rFactor1 to rFactor 2 Conversion Tutorial - Quick Guide

Discussion in 'Car Modding' started by dylbie, Apr 8, 2016.

  1. Woodee

    Woodee Registered

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    When converting....

    TBC file has the list of tyres.
    It has to contain the file names of the TGM files under tirebrand.
    Package all the files up (make sure all search paths are in the right places) and make your component.
    Install it then try and run it, any error messages?
     
  2. SL1DE

    SL1DE Registered

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    Oh? The TBC I stole doesn't have "tyre brand" it says like TGM="F1-99_FRONT_DRY.tgm" (I changed the name of the TGM file and matched it in the TBC)

    [​IMG]

    No error messages, it loads perfectly fine in the viewer, but when I go to race it crashes after fully loading with no error message except for the typical Windows App Crash message.

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    My .gen file: (I think this might be where I'm wrong, but at the same time, if it was wrong then it wouldn't load in the viewer, right?)
    [​IMG]

    Edit: I actually haven't sorted out the sfx file yet, could that be it? I can't imagine being unable to load sounds cause the game to crash, I thought it'll just be silent.

    Oh and were you talking about TyreBrand in the HDV?
    [​IMG]

    As you can see, I have it saying F1-99, my TBC file is called F1-99.tbc, it's the same as I've seen in a few other rF2 HDV's I've seen..
     
    Last edited by a moderator: May 11, 2016
  3. Woodee

    Woodee Registered

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    HDV points to the default tirebrand

    Then the TBC points to the TGM files

    TGM files I don't touch at all.

    Try with your sound files. Usually CTD can mean physics problem or something not linked correctly. If it was graphics then it would say a DDS/GMT was missing then possibly load a yellow temp car.
     
  4. SL1DE

    SL1DE Registered

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    Hmm... My tyres are directed all right. Can't be graphics since everything is loading fine in the viewer. Gotta be a physics thing then, but what? Do we need to change anything like that?

    Maybe I'll start over with a different car. Third time's the charm, as they say.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: May 11, 2016
  5. Woodee

    Woodee Registered

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    Could put a trace command in your command line for the launcher and log file will be generated in your player folder and log sub folder.

    Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk
     
  6. dylbie

    dylbie Registered

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    Run a trace file and post it here...
     
  7. SL1DE

    SL1DE Registered

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    Ok, I done a trace, figured out it was crashing because it was trying to load tyre "1999_BRIDGESTONE", so I renamed my tyres to 1999_BRIDGESTONE, now it loaded into the game perfectly.

    The car is really shiny though... And in the viewer the car looks matte. So the textures are weird. Any tips?

    Here's a video so you know what I'm on about: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBvLHX2y33E

    This tutorial didn't mention it so I didn't do it, but someone told me a few months ago that in 3DSimED I should change "Reflection mapper", "DirectX Shader" and stuff. What settings do you guys recommend? I changed the tyres to "t1" and it seems to look a lot better than it did in the above video, but there's no shine on it at all like ISI's tyres have.

    Also could somebody point me into the direction to get animated arms? At the moment it's got that thing people done in rF1, attaching arms to the steering wheel.

    Lastly, thanks for all the help, this is the first time I actually got something working in-game. A giant learning curve, and you've all been a big help.

    Edit: Put the tyres' DirectX Shader to "deformable tyre" as this is what ISI's are set on.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: May 12, 2016
  8. stonec

    stonec Registered

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    Shaders controls the specular and fresnel reflections. Open the carbody GMT for example in 3DSimED, edit material shader to "car paint with damage" and tweak the shader reflection params.
     
  9. carson_1017

    carson_1017 Registered

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    Thanks for this info on RF1 conversions. I have done a few cars now and want to add that in addition to importing/exporting the wheels and tires as models (not objects) in 3DSimED3, you may also want to import the driver helmet as a model. This will save the pivot point. If not you may have a driver with a wobbly head shaking all over the place. Also I had to go through the .sfx file line by line to make sure each wav file is found by the game. It takes some patience but I now have some great RF1 cars to play with.
     
  10. cosimo

    cosimo Registered

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    Thanks for this info (and videos!). Trying to convert my first car from rF1 to rF2 here.

    I get the car body with super shiny chrome effect. Is that caused only by the reflection parameters?
    I'm trying to convert a car from the HistorX mod, and I see that there's tons of textures and GMT files, sometimes dozens of alternatives for each one (STYLE_1A, STYLE_1C, STYLE_2A, ... STYLE_5C) with (usually) no specular or bump maps. Is that normal? I can't seem to find any specular and bump maps for many objects. Just wondering, as I know zero about this stuff.

    Also confused about devmode. Do I need to reload rF2 from the start every time I do a small change in any file?
    God that sucks.
     
  11. SL1DE

    SL1DE Registered

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    Change the car body GMT's to "Car paint with damage", and keep specular power at around 20.0000. The more specular power, the more you get a chrome effect.

    I made a video tutorial a few months ago, this might help you (skip to around 5:00, 5:16 I start to change the shader:



    See how I made it "Car paint with damage", and point the dds maps to the correct dds's. And don't forget to put Reflection Mapper on "True".

    For diffuse map I usually just use the same dds as the primary texture because I don't know what it is. xD Looks perfectly fine like that anyway.

