Format and News

Just a short update folks!

I have formatted my computer today as I installed many new hardware upgrades. Because of my work schedule, I won't be able to work on any circuits for at least the next week at this stage. I am however very close to releasing 1.1 of my Airport terminal circuit. I am mainly bringing in the walls for more hair raising racing as many out there used too much run-off which I did not originally foresee.

In other news. Over at nogripracing, my latest release Circuit d'Avignon has had steady downloads, but I am only about half way of my hope / aim / target of 1000 downloads through Nogripracing. I have already started to plan out how I will improve Circuit d'Avignon with the 'power' layout. Yet if I don't hit that 1000 mark, I will put it on the back burner for early 2012 release (hopefully).

That's about it for now. As always, check back one in a while and see where I am up to with my next creation!

Cheers!

Circuit de Avignon - Released

I know it is not yet the weekend, however I felt that Circuit de Avignon was ready for a 1.00 release.

You can find HERE at nogripracing. If you read through the Readme file, you will discover that I have set my own ultimatum. If I get 1000 downloads before 2012 starts I will make a 'Power' circuit of Avignon and possibly also two shorter courses. I will let you work out where those shorter courses will be. It is no real guess :D

So please check it out, and if you find any youtube videos of people racing my Avignon, please post them here so I can add in the link. That goes for any of my other circuits too! Ok - Enjoy!

Avignon - This Weekend

As per the title suggests, I will be releasing Circuit de Avignon this weekend. Look out for it here and at nogripracing!

I am just doing the final touches this week such as attempting to fix the cameras (buggers are not working right), packing the files into .MAS files. As well as making a loading screen and a bunch of other very minor changes. I have play tested it and aside from the cameras, it works pretty well. Check back over the weekend and you will be able to grab 1.00 Circuit de Avignon!

Avignon, even further progress

Just a few screenshots of my ongoing progress of Avignon. I would say it is in numbers about V0.15. I don't see it being ready for release this month, however I'll see how I go if I can get into a track making groove once more.

Enjoy!

The Modern Website Rant

As you may have seen already, I have begun to alter the look of Formula Rodrrico. It was about time really!

The layout I have used for such a long time has been both generic and dull. These changes are all aimed at livening up the blog. While most are fairly cosmetic, such as the new 'widescreen' width of the whole blog. Others enable me to share my content with the world in a simpler and more logical manner. For example, I used to re-post my 'Rodrrico - The Circuits Thread' over and over as I release new updates and entirely new circuits for public use. Now I have a widget on the left side of the blog that can be accessed from any page. These are direct links to my circuit downloads as available at Nogripracing.

I mainly use Nogripracing these days as my port-o-call one stop download location for my circuits. Once upon a time I used to upload my circuits through a free vendor such as Mediafire and Megaupload to Rfactorcentral. However once Rfactorcentral changed hands and began to take on a corporate facade asking us, the community, the creators / modders to 'pay' actual money to use their servers to race our own content, I like thousands of others began to lose heart for the website. While I do still have some circuits listed there, I no longer upload new creations or updates to Rfactorcentral. I doubt I ever will again, so if you see any of my new content there, please let me know so I can remove it.

Nogripracing is, for me, fantastic. It allows me to track how many downloads I have received, see who likes them (with the 'thanks' feature, a gimmick, but a good gimmick), and communicate feedback with the users and modders out there. While Rfactorcentral also has this sort of community talk, it is stark and stale. Most people are genuinely beginning to abandon the moribund site. Don't get me wrong, I am not a 'player hater' Rfactorcentral will still have a good community who upload and release mods there. They have a great Rating system for community content as well as the hall of fame feature. However, in my eyes, it has had its day and no longer reflects the true community that is Rfactor.

