WIP Beta released Desert Rage 1.0

monte379 submitted a new resource:

Desert Rage - A white knuckle challenge through Baja Hills

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6 minutes 53.29 seconds with a 360 spin and hitting 120mph at one point not bad for a first timer

I drop the graphics settings from my custom "ULTRA" settings to Normal so I get stable FPS at my settings the game is a little unbalanced...

 

I've done high 6 minute laps and originally thought 5 minute laps could be done, boy was I
wrong! Motivates me to re-work the roads on this map for a smoother more predictable lap.

 

Yeah the road can throw the car off the track it definitely needs to be smoothed out so the car is PRESSED into the track and so its like its on rails at the higher speeds and the jumps too are a bit brutal, I run with insanely high sensitivity on my controller but some banking on a few of the bends and make it feel as if you are on rails would be nice

 

1. In my opinion there is nothing wrong with the section of road this scenario is on. Actually I think it's quite good! The blind "features" get a little old in this extra-long scenario, but I don't see that as the road's fault. I definitely disagree with RobertGracie's opinion from post #4 - there are scenarios which do that, this is not one of them! @RobertGracie - fix your controller sensitivity maybe??
2. @Aboroath - the guard rails seem to positively eat the car and tires. Maybe this could be improved? I haven't run out and tested other tracks to see if everyone is suffering from this right now.
3. At the end of the day, I don't like this scenario due to the length. I applaud the effort, but I'd much rather see a pack of several shorter scenarios.

I don't understand the appeal of >3min race scenarios in BeamNG.drive as it is now. They just don't make much sense to me, especially in this case. This road in particular features lots of blind turns/hill-crests/etc so memorization is key (being skillful won't let you see over a hill). When you make a mistake at the 4minute mark in BeamNG.drive it's likely to be your last. That means you've go to play through the previous 4min of gameplay again. This applies at the 1min, 2min, 3min, 4min, 5min, 6min, etc mark... starting over becomes repetitive quickly! Additionally on this map we've got the guardrails and road-signs occasionally amplifying the effect of small mistakes. For me personally all the resets mean that I eventually start making random mistakes at earlier points in addition to the ones I naturally make in deeper, less practiced areas. :-(

More broadly, I just don't get the allure of the "long race scenario" for BeamNG.drive in general right now. The game features no driving assists and extremely limited audio and visual ques for traction, inertia, etc. There are also few or no bounds on how the car can act - which is great from some perspectives (for many of us that's part of why we're here!), but for scenarios it adds a wildcard that makes long ones very risky. Look at the stock scenarios - they generally are not so long.

IMO most difficult+ scenarios should be 2 minutes or less. Sometimes to make your point you need a little more time, but over 3min is rarely justified! My own scenarios generally fit in that bracket and I think that most of the scenarios included with the game also do. Not everyone will agree with my opinions on this. (I also don't think that this advice necessarily needs to stay set in stone forever. Eventually the game may be in a better position to support long scenarios, although I wouldn't hold my breath.)

 

@torsion Thanks for the feedback, I agree that it is long and can be quite annoying if you get pretty far and then crash and have to start all over again.

Aboroath wanted a scenario since he released the map but didn't want to look into creating them yet, since he is focusing on map creation at the moment(correct me if I am wrong). So I volunteered to create one. I asked him for a overview on how he wanted the course, and I did just that. It is quite long, but some people might like that and is a nice change in my opinion

I plan on making more scenarios in the future. Aboroath said he might redo the roads and make them easier to drive on and maybe I'll make a scenario with shorter sections of roads.

Anyway I agree with your points and I created the scenario from Aboroath's intentions of what he wanted so maybe we can get his option on your feedback

 

THIS. Not to mention the FFB which isn't the greatest. The single most interesting point you touch on though is how far along the development process the game even is.

 

Great points Torsion. This scenario IS a long one and I completely understand the frustrations involved with the combination of
length and road layout. This map is in need of a serious overhaul to even think of making a 6 minute scenario palatable to even
the hardcore. That being said I totally agree with your premise that BeamNG in general currently does not have the ability
to match what we all have come to see as 'arcade racers'.

