Our ReVolt Pub

Posted: **30 Sep 2010, 02:03**

Texture Settings
Currently I am replacing all re-sized stock textures with the original from the CD and thereafter testing some of the tracks to see if they are displayed right. I had some vertex colors issues on Toys In the Hood 1 first time it was loaded but other than that everything seems to work fine tho (no similar bug to the one I reported yet and I already forgot to refresh at least one time, haha.

Anyway, I would like to discuss the custom.ini appearance on tracks with you. Since I am using the texture settings in a reversed way, I have to use the on every track that uses 256 sized textures.

Code: Select all

texture_size_world = 256

Is that a bad idea? The reason to that I prefer to still use the 512 patch is because it will let me use twice as high quality for Gfx pictures & for the loading.bmp. And tho WolfR4 makes the track managing so much easier, I wonder if it's worth it if a new change to the structure is comming up.

Question is if the texture size should even be inside the custom.ini. I mean, now all 256 texture sized tracks is custom tracks as well. Perhaps a similar method like for the battle & stunt tracks would do it? On the other hand having up to 3 files used by WolfR4 would perhaps make it even more confusing for newer users to get used to.

--

Thanks for being so incredibly fast with new updates. So fast, that I haven't even seen a custom track using all of WolfR4's custom track features yet (:P). I see this as a good thing tho, it shows me that you have been involved into this project much more frequently than any free time developer I know.

If you decide to move on to try give Re-Volt new life through compiling it from the source, I just want to wish you and Huki the best luck. To me right now, it seems a bit like we are taking a step backwards and starting all over, but if it will give more possibilities in the end, I will definitely support what both of you are doing.

Have any of you thought yet if it the follow-up releases shall be e-mailed around to everyone like with Wolf or just released on ORP directly? (sorry, that was off-topic).

Posted: **30 Sep 2010, 03:09**

To me right now, it seems a bit like we are taking a step backwards and starting all over.

I don't know for sure, but the idea is for v1.2 to support most of the things phoenix/wolf has and make it even better/efficient (for example, absolutely no work or format would be needed for full-custom tracks, battle and stunt tracks...). You might ask how we are going to reproduce almost an year of work (on wolf) into the source now. But it has already been done in wolf, so we know just how to do it now.

Have any of you thought yet if it the follow-up releases shall be e-mailed around to everyone like with Wolf or just released on ORP directly?

Right now, we are in alpha stage, we have something worser than original revolt, so we can just allow everyone to download it directly. Even at that, will everyone download it?

After we are successful in reproducing a 0916 revolt, we can think of sending by email.. (or maybe just send to people who already tested the alpha builds

)

(sorry, that was off-topic).

Yeah, me too

Posted: **30 Sep 2010, 05:09**

urnemanden @ Sep 29 2010, 09:33 PM wrote:Texture Settings
[...] Anyway, I would like to discuss the custom.ini appearance on tracks with you. Since I am using the texture settings in a reversed way, I have to use the on every track that uses 256 sized textures.
Code: Select all
texture_size_world = 256
Is that a bad idea?

No, it's not. I have even suggested it in a previous post:

jigebren @ Sep 17 2010, 03:10 AM wrote:- it could even be used to load normally an old 256x256 textured tracks when you're using the global Texture Size patch.

I'm aware that having track considered as custom only to set the "texture_size_world = 256" entry is not very consistent for end users (though it is internally for WolfR4). But I'm not sure there will be a perfect solution...
I was thinking lately (before I start working on the source code) about allowing a global custom.ini file (the same file used for track, but that would stay loaded as long as re-volt is running).
I think it could have been used for example to set 512x512 for GFX and loading images without the use of Global 512 patch.

For the rest, I think Huki has already answered.
I just want to add that I quite agree with the "taking a step backwards and starting all over" idea. In fact, I was feeling a bit the same when thinking about all the work I've already done for WolfR4... But let's say I'm curious to see if we'll be able to get a new working version from sources, and as Huki had already done a pretty good preliminary job, I could not let him alone on this arduous project...

Posted: **30 Sep 2010, 14:31**

And the car refresh option could probably be added as a keyboard shortcut (in think it was already the case in a special re-volt version used by devellopers/car designers).

This means that Re-Volt v1.2 will be a sort of "developer's version", too. Or maybe a setting could be added to the options menu for activating the developer features (like on-the-fly car refreshing or e.g. hull visualisation or whatever-someone-thinks-of).

Posted: **07 Oct 2010, 06:09**

Aeon's email wrote:Just my take, and I haven't familiarized myself with it too much and can't say that I'll have much time too, but it would be great if we could setup this program to run a specified set of parameters through a batch file, which could then load Re-Volt as well.

For example, my ReVoltX.bat file:

wolfr4.exe myparams.txt
revolt.exe

The myparams.txt file could contain all the specifications of how I want my modified version of Re-Volt to run, allowing me to create a total conversion without having to tell the players what to specify as settings.