    I personally don't use DevMode, I package it up and install it into the main game, never really had issues, and if you do you get an error telling you what's missing.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Jul 2, 2016
    Mauro likes this.
  12. cosimo

    cosimo Registered

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    Ook, I managed to convert my first car into rF2 and drive it :) That is fantastic!
    However...

    I noticed a couple of things.
    HistorX mods are very complicated and have a structure that is not immediately clear to understand.
    I tried a different mod, WCP Formula E, and that is much easier to work with, more similar to the example in the video.
    I stitched some open-wheel tyres I found in the TGM tyres example archive from ISI and everything worked!

    Well, everything except:
    1. Reflections in the side mirrors are very bright, almost all white. How do I fix this? UPDATE: tried to assign the correct specular map, but mirrors seem to need a special treatment because it didn't work.
    2. I have no idea if the TBC file corresponds to the TGM tyres I chose... Any suggestions?
    3. Car remains trapped in the gravel and grass.Seems like the bottom of the car is lower than the terrain.
    4. UPDATE: FIXED, including a WHITE.DDS texture that was somehow missing from the rF1 objects. With some tracks (most, except a few) I get this gMotor2 error "Error loading stats for texture WHITE.DDSError loading texture WHITE for WCCARBODY". Any hints?
    5. UPDATE: FIXED! I hear engine sounds from the other cars always very near. I'm going to try the method explained in the video above. I'm hopeful :)
    6. Still need to add the rF2 driver (video part 2).
    7. Helmet is fully specular. How to fix?

    All in all, a success I would say! What seemed impossible just yesterday it's reality now :)
    For the HistorX mod though I don't have much hope. It's just too messy.

    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Jul 2, 2016
  13. Liquid4653

    Liquid4653 Registered

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    @cosimo

    1. It's probably the shader being used. Change shader to 'no lighting tex1' in 3DSimed


    2.a. In the hdv file, "TireBrand=" represents where the tbc file name is, so put the name of your **********.tbc file there.
    2.b. In the tbc file, "TGM=" represents where the tgm file names are, so put the name of your tgm's for each compound and orientation.

    If you do a check through your code and it is like above, then you know it's correct for that part.


    3. Is it the carbody only, or is it the entire car and its parts? IS the car fine on tarmac but halts on other surfaces you mention?

    there are many things that can interfere, I will go with a couple of suggestions........


    3.a. If it is the carbody only, then you can go inside the HDV file and locate a variable called "GraphicalOffset=" and figures that represent the location in x,y and z axis. You can move the carbody up or down graphically to compensate if that's the issue.

    3.b. Collision model - check its in correct position relative to the body.

    3.c. Pivot Points - some objects require 0,0,0 pivot points. I would check the collision model and body just to see they are correct, otherwise they could have been offset into wrong position. For reference, a car showing perfectly in the spinner is not confirmation these problem don't exist, pivot points are used to locate and orientate the car ingame only.

    3.d. Incorrect physics data.


    7. Change the shader of the helmet, there are some shaders that dont' work properly or haven't been updated to work properly in later builds, if the helmet has what I can only describe as a ridiculous white halo like reflection on it, it's probably this.


    Some info for you, hope it helps
     
  14. cosimo

    cosimo Registered

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    Awesome, thank you Liquid!
    Will report on my progress :)
     
  15. Lazza

    Lazza Registered

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    Graphics might need you to drop back out of the track and reload it, but definitely no need to completely restart rF2. A light track that loads quickly is obviously beneficial.

    Physics, every change will take effect when you jump into the car again. The only time you need to reload the track is if you change garage options for the car, you'll need to reload the track for those new garage options to appear.
     
  16. cosimo

    cosimo Registered

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    Confirmed. Changing the shader fixed the reflections in the side mirrors.

    Yes, that is correct. However, I was wondering if all the values contained in the TBC file (f.ex. Radius, Temp range, Softness, etc...) have to be adjusted when a different TGM/Tyre is linked to the TBC.
    In such case, I wouldn't have any clue about which values need to be changed.

    Unsure how to tell...

    Tried fiddling with the collision GMT (raising it along the Z axis) and pivot points (front wings were non-zero) but I'm not sure anything changed.
    Will have to try graphical offset, but car looks alright both in showroom and on track.

    Tried a couple of things (setting DX Shader to "car paint with damage") and helmet paint is now showing. However, the helmet visor and other parts are completely white now.
    I mean, it's definitely an improvement, but still not sure how to go about this to fix it.
    Maybe helmet textures (in the teams folder?) need to be fixed?

    Thanks for the precious tips, it feels like I have a million questions, but at least I managed to have a decent quality conversion that I can drive and enjoy!
     
  17. cosimo

    cosimo Registered

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    A boatload of work later...

    [​IMG]
     
  18. Woodee

    Woodee Registered

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    Remember the diffuse textures used for rF1 sometimes need adjusted to become the albedo textures now used for HDR in game. Tuttle posted a guide a while back on converting diffuse textures to albedo... do a search on the forum and I'm sure it will help.
     
  19. cosimo

    cosimo Registered

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    Thanks.

    I thought about that when looking at the bright red right there.
    It's visible, isn't it? :)
     
  20. Woodee

    Woodee Registered

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    Near luminous :D
     

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