Nogripracing also has its flaws. For stupid reasons, any screenshots that feature content not released on Nogripracing cannot be uploaded. This means for people like me who enjoy making screenshots from content such as the F1-1967 Mod racing around my circuit Brands Hatch 1950, which I then batch together into a silly loading screen for the same circuit - cannot be used. Further more, if I do upload one of my 'loading screens' with content disapproved my Nogrip moderators, then my files are suspended and or deleted until I rectify the situation. The same goes for videos, which annoys me considering I only upload videos that others have made of my circuits as support material (along with screenshots) for those contemplating a download of my latest creations.

The problem is that neither website is ideal for what I (for one) want from a Rfactor website. Rfactorcentral is a dedicated Rfactor website, however if you submit any content, you are effectively giving it away. While Nogripracing is not a pure Rfactor website where many gamers from multiple games all complain on your circuit's link to "make a conversion" to their favourite racing sim so they can use it.

So for now, I shall continue my blog, as it seems to be the only bloody place I can see the stuff I want to see!
Thank you for reading, now have a look at all this new useless crap I have added!

Rodrrico.

Avignon Progress

I understand that I have been neglecting my circuit design for what has become months. This is hopefully beginning to change with these :

While the circuit has a long way to go, it is clear to see that progress has started up once more. I have not populated the circuit with some trees, the two pontoons the key medieval city wall. I have already play tested with the trees and found that cars hit invisible walls, so I want to be sure to fix this before continuing on the pit buildings and all other objects. Finally I will change / add roads to make it feel a little more real.


I will have updates by Friday this week (at this stage), so check back then for more information on Avignon's progress. Currently I rate the circuit as 0.10 complete - quite a way to go!

News!

Recently I learned that I will not have my contract at my current employment renewed for Nov2011-onward. They are downsizing the position and sadly I lost out on this one.


It seemed to be a pure 'first in gets it' scenario. I started one week after the fellow who will become the sole junior editor. At first this was a real pain and frustration. Though this is very different now. Being dropped from my work has enabled me to work on things I have wanted to for some time. The first is to resume working as a graphical artist for a magazine (already in the pipeline). Secondly to start looking seriously into motorsport and motoring photography as a side income (if possible). I will probably start a new blog dedicated to this, but it is still early days.


Finally, it means that I will now be resuming my circuit designs for Rfactor. I have neglected my passion in the last few months to focus harder on my actual work (perhaps I shouldn't have bothered haha!). Now I will resume my circuit designing. I have already started updating my Airport Terminal GP circuit after I found a few videos on youtube showing people not driving on the actual circuit but getting the best line from everything. I have brought in many of the walls, and plan to remake most of the ad boards around the circuit to bring down the file size.


Other than this all progress has stalled on my other projects. Though as of very early November they will resume. Look out for news and updates on Avignon which I will work on again very soon. But for the next week or two I won't be able to do much.


I have been compiling all of the circuits I have downloaded and installed to my rfactor directory into a Microsoft Access document. I have well over 1000 circuits and plan to release this document in the coming weeks. It includes data such as what I believe is the level of difficulty, speed of the circuit relative to the 'best' mod series for it. Also a grid size so then we don't flood the circuit with more cars than can actually be supported without them flying into the air or starting buried in the 'ground' -  you know what I mean!


Look out for this also early November. More news to follow this weekend!

News!

I know that I said I would be posting up some screenshots of my latest creation Avignon about a week ago. There has however been a lot going on in my world which has taken up my time. Not to mention my strange interest in playing other games lately, which has eaten good chunks of my free time. I will however continue the work this weekend and hope to have something to show off around that time.

I have also been working with some people at Virtual Classics forum on various 1970s Monza layouts. The  sharing of work is excellent even if the language barrier sometimes makes it a little complicated (most speak Spanish). I may be able to show off the 1974 layout soon, I am just waiting on some textures to be made and placed.

I have been inspired to update my NYC GP once more and will be working on a new layout again soon which will make it three different versions of the Lower Manhattan 'project'. That's about it for now, check back here this weekend for more news and updates!

Avignon

I found a great little gem of a website the other day. It had a number of circuits detailed up there including all of the Formula one world championship rounds and track maps of the non championship races also which was pretty cool. But the best part was that many of the circuits (F1 and not) had reference pictures with them.

