WIP Beta released The Tennessee USA Roane County 0.71 Beta Discussion/Suggestion/feedback Thread 19.3.1

Map runs buttery smooth and acceptable on my 8 gig system. even with two cars.

 

Thats an accurate representation of hardware right there.

I could have 16gb and still be a mile behind your computer...

 

Well, hey, atleast he tried? It's fine @silvermanblu, we'll chalk it up to another person with 8gb being able to run (this is good).
RAM amount is definitely THE biggest stumbling block here with this map and this game, being able to run it or not.
@SkepticalYeroc while other details are super-handy dandy sometimes people only know RAM amount, if it's smooth or not, etc. Just want to know that it runs or not for folks - that's the bare minimum, but still acceptable.

Thanks for letting me know that this runs or not for your system. Every tidbit of info I get helps make it better for everyone as it is THE largest map in Beamng.drive currently (technically SSRB by @Nadeox1 is 'longer' from beginning to end, but obviously it's one long roadway across the ocean, not a 144 square mile terrain with approximately 136 miles of road).

 

I should of specified 8 gigs of RAM. running windows 10

 

So does the low-ram patch run slightly better on lower end computers? Have you received any complaints on computer freezing up with the new patch? (Just wondering because I would love to drive on this map)

 

GUESS WHO WROTE A BOOK AGAIN!

let me know your system specs, RAM, windows ver (64-bit needed) etc, you should be fine if you have 8gb RAM or more
Unsure about what System RAM amounts mean you can run this or not?

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1.) 12~16GB or more of RAM = you are fine, do not need to patch
2.) 8gb of RAM = you most likely should use the LOW RAM patch, to help stop later crashes or lag spikes
3.) 6~8gb of RAM = use LOW or ULTRA LOW ("ULO" which takes 512mb less) to reduce ram requirements more
4.) 2~4gb of RAM = you cannot run this map through normal means, as the physics model takes 3+gb of ram alone.
You can try taking the /levels/southernhighway/southernhighway.forest file out of the zip but there will be no trees/rocks/houses/nothing but earth and roads and water (and bridges). It might run, but it's unsupported and boy is it boring/hideous.

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Some systems with 8gb can run fine with patch 2, some even can run with patch 1. Others with 8gb have to use patch 3, try it out on your system. If you crash using 1 or 2 move to the next number to reduce ram requirements until you don't crash. If you can drive around for 30~60 miles and it doesn't get lots of lag spikes constantly (it may get a few intermittently loading things, this is normal for Beamng.drive), then you are fine. I have one tester with 8gb that can't run it at all for some reason, possibly due to having a 4gb video card on an 8gbRAM system the way video memory is mirrored on system memory (does Windows still do this? I've heard conflicting reports!).

Basically, If you use option 1 and don't patch, and it doesn't even load, skip to option 3. If it only crashes after driving around for a while or gets oddly skippy and you've put 30~40+ miles on the odometer and changed cars already, try out patch 2, it might be enough. Similarly, if you use patch 2 and after a while it gets too slow, use patch 3. If patch 3 still won't let you load, try making sure your web browser and nothing un-needed is running basically. Maybe restart your PC and then run Beam fresh.
This is an absolutely monster-huge-of-a-map, but this is a REAL place I am re-creating using the best of my ability. There isn't much I can do to make this too much more efficient RIGHT NOW with the current state of Beam (but Beam is still awesome). There's just no denying that it takes a slightly stronger PC to run this than say SimTower or Tank Wars (Scorched Earth clone)...
I am in communication with the developers periodically, trying not to pest the poor folks more than I have to honestly, trying to do the best I can do here for everyone's sake. I feel the pain of folks that can't run this - however - RAM is cheap - and you can never ever have enough of the stuff. Nothing makes your PC ZOOOOOM like more RAM, even on 5-year-old AMD FX systems it's really shocking.

