ICs fictional practice track...

[The IC]

Heyo,

Im a 3d graphic artist by trade, and do alot of car models in my spare time for fun:
http://the-ic.deviantart.com/gallery...h=%2F&offset=0
I thought id expand the portfolio a bit and start doing some tracks aswell, now that Assetto Corsa has released their beta track modding tools

i would have started with rFactor2, but their plugin is currently only compatible with severely out of date versions of 3dsMAX, and its quite complicated getting it ingame in any case...if they bring out new tools, ill probably look into it again then...

ive attached the track layout that im finally happy with, its located about 4km north of Canberra Airport in Aus...it originally started as a club circuit, but then as i tested various cars on it, it kinda just grew and grew and grew...

main layout in cyan is about 6.3km, terrain is tinted blue for low areas and red for high, track has 41.5m of elevation change all up...i was doing ballpark 2:1X laptimes in the FIA GT3 McLaren 12C, the track is really good for cars that handle well and can carry the speed through the sweepers

i want to do high quality accurate versions of Wakefield Park and my local hillclimb track eventually (and also do the GT86 i track there once the car modding tools come out), but im starting with this fictional track to understand the workflow, scratch-building my own texture and asset libraries etc. etc. without worrying about it being accurate or not

and yeah, you guys doing all the cool Sketchup tracks in this "My Track Designs" forum should have a look at the AC modding tools if you havent already, theyre nice and easy to use, and not program-specific, you just need to be able to export .FBX files, which Sketchup does just fine

Cheers!

[LuiggiSpeed]

Very good!
the kind of track that I like, the overall character is very serious, I like the presentation very much and specially the layout, seems very "Wilson" to me (my fav designer)
my only concern would be T1 being such a tight corner, first turn pileups are almost guaranteed

[The IC]

Originally Posted by LuiggiSpeed

Very good!
the kind of track that I like, the overall character is very serious, I like the presentation very much and specially the layout, seems very "Wilson" to me (my fav designer)
my only concern would be T1 being such a tight corner, first turn pileups are almost guaranteed

Thanks for the comment LuiggiSpeed

It never actually crossed my mind what would happen from a grid start with everyone charging into the first corner, im new at this you see ...ill see what i can do with the space thats available...

[LuiggiSpeed]

Originally Posted by The IC

Thanks for the comment LuiggiSpeed

It never actually crossed my mind what would happen from a grid start with everyone charging into the first corner, im new at this you see ...ill see what i can do with the space thats available...

Welcome to the board

[ScotsBrutesFan]

The obvious answer would be to do a Hungaroring, and open the exit to perhaps 140 or 150 degrees and then a kink back to parallel, as opposed the full 180.

[The IC]

Alright, had a bit of a muck around...

I ended up putting a big radius corner at the end of the front straight after freeing up a bit more space...i *imagine* it being better for allowing cars to sort themselves out without hitting each other, but cant really test it for the moment...if i need to later, i can also switch it to a hairpin-followed-by-kink as SBF suggested, then follow that with the large radius corner where the hairpin currently is (basically reversing the order of whats currently there between the main pitlane and the secondary pitlane)...i think that would add an extra passing opportunity which the big radius curve may not offer...

Also shortened the infield bit so there was more space for pit paddock stuff, lengthened the west side hairpin to compensate

finally, added more of a curve before going up the back straight, makes it a bit more challenging, hence why theres a large runoff area planned there...i may take it back out again, not sure yet...

laptimes are a tiny bit faster, GT3 cars and the M3 E30 road car still feel good, but the 458 road car and Zonda R were a bit more effort to get round...will probably feel better for those once theres some actual kerbs to clip (instead of just evil grass of ultimate spinning doom )

anyhow, im going to go with this for now so i can actually start modelling some assets, otherwise ill be chopping and changing the track forever

[LuiggiSpeed]

it was a nice track and now it's even better

[kerb]

man, its about time Canberra gets a circuit, especially after what happened to our street circuit. location is pretty good, especially when the new Majura road extension is finished, and its not far from Maccas.

