My New Track

[HRT433]

Ok, inspired by Pirenzo's effort, I am now working on a detailed track.

The track itself is not finalised, this is just the first rough shape I came up with....any suggestions would be nice.

So far its got a basic track and pit lane, a couple of alternate paths, and a shanghai style super-granstand, with over track viewing, this will also incorporate the pit garages when i do them.

Thats about it for the moment, I will work on it in my breaks from uni work, and post progress here.

Any comments, suggestions, questions etc are welcome.

Click for full size preview....ignore the quality, its just to save your time.

[the_royksopp]

Me likes. The crossover seems a bit unnecessary though .

[pirenzo]

Its cool.
I agree with TR though, the cross over bits a bit unnecessary, it looks like its been stuck in there for the sake of it.
You might wanna stick an 'optional' (i.e. compulsory for F1 ) chicane in that long sweeper too.

[HRT433]

the cross over was one of the first bits i did, and didn't really like it once i was done, which is why I added the other alternatives.

pirenzo, when you say and 'optional chicane' is compulsory for F1, is there a reason they have this? does it have something to do with having a long stretch of the track, where the cars just build up speed, so the chicane would effectively slow them down?

are there any other requirements for an F1 track, I am guessing there is, do you know them or where to find them?

so, the crossover's days are numbered, but probably wont get changed until tomorrow....way to much uni work to do today unfortunately

[pirenzo]

Well, you could have the long sweep, but the FIA would require you to have such huge run off that it would be stupid. What-ifs start to apply, like, what if you went into it flat out and had a wing failure. So you stick in a run-off area the size of Australia, meaning nobody can watch what would be a great corner....
The FIA website has all the track building regulations, some of them are very restrictive, probably for good reason, others are a bit silly, like the maximum difference in gradient between track and run off which effectively puts paid to any major elevation changes.

[Mike_Wooshy]

swap the cross over for some flowing esses and apart from what has been said nice 1 . looking forward to final product.

[f1freak]

Firstly, I'd personally never use the same part of the track in two different directions (because your main circuit and one of the varients does that)

I also am not a huge fan of cross overs. There are a very few tracks which can pull it off and make it REALLY suttle (Suzuka for example), but some tracks just can't pull it off too well (Oran Park for example). I wouldn't have the cross over so close together, like Oran Park, where its a just a few turns later. Suzuka has it about half way (do you get what I mean???). Come to think of it, Ropes Creek wasn't that good either ...

As for the details, good job. I like it...

Ok, well here is my take on your track...


Blue is my circuit. Purple are my varients. Green is your original circuit. Yellow is your original varients...

There isn't much change, its just that I've used your varients basically and I've bypassed most of those chicanes towards the end of the circuit...

That's just me though...

[HRT433]

I agree, running a section in both direction, brings up things such as problems with runoffs and curbing etc....i will try to avoid this with the final track

with the middle section of the track, i am considering two options, one similar to what you have done, and another. It should be possible to include both.

as for the 'chicanes' on the second half of the track, they will probably stay as is, might include some non-chicane options where possible, and I've also got to add and optional section to the long sweeper...just not sure where exactly yet.

thanks everyone for the input, it all helps, and keep it coming.

[the_royksopp]

i'D do something different with the crossover. I'll make an edit when i get home.

[HRT433]

Ok, I have made couple of changes.

• added optional chicane at end of main straight
• new alternate route, to bypass the "hairpin" and associated straights
• the crossover is gooonnneeee...
• several alternatives for the mid-track section
• a bypass for the tight right hander at the top end of the track
• an optional section, which removes the kink leading on the pit straight
• pit garages/bays and corporate suites
• lengthened pit straight exit
• grid capacity increased to 40 cars
• and just for some fun, there are this years Forumla 1 cars sitting in the pits....

[pirenzo]

Put the cars whizzing around the track in the final version though
I'm interested to see how far this could go. My last track is near enough my own limit in detail

[HRT433]

Originally Posted by pirenzo

Put the cars whizzing around the track in the final version though
I'm interested to see how far this could go. My last track is near enough my own limit in detail

yeah, already thought of that....they can follow the racing line

there is no limit (well sort of) in the amount of detail we could go to, just a matter of whether or not we can be bothered....I'll see how far I can go

[f1freak]

Originally Posted by HRT433

the crossover is gooonnneeee...

Yes, I can't wait for the Footy Show either ... its starting in only 2 hours ...

As for the track... Well, I still stick with what I had ... But this one is better then your original I must say...

[Purist]

That second segment that goes up and away from start/finish ought to have something more running back somewhat toward that first projection I think. That extra bit that breaks up the esses running opposite the start/finish straight doesn't really do anything for me. Overall, I like it.

[Mike_Wooshy]

this isnt to do with the track design so much ... but when your done you should consider using PNG rather than JPG's as JPG's are more for pictures but will lose quaility for stuff like tracks unless they are really big .....

[Lustigson]

I usually use gif images. I haven't tested them agains png, though.

[Mike_Wooshy]

Gifs are really just for lines that are basic which are okay but when you add colour and stuff you can really start to see the graining of pixels etc etc.

[the_royksopp]

I usually use .png.

[HRT433]

ok, i don't use png, and i've done a uni course on the pros and cons of different file formats (boring) so i know all about it, but are you willing to download the 5.8MB file that is the result of saving it as png? The uncompressed jpg is only 4.9MB, and with just 15% compression which reduces quality only a small amount the file comes down to 980K.... As for the sample images they are jpgs so i can compress them, to keep the file size lower, but the track (the important part) is still visible. Everyone has there personal preferences, mines not png but does it really matter?

anyway, may as well post the latest update to the track, not much has changed, some sand traps, curbing, another stand, new grass, and a racing line on the track

[f1freak]

Details are AWESOME... good job mate ...

EDIT: I'm always glad to see people who arrange the starting grid side by side like in V8's, and not like in F1 (where there behind eachother)...

[Chaynes321]

i think you'll find he has arranged them F1 style ... there is a slight difference in the grid positions ...

[HRT433]

yeah there's a slight difference, 1 pixel to be exact. if it were a real track, I would want the grid staggered, but not as much as it is F1, the best thing about the side-by-side grid is the run to the first corner

[Flaming_Wuzzle]

Looks nice so far, HRT. Only thing I'd do as far as the image itself is take the racing line off the straights or places where they're not braking or slowing down in some form.

[HRT433]

Originally Posted by Flaming_Wuzzle

Looks nice so far, HRT. Only thing I'd do as far as the image itself is take the racing line off the straights or places where they're not braking or slowing down in some form.

yeah I was already planning to do that, thanks for the comments though

[the_royksopp]

Very, very good graphics and track .