WIP Beta released A new *CITY* map - LOS INJURUS 2023-12-20

looking forward to the public update as always

 

Finished up a lot of loose ends and things that needed to be done over here.
-Deleted a lot of orange carving guides under the map
-Got rid of a bunch of floaters (floating barriers etc) and finally deleted those large super-duper-sized vertical culverts that I forgot to delete last time
-Added two spawn points (areas shown below) in the new area labeled SHORESIDE N and S so folks can find it easier - that's the temporary name of the little town that's getting built

-Finished up striping the long concrete road that winds it's way out here ... some very very high detail textures here as witnessed in the 3rd shot close-up

--Added a small parking area and finished up some more curbing here in-front of one of the homes.

--Finished adding the last of the chevrons in the median for the last two miles of newly re-done expressway.

--Finished adding in the last of the new road that will connect two road-stubs that weren't connected to anything, this helps continuity in exploring the new areas (if a little hastily thrown-together).
AI has been added here and it should be able to drive from one end to the other without issue. It's decently smoothed - but I didn't spend the usual 'hours' carving the section done today.

Arrow boards (the lit-up kind in the last picture) have been used to make sure folks know that roads aren't finished and that they should take another route, being placed on or adjacent to the road.
--The dirt road pictured was the old alignment of the route. I made sure it was driveable and is there for the sake that the road used-to be there, I don't believe it has AI right yet.

--Also, in-case I forgot to put it in yesterday; the transition to the train tunnel from raised rail will no longer eat the car if you try to jump a vehicle down into it.

A few little odds and ends here and there got done too. Any loose decal roads laying about (they resemble stickers on the terrain) might be near unfinished areas, those will stay as I'll need them later on in development. No point in trying to perfect the unfinished product only to cost me more time later - but I piled them up in-order to minimize the spaces they mangle. Needless to say I'm glad the map progress has gotten this far, and that soon you folks will be enjoying this also. The new highway miles are worth the update alone for those using the last public version, but there's so, so, SO much more than that.
I have to script in the two new spawn points. Small version update to the text info, and some graphics to put in for the spawn points, and it's ready to go.
Please keep in mind that when the public update comes, I don't know if the description will update at the same time as the file will. The file update will likely come first when the title changes, and the description / pics for the mod will be updated at a later date, whenever I have a moment.
As always, those who support this project get the updates first. So, sign up on the Patreon if you can possibly afford to do so without causing undo harm to you / your lifestyle. Again for those who aren't in a position to do so; then just stop in and say Hi and how much you enjoy the map (and stuff you want to see changed) as that's always helpful for development or even just helpful to me.
Patreon update tonight or tomorrow morning USA time depending only on how long I can manage to stay awake.
Public update by Friday unless issues occur that are beyond my control. Keep in mind I am at the mercy of staff on this one. (hint: download it overnight USA time for faster download)
Hope to get this up publicly before Christmas early, as my present to the community who have given so much!
--That is all
Now to finish up the last bit of text stuffs and odds/ends; then sit back start the upload, and watch the smoldering spiders run out of the fiber modem screaming like the building caught fire... AIYEEEE!!!
--- Post updated ---
Update for Patreon supporters and also map resource contributors / inner-circle testing members is live right now within the last hour.
Update for public should be available in 24~48 hours, at the staff's convenience (and hopefully before they leave for the holidays at close-of-business Friday).
Keep me posted if something doesn't go to plan or if the update is entirely broken for some reason.
Uploading to my personal backup service only took 6~7 minutes for 4.22gb, color me impressed. It used to take 12~36 hours!!! Yes, hours. That's longer than it takes to load this map in-game.

 

bob.blunderton updated (City of) Los Injurus with a new update entry:

Los Injurus City Map DEC 2023 for BeamNG 0.31

Read the rest of this update entry...

 

download is broken only for me?

 

That's a beamng server problem. You just have to wait until the admins rectify it.

