Racing, who doesn't like racing (or at least the thought of racing)? Yet, that's just not something the average guy and girl gets to do very often. So what's the next best thing? Racing Sim's of course! And what makes it best++? Having the source to a racing sim!

Welcome to TORCS

This is the official site of TORCS, The Open Racing Car Simulator. TORCS is a highly portable multi platform car racing simulation. It is used as ordinary car racing game, as AI racing game and as research platform. It runs on Linux (all architectures, 32 and 64 bit, little and big endian), FreeBSD, OpenSolaris, MacOSX and Windows (32 and 64 bit). The source code of TORCS is licensed under the GPL ("Open Source"). You find more information about the project in the menu bar on the left. If you need help have a look at the FAQ first, I added a new Researchers section. You can contact us on the torcs-users mailing list (you need to subscribe to use it because of spam).

There are various sites on the Internet dedicated to TORCS with additional content (cars, tracks, documentation, patches, etc.), you can find them in the "Related Sites" section in the menu on the left. If you are interested in racing visit the sites listed in the Racing section.

If you need new tracks use the online track generator.

About TORCS

..

TORCS features more than 50 different cars, more than 20 tracks, and 50 opponents to race against. Your can steer with a joystick or steering wheel, if the device is supported by your platform. It is also possible to drive with the mouse or the keyboard. Graphic features lighting, smoke, skidmarks and glowing brake disks. The simulation features a simple damage model, collisions, tire and wheel properties (springs, dampers, stiffness, ...), aerodynamics (ground effect, spoilers, ...) and much more. The gameplay allows different types of races from the simple practice session up to the championship. Enjoy racing against your friends in the split screen mode with up to four human players.

TORCS was initially written by Eric Espié and Christophe Guionneau, substantial parts have been added by other contributors (have a look into the "Credits" section for details). The TORCS source code is licensed under the terms of the GNU General Public License (GPL), most of the artwork is licensed under the Free Art License, have a look into the packages for details about copyright holders and the licensing.

The next big development goal is an online racing mode.

TORCS 1.3.3 Download & Installation

Binary Installer Package For Windows

• Download and run torcs_1.3.3_setup.exe. It requires at least an i686 compatible CPU to run.

Sure you can get the binaries and just play the game, but I did mention source?

For Windows From "all-in-one" Source Package

1. Requires VS 6.0 (tested with sp6) or VS 2008 (tested with sp1).
2. Download the source package torcs-1.3.3.tar.bz2.
3. Unpack the package with "tar xfvj torcs-1.3.3.tar.bz2" or any application you like, be careful to select a path without whitespaces and other special characters.
4. Hint: You can build a release and a debug version side by side, the required step for the debug version is showed in brackets "()".
5. Open a command prompt and cd into the torcs-1.3.3 directory.
6. Run setup_win32.bat (setup_win32_debug.bat).
7. Run setup_win32-data-from-CVS.bat (setup_win32-data-from-CVS_debug.bat).
8. Open the file TORCS.dsw with VS 6.0 or the TORCS.sln with VS 2008.
9. Select the TORCS project and the win32-Release (win32-Debug) version.
10. Compile the project (0 warnings).
11. cd into the "runtime" ("runtimed") directory.
12. Run "wtorcs.exe".

I grabbed the source (note, it's a 300+ MB download and 1.2+ GB uncompressed) and followed the above instructions. Now VS 2010 is not mentioned, but that worked for me with only one very minor tweak.

I was getting an error compiling the Learning.dll.

To fix this all I had to do was comment out the message export in the learning.def

Once I did that (make_message was previously commented) everything compiled with no warnings or errors.

Here's a snap of the Solution;

As you can see, both in the solution and the site, this is not some little, simple, project but a very mature and complex project.

What, you want more? Well what if I was to tell you that you can also code your own robot/AI drivers?