I trawled through them looking at interesting circuits from all over the globe, until I found one that I thought I might be able to whip up over the weekend. It is simply called Avignon. I assume because the town/city is also called Avignon. There is a big castle wall which runs along the eastern part of the track (clearly from medieval days) and is lined (effectively) with trees and concrete blocks. Again, it is a proposal from 2005 for a round the the DTM, but it never went ahead for some reason. I figured I would give it a good go.

Firstly I mapped out the layout and set it to the length of the track (as was proposed) 1.731km. I drove around in an F1-1974 car, but found it a little tight and pokey. Since I always mesh reality with fiction. I have already tweaked the layout to 2.240km which makes for a better circuit. I think I will base this around either the 1990s F1 cars or 1970s F1 cars. I have made an Xpack recently for other 1970s F1 projects I am working on, but I am still umming and aarring over what this one will be. What I can tell you is that it won't be for 2000s F1s or other series (unless others use it that way of course). I know the 'purists' out there will have a go saying how it is not a 'real' this and that. But to be honest - I don't care. If it feels like where it is, then that is good enough. Chernobyl NPP anyone?

Anyway, I have already make the cambers, heightmaps and some basic bumps. I will release some screenshots some time this weekend and hope to have it out within 14 days. I need a simple yet long castle wall. Can't seem to find one that is right. But I do have some of the Ponte's that the cars will pass under and next to, as well as some 'french' inspired buildings. Check back here in the coming 48hrs for some early screenshots!

Rodrrico - The Circuits Thread

Here you will find all the download websites for all my current public released circuits.

Imola 1963 1.0

Zeltweg 0.95

Zaluzani 1.0 & Zaluzani 1.10 & nogrip

Phoenix 1989 Proposal 1.0

Chernobyl NPP 1.1 - & nogripracing

Rufforth Classic 1.0

Lower Manhattan GP 1.0 & Racedepartment & Nogrip

Nivelles GP 1.0 - & nogripracing

Airport Terminal GP 1.0 - & nogripracing

Imola 1960s 1.0 - & Nogripracing & Bockbierbude

Ales GP 1.0

Lower Manhattan Indy (nogrip) & Rfactorcentral

Phoenix 1989 Proposal 2.0 (nogrip) & Rfactorcentral


Brands Hatch 1950



Ales GP Course 1.10


Comments are always welcome and constructive critisim. I read them regularly and take them all seriously. Check back for new tracks often!

Brands Hatch 1950 & Ales

Brands Hatch 1950 Released

I have finished my initial version of Brands Hatch 1950 and released it on NoGripRacing here. It won't be available until Sunday (or about 20hrs from now)I have decided to not bother uploading to Rfactorcentral for a number of reasons. For one, I no longer wish to fund a website that pigheadedly uses user content for commercial use. When it was built for the community, for not companies.

I would like some feedback for later releases, so please comment on the Nogripracing download page or in this blog. I check both fairly regularly so I should be able to address any issues with relative speed.

Ales GP Course 1.10

I recently read about my Ales GP circuit having some issues with the pitlane and not being able to cross the finish line. I have hopefully resolved this issue as well as a few other minor changes to the textures start/finish locations and some shadowing. All relatively small updates, but they make it somewhat more complete.

If you want to download the new version, it should be available here at Nogripracing within 24hours. As with Brand Hatch 1950. If you have the old version (1.0) please remove it all (as I have stated in the readme) rather than overwrite the files. That should be about it for now.

Enjoy!

Ales GP update and more

ALES GP 1.0 to 1.1

I was just trawling Rfactorcentral and noticed that someone had posted on my circuit Ales GP 1.0 some time ago (back in May). The told me that the pit lane has a serious error to do with timing of laps, which I am going to address and release an update, or a new version of Ales this weekend. I may also change some textures / models to reflect a nice change. I'll see as I go.

Brands Hatch 1950 1.0

Yes I will be releasing my attempt at Brands Hatch's 1950 layout this weekend also. Check back here soon for where you can download it.