[LuiggiSpeed]

Originally Posted by kerb

man, its about time Canberra gets a circuit, especially after what happened to our street circuit. location is pretty good, especially when the new Majura road extension is finished, and its not far from Maccas.

If you (theoretically) had all the resources to build a circuit, I bet you won't find a better place to get a basic design than in this board. I'm not kidding when I say I've seen better designs here than on some of the newer F1 circuits....(I ain't sayin no names )

[SKG]

Hi there IC, welcome!

I like all the modifications, that is a loooong turn 1.

Originally Posted by The IC

and yeah, you guys doing all the cool Sketchup tracks in this "My Track Designs" forum should have a look at the AC modding tools if you havent already, theyre nice and easy to use, and not program-specific, you just need to be able to export .FBX files, which Sketchup does just fine

I may have to look into this. I've just started with bob's track builder, but it would be nice to have a go at trying our tracks in a more modern sim.

[ScotsBrutesFan]

Originally Posted by The IC

and yeah, you guys doing all the cool Sketchup tracks in this "My Track Designs" forum should have a look at the AC modding tools if you havent already, theyre nice and easy to use, and not program-specific, you just need to be able to export .FBX files, which Sketchup does just fine

.FBX export options only exist on Sketchup Pro, not the free version which most use here.

[SKG]

Originally Posted by ScotsBrutesFan

.FBX export options only exist on Sketchup Pro, not the free version which most use here.

[The IC]

Thanks for the comments

Originally Posted by kerb

man, its about time Canberra gets a circuit, especially after what happened to our street circuit. location is pretty good, especially when the new Majura road extension is finished, and its not far from Maccas.

yeah...but because its Canberra, it wouldnt get approved for construction unless there was a dedicated bicycle lane and bus lane the whole way around the track ...also, all the spectator parking would be forced to be pay parking, or be considered a fringe benefit the track would then have to pay additional tax on ...i think Wakefield is the best were going to get

Originally Posted by ScotsBrutesFan

.FBX export options only exist on Sketchup Pro, not the free version which most use here.

You sure youre not using an old version or something? Ive been using the free version of Sketchup to get terrain into 3dsMAX via .fbx files for while now

also, heres some initial pit building rough-out WIPs...they were higher res, but the AC forum auto-downsized them when i posted there, and im at work now, so dont have the original files in front of me atm

[kerb]

Originally Posted by The IC

Thanks for the comments




yeah...but because its Canberra, it wouldnt get approved for construction unless there was a dedicated bicycle lane and bus lane the whole way around the track ...also, all the spectator parking would be forced to be pay parking, or be considered a fringe benefit the track would then have to pay additional tax on ...i think Wakefield is the best were going to get

maybe tell them to put the light rail system around. it wont work where they're putting it.

[kerb]

try Queanbeyan, its NSW but so close to Canberra people conceder it a part of it. I have found a spot just south, over the border from hume

[The IC]

@kerb: the entire area behind Hume has been approved for residential development...i kinda like where ive put the track already, its between the airport, a Defence live fire training area, the Police driver training facility, and a set of big mountains between it and the closest residential area...no whinging complaints

Almost finished blocking out the basic driveable areas (grass, runoff spaces etc.)...next is to actually define runoff surfaces (i think a strip of bitumen followed by gravel?), mapping and blending textures, and start modelling kerbs and astroturf...

[SKG]

Originally Posted by The IC

Almost finished blocking out the basic driveable areas (grass, runoff spaces etc.)...next is to actually define runoff surfaces (i think a strip of bitumen followed by gravel?), mapping and blending textures, and start modelling kerbs and astroturf...

Get a strip of grass (maybe 1m wide) to stop those pesky drivers from abusing track limits, then tarmac or gravel I think.

The track looks great, good progress!

[SKG]

Looking at it again, the pit exit looks a bit scary.

