Street Legal: Revision

In short

List of changes

• Ability to create and delete careers.
  
• Each career created gets eight slots for saves, rather than there being eight save slots available for all careers total.
  
• You can create and save an unlimited amount of careers now!
  
• The UI for all this career stuff is complete, though saving/loading isn't fully functional yet.
  To be continued next week!
  
• You are no longer given unnecessary reminders to save career - you must take some kind of action worth saving (attach/remove/repair/buy/sell parts, leave garage, or one of a few others) first!
  

• Various texture improvements.
  
• Improved reliability of the dialog-stuck-on-screen fix of last week.
  
• Removed case-sensitivity from the bind-key-to-command Console feature.
  

In short

List of changes

• Corrected aspect ratio-dependent placement of a UI element.
  
• The "RATHERWALK" cheat described in Progress update #36 can now also be activated at the Car Lot!
  Same disclaimer applies - map was not made for it, not a serious feature, only for a bit of fun, etc, etc...
  
• Restored a feature to briefly show a "LOADING..." text in the lower left corner as the Car Lot loads new cars while making selection.
  
• Non-visible cars are no longer rendered through the floor & ceiling - huge FPS improvement with many cars loaded!
  
• Because of the optimization above, you can no longer see shadows from loaded cars above getting projected onto the lower floors, other than appearing during the floor-switching camera animation.
  We are looking into ways to fully solve this problem!
  
• Slightly improved dynamic lighting again.
  
• Added support for displaying text of what's happening while the area is loading (setting disabled by default).
  

• Greatly optimized a part of the reworked vehicle collection process - could add up to whole seconds saved with many mods installed!
  
• Fixed the main menu background displaying incorrectly on 5:4 aspect ratio.
  
• Removed a lot of unnecessary horizontal resolution from 'black bar filler' backgrounds, notably improving the load time for the Catalog, and allowing us to use a format supporting much higher quality gradients elsewhere, without having to compromise load times.
  
• Fixed broken cursor positioning when switching directly between Catalog/CarInfo/ClubInfo using the garage hotkeys while first person mode is active.
  
• Fixed dialogs getting stuck on-screen if the game section is changed via Console while one is open.
  
• Started work on the ability to create, save and load careers.
  Though full-on work for a playable career mode isn't starting yet, these basic functions are already needed for testing some things. :)
  
• Completed the CarInfo blueprint for the Codrac, and made many improvements to all previous ones!
  As ever, thanks to Medek for helping with these!
  

In short

List of changes

• Changed the camera movement that happens immediately upon entry.
  
• Fixed the shown money amount not being refreshed after returning from Catalog.
  

• Added subtle fogging, as seen in SL1. This can be disabled together with the garage fog within the options menu.
  
• No more mirror dimension leak on the far edges on widescreen.
  
• Added a mirrorland-filler skydome, to improve the look within photo mode, and the far edges on wider-than-widescreen aspect ratios.
  Just like the dealer, the map was never designed to be viewed from other angles than the default car selection camera, and we will not be committing the time needed to fully model it anytime soon.
  
• Number keys can now be used to select car.
  
• Scroll wheel works for selecting cars too! Hold Shift to change floor instead!
  
• New unique envmap.
  
• Reduced the intensity of dynamic specular lighting, to better match the baked lighting of the world.
  
• Remade the original UI, with subtle improvements.
  
• Support for various SL1R features (hiding OSD, photo mode & more!).
  
• If set, the selected car's nickname is now shown alongside it's name.
  Further description of the nicknaming feature can be found in Progress update #10.
  

• Fixed the gauges not being hidden alongside the OSD when controlling the car within Garage.
  
• Fixed some camera control bindings being active when they shouldn't be.
  
• Pressing the first person toggle key (F1) while exploring Valo City or Test Track on foot will now return you to chase cam, rather than continuing to cycle through the car-attached camera positions.
  
• Greatly improved the reliability of Mitch showing up within the driver's seat when he should.
  

• Few fixes and an improvement for the Console.
  
• Improved the CarInfo blueprint for the Badge again.
  
• Fixed a car selection RNG result consistency regression.
  
• Added the Car Lot's number key car selection feature to the Car Dealer too, for consistency.
  

In short

List of changes

• If the Garage camera rotation controls are bound to anything other than the arrow keys (such as WASD), these will serve as additional controls (besides arrow keys) for dealer camera (car selection), too.
  
• Scroll wheel can now also be used to select car.
  
