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The Nürburgring track

The last track to be released, as part of the Commodore 64 version of Revs+

The Nürburgring track was never released for the BBC Micro. It was only released for the Commodore 64, as part the 1987 Firebird release of Revs+. It has since been ported back to the BBC Micro, which you can read all about in the deep dive on backporting the Nürburgring track.

The track looks like this, if we extract the data from the track data file and draw the results:

The Nürburgring track in RevsThe Nürburgring track in RevsThe Nürburgring track in Revs

The track's elevation profile looks like this:

The elevation of the Nürburgring track in RevsThe elevation of the Nürburgring track in RevsThe elevation of the Nürburgring track in Revs

The track is broken up into 27 sections, as follows:

NumberShapeDescription
0||Romer Kurve to Castrol-S (1/2)
1{}Romer Kurve to Castrol-S (2/2)
2|->|Castrol-S (1/2)
3<-Castrol-S (2/2)
4{}Castrol-S to Ford Kurve (1/4)
5{}Castrol-S to Ford Kurve (2/4)
6<-Castrol-S to Ford Kurve (3/4)
7||Castrol-S to Ford Kurve (4/4)
8->Ford Kurve
9||Ford Kurve top Dunlop Kehre (1/2)
10|<-|Ford Kurve top Dunlop Kehre (2/2)
11->Dunlop Kehre
12{}Dunlop Kehre to Bit Kurve (1/7)
13<-Dunlop Kehre to Bit Kurve (2/7)
14||Dunlop Kehre to Bit Kurve (3/7)
15->Dunlop Kehre to Bit Kurve (4/7)
16{}Dunlop Kehre to Bit Kurve (5/7)
17<-Dunlop Kehre to Bit Kurve (6/7)
18||Dunlop Kehre to Bit Kurve (7/7)
19->Bit Kurve
20{}Bit Kurve to Veedol Schikane (1/3)
21->Bit Kurve to Veedol Schikane (2/3)
22{}Bit Kurve to Veedol Schikane (3/3)
23<-Veedol Schikane (1/2)
24->Veedol Schikane (2/2)
25{}Veedol Schikane to Romer Kurve
26->Romer Kurve

Each section is one of the following shapes:

  • || is a straight section that doesn't curve to the left or right, and has the same gradient throughout the whole section
  • {} is a straight section in the sense that it doesn't curve to the left or right, but the gradient can differ between sub-sections
  • -> consists of sub-sections that all curve to the right
  • <- consists of sub-sections that all curve to the left
  • |->| consists of sub-sections that are either straight or curve to the right
  • |<-| consists of sub-sections that are either straight or curve to the left
  • |<->| consists of sub-sections that are either straight or curve to the left or right

See the deep dives on the extra tracks data file format and dynamic track generation in the extra tracks for information on how the extra tracks are constructed, and how the track segment vectors are dynamically generated in the extra tracks. You may also find it useful to read the deep dives on the original track data file format and building a 3D track from sections and segments.

Track generation and shapes
---------------------------

Each track section has lots of associated data, most of which is stored in the two track section data blocks. These are split into part 1 and part 2. See the deep dives on the track data file format and the extra tracks data file format for details.

In the extra track files, track sections are broken up into sub-sections, which are then broken up into segments. Each section therefore has an associated size, given as the number of segments. There is also a track segment vector number, which determines which track segment vectors make up the sections; specifically, it points to the position in the segment vector table where the section's first vector is stored. Note, however, that because the track segment vectors are dynamically generated for this track, the vector number points to the position in the table where the first calculated vector will be stored, rather than pointing to the data itself (as the data is only generated when needed).

Finally, each section has inner and outer coordinates that define the inner and outer track edges at the start of the section. These coordinates share the same y-coordinate, as track sections are level from left to right, so the following table shows the coordinates as (x, z), or longitude and latitude, and the section height is shown separately.