4.4.2 Can I develop a robot using Windows?

Yes, you can. Here is a rough guide:

• Download the TORCS source and manage to compile and run it.
• Download e. g. the bt robot package, it is a little enhanced version of the robot developed in the tutorial, so there is good documentation available to understand it.
• Copy the sources into a new directory, e. g. when you choose the name "myrobot" create a directory /src/drivers/myrobot.
• Copy all the bt files into the myrobot directory.
• Now rename all "bt*" files into "myrobot*".
• Edit myrobot.def and also change all bt strings into myrobot.
• The same for myrobot.dsp, .xml, perhaps more, you get the idea.
• Change the "bt" module entry point in myrobot.cpp to "myrobot", also make the strings for the robots names and description match with those in myrobot.xml.
• Add the myrobot project to TORCS, open the project with vc++ and try to compile it.
• If you want to deploy the files you have to do that manually, create a directory in "runtime" where the other robots are and copy the required files there (myrobot.dll, .xml, setup subdirectories etc.).
• Now TORCS should pick up your robot.

There's more information and tutorials on the wiki too...

If gaming, sims, racing, AI, cars or c++ are your thing, or your just looking for something different to do, TORCS' rev'ing engine might be music to your ears...

Marvin's Arena

Marvin's Arena is a free and entertaining programming game. The game is designed to easily learn programming in any .NET compatible language. It is suited for new programmers to gain experience with the .NET languages and development tools as well as for experienced programmers to enhance efficient development.

You create a robot and let it fight against one or more opponents in a tournament. The first robot can be written in only a few minutes but complex robots might take some time for perfection. More experienced developers can even create robots working in a team to fight other teams.

The robots can move, scan for opponents and fire bullets and rockets to survive in the battle!

About Marvin's Arena

• Getting Started - What is Marvin's Arena and what can you do with it
• Features - Currently available features
• System Requirements - System requirements
• About - Further information about the author and tools

Downloading and Installing

• Installing Visual Studio - Install Visual Studio
• Downloading and Installing Marvin's Arena - Install Marvin's Arena and Visual Studio Starter Kit
• Setting Up Your Robot - Create your first robot project
• Share - Share your robot with other developers

Creating Robots

• Tutorials - Different level tutorials
• FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions
• Code Snippets - Useful and less useful code snippets

Tournament

• Ladder - Ranking of the best robots

Development

• Roadmap - Release and feature plan
• Framework Architecture - Documentation of the architecture of Marvin's Arena

Marvin's Arena (CodePlex)

This is the source code of the engine and backend if you just want to create robots please visit the project website!

Current Features
* Battle Manager to create a tournament
* 3D Battle Engine that simulates the tournament
* Sandbox to run every robot in a secured environment with maximum security assigned
* Single and Team tournaments with full tournament brackets
* Configurable game rules
* XML tournament result
* Map Editor
* Visual Studio integration and Code Editor

Note, if you want to run the engine via the source (i.e. from the CodePlex source code), take a quick read of the Documentation. Also when I grabbed the latest check-in, there was a couple things I had to tweak to get it to compile and run.

a) Change the Start-Up project to MarvinsArina

b) Grab a copy of of the ScintillaNet.dll from \Src\Main_VB\MarvinsArena\ and copy it to \Src\Main\MarvinsArena\

c) Make sure the 2DBattleEngine and 3DBattleEngine projects build.

At this point, all was well for me and I was up and running.

Yep, you get this cool app, get to build bots that can kill each other and you get the source for everything too!

Here’s a few more links you might find interesting:

• Building Battling Bots with DumbBots.Net

This project is still in an Alpha state, but that's actually good, since it means that if you want to help them out on it, you can get in closer to the ground floor...

I said, "help out?" Yep, they are actively looking for your help...

We are seeking contributors in programming, art, sound, web design, taking YouTube videos and more.

These roles on the 0 A.D. development team are great if you want to brush up on your skills and update your portfolio, if you're seeking a project for school with real-life applications, or if you care about the cause of free culture and software and are willing to work pro bono with a group of dedicated volunteers from all over the world.

