New Bone Structure

[rewrew421]

We need modelers to jump on board and make LODs

least thats the way i understand it.

[wheels1758]

We need modelers to jump on board and make LODs

least thats the way i understand it.

LOD's wouldn't be a solution to texture loading.

BUT!

We do need some quality LOD's for the HD wheels. Unfortunately, the skins for them were not created with LOD's in mind, so they will have to be edited to work well with LODs. Otherwise, they just look like Motard wheels.

[jlv]

I definitely plan on making some new wheels.

For the texture switching, I could sort the bike models by texture before drawing them to reduce the number of switches. Already doing that to a certain extent with the billboards, although those have the restriction of requiring back to front drawing order which limits the amount of sorting that can be done. For the statues it draws in the order that they're listed in the statues file, so it's up to the track maker to sort by texture there.

[wheels1758]

I definitely plan on making some new wheels.

For the texture switching, I could sort the bike models by texture before drawing them to reduce the number of switches. Already doing that to a certain extent with the billboards, although those have the restriction of requiring back to front drawing order which limits the amount of sorting that can be done. For the statues it draws in the order that they're listed in the statues file, so it's up to the track maker to sort by texture there.

How big of a difference would it make if the rider model was split into sections (boots, pants, jersey, gloves) and each section used a smaller texture? Would the smaller texture size make up for the texture switch, or is texture switching more "costly" than a higher res texture?

Granted, this would force the current rider models to be re-done!

[barrington314]

Granted, this would force the current rider models to be re-done!

im sure the creators wouldnt mind doing something that will take the game towards a better direction.

splitting jersey and pants seems a bit too much. gloves almost seem like too much as well. but neck brace and boots would be legit.

[jlv]

How big of a difference would it make if the rider model was split into sections (boots, pants, jersey, gloves) and each section used a smaller texture? Would the smaller texture size make up for the texture switch, or is texture switching more "costly" than a higher res texture?

Doesn't seem to matter. Surprisingly, even converting "bind_texture(tid)" to "if (tid != current_tid) bind_texture(tid)" is a big win if you're binding the same texture often.

Also, I don't want to imply that breaking it up will completely destroy the framerate or anything. I doubt it would ever be more than 10% slower. It just seems like a silly thing to waste any performance on. The way it is now your gear all matches and there are no performance penalties. It's win win.

[Shadow]

But I don't want a matching gear.

Seriously, the ability to mix and match gear/gloves/boots/goggles/lenses would be a welcome one just for the fact that it would remove dozens and dozens of duplicate skins with the only difference being different colored boots.

[barrington314]

But I don't want a matching gear.

Seriously, the ability to mix and match gear/gloves/boots/goggles/lenses would be a welcome one just for the fact that it would remove dozens and dozens of duplicate skins with the only difference being different colored boots.

exactly. i think customization is a big factor in a game. altho i think going as far as goggles lenses is a little much. id be happy with neck brace and boots. so many gear choices out there, but most have neck braces. i dont like them on my gear. or hypothetically, how i just did my gear and release it, and someone releases some sick gaerne boots or the JS7 nike boots that i wish i could have used instead. get my point.
sure this doesnt really matter for teams because, well, they are a team and are going to release a whole package and everyone will see them how they want to be seen anyways. but for the single individual i think this would be really nice and well used.