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Third
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- Updates
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(19 Jan 2010) Been working on the site again today, just sorted the Future Plans page out. I'm a bit distracted as our first grandson was born last night at 5am! Many congratulations to Eddie and Ashley...  .
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(18 Jan 2010) Working on the site today, it's a bit of a mess now but omelettes and eggs etc......  .
This evening will be bashing away at making the three chase cam types savable so the game always defaults to your favourite...Also a very big thanks to the kind people who have contacted me with support and enthusiasm with regard to this project, it really gives me a much needed boost, nice one! |
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(14 Jan 2010) Ok here it is, after more testing the consensus of opinion amongst friends / family that have tried the game now reckon that it is too hard to drive the outfit round... My dilema is that I have been driving it around for a while now and have got really quite proficient at the controls and understand what's going on with the outfit physics being so realistic. I had not allowed for the different levels of difficulty that will be required when released to the geneneral public, this will including been able to making things even trickier if you want to. However this has only been a small setback and a reality check for me, it is a good thing as it's made me and add the alternative "Workshop" front end to the game. This was always my intention, but was not going to get it together for the first release. Now the motorcycle, outfit settings, riders weights etc., can be tweaked and it definately adds a lot more fun / interest to the action. Another bonus to adding the workshop area is that I have been able to incorporate the optional sidecar wheel drive and that is great fun. Uphill left handed bends are usually the problem with normal rear wheel drive but with the sidecar wheel driven it's the other way around so when in sidecar drive mode the sidecar brake key (right control) becomes a dog cluth and temporarily disengages the drive to make manouvering easier. Current rate of progress now with all the new mods is that the main game is pretty much back to releasable but all the changes have got to be incorporated into the demo. Probably this has probably added month to my attempt at getting things sorted before xmas but I guess this only to be expected due to the complexity of the project. As the release is so close I will update this section of the site very regularly...honest... .Also forgot to mention that the game has been tested on XpPro and Vista so far with a Windows 7 test happening soon, everything seems really stable and smooth... |
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(8 Jan 2010) Demo and full version of the game are now completed and zipped up, currently being tested / thrashed by friends and family to find any last minute bugs etc., I'm pretty confident all is well though...  .
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(4 Jan 2010) Happy new year everyone, nearly ready to launch the game..really it is going to happen, development is finished for this first release, music is sorted, been optimising images, sounds etc. to reduce the size of the downloads and all is going well. I have added a Paypal donations button now just incase anybody is feeling flush wants to help support this very, very indie project... .
Also I see that 3Impact is completely free now, that's what I call a bargain! |
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(16 Dec 2009) Have finally got the game together now.... . All thats left is some final touches to the in game music,
done a demo version as well it will be available for download before next year, sounds bad but it's not that far away now...
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(08 May 2009) Well still keeping on keeping on, I have had some bad patches with my main development pc throwing a total wobbly and no longer finding the hard drives. Also it came to my attention that the Contact Us form had stopped working, thanks for trying it out Edds! I've fixed that now so many apologies to anybody that had been trying to get hold of me recently. The game itself is really taking shape and I have solo mode up and running as well...
There are three types of play available, the time bonus flag game where you collect flags against the clock, the forced order fag game where you have to collect numbered
flags in numerical order to complete the sections and an exploration mode where you can just have a good look around. Terrain is pretty much finished and I am still sorting
out the loose ends and any small bugs, it's surprisingly time consuming doing the testing etc. but when I release the demo I want it to be really sorted.
Also just downloaded Fraps so will have a go at putting a video
on Utube shortly, in the meantime here are some more cool screenshots below.....
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| (24/02/2009) Here are some funky screenshots from the game, the terrain texture still needs a bit more work etc., but this shows where i'm going with things at the mo... | ||||
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(19/02/2009) Yep still here! I have been working pretty much flat out on the game for the last six months and been making some great progress even though I say so myself.
Below is the final version of the outfit, I have made some changes to the motorcycle bodywork which improves the look of it a bit?
Mainly I have been working on the game environment which has proved to be a massive amount of work. I have ended up making a sort of trials game with nine seperate
sections. There are two modes: 1/ Collect flags to gain bonus time to stay in the game. 2/ Collect all numbered flags before you can move to the next section.
Just ironing out some of the last gribbly bugs at the mo but there should be a demo pretty soon now....yes really...
 Anyhow have loads of good stuff to put on this site now, will be adding content on a more regular basis now... |
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| (02/4/2008) 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. | ||||
| (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. | ||||
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| (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. | ||||
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| (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... | ||||
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(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. |
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(24/08/2006) This site went live.............
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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. |
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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... |
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Version 130(26/05/2006) - fix camera to rider after a crash |
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Version 119(16/05/2006) - Huge changes to the mass of the models, they are something like 10 times heavier now. |
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Version 112(06/05/2006) - Fixed the gear changing while rolling backwards and loading sprite problems. |
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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. |
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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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! |
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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. |
The Third Wheel motorcycle and sidecar simulation is
copyright © 2005 - 2010 by A.D.Smart, All rights reserved.
