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spacer.png Third wheel - Updates
Last modified 02 Apr 2008
Today's date 09 May 2008
Active visitors 005
 
(19/12/2007) That year went by quick! I really don't know what happened but, sorry to say, I have not had chance to get anything done on the Thirdwheel. Anyhow, I want to get things moving again so I've upgraded to version 5 of the 3Impact Game Engine which has been completely rewritten from the ground up, to support programmable .fx shaders, advanced bone-based animation management, hi-quality rendering and many other features. I'm currently dusting off the project and porting it over from v4, also will be buying the latest version of Light Wave 3D shortly. Hopefully this new burst of enthusiasm will eventfully result in a downloadable demo...
(08/12/2006) Still alive! Been moving office, sorting out a new job and organizing some finance for this project.
(24/09/2006) Finished remodeling the sidecar, currently working on the mapping, below is my attempt at a skin for chassis and nose of the chair which is all one mesh now. The mudguard / seat support will be next.
mdl_23n.png mdl_22n.png
(17/09/2006) Been working on the sidecar this evening, trying to get the model totally finished and optimised so I can get on with mapping it and making some better textures. The main body made as three main meshes, much less than previous versions, there is the nose, chassis and seat unit. This is a much more open design now with a larger opening or door at the front and more room for the passengers legs so he can lean more freely. Also have put in the sidecar mountings and remade the swinging arm for that extra bit of detail, here are the pictures...
(10/09/2006) Well I know it's not moving the game on any, but I felt as the site is the window for the world, thought I better smarten things up a bit! Also put up some more screen grabs of the motorcycle this evening...

(04/09/2006) The Gift Shop is now open,  got some nice items in there all carrying the Thirdwheel logo, also added an example of a skybox here.

(02/09/2006) Added Pause functionality to game, uses the "P" key, more work than I expected and quite tricky, seems to work well though.
(27/08/2006) Now the proud owner of the domain name http://www.third-wheel.co.uk
(26/08/2006) Added some extra functionality, pressing the "M" key puts game into slow motion, its really quite interesting, also good fun to watch the crashes.
(24/08/2006) This site went live.............

Version 235(22/08/2006) Added some extra functionality, after the outfit crashes etc., pressing the "R" key resets the outfit to the start position, you no longer have to restart the whole game before you can continue. This is a nice feature, it involved a surprising amount of work though, but the game is much more enjoyable for it. Also this mod has moved things towards the game having a proper front end.

Total failed to document this bit, I think panic was setting in!!!! Basically had to restructure the hierarchy of the outfit bodies because the physics was becoming to complex and the frame rate was dropping badly on my pc (will put specs here later) , the sidecar is no longer a separate entity now, also had to restrict the use of ball joints again I could not get the passenger into the game and functioning properly as a rag doll without the dreaded frame rate problem. After several month of brainstorming it all runs nicely and the passenger is now behaving himself and trying to balance the outfit...

Version 130(26/05/2006) - fix camera to rider after a crash
if you knock off the silencer the exhaust note gets a lot louder!
break the mc swing arm with force
Massively increased the damping on the mc parts below when they break off
- McSilencerBody
- ScBody
- ForkTpBo
- McSwingArmBody
- ScSwingArmBody
Press F1 or H to view the help screen - make the help screen

Version 119(16/05/2006) - Huge changes to the mass of the models, they are something like 10 times heavier now.
This is intended to make the physics much more realistic and stable. The initial test look very promising, also
developing code to allow the motor cycle to be ridden as a solo now. Also adding dust effects to the wheel collisions.

Version 112(06/05/2006) - Fixed the gear changing while rolling backwards and loading sprite problems.

Version 111(04/05/2006) - Using iBodySphereCreate instead of iBodySGCreate for the wheels, easier to
fine tune dia and mass, no models need, its just generally a lot tidier. Added sidecar brake.
Limited the range of the mouse wheel input.
Version 110(04/05/2006) - Using the mouse wheel as the throttle now, I like it, very controllable and precise.
Version 109(28/04/2006) - Tried using the mouse for steering - Did not feel very natural, no self centering.
Version 092(09/04/2006) - Improved the riders movements, outfit stability and sidecar wheel skid marks.
Version 090(07/04/2006) - Got a new "non fuzzy" flat monitor so lots of progress now I can read the code.
Gear change, engine sound etc. fixed. Motorcycle Rider is now finally a complete rag doll, replaced a 
lot of his ball joints with hinge joints. This has made a huge difference to the stability of the
physics! Added a settings file so maps, skies etc. can be changed very quickly. Also making skyboxes
with Terregen... its brilliant for the job.
What happened here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Version 057(01/03/06) - Still working on (some progress) gear change / engine sound etc.
Version 053(20/02/06) - Trying to fix the gear change / engine sound etc.
Version 052(08/01/06) - Start tidying up folder structure look for probs etc.
Fixed self center steering.
#####################A 2 month break(computer problems and xmas!)#######################
Version 51 - Removes iBodyBodyCreate from the riders body parts. 
Version 50 - Adds "vertical seeking" to the riders legs.
Version 49 - Joins the riders legs to the hips. 
Version 48 - Adds the riders legs. 
Version 47 - Adds the riders shins. 
Version 46 - Adds the riders feet. 
Version 45 - Introduces .h header files and makes it all much, much more manageable!!!! 
Version 44 - Fix the mc riders head from twitching, NOT! 
Version 43 - Fix the mc riders head from twitching, NOT! 
Version 42 - Adds a neck for the motorcycle rider. 
Version 41 - Puts in global damping with much lower values.
Version 40 - Fix the mc riders head from twitching, NOT! 
Version 39 - More work and progress on the motorcycle riders hands etc. 
Version 38 - More work on the motorcycle riders hands etc!
Version 37 - Fixes the motorcycle riders hands to the handlebars.(finally!)
Version 36 - Fails to fix the motorcycle riders hands to the handlebars...............:(
Version 35 - Makes motorcycle riders head follow the direction of the handlebars.
Version 34 - Adds the motorcycle rider as a skinned rag doll.
Version 33 - Adds the motorcycle rider.
Version 32 - Puts the shadow back on the sidecar wheel.
Version 31 - The passenger leans intelligently, but still accepts user input for cornering etc.
(24/08/2005) Bought 3impact game engine.
(07/03/2005) Started researching this project.
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The Third Wheel motorcycle and sidecar simulation is
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