Race Track Builder News

Finally the feature 2 people have been waiting 4 years for.

Import tracks from kml/kmz files (produced using Google Earth) or from data stored in CSV (Comma Separated Values) files. This allows coordinates in Longitude/Latitude optionally with Height captured via GPS device to be loaded into Race Track Builder.

But it’s better than the old BTB import. With the Google API enabled, the tracks are automatically given height information. For performance reasons, the Tracks are also automatically split into many smaller tracks and seamlessly joined.

See Support\GPS\ folder for examples.

Video tutorial coming soon.

This is currently only in Beta version and the Beta version is still Beta because I’m not getting enough/any feedback to indicate it’s working. There’s been a few minor fixes too so I expect it’s more stable than the main release. I’d be delighted if more people responded to say that it’s working, or report any bugs. Once I am confident that the Beta is working well we’ll release this too all.

Please give feedback. Please.

https://steamcommunity.com/app/388980/discussions/0/1639789306539445143/

The next version of RTB is still in development. This version is mostly around separating the Google Maps and Height functions into two plugins that can be swapped out for other plugins. This will enable us to move away from using Google and those clever enough will be able to develop their own plugins to use with RTB. Height Maps and Laser Data anyone? 😊

Another related improvement I have made is the ability to load the Google image on a background thread, so you can start working on the laying out of the track, walls, objects whilst it gathers all the images. This also lays the foundation for adding more than one Google image to your project – something I’ll add in a future release.

As usual I have underestimated how much work has been required to extract these functions into plugins and then change the RTB interface to support. I also over-estimated how much spare time I have so things are taking longer than expected (or as expected if you know me well enough).

The result will be worth it though I am sure. Once done with this (dare I mention it) I’ll start to work on adding the long-desired Bezier Spline with control points that some people can’t live without. 😊

Fixed Bug : FBX failed to initialise when people had interesting names with funky characters in them.

- Added: Terrain point Edit tool.
- Added: Context menu to Fetch Points from Google again (if they were manually moved).
- Added: Hide Tracks checkbox on main toolbox.
- Added: Context menu to Delete Track/Wall Shape/Points.
- Added: Context menu to Smooth selected Track Nodes.
- Added: Hold D when lassoing Nodes in Tracks/Walls to deselect.
- Added: Hold D when lassoing Points in Tracks/Walls cross-sections to deselect.
- Added: Terrain "Lock Track Nodes" will keep Track Nodes in fixed position whilst raising/lowering/flattening points.
- Added: Backups of the Venue.bin file are created in the "[YourProject]\backups\" folder when saving. See Options for Backup Count.
- Improved: Interface no longer prevents user interaction (momentarily freezes) whilst flagging grounded objects.
- Improved: Flagging end node of a joined track as Grounded will also flag the other node of the joined track.
- Improved: Walls are flaged for calculation less often (more efficiently).
- Improved: String Objects that are Grounded and Tilted use faster hit-test.
- Improved: Google Fetches height data, then updates in larger batches to avoid triggering the recalculation too often.
- Fixed: Rendering of non-AC Terrain when Target set to AC would cause some rendering artifacts.
- Fixed: Couldn't open any Venue after attempting to open one with a missing texture.
- Fixed: Grounding Node for String Objects and Walls wouldn't take effect until next calculate.
- Fixed: Prevent project from being create with non-ascii characters in the path. Autodesk FBX SDK can't handle them.
- Fixed: Terrain wireframe not rendering at some angles on high areas.
- Fixed: Setting Wall LOD Out value not working.
- Fixed: Allow Venue to load when String Object is missing.
- Fixed: Straight Wall with multiple Surfaces not calculating correctly.
- Fixed: Rotate Wall Material not working when selection performed in particular order.
- Other: Updated FBX library to latest version from Autodesk in hope it would fix non-ascii character issue - it didn't.

v1.5.1.0 now includes the following:
- Improved: MASSIVE speed improvements for cutting calculations. Calculation time for cutting of Tracks into Terrain have been reduced by between 60-88%; into other Tracks by around 50%. Actual results will vary depending on the size and detail of your Venue and your PC.
- Improved: Terrain Raise/Lower calculation speed improved.
- Improved: Terrain Raise/Lower caps the height during each mouse drag to avoid unwanted spikes.
- Improved: SaveAs will now rename an exported AC project to match the new Venue Project name if one exists in the Export folder.
- Added: Object Manipulation - X, Y & Z keys are back working in conjunction with Gizmo.
- Added: Object Manipulation - R, S & T keys toggle Rotatation, Scaling or Translate. Press R, S or T again to exit (Escape works too).
- Added: XPacker can scale object - see Information & Scaling tab. During fbx import it will only ask to scale by 0.01 if 1km or larger in size.
- Fixed: Terrain Reduction Triangle not showing collected triangles.
- Fixed: Terrain being cut by a track when the track was only tagged to cut other tracks.
- Fixed: Exporting only the Start/Finish objects (and nothing else) for AC was failing.
- Fixed: XPacker importing of dae objects.
- Fixed: New walls not showing in toolbar until after a reload when new XPack included.
- Fixed: Track Node visually not updating when Grounded flag updated.
- Fixed: Terrain not being tagged when node moved to cause randomness change in track.
- Fixed: String Object not applying Scale.Y when object was "Verts lowered to Ground" and "Curve with Spline".
- Fixed: String Objects that are negative length (when -ve Space before/after is larger than the object) no longer cause calculation error or cause problem when attempting to export.