I thank Monte379 for bringing this scenario to life in Baja Hills and the subsequent feedback is valuable. I am already underway
on a total overhaul of the road layout and have become more proficient at doing this much faster in World Machine. I will beta
the new layout to see if it is even worth continuing scenarios on. The Blender road camber scheme is at this time out of my
reach.

The guardrail is annoying due to the mesh thickness. There are ways to 'cheat' the look with really thick meshes and texture arrangements
but I haven't figured it out yet. I feel to make the new road layout viable the guardrail issue must be dealt with, we shall see.

Great feedback all the way 'round.

 

I use a hyper sensative controller just because it gives you more of a challenge, I am trying to find the right balance

 

As I said in my earlier post - I really think that the road is pretty decent as-is. In fact, I really enjoyed the road! The major problems with this road as far as the scenario goes are all the blind areas. This is not something that's easy or simple to correct I think. In the whole scenario there's only one seriously off-camber turn I think, and it's not even blind. So in other words the road seems to have no need for "fixing". Basically if the scenario was chopped down to 2 or 3 segments I think that the blind corners would start to turn fun rather than frustrating. Any guardrail frustrations are minimized that way as well.

@RobertGracie - That assertion seems to run counter to your earlier request to put the car on rails! In another thread I got the impression that you couldn't figure out how to fix that high sensitivity. I suggest that you (gently!) adjust the linearity of your inputs.

 

Being the map was purely a test for zipping of all things, I have longed to modify and tweak as I learned
the process better. The initial release feedback has never left my mind and as of this scenario today is
amply intensified to the point of action. My intentions are to make a more 'mass appeal' layout and garner
input from that. Once that is decided I intend on doing some sort of multi-sectored time attack scenario or
similar.

To be totally honest, I myself am having major difficulty getting a single lap completed on this because
of the road layout. I couldn't have cared less about doing something specific in this map until Monte379
made the scenario. This scenario has made me so pissed that I can't even get satisfaction out of my own
map and has motivated me to make the road worthy of mine and anyone else's efforts.

 

Wanted to let you know my first full lap time. It took some tries ... But I have to say, that the challenge of making it and even learning the track to improve your time is way more fun for me than in 2 minutes scenarios. The longer you have to focus on not hitting anything (slightest touches could ruin your steering) the more realistic it gets. Races in real life aren't over after a few minutes. As BeamNG is capable of simulating closest to real life physics, this scenario shows how much it takes to drive a car on the limit over narrow, winding roads.

Times arround 5:10 min should be possible with a little practice

 

Damn....gonna' have to get me a nice wheel now. Great explanation, concur 100%.

 

Awesome scenario. Got 5:12.53 on my fifth? attempt using a controller so I'm happy with that.
You really need to slow down on some of the corners, but I'm sure I could push it even more with some practice.

 

Challenge accepted

@Aboroath : go ahead. I never regretted investing into racing wheels. I'm on a Thrustmaster T500. Great wheel while being affordable.

 

Cool seeing 5 min. laps in this. Videos of these runs would be epic.
I fear the thought of using a wheel on a puny 17 inch laptop, obviously
breaching the subject of a new and obscenely powerful desktop.

Ah....living life on life's terms......right.

 

I did a couple of runs and was able to finish in 5:05.27 min. I'm sure with a little tweak here and a little less fear there sub 5 min laps are possible.

Currently uploading this run to youtube. I hope the quality will be good enough.

It's your turn, @mtslittow ;-)

 

Nice
I managed to get a pretty good run as well and uploaded a video of it, but haven't bothered to share it yet.
I feel like now is a good time to do it:


Yeah, sub 5 should be entirely possible. Didn't execute every corner perfectly in this run, and almost failed once.

 

Nice vid mtslittow, your machine specs show it. If I may ask, what wheel gear are you using?