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Sandbox Tutorial
This is a tutorial for basic track construction.
PART 1: BASIC CONSTRUCTION.
I'm still in the learning process of building tracks. What I've learned so far in in this tutorial. I going to show you how to build a one mile oval. I'm going to make the straights at 5 degrees banking and the turns at 15 degrees. I going to go thru the process step by step. This is a long and time consuming process. If you are looking to just throw something together, then this is not for you.
Let's jump right in and get started. Before we do. Let's talk about some of the programs we will be using other than Sandbox.
Here are a list of programs and the place to find them.
There are three major programs I use to build tracks.
1. Sandbox
2. Mip explorer
3. WinMip 2.
They can all be found at http://theuspits.com/sims/index.html. Under Nascar Racing 4/2002/2003 click on editing and they are all right there. You will also need a paint program. Paint Shop Pro or Photoshop will do your choose.
Also to save you the trouble of looking for files. I've created a zip file of all the files to be used in this tutorial. You don't have to use these files, you could use whatever files you want.
Please Note: For some reason every time I upload the zip file to my web site the host keeps deleting it. so if you want the files send me an e-mail and I'll send them to you.
e-mail It's in ZIP format and is 2.16K in size.
I seem to do things a lot different then in other tutorials. You will find yourself saying "why the hell is he doing it this way". In the long run it will be better for you.
Let's build.
STAGE 1: WORKSPACE
As I'm sure you know by now, we need our workspace set up. To do this we need to create some folders. In a place that's comfortable for you (I'm going to place my folders in the Sandbox folder). Create a folder called (My_tracks), under that folder create a folder and call it shared. Then one and name it your track name. For lack of a better name I'm going to call my track, American. Inside the American folder create another folder and call it (trackmat). After all that's done you basic tree should look like this.
Now copy a copy of your of your shared data file (located in you tracks folder under shared) into your shared folder and then unpack it. I like to use the program WinMip 2. It works really well. Open WinMip 2, and click extra and unpack. Find the shared.dat file and unpack it.
After the unpacking, move all the files for the unpack folder into the shared folder and then delete the folder unpack. If you are using the files That I selected, put them into the trackmat folder you created. Now on to building our track.
STAGE 2: BASIC LAYOUT
It's now time to get our hands dirty. First open up sandbox. Right click in the center of the screen. It will look like this.
After the right click, click on create a straight.
After you have you straight down we want to save it now. Click file and save as. Name it the name of you track. Make sure you save it to the folder you created earlier. Now reopen it. Click file then new, then click file again and then open. Go to you track folder and select you track.
Once the track opens, your should have the little straight you just created. Now outside the track, right click and then select unlock all geometry.
Let's layout the track. You need to get the layout. Some people like to use meters, but I prefer to use feet. I can better judge things that way. To change over to feet from meters. Click at the top on view and displayed units and select feet. For reference The top line is the inside of the track and the bottom is the outside of the track. The purple line is the main part of the track and the red lines are call x-sections. On the bottom red line pull it down one square. at the top line move it up three squares. so it looks like this.
Now we need to lay down all the x, f, w, sections to texture the track. There are going to be a lot of lines. First lets set the line for the outside of the track.
Lay down two f-sections, one inside the bottom red line and one inside the top red line, but don't let them touch.
Now by rule, NASCAR measures it's tracks for length 15 feet from the outside wall or outer edge of the track. No matter how wide the track is. The purple line in the middle is the measuring line. So right click on the section that we laid out and insert and f-section to the bottom side of the purple line and move 15 feet off. I guess it doesn't need to be perfect, but if you zoom in real close you could get it right.
Below that line we need to put two w-sections. Just place them for right now we'll position them later. Don't touch them with the f-section.
We are going to make our track 60 feet wide. So to the top of the purple line place another f-section 45 feet for it.
Just to the top of that line put another f-section about .50 feet from it. You may have to zoom in close to get it right.
Above your last f-section put another f-section 12 feet away. Then another .50 feet for it.
Above that line put two more w-sections. Again we'll place it in a minute.
For now that's all we need to start texturing. Here's a picture to show you what it should look like.
Now we need to texture. But first we need to save it. When you save your work always use save as and add or change the ending. I always add a number to the end, (ex. American, American1, American2, American3.) After three I go back to the first one. Sometimes Sandbox will crash in the middle of saving. If you do it this way and save often. You won't loose all you work.
To texture, start all the way down at the bottom and work up. On the bottom f-section, click on it and open the properties window. If you are using my selected files, everything you will need is already there, if not you will need to get some.
Instead of telling you everything. I going to show pictures of each and every properties window. Make sure you pay close attention to each part of the window. If you select view and draw underneath. you can see the textures as you make them.
The bottom line is going to be grass. Select it and set the properties to these settings.
Now move to the first w-section. This will be our outside fence. You can use these setting. Pay close attention to the wall properties. When texturing fences you really only need to texture the right and lefts (fence.mip). Top. near and far aren't really an issue.
Now go to the next w-section and select it. Use these settings. Use wall_01.mip for the left and right side, near and far, and walltop_01.mip for the top.
For the next f-section we put down the asphalt. Use these setting and asphalt_dark.mip.
Now to the next line we add our paint line. If you want it to be yellow use paint3.mip or if you want it to be white use paint.mip. Use these settings.
The next line is for the apron of the track. Use aphalt.mip and these settings.
The next area is for more paint. you could use the same setting as before or you could use the other color. If you used yellow before, use white now or vice versa. Or use the same color both times. It's up to you. I used these settings.
Almost home. The next line is for more grass. You could use the same as before, but I like to keep things different. I used grass2.mip this time. Some settings changed.
Two more to go. The inside wall is next. use the same settings as the outside wall except change the visual Size height from 1.22 to 1.00. Like so.
Last but not least, the inside fence. Use these settings, but use fenceinf.mip.
Now lets get our walls lined up. more the outside wall in to touch the track. don't touch blue line to green line Just the outer edge of the wall touching the track. Then pull the fence right up next to it. Like so.
The inside fence and wall you can move out close to the edge of the inside. You don't have to touch these if you don't want to. Now on the outside of the wall pull an x-section right next to it. this will be used for the banking. If it shows that you can't add the x-section, make sure you right click and hit unlock all geometry.
We now need to add two more. One to the top of the inside track and one at the top of the apron. In the picture I show you where to put them but you want to move them in to overlap the green line.
Now click view at the top and click camera view, hit the space key to view you track.
Now save and remember to click save as and add the number. That's it for the basic section. Next we will go through and lay out the whole track.
Click here to continue to the next part.
