Carset Newsletter July

1Robs Workshop Carset Newsletter July edition 2010

What to expect in this months edition:General Batracer and Carset newsInterviews with some of the designers including Pieczar!FAQ’s about Carset developmentAnd much much more including a picture of a cat!


Welcome everyone

I hope everyone enjoyed the last issue. It was great fun making it and I enjoyed watching the ratings over the last few days. The first PDF issue racked up great interest with over 175 different readers including Jules himself and almost 2000 page views!! Really good job guys and I hope this one can beat that figure. Don’t forget to rate and leave a comments!

Also feel free to contact me about carsets, or if you feel like you would like to contribute to the newsletter. Also feel free to contact me if you wish to advertise for free in the newsletter. Especially with this many readers!

Thanks everyone for making the first issue successful. Enjoy!

P.S Always remember you can zoom in to view images better!

Introduction

Rob Baker


General NewsAdmittedly despite an huge amount of competitions and Carset work going on at the workshop. There are no major stories to report on. Instead I am going to place a lovable picture of a cat. Who doesn’t like cats?!

The workshop has now reached a total 266 users! An extra 6 people have joined in the past 20 days. Please make an account if you haven’t already and try and help us build the numbers and the community. Thanks alot guys.

Matt Simons recently has done a fantastic job updating the resource pages. Some of his best wheels from some of his best sets are now available on show and for others to use when creating their carsets. Thanks Matt!

Along side this Matt has also created a RGBY livery library making the creation of these liveries easier and much quicker. All designers hate making these because of their poor quality.

Since the last issue we have had 3 livery competitions. And a big congrats to NasPhantom for winning on his debut.

Almost 10 years of Bat!We also want to give a big shout out to 10 years Batracer. It has been a wicked ten years with a lot of ups and downs but we still are here! Thanks everyone and of course Jules for his WWW magic!

The next set?Rumours are spreading lately that a new set will soon be released once its been updated and tweaked. Under the new name of Japan GT.

GraphicsThere is also lately a bit of activity to revive some of the gone Batracer pictures. Most of these will probably be replaced by new made graphics.


DRM 1977-1982

Carset news

Since the first issue DRM 1977-1982 has really taken off big style. All the parties involved have managed to head their heads down despite the current temperatures and produce some excellent work. Timo had many of the cars on his hard drive halfway through completion. After the first newsletter he had a real drive to finish them off and make amendments to them. James Read has also lent a helping hand making the line work for the Talbot.Any decent template has to have some pretty special wheels. Jon Hawkins (Tinyone) has got his head down and produced his best every wheels and rims to accompany the templates. Aside from this he has also helped create a few of the cars alongside Timo.

The challenging Holden DRM car looked tone of the hardest to template. Luckily BAS was soon on the case and has made a classic template. One of the best ones for the set. All it needs now is some wheels. Tinyone ;)On the data side Timo is working hard sifting through alot of old German data. And with over 80 engines to deal with its not an easy task. The opening of the builder last month has helped him gather things much easier and this set has picked up alot of speed.


WRC?

Carset news

Ok this might not be officially in construction but WTF has been busy templating alot of WRC cars for fun. Modern WRC isn’t a patch one what it used to be. This is the difficult question when it comes to making a WRC set. The popular vote is the late 1990’s early 2000’s championship which Ford, Toyota, Subaru, Peugeot etc all battling it out. There is much more variety in these seasons compare to just the couple of cars the teams run now.

The hardest part of making a WRC set is getting the whole think to work out. It doesn’t fit the current Batracer format very well and using a normal qualifying style list really isn't what the player wants to see. No one wants to do the work and wait every 24 hours for a few lists of where they came. WRC would most likely require extra interface work which will all have to be coded by Jules. This would be difficult to include in the current Batracer system. Hopefully it will appear in an more powerful updated version of Batracer in the future.


Sets of the future?

Carset news

Modern LMES/ ALMS etc.Ok please don’t get excited about the sets here. They are basically ideas that people have had and might (probably won’t) be brought up again for construction. The idea of modern LMES or an update for the current one is nothing new. But the main problem is the little matter of the cherry diesel cars.