Imola 1960s 1.0 to 1.15

I am planning on updating my Imola 1960s circuit very soon with some modifications and fixes. There has been an issue with the straight coming out of Acque Minerale. I suspect it is the shadow from the trees, which means they need replacing. I will also add some minor changes to the bumps and textures (as well as a few very small tweaks). Look out for this in the coming weeks.

Hey I Found A Problem!

If you have encountered a problem / glitch / error with any of my circuits. Be sure to PM me on the site that you use or through this blog. Two people have found two different errors one two different tracks in recent times, and had I not browsed around, I may have not found them in the first place. So please, let me know if you find anything that doesn't seem right!

Brands Hatch 1950s

I bought a book recently all about Brands Hatch. While I have read that the now dubbed 'indy course' was the original layout, I did not know that it ran backwards to its present day layout. I felt this was worthy of an Rfactor design.

I am still working on the New Jersey Grand Prix, however I have been building models that are taking some time, and don't want to work more on the track without buildings around it. The actual circuit is probably about 40% done, but it lacks

'life' which buildings, and models around it will provide and boost its progress up to about 55%. For now I am working on a small project of Brands Hatch 1950s. I am basing this track on the original 1950 layout. While it is a couple of weeks away from any sort of release, I can share some shots of the circuit for you all. Take a look!

And the overall map!

New Jersey GP

I mentioned recently about my intention to develop a New Jersey GP given the recent news of F1's 'silly season' to have two world championship Grand Prix events in the USA. While this will never happen in reality (for a number of reasons), I liked the idea of building a circuit there and have set out to bring NJGP to Rfactor.

My current progress is initial. I have the layout, I have the elevation changes, camber, surfaces etc all relatively close to the actual proposed location along the banks of the Hudson river, however this is much harder than I would have liked thus far. I built a number of models in Sketchup, exported them as collenda files and converted the textures into the 2x2 system that Bob's Track Builder uses, however for some reason the models are not working in Rfactor. Once I export the circuit, it crashes during the loading (freezes, then I press 'enter' and it crashes). It is trying to load a road material, however the materials I am using are proven working materials. I have no idea why this is happening. It is very frustrating, as I feel it would be an enjoyable circuit if it had strong details around it.

For now, I have placed other models from older Xpacks I have made in as a 'guideline' for where the new buildings should go. I hope to overcome this issue, and will post some screenshots of my progress in the coming week.

Yes or No?

I, like many of you out there who follow Formula One very closely, have now seen a 'track map' of the proposed NJC Grand Prix (New Jersey) here at F1 Fanatic.

I first saw this and thought how cool it would be to play this in Rfactor before seeing it in real life in the years to come - should it go ahead of course. I am wondering if I should make this for Rfactor. I have already made two circuits based in New York City, and in particular, down around the Lower Manhattan districts. So in a way, I could use some of my models in the background. I would need to remove many faces to drop the detail level of objects that are going to be quite far away, but you get the idea.

Currently I have been working on a proposed Hockenheim layout for the early 1980s. However I have experienced many problems with placing objects and keeping the detail level high. Basically, when I export through a .3ds format from Google Sketchup, the textures / materials convert into .jpeg. This means that the negative space elements (wire frames, fences, crowds etc) all are filled with 'black' which not only adds to the level of details that must be rendered, but they look increadibly ugly.

The only option I have is to export them as collenda files. However, these then are not within the 2X2 format, and all need resizing. That is fine if the object has 5,10, 20 or 30 textures. It just takes a bit of time to the open every single texture / material in Photoshop and resize them. The problem is that the Hockenheim grandstands (you know the massive one's around the pits, final and first corners) has a whopping 120 texture faces. This become annoying to just sit there and convert one after the other. If any come out even slightly wrong, then Xpacker can't open the collenda file and crashes.

Anyway... what I am getting at, is that maybe I need to shelve this circuit for a time when I am not working (in real life) so flat out, and therefore would have sufficient time to work on my circuits.

