VTC(6D) VTC(6D)
vtc - vroom track compiler
vtc infile outfile.vct
Vtc takes an ASCII file representing a vroom(6) race course and outputs
an optimized binary file that vroom(6) can read.
The first argument is the name of the ASCII file describing the race
course as outlined below. The second argument is the name of the desired
output file. Note that the output name should end with the .vct
extension in order to be recognized by vroom(6).
Comment lines can be used anywhere in the file. Comment lines are
indicated with a # character in the first column of the line.
The first non-comment line is expected to contain a single integer value
between 1 and 99 inclusive representing the number of laps in a race.
The remaining lines describe the track sections used to make up the race
course. Here are the recognized track sections and the syntax for their
specification:
STRAIGHT_TRACK lanes length
L_CURVE_TRACK lanes angle radius
R_CURVE_TRACK lanes angle radius
MERGE_TRACK lanes length
The lanes field indicates the number of lanes the track has. Valid
values are 2, 4, and 6. Except for MERGE_TRACK, the number of lanes of
one section must be the same as the previous section. For the
MERGE_TRACK, the number of lanes must either be greater or less than the
previous number of lanes by 2.
The length field indicates the length of the track section. The length
must be at least 600 units. Greater lengths may result in multiple track
sections in order to optimize the rendering. In the case of the
MERGE_TRACK, only the first section will be of type MERGE_TRACK. The
remaining sections necessary for the specified length will be
STRAIGHT_TRACK sections.
The angle field specifies the turn angle, in degrees, of the curve. The
value must be between 0 and 360, exclusive.
The radius field specifies the turn radius. The minimum radius can be no
smaller than the radius necessary to cause the length of the inner track
to be 600 units or greater.
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VTC(6D) VTC(6D)
The first track section must be a STRAIGHT_TRACK piece to serve as the
starting location. The starting line will be at the end of the track
section. Note that if the track section is broken up into multiple
pieces, the starting line will be at the end of the first section.
The following example produces a simple oval track.
# 10 lap oval track with merging
10
STRAIGHT_TRACK 4 800
L_CURVE_TRACK 4 180 1200
STRAIGHT_TRACK 4 800
#
# Widen into 6 lanes
#
MERGE_TRACK 6 800
L_CURVE_TRACK 6 180 1200
#
# Merge back into 4 lanes
#
MERGE_TRACK 4 800
Vtc requires IRIX 5.2 or greater. Getting a good race course (ie, one
that matches at the end and beginning) is arduous, currently. The best
method is to launch vroom(6) after the initial track compile. Go into
solo mode and preview the track. If the ends do not match within
expected tolerances, a error message will display the gap distance.
While still running vroom(6), adjust the input file, recompile the
course, and preview the course again. Loop through this procedure until
an error message is no longer displayed when previewing the course. At
some future date, a graphical track designer may be available.
There is no restriction on have track segments overlap. However, the
characteristics of the robot vehicles in vroom(6) should be kept in mind
when designing new courses. The robot vehicles check for other vehicles
only on the current track section on which they are traveling and
immediately connected track sections. Therefore, if there is an extreme
amount of track overlap, the robots may spend most of the time crashing
into each other, presenting somewhat less of a challenge to beat, since
they are not aware of robots on overlapping track sections (until they
collide).
vroom(6).
Chris Fouts, Silicon Graphics.
PPPPaaaaggggeeee 2222 [ Back ]
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