porsche betaClick
HERE to download the first BETA of the Porsche [UPDATE-FROM-THE-FUTURE: This link actually takes you to the final version, I don't seem to have kept the betas]. This is just a taster of what is to come as since this I've completely rebuilt the model and Scarehead is doing a texture job for me. Should be sweet.
hey, bt, come here so i can kick you in the nutsDue to a problem with my dads phone line and the all out stupidity of BT I haven't been able to stay online long enough to update this site. A lot of stuff has happened during this time, including my porsche reaching
FINAL BETA! Yep, it's been near finished for awhile now but I haven't been able to post it for you guys to try out. Anyhoo, it's currently being tested to make sure it works on more than my machine and so the beta should be available for download tommorrow.
If you haven't already done so go to The Carmageddon Fan Club and download the beta of the Dodge Viper. My god it's sweeeeeet.
Also, all old news is in the News Archives and I'll be updating the files page tommorrow with some new utilities, the most important of which is the 3d Format Changer which I know alot of you want :)
That about wraps it up, Errol Out
lots of stuffAs most of you know I'm off to Edmonton, Canada on the 5th of March. I'm hoping to enroll in a computer collage out in there and there is no time like the present! I'm only out there for a month and so the site will either be left dormant or Ratty can update it. I'll try to update it from Canada but I'm not promising anything.
Secondly, WE'VE REACHED OVER 20,000 HITS :) It was only the 13th of January when we'd just passed 10,000. In just over a month I've had 10,000 hits. This is really groovy :) Keep on visiting to make this site the best!
My porsche is very near done. I've just worked out how to do doors so these are being implemented :) I'm also working on a smashable windscreen. I've heard it's easy but I ain't tried it yet :)
i'll be off soonI leave for Edmonton on the 5th of March at 12:30pm. In completely unrelated news I'm working on yet another car. This is a '55 Porsche and it'll be out soon. And finally. Click
HERE to get a file converter program. It can convert many well known formats to .asc so if you're making cars in Plaything 2 you'll need it. Anyhoo, here's a piccy of my porsche.
those crazy people!I've been messing around with my latest car, the V2, and while trying to sort out the bounding shape I got the following error
Weird error message or what? It's nice to have funny errors or editing would be a lot more tedious. Well, that's about it, here's a piccy of the V2
Errol Out
a very useful pluginNeil and I have been in discussion the last few days and he sent me
THIS. It is a plugin for 3d Studio Max 2 and above that allows for the importing and exporting of DAT files. Handy, eh? Errol Out
ufoA few people are having problems installing U F-Ool so here's a little guide.
1. If pimp doesn't work (didn't for me) paste the contents of ufool.txt at the bottom of opponent.txt. Make sure you paste it above the END. Then increase the number at the very top of the document by one and alter the // opponent to the correct number (one more than the opponent above). If you don't have any other cars installed you can download the
opponent.txt I use.
2. Once this is done, move the ufo folder into your cars directory, ie, C:\Program Files\Carmageddon II Carpocalypse Now\data\CARS\ufo and put the ufoCI folder into your CarImage directory, ie, C:\Program Files\Carmageddon II Carpocalypse Now\data\INTRFACE\CarImage\ufoCI
3. Now, load up Carmageddon 2 and then load up a save game where you have access to all the cars and pick the U F-Ool. Start a race and enjoy :)
Errol Out
an interview and a ufo (try saying that with a mouth full of lemons :) )First off, here's the interview between me and Neil "Nobby" Barnden (Director of the Art Stuff).
Me: On average, how long did it take to make a single car for Carmageddon 2? And how long for a ped?
Neil: Each car took about half a day to design on paper, then a couple of days to model. Texturing and preparing each car for in-game use (tweaking text files, setting up snap-able parts etc.) took around two to three days.
With the peds, the basic design took a week or so of experimenting with very low-poly shapes to get something acceptable. Then designing the skins started off at, say, three a day whilst building up a catalogue of faces and 'basic' looks, which then got faster as the project progressed until we could bang out twice as many a day. Modelling and texturing the animals took about two days per animal. The hardest part of the process was getting the naming of all the body parts right - every ped has to have uniquely named parts that are then referred to in a text file. That led to hours of fun when something somewhere got named wrongly.
Me: Why were so many cars were dropped ?? And will the cut cars be released in a patch?
Neil: A few cars got dropped from the final game either because I wasn't happy with the design, or they didn't really add anything to the mix of vehicles we already had, or more importantly because we just ran out of time to get them textured up or prepared for in-game use. We've currently no plans to release a patch or add-on pack ourselves as we're working on other stuff.
Me: Which is your favorite car and why?
Neil: My favourite car? Visually: The Eagle3. I think it's a really good evolution of the Eagle design (but then I built it, so I would say that!). My favourite car to drive is CWR's Prop Shafter. Handles like a dream, and it's the best all-rounder in race/combat situations.
Me: Will there be a patch for real time lighting?
Neil: When everyone who has a copy of Carma2 writes to us to confirm they've upgraded to Pentium II P550s, then we might do a real-time lighting patch. In the meantime, sorry, we've no plans along those lines.
Me: In Plaything 2. Why, when a joint is moved on one side of the skeleton does the joint on the other side shoot to the mid bottom of the screen?
Neil: The Plaything2 oddity you mention sounds like a bit of a bug to me. The Plaything was never intended to be used to manipulate joints, so your best bet is to refrain from messing with 'em! You must remember that the Plaything is not commercial software, it's Stainless' internal tool, and as such is full of bugs and half implemented 'features' that are attended to only when they absolutely have to be. We live with lots of bugs so Ian can get on with getting more sexy features in there. The 'release' Plaything is in the state it was when we finished working on Carma2 - it's changed a lot since then, but unfortunately that means we can't release 'upgrades' because it would be giving too much of our internal development technology away. But we figure that in its release state, if it was good enough for us to use for the whole game, it's good enough for the fan community to use for add-on material.
Me: What else would need editing in order to make a total new shaped ped ? Still with 2 arms, 2 legs, 1 head, etc just different sizes than current peds.
Neil: Getting different shaped peds in the game would demand that you edit a ped's text file (in the directory/.twt file of a ped, with all his other bits - untwatting is necessary to get at these) to input the new co-ordinates for the various joint positions. The co-ordinates can be got in the Plaything by floating the cursor over the joint and reading the co-ordinates from the bottom of the left hand window.
Hopefully I didn't squander my opportunity by asking all the wrong questions! Neil is a top chap and thanks very much for taking the time to talk to me!
And finally,
HERE is the U F-Ool as textured by Scarehead! Errol out
ufo sighted over junkyard!Scarehead has just sent me some screenshots of the U F-Ool mid-texture. As you can see he is very good at what he does. Expect Scareheads textured version later this weekend! Anyhoo, here are the screenshots
long time, no updateI am alive! And the U F-Ool has finally left alpha stage and a playable beta will be available later this weekend. It now has the beginnings of a texture job and an animated part which spins faster as the car increases in speed. Scarehead has offered his incredible skills towards texturing the ship too! There would be screenshots but for some reason they come out all black :( Errol out
interview with a nobbyI'm having an interview with Neil "Director of the Art Stuff" Barnden soon, one of the top dogs at Stainless. I'll post the interview in full as soon as I have it. Maybe he'll be able to give us some clues to using Plaything 2! Errol out
