I'm looking for people who might be interested in participating
in a free (as in free software) racing simulator. A few words
about the project first (you can read a more complete description
in the project page).
Slipstream is basically a real-time vehicle simulator. It's
meant to be generic and support all kinds of vehicles (from
bicycles to aircraft) but right now a sports motorcycle model is
implemented. It's also meant to be realistic and should be, as
far as I'm aware of, the most realistic real-time simulator
available (except perhaps for specialized research tools or
academic projects). I'm saying this to describe the project
orientation, not to toot my own horn. The competition in
motorcycle sims doesn't seem to be very stiff anyway. Most are
simply trying to make you feel like you're Valentino Rossi.
More details can be found in the project page here:
http://www.nongnu.org/slipstream/
The videos are still from version 0.1 more recent ones can be found
here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OOt3DJRjLQI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cs9zWziKHcY
Anyway I'm about to make the second release now and the physics
are pretty mature and surprisingly fun to play too (I wouldn't
have expected a motorcycle to be easy to control without
significant computer assistance but there you have it). Graphics
are still quite behind though so if any motorcycle and free
software fans want to join in on the fun here are some areas I
could use help with:
- Track design
This is where most of the work is needed. Currently the track is
a simple heightfield so modeling of grass, trees, buildings, is
needed. Also the addition of new tracks would be useful as
currently only one is available.
Some of the track design process is automated, particularly the
design of the race-track itself and the generation of the
surrounding heightfield but although the techniques used seem
very promising the tools themselves are very primitive makeshift
scripts. I could therefore use a track designer who can either
undertake developing the tools (mostly the interface and such of
course, I'll handle the math-heavy core) or help me develop them
by providing feedback on what is needed and what would work best
from a designer's perspective. - Vehicle design
I currently have someone working on vehicle modeling so this is a
less pressing matter. Still help here is needed especially as
new vehicle types are added (like cars, MX motorcycles etc.).
What I could really use though would be someone (or, even better
more than one) with some experience in Blender (or willing to do
research) who could give me feedback on what is needed from the
rendering engine (shading, modeling or animation techniques etc.)
from an artist's perspective. I know that I need to redesign the
rendering core but am lacking the (artistic) experience that
would allow me to decide how to design it. What shading or
modeling techniques are useful or even necessary etc.
needed for a racing sim and also help me develop the underlying
system based on what's needed in order to get things done right.
Experience is not necessary but research in order to find how to best
solve a problem will be. Let me know if you're interested.
Dimitris