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

I did one time

 

Load it up on medium or low texture detail.
2060 usually had 6GB of video memory.
Your processor is plenty capable and great! You should be able to run this with a bunch of vehicles.
Clearing cache may help.
Let the map load and drive around a bit. If it doesn't load right away just let it sit for 3~4 minutes and see if it loads up. Sometimes it takes 2~3 minutes on portables to process and load up (due to heat, generating shaders and caching all the graphics and models, and making compressed (C-DAE) versions of models that fit better into VRAM.
Yes, it sucks it has issues loading, but like Roane County when it was my main project, it pushes this engine HARD, and gives us a better BeamNG in the end. Yes, the devs do change the game engine sometimes when I manage to break it with my game environments...
Seriously though, keep me posted.
If you can manage to find your beamng.log file (search the computer's c:\USERS folder for it), post it here. Do this after you open the game and try to load my map. Tell me how far it gets (loading screen, part of map shows and crash, or just crashes to desktop). PLEASE SEND YOU BEAMNG DOT LOG FILE, so I can look into it, and/or send it to the developers / team to take a look at if needed.
Your personal information won't be shared beyond the basics of bug reporting and getting the game running (and getting this mod running). Your enjoyment of this game modification project is important to me. Thank-you.

---

The bridge is finished. Still have to LOD and COLMESH it (collision mesh). That shouldn't be terrible as I mentioned in one of my last posts.
Seriously, This bridge is my labor of love FOR ALL OF YOU who so graciously support this project, regardless of how you support it, for which I am grateful eternally. Thank-you!
Yes, even if you just show up and throw in some bug reports or give comments or praise about the project development.
I hope you folks really look forward to seeing better models and texture details in the game on newer models.
Click the pictures to expand. You might not see it all on a phone screen though, so check it out on your desktop.
This should be comparable to what you see in GTA V. There will be different lane configurations on this bridge, including highway stuff later on.

 

Yeah also since it takes so long to load it you should make some stuff more low poly in case of bridge, roads etc

 

The load time is from building the map. Every forest object (any object / element / house / road chunk) is placed by hand and there's 10,000's of them. It's a huge number, forget what it actually is. The game has to put it all together along with doing all the caching / compression of models, generating billboard LODs for models that need them, and loading textures and such. Then it builds the AI routes, applied collision data, ETC. If the map has loaded previously on the current game version: model compression, billboard generation, and shader generation doesn't need to re-run & loading is quicker.
If I make things low-poly any more than what I do currently it breaks immersion, I can't really go any more low poly than this. I don't go any higher poly than I have to, but in the case of this bridge, it's deliberately more detailed (because these are really a landmark of scenic Route 1 in California). Plus I wouldn't want to let the GTA V folks down!
However, there are things in the future that are planned to help the game cope with this monster map, so all is not lost.
Please play the game on a DESKTOP computer when/where possible. This game environment is NOT made with portables in mind, unless it's a real 2000~3000$ banger of a laptop.
On my nearly 5-year old system, loading only takes a little over a minute, and I don't have a specifically fast drive (it's pretty main-stream actually) just a M.2 / NVME Samsung 970 Evo PCI-Express 3.0 model. On first run it's a minute and 20 seconds at most. These times were from a few versions ago, so I don't know what they are now, but they ARE faster. For me it's no different than loading one of many other games, and it's not a bother. For all I know it could be 30~40 seconds for the 2nd loading of the map and subsequent runs. I will have to time it and see, haven't done so in a year or more.

---

Bridge LOD's done, by hand, this should be good enough. The picture has scribbling all over it, to tell you how much the triangles and draw calls are reduced.
There shouldn't be really noticeable pop-in when driving up to the bridge, especially from the view inside the car, even if you can see the outer sides as you drive up.
I have not done the collision mesh for this yet.

 

I did forget to mention yesterday that there will be a lower-detail version of this map that'll show up near the end of this project. Right now I can't run two projects side by side, or this project may outlast ME @Gabriele 11111 . The lo-fi version of the map will be for older machines and stuff that can barely run this game, and will have textures similar to GTA San Andreas or GTA IV.

---

The collision mesh for the bridge is done. It is now almost ready to be imported into the game (just a 5 minute repositioning and making sure all the names line up with what textures they're going to call in-game).
That is all for right now.

 

O ok cool

 

This is not a map update post, but this post is here for convenience of the project supporters/members/followers.
Please see (if you have crashes in game-loading, across many of the latest titles including this one, or in-game issues) this note on some of the most recent Intel processors.
You only need to mind the first 5 minutes of this news bulletin, as it covers other things, too.

