Moody Non-Photo-Realistic Driving 479
An anonymous reader points out a project called Drivey, which he describes as "a dark and fascinating example of 2.xD [not quite 3d] graphical rendering. This tiny, free [as in beer] demo gives you an amazingly compelling driving experience. To quote the author, 'It was conceived as a driving simulator for old farts like myself, who are kind of nostalgic for the "old days" [ca. 1985] but are not so thick as to believe that the games from the 80s were actually in any way superior to the games we play today.' Even works fine under WINE!"
I cannae see shit, cap'n! (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:I cannae see shit, cap'n! (Score:3, Insightful)
One of the best projects I did at school was a networked tank game in my computer graphics class, on (now quite ancient) IRIX workstations. Battlezone kind of game, very simple, but lots of fun to play -- especially when the professor was manning one of the tanks :-)
Simplicity is a virtue, and not just in coding. Now take this project and combine it with Google Maps and it could be very interesting...
Eric
See what your browser's sending with the HTTP header viewer [ericgiguere.com]
At first glance (Score:2)
Re:I cannae see shit, cap'n! (Score:5, Funny)
Congratulations, you've just invented the new "imagine a beowulf cluster of
Re:I cannae see shit, cap'n! (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:I cannae see shit, cap'n! (Score:2)
Highway Star - Deep Purple
Born to Run - Suzi Quatro
Highway to Hell - AC/DC
Stop the Rock - Apollo Four Forty
Roll All Day - Ice Cube
I want this as a screensaver
Re:I cannae see shit, cap'n! (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:I cannae see shit, cap'n! (Score:3, Funny)
I might get the roof-bars fitted to my Mondeo tonight and strap a webcam to them.. all I'd need is my laptop set to record straight to mpeg...
Re:I cannae see shit, cap'n! (Score:3, Informative)
And - because the entire production, crew, station, not to mention the music and the performers, were all Canadian, Global racked up serious CanCon points for that show!
This is not off topic - this really does look like that show!!
Re:Burnout ruled (Score:5, Insightful)
Not all games/demos have to be at the burning edge of graphics.
15 years on, and loads of people still play lemmings. The emulator scene for old 16 bit machines, and even old arcade machines is bigger than ever. All these people can't be wrong.
All modern games have, is their graphics. Most of them don't even have enjoyable game-play. Graphics are not everything, calling a game with low-spec graphics, rubbish, is like saying Impressionists couldn't paint.
-Jar.
Re:Burnout ruled (Score:3, Interesting)
You are missing the point, it's not even a racer yet, it's a demo of a bezier graphics engine at the moment.
It barely even has rudimentary collision detection yet...
Trojan? (Score:3, Funny)
Well, gee whiz (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Well, gee whiz (Score:2)
heh, having read the website I really want to try the demo.
At home I may well. Heck, I can rebuild my home PC.
At work, where I am now? Not a hope. I'd have to sack myself, let alone wait for the InfoSec team to come around..
The technology choice and the write-up don't go together. The screenshots are all very nice, but you can get the non-photo-realistic look easily enough using the latest hardware and 3D APIs, so why constrain yourself?
So while it's great that he's enjoying making it all happen, it could
Re:Well, gee whiz (Score:2)
Re:Well, gee whiz (Score:2)
You forget to wear your tinfoil hat ?
Re:Well, gee whiz (Score:2, Funny)
why ? it works on Wine... (Score:4, Informative)
You'll realize that all the "standard" offsets most viruses use for exploiting buffer overflows are almost always not valid in Wine.
Also this has been featured on tucows.com
Uh, what? (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Uh, what? (Score:2)
Hell, even Mitnick showed that the front door is usually easier to get through than the back door. Never understimate the power of some good, old fashioned social engineering. Also really gullible people.
