WIP Beta released A new *CITY* map - LOS INJURUS 2023-12-20

Some more unfinished stuff in the works (these are some of the same stores already in the map, just new locations for them).

In the second shot, the dirt track is just beyond the bridge in the distance, for perspective the third shot is added so you can see where this is in relation to the city.
Trying very hard to keep these roads and road-grades on the majority of stuff truck friendly, for the folks who like to haul stuff.
I really think you folks will like this next beta. I don't think it'll be much more than another week away. There will be more than one Sprawl Mart location, too (I don't know how many will be in the next beta but there's one already mostly in).

 

Looks awesome! I can't wait for the next update.

 

If there are people out there who have the extra funding to help out this project, please do so. I have hit the limits of a card with 8gb of VRAM, and have to purchase a workstation-class card in the near future. This is entirely my fault (not planning ahead as well as one could have) as I should have known better and listened to my gut feeling when I got this card a year ago when the old Radeon went over the hill.
Of course, the project will still soldier on regardless of the VRAM situation. I just wanted to be honest, as it's been getting pretty rough over here with that.
This doesn't mean an 8gb VRAM graphics card won't be able to run the map, it just means I can't have the modeling or graphics programs while I have BeamNG open, or vice-versa while I am working on the map..
Clarification: No, I don't want an Nvidia 3000 series card, just looking for a workstation GPU that will have more VRAM as things get REALLY slow and glitchy when you run out of VRAM.
Should have gotten a Radeon VII or a Quadro card! Derp.
This does not / will not delay the beta, so no worries there.

Graphic below, showing some of the status of my graphics card. The RAM field is VRAM usage.

 

Awesome job on the progress you've made on this fantastic map, you definitely pay a lot of attention to detail and have a lot of pride in your work! I saw that you wanted to eventually put in a race track or 2 somewhere in Los Injurus, and I have the perfect track in mind that could provide some inspiration for whatever the track may look like in game.

Irwindale Speedway, I think, is the perfect track to model similarly to considering the track encompasses both an oval and a figure 8 track. Irwindale Speedway has a 1/2 mile outer oval, a 1/3 mile inner oval, figure 8 track, and has the perfect layout for drifting. The track resides in Irwindale, California (which is fitting considering Los Injurus is based in California) and is a well-known short track in the U.S. Beamng lacks in terms of having maps with the traditional American short track oval racing as well as multi-purpose racing facilities that can hold any sort of event of motorsports (NASCAR, drifting, Figure 8, etc.). Something similar to Irwindale Speedway would be perfect for the game as many mods could benefit from a track like this including the Late Model and mods with drift setups. I personally would love to see a track like this in game since I do some local short track racing

Of course, do what you will with your map as I certainly don't expect you to take action on everyone's requests or suggestions, but it never hurts to add in an idea or possible suggestion

 

@Mr.Krazy
Great suggestion! That track looks perfect & awesome. Just what I was looking for.

I will be sure to add this in (just don't get mad if it takes me 30~60 days to even get to it, as I'm also adding support for the Forklift mod in the near future).

Thank-you for the awesome suggestion, and compliments. I appreciate it a lot, but know this is a labor of love sort of thing and not arduous or monotonous (well it can get like that sometimes, but that's a small part of a very large picture).
I could build a boring grid-like city that would get played out fast. Suggestions like these which often serve to 'randomize' or at-least break up the grid layout, and like the brown-stone row houses earlier this month (or in the summer whenever), are awesome suggestions.
DavidinArk actually suggested an underground mine (which will be in at some point), so a suggestion like this, which would get so much use, will definitely make it into the map. Another user suggested I stick a few clouds in the sky - I will try and get that changed before or just after the next beta, as I do agree (I'll just be honest, unless it's not blue / lightning is coming out of it, I don't really notice the sky).

I DO take care to keep FPS-munching buildings away from race tracks, either by limiting what I build nearby (like the mall with the interior, which doesn't have a lot next to it, or the airport terminal), or by moving the track AWAY from the city - or at-least not putting it in the middle of it.

All suggestions are welcome. There will be a little bit of everything in this map, so no suggestion is to be ignored.

 

could i suggest a large-ish redwood forest (or whatever forest would be area appropriate) with a few smooth-ish dirt roads and random little dirt tracks around the place leading off random spots like camping grounds or places where large areas of the map are visible like a cliff overlook. And don't forget the Evil Dead cabin as well !

 

This map is positively amazing. It really does have a little bit of everything!