It would also be nice, in the future, if we could change the default campaign tracks/laps/mirror/reverse settings as well as specifying which cars are the default cars. I already have modified versions of the executable which change the default cars and tracks, so I don't think it would be hard for you to change, although I've not found where to change the number of laps, or the mirrored/reverse settings. If necessary you could limit this support to the parameters file, because of the character limitations as with the custom.ini changes.

With that supported, it should be much easier to create whole conversions.

Just my thoughts.

Well, I'm in an transitory stage where I don't know if I'll continue to upgrade WolfR4, or simply consider that the future of re-volt will rather be the recompiled re-volt version Huki and I are currently working on...

But I was thinking about custom championship, and when I received Aeon's email, I was precisely working anew on WolfR4...
I'll try to add support for a global custom.ini (always loaded while re-volt is running), and custom championships could be added by that means.
The global structure of the championship would remains the same, but eack track, number of lap, reverse/mirror could be customizable. I don't think I'll do the same for default cars though...

About running a specified set of parameters through a batch file, if you mean modifying directly WolfR4 parameters (ie. those saved in WolfR4.ini), I'm quite sure it won't be done...

Posted: **10 Oct 2010, 06:39**

Though it still have to be polished before I can release the next WolfR4 version, the global custom is working now (a global custom file is the same than regular custom.ini file, but it will stay loaded as long as re-volt is running).
This file could easily be used to create total conversions (or Mods) like Arctic Blast is planning to do.

And I have added a great set of new entries in custom.ini (intended mainly to be used in the new global custom):
- Each stock tracks can be replaced by an user track.
- Custom championship will be possible. Yes, at last!

For each cup (bronze, silver, ghost, special), we'll be able to set the number of tracks (for 1 up to 5), the number of laps for each track, and if track is mirrored or reversed...
- I didn't plan to do it first, but I have added it finally: each stock car can be replaced by an user car. Of course, carboxes images can also be replaced... I just don't know yet if I'll allow to modify shadow data for replaced stock cars. But I think that I can at least force shadows to be semi-automatic like for user cars.

I can't tell for now when I'll release this new version, but I hope I'll have time to do it quite soon...

Posted: **10 Oct 2010, 08:12**

The new WolfR4 will be the ultimate in customisation

Posted: **10 Oct 2010, 14:01**

You're making track making even more exciting. I have to try all thoose features out someday, if not today!

Posted: **11 Oct 2010, 02:42**

That would be really good for FutureCars, if only I could get enough cars and tracks to replace everything, although I suppose it wouldn't be hard to use reversed tracks instead if you're allowing that customization.

Posted: **11 Oct 2010, 06:34**

Thanks gals/guys.

Last improvement planned:
When replacing stock cars, each stock car shadow will be modifiable, that is to say the UV position in "shadow.bmp", and the size of the projected shadow.
It will also be possible to simply force the user car shadow behaviour for all cars (all user cars use the same shadow pattern which is automatically resized according to the car's dimensions).

All is quite finished now, but I have to clean up/double-check the code, polish the interface and update custom.ini info, and readme, etc. Unfortunately, this can take quite a long time, and it's not the most exciting part.

Also, I have not thoroughly tested any feature, some are not tested at all, so I can't tell that everything will work...

Posted: **15 Oct 2010, 03:41**

Here it is, the new WolfR4 version, with finally the support of custom championships.

I believe this version is close to reach the ultimate state now...
I think you're probably aware of the project of recompiling re-volt from source (see Huki's post). So about WolfR4's future, I think I have done all the major stuff that were possible using a simple patcher... Of course, several other tweak could still be added, but then it would become an endless quest, whose interest has be lessened with the recompilation project.
I may issue other WolfR4 release, but I think now it will only be bugfixing, code clearing or interface adjustment, any minor stuff like that.

But I have to say I'm quite glad, because I believe WolfR4 has done what it was intended to do: pushing the original revolt.exe to its max.
And it will still be usefull as long as the new re-volt is not issued, or even after, to keep playing the original re-volt.

Now, here is the changelog of the last version. As I had to work quite fast, new features may be quite not tested at all, so even more than usual, beta-testers feedback will be appreciated.

