[REQ] Game Tools

Krisidious

I'm looking for some interest in building some game tools for a simulator system I'm working with. I feel these tools would be of use to many game builders across many systems and even outside of game building that those in construction and such industries would make use of them.

Here is the company ISI. http://imagespaceinc.com/company.php

Here's the simulator system rFactor 1 and rFactor 2 http://rfactor.net/web/rf2/

Here's the SDK for rF1 http://rfactor.net/web/rf1/devcorner/

Here's the SDK for rF2 http://rfactor.net/web/rf2/devscorner/

I have some specific things I know we need and some ideas, I'm sure some plugin developers would see more ideas in the mix. I'll describe in short the process to get the game built. You devs can consider the possibilities.

Enthusiast wants to race Car X on Track Y.

Build Car X

Enthusiast builds model of car.
UV unwraps car
textures car.
make high and low poly versions of car. and textures.
slices car up into various pieces
exports car to proprietary file format .gmt or .acd etc.
combines many .gmts into a full car.
exports car model to the sim.
read key XYZ points on the car to use for suspension and damage and aero files
builds text files for car suspension, engine, damage.
make screen shots for UI of car.
use proprietary file compression to make game files. Mas Extractor/Compactor

Build Track Y

determine track real or fantasy?
real find photos of track.
import and scale track maps.
trace track with polys.
recreate surface of track
texture track with special textures that are the same but have different names, so to assign grip.
build simple, low poly track features, grand stands, buildings, cones and barrels, houses.
add 2D face me people and trees. face me trees are very popular.
texture all of track, buildings, ground and features.
orient track to proper geographic exposure to take advantage of real weather.
export each object as a .gmt.
recombine all objects as scene.
export scene to sim.
use proprietary file compression to make game files. Mas Extractor/Compactor

Test...
Test...
Test...

Repeat until complete.

Here's what I know we need;

Lofting Tool - to combine two polylines with a polygon surface of which the polygon width and length of is easily controlled. ie if I need 4 polys wide and 500 polys long, it will make the proper changes in the mesh to deliver that.

Turn/Banking Transition Control - tracks have precise angles of banking and turning, smoothing control over transitions between the two angles without destroying the angles and predetermined points.
For instance with Talladega you have 5 different degrees of banking that must transition from one to the next in a smooth manner, controlling this while maintaining the shape of the track map and keeping the angles at certain designated points would be fantastic.
image.

90 Degree Follow Me - Tool that will create a wall that follows the track at a 90 degree angle to the surface. components stringing would be nice, but not required.
Subdivision - with purpose, optimizing polys for game use. high poly in some areas, low in others.
LOD creation - A, B, C, and D quality copies of one high poly model. from very good to downright horrible.
UV unwrapping or material ID painting - UV Unwrapping would be great, but Material ID painting, where parts are painted different colors by name so that UV Mapping will be smoother and quicker in the next program. id names will be unique and should follow standard mapping procedure on models, cube, box, cylinder, sphere, projected and mostly car shaped seams to box/cylinder map.
random array along a path - for 2D face me trees or people along the sides of the track.
Car Part Creator - Disc Brakes, Rotors, Tires, Wheels, Springs, Shocks etc.

That's just what I've come up with off the top of my head... I'm sure you guys could think of more ideas and then there is the reverse use, people need to take these models out of the games and then back into a newer game. So reversing this process is valuable too.

Plus, if you give people a way to take sketchup models into this engine, ISI's gMotor... They can show their models in a fairly realistic environment with driving and some animation.

As of now just a few systems are used to bring models into this simulator; 3D Max 2009-2012, SketchUp and Blender. There are also a few stand alone converter/builder systems.

3DSimEd http://www.sim-garage.co.uk/ $45
converts models from one file to another and from one simulator to another.

TrkMaker http://www.sim-garage.co.uk/3dsimed3-download/ Free
builds tracks for older sims.

Bob's Track Builder http://www.bobstrackbuilder.net/ $50
as the name suggests, builds tracks.

http://www.racetrackbuilder.com/ $60 also builds tracks... pretty kool system really. not much use on the track I work on. Ovals.

So? What do you think? Anyone interested in building any of this? Maybe bringing some old stuff together for a pack? If you build it, I'll test it and pimp it....