Rolex Sports CarsMarmite cars as I like to call them, I personally love these machines but I know several people who really don’t. The Rolex series is a hidden topic of the forum after work seemed to stop for a really long time. The series produces fantastic racing between the DP class and the smaller GT cars. But the question is do we really need another GT in the works?

Formula BMW and other seriesThese series are easy as anything to make and make for some close racing on some obscure circuits all over the globe. But the main point is, why? Why do we need any more single car racing? Things like F3/ CART V2 is loved for its variety on offer.


FAQ’s – Questions everyone seems to ask

Carset news

-When will the next set be released?No one knows for sure. Us Carset makers don’t really get informed. Once we complete a Carset we send it to Jules for him to check over and then hopefully add when he has time. Before the Ferrari incident we had many sets waiting to go in game but now the number is much less. Jules is extremely busy at the moment and we have to finish sets off again. Its difficult totell when the next one will be. The only one for sure is the mainstream F1 series.

-What about WRC and rally?Rally is always suggested. WRC style point to point rally wouldn’t work out in Batracer. There's a topic and interest at the moment on what will happen when WRC is created. Everything has to be rethought out as well as many of the user interfaces. It will happen one day but we must work out how. As for Rally cross that is coming along nicely on the workshop.

-What about NASCAR?!NASCAR was going very nicely before the Ferrari incident. Since then not much work has continued at all. It will be made for the future but alot of coding is required and we are unsure about many details such as can it handle the sheer size of the grids?

-I’ve had a great idea, Formula one 1992!People often just suggest sets just for the sake of it. How many times have we seen people asking for obscure F1 seasons and have left many of us scratching our heads? Batracer is overloaded with Formula 1 and I’m sure the majority would rather see some Varity instead of another similar series.

-What about some of the other mega races?Lemans yes! Monaco no. Others maybe... Lemans is a big debate at the moment. Matt Simons had the genius of splitting it up in eras'. So a set for the Audi Peugeot battle. A set for the Jaguar Porsche battle. Sound good yes! But nothings been made yet so don't hold your breath. Monaco just wouldn’t work with the race lengths and hardly any overtaking at all. Other races such as Daytona have been discussed and could be created for the future.

- Generic F1 anyone?-Its been suggested numerous times and been attempted at least once or twice. Its actually a really good suggestion. This hopefully one day will be built and put in game! Before everyone gets bored and takes up waterskiing instead!

- What carsets next?-What ever is released first usually has priority. Before the Ferrari incident we used to race against each other to get priority. But F1 2011 will always make it out before lawn mower racing. Not many sets are completed at the moment but the next set is believed to be an update of sorts or the SuperGT Carset.

- What about GP3, Formula Ford etc?Many people suggest one make series with massive grids. These sets don’t add much to the game and are unlikely to be added for years. If they were to be added and pushed past sets like MotoGP, Rally Cross etc people wouldn’t be too happy.

- Why are all the cars fake? What the hell is Team Wales?Players ask this alot. Especially inexperienced players or players that have been away for months. Basically a small Italian car company (LOL) threatened to take action against the game for using its vehicles, names etc... Ever since then everything has had to be fake. We admit the game isn’t what it was but everyone is sticking around and waiting for a better version! As for Team Wales its the name given to replace the Italian company named after the great land where the game owner originates from.

- How do I play FIA GT3 etc?-You might not believe this but over the workshops 2-3 year history people have actually left comments asking how they can play the sets we are making! Just in case anyone is confused out there. The workshop is where Carsets are built not played! They aren’t in game yet. Just be patient guys.

-I have a brilliant idea. Ok everyone starts in the same cars for race one. Then the winners advance and the last two have their points multiplied by 197!Way too complicated! Not easy to code, not enough free time and most importantly not enough space on this page!


Decal Livery Competition Round 12 – Design your drink!

Decal News

Congratulations to WTF for making a classic competition.Winner: GrandPrixRunner-up: SamakafuzzyBronze medal: Tim Hawkins Tin medal: Sgrogan13 Plastic medal: SenamicDo-it-yourself cardboard medal: Pink Princess

One of the best ideas for the decal livery competition was the competition just gone. Users were asked to design a fantasy drinks company and create a livery for the drinks can! Here are some of the designs:


NASCAR Fantasy League Championship

NASCAR Fantasy

Half-way in the 2010 Fantasy Season was at Daytona Motor speedway today. The start of the race was delayed by rain for 1 and a half hours but they finally got going for another amazing race at Daytona. This was the last race here before it gets resurfaced for next years Daytona 500.

