks for the great replay. Im gonna search for a better pallette, dunno if the heights pallette would do better. And yes, I forgot to purge the textures, I did it for models but not for textures.

It seems I have problems with downloaded models. I probalbly do something wrong. Maybe some1 can tell me where to I have to extract the files from the zip. When I loaded it always said. Error loading raw. I saw at another beta he had the problem also, but I still dont get how to fix this.

Im gonna need help for those axtra cp's like you gave me. where to put the files after I downloaded them?

Thnx,
Ashes

Just download them, then extract the zip file. You should come up with 3 types of files then (.bin .act and .raw)
I just grab them and move the .bin to my models folder in my traxx directory and then the .raw and .act files to my art folder in my traxx directory. Dunnow if there's another way to do it.

I never had those error you referring to, but i've seen it before with a mate of mine. His mistake was that he did not unchecked that "hide known extensions"-box Phineus was referring to earlier.

Ok, In my stupidness I always extracted them all into the models folder. I knew i would do something wrong..Im always too exited and cant wait till its finished...so I did not read any help file. I just thought it was obvious to extract the files from a model zip into the model folder..NOT. Thnx for help Mum!

btw, congrats on sundays tourney win!

Ok, here the new link: http://www.freehen.raiderhosting.us/ash ... _Beta2.zip

I'll have pics and a replay posted tomorrow, Ash.

Ok, let's start with the texture work. Bud, you have a ton of alignment issues to contend with. I could have shot 30-40 pics (such as this & this)easily, but I have to think that if you took an aerial stroll thru your track along the racing path using Gold Mode with the camera tilted downward toward the track (f5) you'd see what I'm referring to. Word has it dealing with such flaws is a painstaking process, but like every other observation here you're going to have to decide to either deal with it or leave it as is.

Bridges. You're still using groundboxes as bridges. As a racer I'm sure you've come off of a jump, expect to land and proceed on, only to stick abruptly to a bridge or what appears to be a road. It's frustrating and it takes away from the enjoyment of the race. The fix is to use models instead - easy.

Check out this replay - see how I essentially bypass the road by cutting thru the trees? My recommendation would be to relocate or remove a few of those trees and fit the remaining trees within close proximity to the road with a groundbox for a tree trunk. Depending how you position the trees, racers will have to decide whether to run the risk of shaving a few hundreths of a sec by circumventing the road thru the slightly shorter, but oh-so narrow passage afforded by the trees or playing it safe by sticking to the road. If that's too much hassle, maybe consider adjusting the terrain or using other models, water, etc. to discourage slicers and dicers.

Now...as for the little corner cut itself , I say you should leave it. You've got quite a bit of water in the vicinity of the road where you land, and if you misjudge where you should make the approach, you may not fair well. Besides, it's not really much of a time saver since you're catching air, but can make things interesting. Same thing applies with the trees tho - racers shouldn't be allowed to just cut thru em like that.

Here & here you've opted to use portions of what looks like roadway from Crazy 98. Since this is obviously an area of the track that's under construction, consider using pieces of roadway to construct a hazardous passage, that way you don't have to worry about trying to match and blend different textures.

Here's a blending snafu, and this area is still bland, however, here, here, & here you have a cluster of trees. I'm not sure where you're at in the model count, but if you're about maxed out, all you need to do as far as I can see is redistribute some of your trees to fill in a few of the open areas. Heck you could probably stand to lose a few trees even, especially if you're going to use tree trunks on those that are close to the road.

I came in here to ask if you posted those pics yet and lo there they are :-)


> Word has it dealing with such flaws is a painstaking process

Yes and no. Some texture sets are worse than others. For this particular set, templates and patterns should make quick work of it.

http://cownap.com/~mtmg/traxx/patterns.html
http://cownap.com/~mtmg/traxx/template.html

> You're still using groundboxes as bridges... The fix is to use models instead - easy.

Actually, it's not so easy. Using models is a tough assignment for a beginner.

Lesson learned on my part. Allow me to rephrase then: Your track will be more enjoyable using models as opposed to groundboxes. That "stick on the landing" characteristic is a pretty significant turn-off to racers. It may not be easy to pull off, but I know for a fact the absence of that..."attribute" will be appreciated by all.

Whew, that alot of remarks again. I have some troubles to transalte the text sometime, like: "consider using pieces of roadway to construct a hazardous passage"; "but I have to think that if you took an aerial stroll thru your track along the racing path using Gold Mode with the camera tilted downward toward the track (f5) you'd see what I'm referring to. Word has it dealing with such flaws is a painstaking process"
Im glad I can understand most with help from the pictures!

But how can I solve the allignements? By rotating textures?

Im workin on another track and im getting used to the model bridges now. Im not gonna change it in this track because Im getting crazy when I see HA lol. Im gonna overlook and change some trees and fix the blend area.

When you start the game (offline), type "Gold", the do a "Ctrl-Y". "Q" raises the camera and "A" lowers it. "F5" tilts it down, and "F8" tilts it up. Use your directional arrow keys to navigate thru the track. Also, you'll find that Cockpit mode (Ctrl-1) is best for viewing the track (my opinion, anyway). If you stroll thru the track wit the camera pointed down toward the racing surface you'll be able to see more texture flaws than you care to lol. I only snapped a few because there were simply too many to shoot.

As for leaving the groundboxes in, that's cool; racers will just have to live with it. It's still a very good layout in my opinion, and a lot of fun to race.

K, I did my best and this should be it http://www.freehen.raiderhosting.us/ash ... _beta2.zip

If it is aproxx ready, what do I do next? upload it or post it first at track talk?

Didn't see your last post for some reason. Anyway... I think compared to where this one started out, you've done a very good job with it. And it's certainly race worthy now. I did notice a couple sunken trees but it's a big track and has had a lot of minor visual blemishes. You got to draw the line someplace or you'll never be done fiddling with it. Of course, where you draw the line is up to you, and I'm sure you've learned plenty from this one so it'll all help on other tracks, so it's all good.


> what do I do next? upload it or post it first at track talk?

You can upload it, and if you want to hear what others think then by all means start a track talk thread for it. We'll link it up from the download page as soon as it's all in place. And if you have a 640x480 pic you want to display with it, then send it along to myself, mal or cope and we'll get it posted. If not, one of us will do a trackview shot for you.

That says it all right there - if you're happy and content with it, the track goes into the "mission accomplished" pile.