However! I feel that a circuit from scratch is easier to make, as one does not have people breathing down their neck's telling them what is inaccurate and what doesn't feel right and what is - well to put it simply - wrong.

Let me know if you folks think I should have a genuine attempt at making the NJC GP circuit as proposed recently.

Cheers.

Hockenheinring 1980s Proposal - Update

I have been working on the Hockenhiemring 1980s proposal circuit on and off in short bursts for the past few weekends. I am finally able to show off some WIP shots.

While this is very early and low resolution images, this should show you all roughly what it will look like in terms of the major changes to the 1970s layout. I intend to include the older layout roads to add to the sense of immersion for the circuit. I can hopefully get permission from the 1979 and 1988 layout Rfactor modders to use the grandstands and pit buildings I have included in my beta thus far. If not, then obviously I will make my own, but this will no doubt add a great amount of work and time to the circuit build.

For now, please enjoy the early screenshots and I will have more information about the track's progress in the coming days!

Phoenix 1989 Proposal 2.0

Phoenix 89 2.0 is finally available for download across the web!

Phoenix 1989 Proposal 2.0 is an entirely remodeled remake of Phoenix 1989 Proposal 1.0. I was originally going to simply update the 1.0 circuit to 1.2 or so, however after close examination of my now defunct layout, I opted to rebuild it from scratch.

Whilst the layout of the circuit itself is essentially the same, the changes to the objects, the inclusion of kerbs and the 'dip' towards the end of the lap (located at the approach to the second last corner), make this an all new version that is worthy of a 2.0 status (in my opinion). I spent a large amount of the build time remodeling all the buildings. I dropped all the texture resolutions to around a 3:1 compression, so therefore the track load time is significantly faster as well as runs a whole lot smoother for those who have older PCs.

The inclusion of 'the dip' towards the end of the lap on the second longest straight was for two reasons. The first is that I felt the circuit needed some undulation to make it feel a little more vibrant. There is a Phoenix 1989 actual track out there for Rfactor which I looked at closely to make my own feel more like it. But without crossing into the "this is not what Phoenix looks like" crowd. I wanted 2.0 to be just like all my other tracks that are based on real world locations. The be exactly that - Based on real places, but with a 'gaming' feel to them.

What is the payoff for making a circuit 100% accurate in this day in age? Will it get me a job for a game company? - unlikely. Will it make me famous? - Haha, I highly doubt that. So what will it get me? Simple. A great big ego. That I can do without. So to those 'purests' out there, I am sorry that this will not be the Phoenix 1989 you hope for. I was only 1 year old, and therefore, could not have seen the race or walked the layout for the 1989 proposal. I hope this circuit brings much fun to the rest of you, and I will always keep making more for those who like them.

As always, I do accept criticism if it is deemed to be constructive. I have not yet made my 'perfect' track, so until that happens. I'll keep making more :)

Enjoy folks!

News 31.05.11

Lower Manhattan Continues

I have only just release my latest version of the Lower Manhattan circuit and already I have started a rough model of an endurance layout for the circuit. It will range from between 4.5km - 6.5km in length. I have not yet modeled the new areas that it will have so check back here in a few short weeks to see what the state of progress is on the 'Porsche' layout.

Phoenix 89 Proposal 2.0

I released Phoenix 1989 1.0 Proposal exclusively to rfactor central some time ago, but I feel it is ready for an overhaul. The previous (current) version was not only inaccurate but a rather large compacted folder. About 100Mb unzipped. Too big I guess for some users. The main issue was the fact that the textures are very large to show of more detail. As it turns out, the detail is not what people want. They want speed, of both the load times and circuit framerates. This is very hard to tackle when I don't know what it is like to run one of my circuits off a hopelessly slow computer. Mine is not a brand-spanking new one, but it runs smooth as a whistle with 40+cars and high settings for all. So I do struggle to be sympathetic with those who's computers have been around since the early 2000s. Either way, I am already well in the thick of it and will have a new version out when it is ready.