 

These weird gold road textures are still present even after downloading the newest version of the map

 

any way we can download this from somewhere else while the beam downloader is down?

 

Nope, no such issue here.

That could be a video card-specific issue, or a driver one since others have had it.
Could be helpful if those affected posted their specs.

 

Could be you that don't have the new version. It is still showing me a 3.5 GB download instead of 4.3 GB on top here, too.
For some reason it always takes forever to actually change the file on this mod despite claiming it has already updated.

 

Good catch!

 

I did notice a couple bugs after update, first being that black strip off to the side of the map, the second is part of the bridge is missing for the map over by the Shoe-ins spawn point. Figured I'd just mention it in case no one else has yet.

 

--- Post updated ---
Umm, the new "shoreside spawn" dosen't work for me

 

The link at the top of the page still says 3.5 Gb,
and the file name is: "Bob_City_Map_Alpha_Patreon_Preview.zip" , isn't that the old filename?
Did the Forum Staff not have time before the Christmas celebrations to update the file?

 

im new for this but how do i fix this texture glitch.

 

The weird black strip was one of my carving guides (likely the waterway carving guide) I likely forgot about deleting before I uploaded this. Oops. Thanks for reporting that though, it's trying to hide and evidently doing a good job at it.
The 'missing bridge' is there, but the AI obviously isn't. That's odd because I could have sworn I tested AI working on that bridge quite some time ago. Will re-test this, as since the bridge has been there some time now, the AI should be working.
Thank-you for the bug reports.

That's odd, all the scripting is there. Use the alternate one (there's two). Those were added last minute, so I'll see what I can do about that to double-check that BOTH of them are working. I was sure I checked both of them... but my memory is always to be very suspect. I will double-check the scripting after testing both new ones again. Thank-you for the report.

Missing texture bug is due to not enough video memory or system memory (or both). Not sure as I haven't narrowed it down yet. Try turning down texture quality to low or lowest so that they can all load in (it runs out of room loading textures = missing textures). You need 2GB of video memory on LOW to MEDIUM settings, though I wouldn't try medium honestly without 3~4GB of video memory personally. Textures aren't the only thing in video memory either. Shaders, Textures, AND models *ALL* must fit in video memory, along with at-least one pre-rendered frame (though miniscule by comparison) until it gets sent to the monitor. Not having enough room for all of this, and something's gotta give.
Running out of system RAM will cause new lines of the map's index not to be completely parsed or loaded, thus also can cause missing textures, missing AI, spawns not working (not usually!), things like that.
8GB of RAM is not supported, the same for less than 2GB video boards. There's just too much texture / model variety to try and jam it all into the 1gb or 1.5gb cards of old (to be fair, 2gb graphics cards were under 140~150$ in 6/2013 from Newegg - remember that place? - so it's quite long-in-the-tooth to try and support something with less than 2gb). THIS situation with VRAM is only going to become more dire in the future, as updated versions add more dynamism and detail to the map (though, to be said, this is also why there are many re-used models of buildings and such buildings are usually rather simple compared to contemporary 3D games of 2020 and newer).
Please respond with your system hardware configuration when you have time to do so. I also need you to tell me if the missing textures still happen on low and lowest texture details. Thank-you for the report, please respond back.

4.2gb~4.3gb size > shrinks > 3.5gb due to the fact they ran the map-cleaner on it to remove superfluous resources from the map, since 4gb was the server size limit.
I will make a note of that in short order, next time I edit the description (whenever I don't feel like I could fall asleep standing up AND on fire).