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As far as video card/FPS is concerned:
Ultra-low is best for lower-tier cards, as is the trick of running in a Window, pressing F11, press LIGHTING on the menubar, hitting basic lighting, wait a sec to refresh (or a minute), and hitting f11 again, that will waaaay up FPS for you but must be re-done at game-start next time. This has the FEWEST trees of all detail levels and hence the physics RAM footprint is much less.
There may be some more barren spots in the map with this mode, but it will run the best out of all of them for lower-end systems.
Low is good for moderate video cards/systems but you still have trees near the road, just not so many further out on hillsides. This shouldn't detract too much from the 'optimal' look of the level.
Normal mode: This uses the most detail, and takes the most ram, but makes beautiful videos and really gives you a feeling of immersion. No more boring (well less of it) places where there's nothing and it looks like a user-map out of Monster Truck Madness in 96 because there's no decorations! "Hey!, I'M *STILL* IN HERE!"

I am running this on my Radeon HD7850 card with 2gb of Vram on high detail, and it's generally like 40~45fps, though in some spots it gets down to the low 30s just due to how far you can see. It however STAYS playable the whole time, so no biggy.

If I could figure out how to add a poll to my thread again, (well when I do) I am going to put one up so I can see who can run this and who can't by large and far.

That is all. If anyone has any other ideas or things or 'events' like certain types of races they want to see added in (or mission tutorials!) let me know. I am currently: Researching into using BNSE (script extender) to see how 'random' drive missions are created. I also DID manage to drive a truck for about 15 miles on this map before I had to get up and use the latrine here... heh, so yeah maybe there will be a truck mission or two, it's certainly got some of the facilities for them to make it real. Train missions are not out of the picture *IF* I can get it to reliably spawn in properly.
There will most DEFINITELY be car CHASE scenarios (like cops chasing robbers, or corrupt paid informants chasing innocent slandered people around for hopes of a kick-back on arrest or maybe identities to steal).
There will be definitely some good multi-car races here and a derby arena, and some type of 4x4 small loop course because well, there's plenty of country-folk out here in good old TN, USA and that's what gets done.

What types of missions do you folks enjoy the most? - let me know so I can include these in the future. Thanks in advance.

As soon as I get the last few roads done this week I can start adding these in and give this map some real purpose. I will also be adding in buildings and such later on down the line and as I do these things.

 

Police Chases are always fun and so are escapes (my Dune Island, USA map has one of those) and
Rallies are fun too...

BTW: Love the map!

 

Okay I will check out your Dune Island map and see what you've done with the mission(s) there to see what you like. If I do one thing with this map, it's "To give back to a deserving community that has given so much for so little, and to bring to the table a bit of my own creations, too". And thank-you for the compliments. I strive to make each map as well as I can, while learning and improving along the way (and sometimes back-porting things to my older maps to improve them too).

If anyone knows any other missions/maps they really love, do give an honorable mention to them here, base-game mission or not!
--Cheers!

 

Something is glitched. I download the most recent, both of the ones in OP twice, all the most recent ones (page 7/13) and its still the alpha before burger world was made... wtf is up

 

You downloaded from this link?
https://mega.nz/#!WZlF3KbZ!vp1kQeAa3rJ1CKX_ixCnTXt7m4Gau0DqwlyyzIosiR8

 

every link i could find. will try that one

 

make sure to delete all the other folders before you do

 

always do..
--- Post updated ---
still says ALPHA for the name and doesnt have recent stuff..

 

I don't know what to tell you. I guess just wait for Bob.

 

Those new railroad crossings are a lot of fun!

I shot some new footage with slower cars (Hirochi Start 1.5L) for a slower-paced game of cat and mouse:


Excellent work on the update. I've been having as great of a time in the air as on the ground with all of the new roadwork that's been laid down.

Misc, unpolished footage of me having a good time harassing a big rig -

 

FIRST, drop your new v3 ZIP file (modded* if need be!) into documents\beamng.drive\mods\levels like any other map if you have not done so already (this is like any other map mod here)
*meaning above: if you have 8gb of ram or less or get lag spikes/crashes, patch in lower detail as per this thread's OP/below.

okay, if you still have OLD stuff hanging about, make sure you don't have old files in :
documents\beamng.drive\levels\ <--- if there's a southernhighway folder here, it might be the old map. Knock out the southernhighway folder here as it's probably the old version!

now do not confuse the directory I just listed in \levels\ with the different \mods\levels (regular mods!) folder further up.

Documents\BeamNG.drive\cache.0.6.1.0\levels <--- knock out the southernhighway folder here, too, to make sure the GAS STATION signs have updated, too, as sometimes they don't.