Imola 1970s

Obviously this will be modeled off my 1960s version, but with new grandstands, pit buildings, walls, trees etc. This is a little while off, but I am aiming for a mid June release.

Hockenheim 1980s Proposal

Do you dislike the current 'cropped' version of Hockenheim that restored the forest to its former 'natural' state? I do! And if you are like me, you probably wonder why the circuit was changed the way it was. Well, I found that they wanted to change it in the early 1980s also and I have a track layout map too. Well it's time to see if this would have ever worked and build it myself. I have never traveled there and therefore I cannot be 100% accurate. But considering the circuit's '1980s proposal' was never built. I should be ok at coming up with something the rfactor users won't dis me for not being a "real" Hockenheim. This is a while off, but check back here in a few weeks as I will upload photos of the progress.

And that was the news!

Lower Manhattan INDY 1.0 - Released

That's right, I have finally finished the first release of the new lower Manhattan GP layout (dubbed INDY).

It has been a long time coming, though now it should be up on Rfactorcentral and I know it is up and already clocking the downloads

at NoGrip Racing. I have been working on this on and off for the past 3 months. I barely have had a chance to touch it for some time due to work commitments. Though I recently got a new and better working hours job, which has ultimately helped me to complete this circuit and have a normal life once more.

Check the Circuits Thread here to find the exact page links to this circuit. I have also updated a few links as now I have put more circuits to NoGripRacing. NoGrip is vastly becoming my favourite upload site as I can see exactly how many downloads it has reached, as well as the great Thanks and comments I get from the community. It is this feedback that keeps me uploading my creations for you all.

As always, there will be more circuits to come in the not so far off future. So check back here regularly for updates from me about news of my progress on new tracks. I hope you all enjoy the new release. I know that the AIW is not the best. I have been working with Rockett_Man (rfactorcentral name) to develop a new AIW. He made the old one, but I tweaked the layout once more and therefore his AIW did not work, so I made one for the initial release.

Okay that's all for now, enjoy!

Fixed!!!

I don't know how I did it, or what really went wrong in the first place, but now BTB works once more correctly!

I have changed the 'priority' order for my 3 screens (which is somewhat annoying at the same time as being the Saviour) and now I am working on my Lower Manhattan Indy circuit. Look out for this as it is essentially complete and will be available for download from Rfactor Central and No Grip Racing this time up-coming week!

Cheers,

Rodrrico.

What is going on here..?

Okay, so I thought that somehow I corrupted Bob's Track Builder on my computer, as I could not access any of the menu / options for some strange reason.

I tried reinstalling it to see if this was a bug or related problem that could be fixed with a quick install from scratch, however it still persists.

Here is my problem. I cannot see the 'add objects', 'add walls', 'add stringed objects', 'camber' etc windows. When ever I click on any window from the tabs at the top of the BTB program screen, they state that they are active, but I cannot see them. When I ALT + TAB through my active programs, I can see them, however I cannot select them. This is starting to frustrate me quite a bit, because all I needed to do on my Lower Manhattan Indy project was move a few things and add a handful of objects and then I would be done and ready for export / uploading.

I tried looking around BTB's website forums and FAQs to no anvil. If anyone knows how to fix or help me it would be most appreciated.

So this is where I am stuck for now, but I doubt I can get around this problem myself.

Looks like we're back in business!

As the title suggests, I am now able to resume track building for Rfactor.

I finally have the net up and running on my PC once more and now will strive to get my Lower Manhattan INDY course out for download by this time next week. I have much to do, so this is post is brief.

Look back here in seven days for the track links. Keep on gaming!

Temporary Hiatus

As the title suggests. I must sadly take a temporary hiatus from my Rfactor circuit design. I have recently landed a job with a major TV network here and will be moving closer for the job.

I won't have any Internet set up for a week or even two. Therefore I can't work on this hobby of mine for you guys. I will endeavor to continue to keep up the circuits when I can. I am still planning on releasing NYC 2 (new layout) as soon as Rockett_Man has finished the AIW. Hopefully we can get this out there by Monday, as from this Monday the 21st, I will not have access to the net.

