Next version 0.1.76 is finally ready, now to work on 0.1.77 (Patreon)

It’s been even longer than usual, but I believe this 0.1.76 version is quite an interesting upgrade: it greatly expands scripting capabilities. Now not only scriptable displays got a lot more functions to use, but cars can use scripts without displays moving objects around, changing material properties, creating lights and sounds and such.

For example, script can be used to animate additional axle, with raycasting to follow surface beneath. It’s not as good as proper axle, of course, and hopefully it would be possible a bit later, but it’s something.

Tracks now also got scriptable displays and separate scripts, with extra functionality to affect physics as well (only for tracks with custom physics configuration which would explicitly allow scripts to do so). 

With that, it’s possible to, for example, add some traffic to offline free roams (all of it is done purely with Lua).

Online servers now can also create scripts which would run on client side, and those can do everything track scripts can do, but also create some extra HUD elements for things like warning messages and such. And just in case, such scripts would not have access to any files outside of track folder, wouldn’t be able to run separate processes or load external binaries, or create new files.

API for Lua apps also got a lot more advanced, now being able to do things from original Python API as well (set FFB gain, interact with AC console, alter Real Mirrors configuration, etc.)

But one of the best things is that now all that stuff is fully documented! Especially if you’re working with Visual Studio Code, with Lua extension you’d now get documentation showing up as you’re writing code, with type checks and everything. 

I prepared a readme file in “extension/internal/lua-sdk” explaining how to set it up, hopefully it would help. And, of course, I’ll work on updating wiki and adding more information about how to make those scripts there.

There are quite a lot of other changes too, of course, full list is available here. But I’m personally the most excited about this new Lua thing. 🙂

Thank you for all the incredible support! And, as usual, sorry that it took me so long: I wanted to make sure that Lua API is reliable enough for people to use, so they wouldn’t have to start by thinking of ways to hack around insufficient functionality. Now, to finally finish rain and work on those 3D-trees.