Racer beta downloads - Windows
| Home | Racer's beta versions to get to the next full version. |
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REQUIREMENTS
Download latest versions for Windows:
If you have trouble running this version (first try to run racer_nocg.exe if you get errors about 'Cg') you could try the simpler v0.6.5 version; that version does NOT contain the latest bugfixes, physics updates etc, but can be used if you have an old graphics card to check Racer out. With that version though, it's no use trying to make cars / tracks that will work as expected for later beta versions mentioned below.
Older versions
For the daring, sometimes next version partial prereleases are available here.
v0.8.12 (09-07-10)
- Added camera.auto_switch_director_track_cam setting to avoid automatic track/director camera mode switches
By default it's off.
- Lighting/shadowing fixes in shaders (dyn_standard_bump*.cg, dyn_standard_bump_speca*.cg)
- The Baja had some bad shaders (metal parts in car.shd)
- Modeler gave a lot of QLOG errors.
- Modeler ASE imports now show a dialog if too many indices are used in 1 geob.
- Accepting new graphics options would crash Racer
- Added auto-calibration for controls (not too useful for consumer controllers though)
See http://www.racer.nl/tutorial/ctrlset.htm#values
- Shadowmapping now done using a texture atlas instead of a texture array. This for ATI cards.
- On ATI, shadowmaps could not only be a Z-channel. ATI seems to need color buffers.
- More tweaks to get ATI to work better. Our experiments show that alpha_to_coverage is very poorly
supported, but at least shadowmapping seems to work better. nVidia cards recommended.
- sky_daynight*.cg fixed to do the same as sky_*.cg, only with an added night texture.
- Halo effects in shadow mapping improved through the use of Z information
- Added dyn_standard_speca_f.cg shader for 1 texture with specular control using alpha.
- Cg parameter passing in the render engine was cached. Lots faster.
v0.8.11 (02-07-10)
- Added standard_wave_banner_v.g for waving banners, see http://www.racer.nl/tutorial/waving_flag.html#banners
- Skidmark painting more robust (texture usage and render state could cause transparent or black renders)
- Non-Cg version still tried to load shadowmapping Cg shaders when renderer.shadowmapping.enable was 1
- Projected lights intensity back from 1.1 to 0.6( data/renderer/shaders_*/projected_texture_f.cg)
- Default shader_<x>.reflect value is now 1.0 (was 0)
- Modified per shader layer reading of .ambient a little; otherwise the global shader_<x>.ambient
did not default to the global shader_<x>.diffuse. This only really influences non-Cg .shd files.
- dyn_standard_reflect_window_v/f.cg improved to do per-pixel fresnel.
- Reflection shaders fixed to respond to ambient/diffuse more accurately ('diffuse=0 0 0' still gave a shadow).
- The Lambo brakediscs now heat up through an alpha layer, looks better
- shadowmapping.shadowintensity removed - shadows are ambient and need not be softened (would only include false diffuse lighting)
- Shader directories combined into data/renderer/shaders/*. Compilation uses -DCSM for shadowmapped variety.
- Shadowmapping optimized a little bit in the .cg shaders.
v0.8.10 (25-06-10)
- Using Newton 2.22 which fixes bugs in track collision meshes sometimes
- Modified shader sorting a bit - decal objects such as skidmarks on roads should use layer0.depthwrite=0
so that they render AFTER the road itself (which does depthwrite=1)
- Added csm_f.cg which is bloom_shadows_f.cg without bloom (just a bit faster)
- 'reload car' would crash sometimes. Also, 'reload car <name>' now works correctly due to the same issue.
- The 'join game' dialog was invisible (though active)
- Driving in reverse no longer causes the brakes to heat up
- Fixed bug with VBO's which could cause crashes while painting
- Failed DOF loads could cause the next models to be loaded without generating VBO's (slower rendering)
- Added support for DDS files which don't supply all mipmap levels
- LDR no longer supported; the hdr.enable option is gone
- 'strict' mode (dev.strict=1) now also catches shaders without vertex & fragment shaders; v0.9 will require Cg shaders
- Lambo rear wheels were unshaded
- Atmosphere shaders optimized. Also normalized the sun intensity, so special.ini sun.intensity should now be around 1.0!
