Atticus' Workthread - [RE-RELEASED] Updated Road Atlanta (1997) Beta - All Links on p. 1
Posted by Atticus.
Here you go, guys.
Let's race on what is essentially the same race track as the first ever Formula 1 World Championship race was organised upon.
You can find your usual turn-by-turn guide on the previous page - it's pretty unique, I haven't come across any for the 1950-1974 layout - here I provide other brief notes.
This track is NOT based on Silverstone 1990 by n00binio, it is based, as heavily and as accurately as possible, on the original Silverstone track in GP4. It was hard enough to 'extract' how the old layout was from the original .dat file as it was, but because it would have been much much harder, nigh-on impossible, to do with a post-2010 track, I'm still grateful that I had access to a GPS-based, and thus entirely accurate 2001 rendition of this circuit.
You may notice that I didn't simply 'rounded off' the old corners where I 'thought' they were, but meticulously rebuilt most every little kink in every turn - my favourites are, in this respect, Woodcote and the Becketts section. I actually used an old aerial photograph which was lucikly entirely perpendicular to the track, fitted the original .dat perfectly and, with a little contrast applied in Photoshop, was able to give me accurate readings on the old radii at Stowe, Copse and, on the entry, Woodcote. The old hardstand entries are also accurately placed based on another aerial picture, a WWII shot. For Becketts and Abbey, I was able to use Google Maps imagery - the latter was there right up until pre-2011 (it's there even now, decommissioned and under a grandstand) while the former had both the corner and the exit joining the current track there pre-2005. The corner itself is still there under another grandstand. (The exit was covered by asphalt run-off in 2005.)
So you can see how it's as authentic as a modern track model can be - except that it's not there anymore so it's a pretty extraordinary thing to be able to drive a version of it that's as accurate as the real thing was.
DOWNLOAD LINK: [www.mediafire.com]
As a bonus, here's some info on the Silverstone-style WWII airfields in Great Britain: [en.wikipedia.org] (They sure had proper engineering aspects considered even then.)
My workthread - [www.grandprixgames.org]
Full of classic F1/non-F1 track layouts
My blog about F1 performance analysis - [thef1formbook.wordpress.com]
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 08/09/2016 11:51PM by Atticus..
Let's race on what is essentially the same race track as the first ever Formula 1 World Championship race was organised upon.
You can find your usual turn-by-turn guide on the previous page - it's pretty unique, I haven't come across any for the 1950-1974 layout - here I provide other brief notes.
This track is NOT based on Silverstone 1990 by n00binio, it is based, as heavily and as accurately as possible, on the original Silverstone track in GP4. It was hard enough to 'extract' how the old layout was from the original .dat file as it was, but because it would have been much much harder, nigh-on impossible, to do with a post-2010 track, I'm still grateful that I had access to a GPS-based, and thus entirely accurate 2001 rendition of this circuit.
You may notice that I didn't simply 'rounded off' the old corners where I 'thought' they were, but meticulously rebuilt most every little kink in every turn - my favourites are, in this respect, Woodcote and the Becketts section. I actually used an old aerial photograph which was lucikly entirely perpendicular to the track, fitted the original .dat perfectly and, with a little contrast applied in Photoshop, was able to give me accurate readings on the old radii at Stowe, Copse and, on the entry, Woodcote. The old hardstand entries are also accurately placed based on another aerial picture, a WWII shot. For Becketts and Abbey, I was able to use Google Maps imagery - the latter was there right up until pre-2011 (it's there even now, decommissioned and under a grandstand) while the former had both the corner and the exit joining the current track there pre-2005. The corner itself is still there under another grandstand. (The exit was covered by asphalt run-off in 2005.)
So you can see how it's as authentic as a modern track model can be - except that it's not there anymore so it's a pretty extraordinary thing to be able to drive a version of it that's as accurate as the real thing was.
DOWNLOAD LINK: [www.mediafire.com]
As a bonus, here's some info on the Silverstone-style WWII airfields in Great Britain: [en.wikipedia.org] (They sure had proper engineering aspects considered even then.)
My workthread - [www.grandprixgames.org]
Full of classic F1/non-F1 track layouts
My blog about F1 performance analysis - [thef1formbook.wordpress.com]
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 08/09/2016 11:51PM by Atticus..
@Atticus: Are you interested in my beta-dats of Charade 1972 and Hockenheimring 1960? I would like to see them with your update and finally as a beta version which I would improve with some graphical objects afterwards. Please tell me if you can imagine this projects. 
I can imagine a lot of things, so many in fact that I only have time to do my strict schedule in terms of track building. It involves updating and re-releasing my previous works and some previously unreleased stuff. It's full for the season - and I have mostly other plans after that. Managing two new projects is no small thing; a realistic .dat takes a lot of time to build, especially historical ones. Sorry. 
