The latest and not the greatest news

Well I have had a fantastic day - oh wait, no I haven't. Its been terrible.

This morning I had planed to publicly release my latest track 'Ales GP Course 1.0'. This was not to be.

Once I turned my computer on, it would not boot. Nor would it post. It has died an untimely death. the motherboard has packed it in. Or so I believe. In the process it killed one of my internal drives that was full of all my old Rfactor track backups and Bobs Track Builder files. Therefore, old versions of tracks I made before June this year are now gone forever.

On top of this, while trying to take my computer to a repair shop in town a stone flicked up and now I am up for a new windscreen. But that was not the end of my enigmatic day. Finally, I received an email from an important job I had applied. I dreaded the outcome, which with words to the same effect, stated that I was doomed today and did not get the job.

This all will pass for sure, but right now I am furious with the way today, which weather wise, is the best I've seen in a round about's a week. Such a shame.

So I come to you all live from a Mac, which is not my machine of choice no doubt. But once my computer is faithfully restored to its former glory, I will continue to make tracks for the community.

To another note, I have been talking with another modder out there who wants to team up to work on the AIW aspects of my circuits. He has already modified the AIW for Chernobyl NPP and I look forward to releasing his name - as soon as I know it!

If you out there have some skills with circuit design for rfactor, with any aspects. Or track conversions for other sims, then please PM me here or on Nogripracing, or rfactorcentral and we shall talk.

All the best for the Holidays & the New Year, and you will see more content from me soon.

Imola 1960s 1.0

After much deliberation, I decided that this was unique enough to class it as a totally new track for rfactor. Imola 1960s 1.0 should be arriving at Nogripracing and Rfactorcentral very soon (hopefully as soon as the 15th of December) for all of you to play.

I have been working on Imola 1960s on and off for 2 months. It is based on my original track Imola 1963, but since I deleted everything (including height-maps) I consider this an entirely new track.
Not to mention the poor ratings and screenshots at rfactorcentral of my old circuit (1963). Hopefully the sim racing community will like this one.

If I get strong ratings then I will have enough motivation to make my second Manhattan circuit, which I am currently dubbing "Midtown Manhattan GP". Currently I am playing around with google maps to see just where I want the circuit to run and for how long. Look out for this if Imola 1960s goes well!

If you have Imola 1963 in your collection, you will not have to delete it as Imola 1960s takes its own directory in your Locations folder.

You may note that my 1963 version had a special reverse version which is not included in 1960s. This is because it never recieved favourable ratings, and therefore was was waste of time to remake this for my '1960s' version (2.0 in lamence terms).

Imola is my favourite F1 circuit even though it was butchered after the tragic deaths of Ayrton Senna and Roland Ratzenberger. I wish F1 will return there, but I know that Bernie focuses on money more than heritage and we will never see it host an F1 race again.

Thank you for supporting my circuits and my Imola live on the way it should!

Imola 1963 1.5 or 2.0?

It has been a while since my last post, I have been away helping my girlfriend move off campus as now she has complete university also. But now I'm back and getting on with my next tracks.

I am currently working on two circuits : Ales (heavily modified real world circuit)
and more importantly Imola 1963 update.

I released Imola 1963 1.00 on RfactorCentral over a year ago, and it has received mixed reviews and ratings since then. The screenshots and 'track map' picture are inaccurate of its current release state and even now I have remodelled the entire track for its upcoming re release just before Christmas.

I decided to update Imola 1963 1.0 as it was my first publicly released circuit for rfactor and in all honestly it looks somewhat crappy compared to my more recent releases including Lower Manhattan GP 1.0 and Airport Terminal GP 1.0.

The main issue I have is whether my current progress level is good enough to re brand it as Imola 1960s 1.5 or 2.0? I have changed everything. I deleted all objects (which took a very long time), removed the walls (trees and actual walls) and modified the track to fit the 1963 layout as closely as I can get it. As you look through the screenshots, you can see that it is a great improvement off my initial release from 2009.

Watch THIS VIDEO on youtube that someone has made from Imola 1963 1.0 and compare sections to the screenshots in this blog.


So what do you think, is my update worthy of a 2.0 status or only a 1.5?
Comments are welcome!

Airport Terminal 1.00

I had an idea some time back to build a circuit based around an airport terminal. Most people will assume that I just said 'airport' which means a couple of fast long straights connected by a labyrinth of chicanes and hairpin corners. Well not this one!

I grew tired of seeing many very highly detailed circuits that were fictional being released based around airports. While every one I have seen has some merit to one degree or another, and all have outstanding models and track surfaces, none possess the fun factor - which to me is the point of sim racing.

I am not saying they need to be completely off the wall out there ideas, but just rethinking the bland, dull ones and blending them with the outrageous ones. This is exactly what my circuit Airport Terminal GP is all about.

I have made some very fast long straights but they sweep around on curves to make it a little more exciting.

Above is a screenshot of the layout without the pits or any objects, strings, walls etc.
I have submitted it to www.rfactorcentral.com and it should be ready for release within 24 hours. So check back soon for my release info.

Nivelles GP 1.00 - Released

I submitted Nivelles to Rfactor Central a couple of days ago but it took time for it to be processed for some reason.

Anyway, it is out for you all now at both Rfactor Central HERE and No Grip Racing HERE.

