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Moody Non-Photo-Realistic Driving

An anonymous reader points out a project called Drivey, which he describes as "a dark and fascinating example of 2.xD [not quite 3d] graphical rendering. This tiny, free [as in beer] demo gives you an amazingly compelling driving experience. To quote the author, 'It was conceived as a driving simulator for old farts like myself, who are kind of nostalgic for the "old days" [ca. 1985] but are not so thick as to believe that the games from the 80s were actually in any way superior to the games we play today.' Even works fine under WINE!"

39 of 479 comments (clear)

  1. Trojan? by p0 · · Score: 3, Funny

    .exe? Is this an attempt to takeover the entire slashdot community? or... none of them for that matter? :S

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    This is my sig. There are thousands more, but this one is mine.
  2. Well, gee whiz by katana · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Hold on while I just go ahead and download an executable called Drivey through a link that was submitted by an anonymous author. What could possibly go wrong?

    1. Re:Well, gee whiz by OpCode42 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Exactly the same risks as downloading a tarball of sourcecode and compiling it. Oh, you read every line of source you download? Including the configure script, which may well contain a trojan? Ignore me then!

  3. MTV by N8F8 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Some clever hack needs to add a sountrack to this thing.

    --
    "God fights on the side with the best artillery." - Napoleon, Marshal of France - speaking truth to power
  4. Style by CleverNickedName · · Score: 5, Insightful

    here is a quick pic.

    Simple cell-shading done with style. This is what's missing from most games. Real style.

    If I wanted photo-realism, I'd get up from my PC and head out the front door. Games such as WoW, Rez, Killer 7 and Ico have shown that a little creativity in the design can go a long way. It can also be easy on the gpu.

    --


    Unfortunately, I am not Wil Wheaton
    1. Re:Style by badasscat · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Its a _RACING_ game.

      Its one of the very few genres were maximum realism really is wanted, because everybody known how it look to drive and have expectations how it should look like when driving, well, faster...


      You've obviously never played games like Burnout, Outrun, Daytona USA, Ridge Racer, Wipeout, F-Zero, or any of the other myriad of racing games where realism is most definitely not the goal...

      And to the "style" of this "demo". Well, i cant call it style, and i cant call it a demo. Its more like a short looping flash movie, and the "style" is using only one colour and making everything so dark you cant see there isnt anything too see.

      And from this, I can tell you've obviously never played any of the prior art listed on this page, such as Night Driver or Speed Freak.

      Racing games are not a genre that requires any more realism than any other genre. The point of a racing game is to have fun. There is no need for them to be realistic - there is only a need to make you feel like you are driving something.

      This guy does call this a "driving simulation", which implies realism, but even that's a misnomer. There's nothing about the word "simulation" that implies realistic visuals - the dictionary definition that applies in this case is "Representation of the operation or features of one process or system through the use of another: computer simulation of an in-flight emergency."

      And to further that example, modern commercial flight sims (you know, the ones that cost $2 million each) have less realistic graphics than commercially-available flight simulators available at your local GameStop. Because simulating the inner workings of something is not really about texture-mapping every single crack on the asphalt.

    2. Re:Style by Kinetix303 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      It's a 500k demo. Stop complaining.

      Please.

      It's just a fun little project. You're going to give yourself a heart attack trying to find fault.

  5. Drivey Crashes by The+Dread+Pirate+Rob · · Score: 3, Interesting

    After reading the web page and seeing there's not much in the way of collision detection built in just yet, I was expecting crashes.

    Problem is I get crashes before it even starts.

    It appears Drivey does not like my Dual Screens.

    It flashes some kind of grahics test across both monitors and then exits.

    Durn.

    --
    wut?
  6. Pretty good by jurt1235 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    The "action" goes smooth under wine, just had problems to find a way out of the demo again (used a root shell to kill wine, read manual before running the demo might help). Just to add a bit of light effects from the lightposts will make it really great.

    Nice project, now lets back to Gran Turismo and see what still needs to be done (-:

    --

    My wife's sketchblog Blob[p]: Gastrono-me
  7. Howto Make it a Screensaver in Windows by N8F8 · · Score: 5, Informative

    Rename the ".exe" to ".scr", right click on the file and select "Intall". You now have a Drivey screensaver;)

    --
    "God fights on the side with the best artillery." - Napoleon, Marshal of France - speaking truth to power
    1. Re:Howto Make it a Screensaver in Windows by sammy+baby · · Score: 4, Funny

      Thank you for reiterating reason number #432 that sysadmins go crazy trying to secure windows.

    2. Re:Howto Make it a Screensaver in Windows by De+Lemming · · Score: 4, Informative

      Rename the ".exe" to ".scr", right click on the file and select "Intall". You now have a Drivey screensaver;)

      You now have a screensaver which doesn't exit on mouse movements or key presses :-) (You can exit Drivey by pressing ESC).