 

My Ryzen computer has fallen, and it can't get up. The ASROCK board is stuck in an eternal ram-training boot-loop. I think the 3950X smoked the VRM's on it, but it won't boot with the 3700X either.
No really, it's toast, won't boot anymore. I tried EVERYTHING... different power supply, removing the video card and putting in a 25w radeon card, moving ram around, trying 1 stick, resetting bios, replacing bios battery, but that didn't help or change the symptoms. A power failure last night was it's last ticket to the big case in the sky. I will get it fixed next week sometime likely, or the week following.
It'll be about a week at-least until I can get parts for it... so yes, that delays the beta. It's under warranty yes, but honestly I think I'll just get a better brand/model motherboard so I don't have to wonder 'how long until this one dies now'.

Using the old 4790k machine currently (which, admittedly, has Windows 7 on it that I REALLY REALLY MISS so much). I really hate - and I mean hate Windows 10, Windows 7 is SO much better.
Onboard video (it's better than a Radeon that likes to CRASH, might try to put the RX 480 in here and see if it wants to work at all)... but it's a computer, and that's what matters.

Map data should still be fine, but I don't have access to the other stuff in the computer that's dead for now.
So much for 'buying the cheapest X570 motherboard', heh. Oh well. Live and learn.

 

I feel you, Bob, while Linux gets better over each upgrade, Windows gets worse.. I'm sure nobody's going to be upset for waiting a little longer on your next beta because the map is already awesome ! Take your time to figure out what really snapped so you don't replace parts that have no need to be replaced

 

Yeah I tried everything, I was at it for 5~6 hours or something like that in the middle of the night last night. Removing things, adding things, pulling wires... been doing this 25 years, not really surprised the board went out to be honest, we don't have the best power out this far from civilization. Nothing would change the symptoms of the issue, so it's definitely the board...
Will be getting a more durable board when I get well enough to drive out of town as I haven't been doing well lately, gut's been on the fritz for weeks now. Guess being physically disabled has it's downsides.
Will replace the parts when I am able, which will be sooner or later. Though I will say that dealing Windows 7 is a heck of a lot better than 10. Everything about Windows 8 and 10 is just WRONG.
I might try to rig up Windows 7 on the newer computer when I get it running again. I have a USB 3.0 card I can add in (as that's the major stumbling block), and I can rig DX12 up to work on Windows 7 with the fact that there was a late update allowing it. I just hate everything about Windows 10. Even the internet stopped working on the other computer properly... I'd end up with the mobile version of everything and that was annoying as all get out, or it'd cut out randomly. Of course, that could have been an early sign of failure... even though I was using a wireless USB dongle.

Don't know why it failed though, every 5xx chipset board has been certified with a 3950x 16-core processor, and that's what I put on it, and nothing was overclocked due to needing absolute stability. It didn't overheat, and I kept voltages monitored. Sadly I can't get to my data on an NVME drive on this computer (I have the hardware to make it work, but Windows 7 doesn't have a clue), so the map will have to wait. I will use the time off from editing wisely though, and take time to get a few other things done.

I love Linux. The day Beamng works reliably on Linux, is the day I boot Windows 10 off the machine permanently... as I cannot stand Windows 10. I don't care how much I make it look like old Windows again, it's still awful Windows-as-a-service and I hate it beyond all imagination. I remember trying Linux in the late 90's on my Pentium II machine (which was brand new), and how awesome it was, even down to having to manually configure the X server (x86conf or something like that), and choosing 'Matrox Millenium II / Mystique MGA' graphics adapter.
Sure, you can use BeamNG 0.19.x on WINE using the wine libraries and such, but it's not very reliable when it comes to updates, it may break things which would prove difficult for map development (of course, I don't like things updating etc, was still using 0.19.x to edit anyways, pull the plug ftw!). Spent many a nights in the early 2000's with ./configure ./make ./make-install juggling a nightmare's worth of dependencies and then some. Ended up buying (yes!) a copy of SUSE linux for my late father before he passed around 2004~2005 or so because he kept virusing the computer. Never had to re-install the machine again - it just kept working and working. Let me say it was worth every penny, and I still have the box & 300~500-some page manual here today.

