... just out of curiosity, can you use this to do full maps of the default Outrun tracks? I'd kinda like to see if they make any sense at all.
Yes you can. Just import any of the existing OutRun tracks and zoom out. They don't make sense from a realworld point of view... a lot of the tracks loop back over themselves. Here's Coconut Beach:
Heh, I've always had that suspicion. It's so cool to finally be able to see these nonsensical maps. Dude, this is some (more) really awesome work. You know, it's a good thing that SEGA hasn't re-released the original OutRun for this last console generation, because that means there might be a chance that they'll notice your work and make something official out of it (OutRun 3D Classics with a track editor like Excitebike? Count me in!).
That'd mean they have to fix nonsensical maps. that just wouldn't happen today. 20 years ago, yes, today, no, you'd just not be able to edit existing tracks, and they'd be saved in a different format to discourage hackers, taking twice as long to implement as letting you dick with nonsensical track layouts.
I knew it! Thanks. Does this app work for other Outrun-clone games, like Hang-On and Super Hang-on? I like the latter way more than Outrun...
It would be interesting to see what it looked like if every track was stuck end-to-end. See if in reality you just drive that Ferrari around in circles or whether it does vaguely look like the "official" map(s).
Hah, I wondered what a 16-bit driving game layout editor would look like. Now I know!! Nice work by the way! Glad to see other games getting some love.
It would be interesting to see the original tools AM2 used. There are a lot of errors in the data tables in OutRun which makes me wonder how manual some of the processes were they used for generating them and the data entry. The path overlapping could easily be solved in the editor if you wanted it to be. (Sliding window showing current track segment / misrepresent the curves in the 2D view). SEGA don't seem too interested in reissuing OutRun at the moment though. Maybe Ferrari licensing issues?
Ah, damn, that's true. I keep forgetting they even stopped selling OutRun Online Arcade. They could always go the Shenmue way and use the almost-Testarossa car, but... yeah. =\
