Catch me up - Step by step on modding

[Nnfty52]

Hey all!

I'm not an expert, but not a stranger to rFactor modding... rFactor 1, that was.

I always liked being able to run my own offline IndyCar seasons with the AI. While I didn't have any of the track building software, I knew my way around .GDBs, .AIWs, .TDFs, .HDVs, etc. Through editing lines in those files (AIDryGrip, of AiPerfUsage, for instance) I was able to tweak the AI of mods into something raceable.

Now that rFactor 2 has released the new IndyCar, I'd like to take my operation over to here. But I have no idea how to do this stuff.

For instance, my first stop is trying to tweak the AI from the St. Petersburg street mod to prevent them from running into walls. The first thing I'd try would be to changing Grip level in the .GDB or .TDF.

I understand everything is packaged now in the .RFCMP file. But I have no way to get into it. I use the MAS File Utility Tool to try to open it, but it only shows the .RCMP file itself, not any of the files within that I could extract and edit.

Any time I Google for help, it seems like there used to be an rFactor 2 Launcher that folks would use to somehow do stuff, but that launcher doesn't seem to be part of the game anymore.

Also, if there's a BETTER way to do any of this, I'm not set in stone on my ways of getting the AI to behave. I'll completely re-do AI lines if it's easy enough. I just need to know how to get into this stuff to start with.

Thanks!

Nifty (Not Nnfty, stupid fingers)

 

[Coutie]

Hey all!

I'm not an expert, but not a stranger to rFactor modding... rFactor 1, that was.

I always liked being able to run my own offline IndyCar seasons with the AI. While I didn't have any of the track building software, I knew my way around .GDBs, .AIWs, .TDFs, .HDVs, etc. Through editing lines in those files (AIDryGrip, of AiPerfUsage, for instance) I was able to tweak the AI of mods into something raceable.

Now that rFactor 2 has released the new IndyCar, I'd like to take my operation over to here. But I have no idea how to do this stuff.

For instance, my first stop is trying to tweak the AI from the St. Petersburg street mod to prevent them from running into walls. The first thing I'd try would be to changing Grip level in the .GDB or .TDF.

I understand everything is packaged now in the .RFCMP file. But I have no way to get into it. I use the MAS File Utility Tool to try to open it, but it only shows the .RCMP file itself, not any of the files within that I could extract and edit.

Any time I Google for help, it seems like there used to be an rFactor 2 Launcher that folks would use to somehow do stuff, but that launcher doesn't seem to be part of the game anymore.

Also, if there's a BETTER way to do any of this, I'm not set in stone on my ways of getting the AI to behave. I'll completely re-do AI lines if it's easy enough. I just need to know how to get into this stuff to start with.

Thanks!

Nifty (Not Nnfty, stupid fingers)

https://forum.studio-397.com/index.php?threads/right-click-mas-extraction.61876/

 

[Lazza]

@Nnfty52 the MAS tool is for opening MAS files. It doesn't open .rfcmp files.

.rfcmp files are a collection of MAS files ready for installation into the game. After you install it, the individual MAS files will be under the rF2\Installed folder (\Locations, or \Vehicles). So you can find and open them from in there.

95% of the underlying files haven't changed since rF1. With a little reading and time you'll work your way around those no problem.

Later on you'll need to package the MAS files to get them back in the game. There are guides around the place for this. Note that your best bet is to make a 'new track' by renaming the various parts of the files so it doesn't conflict with the track you're modifying. Again this is basically unchanged from rF1.

The structure of the various files and MAS files is best taken from the examples in rF2\Moddev (Locations, and Vehicles).

Finally, AI troubles are probably best addressed via the AIW file, and rF2's devmode will let you do that as it has an editor (somewhat like the old rF1 editor). There are rF2 development docs that give the basics for this. I wouldn't suggest editing widespread surface properties to fix AIW behaviour.

Oh, and note there are some people who already work on AIW files (for both official and 3rd party content) so always worth checking to see if someone has already done what you're going to do.