Re:Uh, what? (Score:4, Funny)
Seeing as how he's spent time in federal prison, I'm just gonna hafta take his word for it... : p
Re:Well, gee whiz (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Well, gee whiz (Score:3, Insightful)
Well, except that almost every program on windows expects to be run with elevated priveleges, to the point that it's about impossible to install any program otherwise. So if a user is duped, your machine is rooted. Not true of unix, unless you're installing it as root, which you probably shouldn't d
Re:Well, gee whiz (Score:3, Insightful)
Missing link (Score:2)
Re:Missing link (Score:2, Funny)
"Forbidden
You don't have permission to access
written on it. Sheesh.
MTV (Score:5, Interesting)
MTV? No thanks. I don't need to listen to Ashanti. (Score:2)
Otherwise, to keep the executable small, we'd be stuck with a few MIDIs and I think I am one of 7 people in the whole world who would be OK with that
Style (Score:5, Insightful)
Simple cell-shading done with style. This is what's missing from most games. Real style.
If I wanted photo-realism, I'd get up from my PC and head out the front door. Games such as WoW, Rez, Killer 7 and Ico have shown that a little creativity in the design can go a long way. It can also be easy on the gpu.
Re:Style (Score:2)
Re:Style (Score:5, Insightful)
Its one of the very few genres were maximum realism really is wanted, because everybody known how it look to drive and have expectations how it should look like when driving, well, faster...
You've obviously never played games like Burnout, Outrun, Daytona USA, Ridge Racer, Wipeout, F-Zero, or any of the other myriad of racing games where realism is most definitely not the goal...
And to the "style" of this "demo". Well, i cant call it style, and i cant call it a demo. Its more like a short looping flash movie, and the "style" is using only one colour and making everything so dark you cant see there isnt anything too see.
And from this, I can tell you've obviously never played any of the prior art listed on this page, such as Night Driver or Speed Freak.
Racing games are not a genre that requires any more realism than any other genre. The point of a racing game is to have fun. There is no need for them to be realistic - there is only a need to make you feel like you are driving something.
This guy does call this a "driving simulation", which implies realism, but even that's a misnomer. There's nothing about the word "simulation" that implies realistic visuals - the dictionary definition that applies in this case is "Representation of the operation or features of one process or system through the use of another: computer simulation of an in-flight emergency."
And to further that example, modern commercial flight sims (you know, the ones that cost $2 million each) have less realistic graphics than commercially-available flight simulators available at your local GameStop. Because simulating the inner workings of something is not really about texture-mapping every single crack on the asphalt.
Re:Style (Score:4, Insightful)
Please.
It's just a fun little project. You're going to give yourself a heart attack trying to find fault.
Drivey Crashes (Score:3, Interesting)
Problem is I get crashes before it even starts.
It appears Drivey does not like my Dual Screens.
It flashes some kind of grahics test across both monitors and then exits.
Durn.
Re:Drivey Crashes (Score:2)
That's funny, I thought the opposite!
Re:Drivey Crashes (Score:2)
Re:Drivey Crashes (Score:2)
Pretty good (Score:5, Interesting)
Nice project, now lets back to Gran Turismo and see what still needs to be done (-:
Re:Pretty good (Score:2)
The esc key.
(used a root shell to kill wine
Root shell? Regular user shell will work, unless you're running it as root (why would you do that?)
Re:Pretty good (Score:2)
Run as root: Because I can!
Anyway: I think the correct term for the root shell should be console. to access the running shells in KDE also did not work.
Re:Pretty good (Score:2)
Re:Pretty good (Score:2)
Howto Make it a Screensaver in Windows (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Howto Make it a Screensaver in Windows (Score:2)
Re:Howto Make it a Screensaver in Windows (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Howto Make it a Screensaver in Windows (Score:3, Interesting)
copy cmd.exe to logon.scr, reboot, and wait 15 minutes. A DOS prompt with admin rights would pop up and you were on your way.
Re:Howto Make it a Screensaver in Windows (Score:5, Informative)
You now have a screensaver which doesn't exit on mouse movements or key presses
Also, a standard
Renaming
Re:Howto Make it a Screensaver in Windows (Score:5, Funny)
Not only is it a cool screen saver, it's secure too.