Link to intel forums HERE, CLICK ME, NO, CLICK ME OVER HERE.
Intel will honor RMA on defective or otherwise crash-prone processors.
Seems like the factory proving grounds at intel will need a little updating and to be a bit more thorough. That said, both manufacturers are pushing their chips HARD CORE right now. There's in-fact so little overclock head-room in today's higher-end chips from BOTH major brands, that it's not truly worth it anymore compared to the 'core 2 duo/quad' days. At any rate, if you're going to go bonkers on cooling, buying fancy high-speed ram, a high-end high-air-flow case - why over-clock the chip - just buy a better CPU that does what you need it to do at mostly stock settings. This does not take into account the gains we benefit from using fast memory however, so there's still a little room to gain there.

---

Also one more note, for 7800x3D (and similar chip) users. I have seen a few users complain about either memory errors or rather sparse random stability issues.
Knock the integrated memory controller voltage up by 1~2% and it will fix it. What this value is called in BIOS, you'll have to look it up (sometimes it's called SOC voltage or other things).
This will not hurt your processor provided your cooling is sufficient, and is a result of motherboard-related and/or power supply differences. Welcome to the PC master race, I guess.
Increasing RAM voltage by said 1~2% was something we often did in the past all the way back to Core 2 and 1st-gen i7 Nehelem systems. Again, this is due to part difference and as-such affects all PC's, obviously some parts combinations more than others.

---

I was working outside the last few days and will be for the next week or so as the weather allows; so project updates will be half of normal until I get caught up outside. My house isn't supposed to look like it's abandoned. This shouldn't affect things more than the next week or two.
Seriously, my house almost looked haunted.
I. Smell. Like. A. Burn. Barrel. Think: burning leaves. YEEEUCK!
What's that cologne you're wearing Bob? Bob with southern drawl: Ode 'de FAAAAAR!

 

Very nice map! Biggest I got so far! Also a great area for flying vehicles such as the Wingeon & flying Hyperbolide. Textures could use some polishing but other than that its amazing & generously big. Its what I kinda wish the GTA 5 map was more like. For those having performance issues running it you'll need a PC with plenty of RAM(16 to 32GB minimum) a good GPU(4070/6800XT or better) & decent CPU(ideally something with overclocking)

 

Thanks!
Textures need a bit more than polish, but I do get it. I'm working on those, thankfully. It's a slowly-but-surely thing about textures. As I go through and do other things, I'm working the textures over, adding missing supporting maps to the textures (such as the bump-mapping which we now call 'normal mapping' and specular/reflective/metallic stuff to it, transparency maps), fixing tiling errors on some of them, and even doing other things like getting mesh textures such as the beach pieces to match the terrain sand. There's SO much work to do. It's going to get done one day though, one day. I hope I'm still alive to enjoy it when it's done (that seems to be the inside running joke at the moment).
Still, that having been said, it's something I happily do. I am working with textures at the moment, so never a better time to admit that there's some slap-dashing to be observed in most any version of this project if you look long enough.

---

Currently scripting textures into the game to get the textures in that need to be here for the new models.
For those worried about VRAM use, well, this is inevitable. What I am going to do is fix the issues on the concrete highway textures so the resolution isn't cut down as hard on medium (causing the lane lines to almost disappear). This way medium or low isn't so hideous.
The model weight increase in the next version will outweigh the texture size increase. I think the textures equate to ONE bridge model (there's four or five!) when comparing size.
What am I getting at? Look forward to seeing new buildings and the route 1 bridges in-game in the next few days. This is the last hurdle before testing and new beta release.

PLEASE REPORT ANY NEW-GAME-VERSION BUGS RIGHT-QUICK, SO I CAN GET THOSE NICKED BEFORE THE BETA GOES OUT!
Please clarify that this is a 'new game version bug' when you do submit them. This changes how I go about fixing it as it can be a game engine bug, too.​

--Thank-you
P.S. To all those who reported bugs before (in Jan~March 2024), you do NOT need to re-submit those, as I will try and make sure they're all handled before I get this uploaded.

 

I've been trying to get these UV's (textures) working on the bridge for days now, and no luck.
I will likely end up scrapping this model. There's nothing I can do with it if the textures don't work at all (except the road surface).
No matter what I do, it shows up black or flat grey. There's also a few missing chunks in one of the railings, for some reason (it's not that way in the modeling software).

