I came back to this and added a number of (mostly graphical) improvements. As can be seen in this screenshot the textures’ alpha channel now finally works properly:
I also made a webstart, although it doesn’t run on the first launch for a reason that I’m yet to understand: http://www.dennisbijlsma.com/data/ferrari3d/webstart/ferrari3d.jnlp
cool, i like how the car vibrates when you leave the track.
i noticed two things:
- when you drive backwards you cannot steer
- the skybox is not moving with the camera, and because of that at one point when i left the track i could leave the skybox.
The interface looks great, but I cannot seem to be able to run it… I'll try in my PC at home later…
Core-Dump said:
cool, i like how the car vibrates when you leave the track.
i noticed two things:
- when you drive backwards you cannot steer
- the skybox is not moving with the camera, and because of that at one point when i left the track i could leave the skybox.
Thanks for the feedback, I have fixed both issues. I would like more interaction between the track and the cars, but I've been fiddling with the particle systems. The strategy that I used was to create a new particle system every time that for example skidmarks should appear, but this is probably not a good tactic.
@duenez: On Windows the webstart version doesn't start the first time for some reasons, it hangs after you press 'start session'. I am yet to find the reason for this, as no exception seems to be thrown. If it doesn't start at all, I haven't got a clue what's going on.
keeskist said:
I've been fiddling with the particle systems. The strategy that I used was to create a new particle system every time that for example skidmarks should appear, but this is probably not a good tactic.
yeah, creating particles is pretty expensive, you should create a pool of particles and re-use them once they faded out.
recycle particles
Brilliant! Thanks for the link.
Great game! The only comments I have are very biased because I have been playing Gran Turismo 4 for the last two weeks. A couple of things you might be able to add to your game is steering sensitivity. Race cars steering sensativity usually decreases as the speed increases to prevent the car from spinning out. Also if you want to make the terrain more realistic, F1 cars use very slick no tread tires. Instead of the car just loosing speed, why not have the car loose traction as well? My last comment is that when you travel in reverse the direction you travel is opposite from the way you turn the wheels. If you turn your steering wheel right and go in reverse the car should move towards the right of the screen and not the left. Other than that the game is great! Keep up the good work!
Thanks for your comments on the cars' physics! Actually the maximum steering force is already dependent on the speed, but maybe the effect is currently too limited to be noticed. The same applies for when you're off-track, you already lose some steering power but maybe not enough. Obviously it would be better if you would slide and maybe spin due to the lack of grip, but my physics are not as advanced yet 
I'll check out the driving in reverse thing, you're right about this and I'm surprised that I forgot it until now.
I downloaded the game and was playing it on a WinXP system. Everything was going good except the known issues of slow turning and backup turns in wrong direction. I was cutting across a corner on the left side of the track when, all of a sudden, my car stopped and slowly fell through the ground.
Unfortunately, I do not know exactly where I was, so I can can not tell you where the hole is, but i did notice the underside of the track is visible, which may be one of the reasons some people get supper slow frame rates. I also noticed the skybox image is a lot larger than what is shown, (there are trees in the bottom half) so this may be able to be cut down also.
I am not able to post the screenshot I have from where I am writing this, but maybe I can later, if it would be any use to you.
It might be a bad patch in the track mesh. There is also some area near the third corner where the game things that you're driving uphill. Unfortunately the most difficult part of JME seems to be to export/import your 3d models properly 
Since I switched to 3ds max 2009 the framerate has became a lot poorer, seems to be something with its OBJ file exporter.
Thanks for the feedback btw!