Thirdwheel - Introduction

Third wheel - Introduction

Last modified	:	27 Feb 2010
Today's date	:	14 Mar 2010
Active visitors	:	001

Welcome

There are many computer games and simulations that let you enjoy the delights of solo motorcycling, but not many fully explore the unique properties of driving an outfit or sidecar rig, I always end up wishing there was an option to fix a chair on my bike! I expect your wondering what this project is all about, so I will begin by saying this is my best attempt at creating an easily controllable virtual motorcycle and sidecar on a realistic VR terrain where you can have some challenging fun thrashing around on two or three wheels...

With the increased computing power that's becoming available it is now possible a VR simulation can be mostly data driven, rather than pre-scripted or animated, a situation where the virtual reality environment dictates the on screen events. i.e. the passenger could get knocked off the sidecar by a low tree branch, etc. The game engine used is 3impact which is very powerful, versatile, great to work with and now completlely free!
Currently I have developed a map which is divided into nine sections, there are ten flags positioned around each the sections in "interesting" places. Three game types are available:

Explore with no flags or penalties.

Find time bonus flags against the clock.

Collect all the flags in numerical order.

The project has reached a point where I can release the game with a demo as soon as the testing is finished, will also try to get this web site a bit more current as some bits are now way, way out of date...

Latest Updates

(27 Feb 2010)
Man, it's been a long haul this month, will be glad to see the back of this grim February, anyhow still been keeping the faith and the game moves onwards...
Still working on the front end menu, integrating the different options means revisiting a lot of very early code which I have been trashing and replacing with my new super tidy way of thinking....

Been picking up lots of loose ends now, for example...
Today I have reset chase camera target onto outfit/ motorcycle after a respawn.
Added an option to save preferred chase camera distance and height.
Put all the hide / show logic for the motorcycle into one neat function.
Remade sidecar swingarm .spg as the collision spheres where a bit small and confusing the physics a tad.
Changed the menu layout a bit and added buttons which go directly to each menu mode, help, game setup, workshop etc.

Again I would like to apologise for my slow response to the kind people who contact me, I know this is very lame but I get my contact email from an old pc which is set up in my shed about ten miles down the road. Been so busy with things I have not been able to spend much time on it, when my work pc went down it took poor old thunderbird along with everything else.. will get this reinstalled before the release and set up the account again, before it becomes a even more of a prob...

(10 Feb 2010)
Some screenshots showing the new Rider and Passenger section and some alternative skins wot I knocked up.
It's another mod but it is cool...onwards..

(05 Feb 2010)
Been refining the front end menu some more, making all the default settings what I consider to be the most useful. Also updated the Map Sections page with a screen grab of each of the nine sections.
Apparently I'm suffering from "version creep", sounds very nasty and probably it's very true in my case....

Guess this is where you end up just before you release a game, truth is that it never feels finished and there is always something that you think would improve things a bit more. However I have definitely drawn a line in the sand and I'm very happy with my game now, so it's back to testing again, will also be trying things out on Windows 7 this time as well as Vista and XpPro.

(03 Feb 2010)
Some screenshots showing the new front end of the game, it's all working except for the music volume button...
It's a bit late now so will sort that tomorrow...

(31 Jan 2010)
Here are some cropped screenshots showing bumpmapped riders, leading link forks and a nice shot of the solo bike.

(29 Jan 2010)
Been keeping up a steady pressure, bit of an understatement that, it's 3.30am and I'm still here grafting...

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Almost back to the testing stage, cameras are all working fine now, the front end menu is complete again.
Finished the multiple engine sound options, I have a couple of favourites and I'm looking forward to people having a go at making there own exhaust note. Will be putting technical specs for sounds into the modability section of the features page shortly. It's put me back a bit adding all the extra functionality into the workshop menu but the game has gone up a level and I think it was worth the effort.
Simplyfied the dust, spray and skidding code today, also added a new skid and water splash sound....onwards!

Previous updates can be found here.

As anyone who has ridden any sort of a green lane / long distance trials outfit will tell you, teamwork is essential, on the dirt as well as on the road, successfully mastering the fine balance between tipping over and finding enough traction is a fine art so I thought it would be really be interesting to start the project with this type of sporty motorcycle combination.
On the right is a screen grab of the front end of the motorcycle, conventional telescopic forks with a single disc, there is an optional set of leading link forks now and I could possibly do wire spoked wheels in the future. The 3D sidecar and motorcycle models are not based on any make or model in particular, they are just my interpretation of what a useful combo should look like, hope you all approve...
Initially the Thirdwheel was intended to be purely a hobby as I used to work on commercial web sites for a living but I have put in so much time and effort now that it has become apparent to me and my bank balance that I will have to sell the finished game if I want to continue development and take it to the next level. On reflection I'm thinking that £15.00 would now be a fair price, but if you have any thoughts on this please let me know via the Contact Us page. The demo is free and will be the first of the nine sections in the game, it will include the fully functional outfit with rider and passenger to put through their paces.

Want to keep the Thirdwheel spinning? If you could give us a link it would be great, please let me know if you do and I will return the favour. There are some cool badges and things for sale in the Gift Shop. I am also more than happy to accept supporting donations for this project into my PayPal account below.

front wheel forks

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Introduction