The section data for the Nürburgring track is as follows:

SectionVectorSizeSegmentsInner coordOuter coordHeight
01830-82(12000, 0)(11711, 0)8000
158483-166(12000, 9960)(11711, 9960)7502
2109167-175(12000, 20040)(11711, 20040)6261
32037176-212(12776, 20651)(12713, 20932)6009
41845213-257(13689, 24372)(13431, 24242)5001
52422258-279(11259, 29187)(11001, 29057)4496
6724280-303(10071, 31541)(9813, 31411)4086
73216304-319(7595, 32449)(7691, 32177)3390
83416320-335(5787, 31809)(5883, 31537)2926
91119336-354(4741, -32573)(4464, -32489)2462
101290355-444(5406, -30388)(5129, -30304)1911
112225445-469(5213, -19754)(4933, -19831)247
12761470-530(6948, -19647)(7236, -19650)922
132825531-555(6887, -26967)(7175, -26970)3577
14136556-561(8408, -29381)(8540, -29124)5127
151915562-576(9050, -29711)(9182, -29454)5499
163481577-657(10268, -30998)(10525, -30869)6309
173515658-672(14642, 25871)(14899, 26000)8512
181028673-700(16202, 25350)(16100, 25619)8257
193822701-722(19338, 26526)(19236, 26795)7781
202069723-791(21221, 25231)(21509, 25255)7154
21920792-811(21911, 16951)(22199, 16975)4442
222980812-891(21359, 14657)(21609, 14512)4292
232912892-903(16559, 6337)(16809, 6192)6167
24124904-927(16572, 4956)(16829, 5085)6779
252529928-956(15944, 2240)(16189, 2088)7703
261425957-981(14117, -718)(14362, -870)8051

The shape of each track section is also defined in the track data file. Section coordinates are generated on-the-fly, as described in the deep dive on dynamic track generation in the extra tracks, and bit 6 of the track section flags in trackSectionFlag determines the kind of generator that is used (curved or straight).

The shape data for the Nürburgring track is as follows:

SectionSignList sizeGenerator (bit 6)Shape (bit 0)Shape
0011 = Curve0 = Straight||
1131 = Curve0 = Straight{}
2221 = Curve1 = Curve|->|
3321 = Curve1 = Curve<-
4411 = Curve0 = Straight{}
5531 = Curve0 = Straight{}
6551 = Curve1 = Curve<-
7550 = Straight0 = Straight||
8551 = Curve1 = Curve->
9640 = Straight0 = Straight||
10631 = Curve0 = Straight|<-|
11731 = Curve1 = Curve->
12831 = Curve0 = Straight{}
13931 = Curve1 = Curve<-
14931 = Curve0 = Straight||
15931 = Curve1 = Curve->
161031 = Curve0 = Straight{}
171131 = Curve1 = Curve<-
181251 = Curve0 = Straight||
191241 = Curve1 = Curve->
201331 = Curve0 = Straight{}
211431 = Curve1 = Curve->
221421 = Curve0 = Straight{}
231531 = Curve1 = Curve<-
241531 = Curve1 = Curve->
251531 = Curve0 = Straight{}
261531 = Curve1 = Curve->

The sign number describes which signs to show when driving around the track (see the next section for details), and the list size determines the size of the track section list in the track verge buffer (see the deep dive on data structures for the track calculations for an explanation).

Road signs
----------

Revs supports up to 16 road signs per track. Each sign's 3D coordinate is stored as a vector (xTrackSignVector, yTrackSignVector, zTrackSignVector) that is scaled down to fit into 8-bit coordinates. This vector describes the sign's coordinate relative to the inner coordinates of a specified track section. Inner section coordinates are stored in part 1 and part 2 of the section data, in the 16-bit variables (xTrackSectionIHi xTrackSectionILo), (yTrackSectionIHi yTrackSectionILo) and (zTrackSectionIHi zTrackSectionILo). We can therefore calculate the 3D coordinate of a sign by scaling the sign vector and adding it to the relevant section coordinate. See the deep dive on road signs for details of this calculation.