Qualifying was washed out which put everyone on a level playing field. Everyone was very much even on points but i1 Racing came out on pole for the Coke Zero 400. Squadra Pheonix qualified 2nd while Krys TOFF was a close 3rd.

1st: i1 Racing 2nd: Squadra Pheonix3rd: Krys TOFF

The race once again delivered an amazing race. The 'big one' happened near the end of the race which really took out alot of the main championship contenders. i1 Racing was involved which ruined his hopes of a good race and also took out Squadra Pheonix who was looking for a top 5. The team that did make it through the 'big one' was Krys TOFF, who took out the Coke Zero 400!. AMM came 2nd with The Rooster Inc. in a close 3rd.

1st: Krys TOFF 2nd: AMM 3rd: The Rooster Inc.

Half way in the championship and i1 Racing still leads the field but the gap has closed to 227 points back to Krys TOFF who jumped Knight Rider Motorsports for 2nd after his win at Daytona today. Outside of the chase, Commodore Motorsport jumped Squadra Pheonix for 10th and SW Motorsports North America jumped Blackhawk Racing for 13th.


The Robsworkshop tutorialsEver wondered how to make professional liveries to upload in game? Or wanted to learn to make cars like Pieczar? Or even want to find something to do. Then the tutorial section on the workshop could be your answer. Take a look around and improve your skills.

The Robsworkshop Livery CompetitionThe largest Batracer livery competition in the entire world. No other livery competitions come close to the size of ours. Designers have the possibility to enter multiple entries either on their own or as part of a registered team. The competition is followed fully with full results and championships for both individuals and teams.

The Robsworkshop Template CompetitionThe largest and original template competition on the internet. With many entries each round from people with different skill levels its the best way to practise the art of template making.

Batracer UnlimitedA extremely large Batracer community and fantastic clan base.

Batracer Unlimited CompetitionsThe Batracer Unlimited community also have a selection of competitions. A very successful livery competition and a fast growing template competition. Many Workshop members came from here and are still active making some fantastic work.

To advertise on this page PM me in game or contact me at the Workshop.

Its a great place to advertise!!! I’m sure a few of you would like to advertise.

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With Mariusz Pilarek (Pieczar)

Interview

Timo kindly came up with a few questions and had a quick chat with the talented Pieczar. The genius behind some of the games best carsets.

-We of course know you all as Pieczar In game .Can you tell us a bit about yourself? My real name is Mariusz Pilarek. I'm 28 years old now, living in Poland, Czestochowa and I'm slowly finishing my Phd from computer science (hope to finish it in about one year time). I play BAT since December 2006, about one year later I've started to make graphics and carsets for the game.

-You make really crazy graphics. How long did it take to get where you are at the moment and what programs do you use? About 3 years. First there were simple liveries, then I've started to play around with more difficult things, like templates. I remember my first template with shading was a famous polish car - Fiat 126P, called in my country the "Maluch". It's still somewhere on Matts workshop! My first big work was update of the Champcar set. And then there came other sets - all the F1's and Pre-War GP. As for the programs I use only GIMP.

-Do you feel you still have a growing margin? I think yes. I'm always trying to improve. My last work - 2008 Williams F1 is a big improvement even in comparison with cars from F1 2010, not to mention some earlier works. It was my first such a big car (over 1000px), I played a bit with highlights(tried to give it more shiny effect) and in my opinion this is my best work so far. My next Carset will be done this way Wink.

-Lately you don't seem very active. Is there a reason for? Like I said I'm finishing my Phd and I give most of my time for it now. But don't worry for F1 2011 for sure I will find it!

-Whats your vision on Robs Workshop? Do you think there are things that could be improved? I think it fulfils its role. There are more and more people working on many sets, graphic skills of many people have improveddrastically over last 2 years and I can't find anything that could be improved. Well, maybe we only need Jules here!

