GeneRally v1.2 - DISCUSSION

General discussion about your experience with the game.
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James
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GeneRally v1.2 - DISCUSSION

Post by James »

GeneRally 1.2 - Discussion Thread

Please use this thread for any discussion regarding GeneRally 1.2. If you have any bug reports, please use this thread instead.

If you cannot get GR to start (and get an error about missing DLLs), please read readme.txt for more information. You have some basic libraries to install before you can run GR.

Please use a completely clean installation of GR v1.2 - various file formats have changed and may need to be re-generated (e.g. options.set, driver files, etc.).

To the community...
As many of you will already know, today marks the 10th anniversary of the release of GeneRally v1.0. A lot has changed about GR in the intervening 10 years, but at its core, GeneRally is still the same, quirky, awesome little game that first graced the world back in 2002.

After releasing GeneRally v1.10 over a year ago, which was mostly aimed at bringing GR into a good working state on modern operating systems, Markku and I wanted to try and make the next major update something significant. When we realised that this milestone in GR's history was approaching, we thought it would be a fantastic opportunity to release a new, improved version.

So, with that in mind, we're very pleased to be releasing GeneRally v1.2 today. This version is packed with bug-fixes and new features and we think that it's the most complete, most satisfying version of GeneRally to date. We've added some features we're really proud of, like an in-game palette-changer; timed races; and speed limiters, to name just a few - and we're certain you'll enjoy it, too.

However, today isn't only about the release of GeneRally v1.2 - we have another, significant announcement to make.

For the past year, Markku and I have been working on a sequel to GeneRally alongside the development of v1.2. When we took over the development of GR, it quickly became clear that there was a lot of stuff we wanted to do that we simply couldn't do without rewriting the game from the ground up. So, with Hannu & Jukka's blessing, we began developing in earnest, eager to improve our beloved game.

The sequel (which hasn't yet been named) is in the early stages of development, but is already promising much. Our hope is to allow GeneRally to appeal to a wider audience by making it more compatible with modern operating systems; improving the graphics; updating the sounds; and making track and car editing easier and more powerful than ever. Of course, we don't want to lose the spirit of the game, so we'll be keeping many of the features and constraints that have defined GeneRally. We're obviously not able to go into much more detail at the moment, as many features and ideas are still in the very early stages of design.

Unfortunately, there is a side-effect to the development of this sequel: version 1.2 will be the last major version of GeneRally for the foreseeable future. Of course, if any major issues arise, we will attempt to patch them promptly (as we did with v1.10b and v1.10c) but, otherwise, the majority of our development time will be on the sequel. Whilst we wish we could keep both projects going, we believe that doing so would be detrimental to both games.

In the coming months, we'll start discussing new features and concepts in a developer blog, which we hope will be able to satisfy the community's desire for information, and also provoke interest from the gaming community in general.

Markku and I have already started upping our time commitment to this project and, with your help, we'd like to increase this further - so, within the month or so, we'll be opening up the project to donations. We will be maintaining a 'wall of donators' on the website to give credit to those donating and we hope that as development progresses, we will be able to provide donators with some exclusive perks and access. Each and every donation, no matter how small, will directly contribute to the project, allowing us access to better tools, and enabling us to take more time from our day-to-day jobs to work on the project (which is currently constrained to our spare time).

Of course, this post wouldn't be complete without saying "thank you" to a few key members of the GR community who have made all of this possible (in various different ways): Rich Nagel, TuomoH, Ivo, Crono and Egamad. Without the help of these guys, GR v1.2 wouldn't exist!

We hope that, after a year of mostly silence, the information we've given you above is enough to get you excited about the future of GeneRally!

James & Markku
Credits...
  • Markku - for his continued, tireless work on GR.
  • Tuomo, Ivo, Crono & Rich - for their enthusiasm and dedication in testing (and a happy birthday to Crono).
  • Hannu & Jukka - for their continued support.

Changelog...
Game:
  • Added timed races as an option.
  • Can now change palette via the Advanced Options menu (the gr.ini setting has been removed).
  • Increased race length maximum to 255 laps/kms/minutes.
  • In-game menu now prompts before ending race/championship.
  • Controllers now support fully analogue controls.
  • Default tracks (by TuomoH) updated to include speed limiters and new objects.
  • FIXED: Game now detects available resolutions rather than using presets.
  • FIXED: Tracks with zero checkpoints now do not end and tracks with only one checkpoint don't count multiple laps at once.
  • FIXED: Multiple controllers are once again supported.
  • FIXED: When using shift with a keyboard key, the correct symbol is now entered (en-US locale only).
  • FIXED: Numpad keys now work as expected.
  • FIXED: Glancing spectator collisions no longer produce blood.
  • FIXED: Enter/Return can again be used to confirm dialogs and selected menu items.
  • FIXED: Stereo sound files now play back in stereo, as expected.
Track Editor:
  • Added 'speed limiter' checkpoints.
  • Added new 'hedge' objects (long and short versions).
  • Added 'moveable road cone' (in addition to the static).
  • Front edge of Armco barrier is now visible in the Editor.
  • FIXED: Importing AI lines on tracks with WS200 or greater now works as intended.
  • FIXED: Tracks loaded into the Editor via the command-line or file-association are now displayed correctly and Editor buttons assume their correct states.
  • FIXED: When saving an existing track under a different name, objects are no longer rotated.

