Modular Carshape

Previously Dennis Loyer wrote:

Differentiating between flex and non-flex wings: I took a look at the March 88. It looks like the march 88 uses a multiple wing configuration... the front wing is composed of two wing pieces, one over the other, and the rear wing's upper section uses the same thing. Maybe the simplest (and maybe too subtle?) way of showing the two wing types would be to continue using the multi-wing configuration for the flex wings and change them to a single wing plane for the non-flex wings. Done right, they might even be able to use the same skin.

Exactly my thinking/hope.  I think by doing the rear wing too it will not be subtle at all.  The trick is the textures, although even if we cannot use the same ones, it is still a good way to go.

Showing the difference between helo and gyro: All that's really needed to show the difference is a set of drive-shafts. You could even reuse the rest of the suspension, just add a set of shafts.

Yes, that is one idea, although that implies either electric motors embedded inside that tiny area of nose, or shafts all the way from the tranny.  I was thinking a 'real' gyro on an open wheel car would have to be electric motors outside the narrow confines of the typical nose.  This could be unsprung motors at the outside of the suspension, or even in the upright.  To make the implementation visible and isolated to a single of our 'slots' I was thinking a 'fat' drive shaft, with a widget somewhere in it, where the shaft inboard of the widget (motor) is not really a rotating shaft at all, but just a support.  The 'rotating' part is outboard of the widget (although we don't model or see the rotation).

Thoughts on the valve covers; We might consider setting the opacity level on the cube-map pretty high to give a nice chrome effect when the alpha channel is set right. Someone could still get a brushed metal or a completely matte look by adjusting the alpha channel.

Already done (within the limits of my inderstanding of the 3dsimed exposed parameters).  The 'default' 027-S valve cover is shiny gold.  You can groom the valve cover shader when you get your hands on it.

I prefer an analog gauge myself, so I'd be willing to work on that, but that's really outside my comfort zone at this point, so I'll take a look at redoing the steering wheel as a way of getting my feet when in actual modeling first...what sort of changes did you have in mind?

Well, the issue with the cockpit, as-is, is that the wheel blocks the gauge  (and that there is a March logo on the wheel ).  This is all fine for me, since I don't normally display a wheel, but it would be good to have wheels that work well for people that like to display wheels.  Two ideas are to A) put the gauge  info on a wheel and B) make a yoke style wheel with nothing in the middle so that the dash can be seen.  I prefer B, since that means the 'new' wheel also works with an analog gauge cockpit.  Actually, both A&B should be yoke, or at least flat-top, style, since some future noses may not go high enough to cover a full round wheel.  The current nose does cover the full round wheel, but barely.

For analog examples, there are plenty in the 88s to draw from.  To do cockpit gauges, you also need to deal with the cockpit file.  We'll make the sure mod binds the right cockpit file to the right slot.  The mod already does this mostly since use used to have optional cockpit views for the thebes (actually we still do).  I would not look to our borged classics as analog examples, since they have some shader issues.  The more recent classics, which we have not borged, have that fixed.

I actually like analog as well, but was trying to squeeze clarity in a customization using an preexisting form factor in an area I knew nothing about at the time.  Hence the morphed ferrari88 digital gauge (note I still managed to make the temp gauges analog ).  However, I'm thinking of a new gauge option I'll do for myself (and make available of course) designed explicitly to augment the HUD analog gauge.  It will not have an rpm gauge at all, or anything that is on the non-LCD hud.  It will only have multiple shift lights (wide bands like now, but one extra), temp gauges, and indicator/warning lights.  My main reason is that rFactor stopped displaying fuel info on gauges (go look...even the stock ISI cars don;' work anymore for fuel info...like the FIS wheel), so I have to have the rpm hud up since it has the fuel info.  Since the rpm hud is up, I don't need it redundent on my cockpit gauge...and redundent use of visible information bandwidth bothers me in principle.    (This is also why I don't use the visible wheel display..I already have a wheel in front of me...in my hands).

sounds interesting...   looking forward to a sneak shot or artistic impression

Another idea for suspensions and gyro is to not put the gyro in the suspension at all, and go ahead and put it in the wheel/rim part.  This would free up suspension differentiation to be along material lines.  Steel would be the black round tubing we have now.  Carbon fiber would be flattened bars with carbon fiber texture.  Polymer would be some plasticy looking tubes fatter than the steel ones ( and maybe some non-black diffuse coloring ).  Nanotech could pull a cool shader stunt with the specular and be black in diffuse but some neon color in specular to give it an unworldly sheen.

I'm not quite ready for a sneak shot yet.  The base textures can be primer grey, but some of the borged details still carry baked in textures that are too detracting.  I'm close to being able to do some shots though.  Probably one or two more sittings away.

I lied.  Here are some artist impressions.