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less obligatory reading stuffs and also contains patching infos!

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The problem is from the alpha where you had to extract it because it was a 7z file (you did nothing wrong!), not everyone was as receptive to this method, so I opted to just use 7zip's ultra-ZIP compression, while taking a bit longer to load up and work with, still gave a CLOSE enough ratio of compression, though not as good as 7z format itself. 7zip is superior, but less supported - though free - and can be added to games etc royalty free usually.

So in a nutshell check the \levels folder and clean that out if it's in there, and make sure there's only the current version floating around in \mods\levels Keep in mind if YOU made maps or edited them, they'd be stored in \levels too, so careful!
Possible names are Tennessee_Interstate* and Roane_County_TN* with v3 being the current in ZIP format.

If you need to patch your map, with the low or ultra-low (ULO) detail forest and info files, they go into the zip at the location levels\southernhighway INSIDE THE ZIP of Roane_County_TN* , overwriting 2 files and adding a 3rd. You only need 1 patch.

There was also a .mis update to make things just slightly smoother (20~30% fps gain MAX, others may not notice) that goes in the same spot as the patches that's in no-way required (can be done before or after the detail patches).

You'll know it's working because it will say v3, look like RAD RACER (if it's patched for low detail), and most notably, when you drive from the gas station starting point, north up Kentucky street, as you get to the highway, it's got all dark/new asphalt with keep-off striping (like chevron-ing) down the center once you get out of town. Also, the gas station signs are customized

If you still can't get it to work, give me a shout here or PM me @(GNG) [S.PLH] wearyNATE15 . I will check back later.
--- Post updated ---

GREAT videos, loved them as always, got some laughs out of the railroad track jumps, love it. Reminds (probably all of us) of being 16~17 I will link your videos up later in the OP with credit - TY. Oh and feel free to try out the AI on the dirt path, though be warned, it's rather hard to get the commercial truck through it without hanging it up on the high spots (it only hits one if you go slow enough).
Yeah, I will be doing more of this stuffs, as I am getting around to really detailing things now, polishing up bland areas and such. This next update - which is no where NEAR done btw, will be much more polished, and will be much more immersive as things go on getting closer and closer to done. The best part of making a map is when it all comes together in the final stretches. Compared to this - the rest of it is a downright CHORE, but I love it none-the-less, guess I am just the masochist

I will be putting in OCCLUSION BLOCKS into the next update. These magical little invisible and completely hidden boxes let hills, high buildings, tree-lines etc block out further scenery and improve performance a bit.

Current map status of completion:
Road Network 85% done, mostly just town-roads and a few short rural sections needed south past Glen Alice/north past Harriman. Lots of stuff in Rockwood to do yet. LOTS.
Terrain coloring, vegetation, rock walls etc: 75% done at best, fields need work - grass will be made LONGER/TALLER
Also, I will be mugging some stuffs from ECA game-map to use as backdrop for this map. It NEEDS a skybox. It's getting one!
AI usability: In it's current state it's at-least 90% done, any more refinement will be done as-needed to help it not get 'stuck' or 'brake-check' people. The automap feature/GPS is also included here in this line as they run off same data.
Sound and ambience: 0% done. That's bad, but I'll be getting to this. Crickets Cricketing, Birds Birding, Beavers Beaving, Dogs dogging and all sorts of that stuff. I loaded into East-Coast (game map) and immediately said - "sound - how I've missed you!".
Optimisation: Barely 40~50% done IF that, needs occlusion blocks, portals (separators) various other things involving polygon reduction, and then there needs to be more attention paid for LOW DETAIL users.
Overall completion: roughly 65~70%, most of the stuff you need is already here, it's the extra-stuff that will be added, heh.

 

Every link i click, ranging from OP to the most recent, reads V1.. @bob.blunderton

 

This one is Version 1, Beta 3. Delete all existing files from anything you've downloading regarding this map (hint: search "southernhighway" and "roane" in the BeamNG 'My Documents' base folder) before downloading, and then copy the file that I've linked here to C:\Users\[username]\Documents\BeamNG.drive\mods. When booting up the game, delete your cache.

 

@NewoFox ty

 

Off topic

A truckers worst nightmare would be going off a cliff.