Enjoy!

Nivelles GP 1.00

First of all, I should say that this is not a recreation of the actual track in Belgium. Someone has already done that for F1C99-02. Rather this is a fun factor creation.

The actual track was relatively flat and dull. This is most likely why the drivers who raced on it for the 1972 and 1974 Grand Prix found it boring and forgettable. This is where I come in with my own interpretation of how the track should have been with the silhouette of the layout (track map).

As you see from the screenshot above, it looks like the same track. It is only once you are down at track level that you see the track has far more elevation changes than the real Nivelles ever had.There is a recreation for Rfactor in the pipelines, however updates on the "90% completed' have not moved for many months. I became bored with waiting and have dished this up with only 3 days of work (about 7hours total). I am sure that a true or accurate recreation would take much longer, but c'mon guys. I don't like when people post that they are working on a track, and then abandon it without passing on the track data (the stuff already made) to another person in the sim racing community to finish the project.


Anyway, I have added this to Rfactor Central and should be up for you all to download within 24 hours. I hope you enjoy it. I always like feedback (as long as it is not stating the obvious, or criticism without construct).

Cheers.

Lower Manhattan GP 1.00 - Released

I have done the final touch ups to my NYC GP circuit and feel it is ready for release. I have made it as a mark of repect to the fallen from 9/11. Please download it and enjoy it.

GET IT HERE!

It will soon be available from RfactorCentral also, so keep checking back for a release notice.

Chernobyl NPP - 300dls

Well I must say that my last circuit Chernobyl NPP 1.0 has received very mixed results with polar opinions. It would seem that those of you who downloaded it either love it, for its layout, or hate it for its name and location.

To be honest, when I first built it I did so with the fun factor in mind. I wanted to build a track based around a large building, and played around with a layout until I found what I have now. Strangely, by making it around reactor number 4 of Chernobyl NPP, I stirred up a ruckus with the community.

This was never my intent to upset or annoy people, but quite simply, to entertain with a great track (well I think so anyway). I never intended for it to be comical and those who find it comical should check their heads - it is not funny. I have Ukrainian herritage on my mothers side. My grandfather and mother were Ukrainian. Therefore I feel as though if people are going to be stupid and dislike me for the Chernobyl circuit I made, then they should shut up unless they are Ukrainian!

Enough of being annoyed now. I should be happy. At NoGripRacing my Chernobyl GP has over 300 downloads to its name, and it has only been out for just over a week. This is great. I wish RfactorCentral had a downloads meter, as I am curious as to how many people have downloaded my many circuits off that website.

Some criticism I received was for the lack of Russian / Ukrainian advertising. So I have modified the circuit to 1.10 (which will be released later this week) to include advertising from the countries that the circuit is set in. Now Lada and other companies line the walls rather than Malboro and Honda. I am focusing on getting Lower Manhattan GP released today, so I will worry about the update to this track later on this week.

Cheers.

Lower Manhattan

My latest circuit design, the Lower Manhattan GP will be ready for release in early November.

I have spent a fair amount of time on Google Sketchup Warehouse looking for models to use to create a grand prix track that looks somewhat authentic to the actual lower Manhattan skyline. I find that it is best to remove all the roofs, water towers, fans, vents, pipes etc from the tops of the buildings are they will never be seen from the circuit or the trackside camera. They look seem less and one would think that they are still there.

I played around with the circuit design for some time once I had found an accurate picture that I could use as a background image. I tried many layouts ranging from 2.5km to 5km in length. I would test them in Rfactor with no objects, stringed objects, walls etc for a basic feel. Then I found a layout that seemed pretty good to me. I started populating it with objects that I had modified heavily from Sketchup but without any walls or other objects other than buildings.

I placed these on the exact locations of coordinates I found on the net onto the satellite image I had. However I decided to change the layout one more time to include a much longer straight that bends back on itself with a hairpin. This joins the original layout at the corner close to the WTC.

A quick note on the WTC. I designed to put in the WTC instead of leaving it as a gaping hole with walls all around as I both want this track to be a tribute to NYC and the WTC, as well as it being more aesthetically pleasing to have the circuit loosely based upon how lower Manhattan looked before the terrible events of 9/11.

You will note that parts of the circuit are not actually roads, or even flat land where roads could go. I took the idea from the Singapore Grand Prix, which 'modified' some roads around the streets of Singapore as well as making the Pits a 'purpose' racing area. So there are some parts that have no roads. These will have a 'race track' tarmac material. The areas that actually are roads will have road marking textures.

I am going away this weekend and will not be able to work on this track during this time, so I am thinking a release will be mid November. Much is left to do!

Rodrrico

Hello,

I am a track maker for Rfactor using Bob's Track Builder, Google Sketchup, 3d Max, Photoshop and Autocad. I have been making tracks for Rfactor since 2009 and have since released a number of tracks of varying qualities and types.

This blog is designed to give all those who enjoy my track a chance to see what I am doing with all my tracks and projects. It is also here for feedback from those who like my tracks. Feel free to post about things you like, things you would like to see, and general comments.

I will update this as regularly as I can to let you all know how my designs are going. It is also designed to be a sort of journal of my track issues, problems, and a progress report page.

Many of you know of my existing tracks. I will have short summaries of all their most up to date releases in due time.

Enjoy!