• Ability to actually buy the cars!
  
• Fixed the car name & price text not clearing after purchasing a car.
  
• Restored the original car generator logic - this will likely get improvements in the future!
  
• Selection remembered between visits.
  
• Dealer work is complete for now!
  

• Restored the original SL1 look.
  
• Fixed the broken sign on level 9.
  
• With this, the porting of all SL1 maps to the newer engine has been completed!
  

• After discovering a critical flaw in the new design, remade much of the implementation of the vehicle file structure changes mentioned in Progress update #35.
  Most of the time this week went into this :|
  
• Fixed a way to cause silent game crashes related to creation of OSD elements.
  
• Completed the CarInfo blueprint for the Stallion, and improved the one for the Teg.
  As ever, thanks to Medek for helping with these!
  

In short

List of changes

• Removed case-sensitivity, other edge-case bug fixes.
  
• Completed support for all relevant file types.
  
• The tool is now fully caught up with the vehicle changes done for SL1R so far!
  

• Various small OSD fixes & improvements.
  
• Adjusted the dynamic (car) lighting to better match the baked lighting of the world.
  
• Fixed the loading screen being hidden too early at the default setting, allowing some pop-in to be visible.
  
• Added support for displaying what's happening while the area is loading (setting disabled by default).
  
• Added cheat: "RATHERWALK" - type this into the console while at the dealer to unlock the use of first person mode!
  The map is NOT made to be viewed from any other angle than the default car selection camera, so first person mode is not normally available here.
  With the cheat active, you can sit in any of the cars and drive them around, too!
  You will not be able to buy cars or view their info from this cheat mode - it only exists for a bit of fun, and is not at all intended to be a serious complete feature!
  

• Now available at the dealer, with no loading screens involved, just like at the garage!
  
• Support for vehicles with less than 4 wheels.
  
• Dealer-specific optimization.
  
• Completed the blueprint for the Teg!
  As ever, thanks to Medek for helping with these!
  

• After being seated in a bench seat (rear seat), the player will leave the car depending on the side of the click, rather than always the same side.
  
• Better handling of entering & returning from areas which don't support first person mode.
  
• Fixed the cursor not always resetting properly after exiting the mode.
  

• Chasing old bugs.
  
• Fixed one of the options within the options menu displaying incorrect values.
  
• Improved error.log handling: Fixed lines being potentially missed immediately after startup due to an organizational change done long ago, and text is no longer all clumped into one line when viewed via older versions of Notepad (such as what comes with Windows 7).
  
• Removed the camera zoom-out effect from various places.
  

In short

List of changes

• An external tool for mass-applying SL1R-specific changes to vehicle files, to be included with the game!
  
• With minimal user input, allows quick and easy changes to basic vehicle parameters.
  
• If you own Street Legal Racing: Redline, using this tool, you'll be able to very easily convert it's unique cars for use in SL1R;
  Not just official vanilla cars, but also mods!
  
• Almost any existing car mod will be possible to convert using the tool, even if the mod's source code has not been included.
  
• This tool will assist in speeding up SL1R's development, continuously getting updated as more changes to vehicle fundamentals are made;
  As the same tool will be used for both applying changes to already-compatible cars, and for converting mods, SLRR mod compatibility will be naturally ensured, allowing us to make many of the changes in the first place :)
  

• Changes in vehicle file structure, for better memory management & load times, especially with many mods installed.
  
• After a modded-in car or part has been uninstalled, the game will no longer crash when attempting to load it from save file.
  
• Completed the CarInfo blueprint for the ST9, and finally finished-up the one for the Kurumma.
  As ever, thanks to Medek for helping with these!
  

In short

List of changes

• Now working as it's own separate area!
  
• Corrected the color of one of the decorative background cars, which had not cleanly ported to the newer game engine.
  
• Working car selection logic.
  
• Support for various SL1R features (photo mode, hiding OSD & more!).
  
• Added all the basic environment features (skydome, fog, dynamic lighting, envmap).
  
• No more unwanted geometry visible at high view range settings.
  
• Remade & slightly improved the original UI.
  
• Improved memory management.
  

• Bindable inputs for direct gear selection, including Neutral.
  
• Options to either stay in gear until an input for a different gear is given, or to return to Neutral whenever the input is released (classic (sequential) shifting overrides this).
  

• Fixed a crash on game exit under very specific conditions.
  
