Aloha

I'm leaving soon to Oahu, Hawaii for a couple of weeks. A good opportunity to study sunset and ocean, far from the european winter.
To help you endure waiting for version 0.30, I've uploaded a basic downscaled map of Oahu on the repository :-)

Aloha

New repository

Thomas has made a nice and speedy repository for Rigs of Rods. Thanks Thomas! :-)
I also got it a nice address: http://repository.rigsofrods.com/
I will post all new releases on this repository (but I will continue to post to the "classic" download page in case of problems).
There may be some downtime and bugs, as Thomas is tuning his site.

I also updated the Linux pack, which includes now its zzip library and has an updated README.

Cheers!

Linux release candidate

The first public Linux release candidate is ready.
You can get it from this link (30MB).
It is highly probable that it will not work as-is on 90% of linux installs. I release it anyway, so it can be tested and I can get some feedback from linux hackers!
So expect system fiddling and frustration before playing!

The main issue is that it is compiled with a GCC 4.1.1 compiler, and there are many incompatible C++ ABI out there. So it will probably work on a gcc 4.1.1 system, and break on a gcc 3.4 or 3.6 system. I don't know if there is an easy fix to that. Be aware that upgrading your gcc may break badly your system if not done correctly, so do it at your own risk.
Also, if you see the config box, but the game crashes, check the sanity of your GLX system first (test with another GLX program) because it breaks easily. It works with NVidia drivers, but I have not tested the ATI ones.
Read the README.LINUX file for more important informations.

Good luck, and post your success/problems as comments to this post (and mention which system you run (distribution and compiler version).

Pricorde

Second patch

A second patch, called 0.29b has been released for version 0.29.
It solves the bugs that appeared with patch 0.29a (manual clutch problems and sound bugs).
But there is more! Patch 0.29b adds also enhancements:

• An accurate ground contact: no more strange behaviour on steep cliffs, and more life-like slidings, drifting, wheel lock-ups.
• An updated sound library, that should give better hardware mode sound, and less program crashes.
• Better airplane maniability, I underestimated the control surface authority (also, if you configure a joystick axis to the rudder, the front wheel turns with the rudder, instead of the ailerons).
• Performance boost for water effects, expecially for the Reflection+Refraction mode.
• More informative error messages in Ogre.log when RoR fails to parse a truck file.
  

As for previous patch, if you had previously downloaded 0.29, get the patch, or if you are new to Rigs of Rods, there is a patched 0.29b full download available at the download page.

Enjoy!

Stencil shadow patch

The cause of the slow stencil shadow mode (a change of Ogre's shadowing strategy) has been found and the bug has been fixed. I got the stencil shadow framerate jump from 26 to 40fps with this fix!

As promised the patch is available (139kb). The full download has also been updated with this patch and is labelled RoR-0.29a (check it in the download page).

Thanks to the Ogre team for their quick and efficient cooperation.

Also, thanks to Thomas financial and technical contribution, the linux version is on its way but we ran into unexpected incompatibility problems between linux distributions. Thomas and me are looking into it.

Have a good drive!