Is it possible to change an MGB-GT to a MGB roadster?

[Tbear]

I always get in trouble asking questions about mods.

I have always loved the MGB ... I owned tons of them since 1976 ... I auto crossed them, I did off-road and enduro rallies in them and raced them for a number of years. I still have a GT parked in my garage ... and almost enought parts to build another.

So there is this car out there on the net : http://http://notworking.url/car/mg_mga1965
(BTW ... this ain't an MGA ... it's an MGB-GT. Different car.)

I'm pretty sure that this car came from another game. I do not know how it came to be modded for AC. I have questions:

1. Is it possible, moral or legal to take this car and turn it into a roadster for my own use? Maybe out fit it with a roll bar, lower it down and mount racing slicks on it? Pick my own color scheme(s???).

2. Is this a difficult process? My thinking is ... could it be just a "skin" kind of thing ... or is this a gigantic computer modder task? Although I'm a good mechanic, I have no skills with computer programs. I got out of building model airplanes because computer design and draw programs drove me NUTS!

3. Is this something I could pay to have done?

4. In effort to make it more like my old car, I would like to lower the car quite a bit, lighten it, improve the brakes (just a little), install slicks and give it about 125-130 HP. Would Assetto Corsa Content Manager http://assettocorsa.club/content-manager.html be useful in this regard?

I've been wanting to ask this for a while. Now that AC is never going to be upgraded again, perhaps the work on this car won't be undone as it has been on other mods for
AC.



If this request is offensive because the car is what you call "ripped content" let me know and I'll delete this thread.

Thanks
T

 

[dud]

I can't see the car you linked to.

Converting 3D cars to convertibles mainly depends on whether they have a complete interior or not in coupe form. Cutting off the roof is easy enough. There can be a lot of work looking right back at you if the interior now has a lot of unmodeled areas exposed.

Data wise is also depends. You can probably get away with just making it heavier and a bit more rear-balanced. That's less than 10 seconds work. If you want to model the change in height of center of gravity you have to do math all through the car, since the whole car is held together using COG as reference point. You need to move a lot of stuff, especially wheels and suspension.

Sound-wise it also depends. Might get away with just weighting wind higher, or ignore the problem.

 

[dud]

Rights'n'ethics wise you should try really hard to track down the original author, at least of the 3D model.

If the 3D model is ripped from a game you are screwed.

If the 3D model was made by a specific person you can start begging and bribing. A lot of people might be jealous of their work, but a lot of them also don't want to see their creations stay broken and unused. As the game ages your chances get better to get permission to refurbish a mod and maybe even be allowed to re-distribute.

ETA: another advantage of doing this interpersonal work is that if you were able to secure the rights you would have no shortage of people helping you out with the technical work.

 

[Tbear]

I can't see the car you linked to.

DELETE

 

[Tbear]

DELETE

 

[dud]

Oh, you aren't allowed to link there. I know what you mean, better edit out that last post, too.

 

[Tbear]

Oh, you aren't allowed to link there. I know what you mean, better edit out that last post, too.

OH CRAP! I HATE computer and internet crap ... seems like I'm always saying I'm sorry on the computer. Now what?

Anybody know who really owns the MGB-GT?

 

[Tbear]

After a bit of digging ... I think the MGB-GT might have come from a place called Evolution Modding ... who MAY have gotten it from a guy posting on the GTLDK Sim Racing Community
as MG421982 . The Evolution Modding website (http://evolution-modding.usersboard.net/ ) is down, or "under construction" and I have not been able to get a response so far.

I got all this from a posting dated 16-01-13 at GTL Mod Cars, (this page http://www.gt-legends.dk/GTLDK/printthread.php?t=147&pp=40&page=11) Although the MGB-GT MAY have been modded to race with GT Legends, it doesn't look like it was official content for GT Legends.

I've registered on the GTLDK website to find out what I can.

 

[dud]

I can tell you from un-disclosed souring that the sound on that mod is pretty much FOOBAR. You will be able to play that car by plugging in an old bank file, but updating for today's AC requires rebuilding.

However, since you own the real thing you are in a position to help. Starting with audio recordings. Rent a 3D scanner? :-D Photos for textures.

 

[Tbear]

I can tell you from un-disclosed souring that the sound on that mod is pretty much FOOBAR. You will be able to play that car by plugging in an old bank file, but updating for today's AC requires rebuilding.

However, since you own the real thing you are in a position to help. Starting with audio recordings. Rent a 3D scanner? :-D Photos for textures.

I have no idea how sounds for games get generated ... but if I can help down the road ... Good thought.

RE-building is something I might be able to learn to do ... BUILDING for me is impossible just now. I know ZERO about computer programing.

Right now I'm trying to find the guy that initially put this together ... and get permission so I can work on it and maybe learn how to turn it into a roadster.

If I'm going to do this ... I might as well try to do it properly.

BTW ... I registered on the GTLDK website but have not heard back yet from them. Maybe I'll try again today.

 

[Tbear]

I can tell you from un-disclosed souring that the sound on that mod is pretty much FOOBAR.

And that is a shame. Ripped content or no, this MGB-GT was one of the first AC sim cars I drove, and I have to tell you that I thought that the sound that it originally came with was very close to the real (Stock GT, not open roadster ... with muffler and resonator ... NOT a header with open 2" pipe.) thing.

 

[dud]

Do you know the trick with putting in an old game version's bank file?

 

[Tbear]

Well, I just tracked down the genealogy of the MGB-GT that exists as a download for AC at a site that can't get mentioned here. Possibly. Maybe.

http://www.nogripracing.com/forum/showthread.php?p=1960426#post1960426

Although I still have a couple emails to other people who may have had something to do with developing this as a mod ... I am no longer comfortable with the idea of using this mod as a starting point.

Someone made a suggestion that I try and seek out a 3D rendering of the car at a site like this:
https://www.cgtrader.com/3d-models/car/antique/mg-mgb-gt
but $75 dollars is a lot for something that may not even work.

I think I'm going to have to put this on the back burner for a while and try to lean more about the process.

 

[dud]

Those sites won't really help you for the $75. The license you get does not include the ability to re-license on your own. If you want to distribute your mod of this car you would have to re-license. I know you mostly want it for yourself, which would work license-wise.

If you do not release the parts for this mod you will not get people working on it. Going from a plain 3D model to a mod is actually a fair bit of work. There is physics, you have to have a minimum of animated "loose" parts, namely the wheels and a shifting animation, the instruments (not to mention the interior in the first place).

Ripped mods can often use the game they ripped from as a physics starting point. They do not start from a 3D model with nothing else.