Changelog wrote:* Rel.10-10-14
Mod: The ticks location in the Re-Volt progress table should not be affected
   anymore by the Screen ratio patch.
Mod: "Fix crash when quiting a lobby race" should also prevent Re-Volt from
   crashing when closing Re-Volt with Alt+F4 (of with the "Quit" button in
   WolfR4) during a lobby session.
Add: Deactivate the global shortcuts:
   In case you don't want to activate the global WolfR4's shortcuts, just add
   the line "activate_hotkey = false" at the beginning of the WolfR4.ini file
   (or edit the line if it already exists).
Fix: The "Pause" shortcut Ctrl+F10 was not activated.
Fix: A bug when custom tracks support was not active, tracks list was empty at
   startup.
Add: Fullscreen button:
   To quickly switch between fullscreen/windowed mode.
Mod: Fixed the notice about allow_special_car_effects2 in this changelog.
Mod: Reformated custom.ini entries alignment.
Add: Global custom support:
   If you place a custom.ini file in the '#' directory, and select it in the
   'Global custom' entry ('Custom tracks' tab), it will be applied as long as
   Re-Volt is running.
   - This file can be renammed to anything (it is even recommended), as long
   as you keep the .ini extension and as it is placed in the '#' directory
   (it allows to have several global custom files available).
   - It is of course compatible with custom tracks. For a given track, if an
   entry is used both in the global custom file and in the track's custom
   file, the track's custom entry is used.
Add: Custom stock tracks:
   Allows to replace each stock track by an user track.
Add: Custom stock cars:
   Allows to replace each stock car by an user car. Each car's shadow data
   can be tweaked too.
Add: Custom championship:
   Allows to create custom championship, by modifying the number of tracks
   per cup (1 to 5), the tracks used, the number of laps for each track, and
   the mirrored and reversed state.
Mod: Coming along with the global custom support, some entries of the
   custom.ini file that were hidden before are now available directly in
   the [other] section.
   For example: "models\gogo.m" or "levels\frontend\carbox1.bmp".
Mod: Some entries in custom.ini have been renamed:
   - cam_follow_behind_    >> cam_follow_0_
   - cam_follow_close_behind_ >> cam_follow_1_

The new file can be downloaded here

EDIT: updated link

Posted: **15 Oct 2010, 04:50**

Any suggestions on how we could launch a modified version of Re-Volt without having to run WolfR4 and click the 'Run Re-Volt' button? Is there a way to do this already?

Posted: **15 Oct 2010, 06:41**

Fantastic work as usual, and that too in such a short time. I've quickly tested most of the features and they work flawlessly... although the path-length limit could be hard on everyone (imagine many custom.ini files wanting to replace rcbandit with different cars.. all are restricted to 2-letter folder names). I know nothing can be done about it, just mentioning.
And with the new release, the 1207 binary is really upto its max (well, there is that 256 track limit still remaining). But It's fascinating to know all this is really possible and has been done in under an year, 11 years after the game's release. I hope to see a lot of customizations with this new release.

Posted: **15 Oct 2010, 06:45**

Aeon @ Oct 15 2010, 04:50 AM wrote: Any suggestions on how we could launch a modified version of Re-Volt without having to run WolfR4 and click the 'Run Re-Volt' button? Is there a way to do this already?

Well, the modifications can be done only when revolt is running, by a program other than revolt. But you can write a batch script to run WolfR4.exe with the commandlines /autolaunch and /autoquit. That would work.
Also, isn't what you are saying the exact purpose of the v1.2 project?

Posted: **15 Oct 2010, 06:47**

Aeon @ Oct 15 2010, 12:20 AM wrote:Any suggestions on how we could launch a modified version of Re-Volt without having to run WolfR4 and click the 'Run Re-Volt' button? Is there a way to do this already?

But why? You don't like the smart WolfR4's interface???

Anyhow, it has been added in the previous version (Rel.10-09-24).
Command line switches for WolfR4:
/autolaunch : automatically launch Re-Volt when WolfR4 is started.
/autoquit : automatically quit WolfR4 when Re-Volt ends.
/onlineprofile : use online profile by default.

EDIT: oops, Huki was faster...

Posted: **15 Oct 2010, 17:08**

I haven't played for a shameful length of time but thank you for these great updates!

I'm looking forward to getting back on RVHouse and trying this out properly..

BBIAB!

Posted: **15 Oct 2010, 20:01**

Great to see a new update around! I have some questions related to the global custom.ini file tho.

Changelog wrote:Add: Global custom support:
If you place a custom.ini file in the '#' directory, and select it in the
'Global custom' entry ('Custom tracks' tab), it will be applied as long as
Re-Volt is running.
- This file can be renammed to anything (it is even recommended), as long
as you keep the .ini extension and as it is placed in the '#' directory
(it allows to have several global custom files available).
- It is of course compatible with custom tracks. For a given track, if an
entry is used both in the global custom file and in the track's custom
file, the track's custom entry is used.

- Could you give some examples of when the global custom.ini file is useful?
- If I understand right, the global custom.ini will add all entries that isn't inside a custom track's *.ini file? Or will only the track's custom.ini file apply when the custom track is loaded?
- To me it sounds like this just as well could replace the 512 patch, since I could just add the 512 entry in the global custom.ini file instead?

Looking forward to try the rest of the features out

EDIT:

Suggestion: A track picture's resolution
It could be very useful for me, if the following entries under [textures] in the custom.ini file could be added:

- an entry for a track's picture (the gfx)
- an entry for the loading.bmp (useful in the global.ini)

I will then be able to totally use entries to control the resolution of the Re-Volt textures without the need for the 512patch. This will among other things, help me clean up the custom tracks list in WolfR4 as well as the individual custom.ini files. What is your opinion about that?

Posted: **16 Oct 2010, 01:48**

@Urnemanden

>> Could you give some examples of when the global custom.ini file is useful?
- The most comlete example would be something like the Artic Blast mod.
- For custom championship, obviously.
- But I also remember a Toyeca patch, where all stock cars have been replaced by toyecas. This could also be done on the fly with global custom.
- It could also be used just to provide a new frontend, or to replace the HUD items or the menu frames, etc.
- To modify texture size, like the Patch 512.

