Hello all, I am working on a skin pack for my league using S397's GT3 packs. Several of us are taking full advantage of the new PBR updates with chrome, or metallic colors etc, but the one thing I seem to be struggling with, this being my first time doing any level of modding in RF2 aside from the virtual ride, is getting the cars to work with the new material system after the upgrade package has been created and installed. The cars show in the list, and they load in the showroom, but they are dull and the material editor window tells me the car is not supported, even though I am just adding skins and all their various parts, including the region.dds files. Being the GT3 pack cars, there have been no other changes, just the skins and their related files. Is this just something that is happening because of the way the skin pack has to be made and therefore the game doesn't recognize it or have I missed a step?
Don't quote me on this because I haven't done it but, You need to have the json file for each car. You need to use the new cars veh ini files to create your new teams/drivers. There is a entry in the new ones that doesn't exist in the older ones. Try not to use ( _ ) in the naming off the DDS files except the region must have xxxxxx_region.DDS or it want work. When a car shows as Unsupported, reload to car in the tuning. Not 100% sure this will help, it did the one time I have has that message come up.
Thanks D. Painter for responding. I have been very busy of late both in and out of sim world, thus the near 20 days since I last posted. I do definitely appreciate it. I have the shader process down and with the season started, what we have been doing is treating it like any other sim and dragging and dropping the files that I guess are viewed as virtual rides. That seems to work pretty well to an extent, but it seems people are having trouble with it, be it installation error or an actual issue. What I would like to do is create the upgrade package simar to what at least one other league is doing (and what I suspect others are), and be able to distribute an rcmp file with new veh files and so on to eliminate all of the extra stuff. But when I tried that, all of the league skins came up as unsupported even though they used the base component files. They showed in the list and loaded into the showroom, but without the new shader package. When I set the models' update packages on the latest version, nothing worked and it blitzed the car for me and I had to unsub/resub the cars. And when I set them on the earliest available version, they worked all except the shaders. I am guessing I missed a line in a file or a whole file perhaps, but I am still very new to the game.
The one thing that I can think off is a new line in the veh ini. DefaultLivery="Pres911.dds" Extra0="window" // Windows MaterialOverride="Pres911.json" MaterialOverride="Pres911.json" is a new line that I would say needs to be add to all your teams/ drivers veh ini. Something like this. DefaultLivery="BBR.dds" Extra0="window" // Windows MaterialOverride="BBR.json" So it's the same as the defaultlivery entry with the new DDS name. HDVehicle=991GT3R.hdv Graphics=991GT3R.gen Spinner=991GT3R_Spinner.gen Upgrades=991GT3R_Upgrades.ini GenString=B // Used to generate GMT names in *.gen file Cameras=991GT3R.cam // Defaults to cams.cfg in UserData directory Sounds=991GT3R.sfx // Sounds=default.sfx HeadPhysics=HeadPhysics_GT.ini // Affects driver eyepoint only Cockpit=991GT3R_cockpitinfo.ini AIUpgradeClass=Porsche-GT3 ExternalDisplays=991GT3R_externalDisplay.ini What has been apparent across the comments were people are getting the "unsupported car" is that the json is missing. If the line that I've mentioned for the veh ini is missing, this would effectively mean that the json is not recognized, read, so not there even if it is. So if your using old veh files, edit that line in and try again. Let us know how you get on.
So here is an example from one of the skins: DefaultLivery="alt_2RacerzEdge.DDS" MaterialOverride="alt_2RacerzEdge.json" Best I can tell they all have the line. Now I saw the notice about the name length limit. At the time I did this originally, I was unsure about the requirement of having the alt_ as a prefix to the name like you have to when doing a virtual ride. After seeing your example, I am guessing the prefix is not required and it is counted against the character limit and perhaps therein lies part of my problem? Thing is though, here is an instance from another car: DefaultLivery="alt_9CMS.dds" MaterialOverride="alt_9CMS.json" And you see it is shorter, only 8 characters before the file type, and it also did not work.
When you use the veh ini files there's no need to use "alt" at all. These new teams are not alternatives to the originals. There is no limit in the naming when using the veh ini. Because there is not way to get the cars from S397 to work in devmod it makes it hard to edit and test this without packaging the new teams file into a rfcmp. Pretty sure they want work as open files, you need to pack them in a Mas.
Ok, and when I go to pack them, I "upgrade" them from the earliest available version of the car or the latest? Im guessing the earliest because I got the cars in the list that way before, just without the shaders.
As long as it has a different name so it doesn't overwrite the original. If you go one back, S397 want overwrite yours as theirs will go forward in versions not back.
Well it has been a struggle, but I have managed to complete this task once so far. It was not the original line you suggested D.Painter, but it gave me the thought to check the .json for an extra calling to the original skin, paired with removing the alt_ from all the files and the lines that call them. I now have the Aston in game with the proper effects, just about 5 more models to do (at least until someone registers a new one in the series). Thanks so much for helping me out with this! I really appreciate it! If I have more trouble with on this topic I'll post here again.