My workthread - [www.grandprixgames.org]
Full of classic F1/non-F1 track layouts
My blog about F1 performance analysis - [thef1formbook.wordpress.com]
My workthread - [www.grandprixgames.org]
Full of classic F1/non-F1 track layouts
My blog about F1 performance analysis - [thef1formbook.wordpress.com]
As the F1 calendar gets more and more homogenised or low-speed tracks, it is looking like a bigger and bigger mistake each year that the old Hockenheimring was torn up and not left standing to age as gracefully as, say, the Monza oval. (Surely those trees could have been planted 5km away, on the edge of the forest...) Autosport latched onto the topic a few days ago as well:
[www.autosport.com]
For the German GP this weekend, I finished work on a little treat for you. A long time ago, drt01 and me created Hockenheim 1968, the historical layout of this great circuit which went uninterrupted by chicanes all the way from the exit of the Stadium to the entry of the Stadium - but that version was, for me, the 'original' track for the 'original' times before everything that took place there. Remember too that back than it was deemed as dull as nowaday's Tilkedroms, it only became distinctive when the tracks around it became increasingly homogenous on the calendar (1985-1990). Our previous version portrayed the venue as it was before all these things happened.
What I did was basically building a .dat file to use with the original GP4 .wad file and everything else, a 'naked .dat' of sorts, which you can kind of 'plug and play' in and alternate with the original GP4 circuit. (No magic data, no GP4Info.) This way it feels like the track that now has that deep history it is associated with, but with the historical layout still. Those chicanes and escape roads are opened up as the latters were still there in their original form in 2001, we've seen them during the coverages.
I compiled a preview with the modern track cameras to show how modern machineries can recreate history as they bypass those chicanes. (Also, the Ostkurve is a little bit different to the 1968 version and there is a new CC-line as well.)
Just don't forget to follow the escape roads when you get there.
I plan to release it by Friday practice. Currently, I'm working on the last thing, rebuilding the chicane kerbs which show up in the .wad file but are not in the .dat yet. It's a very time-consuming effort as the kerbs now don't follow the track edges so it involves a lot of micromanagement. I may choose to include them in an 1.1 update in the future or not, depending on free time. (They're not too important after all - their only role is to mess you up if you miss your line, especially through the Ostkurve, and to provide consistency with the .wad.)
My workthread - [www.grandprixgames.org]
Full of classic F1/non-F1 track layouts
My blog about F1 performance analysis - [thef1formbook.wordpress.com]
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/27/2016 03:16PM by Atticus..
[www.autosport.com]
For the German GP this weekend, I finished work on a little treat for you. A long time ago, drt01 and me created Hockenheim 1968, the historical layout of this great circuit which went uninterrupted by chicanes all the way from the exit of the Stadium to the entry of the Stadium - but that version was, for me, the 'original' track for the 'original' times before everything that took place there. Remember too that back than it was deemed as dull as nowaday's Tilkedroms, it only became distinctive when the tracks around it became increasingly homogenous on the calendar (1985-1990). Our previous version portrayed the venue as it was before all these things happened.
What I did was basically building a .dat file to use with the original GP4 .wad file and everything else, a 'naked .dat' of sorts, which you can kind of 'plug and play' in and alternate with the original GP4 circuit. (No magic data, no GP4Info.) This way it feels like the track that now has that deep history it is associated with, but with the historical layout still. Those chicanes and escape roads are opened up as the latters were still there in their original form in 2001, we've seen them during the coverages.
I compiled a preview with the modern track cameras to show how modern machineries can recreate history as they bypass those chicanes. (Also, the Ostkurve is a little bit different to the 1968 version and there is a new CC-line as well.)
Just don't forget to follow the escape roads when you get there.
I plan to release it by Friday practice. Currently, I'm working on the last thing, rebuilding the chicane kerbs which show up in the .wad file but are not in the .dat yet. It's a very time-consuming effort as the kerbs now don't follow the track edges so it involves a lot of micromanagement. I may choose to include them in an 1.1 update in the future or not, depending on free time. (They're not too important after all - their only role is to mess you up if you miss your line, especially through the Ostkurve, and to provide consistency with the .wad.)
My workthread - [www.grandprixgames.org]
Full of classic F1/non-F1 track layouts
My blog about F1 performance analysis - [thef1formbook.wordpress.com]
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/27/2016 03:16PM by Atticus..
I am just wondering how many F1 2016 cars would finish the race with this long full throttle distance! 
Thanks for your work! It looks fun! 357km/h! Nice!
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Thanks for your work! It looks fun! 357km/h! Nice!
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Thank you, guys.
Excalibur Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I am just wondering how many F1 2016 cars would
> finish the race with this long full throttle
> distance!
>
> Thanks for your work! It looks fun! 357km/h! Nice!
>
Yeah, mind-blowing. I should measure that full throttle period per laptime, it would clearly show an insanely high figure. Despite that, the average speed is "only" about 295kph, making this a touch slower than Silverstone 1973. (And obviously a lot slower than the historic Monza.)
My workthread - [www.grandprixgames.org]
Full of classic F1/non-F1 track layouts
My blog about F1 performance analysis - [thef1formbook.wordpress.com]
Excalibur Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I am just wondering how many F1 2016 cars would
> finish the race with this long full throttle
> distance!
>
> Thanks for your work! It looks fun! 357km/h! Nice!
>
Yeah, mind-blowing. I should measure that full throttle period per laptime, it would clearly show an insanely high figure.
Despite that, the average speed is "only" about 295kph, making this a touch slower than Silverstone 1973. (And obviously a lot slower than the historic Monza.)My workthread - [www.grandprixgames.org]
Full of classic F1/non-F1 track layouts
My blog about F1 performance analysis - [thef1formbook.wordpress.com]
Sorry, only registered users may post in this forum.