>> If I understand right, the global custom.ini will add all entries that isn't inside a custom track's *.ini file? Or will only the track's custom.ini file apply when the custom track is loaded?
The global custom is applied first. It can then be overwritten by a track's custom file, but when the track is unloaded, the previous value should be restored (if they were patched by gobal custom, they will be restored to this patched state).

>> - To me it sounds like this just as well could replace the 512 patch, since I could just add the 512 entry in the global custom.ini file instead?
The patch 512 will always be more complete that even enabling all texture size entries in the gobal custom file.
But as it is more flexible, using the global custom is a valuable option to the 512 patch.
Also, keep in mind that the 512 file patch remains applied even if you launch re-volt without WolfR4, while the global custom is only applied in memory.

>> an entry for a track's picture (the gfx)
Yes, I have not updated the texture section of the custom.ini file now that it can be used as 'global'. I'll probably add it.

>> an entry for the loading.bmp (useful in the global.ini)
It's already available with the 'texture_size_font_loading_spru' entry.

>> [... custom.ini / 512patch ... ] What is your opinion about that?
I think it's ok. Anyway, keep me informed if you get any trouble doing this.

Posted: **16 Oct 2010, 04:13**

A very quick new release to add some texture entries in custom.ini that were missing now that global custom is supported.

Changelog wrote:* Rel.10-10-16
Add: New entries in custom.ini file, section [texture]:
  texture_size_cars, texture_size_carboxes and texture_size_gfx entries.
  They were of no use for custom tracks, but now they could be used in
  global customs.

The last release is available here.

Posted: **16 Oct 2010, 13:27**

Thanks for acting that fast! I just have one question, tho. The custom.ini file says:

custom.ini wrote: ; This file has to be placed in the target track directory for CUSTOM TRACK
; support, or in the '#' directory for GLOBAL CUSTOM support.

Is there any support for cars as well? I have 1 car with the 512 resolution textured among all the other stock cars, and that unfortunately prevents me from not using the 512 patch just yet. What are your plans about adding basic custom support for cars? Sorry if I am requiring too much of you. Converting from using the 512patch to no patch at all just makes me run into quite a few obstacles, heh.

Thanks for the explanation of what the global custom.ini file is useful for. It actually makes it possible for me to use the original Re-Volt with WolfR4 and the unsupported revoltH.exe Huki and you are working on, because I can redirect all 512 resolution textures used mainly to the \#\ folder instead.

Posted: **16 Oct 2010, 14:20**

Testing the Global custom.ini
Since it was hard for me to gain an overview of what I need to do in order to clean up the mess with all the custom.ini files, I decided to start out from a fresh. So I renamed my old Re-Volt folder to have it as a backup, ripped off the frontend music and played it while I installed a fresh copy from my Re-Volt CD.

After unpacking the latest version of WolfR4 and preparing the global custom.ini file as well as the extra 512 resolution files, I did a test launch of Re-Volt without the global custom.ini file applied. Did a short race on Supermarket 2 and everything was fine, except I got 4th.

Then I choosed my custom.ini file at the Custom Tracks tab and tried launch it. But Re-Volt keeps crashing while loading frontend and with no error except the usual "revolt.exe has stopped working." from Windows 7. I double-checked the entries and everything seems right. I don't have anything but the stock cars and the stock tracks installed.

WolfR4 Log wrote: 10:41:58. WolfR4 startup. (release: 2010-10-16)
10:41:58. Frequency of the high-resolution performance counter: 2208027 (recommended shifting value: 1)
10:41:59. << Examining global customs
10:41:59. 1 global customs found >>
10:41:59. << Examining Tracks
10:41:59. 19 tracks found (0 hidden, 0 custom, 0 stunt, 0 battle) >>
10:42:03. << Re-Volt is launched.
10:42:03. Loading Global Custom data: 512 Res
10:42:14. Re-Volt track loading detected: Frontend
10:42:19. Re-Volt has ended. >>

Download "WolfR4.ini" here

Download "512 Res.ini" here

Posted: **16 Oct 2010, 15:43**

These 3 lines cause crash in frontend (and maybe in all other tracks too).

texture_size_carboxes
texture_size_cars
texture_size_gfx

The bug exists in the previous version too.

And yes, custom.ini support (with atleast 512 and camera look/pos entries) for induvidual cars would be nice.

Posted: **16 Oct 2010, 18:58**

That's right, I have missed to shift the offsets by one byte for the 3 new entries in custom.ini... Thanks for pointing it out, guys.
It's fixed now, and I have also added a new entry for "texture_size_shadow".

Changelog wrote:* Rel.10-10-16
* Updated release
Add: New entries in custom.ini file, section [texture]:
  - texture_size_shadow
Fix: Previously added entries (texture_size_cars, texture_size_carboxes and
  texture_size_gfx) were crashing Re-Volt.