I just don't like the direction Windows 10 is going. It's all wrong. They had it great from Windows 95 OSR2.1, Windows 98 SE, Windows ME was awful, Windows 2000 / XP was great, Vista was bad, 7 was awesome provided you went Pro, Windows 8 was so bad they were forced to bring back the start menu, and then somehow, Windows 10 was WORSE.
It's like 'Hello Microsoft, this is a PC, not a PHONE, I don't want pretty picture books that take up my whole screen when you could have just put one word there that does so much more!' ... they are so alienating their power users it's not even funny.

Every day I spent working on Windows 10, there wasn't a day that slipped by without me swearing like a sailor - whether aloud or just mentally to myself - about the OS.
I was happy with Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows 2000. I was thrilled. They were so USEFUL, and FUNCTIONAL. I didn't need snazzy looks or fancy effects. I just wanted FUNCTION, so I could get my work done without the OS getting in the way. They don't get that. That's what people defect from PC's to phones - besides portability, it's that Windows just really sucks these days and it's starting to be so well known it's a household fact with more folks than not.

Sorry for the rant, but I sure missed my Windows 7. If it wasn't for BeamNG stuff not being on this computer, and the more-core processor I used to test traffic with, I might never have had the desire to want it fixed. But, alas, the project must continue, I cannot be selfish and let everyone down. I will fix the "stupid technology" a number of days from now when I can and have the parts.
Just going to get a different brand of board this time. When I RMA the other one, I'll use it in a spare system or I'll sell it, not going to take any more chances (I never even attempted to OC on it, I left it stock, only setting ram XMP profile which was well within rated spec).
Stupid Technology!

 

Try installing KB2990941 and KB3087873. That should make it recognize the drive.

 

Yes I have this here, but I appreciate that. I pulled it on the page here... (safe for work link below)
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us...er-support-in-nvm-express-in-windows-7-and-wi
I think that's the complete link... ah well, it is what it is. I am working on it. Some of it says 'no longer supported', but there's another site that has been around since the XP days, keeping a repository of updates. I never really updated this computer (as that can break things!), unless there was a problem, so it's pretty much stock the way I put it together software-wise in 2014. I am the kind who 'if it's not broke, don't fix it' reigns supreme.
Will try to get it working tonight so I can get my files (and saved games!) off the other drive without murdering it.

Edit: Support has ended and I can't get those KB updates, and it tried to pander Windows 10 on me, oh no, not THAT. It's everything I can do just to enjoy every waking minute AWAY from Windows 10. Windows 10 and trying to work is like drowning with no arms or legs.
I might be able to live CD linux and get to it though.

If anyone knows the unofficial KB resource / manual update site (if it's still around), let me know.

"Stupid Technology!"

 

Pretty rare stuff.
I found these for you to try, but at your own risk, if you will

https://support.lenovo.com/be/en/downloads/ds105871
http://thehotfixshare.net/board/index.php?showtopic=22296
http://thehotfixshare.net/board/index.php?autocom=downloads&showfile=20866

 

Thanks, hopefully none of this eats my PC :x
I was really having trouble finding these, I get MS wants to pander Windows-as-a-service of stealing our data 10, once bitten twice shy here. I don't want to kill the 6 year old Windows 7 install that I've been using since 10/2014 or 11/2014 (forget exactly).
I like using the old PC, it's a lot like a Windows 95 / DOS computer the way it's set up. With all these years of use, I've refined this to the point where I don't have any issues doing anything (well provided it's not 3D stuff, using integrated video here!), nothing gets in the way, everything is right at my finger-tips.

 

Same here, I'm running mine since 2013 from the wifi-stick and double booting Linux/Windows
Partition Wizard did the trick back then cause the Windows OS has been migrated a few times from one disk to another. I'm still keeping the original version on the original ssd from when I bought it but I'm a few disks further by now. Something to consider if you're quite stuck on that Seven

 

Considering the Roane County Tennessee map sometimes crashes my system due to too much RAM usage (I have 16GB and 80+ mods) I'm guessing this map would be even worse for that?

 

Actually, I've found this to be alot less intensive than Roane County

 

Well I guess I'll give it a go then! I figured this one would use more RAM due to the fact that it's bigger in file size.

Edit - It indeed does seem to use less RAM and have better performance.

 

OOPS, this post got REALLY long, but is a good book of info on BeamNG, system requirements, and your hardware.