I wanted badly for these to be in, but they're getting scrapped and I will just use the regular bridges. A bit of a shame but I have to cut my losses.
EDIT: Now it is broken in the modeler, too. I have no clue, I have no more time to waste on this rubbish.
If anyone has any clue what-so-ever about what could be causing this, please clue me in. So far the way this is going, I am absolutely disgusted after the colossal amount of time that is now wasted on this bridge. So I'm going to just pull it from the project, and use a normal boring bridge because those work.

 

Sad

 

I can't do anything about it. Don't know why the top works but the rest doesn't. I mean I truly have absolutely positively not the foggiest idea of what's going on.
I even checked the texture graph / plotter things where you control what does what as far as the UV's go, something I next to never have to mess with outside of transparency. There literally is NO difference between what works and what does not, and I've studied these graphs for over an hour!
Thing is, when I don't know how to fix something, I don't have anyone to turn to, to ask how to make it work. Unless I can come up with some magical solution, I have no choice but to completely scrap it. I sure hope someone in the 'audience' or that otherwise follows this project thread can help me figure this out. I paid for this model with project money, it wasn't terribly pricey (less than 20 $ USD if I remember correctly), but I sunk a lot of time and effort into it (otherwise I wouldn't care) and there's really no reason why it shouldn't work.
Plus some of the UV's not showing up at all (chunks missing in 1st shot of left side railing past the half-way point of the bridge), really leads me to believe it's not on me.
Man I wish there were experienced modelers on here!
If someone knows how to fix the bridge (above) please please get into contact with me.

 

I've still been trying to fix this model, and there's nothing that's helping. If anything I made it WORSE. That's what backups are for, though.
Time to move on to different models that I'm working on getting into the game. THANKFULLY the majority of things to go in already have textures scripted in - that's the painful part - and thus out of the way now.
The route 1 concept will use default bridges, until I figure out what the heck went wrong with my fancy bridge that I've spent around a week+ too long on now.
Still, every time I tried another attempt at importing the bridge model, I literally had to wait AN HOUR because it took that long to use a single-core to convert the model to Collada (DAE) format used by BeamNG Drive. At that point I tried converting TWO models, so I got a double order. Sheesh. Still didn't work.
Maybe it's time to upgrade to a current-generation processor (my CPU is from 2019!)... as much as I don't want to, It could cut this wait-time AT-LEAST in half though.
Look at the time (it's in military 24hr time, same as my system clock is) in the screenshot.
I'll say what I always say, again...
"Stupid Technology!!!"

 

STUPID BRIDGE is fixed. Exported it as an OBJ file, then re-imported it, re-did the UV naming scheme, re-did the outliner (pain in the rear to do).
NOW that it's fixed, I can widen lanes on the bridge deck and make the railing height a lot more proper (it's a wee bit tall).

Needs a little touch-up to the concrete texture used on the super-structure to make it tile seamlessly. Being that's the first I've used it, I hadn't needed to bother with that yet (it's not super-high-priority).
Some textures don't have all their layers, so some textures can/will look a bit flat and generic. This will get addressed when I fix the tiling mentioned previous/above.
Was able to cut model convert/compile time in-half not by upgrading the CPU, but by getting rid of that flat grey shading that I didn't want / put in there in the 1st place. That brought it down from 62.x minutes to 29 minutes, reducing the 66mb file to 50mb (these are non-compressed sizes, they get quickly compressed by the GPU/CPU when the map is loaded into sizes just a few megs each). That's why loading the map for the first time in any game version of the game takes 2 ~ 4 minutes (a little more or a little less depending on your system, I think 2.5 minutes here for first-load), but takes under a minute (I'd hope) for subsequent runs - it's busy doing shaders/texture and model compression, not just loading everything into the GPU memory and system RAM.
Might just as well call this the Sanity Memorial Bridge, in memory of my sanity (and probably hair) that I've lost working on it. Ugh. Now to fix the other variations of this bridge (one curved and other lane configs).
EDIT: The LOD's are absolutely seamless and among some of the best I've done. Going to continue doing these LOD's in this manner unless I use the automagic LOD machine (which has been kinda 'meh' so far).

 

Glad you were finally able to get it working! It's cool that you even included expansion joints and wear on the concrete of the bridge itself!

 

This map is awesome. I did find 2 issues.
1. The merge sign is in an awkward position.

