RaiseHell a écrit :Skubidou, thanks for the explanation. Now I know why on some of the tracks the computer opponents drive like they were drunk. ;-)
With new tracks (created with Max Plugins), each section we cannot recreate ourself correctly (AI, ...) is replaced by the pompeii track section, so cars on new tracks try to follow pompeii path. This is why they are 'drunk'

The map is also the one from pompeii because map is design automatically from the AI paths
RaiseHell a écrit :Some of you said that you don't have enough time and/or interest in working on POD in one or the other way, which I totally understand. We all have a life besides POD. But why not share information with others who are willing to try to improve something? It's not doing any harm and at the end of the day it may be that all of us could benefit from it...
I don't think this (BLx format) is the real problem. Like said by Rob, to have new track, we only need track creators, and this is the problem...
From my point of view, the only protection of POD is its 'unknow' format. Knowing the BLx format, it's easy to modify tracks (delete 'slippery' part of ZED, make easier sortcut, make another Turd car less 'extreme', ...) but i don't think it will help POD or players still playing online (as POD has no protection, you can run on a modified tracks easily : easier shortcut in Azthec, less laps, ... without any problem and not detected by others) I don't know what Bandie and other players still playing online think about this part.
So, simply giving the BLx format to everyone will not help POD (and can destroy it). Allowing everyone to read/modify old tracks will not help POD. But if there is a real project, to make something better (easier), more complete (with AI, ...) than the Max Plugins, i have nothing against that and if Sik and Phoenix agree, i have nothing against sharing informations.
But is there somewhere, someone, with the time and the knowledge to create a complete editor, a plugin, .... knowing that in BLx file, you have to create everything (game engine don't calculate thinks by itself):
- BL4 file only use 256*256 textures, if you want to allow easier editor where the user can put a polygon with a small texture, your editor need to construct complex texture by himslef, and number of texture is limited
- BLx file contain vextex normal, face normal, box containing the sector, sector visibility list, face grip manage on each polygon, ...
- Animated textures are like gifs (time between each texture, ...) and are applied to a poligon (need to know that the animation correspond to the 205th polygon in the 9th sector. So it's difficult to create them if all the process is not included in the editor)
- Lighting for cars (like the one in the Beltane tunnel)? This is not calculated depending of the texture, so you need to precalculate it on the texture, and then configure it in the game (independant of the polygons and textures) to light the cars and mobile objects
And there are still animated objects, sounds objects, sky, lens flare, AI, ...
As you can see, the real problem is not really the BLx format, but the all things that need to be manage by the editor, the plugin. If we didn't go further, it's not because of the file format, but the way to put everything in the plugin to allow 'simple user' to modify them.
And even with an editor, except if you create a wonderfull editor where everything is automatic, WYSYWYG

, the editor will not be easier than the Max plugins, so you will have the same problem...try to find creators ready to spent time to create new tracks. I don't remember how many months SnakeEyes took to make Forest tracks, with all the original tools...
Skubidou:~