Interested? Please register on our forums and start a new topic introducing yourself in the applications and contributions forum following these instructions.

What kind of project are we talking about?

0 A.D.

• Free and Open Source Software
• Cross-platform
• Historically based
• 6 unique civilizations
• Provinces and territories
• Realistic maps/terrain
• Realistic naval warfare
• Comprehensive editor
• Several multiplayer modes

Overview

0 A.D. (pronounced "zero ey-dee") is a free, open-source, cross-platform real-time strategy (RTS) game of ancient warfare. In short, it is a historically-based war/economy game that allows players to relive or rewrite the history of Western civilizations, focusing on the years between 500 B.C. and 500 A.D. The project is highly ambitious, involving state-of-the-art 3D graphics, detailed artwork, sound, and a flexible and powerful custom-built game engine.

The game has been in development by Wildfire Games (WFG), a group of volunteer, hobbyist game developers, since 2001. The code and data are available under the GPL license, and the art, sound and documentation are available under CC-BY-SA. In short, we consider 0 A.D. an an educational celebration of game development and ancient history.

Top features - Technical

• The engine core is written in C++ for performance, but the scripting language, javascript, is what we try to write as much in as possible.
• Rendering: OpenGL with shaders
• Libraries used: OpenAL, OpenGL, Boost, Crypto++, CxxTest, DevIL, SDL, SpiderMonkey, Vorbis, wxWidgets, Xerces
• Operating Systems:
  • Windows 2000, XP, 2003, XP64, Vista
  • Linux
  • Mac OS X
• System Requirements: 1 GHz CPU, modern graphics card (GeForce 3 at minimum), 512 MB RAM
• Tools used: Visual Studio, g++, CppDoc, COLLADA, Debugging and Profiling tools included

Graphics

• OpenGL-based rendering engine with shaders
• Hierarchal skeletal animation and deformation system based on COLLADA
• Fancy animated water with refraction, reflection
• Realistic shadows
• Particle effects
• Environmental lighting effects (time of day, sunset)
• Flexible terrain renderer that uses alpha maps to seamlessly blend terrain

Gameplay

• Unique civilizations: In 0 A.D. each civilization will be unique in its appearance, units, structures, and technology trees.
• Citizen soldiers: There will be no standard villager unit. Instead, regular infantry and cavalry have not only military capabilities, but also economic, making them substantially more versatile than in typical RTS games.
• Unit auto-upgrading: Citizen Soldiers will gain experience and automatically gain promotions. With each rank, they become stronger, and don a unique appearance but also get gradually worse at civilian tasks.
• Units on structures and ships: Gone are the days of units disappearing into buildings and transport ships. Some garrisoned units will be visible on the battlements of structures or the decks of ships, and capable of firing on opponents at range.
• Realistic naval warfare: No more tiny ships sinking other ships with arrows. Ship gameplay will include a variety of new features in RTS games, like much larger ship sizes, ship capture, sea rams, and a modular design that allows catapults to be stationed on the decks, and units to fire from the bows.
• Choices, choices, and more choices: Technology trees branch out in a pair-based hierarchy. For example, when you are given the option of techs 1A and 1B and you choose 1A to research, 1B is no longer available. Some of the techs that are higher up on the tech ladder will require that tech 1A is done, while others will require tech 1B. This adds a level of strategy and 'randomness' to picking your techs, as availability of higher level techs will depend on your choices earlier in the game. Similar choices are available with unit formations and battle tactics.
• Provinces and territories: In some game types, the map is subdivided into provinces that must be captured and annexed into a player's territory in order to reap their valuable resources and construct forward bases in these areas. If the host wishes, a player's starting province can also be surrounded by attrition borders to reduce early rushes.
• Real world map realism: Random maps are based upon geographical regions where the civilizations of the ancient world lived. These will be generated with biome specific-to-location features that replicate the look and feel of the world as it existed 2,000 years ago: flora, fauna and terrain.

Sounds like something that would be hard to compile, doesn't it? All those third party libraries, etc? And I mentioned something about Visual Studio?