2. There's a No Texture on the roof of this Burger World.


Other than that. This is awesome, especially with the recent December update. I could complain about lagging, but that's probably an issue on my end. I've been taking pictures of this map in Community Screenshots this month. The last month I did it was December 2023, when this map was updated.

 

This project is overdue for another update. It's May already and I've been too stingy with updates. I can't believe time has gone by so fast. It feels like just yesterday it got warm out (it's been two months of warm weather now), or that I had just updated the project online. I have sadly NO comprehension of time passing unfortunately, due to PTSD taking my 'working memory' (what you use when you're doing something, also is req'd to tell time is passing) away from me 2.5 years ago (when it went from bad to way worse than bad).
So yeah, I do appreciate you catching both those bugs I hadn't noticed yet. The sign was supposed to be used for something near there, possibly the on/off ramps but it's the wrong one for an onramp with a merge (vs it's own lane, which the sign is designed for). I probably placed that sign by mistake when looking for another.
If you have lag, switch the texture detail down by one setting and re-start the game. It might help, but if it doesn't, try running on Vulkan with your previous texture setting switched back on. Some lag such as near the default spawn is due to too much detail and somewhat imperfect draw call use on LOD models of houses nearby, other lag such as near the airport is a bad texture or not enough video memory (I thought I fixed the bad texture, but I think somehow it could have snuck back in during a backup restoration). There was a (strangely/typo'ed) non-power-of-2 texture out by the runways, that had caused the airport lag for some as the texture couldn't be compressed, dropping FPS harshly.

---

It's been storming CONSTANTLY here, and it's going to be doing so for the rest of the week. So if updates are more sparse, this is usually why (I don't usually get into much when it's storming as I'd lose my work when the power goes out). Literally every day of the week "Storms and showers", just look at the middle of TN USA on the weather radar for all the proof you need. Got a break for about 8 hours with no rain yesterday but that was it (that is the power of God for you). A storm is approaching as I type this.
Turns out I might have to update this nearly 5-year-old PC this year anyways, it's getting into the habit of not passing POST (showing a BIOS screen before then booting the OS = passing POST is the part before the Windows logo comes up). It'll turn on and power everything but will just sit there and whir displaying a big nothing on the screen.
I don't expect the PC to last more than 5 years with how hard I stress components, so this does not come as a shock to me. It is built to run 24/7 maxed out for years. If it manages to go that long it's some sort of miracle.
That's what I get for threatening to upgrade it last week. Shame on me, right?
Needless to say, I don't feel too bad, as the Ryzen 3000 series from 2019 is getting a bit long in the tooth. It has however served me very well and I am thrilled it's still this relevant this many years later.
When it starts to do this 'but I don't wanna' thing when I go to boot it up a bit more regularly, I'll do my whole diagnostic routine on it and determine if and what should be swapped-out or otherwise replaced. Until that point, there's always backups. That's what backups are for and why we make them, and I'd seriously rather not have to go through the whole bridge debacle AGAIN. That would be a bridge too far.
--I'll see myself out after that one.
...anddddd it's pouring again. AGAIN. Better build an Ark.
Oh boy, a Tarnader warning just upwind of me. LOVE-LY!

 

as someone who lives in middle tn, i understand lol

 

That’s actually a good name.

 

Yeah lovely weather we're having right now. Had a direct lightning strike around 9:30 am on a pole 20 feet out my bedroom window. Luckily I had shut the computer off 25 minutes before that, as the weather wakes me up (partly my PTSD). I was just going back to sleep and BANG!!! Knocked the fusible link off the power pole outside, the power co had to come out (an hour or two later) and use a long plastic (insulated) pole to pop it back up (it's partly sprung or magnetic, but it's a big re-usable fuse about 16~18 inches long).
Will have to check and see if there's any more lightning burns in my metal roof. There's already at-least one. When lightning hits a metal / tin roof, it burns a hole in it (and hopefully not burn the building).

Red ones are tornado warning, yellow is thunder-storm, green is flood. A little north of me but it's growing south as the day goes on. We had a REALLY rough morning. With the power loss and some blown breakers in the fuse box I had my hands full checking on the house. Maybe I'll pass on putting some trees on this edge of the property like I was planning on, they'd have been cooked if the lightning struck and they'd have been there.

---

Yes I will probably put a sign on it for that It is such a realistic and honest name.

---

Still alive over here though. Time for the next round of storms. They closed schools today in caution.
Announcer voice: Round 3, FIGHT!
Middle TN is hurting a bit right now, actually I think it's all of TN except the south/east areas.