Los Injurus uses more VRAM, but not more RAM - not yet anyways - this can change during development though. Sys requirements go generally by the prevailing common denominator/configs at the time. When Roane County was created, there were a lot of people telling me they couldn't run it, because they didn't have 8gb of RAM yet... now almost everyone can run it, even with many iGPU's.
Roane County was created using at-the-time current stock game assets, signs kindly made by Red Rooster Farm, and a whole lot of stock game assets for forest object. The sheer amount of forest objects in the map + the sheer amount of distance (in roads, and in size; two different independent figures that use memory) of the map for AI use, create a large memory footprint. If the map had even a quarter the amount of trees the real-world location does, you would need about the largest, fastest, most memory-filled server farm to run this...and even then it might not run for long.
Los Injurus forgoes the huge memory-munching tree-filled forests, in place of only 1 or two spots (one being already mostly put together) with large amounts of trees, using other bushes/trees sporadically around the map for decorative 'filler' only. The memory use in Los Injurus is mostly due to the extreme (per square km or mile) density of AI routes in the city area and the sparse ones spread out over the map. Using several AI vehicles with traffic on either map will increase memory use drastically, so limit yourself if you have the web browser open and run a bunch of AI, or switch down to medium detail textures (you can leave mesh detail at max, it's going to get literally rather ugly if you pull that slider down but can help weaker CPU's cope).
I recommend 24GB~32GB system RAM for those wishing to demonstrate either map to it's fullest with AI vehicles/traffic, as even this old 4790k machine I'm on now has that much memory (since the Ryzen blew up it's cheapo ASRock board and is down for the count right now, I'm using the old-reliable here for a few days until I'm healthy enough that I have a good day health-wise and can go fetch parts). RAM is pretty cheap (about avg 70~80$ per 16gb dual-rank stick or kit of 2x 8gb single-rank sticks). You won't likely need more than 32gb total for the useful life of your machine (3~5 years).
To be honest, even 20gb would likely cure over half the crashes, provided you don't have other memory-hogging stuff running, too. I don't often see my memory use go over 20~24gb here unless I'm doing a lot of modeling or leave things open for a really long time. 16gb is a good starting point for today's gaming machines, but 32gb especially from the start is good future-proofing. I upgraded to 32gb about 27 months ago on this machine and I must say, it really helped the performance of my machine when running several applications related to game development - including beamng.drive itself. On other software you will notice less hitching, less swapping to disk, etc, but there's a number of older games that will be clueless (*cough* fallout 4) and won't even see RAM amounts over 16gb, so it's not quite the instant performance fix a new CPU or video card will give you. It only helps when you need it - so don't spend too much.

Obviously more mods, and more AI vehicles, and higher detail textures are all going to come into play and use up a bit more RAM, but a 'clean' system should only use 4~8gb to start out when the maps are loaded. You shouldn't see the game climb to more than 11gb of usage during play unless you folks are really loading it up. More AI will definitely increase RAM use quickly, so do find yourself a sweet spot. I don't believe I remember beamng using more than 20gb at once, unless something was broken / memory leak bug, etc, so for folks on a limited or fixed income who already have 16gb, if you have another pair of open slots, throw a matching set of 2x 4gb sticks in the machine for less than 40$ and you might be good to go. If it's not enough, send it / take it back (or sell it) and get a 16gb 2x8gb kit in-stead.

System requirements of THIS map for MAX (but not max reflections) details :
16gb of RAM with 12gb free RAM to be safe. May run on 8gb systems but AI will increase RAM footprint VERY quickly. Use MSI afterburner or CoreTemp or built-in Task Manager to monitor RAM use.
8GB video card, RX 470 8gb / Vega 56 8gb / 1070 8gb to run max 'high' texture details, (a 1060 6gb *might* still work, if it gets slow, use Medium textures like for 3~4gb VRAM cards).
Decent / recent Haswell (4000 series) intel or 2nd gen Ryzen 3.6~4ghz processor or newer, for max mesh details + shadows on fully + 'default' reflections, please don't raise reflection detail if possible.
Modern SSD with good "random 4k IOPS speeds" to speed up loading recommended, this could take FIVE MINUTES to load on a boring old hard drive. It's 2020, time to give 'spinning rust' a rest.
A good 500gb or 1tb SSD for your OS, and a heap of Crucial MX500 '500gb' drives for your Steam games - adding more as you need them - work great. SSD prices = cheap right now, get some.