Re:Howto Make it a Screensaver in Windows (Score:2, Funny)
tried it (Score:5, Interesting)
Most games overdo stuff with graphics when they could focus on content.
Now all we need is some cows, logs, perhaps some water, dual player, 2x tac2 and rear view of a mockup car with lotus logo.
Re:tried it (Score:3, Funny)
Yah--it's like TV. The problem with my TV can't be solved with a Wide Screen, HD Plasma Monitor, it can only by solved by the producers hiring some writers.
2.5D graphics rendering (Score:5, Interesting)
Interesting thing here is the big black blob in the top left, which is the bottom end of a light pole. Why is it floating in the air? Because extruded objects can't currently be drawn correctly unless one end is visible to the observer. The reason for this is remarkably interesting, specific to the weird 2-and-a-half-D rendering system, and pretty much impossible to explain to anyone without a strong background in both 2D and 3D graphics. *sigh* oh well, I find it interesting anyway.
It sounds interesting to me... but I don't have a background in both 2D and 3D graphics. Would someone care to explain it?
Re:2.5D graphics rendering (Score:5, Informative)
The problem is that it's trying to show 3 dimensions with only 2 dimensional objects. Here's another problem with a similar issue. Imagine a very flat wall. Take a large light source like the sun and bring it to a position above and behind the wall, now the wall face is dark and a long shadow is cast. Now move the light source to the front of the wall. The wall is lit up and no shadow is cast by the wall. Now slowly move the light source up directly over the edge of the wall. Get to the point just before a shadow would appear. Should the wall be lit? Should it be dark? Should half of it be lit?
Re:2.5D graphics rendering (Score:5, Funny)
Ensuring that it's at least 25% flatter than your everyday, ordinary flat wall...
it's only a demo but... (Score:3, Interesting)
Downloads (Score:2)
1300 downloads, averaging around 30 per day right now.
---
Wednesday, August 10, 2005?
I found a rather obvious bug... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:I found a rather obvious bug... (Score:2)
Re:I found a rather obvious bug... (Score:2)
Re:I found a rather obvious bug... (Score:2)
Comment removed (Score:5, Funny)
Re:I found a rather obvious bug... (Score:2)
it makes sense really (Score:2)
By setting the control equipment up on the right side of our cars and driving on the left, we ensure that drivers approach down each other's right-hand side, which makes a lot of sense considering how much of the population is right-handed.
It doesn't make any sense at all to waste the dextrous right hand on the gearshift - which is probably why Americans tend to prefer automatic gearboxes (90-95% of British cars have a manual shift) - we prefer right hand for the wheel and a
Re:it makes sense really (Score:2)
Depends. (Score:2)
Re:it makes sense really (Score:2)
It's because we're lazy.
Also, it restricts what else you can do in the car...it's amazing what I see as I drive past them in my manual shift-equipped VW.
Drinking and eating at the same time, phoning and consulting a map, etc. etc. Women and their makeup is pretty scary, but of course men shave, too.
Re:it makes sense really (Score:2)
I think it has more to do with the shape of the roads. In the UK, you go through lots of towns, the roads curve more, they are narrower and harder to overtake. In the US, they are straight for miles at a time. You can overtake without changing gear, which is generally not possible in the UK.
The real reason the the US drives on the right is probably much the sa
Re:it makes sense really (Score:5, Interesting)
This page [pandora.be] gives an interesting description on driving traditions.
Basically, driving on the left comes from the need to protect yourself with your sword arm from oncoming attackers, and driving on the right comes from needing to whip a train of horses with your right hand while riding on the left-rear horse (this was before seats, and if you're on the left hand horse, it's easier to pass people on the right). So both systems are rooted in the notion that most people are right handed, it's just that the use of the right hand for either reigns or swords determined the protocol chosen.
Bonus Code Fu Courtesy of Bill Gates (Score:5, Funny)
Even though probably no one much ever played this primitive bit of DOS/BASIC demo software [purportedly the last piece of professional software ever written by Bill Gates!]
Good to see he ended on such a high note.