---

I hope everyone had a happy new year! Prayers for victims of Japan's 7.6~7.5 magnitude earthquake that's just happened hours ago. Thankfully the Tsunami is minimal (a meter or two in most spots).
A good time to give a helpful bit on emergency kits. You do have one don't you? It's as good of a time as any to say this, so...
If you live in an earthquake-prone region, please make sure heavy or tall furniture is anchored to the wall framing (to the wall studs behind the drywall, not just the drywall!), and that you keep your emergency kit in a safe place with a fresh stock of batteries for various devices. Keep a key to your home inside your emergency kit (unless it's located outside) just in-case you get locked out of a mostly-whole house in the panic, lest you damage it more trying to get back in like a dumb-dumb (though totally understandable). Make sure your gauze bandage and any other bandages don't dry-rot or otherwise go bad, and that ointments don't expire and become toxic. Know where your water, power, and gas shut-off valves are located and have the tools ready to close them somewhere where the house won't bury them if it collapses (and grease such valves at-least yearly so they don't 'rust' open or shut). Handy to keep a case or two of water handy at all times, but that's not always realistic. At-least have some water for immediate thirst and a means to boil water if needed long-term, but this shouldn't be like the apocalypse in most developed countries. This is starting to sound like one of those end-of-the-world survivalist threads, so I'll stop here for now.
Guess that means you'll need to stay tuned for the next episode. Oh, what a cliff-hanger... what will we ever do?
It's alright though, because by now, I've bored most people to sleep already.
--That's all for now.
(I wasn't mapping this past week as I needed some time off of obligations like other humans, though I did do a little bit of modeling. I will be back on the production thing this week sometime though.)
P.S. Cablemod 12vHPWR adapters for RTX 3xxx/4xxx GPU's have been recalled (like a lot of other 12vHPWR stuff!). So if you have one, discontinue use and send it back please. Right now I'm just thrilled I had the wherewithal to order a GPU that used my existing 8-pin plugs (yes you can get a Gigabyte 3090 with that!) when I heard about the early 12v High-Power problems. If you have been considering getting a new GPU, and said GPU uses 12-pin 12vHPWR, look for a graphics card model that uses your existing (safer) 6-pin or 8-pin ATX PCI-E power connectors. They are out there!
Lastly, Seasonic and some other manufacturers will usually send you (sometime free!) a 12vHPWR cable that plugs into your PSU directly, for users of modular power supplies. So it's worth a look.

 

I don't think there is an issue with AI as far as I know, it just doesn't show up on the little navigation map thing is all. I did also notice yesterday, some texture errors in the Franklin Douglas Towers area(The grey ones as well as the brick colored ones) and I have tried doing a deep cache clean already and they're still present. I did also notice some left over railroad pieces over by the "Flood Control Canal" spawn as well.

 

Thanks; didn't know about the error on the Frank (Frederick?) Douglas towers trim. That's a burgundy soffit texture on those. Will have to check the white/silver version of it also to be doubly sure that didn't get messed up, too. There's always some texture that busts, in a way I'm sort-of glad it was that one, as it's almost unnoticeable.
The rail kit pieces all grouped together there are part of the RAIL KIT for elevated rail. It's there as a 'gift' to the BeamNG community, if anyone wants to build with the elevated rail kit.
If I didn't leave those pieces there, the level-cleaner that reduces ZIP file size would remove unused pieces from the map data and thus it wouldn't be available to those who want the whole kit. It does say RAIL KIT on the terrain right nearby, which you can see from a bird's-eye-view, on the corner where the two canals meet.
However, I do thank-you regardless, for your dutiful and detailed bug reporting. Knowing these things (especially since my memory is trash, and my ability to check every last thing is dubious at best), I can make sure the next version of the map is not so busted. Thankfully it's still a work in progress, so at-least there's something I can sort-of hide behind for now.
--Thanks!

 

found something else as i was roaming
also that issue with the frankin douglas towers happens to be on almost every building in that area that uses that texture
i dont know if you can see i but there is small i dont even know
what they say but ive seen them on other mods with issues

 

You're very welcome, I did notice the same issue on the white/silver ones as well. I see, didn't see the "RAIL KIT" on the terrain there, guess I'm "blind" as well here and there. Another thing I noticed, unsure if anyone else has mentioned it but the lane markings for the bridges leading up to the on/off ramps near the default spawn point are a bit messed up(Only two lanes on the bridges versus the 3 by the exit/entrance ramps) The images below are the spots where I see the lines for the lanes are messed up. That aside, I do love this map. Its fun to crash, race, and just seeing how fast the car I made can go, or how high the car I made can go.