[The IC]

Originally Posted by SKGThunder

Get a strip of grass (maybe 1m wide) to stop those pesky drivers from abusing track limits, then tarmac or gravel I think

yeah, definitely! :P

Originally Posted by SKGThunder

Looking at it again, the pit exit looks a bit scary.

hmmm...doesnt feel so dangerous when testing it ingame...the exit coming out of the main pits is on the opposite side of the track to the racing line, as youre hugging the left side of the track all the way from the left hand kink to the turn in point for the large right hand sweeper...ill see what alternatives i can come up with though, im still thinking of swapping the corners around anyway (see pic)

also, i only picture the secondary pit on the shorter west circuit being used in conjunction with the chicane nearby

[SKG]

Originally Posted by The IC

hmmm...doesnt feel so dangerous when testing it ingame...the exit coming out of the main pits is on the opposite side of the track to the racing line, as youre hugging the left side of the track all the way from the left hand kink to the turn in point for the large right hand sweeper...ill see what alternatives i can come up with though, im still thinking of swapping the corners around anyway (see pic)

Maybe the angled view of the circuit changed the appearance of the first kink. as long as it's a relatively straight forward flat out type thing, and the merge isn't too aggressive it's fine. Like you said, you've driven it and know if it feels ok!

I don't think you should have to adjust several corners in order to make a pit exit safer or more appropriate. Obviously the pit entry/exit can't be a bodge, but I feel that unless absolutely necessary you shouldn't have to make compromises to circuit design in order to make the pitlane work (Of course, if you prefer the first sector you proposed above, it's a win-win!).

Thinking about it, one of my previous designs featured a pit exit almost identical to this, except it curved to the right instead of the left. Here it is in Bob's track builder, kindly constructed by Bio. How does your circuit compare?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FdjO...h26yy1IrURioFQ

[The IC]

Originally Posted by SKGThunder

Thinking about it, one of my previous designs featured a pit exit almost identical to this, except it curved to the right instead of the left. Here it is in Bob's track builder, kindly constructed by Bio. How does your circuit compare?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FdjO...h26yy1IrURioFQ

Yeah, its very much like what youve designed there, the kink is flat out and you end up hugging one side of the track to straighten the braking zone into the corner, rather than going across the track and then trying to cut back since that just ends up making your entry into the corner slower and sharper

The reason im thinking of changing that area though is i kinda like having sweepers before straights...it seems to favour cars with better sorted handling, because your speed on the straight afterwards is based on how well your car can maintain speed in the corner, rather than how well your car can just power out of a hairpin...it seems to work that way in practice, the GT3 cars gradually got faster with each layout change i made over time, while the more unwieldly powerful cars stayed about the same

[The IC]

finally started building the track properly...i eventually turned the track into a fig-8 layout, i couldn't really come up with something i was happy with in the first couple of corners on the previous layout when testing it in AC

[SpeedingTortoise]

Looking REALLY good. Is this getting made for a game?

[The IC]

Originally Posted by SpeedingTortoise

Looking REALLY good. Is this getting made for a game?

Thanks! Yes, Assetto Corsa is what ive been repeatedly testing the layout in, and ill probably look into rFactor2 later aswell

Im using this to practice and experiment with everything involved, im going to model all the 3d environment assets from scratch, the textures are all sourced from photos ive gone out and taken myself etc. etc.

In the end I want it to be a high quality environment I can render my car models in, aswell as practice before making some real tracks

[SKG]

Originally Posted by The IC

Thanks! Yes, Assetto Corsa is what ive been repeatedly testing the layout in, and ill probably look into rFactor2 later aswell

Im using this to practice and experiment with everything involved, im going to model all the 3d environment assets from scratch, the textures are all sourced from photos ive gone out and taken myself etc. etc.

In the end I want it to be a high quality environment I can render my car models in, aswell as practice before making some real tracks

Those screens look amazing. Hey, if you need something testing in Assetto Corsa, I'm your man!

(I really wanna drive it)