Boost : Gamemode + Maps [Update: Bugfixes]

[DefiniteIntegral]

Boost is a modified version of arc_'s race mod for DM. It aims to fix existing bugs, and add new functionality. It does NOT aim to turn DM race into a duplicate of race 1.1.2 as some may wish for.

The main feature of this mod is the ability to use map options to control various aspects of a vehicles handling. Modifiable characteristics include speed, acceleration, braking, hand-braking, steering and down-force. For boats, buoyancy can be added. Other options for controlling vehicle health have also been added. These include health regeneration over time, specifying the level of flip and water damage, damage proofing or just dent-proofing. It is also possible to set a vehicle to explode below a certain height, or speed. Vehicles can also be configured to drive on water, or under water. There are also some default options to control checkpoint size and color, and starting vehicle.

Maps

The maps that come with Boost are easy maps designed for crazy fun, not serious racing.

boost-underwater : A race on the bottom of the river north of Los Santos.

boost-collector : Collect as many checkpoints as you can in 1 hour to win, while driving an amphibious vehicle. Press fire to do a small jump.

boost-banditobomb : Race on dirt tracks near Los Santos in a bomb rigged bandito.

boost-cometbomb : Race through San Fierro in a bomb rigged comet

boost-country : Race in the countrisde near Los Santos in a modified vortex that has increased speed, handbrake and can survive underwater.

boost-desert : Race around area 69 in a bandito with increased speed and acceleration.

boost-fierroslide : This vehicle has deliberately slippery handling.

boost-freeroam : Features a ludicrously fast nrg500. Has amphibious and jump capabilities.

boost-handbrake : A long race in a banshee with boosted acceleration and more powerful braking.

boost-highwaybomb : A long highway race in a bomb rigged turismo.

boost-highwaysuper : The same highway race, in a modified bullet.

boost-monster : Race from the mine pit to area 69 in a more powerful monster truck.

boost-pcj600bomb : A bomb rigged pcj race from the petrol station to the radar dish.

boost-river : A race around the rivers of SA in a fast sea craft, includes some jumps.

boost-rooftop : A very short race demonstrating some jumps.

boost-sanchezjump : Jump across some rooftops and rivers from Los Santos to Las Venturas.

boost-sky : A crazy map, featuring jumps across skyscrapers.

boost-supernrg : A very fast country road race in a nrg500 modified to travel about twice normal speed.

Videos:

http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=gTTUt0zAz_E : boost-underwater

http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=WWeTZ0C-Q24 : boost-collector

http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=37IUraPNRdw : boost-sanchezjump

http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=WavMDVwzFX0 : boost-supernrg

http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=saRMKYJXvOk : boost-freeroam

http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2BDFdYrAuo : boost-country

: boost-sky

: boost-river

: boost-highwaysuper

: boost-fierroslide

Download:

http://rapidshare.com/files/167477122/boostpack20081126-2.zip

Just unzip this file into server\mods\deathmatch\resources

This mod requires the same acl.xml modification as arc_'s race mod:

Update [26 November 2008]:

Added cruise control to boost-collector. Fixed some bugs.

If you have an older version from before 05 November, please delete all boost content before unzipping.

Edited December 11, 2008 by Guest

[Magus1724]

Looks pretty neat, I'll probably check it out

[Dark Dragon]

sounds cool but the checkpoints do everything for you, don't they?

[DefiniteIntegral]

sounds cool but the checkpoints do everything for you, don't they?

The jump pickups themselves are configurable. The modification is like this:

new velocity = old velocity * pickup multiplier + pickup addition

So they can be configured to set a specific velocity, or just modify the existing one. Both vehicle velocity and turn velocity can be controlled this way. The result being the difference between an automatic jump, and one that actually requires skill.

To answer your question though, in boost-rooftop and boost-sky, yeah they pretty much do it for you. Most checkpoints set a specific velocity, but leave rotation velocity to the player. A couple of difficult points control rotation also.

I set it up that way for the sake of demonstration. I was considering making a 'hard' version which would rely on a lot more player control. I do think many of the maps could be made harder. These maps evolved from a number of LAN games where we screwed around a lot, so they are generally pretty easy. Hard versions would actually have time limits for example.