 

Looks like the NORMAL texture (it gives bricks their 3D look and helps the lights reflect off them somewhat-realistically) is broken. This might be an issue with the map asset culling process, which removes textures and models it doesn't think are used (but some may be used even if it thinks they are not due to either bugs in it, or bugs in my implementation or my failures in texture indices).
Thanks for reporting that. I will make sure to jot this down to check these buildings well next time the map size reducer / asset culler is run. It's nigh-impossible to check everything but slowly-and-surely I will get better at it.

Okay yes the white-silver colored high-rises use the white version of that same burgundy trim/soffit texture, so it figures that broke too. I figured it would!
I'm not sure how the lane marking issue happened. I think something got messed up when I stuck the new improved models into the game. Oops. That's definitely my screw up and it's definitely been there a while. Derp.
THANK YOU! Bug reports are much appreciated, as I have now a list of things I can fix and make SURE they get fixed.

---

Attached a few pictures of the building that I've finished working on (been working on it on/off for 10 days or so now along with other models). It has it's full detail mesh done and optimized fully (seriously! It's <40 draw calls for visible* textures), the LOD is done and very optimized (only 5 different texture surfaces! it will be more color-matched later), and the COLMESH (2nd picture & far back) is done (this is collision for vehicles/player).
*Visible textures may be one thing, but let's not forget that detailed up-close textures sometimes require up to 5 draw calls plus a pass for shadows or world reflection as-needed. Not all textures require all this and many can be done with 3 passes plus shadows. So draw calls add up QUICKLY and are what kills performance in most games - including Skylines I and II, Fallout 4, early MS Flight Sim versions etc.
LOD textures used on things like roads and buildings (the latter of which I've started implementing recently) creates less need for high-detail textures to be kept in VRAM constantly, and also can contain things like windows or doors, and be used to render all walls/windows/doors/vertical stuff in one go (draw call) for the whole building. This is a massive and I mean MASSIVE help to the rendering engine. The looks might be noticeable, however, it won't 'pop in' so much as my other models had when driving up to it. When using more of these type of building, I can afford to show the higher detail of buildings a little longer - since the LOD's further out of the player's view / far away aren't eating up so much of the budget. It's a balancing act really, but things like this (which are/should be almost cheating!) really help keep performance good for what it (the map size/content) is - provided you have the VRAM for your display/texture settings. I can't do much to help 1gb GPU users right now.
However, when this project is closer to completion, I will look into making a reduced-detail version of this map. The models will be mostly the same but the texture detail will be only 25% as much. It will be for iGPU and low-end PC users. It would be very difficult to keep more than one version of the map going at the same time at this stage of development, so I can't do this right yet. Please keep in mind that the things I am doing right now (such as more broadly implementing simple super-low-res LOD textures) are definitely going to help in the long run, to allow the video driver to figure out how to load in only what it needs right now, and not 'too much at once' - which can be causing slowdowns for low-end PC users.
For everything you see me put on here, there's likely 5~10x this work you DO NOT get to see (or just can't 'see' it due to it's nature), that goes on behind the scenes.
--That is all I have for right now.
PLEASE KEEP SENDING IN BUG REPORTS. WE HAVE 7~10 DAYS YET FOR THAT. (this deadline is negotiable / not set in stone)
THANK-YOU AHEAD OF TIME!
Bug-fix version is likely 2~2.5 weeks out yet, depending on how pesty those bugs are to fix. Not sure if it will be a supporter only or public version, depends how bad the problems get/are.
and now back to my regularly-scheduled modeling of buildings while watching my cats try to get this mouse running loose in the house... CRASH SMASH CRUNCH!