I don't know if a modern processor exists that can max out reflections on this game in all circumstances, in all maps, that wouldn't roast you alive needing a hefty overclock to get it. However, that said, many of the newest processors with the highest ALL-CORE clocks can do most of this task with relative ease out-of-the-box. We're close but not quite there yet. This is due to Direct X 11 and needing a good all-core speed to keep one core running those Draw Calls (feeding all the rendering info to the GPU), while the rest work on physics and the UI. Also, the mini-map in both Los Injurus and Roane County can really make the UI slow, so shut it off if possible. Use the built-in navigation device for your vehicle (if it still works) for Roane County, and I will see what I can do to make it work for this map, as that doesn't lag the UI as hard then. Even on a 3700x / 3950x the UI can still lag out at times with A LOT of vehicles (16~24 AI or more!). ...and I dare wonder why I blew up my 104.99$ motherboard! The latest intel processors cost more per core, but get a little more per-core performance; conversely the AMD processors give you a lot more cores, running more vehicles smoothly in total, and have a better upgrade path (keep in mind, AM4 platform is nearing the end of it's lifetime, the next processor series may be the last before AM5 comes in 2021). That said, there's nothing an AMD Ryzen 3000 "Matisse" series CPU or latest 9xxx or 10xxx series intel CPU cannot run smoothly, either will take you a very long time in computing-land terms if you get at-least a 6 or 8-core processor, more for the 8-core. So don't let fanboys or whomever else may try to change your mind steer your decision. Get whatever is the best deal. HEDT systems such as x299 and Threadripper 3000 (avoid 1000 and 2000) series platforms are even better yet, but keep in mind you will hit the draw call limits hard somewhere around a 12-core 24-thread processor and not be able to take further advantage of additional CPU cores fully, until more work is done to refine the game engine (this is known by the developers, I do love them, but I made sure they know).
Faster memory helps A LOT on Ryzen processors, but going over 3600mhz CL-14 memory or CL-16 memory is not recommended nor always possible with all boards / memory brands. To go over this causes the internal mesh clock to kick down one ratio, requiring you to clear the hurdle of 4400mhz or so with sub-20 CL (Cas Latency, lower is better) to show any more gains VS 3600~3733mhz memory. Also, you will likely see absolutely no difference between 3600MHZ CL18 and 3200MHZ CL16 memory, as there basically IS NO difference, the additional cas latency of the higher speed cancels out the MHZ gains. A simple way to do it is MHZ divided by CL. 3600 / 18 = 200, 3200 / 16 = 200 ... same result of 200 means same performance. Memory vendors are going to be hunting me with pitch-forks now. Physics performance does see benefits with faster memory, so skip the stock speeds if running a Z-series intel board with a K-series processor or a Ryzen processor, but be aware that intel B-series boards for the current newest generation of processors will likely NOT let you run the memory speeds over stock speed - please research to verify this, as it's an intel limitation.

Quick Q&A section:
Does your AMD video card crash with BeamNG or hitch a lot? Get MSI Afterburner and lower the core speed by 25mhz until it doesn't do that anymore. Set it to start at boot-up and make sure it retains your setting (write it down) and use that from now on. AMD drivers for Polaris (4xx and 5xx cards) sometimes cause this. My RX 480 which was stable on Windows 7 was anything but on Windows 10 due to this bug, and I know that it affects more folks than just me.
Does your UI Lag like heck? Shut off the mini-map in the UI. It may get a little laggy in downtown sections with a LOT of AI routes though, but only a bit.
Crash to desktop with 0xFFFFFFFF error? Get more RAM or use LESS AI.
Slideshow FPS on 4gb/ random hitching 6gb VRAM cards? Use medium texture detail, mesh detail can stay at max. I will try and keep this running 100% on 8GB cards as best I can.
Lowering MESH detail is not recommended, even older intel 2000 series can likely run this maxed, however if your game play is choppy and you see one core maxed out and your video card is loafing, consider experimenting with that slider. Be warned the map is not designed to be run with less than max detail and it may not help much for the ugliness it introduces, but it's there if needed. Turning shadows off or setting to player only, or turning reflections off or down to minimum may do a LOT more to help and not make it look as bad.
Have a recent video card but it's way to slow? Look up latency mon / latency monitor, and see if you can find it and use it, and make sure you don't have over 500~1000us latencies from your video drivers or other drivers (sometimes chip set drivers). This can KILL performance, so de-install & re-install drivers if so.

That is all. Sorry it's a book, but it's relevant to folks making an informed decision on PC hardware. If this map doesn't run well or Roane County doesn't run well, and you want to get a new computer, let me know, I will try to guide you as best as I can on it (as I've been doing this for 25 years, but don't worry, I won't recommend you the x570 cheapo motherboard I had for a 3950x processor).
--Cheers!