The fixed release is still available from here.

Posted: **16 Oct 2010, 19:42**

urnemanden @ Oct 16 2010, 08:57 AM wrote: [... about global custom.ini ...] because I can redirect all 512 resolution textures used mainly to the \#\ folder instead.

That could indeed be a good idea.

But don't expect support for custom cars, even basic, it is just likely to be impossible or too complicated.
Tracks and cars are not managed the same way. Tracks are loaded one by one, we can know at a given time which is the active track and do the consequent modification. But cars are loaded as a whole, and I can't patch the loading function, because values would not be the same for each cars. Or it would mean that WolfR4 is able to detect fast enough which car is currently being loaded, and that sounds impracticable...

Posted: **16 Oct 2010, 22:14**

Got my global custom.ini file working again, thanks for fixing it!

Jigebren wrote: But cars are loaded as a whole, and I can't patch the loading function, because values would not be the same for each cars.

Does that mean that we neither can do specific gfx texture sizes? It would be nice to add a custom entry to the global custom.ini file, that tells to load the 512version of the track's gfx. That would require custom entries tho.

Posted: **19 Oct 2010, 00:36**

urnemanden @ Oct 16 2010, 05:44 PM wrote:
Jigebren wrote: But cars are loaded as a whole, and I can't patch the loading function, because values would not be the same for each cars.
Does that mean that we neither can do specific gfx texture sizes? It would be nice to add a custom entry to the global custom.ini file, that tells to load the 512version of the track's gfx. That would require custom entries tho.

I'm not sure I exactly get what you mean, but if you actually ask about having a per track gfx texture size, it is indeed impossible. The track custom data is applied only once the track is selected, not each time a track is pre-selected (and the gfx image is displayed during pre-selection). The gfx texture size can be modified globally though, for all gfx.

Posted: **19 Oct 2010, 00:38**

Just to inform you that I have updated the WolfR4 page.
It is now up to date with the last release (2010-10-16), and each feature should be documented.
If you find any mistake, misspelling, unclear or missing info, please don't hesitate to inform me.

Posted: **19 Oct 2010, 03:29**

Related to the gfx sizes, thanks for clearing that out. If I just keep all gfx textures inside the actual \gfx\ folder at 256x256 size I would neither have compatibilty problems when running Re-Volt without WolfR4 activated. It would be nice if I could make Re-Volt load all the gfx'es from a new path, like with the loading.bmp, spru.bmp and the rest of the files listed under [other] in the custom.ini. I would in that case be able to have 512 resolution gfx'es loaded and only when WolfR4 is activated.

I have a little bug to report as well. When launching from lobby, the Quit button seems to be improperly placed compared to the rest of the buttons. The picture below should explain the issue:

I am very glad that you keep your website up to date. The documentation is a lot more clear than reading all these forums posts, and it might even confuse me from time to time how some features like the /autolaunch and the rest of the commands work. Thank you!

Posted: **19 Oct 2010, 08:57**

Thanks, the last release is well documented.

And speaking of /autolaunch, it doesn't work for me. I tried with shortcut (My target box: "D:\Games\Acclaim Entertainment\Re-Volt\WolfR4.exe" /autolaunch) and through command prompt. The other 2 commandlines work fine.
Also, I thought a commandline to start wolf minimized would go well along with /autolaunch and /autoquit..

Posted: **19 Oct 2010, 18:26**

@Urne
About custom "gfx\" location, I'll add it, but first I have to modify a bit my code to be able to easily add it to the [other] section. But only 4 chars will be available instead of "gfx"...
The Quit button issue is fixed now.

@Huki
/autolaunch was indeed not working, it's fixed now.
That could explain why Urne had difficulties to find out how it works.

Thanks for reporting, guys. I'll probably release the fixed version very soon, unless you find some other bugs...

Posted: **20 Oct 2010, 07:39**

Here is the fixed release.
I have fixed the Quit button and the /autolaunch bugs.
The custom.ini file has been layout modified a bit, and I have added 2 entries, for the gfx image and the track's texture path.

Changelog wrote:* Rel.10-10-20
Fix: Glitch with the Quit button when launching from a lobby client.
Fix: /autolaunch switches was not working.
Add: New entries in custom.ini: "gfx\%s.bmp" and "levels\%s\%s%c.bmp":
  Respectively modify the path to the track's gfx image and to the level's
  textures.
Mod: Some entries in the custom.ini file have been renamed:
  - train_wheel_offsets? -> train_wheel?_offset
  - car??_shadow_pos   -> shadow_pos_car??
  - car??_shadow_tex   -> shadow_tex_car??

You can download it here.

Posted: **20 Oct 2010, 17:34**

Custom GFX Path
I've been testing the feature out and it seems to work just fine! The only thing I could point out would be that even tho you load the global custom.ini through WolfR4, the gfx shown in the custom tracks tab still shows the gfx from \gfx\ (and not the location you specified yourself). But thanks for this feature, now I got a fully working Re-Volt folder with no need of having two Re-Volts installed on the same hard disk!