0 AD Build Instructions

This page describes how to get the very latest unstable version of the code. Unless you want to actively follow and contribute to development, you probably want the latest relatively-stable release instead.

The current release of the game is aimed at developers and not at 'normal' users. As such, the following instructions assume a reasonable level of technical proficiency. If you encounter difficulties, please post on the forum.

General prerequisites ¶

You'll need:

• An adequately high-spec computer - several gigabytes of free disk space, preferably at least 1GB of RAM for compiling, a fast CPU unless you want to spend ages waiting for the compiler, etc. Modern graphics hardware is also recommended, though the game can run (slowly) on fairly old devices (GeForce 4, Intel 945GM, etc).
• Up-to-date system software (Windows service packs, graphics driver updates, etc).
• Some technical proficiency. We try to make the build process as smooth and painless as possible, but it's designed to be followed by programmers - if you just want to play the game, wait for a pre-packaged installer instead.

Windows ¶

Windows 7, Vista and XP are the main supported versions; 2000 should work too but is rarely tested. Visual C++ 2010 and 2008 are supported. Visual C++ 2005 may also work given a sufficiently modern Platform SDK. Only 32-bit builds are supported (though they can be compiled and run on 64-bit Windows). We have noticed occasional trouble with the free Express Editions; if possible, please consider acquiring the full version (e.g. via university programs). In particular, failures of the built-in self-test test_wdbg_sym.h seem to occur with VC2008 EE but not VC2008 nor VC2010 (c.f. #884).

Acquiring the code ¶

The game's code, data and build environment are stored on a Subversion server. The recommended way to get an up-to-date copy is with TortoiseSVN:

• Download and install TortoiseSVN. (Make sure you reboot when it asks you to.)
• Use TortoiseSVN to check out http://svn.wildfiregames.com/public/ps/trunk/. This may take a while, and will use around 1.2GB of disk space. If there are errors during the checkout, use TortoiseSVN's "update" to resume downloading.

The TortoiseSVN manual has information on checking out, as well as updating and creating patches.

(This is the read-only public SVN URL. If you have commit access, you need to use http://svn.wildfiregames.com/svn/ps/trunk/ instead.)

Setting up the build environment ¶

The game must be compiled with Microsoft Visual C++. If you already have Visual C++ 2005 or 2008 installed, make sure you have SP1 and then continue. Otherwise, you can get the free Express edition:

• Visual C++ 2010 Express Edition is recommended.
• Or download and install Visual C++ 2008 Express Edition.
• If you have the old VC++ 2005 Express, you need to install the separate Platform SDK (steps 1-3).

The Visual Studio project/solution files are automatically generated from the source files:

• Run build/workspaces/update-workspaces.bat.
• Open build/workspaces/vc2010/pyrogenesis.sln. (Use the vc2005 directory for VC++ 2005 or the vc2008 directory for VC++ 2008.)
• ...

So get the source from the SVN repository, run one batch file and launch the solution. Yep, it's really that easy.

Now the repository/source is huge (the installable version you can also download is 275MB, so you can image the size of source and assets... which is 3.16GB, which includes the post compile/build binaries) so it will take a while to grab it. But once you do, you should be able to build and run it in the debugger. (Well, at least I was...

Here's a WinDirStat snap of my tree, which is in a post build/compile state;

So you get this pretty awesome RTS, you get the source and you get everything to build it too.

Here's a snap of the Solution;

The code is smartly commented (i.e. intent is commented and not just the code re-worded)

If you've always wished you could work on a big game, you love the idea of helping out in build an RTS or just wonder what the source of one would look like, this project is looking for you...

View the trailer at the game's website: www.pearlharbor-game.com Attack on Pearl Harbor provides players a perspective on history’s greatest armed conflict by playing as either the USA or Japan.

The PC game will feature four solo campaigns as well as some multiplayer dogfight action with up to twelve players. The game is slated to come out in Q1 of 2007. It should look real pretty on Vista!