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Hi,

This post is mainly directed at Piboso, but I would definitely like to hear what other people think.

I was wondering if custom (user-made) shaders have ever been considered for this game?  I'm not talking about SHD files, but the actual vertex and fragment shaders of OpenGL, and allowing them to be written by content creators.

I think that a well written shader would significantly increase the visual appeal of this game, and allow creators to have a lot more freedom with the visual style of their content.  I am thinking of things such as ambient occlusion maps, emissive maps, and pretty much anything else you can imagine.

Shaders are super powerful when it comes to the visuals of any game.  I think that opening up this side of the game to the community would lead to a much better looking game in the long run, whilst off loading some of the "work" or "stress" involved in improving the graphics of this game.  Which I'm SURE has been requested before.  Probably something along the lines of "Use UNREAL ENGINE, and graphics will be way better!!"     How about instead of that, any improvement in graphics can be written in shaders by people who know how to do it. 

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Yeah JMs weren't encrypted either...   Like SAFs, you can open the file in notepad, and all the information is there.  You might not understand the information instantly, but it is still human readable, and doesn't take long to work out.

Well, there were a few times where I had people send me tracks they'd apparently made for Reflex.  It was only later on that someone pointed out to me that the heightmap was taken from an MXS track.  Heightmaps can be ported across to any game quite easily.  The only difference seems to be how the terrain textures are made.  MXS uses a ton of decals, where as MX Bike will use masking layers which are applied to a tileable texture - just like MVA Reflex.

With the game itself being so modifiable, I don't see why protection for user created content would be necessary. If you don't want other people to have something, don't give it to anybody. Right?

You understand the concept of plagarism right?  Encrypted files takes absoloutly nothing away from people being able to ride and enjoy the track.  The only thing it takes away is being able to easily open up the track in order to edit it, or re-use elements that the creator has worked hard to create.  If the creator wishes it to be open for public use, then they're free to share those files.  Most game files are encrypted to some degree.  MXS is actually in the minority.

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SAFs were nice for keeping a pack of stuff contained and easy to organize in sim, something similar may be nice for that reason but with enough work any encryption that a game can read in under a second can be undone.

Unfortunately, SAFs weren't encrypted.  There were, as you say, just a way to keep everything organised.  Nothing in MXS was encrypted until the .scram files came along.  It is true that any encryption can be un-done, but trying to reverse a decent encryption can be a very lengthy process, that most people wouldn't have a clue where to start, therefore they don't bother.

AWood, why are you so against encryption? If you want to distribute your heightmaps models and textures, why not just make them available to download seperately? It's understandable that some people might want to have their work protected.

I'm glad you understand   I take then, that there will be file encryption for heightmaps, models and textures?

Back to my other questions... How many layers of terrain textures will be supported?  What are the supported heightmap resolutions?  Will we able to create a non-square shaped terrain, eg. 2049 x 1025?  If not, and the heightmaps are squares only, will there be support for multiple terrain tiles?

No. It's more useless work for me as a creator. And more work for piboso. Just release your shit for the good of the community. scrams and private releases ruined it because before there were only public releases and ripping wasn't a thing.

It's hardly "work"...  As a creator, you just run the file through an encrytion process, which takes seconds.  As for Piboso, I'm not familiar with his other games, but if he already has encryption in place, then job done.  If not, then I'll get over it.  I just want to be aware of the kind of protection my work will have.

I don't understand how ripping didn't exist before encryption?  I define ripping as another word for plagarism.  MXS has only had encrypted files (.scram) for the past 6 months or so... maybe less.  I saw plenty of posts about ripping on MXS forums way before that.  An encrypted file can still be used the way they were designed for the good of the community, so no problem there.

I think the main problem with MXS you're talking about is the skinning of bike models?  It seems that people are creating great bike models, but aren't even willing to release a wireframe for the bike.  Which I do find pretty ridiculous, and a little selfish.  Other than that, I think it's pretty reasonable that if you wanted to keep your height map (for example) protected, then why not?  If you spend countless hours working on something, why not protect it from plagarism?

Jamie please don't even start on file encryption. It's totally unnecessary. Just make a track and realease it. You don't need to worry about them getting ripped. That's what ruined MXS was people whining about their content not being safe.

If the files are encrypted - then yes, I wouldn't need to worry.   I don't understand how it ruined MXS?  If you're an honest person that doesn't plan on ripping things, then it's no skin off your nose.  The only people that would whine about file encryption would be the rippers...

Excellent!  Good to hear that track creators can get a little head start before the first release!

Which resolutions of height maps will the tracks handle?  I saw a mention of 2049 x 2049 in another post.  Will there be support for other sizes such as 1025x1025?  Or maybe even non-square terrains, such as 2049 x 1025?

How many different terrain textures will be supported?

File encryption... Will there be any protection for user-created track files?

So just to be clear, when the first public Alpha is released, we'll be able to create our own tracks?  The game will have support for importing our own heightmaps, terrain textures, 3d models into the game?  We will have to create these in other programs, and then have to convert them into a format that the game can read?

If so, that is great!  That is all you need!  Creating an in-game editor would be a waste of time...  There are plenty of programs out there already, which do the job perfectly.

I'm also looking forward to seeing good things from you guys! Bring on Q1 2014