Posted: **20 Oct 2010, 18:00**

>> the gfx shown in the custom tracks tab still shows the gfx from \gfx\ (and not the location you specified yourself)
That's right. I think I won't modify it, as it would make the WolfR4 code more complex and I'm not sure it's worth it, but thanks for pointing it out.

I also have a question.

Remember you've said that:

urnemanden @ Oct 16 2010, 08:57 AM wrote: [... about global custom.ini ...] because I can redirect all 512 resolution textures used mainly to the \#\ folder instead.

The first time I read it, it seemed obvious, but now I wonder how you did that, and I can't figure it out... I feel something is escaping me (in fact, what I mean is: how did you do without the new "levels\%s\%s%c.bmp" entry?).

Posted: **20 Oct 2010, 18:25**

Good question, you make me wonder why I said that too. I guess I meant only the gfx'es, since I mainly use 1.2A for testing purposes through stock tracks.

Talking about the "levels\%s\%s%c.bmp" entry, I have a question btw. Is it possible to keep the textures in the same folder, but with a different name like you can do with the textures located inside \#\?

And then the last thing. Have you considered a way to modify the difficulty for custom tracks before? I think we discussed it earlier, but I can't seem to find it in the WolfR4 topic.

I was going to ask you about another thing too, but now I seem to have forgotten it.

EDIT:
I still can't remember it. Well, anyways.

Another question related to "levels\%s\%s%c.bmp". This kinda forces me to create 512 re-sizements of all 256 resolution textures, if used globally, doesn't it?

Posted: **20 Oct 2010, 22:41**

urnemanden @ Oct 20 2010, 01:55 PM wrote:Talking about the "levels\%s\%s%c.bmp" entry, I have a question btw. Is it possible to keep the textures in the same folder, but with a different name like you can do with the textures located inside \#\?

Ah, I get it now (I didn't understand the question at first reading). So, as only one char can be added, you could use something like this:
levels\%s\_%s%c.bmp
An rename the 512 textures with a preceding "_" char (for example "_nhood1a.bmp" / "_nhood1a.bmq").

<edit>
Or there is something more tricky, I'm not sure it will work as is, but it's worth trying. If you use this:
levels\%s\%s%c.bmo
the .bmo extension should be used for 512x textures, and the .bmp extension should normally be used for mipmap 2 (256x textures), .bmq for mipmap 3 (128x textures, if you have enabled 3 levels of mipmaps).
If this line work, it would be the more efficient way to proceed IMO (because no need to duplicate the 256x and 128x textures, and when WolfR4 is not used, the .bmp file (regular 256x texture) is used).
</edit> I have removed this, as in fact it can not work: the last letter of the texture file extension will always be set to "p" by revolt, no matter what is used in the "levels\%s\%s%c.bmp" entry in custom.ini.

And then the last thing. Have you considered a way to modify the difficulty for custom tracks before? I think we discussed it earlier, but I can't seem to find it in the WolfR4 topic.

I don't understand... What is track difficulty?

Another question related to "levels\%s\%s%c.bmp". This kinda forces me to create 512 re-sizements of all 256 resolution textures, if used globally, doesn't it?

If you use it globally, I think so. But it should rather be possible to use this entry for each 512 track only (though I'm not sure yet it will work with custom tracks).

Posted: **21 Oct 2010, 02:12**

Related to difficulity, I've taken a screenshot of it here.

I'll test out the bmp/bmo thing later, it could be a really interesting feature when it comes to backwards compatibility (if it works)!

EDIT: Oh, I see. In that case "_" might be able to do it as well.

Posted: **21 Oct 2010, 04:28**

Ah I see, the displayed track difficulity... I have never noticed this info before.

Well, it could probably be modifed, but involving a dedicated procedure like for the Stunt or Battle Tag support, and probably a dedicated file (usually, the custom.ini file is applied only after the track is selected, while this kind of modification would have to be done once for all at re-volt startup for each user track). I don't feel like adding so much code for just an informative feature...

About the world textures path, I have tried with "levels\%s\_%s%c.bmp" for a single track, and it was apparently working nicely (I was able to use 1024x textures for NHood1 track only, instead of default 512x without custom.ini).

Posted: **21 Oct 2010, 23:57**

Great to hear, as soon as I have transfered all custom tracks to this new fresh install, I'll begin making them "backwards compatible".

I decided to go try out the custom championship feature as I love racing championships compared to offline single racing. Test results will come later, but for now I have one question related to user tracks tho. Why is some tracks placed in the end of the alphabetically ordered user track list, tho they start with a totally different letter (I am not referring to small/capital letters in this case)?

Posted: **22 Oct 2010, 03:48**

Custom championships is the feature that stands out most to me. I am trying to accumulate a full set of cars and tracks for either FutureCars or a replacement of all stock cars and tracks with a similar RC theme. There are annoyingly few good RC cars in both looks and params though.

Posted: **22 Oct 2010, 04:04**

The custom championship feature is a bit buggy, if not working at all, heh. I seem to be unable to control mirror/reversed/normal at all and Re-Volt sets the track to Reversed Mirrored no matter what combination of 0 and 1 I use in the global custom.ini.