- Started documenting on how to convert for v0.9, see http://racer.nl/tutorial/updating_v09.htm
- Added 'racer_nocg.exe', which loads track_nocg.shd and car_nocg.shd files instead of track.shd/car.shd
This enables you to provide simple shaders for old machines/cards. See http://racer.nl/tutorial/nocg.htm
- 'show carpoints' now also shows the backfire points
- Added 'envmap.live_track.render_once' to generate a single envmap at start time, then not update it again (for speed)
- Added 'scale' parameter to shaders (shader_<name>.scale) which is passed to Cg shaders
- Added 'standard_mix2_f.cg' for mixing of 2 textures using a control texture. Useful for tracks.
- Also added 'standard_mix1_f.cg' and 'standard_mix2w_f.cg', see http://racer.nl/tutorial/shading_tracks.htm
- Fresnel properties for GPU shaders can now be set: shader<x>.fresnel.bias, scale and power.
See http://racer.nl/reference/shadereng.htm#matglobal
v0.8.9 changes
- Bugfix: lateral damping prediction for the wheels wasn't correct. Could result in laterally shaking cars.
If you still have that (stiff cars mainly), try adding a bit of tire_damping to each wheel. I.e.
tire_rate=200000 -> try tire_damping=2000 (0.01*tire_rate).
- Bugfix: shader global diffuse/ambient (not in the layers) wasn't read in the right order, therefore
setting a global diffuse color, then no ambient color would still result in the ambient color
not taking the diffuse color values (which should happen, so that ambient=diffuse by default).
- standard_heat_f.cg has added passing heat through alpha, so not the entire brake disc has to light up
- Highly improved rain & snow, based on the method used in Project Gotham Racing 4. It does mean that rain & snow are now mutually exclusive.
- Added 'prev_camera' control to switch to previous camera mode (inverse of change_camera, normally key C)
- Added 'thunder <x>' script command to set thunder intensity (only on when it rains as well)
- Skidmarks now adhere to car tire widths.
- Skidmarks use a Cg shaders (shaders_hdr/skidmark_*.cg)
- Dials painting put deeper in the render pipeline to avoid dials disappearing.
- Depthbuffer available as texturemap in postprocessing Cg shaders; see data/renderer/fullscreen_shaders_hdr/show_depth_f.cg Usability still debatable (there are problems with it; multisampling...).
- CSAA support (nVidia cards); see renderer.motion_blur.coverage_samples. Typically use samples=4 and coverage_samples=16 for a view that looks like samples=16 but is almost twice as fast.
- Added renderer.bloom.width and height to set FBO initial size (default is 512x512)
- New engine load calculation (for audio mixing) takes rpm, calculates throttle at which that rpm would be 'idle' and compares to the current throttle. If throttle is really depressed more, load is present.
- Logging group added: 'ai' (set log.groups.ai to 1) for ai_line_delta variable logging.
- Added a console.port_mt multi-threaded socket for external status requests (only for RaceManager-type applications)
- Added cascaded shadowmapping support; set renderer.shadowmapping.enable to 1. Racer then uses data/renderer/shaders_hdr_csm (csm=cascaded shadow mapping). Turn off shadows.project_shadows (set to 0) to lose the old projected shadow
and use fs_filter1=bloom_shadows_f.cg to generate shadows during postprocessing of each frame.
- Added dev.strict; if set to 1, any errors will immediately be fatal once a track or car loads.
- Materials without (Racer) shaders (defined in .shd files) get warned about in QLOG. Strict mode will also trigger on these. Note that future versions of Racer (v0.9.0 final) will probably refuse materials without Cg shaders even.
- Tracked/Modeler revised to use only 1 double-buffered window. Dialogs now all live in the same window.
This will be useful to overlay Racer with regular GUI, enabling future onscreen editing (live shader editing for example).
- Tracked now has direct model information under F4 mode (like 'Information' in Modeler)
- Autoclutch rpm in car.ini can be set to 0; this is then dynamic and tries to attain maximum torque from the engine depending on the amount of throttle. More throttle means the autoclutch rpm is moved towards the rpm at which
the engine generates the most torque.
- Dropped stencil shadow support - it is replaced with shadow mapping.
- Added 'londistlap' logging for group 'position' (useful for detecting lap crossings in external log processing software)
- Added car.ini susp<n>.warplen to define a length used when the car is dropped onto the track. Default is 0, which
calculates a reasonable value ((minlen+maxlen)/2)
- Bugfix in tangent calculation (bumpmap); some tangents were NaN
- Bugfix in DDS loader for the last 2 mipmap levels
- Added 'optimize_dof <file>' script command to optimize DOF files straight from Racer (no need for Modeler for that).