Re:Bonus Code Fu Courtesy of Bill Gates (Score:2)
Correction and Note (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Bonus Code Fu Courtesy of Bill Gates (Score:2)
On Linux with CrossOver Office (Score:2, Informative)
Re:On Linux with CrossOver Office (Score:2)
Fatal error: (Score:5, Funny)
Frivolties aside, if realism isn't the goal, why stick to our boring terran transportation? I think the game would be really cool if some ideas were stolen^W^W^W inspiration was taken from Wipeout, letting some big air jumps enter the game. Why not take a little from Tribes aswell and add the jet boost-thing?
Mix well and the result is a toe curling orgasm^W^W^W hit for sure.
Waiting... (Score:4, Funny)
Uhhh, excuse me? (Score:2)
Stunts.... (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Stunts.... (Score:2)
Re:Stunts.... (Score:2)
Re:Stunts.... (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Stunts.... (Score:2)
Re:Stunts.... (Score:2)
The loops, the jumps. Man, I'm pretty sure this one game inspired the Gorillaz 19 - 2000 video. (And game which you can play on their site).
And dont forget to.. (Score:4, Informative)
http://intepid.com/2005-05-08/13.49/ [intepid.com]
It is really good!
hmm... (Score:2)
Way, way too unrealistic... (Score:4, Funny)
Bunch of different keyboard commands, too (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Bunch of different keyboard commands, too (Score:3, Informative)
Video if creator playing Drivey (Score:2, Informative)
Mirror (Score:2, Informative)
Body roll physics (Score:3, Interesting)
Know what?
I prefer the BMW! #1 reason: Predictable body roll physics. I turn the wheel left, and the car follows. Not so in Drivey, where I turn the car right, and the horizon tips over to the opposite side. Does Drivey think it's a boat?
Drivey has fine acceleration however, and I dig the everlasting twilight/dawn.
It reminds me a lot of the Ford Simulator [dosgamesarchive.com] that existed in the oldenne days (1987). Not as much instrumentation, but who really needs a tach or speedo anyway?
Easter Eggs! (Score:3, Informative)
- Left, Right, Up, Down: Steer & Accelerate/Brake
- A, D, W, S: Same as above, respectively
- T: Toggle Info
- G: Grey Scale
- H: display random palette
- K: palette cycle (Pretty cool)
- C: adds Other Cars (8 at a time)
- N/M: Zoom in/out
- F1: Shows all key functions on Screen
- F2: Toggle WireFrame
- F3: Toggle Dashboard
- F4: Show Rear View
- F5: Toggle Manual Control
- F6: Toggle Sound
- F7: Change Sky Gradient
- F11: Toggle Full Screen
Play around with it!Note: you can seriously slow down the game by hitting C a whole bunch of times.
Re:Easter Eggs! (Score:3, Informative)
Num Keys 1-4 Change the Scenery.
- 1: Sparce Road
- 2: Tunnel
- 3: City
- 4: Industrial
numbers 5-9 just change it back to "very sparce road". The game defaults to 4: IndustrialRe:Easter Eggs! (Score:3, Interesting)
If you hold it down for a while, it'll get to a stark black and white—very artsy
Re:Anyone tried it yet? (Score:5, Informative)
Arrow/WASD keys control steering and accel/brake, but the car drives itself to stay on the road so you really can't steer. 1-4 selects a road/scene, C adds 8 cars, K toggles palette rotation.
With palette rotation this would almost make a good screensaver...
=Smidge=
Manual steering (Score:3, Informative)
For added bonus, hold CTRL to make things really fast and SHIFT to slow to a crawl.
Re:Anyone tried it yet? (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Anyone tried it yet? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:who cares? (Score:2)
You'll notice that it's in "games.slashdot.org". It's surely on-topic here. If you're not intersted in games at all, you can turn them off in your preferences.
Re:Bug (Score:2)
There are only 3 questions in the FAQ, all on the very front page of the site, and this specific issue is mentioned.
Software testers are expe
Re:Mirror, anyone? (Score:2)