Packages for Racer, a free car simulator in AUR

PhotonX · 2014-09-26 20:00:26

Hello everybody,

I have just uploaded packages for Racer, a free car simulator into the AUR. Racer itself comes with only one car and one track but there are plenty of cars and tracks available for download on the net. As of now I created a bunch of packages for some Racer cars and will add more car and track packages in the future. Below is a little list of possible FAQ. Scroll down for the AUR links.

Is it worth trying? How does it look like?

Yes! Have a look here for some eye candy: http://www.racer.nl/gallery.htm As for the physics, the simulation seems to be extremely realistic to me (if the opinion of somebody who never used any other transportation than a bike matters ).

Under which license is Racer released?

Racer is free as in free beer but not as in free speech. The license is proprietary but explicitly permits packaging for Linux distros. For more information, see here: http://www.racer.nl/legal.htm In fact, the Linux version has been abandoned a while ago and so its AUR package has been deleted. This package runs the Windows version of Racer through Wine. However, since Racer uses OpenGL, it runs very well.

Under which license are the additional car models and tracks for Racer released?

There are many car models and tracks for Racer on the net and usually their license is unclear. Many of them are illegal conversions from commercial games, others are made from scratch but not permitted for distribution by their creators. However, for all cars and tracks which are present in the AUR I have got permission for distribution from their respective authors. If you are interested in modifying some of the additional content, please contact the authors. Usually contact information can be found in a README file in /opt/racer-cg/data/cars/CAR or /opt/racer-nocg/data/cars/CAR (where CAR is the name of the car model) for cars and /opt/racer-cg/data/tracks/TRACK or /opt/racer-nocg/data/tracks/TRACK (where TRACK is the name of the track, well, one could have guessed it) for tracks. Another possibility to find contact information is to have a look at the website linked in the corresponding AUR package page.

What are the hardware requirements?

There are two packages: racer-cg and racer-nocg. racer-cg makes use of advanced OpenGL features and works only with proprietary AMD and Nvidia drivers. racer-nocg uses only basic OpenGL features and works with all video cards and drivers I could test so far.

I cannot find Racer in my application menu, how can I start it?

I couldn't find a proper icon for Racer and therefore didn't include a .desktop file into the packages yet, please create a starter yourself or start it from the terminal with racer-cg or racer-nocg. If anybody finds an appropriate icon for Racer, please let me know!

The sound is crackling, what can I do?

Use this fix: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Wi … PulseAudio

I downloaded a car/track which is not available through the AUR and it has graphical glitches, what is the reason?

Probably the car/track is not compatible with the Racer version in the AUR. Racer has been developed for over a decade and compatibility breaks happened many times so much of the content available on the net is not compatible with the current Racer versions. If in doubt, ask in this thread.

I try to use Racer with my keyboard and cannot control the car, why is the steering so bad? Did I downloaded the huge files for nothing?

Racer is a simulator and has (almost) no driving aids. It is best used with a steering wheel. If you have no steering wheel, try to switch to mouse control, it is unusual in the beginning but gives much better results than the keyboard after some practice. You can turn on driving aids with the F5 button but this most probably won't make Racer usable with a keyboard.

Are there some controls not listed in the "Controls" settings?

Yes!

Number keys 1 - 0 switch between the different camera views.
Numpad keys move and rotate the camera (try all Numpad keys from 1 to 9!).
F1 switches between different info screen views.
F2 starts replay mode.
F3 switches racing line visibility on and off.
F4 switches rear-vision mirror on and off.
F5 switches driving aids on and off.
F6 switches map on and off.
F9 switches console on in help mode.
Shift+~ switches console on in command mode (basically ~ is the key left from the 1 number key and can have a different symbol depending on your keyboard layout).

In the console you have a variety of commands controlling time of day, weather, etc. Here is an overview: http://www.racer.nl/reference/scripting.htm

Some cars have additional features like indicators or windscreen wipers. Those are usually put onto following keys:
Q switches left indicator on and off.
E switches right indicator on and off.
T switches both indicators on and off (hazard light).
W switches wipers on and off.
L switches lights on and off.
K switches additional front lights on and off.

Why are the AI cars in the Quick Race so slow?

Racer is a simulator rather than a racing game so its AI sucks awfully. However, it is possible to teach the AI by recording the own laps. To be honest I didn't figure out how to do so, so for now I recommend to use the Free Driving option or the Multiplayer.

Does the Multiplayer actually work?

The central server seems to be down, so the Multiplayer lobby doesn't work. However the peer to peer games work! For information on how to use multiplayer look here: http://www.racer.nl/tutorial/howto_multiplayer.htm Don't forget to tweak ~/.racer-cg/server.ini or ~/.racer-nocg/server.ini (i.e. set the allowed cars and the track).

I have a question not listed here or experience a bug not mentioned in this FAQ, what shall I do?

Reply to this thread. If nobody can help here, check out the official Racer page http://www.racer.nl and the semi-official forums at http://www.racedepartment.com/forums/racer.117/

Now, where can I grab it?

If you want to use the CG version (only for proprietary drivers): https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/racer-cg/
If you want to use the Non-CG version (for all kinds of hardware): https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/racer-nocg/
Additional cars (meta package for all cars available through the AUR), for the CG version: https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/racer-cg-cars/
Additional cars (meta package for all cars available through the AUR), for the Non-CG version: https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/racer-nocg-cars/
Additional tracks (meta package for all tracks available through the AUR): not available yet.

Lone_Wolf · 2014-09-27 12:00:00

Looks interesting, photonX .

according to nvidia gc toolkit, cg development stopped with version 3.1 from april feb 2012 .

Going forward, we recommend new development with GLSL, or HLSL for Windows applications, rather than Cg.

Maybe racer-nocg will in time become better then racer-cg ?

PhotonX · 2014-09-27 12:52:26

As far as I know, the non-CG version is not being developed (at least in terms of graphics), it is the latest version before the switch to CG (which was in March 2010) and hasn't been developed since then. But maybe the the non-CG version will get some love if CG will break apart in terms of compatibility.

Arch Linux

#1 2014-09-26 20:00:26

Packages for Racer, a free car simulator in AUR

#2 2014-09-27 12:00:00

Re: Packages for Racer, a free car simulator in AUR

#3 2014-09-27 12:52:26

Re: Packages for Racer, a free car simulator in AUR

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