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Request: Sign pack for use in the Media Tracker!
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Request: Sign pack for use in the Media Tracker!  
It's fantastic that we now can use the sign pack hosted on Mania Exchange!!!
This should cover most of the situations where drivers need help finding the route. There are however situations where the track signs are insufficient and one must use the in game mediatracker to instruct drivers where to go.

There are sections where track signs are hard to place or like in this track for instance : Driftigh
It's a great track but it has a section where you run over the exact same section of the track twice. The first time you have to go left, the second time you have to go right. In game way pointing would be really helpful here cuz you're COMPLETELY lost if you don't check the GPS.

Please help fill the gap and create a sign pack for the Media Tracker too!
Pretty please! :d
Last edited by supersmo,
Learner Driver
Location: SE
 
Why don't you just put the signs into media/images?

Also, the sign pack has signs to indicate where to go at a re-use.
Last edited by Enai Siaion,
Moped Racer
Location: BE
 
Thanx for your reply Enai Siaion!
Very impressive sign pack you've made :)

Enai_Siaion says:
Why don't you just put the signs into media/images?


Well... the Media Tracker handles images quite differently than the Track Editor:

Transparent pixels
Transparent pixels emit light when placed on the billboards in the Track editor while they are transparent when used in the Media Tracker. So if one were to use the MX Sign pack in the Media Tracker the signs would look all pixelated and be full of holes. :p

Image stretching
The Media Tracker stretches a square image to be 1/4 of the current screen resolution. This results in the signs from MX Sign pack look stretched horizontally and the angles look all wrong. A 45 degree arrow is no longer a 45 degree arrow. One could naturally fix this by tinkering with the x- and y-scale but for a sign pack to be user friendly it should look OK the instant it's added to the media tracker. My suggestion is to have the sign images adjusted before hand so that when the Media Tracker stretches them they look good, i.e with a screen resolution with an aspect ratio of 16:9.
(A 16:9 resolution stretches more than a 4:3 resolution.)

It would also be nice if the size of the signs was taken into account... Since square images are stretched to a size of 1/4 of the screen I would like the images to have a border of transparent pixels around the signs so they automatically have a good size when placed in the tracker.

Design
It makes sense that signs placed on the track have a look and feel that suits the surroundings. A pure canyon track can have signs with a western look and the platform tracks can have signs with a more metallic look.
However when it comes to waypointing through the media tracker a plain design would work since one just expects it to go with the hud.

The important thing is that the signs are clear and don't block too much of the view. I'd settle for white arrows on some kind of plain background without textures. I don't know if it's necessary but maybe 3 different colors of background for the arrows to signal the intensity of the turns.
e.g.
easy right = green background
medium right = yellow background
hard right = red background

If one were to do that then the naming of the files is essential to get people to use them as intended. (i.e. Arrow_LEFT_EASY.dds)

Animations
There is also the possibilty of creating "animated signs". ;) Place a boost to get the drivers up to high speed. Then place several triggers after each other. Each trigger activates a frame in the animation.

Maybe one such example would be cool to have in a sign pack just to show off the technique ;) Using it on a whole sign pack would create too many images.

Well... these are the main reasons why I would like to have a sign pack designed specifically for use in the Media Tracker. I could do it, but I'm not an artist... just a perfectionist ;) However I don't see the point in me doing it unless the pack gets hosted on a good site like MX with ready made locators. That's why I posted on this forum so someone with skills could get it done, get it hosted with locators for everyone to use and get credit for creating the first ever Media Tracker Sign Pack :d
Last edited by supersmo,
Learner Driver
Location: SE
 
i actually like the idea! while i'm more the DIY kind of guy, i see how nice it would be to have some generic stuff for those situations, especially if hosted and available for everyone - more people will have, smaller chance your MT pics won't show, cause ppl already have em in their cache.
howevee, the stretching really poses a problem to every simple geometrical shape, so one might have to create arrows, that don't look distorted, just because another aspect ratio is used ;)
tracks for nolifers!
Location: DE
 
Thanx doben!
Glad you like the idea :)
"In game waypointing" made easily accessible for the masses that simply works without a lot of extra hassle :d

doben says:
howevee, the stretching really poses a problem to every simple geometrical shape, so one might have to create arrows, that don't look distorted, just because another aspect ratio is used ;)


True... I've experimented a bit now... I've managed to create an image that when added in the tracker automatically stretches and looks great in ratio 16:9 and just a wee bit squished horizontally in 4:3. I'm guessing most people use 16:9 or wider nowadays so that's why I chose 16:9 as the target. Any opionions on the target ratio?
Last edited by supersmo,
Learner Driver
Location: SE
 
i think the most used is 16:10, isnt it? if so it could be a good compromise between 16:9 and 4:3.
but as i said, it should be possible to create shapes that dont look squished or stretched in either of the aspect ratios, although the thoughest ones would be diagonal arrows. i'd try to work something out, but i wont be home till at least tomorrow^^
tracks for nolifers!
Location: DE
 
You're right!
16:10 is the most used widescreen ratio for computer monitors. 16:9 was for TV screens. :$
Wikipedia, fountain of all knowledge ;)
Learner Driver
Location: SE
 
... says:
In March 2011 the 16:9 resolution 1920x1080 became the most common used resolution among users of Steam. The earlier most common resolution was 1680x1050 (16:10).

from http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Display_aspect_ratio
so looks like a bit behind, haha.
one might consider ignoring 4:3 completely and optimize the images for 16:9 & 16:10

but since i didnt really work with images in the editor, yet....how well does transparency work? png with transparency won't work i heard.
tracks for nolifers!
Location: DE
 
Doh! Wikipedia tricked me once again. Should've trusted my instincts. ;)

Hm... DirectDraw Surface (.dds) only seems to handle 100% transparent pixels...
I got a PNG to handle semitransparent pixels perfeclty :d

PNG seems to be the way to go. (y)
Learner Driver
Location: SE
 
okay, i'll have some testing to do then. not sure if half trans is very helpful, cause i wasnt really going for conventional square signs. instead i was thinking to uses the shapes themselves without background. and now i just remembered, that i saw transparent stuff already, lol...wont be too hard i guess *spam*
and ya, thx, i'm familiar with dds, lol :p it's just that i didnt try how stuff works out as MT gfx, yet
tracks for nolifers!
Location: DE
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