Important files like the *.taz and *.fan seems neither to be actually loaded as the AI repositions all the time. I'm neither able to control how many laps, not talking about even finishing a race.

Sorry for being harsh, I guess what I am trying to tell is that the custom championship somehow is quite buggy. Or perhaps it could be me messing around too much with the tracks too. To get positive again tho, I am so glad that WolfR4 doesn't actually seem to "replace" the stock tracks, rather just change the paths. I had a crash once while trying to load the first track in my custom championship, but no harm was done at all!

I'll send you a pack of files if you feel like finding out what's going on. I might be able to fiddle around with it myself tomorrow too tho.

Posted: **22 Oct 2010, 04:23**

urnemanden @ Oct 21 2010, 07:27 PM wrote:...but for now I have one question related to user tracks tho. Why is some tracks placed in the end of the alphabetically ordered user track list, tho they start with a totally different letter?

Because the track's folder name is not begining with the same letters than the track's name.
For example, "Toyworld Aquatica" is in folder "AquaVolt", and will thus be at the beginning of the list, close to "ACMO Bitume" for example, which uses "AMCO_bitume" as folder name.
That why I would recommend to always use a folder name close to the track name, at least for the beginning of the name (you can use the Track Renamer in WolfR4 to do that easily).

And about custom championship being buggy, it's very possible, and I understand your frustration. I told you I have quite not tested any new feature (sorry, it's too long, I can't do both development and testing). I have tried to replace one track and its properties, and it worked. But I may have done other modifications afterward (as I did quite a lot of code cleanup/add/improvement lately).
And it's not harsh at all to tell me that something doesn't work, as that's the reason why I ask for feedback...
I'll take a look, and if I can't find anything, maybe I'll need your pack of files.
EDIT: Ok, I think I have found the bug (a missing step in offset values). It should be fixed soon.

@Aeon
About the too few good RC themed cars, it's so true, unfortunately. About Custom championships, it seems that you'll have to wait a bit...

But I hope it will work perfectly soon...

Posted: **22 Oct 2010, 05:59**

Have you ever seen a so small Changelog?

Changelog wrote:* Rel.10-10-22
Fix: Setting tracks properties in custom championship was buggy.

Well, as you may have noticed, I have recently decided to quickly release all main bugfixes. In fact, I have no reason to wait any longer, as I there is no new features pending. The main goal now is to have a bug free usable WolfR4 version...

So, thanks to Urne's report, custom championship should be working nicely now. But keep in mind that once again, I have not tested it thoroughly...

This release can be downloaded here.

Posted: **22 Oct 2010, 20:42**

The custom championship feature is quite funny to play with and there doesn't seem to be any bugs of just as huge importance as before, left. I do have one bug of normal priority tho, which is related to sounds on custom tracks. They do not play during the championship which makes tracks like Rooftops less interesting.

Suggestion: Custom Track Requests
Since all user global custom.ini files may vary, I was wondering if a request system could be used for custom tracks who needs a specific entry in the global .ini file in order to work properly.

As an example, take a custom Frontend. To my knowledge you must make it replace the original frontend, which can either be done manually or through the global custom.ini. If WolfR4 could prompt the user with a similar message as the one below, it would perhaps make things much easier for new users.

Imagination wrote:Sakura-Frontend wants to add entries to the global custom.ini with the reason: "Adding entries is required to activate the Sakura Frontend".
Allow/Deny - Do not show this message again.

Posted: **23 Oct 2010, 06:40**

urnemanden @ Oct 22 2010, 04:12 PM wrote:[...] I do have one bug of normal priority tho, which is related to sounds on custom tracks. They do not play during the championship which makes tracks like Rooftops less interesting.

It was quite a nasty bug. I have had to examine the memory in real-time to find it out... And in fact, it's just a simple upper/lower case issue. Re-volt uses upper case internally for user tracks folder name, and exact case for stock tracks, and to detect stock track's sfx, it does a case sensitive comparison. That's why it doesn't work, just because the case doesn't match.

The good new is that there is a simple workaround, before I fixed it automatically in WolfR4: In the [tracks] section of the custom.ini file, just set all track's dir entry to UPPER case. For example:
track00_dir = ROOFTOPS ; default = NHood1

About Suggestion: Custom Track Requests, I'll probably not add it this way. But there is another solution I'm thinking about, though I don't know if I'll add it because of the extra work it implies: it would be to allow multiple global custom files to be used at the same time.
That way, for example, a custom championship file could be used at the same time as a custom frontend, without the need to merge the 2 custom.ini files.
But it means more things to manage, more complex code for global custom, new entries in the WolfR4 interface to manage it, etc. So I can't promise anything.

Posted: **23 Oct 2010, 12:34**

jigebren @ Oct 21 2010, 02:53 PM wrote: @Aeon
About the too few good RC themed cars, it's so true, unfortunately. About Custom championships, it seems that you'll have to wait a bit... But I hope it will work perfectly soon...

