Track editor for Rally-Sport (1996)

novaveganova · Post by **novaveganova** » Fri Nov 04, 2016 9:18 pm

Track editor (RallySportED)
http://personal.inet.fi/muoti/eimuoti/rsed/
https://github.com/leikareipa/rallysported

New tracks
http://personal.inet.fi/muoti/eimuoti/rsed/tracks/

Rally-Sport demo
http://personal.inet.fi/muoti/eimuoti/rsed/rallys.zip

How to get the game running?
DOSBox + cycles=max if you lack a DOS machine.

Quadko · Post by **Quadko** » Mon Nov 07, 2016 10:43 am

Sweet, nice work! Always fun when new editors come out for old games, good job and thanks for posting. I hope you had fun with it!

novaveganova · Post by **novaveganova** » Tue Nov 08, 2016 3:34 pm

Thanks - writing software is work, of course, but what's most fun is playing the game, and more so with inventive new content, so remember to spread word of the editor and that.

Quadko · Post by **Quadko** » Tue Nov 08, 2016 5:34 pm

Oh, a question for curiosity's sake more than actual use - I've never played Rally-Sport in my life.

Do you import external files, like a map in a text file or simple image and convert that to tracks/maps? I was thinking about uses like taking the output from a maze generator or tracing over a google map screenshot of a real location to turn them into game tracks. It's not important, I've just wondered for a long time if that's something useful a racing game editor could do; if fans would like it. Curious if you have any thoughts as a successful map editor author!

Or other things, like "fractally generate plants and hills and other scenery around the track" or stuff like that. I wonder about that on RPG maps, too, obviously.

novaveganova · Post by **novaveganova** » Thu Nov 10, 2016 10:02 am

The editor doesn't allow it, but you can make a program that converts heightmaps to MAASTO files, and the VARIMAA files are just tilemaps. Do that, grab a recurrent neural network, train it on the world's rally courses, and have it make new ones; though like other kinds of 'randomly-generated' tracks, this may still play too much like a design-by-committee, and it may be better to have an algorithm that only subtly alters an existing, hand-made track before each time it's loaded into the game.

Quadko · Post by **Quadko** » Thu Nov 10, 2016 10:35 am

Cool thoughts. I especially like the idea about subtly altering an existing track on each load. If it was just altering seasonal display or moving plants and people around, that'd keep track display fresh.

If it also chose between different curves or track options, that could make it more exciting, too, though that could also be potentially irritating.

Another reason I asked is because I've been reading and playing with the maze generation from this blog and book. Maze isn't racetrack, but is probably adptable... but that's my project, not yours!

novaveganova · Post by **novaveganova** » Sat Nov 12, 2016 1:48 pm

For any that the editor's 3d runs sluggish, let me know your FPS and CPU specs. Might need 3 GHz or so for a fluid good time, but don't know for sure yet.

novaveganova · Post by **novaveganova** » Tue Jan 31, 2017 11:45 am

Some changes to the project. Going for a DOS version of the editor, with a Linux version as a fallback. An early build of the DOS version runs on a fast 386, if not so fast. Neither version will be available for a while, though of course there's no guarantee of availability; in the meantime, grab the game from the link in the first post and test it out. A = forward, Z = backward, , = left, . = right.

novaveganova · Post by **novaveganova** » Mon Apr 17, 2017 10:44 am

The wait is over. One of the best dos programs of our time is out, in the form of rallysported v.1 for dos (and ubuntu). Should run on a fast 386. A 486 or better is recommended.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ldyMvhhDEd0

A github link pointing to the source code was added, see under releases there for info on known issues, and consider building for your operating system.