I am hoping to have settled into a nice routine by early March which is when I hope to get going on more of my circuits. I have some great ideas (as least I think so :P ) for new Street circuits and road courses, including NYC endurance which will be around 6km and go past the city hall in Lower Manhattan and an all new pit lane / start finish position.

Thanks to all those who comment, rate and read about my track and blog.

This is not the end, far from it - simply a hobby pause :P

Cheers.

Lower Manhattan - Indy Course

Ever since I completed my Lower Manhattan GP, I have been keen to make a new layout that would be faster, but maintain much of the character that LMGP currently has.

The answer was to create a new course that changed at turn 7 and continued straight past WTC 7 and WTC 1 (north tower). Then make a fast right hand turn where drivers who go over the limit will find themselves in a wall. Continuing along the wide fast straight we then rejoin the original circuit gradually shifting down but without compromising the acceleration into turn 10 which is generally taken with strong breaking and 2nd gear (in an open wheel racing car).

Aside from a new faster layout, I have implemented a number of various changes that the Rfactor community asked for. These include all new kerbs throughout the track. These replace the very abrasive 'pyramid' styled kerbs I had with far smoother and flatter kerbs. I found them rough still in a F1 1992. But they had little effect on my driving in a Porsche Carrerra Cup 2007 car.

The cameras are similar but revised. I am still jiggling around with them to find an optimal line where no 'shots of buildings' occur. Naturally there is an all new AIW for the entire circuit. I have also shrunk the grid size down to 40 at max. This is because many people complained that they had frame rate problems. Ultimately it comes down to the user's own computer hardware. However by limiting the grid / pits to a total of 40 cars, the frame rate should be improved for online servers and singleplayer's alike.

Since the AIW is yet to be ironed out, the release of LM-Indy is at least a full week away from release. So to keep you all interested in the meantime, here are a couple of screenshots from the editor.Above, where the circuit continues to form a new turn 8.Above, where the circuit rejoins forming turn 9.

Chernobyl NPP 1.1 - Released

It has been in the pipelines for some time, but I have finally finished up Chernobyl NPP with the 1.1 update. I have changed a number of things from the adboards around the circuit to the actual AI waypoints (AIW). A full list of changes can be found in the readme file included with the Zip of the circuit.

The most important part of this update is that it has been a collaboration between myself and Rockett_Man / Jimbob47. Rockett_Man has kindly created a new AIW for the circuit. This had been the major problem with NPP. The AI were uncompetitive compared with human players. I found they slowed through the top gear turns / kinks of 5 & 6 where a human player would ordinarily go flat (depending on what mod was being used). Now the AI goes flat also, thanks to the new AIW.

I have linked the updated version with Nogripracing and Rfactorcentral, however Rfactorcentral has been littered with errors for me lately. I will try again in the coming days, to get a version 1.1 to rfactorcentral, but we will see if it works correctly.

Please let me know if there should be other changes / updates for Chernobyl NPP and any of my other circuits.

Cheers.

Mod of the Week and other news

Ales GP - MOTW
I was completely surprised to find that my latest circuit Ales GP 1.0 achieved Mod of the Week from Rfactorcentral. I don't want this to be taken as arrogance, however I am very pleased to have finally cracked this achievement of Rfactorcentral.


Chernobyl NPP 1.1 - New AIW
I will soon be releasing Chernobyl NPP 1.1 with a new AIW made by Rockett_Man (Rfactorcentral Alias) or Jimbob47 (nogripracing alias). This circuit will feature Russian and Ukrainian advertisements as well as a number of minor tweaks and revisions to bump its overall quality up. Look out for this around the 28th-29th of January.

Real World Work
I have recently had an interview for a company in Brisbane to work as a video editor. As the competition is fierce I have had to neglect my involvement with the Rfactor community to focus on the job. I will definitely be continuing to make circuits for the community, however I will be unable to resume work on any projects until the end of January.