- Added dev.optimize_newton_tree to optionally skip optimization of trackcollision.bin collision trees (development only)
- The console command 'reload car' can now also load a different car, i.e. 'reload car lambomurcielago'
v0.8.8 changes
- Fixed Pacejka loading for MF5.2 - didn't reset all to 0 at initialisation time
- Increased Win7 compatibility; with Aero theme, dialogs would stay hidden behind main window(s).
- Using Alt-Tab to switch applications now longer lets the Alt key hang (needed to press it again to really release)
- Using themes could make black lines appear due to the window's size not being correct. Fixed.
- Added minimap.alpha (defaults to 1) to make minimap semi-transparent.
- Added documentation page in the menu with links
v0.8.7 changes
- Removed dependencies on VC DLL's (static linking) to avoid VC Redistributable download & admin access.
- Bugfix: the implicit wheel integration was not entirely correct. Also expanded to work for non-linear dampers.
Now, dbg_car.susp_implicit_integration=1 is useful again (especially with stiff cars).
- Bugfix: car.ini CG offsets were not entirely correct; using a Z offset resulting in twitchy pitch behavior.
CG handling was revised and the problem is now gone.
- In CG fixing (and changing physics slightly), wing positions are now defined relative to the nullpoint,
rather than CG. This was the last setting that was still relative to the CG, and now everything is relative
to the nullpoint. Does have an effect on all cars with CG away from the nullpoint.
- Implicit wheel integration now also implicitly does spring forces. Also a bug was fixed for sqrt type dampers.
- Baja fixed up some more (some QLOG errors)
- Fixed force feedback 'inertia' force DirectX error (invalid param).
- Added Max2009 exporter (in max/) to the installation
- Added a start of dedicated race server (server.ini); see http://www.racer.nl/tutorial/multiplayer_server.htm
The lobbyserver will reject older Racers than v087 because of the settings it now sets to race.
- New multiplayer.expected_clients_timeout setting to timeout races where not all people connect.
- Lobby improved to show bots.
- The control setup screen now shows controller names instead of an index.
- Control setup now has 'autodetect'. For Logitech G25/G27/MOMO wheels, Wingman Attack 2 (joystick),
Thrustmaster F1 Force Feedback wheel currently, although the G25 is probably off with the buttons
(I only have a G27, MOMO and some others). Please send me data/controls/default.ini for your
controller, plus the name of the controller.
- G25/G27: Default max_torque for FF wheels is now 20Nm (joystick<n>.max_torque); consumer wheels twitch too easily
(saved in data/controls/default.ini)
- Support for the G27 leds (based on car.ini's min_warn_rpm/max_warn_rpm, defaulting to 70%/90% of max_rpm).
- min/max_warn_rpm now based on a car's max_rpm (commented out in data/cars/default/car.ini)
- Added stick friction for controllers; data/controls/default.ini, joystick<n>.stick_friction. For low speed.
- Locked diff still allowed wheel velocities to differ
- Support for GMax MD3 exports (see http://racer.nl/tutorial/gmax.htm) in Modeler.
No bones, just vertices & faces. No normals yet as well.
- Multiplayer server disconnect now also disconnects all clients
- Upgraded to use ENet v1.2.1 for the network middleware
- FBO mirror didn't work correctly when motion_blur.method was 4 (FBO). It also could cause Racer to crash.
- Newton.dll is no longer used; Newton is linked in statically.
- Also upgraded to Newton 2.10. This fixes the world_size problem where cars would get stuck at far-away locations partly.
- Simple car shadow would shake in corners; it now follows the car much better.
- Changed shader_<x>.ambient default; it will now take the diffuse value if not defined.
- Added sun diffuse/ambient etc readouts in Ctrl-2 debug screen.
- Added 'sun diffuse <x>' and 'sun ambient <x>' script commands.
- Using a Cg car on a non-Cg track could result in black (non-Cg) objects (envmapping was taking place it seemed)
- Added best line drawing (F3 toggles this); see also racer.ini:gfx.show_bestline. Based on the first car's AI line.
- Increased the max number of tracks supported in the Track Select screen to 250 (was 50).
- Console now accepts editing of lines while entering commands (left/right)
- Default movable damping was very high; cones got stuck to the car.
- Car selection now has a listbox (and revised with a smaller car)
- Track selection has best-laps removed to make room for a larger listbox
- Experimenting with glFinish() in the timing to get less jerky framebuffer swap behavior (if vsync=0)
- Fixed flares appearing in live track envmap.
- Fixed bug M1: "Live environment mapping for clients in multiplayer events is that of the host."
(last updated July 30, 2010 )