All discussion should be kept positive and constructive... if not, appropriate action will be taken by the forum staff!
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Rich Nagel
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Re: GeneRally v1.2 - DISCUSSION

Post by Rich Nagel »

WOOHOO! YEAH! :)
Rich ¥Weeds¥ Nagel
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¥Weeds¥ File Archives - Music, stuff, and more.
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Lukeno94
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Re: GeneRally v1.2 - DISCUSSION

Post by Lukeno94 »

I'm intrigued by the future of the game, and I hope the name only changes to GeneRally 2.0 or something like that. I also hope that whatever the new game is, it will keep compatibility with existing cars and tracks, even if they have to undergo some kind of conversion by an official tool.

This "GR 2.0", which I will refer to it as, does sound like you're re-writing it from scratch to allow things like bigger tracks, higher poly limits for cars, more colours for cars/tracks etc. I look forward to it and hopefully it won't take more than 18 months or so before we get some kind of taster for it!

EDIT: I do find the timed runs setting a tad odd though. Why is it set up so you have 2 laps after the time runs out? I think there should be three options there:

Time (race stops when the time stops, like old F1 qualy)
Time (finish current lap)
Time (1 more lap)
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Martyn
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Re: GeneRally v1.2 - DISCUSSION

Post by Martyn »

Most endurance races are +2 laps
Hannu, who art in Finland, Räbinä be thy name. Sim racers come, races are won, at Agari, as at Xupong. Give us this day our version 1.06, and forgive us all our impatience, as we race those who challenge against us. Lead us not into boredom, but deliver us from work. For thine is the GeneRally, and the AI, and the race cars. Amen!
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James
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Re: GeneRally v1.2 - DISCUSSION

Post by James »

Lukeno94 wrote:EDIT: I do find the timed runs setting a tad odd though. Why is it set up so you have 2 laps after the time runs out?
As Martyn says, many forms of motorsport use the +2 laps format. Additionally, having the static two laps at the ends helps greatly in guaranteeing the AI pit sensibly (and don't make bad guesses at fuelling, etc.).
Alonsomania
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Re: GeneRally v1.2 - DISCUSSION

Post by Alonsomania »

James Burgess wrote:
Lukeno94 wrote:EDIT: I do find the timed runs setting a tad odd though. Why is it set up so you have 2 laps after the time runs out?
As Martyn says, many forms of motorsport use the +2 laps format.
Which ones? Motorcross uses (or at least used years ago) time + 1 lap. Italian Superstars uses time + 1 lap. WSC, WEC, GrandAm, ALMS etc all have just time and no additional laps. I honestly wouldn't know a championship that uses the time + 2 laps format. GT1 World?
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Martyn
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Re: GeneRally v1.2 - DISCUSSION

Post by Martyn »

Most british based series are time+2
Hannu, who art in Finland, Räbinä be thy name. Sim racers come, races are won, at Agari, as at Xupong. Give us this day our version 1.06, and forgive us all our impatience, as we race those who challenge against us. Lead us not into boredom, but deliver us from work. For thine is the GeneRally, and the AI, and the race cars. Amen!
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Paw
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Re: GeneRally v1.2 - DISCUSSION

Post by Paw »

Thank you for your work! It's very appreciated! I look forward too see what you are preaparing for us. Keeping in mind how GR is community-centered I hope, that you will keep us up to date with your progress. Surely there are people, who can give you advices or even make direct input into the project.
Personally I hope for what Luke wrote already, that you will be able to overcome (at least for a bit ;) ) some limitations which we have to deal since the beginning of GR.
Lukeno94 wrote:Why is it set up so you have 2 laps after the time runs out?
I believe, that it might have to deal with two things: last lap "ding" sound, which otherwise couldn't be used the way it is now, and the AI not knowing when the race will end and not keeping enough fuel.
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Martyn
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Re: GeneRally v1.2 - DISCUSSION

Post by Martyn »

Can I suggest a slight edit on Plot, we need some sort of marker for where the cones used to be

also, the hedge object is just what I've needed for a WIP for a long time
Hannu, who art in Finland, Räbinä be thy name. Sim racers come, races are won, at Agari, as at Xupong. Give us this day our version 1.06, and forgive us all our impatience, as we race those who challenge against us. Lead us not into boredom, but deliver us from work. For thine is the GeneRally, and the AI, and the race cars. Amen!
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Lukeno94
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Re: GeneRally v1.2 - DISCUSSION

Post by Lukeno94 »

I'd keep the +2 laps then, but would still think we need more of the examples I showed (e.g. F1 qualifying could be replicated as a 5 minute hotlap or something)