I'm in no hurry. I have very little free time for Re-Volt so any progress I make is slow at best. Plenty of time for bug testing.

Posted: **01 Nov 2010, 17:33**

I got the championship feature working fully now! Thanks for the work-around, Jig, when there is enough bugfixes I hope you'll release the fix for it as well.

I still haven't come through Bronze Cup, but that's because of Re-Volt crashes when reaching Dark Park. As usual, no error log was created, but then I tested it out with the DEV version mode applied, and Windows created the following dump files:

WER17D7.tmp.appcompat.txt

WER17D7.tmp.mdmp

And just a general question, is these kind of dump file useful for a developer in order to fix a bug at all? These were created by the error reporting system on Win7.

Posted: **01 Nov 2010, 20:06**

Urnemanden wrote:I got the championship feature working fully now! Thanks for the work-around, Jig, when there is enough bugfixes I hope you'll release the fix for it as well.

I have implemented the fix about upper case track name just yesterday.
And this week I was working on the global custom feature. Upcoming version will have a new tab dedicated to global custom, as it will be now possible to use simultaneously as much global customs as needed (each one being easily activated/deactivated in a list).
When releasing a custom championship, once the global custom file is placed in the '#' directory, the end user will just have to activate it (no need to merge the content with any already existing global custom...).

I may release it soon. But if you're eager to test it now

I can make a WIP version available (without readme, etc.).

>> And just a general question, is these kind of dump file useful for a developer in order to fix a bug at all?
I though it could be, so I have downloaded the windows debugger from here, but when I try to load your files, it sends me a message about a directory not found (of course, it doesn't say me the directory name, it would be too simple...). Maybe it could be usefull when used directly on your computer, but unfortunately I can't get no info from them.

Posted: **04 Nov 2010, 01:02**

Here is the new WolfR4 release.

I have fixed the upper case issue when a stock track is replaced by a custom track that uses custom sounds.

But the main new feature is the support of multiple global customs (ie. several global customs can now be activated simultaneously). Global customs can also be activated/deactivated /modifed on the fly (while Re-Volt is running), you'll just have to press the Refresh button to actually apply the modifications (and wait until re-volt reloads the modifed ressources of course).

It may no sounds obvious, but this brings very interesting new possibilities, like a way to directly supply a custom championship or a Re-Volt mod without having to modify the current user's global custom file. The end user will just have to check/uncheck the global custom to activate/deactivate totally the custom championship or the mod...

Changelog wrote:* Rel.10-11-03
Add: Multiple Global custom support:
   Global Customs support has its own dedicated tab.
   - Several global customs can now be activated simultaneously (only ticked
   items in the list will be apllied to Re-Volt).
   - Notice that when an entry is used in several global custom files, the
   global customs being at the bottom will have priority.
   - After you have modifed (and saved) a global custom ini file, you have to
   refresh the list so that the content of the file is read again by WolfR4
   (use the button with the green arrows). If Re-Volt is currently running,
   it will be updated as well.
   - it's now possible to activate or deactivate any global custom even when
   Re-Volt is running, but you have to use the Refresh button (with the green
   arrows) to actually apply the modifcation.
Fix: In [tracks] section of the custom.ini file, all trackNN_dir entries are
   automatically set to uppercase internally (otherwise custom sounds can't
   work for tracks that substitute for stock tracks).
Mod: Several minor updates and fixes. In the Tracks tab, the refresh button is
   now using an icon instead of text. I have also redrawn a new fullscreen
   icon.

This release can be downloaded from here.

Posted: **04 Nov 2010, 03:22**

Thanks for the new update Jig, I just got one or two questions.

- How do I write a description to a global custom.ini?

Changelog wrote:     - Notice that when an entry is used in several global custom files, the
    global customs being at the bottom will have priority.

- At the bottom? Is that logical? (at the top = top priority heh

)

I also have a suggestion. Since I use my laptop screen at school and a monitor at home, it sometimes annoys me that I have to keep changing screen resolution. It would be nice with some auto-detection on that point, even tho this of course is just a request for a work-around of something as simply as changing resolution and applying screen ratio. God, sounds like I'm getting lazy.

Posted: **04 Nov 2010, 18:53**

>> How do I write a description to a global custom.ini?
You'll easily find it by generating a new default custom file.

Just add/edit the key "desc" in the first section (before the [custom_version_extension] section).

>>>> Notice that when an entry is used in several global custom files, the global customs being at the bottom will have priority.
>> At the bottom? Is that logical? (at the top = top priority heh)
In fact, it does make sense if you take it the other way: the last files in the list will be the last to be applied (it also sounds logical...), so they will overwrite the previous ones.
And it you add a new file, it is be added at the end of the list, but it is likely that you want this last file to have priority, no?
But I'm still wondering what is the best choice... I may change the priority order if the "top in the list = top priority" solution sounds really more sensible.

I'll think about the auto resolution mode. If it's not too complicated, I may add something for that. But about screen ratio, as it's a file patch (not a memory patch), I don't think I will make it automatically applied...

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