      Also, a standard .src executable should normally accept the command line arguments /c (configuration mode), /p (preview mode) and /s (full screen mode).

      Renaming .exe to .src works for any Windows executable, but this doesn't magically give you standard screensaver behaviour.

    3. Re:Howto Make it a Screensaver in Windows by doconnor · · Score: 4, Funny

      You now have a screensaver which doesn't exit on mouse movements or key presses :-) (You can exit Drivey by pressing ESC).

      Not only is it a cool screen saver, it's secure too.

  8. tried it by Keruo · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I just tried the game and it looks pretty amazing considering the lo-fi approach.

    Most games overdo stuff with graphics when they could focus on content.

    Now all we need is some cows, logs, perhaps some water, dual player, 2x tac2 and rear view of a mockup car with lotus logo.

    --
    There are no atheists when recovering from tape backup.
  9. 2.5D graphics rendering by HoneyBunchesOfGoats · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Towards the bottom of the page, the author says this about a screenshot:

    Interesting thing here is the big black blob in the top left, which is the bottom end of a light pole. Why is it floating in the air? Because extruded objects can't currently be drawn correctly unless one end is visible to the observer. The reason for this is remarkably interesting, specific to the weird 2-and-a-half-D rendering system, and pretty much impossible to explain to anyone without a strong background in both 2D and 3D graphics. *sigh* oh well, I find it interesting anyway.

    It sounds interesting to me... but I don't have a background in both 2D and 3D graphics. Would someone care to explain it?

    1. Re:2.5D graphics rendering by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

      If you have driven halfway through a lightpole so that you can't see the top or the bottom, where would you draw it? Where you last saw it? When would you stop drawing it?

      The problem is that it's trying to show 3 dimensions with only 2 dimensional objects. Here's another problem with a similar issue. Imagine a very flat wall. Take a large light source like the sun and bring it to a position above and behind the wall, now the wall face is dark and a long shadow is cast. Now move the light source to the front of the wall. The wall is lit up and no shadow is cast by the wall. Now slowly move the light source up directly over the edge of the wall. Get to the point just before a shadow would appear. Should the wall be lit? Should it be dark? Should half of it be lit?

    2. Re:2.5D graphics rendering by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      > Imagine a very flat wall.

      Ensuring that it's at least 25% flatter than your everyday, ordinary flat wall...

  10. it's only a demo but... by netean · · Score: 3, Interesting

    it has real style and is smooth. I'm píssed off with photo realism and píssed off at games that have great graphics but suck to play. I end up playing simpler games with crapper graphics to enjoy their better gameplay (Sensible soccer, pacman) spring to mind. Even though it's only a demo, ideas like this show what's missing in modern games too often... style.

  11. I found a rather obvious bug... by _Shorty-dammit · · Score: 5, Funny

    Dude's driving on the wrong side of the road.

    1. Re:I found a rather obvious bug... by lisaparratt · · Score: 5, Funny

      No, he's just driving on the right side of the Atlantic :P

  12. Bonus Code Fu Courtesy of Bill Gates by mikeophile · · Score: 5, Funny

    This is supposed to be the last software professionally written by Bill Gates.

    Even though probably no one much ever played this primitive bit of DOS/BASIC demo software [purportedly the last piece of professional software ever written by Bill Gates!]

    Good to see he ended on such a high note.

  13. Re:Anyone tried it yet? by Smidge204 · · Score: 4, Informative

    It's not really a game. Minimally interactive demo really...

    Arrow/WASD keys control steering and accel/brake, but the car drives itself to stay on the road so you really can't steer. 1-4 selects a road/scene, C adds 8 cars, K toggles palette rotation.

    With palette rotation this would almost make a good screensaver...
    =Smidge=

  14. Re:Anyone tried it yet? by spectrokid · · Score: 4, Funny

    hey, I'm at work and that never stopped me so far!

    --

    10 ?"Hello World" life was simple then

  15. Fatal error: by Ceriel+Nosforit · · Score: 4, Funny

    Fatal Error: Driving on the wrong side of the damn road.

    Frivolties aside, if realism isn't the goal, why stick to our boring terran transportation? I think the game would be really cool if some ideas were stolen^W^W^W inspiration was taken from Wipeout, letting some big air jumps enter the game. Why not take a little from Tribes aswell and add the jet boost-thing?
    Mix well and the result is a toe curling orgasm^W^W^W hit for sure.

    --
    All rites reversed 2010
  16. Waiting... by vurg · · Score: 4, Funny

    So when will the hot coffee mod come out?

  17. And dont forget to.. by skochak · · Score: 4, Informative
    Watch the screencast...

    http://intepid.com/2005-05-08/13.49/

    It is really good!

