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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...
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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 is
3impact which is very powerful and great to work with, it is currently using
ODE to simulate the rigid body dynamics.
This does not require the use of Ageia's PPU (physics processing unit) although PhysX cards and hardware processed physics in
general will eventually be supported.
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The project is now fully underway again, I had to take a lot of time off to put some things in order but
its paying off a bit as I have got some better development tools now. The next big effort
will be putting a user friendly front end on what I've got together so far, I have made some good progress on this so far
and I have been creating more tracks, trials sections and terrains in Lightwave.
I also want to make a demo available for download within the next few months.
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| Latest Updates |
 (17/04/2008)
Got a bit more up to speed with Lightwave now, after some initial redraw issues with my 8800GTX graphics card.
The hillclimb project is underway, built a timer, used "rail extruded" for the track and it has come out really nice.
Also bought Genetransfer's water shader pak
Here is a screen shot of the wobbly wet looking water in the game.
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(31/03/2008) So far 2008 has been going really well, I have totally rewritten the balance system and
the front end so that different maps can be used without closing the game.
I have successfully moved to version 5, it actually involved very little work, of 3Impact now and I'm converting the meshes to skinmeshes
which allows me to use the programmable .fx shaders, this is making a HUUUUUGE difference to the look of the game!
Genetransfer's cube light shader pak
has helped me understand a bit more about .fx shaders and has some great lighting effects and examples.
Been testing MoleBox for packing the demo and its perfect for the job,
will be releasing a demo now soon as I have finished adding the shader technology.
This site has also been moved to a new server and in no longer using Frontpage so just for a while please forgive any little glitches as I de-bot it all.
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Previous updates can be found here.
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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.
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On the right is a screen grab of the front end of the motorcycle, conventional telescopic forks with a single
disc, pretty much complete now, although I could possibly do an optional set of leading links and
maybe 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...
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Initially the Thirdwheel was intended to be purely a hobby as I work on commercial web sites for a living,
but over the last 18 months or so of development it has become apparent to me that I will have to charge
something (yet to be decided) for the finished game/s purely to keep the wheels of industry turning and allow
me to spend more time on the project. Also in the future I hopefully plan to sell additional maps,
tracks terrains using PayPal or some similar system, although things might easily change at present. If you want
to support or help this project I would be most grateful if you could
give us a link from your site
or maybe buy some cool badges or something from the gift shop, will also accept small donations,
PayPal again, after the demo is available. All is chaos at the moment but
hopefully things should get a bit more organised over the next few months, hope you enjoy your visit...
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