-How do you see the future of Batracer and its community? Difficult to say. It was going quite well before the Ferrari affair, although carsets could have been released a bit quicker.Now everything has slow down, but I hope Jules will find more time to work on BAT as soon as he will finish his mystery "game".

-Do you think new carsets will be added soon? I hope so! I know that SuperGT is coming soon, maybe some other sets that are easier to code. For more complicated sets we will have to wait for a while unfortunately. My Pre-War GP set was done one year ago, but now it looks like it won't be in the game for another year at least. Anyway I haven't abandoned it, in free time I'm planning to refresh the graphics there!

Thanks Mariuz for this very interesting interview!


With Mariusz Pilarek

Interview

Samples of Mariusz’s work. (Not suitable people with heart conditions.)


With Timo Mabbutt

Interview

I had a quick chat with one of the big players on the forum.

-You have been a member of the workshop for a while now, tell us a bit about yourself. Yeah it seems I am one of the main members atm. My names Timo, I am Dutch and just love graphics. When I started playing Batracer I got intrigued by colouring the cars and that got me started. My skills got a lot better in no time thanks toassistance via msn by Oz and Rob. And now I'm giving assistance myself and make bombass stuff.

-You are a main player at the workshop. One of the main moderators. How have you become such an influential force on the workshop?I dunno...I think as one of the older members I got this position somehow...I also trust Rob blind and I think he does the same with me. Its mainly earning respect from everyone around you and all other stuff follows.

- You along with Matt Simons use Photoshop. Meaning you face different challenges to other users. Is it harder being a Photoshopper? I agree its different then using gimp but both programs got basically the same abilities. Some stuff is more easy , some stuf f is harder. The later version of gimp are pretty close matched with Photoshop quality. Also Ps costs a lot of money while gimpis completely free so the choice is kind of obvious.

-You are the mastermind behind DRM how is it going?Ah, I found out its not that easy as I expected...this Batracer Carset builder...The drm set hides more then 40 cars spread over two divisions with a massive 80+engines. Also, this is a dead set, so data searching is hard. But overall its heading in the right direction. I think its about 50% done. I must say its way to much work for a normal human being. But I'm not normal so all will be fine

-What sets are you looking forward to most?Of course my own set. But next to that I think Nascar would be number 1. I think the Batracer engine really suits oval racing. but somehow the damn rules of Nascar are way to complicated. That's why it has been setback. I hope at least all the sets that are now approx 20% done would get one day in the game... but I guess that will be idle hope.

-You thought about ever making another set along side DRM? I'm trying to do that..or tried at least. But at the moment DRM or 70s German tourers set takes up most of my time as it is so specific. And I somehow need a bit of holiday..Something you never seem to get on Batracer. People also seem to forget how many people that come and ask for help about liveries or sets . If you see how much times this takes, together wit real life and then making graphs , preparing data for new sets , discussing everything, trying not to forget anything. Its really exhausting... I rather love to see more people join and help a hand on the not done sets.

-The workshop is a busy place, do you reckon it serves it purpose? It serves yeah, but it could be a better place if there where more passionate guys. Its hard to keep people motivated , certainly for sets that take three years to make.

-Any final words?I hope that Robsworkshop keeps on evolving together with the ever so nice game Batracer. I hope Jules , Matt , Rob , Phil and many others will find the courage to continue producing ideas to keep it exciting and fun. And I wish the Batracer community good luck and happy racing!

Thanks Timo.


With Timo Mabbutt

Interview

Samples of Timo’s work.


Montage of workA collection of some of the latest work on the forum.

16

Hey whys there a barcode?!

Robs Workshop Carset Newsletter July edition 2010

Visit the workshopwww.robsworkshop.co.cc

www.robsworkshop.batracer.comwww.phpbbserver.com/robsworkshop

Created by: Rob Baker, Timo Mabbutt, Jake Blackhall and Philip Chandler

Suggestions to Rob Baker

Complaints to Philip Chandler

Always wear a condom

Carset Newsletter July

Documents

carset work

carset newsinterviews

carset developmentand

carset newssince

issue drm

thanks matt

months edition

years batracer