Temporary or Permanent
So everyone, I ask you all as to what should the basic design of my next Rfactor circuit be? A temporary street circuit, a temporary road circuit, or a purpose built racetrack?
Personally, I feel that my skills lie in temporary street circuits, however I am open to suggestions.

Rfactor Track Database
I have been building a track database over the last year of all the circuits I have downloaded and made. It is comprehensive (well ,enough for me anyway) and will release it for you all once I reach the massive 1000 mark. Currently, I have approximately 979 circuits on my machine that expand to around 26GB of HDD space. Look out for this in early February.

And that was my week in news.

This is interesting...

I was browsing the net this morning on the more unique Rfactor download websites and came across my circuit Imola 1960s on Bockbierbude.

I was surprised that I could not access the file at first, but this was rectified quickly. I was also surprised that this very small market website (a niche if you like) had 530 downloads for Iomla 1960s. This was also surprising. Fortunately I was credited with the circuit (quite rightly so), however I have no idea who uploaded this file, and why I was not contacted about it.

I am perfectly happy if others want to share my circuits with other websites other than my favourties (Rfactorcentral & Nogripracing), however I do expect people to credit me and contact me via my email if they wish to do this. I say this as I don't want to find my circuits on websites where the community there has to 'pay' a tariff to either access the download section or individual files as a whole. I am 100% against paying for moder community stuff. This, in my opinion, would defeat the purpose of making content for free for everyone to enjoy.

This is what makes a racing simulation like Rfactor so good. Not only is the source code material free, but anyone with a sim editor can go and make new content. I alone have installed on my computer 948 different circuits (either layouts or versions).

If anyone would like a copy of the file where I have all the circuit info saved for each of these tracks (Microsoft Access needed to view), then please PM me and I will email it to you.

Finally, if anyone has found any of my circuits on websites other than Rfactorcentral & Nogripracing, please contact me with a link to the website / circuit page.

Thanks everyone.

Ales 1.0 Error

I posted a few days ago about the pending release of Ales GP 1.00 to both Rfactorcentral and Nogripracing. It would appear that both have suffered errors while trying to load my track and therefore will not release it until I fix these errors.

The problem is that I don't get these errors when I open Ales GP 1.0 on my computer. I believe they are grass texture / model errors due to the error code that Rfactorcentral has given me :

But as I say, I don't get this error, and therefore don't know how to fix it to correctly release the circuit. If anyone has an idea of how to fix this, please contact me through this blog or on Rfactorcentral.

Cheers.

Ales GP 1.00

It has been a while since I last posted about a circuit I have been working on. This has been due to the fact that my computer suffered a major failure in mid December of 2011, which was right before I went away for the holiday break.

Ales GP was ready to be released only 2 days before my computer died and therefore, I was unable to release the circuit back then. I am pleased to finally get it out there for the Rfactor community. You all will be able to find Ales GP on both Rfactorcentral and Nogripracing within the coming days. It all depends on how fast the servers approve my latest circuit.

I should say that my Ales is only remotely related to the real Circuit d'Ales in France. I took the basic 'outer' course and adapted it to be my own. My version does not mimic the camber and elevation changes that the real circuit has, but rather takes an enjoyable new approach to the circuit map.
I have added my own fast chicane towards the final turn that slows down Touring Cars a bit, but should not affect F1 open wheeler type cars. This is because I found it difficult arresting the speed from Porsche Carerra Cup cars going into the final fast Right / Left chicane / corners. This also helps to claim this version as my own.

Please check my

Rodrrico - The Circuits Thread

in the coming days for links to where you can download Ales GP 1.0.

As always, this circuit has been entirely created by me for the community as a 'funfactor' circuit. So please don't view this for its historical inaccuracies. I just don't care if it doesn't measure up to its real world counterpart. But thank you all once again for your positive comments on my other circuits. Those comments, likes and scores keep me interested in making circuits for you all.

Enjoy!