Trackname: Kentucky 2011
Version: v 2.0
Date of creation: 23rd July 2011
Racing sim: NASCAR Racing 2003 Season
Author(s): Ian Smythe

Type: Real

AI: Yes

Physics support: CUP, GNS, CTS, PTA & OWR05

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

[1] FEATURES
[2] UPDATES SINCE v1.0
[3] KNOWN ISSUES
[4] TROUBLE REPORTING
[5] CREDITS
[6] AGREEMENT OF USE

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[1] FEATURES

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Kentucky Speedway in Sparta, Kentucky is the first new oval to be added to the NASCAR Sprint Cup schedule in 10 years. To mark this event we at Smiffsden has gone mad and made one of our most feature packed tracks to date featuring the legendary AI from J.R. Franklin, only you'll have no problems getting into this track.

Features:

    * Scratch built track from Satellite data and track information including the new curved pit lane
    * Full day to night transition graphics
    * Full length pit speed rules (as per the races)
    * 2011 Sprint Cup weekend race logos
    * New track, wall & sky textures, lights, crowd blah blah blah.
    * Optimized 3D crowd who do things
    * Whelen Pit Entry/Exit light system with flagger and lollipop man.
    * Updated cameras

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[2] UPDATES SINCE v1.0

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    * THIS TRACK IS NOT COMPATIBLE FOR MULTIPLAYER USE WITH v1.0 AND WILL OVERWRITE ANY v1.0 INSTALL.

    * Day to Night transition is now seen on all TSO levels (Min, Some & All).
    * Fixed the lift towers on the Grandstand so they are the correct color.
      and don't suffer polygon tearing when viewed from some angles.
    * Fixed the transitional wall in turn 3 so that the daylight wall doesn't stick out of the shadow.
    * Fixed some shadow polygon tearing that was present on the trackside hills.
    * Completely rebuilt and reanimated the Whelen Pit Entry & Exit lighting system  (see below).
    * Added Caution Lights to the bottom row of the pit exit light which Nascar uses on some tracks.
    * Fixed the min_race.lp line at the start finish line where there was a break in it.
    * Fixed the pitlane entry flag official so he shows the correct pitlane status (see below).
    * Added PTA and OWR05 track ini settings for AI (see below).
    * Many other graphical fixes and updates that I can't remember.
    * Added 2x (40 minutes day to night) and 4x (20 minutes day to night) ptf files for offline use (see below).

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WHELEN PIT LIGHTS:
These have been completely rebuilt & textured from the ground up, they may not look very different but they are, the animation has been improved to be smoother between the lights when they are flashing, you now shouldn't see the bottom light tear through the light casing as it changes to flash on the top and vice verca.

The existing Pit Entry flagger has been removed, he was triggered from a secondary pitlane ini setting (that controls the pitlane speed) and more often than not, got the pitlane status wrong, usually showing the pits as closed when they were open.  He has been replaced by a new animated flagger that is directly tied into the lights, so will always show the correct pit road status.  This is my first attempt at human animation and is primative to say the least, the official will pick the flag up and hang it over the wall, nothing else.  I may work on the animation for future tracks to try and improve him, but even this level of animation took me long enough.

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AI lp FILES:
The AI lp files are packed into the dat file, so please don't report to me that the track won't work because there are no AI files included, there are, and the track will work, just load it up and you'll see.

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PTA PHYSICS TRACK and AI SETTINGS:
The track now has PTA physics settings, this is primarly aimed at open wheel PTA based mods such as my V8 Indycars & ISS mods.
To use these settings to in the best way, you need to make some manual changes in the track directory.

Rename track.ini to track_cup.ini
Rename track_OWR.ini to track.ini
Rename race_OWR.lp to race.lp

When you load up the track, tick the box marked "Realistic" under the Weather settings for the race.
The weather settings have been tweeked to make the cars handle better with the added grip, the cars will have a lot more power and a similar level of grip, but they shouldn't roll over so easily in the corners.  The AI were tuned using a custom papy_ai.ini, although they will run with a standard one just fine, they'll correct the slides more, if you want them to just drive through the corners flat out without correcting, change the following like in the papy_ai.ini file:

crashing_recovery_slip_angle = 0.35

change it to:

crashing_recovery_slip_angle = 5

and they won't self correct in the corners.

