Long vehicles v5. Planning

[George]

With a year delay I'm starting LV5.
Because of the difference in CB 11 support between TTDP and OTTD for RVs, I had to select the platform for LV5. I selected OTTD because it allows to have more RVs types at once.

Now I have to decide the main question about Vehicle code - articulated vehicles code.

OTTD supposes the max size for a single RV part equal to half a square, while LVs are usually twice as large. So, I can provide one of the following solutions (I'd like to know - what one would users prefer):

1) Two parts code.
Pro:
Less problems with tunnels, slopes, bridges.
Contra:
Doubles amount of sprites, parts fit in TTD scale, but vehicles magically bend in curves, shift on hills.

T1.png (5.69 KiB) Viewed 26365 times

2) Singe body code
Pro:
Normal amount of sprites, single body on hills and in curves.
Contra:
Glitches in tunnels and slopes.

T2.png (5.99 KiB) Viewed 26364 times

3) Combined code
Pro:
Single body in curves, less problems with tunnels, slopes, bridges.
Contra:
Three more sprites, shift on hills.

4) Front part code
Pro:
Single body in curves
Contra:
11/8 more sprites, slope problem on curves after hills, jump on curves after hills, bridge overflow, tunnel overflow


test GRF is here https://www.tt-forums.net/download/file.php?id=104453

[Gremnon]

I'd go for 3 myself, but failing that, I opt for 1 instead.

[George]

I'd go for 3 myself, but failing that, I opt for 1 instead.

What was wrong with 3? See the GRF attached

[Gremnon]

Ah, I didn't notice the grf... excuse me while I go look at that...

[Benny]

I'd go for 2, because I like the look of buses bending in curves.

Edit: wait.. That bus isnt supposed to bend, right?..
But anyways, what about making the 18 wheelers in 2 pieces?

[George]

A code for combined mode would be improved with today's nightly with support for var 45 for RVs

[Gremnon]

Right, after a quick experiment with that test grf... I'm inclined to agree, the second of the three buses looked best to me, though all three had a bit of trouble with tunnels.... I'm using a different tunnel to the default one, the NA roads one, but I have no idea if that affects it.

[FooBar]

I think bus three from your test grf is best. In my test run, the all glitched equally at tunnels and I find it just silly to have a bus behave as if it were an articulated bus while it actually isn't an articulated bus at all. In other words: if it's in one piece in real life, it should be in one piece in the game

[SirXavius]

I'm inclined to vote 3, but what limitations does more sprites mean? Longer wait while you code them all? Or less compatibility with other sets because of overwrites?

I enjoyed your LV set before, but when articulated vehicles came out, your semis looked out of place. I'm happy you found the time and impulse to articulate your excellent vehicles.

One other thing, being an American prude, "provocative" pictures look out of a place on our public roads. Keep that in mind!!

[CommanderZ]

How will these variants behave in loading bays? I mean - will they require drive-through stops?

[George]

How will these variants behave in loading bays? I mean - will they require drive-through stops?

All of them will

[George]

I'm inclined to vote 3, but what limitations does more sprites mean? Longer wait while you code them all? Or less compatibility with other sets because of overwrites?

I suppose none serious limitations.

I enjoyed your LV set before, but when articulated vehicles came out, your semis looked out of place. I'm happy you found the time and impulse to articulate your excellent vehicles.
One other thing, being an American prude, "provocative" pictures look out of a place on our public roads. Keep that in mind!!

LV5 would have a parameter to disable them.

P.S. Just tested r14977. Variant 3 works as intended

[WLK]

I find it just silly to have a bus behave as if it were an articulated bus while it actually isn't an articulated bus at all. In other words: if it's in one piece in real life, it should be in one piece in the game

I tottaly agree with Foobar... and vote for 3

[Zephyris]

It really is a balance of work for gain;
1. Bendy buses
Glitches: Corners (because of articulation), tunnels (because of height), slopes (vertical separation)
Effort: Double number of sprites, restricts gameplay to drive through stops only.
This probably adds more glitches than it removes, it looks very strange for a solid bus to bend in a corner and the tall height of the sprites will still give some tunnel glitches.
2. Solid buses
Glitches: Tunnels (length and height) and slopes (bounding box issues)
Effort: Minimal
3. Combo buses
Glitches: Tunnels (height) and slopes (vertical separation)
Effort: Triple number of sprites, restricts gameplay to drive through stops.

All in all for 2 you would be putting in quite a lot of effort to add glitches, or with 3 you would be putting in lots of effort make two glitches less noticeable but not eliminate them... I would rather you stick to something simple so we see the set sooner

[George]

I've made some research about hill code. As you can see, it is impossible to solve shift on the hills problem on slopes without huge amount of sprites (No, I do not want that much sprites).

T3.png (5.89 KiB) Viewed 25622 times

So, I have to admit, that we'd get vertical shift on hills. What do you think about it?

[Benny]

Wow, that is cool! I will use this grf separately even if you arent gonna make all your buses/trucks like that. (The middle one)
But what is the problem with too many sprites? That it is more work? That the grfs uses more space? Or that you cant have that many vehicles in the game?

[George]

Wow, that is cool! I will use this grf separately even if you arent gonna make all your buses/trucks like that. (The middle one)
But what is the problem with too many sprites? That it is more work? That the grfs uses more space? Or that you cant have that many vehicles in the game?

1) I need this to be coded - http://bugs.openttd.org/task/2521
2) the first and second pictures are the same code, but with and without slopes

[George]

Tomorrow I'll start testing and writing code #4. I'm unhappy with all the solutions I have
Code 4 characteristics
Pro:
No problems with slopes, hills and in curves.
Contra:
Problems with tunnels and bridges

[SirkoZ]

I chose 1 part because busses can't just bend on the curves. If one wants to add extra long busses to O/TTD, there has to be support for it first or they look odd for sure at some locations or other.

[DJ Nekkid]

that vertical shifting almost gave me an erection! ... were that a mock-up or a real screenie?