• 99% completed the CarInfo blueprint for the Kurumma.
  As ever, thanks to Medek for helping with these!
  

In short

List of changes

• Under certain conditions within first person mode, you could open doors by right-clicking the window too - this window-clicking support has been expanded to hatch doors too!
  
• Added an option to invert vertical look for first person mode. (Invert Y)
  
• Painter parameters (size/rotation) can now also be adjusted by using the scroll wheel while holding Shift/Ctrl.
  

In short

List of changes

• Improved all textures of the subcategory sticky notes added last week.
  
• Removed some unwanted OSD SFX.
  
• Better 'lighting' on the sticky notes that have been moved to the other side.
  
• Completed adding of subcategory sticky notes.
  
• OSD elements are now only loaded when needed, instead of all being pre-loaded (Catalog opens faster).
  
• Part color detection (sort of), and paint layer auto-upscaling upon purchase (part of the feature described in Progress update #21).
  
• Added an option for the catalog to offer bodyparts in the car's factory color, instead of the car model's default (disabled by default).
  
• Fixed new items sometimes failing to appear within inventory.
  
• More-responsive navigation by click.
  
• To make space for the subcategory sticky notes, Decals have been moved to their own mode!
  You can switch between Part and Decal modes either by clicking an OSD button, or by pressing Space.
  Last page is remembered as you switch between the two modes.
  Decal mode is loaded by default if Painter mode is selected within Garage as you enter the Catalog.
  
• All improvements previously done for Parts mode have also been done for Decals mode (Decals use a very different approach for loading & display).
  
• Added Decal subcategories.
  
• Further OSD element SL1ification.
  
• Number row keys can be used to switch between categories (Parts mode) or subcategories (Decals mode).
  
• New 'black bar filler' background.
  
• Catalog work is complete for now!
  

• Like SLRR, SL1 allowed you to easily add your own decals by placing the images into a folder!
  This has been expanded to support loading of TGA, DDS, BMP and PTX formats, not just PNG!
  JPEG remains unsupported due to a requirement of a transparent border.
  
• Added more basic shapes as black/white decals.
  
• Fixed incorrect borders and aspect ratios of several of the original decals.
  

• Changed the naming of the "MID" traffic density to "NORMAL", to imply this being the level at which the game is intended to be played.
  
• Moved some auto-generated CarInfo elements to the car blueprints themselves - this will slightly improve load times, and fix potential texture alignment inconsistencies caused by different suspension geometry setups (especially with mods!).
  Also started on the blueprint for the Kurumma! As ever, thanks to Medek for helping with these!
  

In short

List of changes

• Enabled & improved backwards navigation - no more partially loaded categories!
  
• Fixed some cases of page numbers going out of sync.
  
• Right-clicking a sticky note will lead you straight to the last page of the relevant category.
  
• The full catalog is now possible to navigate purely by flipping pages! ("Linear navigation")
  
• Added 'hidden' subcategories for parts which may be modded in (such as additional engine types not present in SL1 (like Inline 6, V12, etc...)) - these subcategories lack dedicated sticky notes, but can be very quickly accessed via linear navigation instead (right-click previous category, then go up a page, or left-click next category and go down a page).
  These subcategories are auto-skipped if no parts within them are found.
  
• Fixed the catalog background visibly loading-in after the item panels do.
  
• A Catalog-specific fix for the performance improvement mentioned last week.
  
• More minor visual improvements.
  
• Manufacturer logos are now shown above the parts, and feature better alignment than originally.
  
• Restored the 5 manufacturer decals granted after buying one of their parts.
  
• Manufacturer logos (and the given decals) no longer use compressed textures (which loaded slower anyway), instead now using the same textures as can be found within the Decals section.
  
• Sticky notes now realistically change position, for maximum catalog navigation immersion! :)
  
• Restored the original sticky note click visuals.
  
• As a sticky note realistically moves to the other side upon entering the relevant category, it reveals several cut-up smaller notes for direct access to subcategories (different engine types, custom bodyparts, specific wheel sizes, etc...).
  For the sake of convenience, these smaller notes all remain in place for as long as you remain within the relevant 'main' category, even if realism demands otherwise.
  This feature is not yet complete for Running Gear parts.
  

• Some fixes for Garage part type filters.
  
• Completed CarInfo blueprint for the Yotta, finished up the one for the Ninja, and improved all previous blueprints (again). Thanks yet again to Medek for helping with these, and what became this week's silly title too! :D