If you run the AI on normal weather settings, then you'll probably get beaten hand over fist.
The AI ratings used were randomised between 60 and 100 with NRatings, so they should be good, if using these ratings, at around 97-100%.

You will have to slightly feather the throttle in the corners, especially if running the low line, with the weather settings the cars are fast and powerful, but they still handle a bit like a regular Papyrus car.

To go back to Cup settings, reverse the filename changes made above, while using the PTA ini, the track will be listed as Kentucky_2011 (OWR).

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If using the OWR05.exe, simply rename Rename race_OWR.lp to race.lp and carry on as normal, adjust the race settings as you would normally.

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DAY TO NIGHT TRANSITION:
This can now be seen on all graphics levels, the amount of trackside objects, and detail varies depending what level you are on.

Minimal:
You will see the Day to Night transition trackside geometry (hills), grandstands (empty) and basic ground shadows.

Some:
As above but with some added infield RV's, trackside billboards lights (on all the time) and the transitional walls inside turn 3.

All:
Everything including the Full switching on lighting system, Pitlane Club, Haulers, 3D Crowd, and their cameras.

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FASTER TRANSITIONS:
To use the short transition ptf files, simply rename them to Kentucky_2011.ptf depending which speed you want.
These are not compatible for multiplayer unless everybody, and the server, is using the same ptf version.

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[3] KNOWN ISSUES

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There is always a night sky in your mirror, even during the day, again this is a limitation of the games graphics engine - blame Papyrus - oh we can't can we?

The Kentucky Speedway building on the outside of turn 3 looks a bit naff (imho) in white, but it's what the track did.

You may still see random texture clipping, again there's not much I can do about that.

The billboards are best guess, they're not quiet in the right position, but then this isn't a laser scanned track.

The Grandstands don't really extend as far as they should, we know, deal with it LOL.

The track is filled up with shadow maps, so first thing to do if having fps issues is to turn them off along with reflections. Users of high detail mods such as Cup11s and the Indycar mod may see a bigger than normal fps hit.
 
The AI, Track Grip/Wear and bumps:
J.R. Franklin has lent his AI expertise to the track AI, they are quiet racey so you should have some fun with them, thanks JR!

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[4] TROUBLE REPORTING

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Problems? Report to Smiffsden facebook page.

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[5] CREDITS

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CREDITS:
Track Development:
Ian Smythe

A.I. Development:
J.R. Franklin

Beta Testing:
J.R. Franklin
Ian Smythe
Yosh Hughes

Contributions:
I would like to thank everybody who helped identify track side logo's on Facebook and the following who either sourced or supplied information and/or photos of the track and it's surroundings, without all of your help the track simply wouldn't be what it is, there are far too many people to list here but the following deserve an honourable mention....

Kentucky Speedway
J.R. Franklin
Timo Hoffmann
William Baboontester
Vincent Furlong and Scott Relyea.

Crowd mip courtesy BOWTIE: http://ewracing.com/ewracing/n2k3_3d_objects.htm

I'd also like to thank my wife and son for humouring me all this time when I get my "Track OCD moments".

Be sure to checkout NR2003 Tracks - http://www.nr2k3tracks.comfor all your up to date Nascar Racing 2003 Season mods and tracks.

If you appreciate our work, please consider a small donation to help with the costs of keeping the Smiffsden server running, thank you.

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[6] AGREEMENT OF USE

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Storage or Use of this track by installation into a racing simulator constitutes agreement with this and the following statements:

1) This track may not be sold or distributed for commercial purposes, or money exchanged for this track or any part thereof.

2) This track may not be redistributed or hosted on a server without written consent of the original author.

3) This track cannot be modifed without written consent of the original author.

4) Pieces of this track (not including the .ptf file) may be extracted and used for other tracks, but cannot be used in projects for commercial purposes, and credit to the original author should appear in a readme that is distributed with the new project.

5) This track must always maintain an unmodified copy of this readme in whatever form itis distributed.

6) This track is covered by implied intellectual property laws, in that it is the property of the author.

7) This track is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. 

Copyright 2011 Ian D Smythe.

 