The following table shows the sign number, the sign type, the number of the section to which the sign coordinate is relative, the inner section coordinate, the scaled sign vector and the 3D coordinate of the sign that we calculate from all of the preceding data.

Each track section also has an associated sign number in the trackSectionData entry in the first block of track section data. A sign is drawn if this number changes when we drive into a new track section (so it shows the correct sign whether we are driving forwards or backwards into the new section). The sign numbers are shown in the shape table in the previous section.

The road signs for the Nürburgring track are as follows:

SignTypeSectiontrackSectionItrackSignVectorCoordinate
0Start flag0[  12000 ]
[   8000 ]
[      0 ]
[   1 ]
[  -8 ]
[  72 ]
[  12064 ]
[   7872 ]
[   4608 ]
1Straight1[  12000 ]
[   7502 ]
[   9960 ]
[  -6 ]
[   6 ]
[  13 ]
[  11616 ]
[   7598 ]
[  10792 ]
2Right turn2[  12000 ]
[   6261 ]
[  20040 ]
[  -5 ]
[  67 ]
[ -75 ]
[  11680 ]
[   7333 ]
[  15240 ]
3Straight4[  13689 ]
[   5001 ]
[  24372 ]
[   9 ]
[  35 ]
[ -33 ]
[  14265 ]
[   5561 ]
[  22260 ]
4Left turn6[  10071 ]
[   4086 ]
[  31541 ]
[  28 ]
[  39 ]
[ -54 ]
[  11863 ]
[   4710 ]
[  28085 ]
5Right turn8[   5787 ]
[   2926 ]
[  31809 ]
[   6 ]
[  12 ]
[  -3 ]
[   6171 ]
[   3118 ]
[  31617 ]
6Hairpin11[   5213 ]
[    247 ]
[ -19754 ]
[   9 ]
[  22 ]
[ -73 ]
[   5789 ]
[    599 ]
[ -24426 ]
7Straight12[   6948 ]
[    922 ]
[ -19647 ]
[  -2 ]
[  -6 ]
[  20 ]
[   6820 ]
[    826 ]
[ -18367 ]
8Left turn13[   6887 ]
[   3577 ]
[ -26967 ]
[   0 ]
[ -90 ]
[  61 ]
[   6887 ]
[   2137 ]
[ -23063 ]
9Right turn15[   9050 ]
[   5499 ]
[ -29711 ]
[   3 ]
[   9 ]
[   4 ]
[   9242 ]
[   5643 ]
[ -29455 ]
10Left turn17[  14642 ]
[   8512 ]
[  25871 ]
[ -33 ]
[  -6 ]
[  64 ]
[  12530 ]
[   8416 ]
[  29967 ]
11Straight18[  16202 ]
[   8257 ]
[  25350 ]
[  -5 ]
[   8 ]
[  -3 ]
[  15882 ]
[   8385 ]
[  25158 ]
12Right turn19[  19338 ]
[   7781 ]
[  26526 ]
[  -6 ]
[   9 ]
[   3 ]
[  18954 ]
[   7925 ]
[  26718 ]
13Right turn21[  21911 ]
[   4442 ]
[  16951 ]
[  -1 ]
[  93 ]
[  73 ]
[  21847 ]
[   5930 ]
[  21623 ]
14Left turn22[  21359 ]
[   4292 ]
[  14657 ]
[ -39 ]
[  27 ]
[ -66 ]
[  18863 ]
[   4724 ]
[  10433 ]
15Right turn26[  14117 ]
[   8051 ]
[   -718 ]
[  31 ]
[ -11 ]
[  41 ]
[  16101 ]
[   7875 ]
[   1906 ]

Corner markers and verge markings
---------------------------------

Each track section can optionally have a set of corner markers (three markers are shown for each curve when configured, while one marker is shown for each applicable straight). The markers can either be a combination of red and white markers, or just white, according to bit 5 of the track section flags in trackSectionFlag. They can also appear on the left or the right of the track, according to bits 3-4 of the section flags.