    --
    This sentence contradicts itself - no actually it doesn't.
  18. Correction and Note by BioCS.Nerd · · Score: 3, Informative

    For anyone else reading this and that is not clicking through, the parent is not referring to the demo in question, but rather a game written by Bill Gates and Neil Konzen to show off the capabilities of Basic and the IBM PC. Wikipedia entry (pops).

  19. why ? it works on Wine... by Gopal.V · · Score: 3, Informative

    Try running a virus on Wine ..

    You'll realize that all the "standard" offsets most viruses use for exploiting buffer overflows are almost always not valid in Wine.

    Also this has been featured on tucows.com .. this is indeed an excellent demo - I wonder if I can run it using libaa :)

  20. Way, way too unrealistic... by TintinX · · Score: 3, Funny

    I mean, come on. Pedestrian crossings on such a major road? I think not!

  21. Manual steering by 50m31sl4sh. · · Score: 3, Informative

    If you read help (F1), F5 toggles auto drive.
    For added bonus, hold CTRL to make things really fast and SHIFT to slow to a crawl.

    --
    Rediculous is ridiculous!
  22. Re:Bunch of different keyboard commands, too by period3 · · Score: 3, Informative

    Try hitting F1 so you don't have to do it at random...

  23. Re:it makes sense really by Hogwash+McFly · · Score: 4, Interesting

    drivers approach down each other's right-hand side, which makes a lot of sense considering how much of the population is right-handed.

    This page gives an interesting description on driving traditions.

    Basically, driving on the left comes from the need to protect yourself with your sword arm from oncoming attackers, and driving on the right comes from needing to whip a train of horses with your right hand while riding on the left-rear horse (this was before seats, and if you're on the left hand horse, it's easier to pass people on the right). So both systems are rooted in the notion that most people are right handed, it's just that the use of the right hand for either reigns or swords determined the protocol chosen.

    --
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  24. Re:Uh, what? by justforaday · · Score: 3, Funny

    Hell, even Mitnick showed that the front door is usually easier to get through than the back door.

    Seeing as how he's spent time in federal prison, I'm just gonna hafta take his word for it... : p

    --
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  25. Re:Burnout ruled by Jaruzel · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Then you, my friend, are missing the point.

    Not all games/demos have to be at the burning edge of graphics.

    15 years on, and loads of people still play lemmings. The emulator scene for old 16 bit machines, and even old arcade machines is bigger than ever. All these people can't be wrong.

    All modern games have, is their graphics. Most of them don't even have enjoyable game-play. Graphics are not everything, calling a game with low-spec graphics, rubbish, is like saying Impressionists couldn't paint.

    -Jar.

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  26. Easter Eggs! by zipzap54 · · Score: 3, Informative
    So it's pretty inherintly obvious to find, but there are many different key commands to change the look and feel of the "game". Listed Below
    • Left, Right, Up, Down: Steer & Accelerate/Brake
    • A, D, W, S: Same as above, respectively
    • T: Toggle Info
    • G: Grey Scale
    • H: display random palette
    • K: palette cycle (Pretty cool)
    • C: adds Other Cars (8 at a time)
      Note: you can seriously slow down the game by hitting C a whole bunch of times.
    • N/M: Zoom in/out
    • F1: Shows all key functions on Screen
    • F2: Toggle WireFrame
    • F3: Toggle Dashboard
    • F4: Show Rear View
    • F5: Toggle Manual Control
    • F6: Toggle Sound
    • F7: Change Sky Gradient
    • F11: Toggle Full Screen
    Play around with it!
    --
    "All programmers are playwrights and all computers are lousy actors."
    1. Re:Easter Eggs! by zipzap54 · · Score: 3, Informative
      Almost Forgot.

      Num Keys 1-4 Change the Scenery.

      • 1: Sparce Road
      • 2: Tunnel
      • 3: City
      • 4: Industrial
      numbers 5-9 just change it back to "very sparce road". The game defaults to 4: Industrial
      --
      "All programmers are playwrights and all computers are lousy actors."
    2. Re:Easter Eggs! by Jacius · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Try this one: hold down B to brighten the palette. The blacks stay black, but the road lines, sky, and steering wheel highlights get brighter (and easier to see).

      If you hold it down for a while, it'll get to a stark black and white—very artsy :)

  27. Re:I cannae see shit, cap'n! by Mercuria · · Score: 5, Funny

    Now take this project and combine it with Google Maps and it could be very interesting...

    Congratulations, you've just invented the new "imagine a beowulf cluster of ..."

  28. Re:I cannae see shit, cap'n! by DanielNS84 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I say combine it with mapquest and drive those directions out before ever leaving the house...I'd pay for a service like that since I have the worst directional skills ever.