And I also think that we need a time's up "dong" or something, or at least optionally.
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Mszostus
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Re: GeneRally v1.2 - DISCUSSION

Post by Mszostus »

I don't run GR 1.2
Write for me: No supported resolutions could be found.
I using GR Options for change resolutions and still not working.
Who can help?
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Lukeno94
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Re: GeneRally v1.2 - DISCUSSION

Post by Lukeno94 »

Did you put GR 1.2 in a new directory?
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TuomoH
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Re: GeneRally v1.2 - DISCUSSION

Post by TuomoH »

Lovely, I especially love the new objects. :cool2:
Martyn wrote:Can I suggest a slight edit on Plot, we need some sort of marker for where the cones used to be
Already thought about but decided against. I think the skidmarks are enough to show where to drive, and the checkpoints should be intuitive there. :)
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Re: GeneRally v1.2 - DISCUSSION

Post by Scorpion »

Thank you, thanks, thank you ver ver very very much :D
I thought that you will add more objects for track editor but thank you.
I'll test tomorrow :D
Thank you :)
Allan Simonsen, Sean Edwards, Andrea de Cesaris, Renzo Zorzi, Jules Bianchi... God please save my buddies... hope that more won't ever go away too fast
Areen

Re: GeneRally v1.2 - DISCUSSION

Post by Areen »

THIS IS EPIC <3 This version gives everything we needed for compo's in Polish GR community. Big thank you for releasing this!
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Gzehoo
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Re: GeneRally v1.2 - DISCUSSION

Post by Gzehoo »

:wow: GeneRally v1.2 is cool! Good job :bg:

But... I see that there are moveable road cones in game. It's good but it could be better if I could see in replay, when my car moves a blue road cone. (I hope you'll understand what I say ;) )

But I'll say again: That's great!!! :bg:
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James
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Re: GeneRally v1.2 - DISCUSSION

Post by James »

Gzehoo wrote:It's good but it could be better if I could see in replay moving a road cone (I hope you'll understand what I say ;) )
That would be nice, but unfortunately, keeping track of all the cones in the replay file would make them a lot bigger... and that's detrimental to those running and participating in competitions! Maybe in the future :bg:
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Lukeno94
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Re: GeneRally v1.2 - DISCUSSION

Post by Lukeno94 »

I think people should be movable as well, to a much lesser extent, in the manner the pit crew move.
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James
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Re: GeneRally v1.2 - DISCUSSION

Post by James »

Please note: we just updated v1.2 on the website to fix this bug. If you are having this issue, please re-download. Thanks!
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DuklaLiberec
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Re: GeneRally v1.2 - DISCUSSION

Post by DuklaLiberec »

Thank you, guys! Well, shame that this will be the last major update for our game, but I'm looking forward for the sequel and GR will and should never die! :twisted: :bg: :rocks:
Until the armageddon of course :P
Last edited by DuklaLiberec on Sun Jul 08, 2012 4:58 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: GeneRally v1.2 - DISCUSSION

Post by Scorpion »

Ok dear friends we MUST buy for James and Markku champagne :D
Allan Simonsen, Sean Edwards, Andrea de Cesaris, Renzo Zorzi, Jules Bianchi... God please save my buddies... hope that more won't ever go away too fast
Glen
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Re: GeneRally v1.2 - DISCUSSION

Post by Glen »

1,2 will, I think, give me a lot of new ideas!
But not yet... sorry, i'm busy! :rofl:
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Doorslammer
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Re: GeneRally v1.2 - DISCUSSION

Post by Doorslammer »

Well, it may be the end of an era, but surely the good news easily outweighs the bad? A new development can only be good for the future.

GeneRally: Still out there kicking the opposition in the balls... umm, gentleman's region. :D
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Bouncebackability
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Re: GeneRally v1.2 - DISCUSSION

Post by Bouncebackability »

Fantastic news on the updates, I will be using some of the new objects in a track that is near release, and the limiters work amazingly, also a prospect of a Generally 2 sounds amazing, although as luke has pointed out I hope this doesn't put to waste 10 years of existing creations, nevertheless I hope the best to you in your future efforts and thankyou for this update
I will admit I was disappointed that there was no car object however... :shrug:
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XYY
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Re: GeneRally v1.2 - DISCUSSION

Post by XYY »

Well, let's hope that the new scratch-made game will keep the spirit of :gr: :cool2: And thanks a lot for this version too :bsmile: I can already see me making 24 hours(minutes) races.. :hide:

I just have got one question/request maybe also for this version of GR, as it seems to be rather a thing of misunderstanding of the speed limiter checkpoints. both of them only slow the car down/let it accelerate back and there is no difference between if you pass the first one or the second one. I find it stupid, e.g. if you fly into the pit road you of course don't have the limiter on, but you have really lost the race as the 2nd checkpoint will slow you down. So you will drive the normal course really slow and the pitroad at full throttle :scratch:
Additionally I understood it as if it was also there to avoid cutting in chicanes close to the pit straight (like in BBA's Misano, 2nd corner). But now it seems they don't have any impact on the normal checkpoints.
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