Track sections can also have differently coloured verge markings. These are black-and-white by default, but can be configured in bits 1-2 of the section flags to be red-and-white on the left or the right of the track.

See the deep dive on corner markers for details of how corner markers work, and the deep dive on the track verges for more on how the verge markings are implemented.

The corner markers and verge markings for the Nürburgring track are as follows:

SectionMarker colours
(bit 5)
Marker positions
(bits 3-4)
Verge colours
(bits 1-2)
00 = White00 = None01 = Red/white on left
11 = Red/white10 = Left00 = Both black/white
21 = Red/white01 = Right10 = Red/white on right
31 = Red/white10 = Left01 = Red/white on left
40 = White00 = None10 = Red/white on right
51 = Red/white01 = Right00 = Both black/white
61 = Red/white10 = Left01 = Red/white on left
71 = Red/white10 = Left10 = Red/white on right
81 = Red/white01 = Right10 = Red/white on right
90 = White00 = None01 = Red/white on left
101 = Red/white10 = Left00 = Both black/white
111 = Red/white01 = Right10 = Red/white on right
121 = Red/white01 = Right01 = Red/white on left
131 = Red/white10 = Left01 = Red/white on left
140 = White00 = None00 = Both black/white
151 = Red/white01 = Right10 = Red/white on right
161 = Red/white01 = Right01 = Red/white on left
171 = Red/white10 = Left01 = Red/white on left
181 = Red/white10 = Left10 = Red/white on right
191 = Red/white01 = Right10 = Red/white on right
201 = Red/white10 = Left01 = Red/white on left
211 = Red/white01 = Right10 = Red/white on right
221 = Red/white01 = Right01 = Red/white on left
231 = Red/white10 = Left01 = Red/white on left
241 = Red/white01 = Right10 = Red/white on right
251 = Red/white10 = Left00 = Both black/white
261 = Red/white01 = Right10 = Red/white on right

Driver speeds and approaches
----------------------------

The track data also contains data that influences how the non-player drivers drive (see the deep dive on tactics of the non-player drivers for details). This data latter is not only used to control non-player drivers, but feeds into computer assisted steering (CAS) as well; see the deep dive computer assisted steering (CAS) for more on this.

This data includes the segment number in each section where non-player drivers should start turning (in trackSectionTurn), the optimum speed for each section (in trackSectionSpeed), the optimum steering to apply for this section (in trackSteering), and whether this section has a maximum speed (in bit 7 of trackSectionFlag).

The non-player driver data for the Nürburgring track is as follows:

SectionTurn at segmentOptimum speedSpeed as bit 7:0-6Section shapeOptimum steeringMaximum speed
02552551:127||<- 6*-
1771461:18{}<- 6*-
21470:7|->|-> 17146
345340:34<-<- 18*-
42552551:127{}-> 6*-
5161811:53{}-> 6*-
631150:15<-<- 14181
7121210:121||<- 12*-
824130:13->-> 12121
92552551:127||<- 6*-
10881120:112|<-|<- 6*-
1129140:14->-> 10112
12522551:127{}-> 6*-
1337150:15<-<- 15*-
1402551:127||<- 0*-
1533230:23->-> 15*-
16751561:28{}-> 6*-
1727150:15<-<- 14156
18231621:34||<- 20*-
1932180:18->-> 14162
20542551:127{}<- 6*-
2150280:28->-> 15*-
22711931:65{}-> 8*-
231970:7<-<- 18193
2439360:36->-> 28*-
25261270:127{}<- 6*-
2631160:16->-> 11127

The speed is shown as-is, and with bit 7 split out, which is used in the driver tactic calculations. The optimum steering is shown as a direction and a magnitude, and if there is an asterisk (*), then the magnitude is scaled by the track's base speed for the chosen class.