In the case of maps like boost-highwaysuper and boost-fierroslide, the velocity modification is not done by pickups. It is calculated on the server every 150 ms for every vehicle. Controlling vehicles in these maps relies entirely on the player, as the server only applies acceleration or braking to the vehicle according to user input.

[Dark Dragon]

thanks for that information this makes it a lot more interesting for me!

[DefiniteIntegral]

I would be interested in feedback from anyone who has tried this gamemode. Like bugs to report, or complaining about me making checkpoints less versatile. Or how maps on regular SA terrain are boring

I added a lot more information regarding bug fixes and changes into the opening post as well, in case anyone is curious as to what I have actually done.

[Scarface]

Wow these maps are genius!

[Michael_Sund]

pretty long description, hope you feel like your map is worth all work -.-'

[Scarface]

pretty long description, hope you feel like your map is worth all work -.-'

What are you talking about? They are very good! Dont make me comment on your maps!

[DefiniteIntegral]

pretty long description, hope you feel like your map is worth all work -.-'

The reason for the long description was to outline changes made to the race mod. These changes were the main point to this release.

I don't think these maps are anything special. For example they are ridiculously easy. They are largely just demonstrations of crazy stuff that can be done. I made them and the race modifications for fun... there is no 'worth' to be had from the start.

[DemonSeed]

Yeah man this looks interesting and I gave it a shot on my server, but I have a issue.

We loaded this with race mode, without race mode, race mode disabled, and boost disabled, I tried all the options.

But what it comes down to when the map vote comes up, it loads the map, then nothing, just a fancy black screen, I tried tweaking and prodding but it still wont load any of the boost maps.

And then I tried converting one of my race maps that worked in race, and that still got a black screen too.

And in race I never get a black screen.

[DefiniteIntegral]

... black screen ...

Yeah, I have experienced this as well.

Firstly, it takes the server quite a while to load the maps. I suspect this has something to do with the length of the server-side script, as the problem continued to get worse as the script gained length. The script is now much longer than the original race server-side script. However even with that, it should still load after a while.

However, I have also experienced the perpetual black screen problem. I am not sure how to fix it though... as no errors come up in the server logs. Usually all I need to do in this case is have the client experiencing black screen to disconnect from the server, then reconnect. Upon reconnecting it just seems to magically work straight away. To be fair, however, I also get this problem using the normal race mod, not just boost.

Do you have any server-side errors come up on connect that you can post here? That would help me immensely. I am not actively working on this mod presently (I have moved on to Half Life 2 editing...), but I will try to fix any bugs that pop up.

Actually thinking about it, I do have one suspicion about the cause, I shall have to look into it. I think perhaps in trying to remove server side warnings (because they annoy me), I might have introduced a spawning-related bug.

If you don't mind, could you try sending me one of your map files? I would like to test it out myself to see if that helps me figure out the problem. Even just if you throw together a demo map, or whatever. You can send it to [email protected]

Edit:

Fix uploaded.

[DemonSeed]

thanks a lot man, ill give it a shot again.

Edited November 10, 2008 by Guest

[DefiniteIntegral]

Edit : Update released. Hopefully this fixes things...

[DemonSeed]

OK I have tested it and its working great

[darkdreamingdan]

Nice job, looks really polished

[DefiniteIntegral]

Thanks. Too bad it still barely works with anything above mild lag.

If only MTA exposed an interface for modifying vehicle parameters in GTA directly, this entire mod would become completely unnecessary, and the lag issues resulting from my 'brute force' velocity modification would disappear. Of course I know that will never happen. Sigh... I can dream, though.

[darkdreamingdan]

What lag issues? I dont understand how it would be laggy if you do the velocity setting clientside only.

[DefiniteIntegral]

Wait. Does that mean MTA is not a server-authoritative system? Since that's pretty much what I have been assuming this whole time. In that case, the lag bugs in the present version were introduced by me attempting to operate under that assumption. I can fix it easily now.

Edit:

Updated. It should work now, hopefully.