wolfsburg: oh man thats my dream car. i hope you get it working 
. good luck!
JDougNY: i wish you all the best! please get well soon.
. good luck!JDougNY: i wish you all the best! please get well soon.
Project CARS Modding Questions & WIP
- Thread starter CC
- Start date
Got a weird tire glitch on the GT-R and on the Lambo. One half of the sidewall is turning clockwise and the other half counterclockwise. Previous versions of both cars did not have that problem. The Maserati works fine though.
Very nice, thank you
Hi, i'm working with the F40 but I can't have a working physics, I would like to finish this car, and then continue another projects... because I can't make it work with the f40 name, I changed everything to Ferrari_F40 and tried to use the JDougNY's Ferrari_458 physics(that has the same number of characters, everything renamed and hex edited the ferrari_f40.vdfm file).- message to the pcars community -
Hello,
The pcars modding scene is not very important because it's not very easy to mod pcars
But please if you've made some mod share it to the community
Fred
The biggest things that needs the car are uv remap the badges, make the rain appear on the windows, fix the mirrors, and create 2 mebs for the lightglows...
If you could help me a little I can if you want cooperate in new cars...
p.s. sorry for my school english...
Hi wolfsburg, I can help you a lot with your F40, not for the physics but for the 3d mapping, lightglows etc if you want.
I'm working on several cars, but physics are the only thing I can't really do.
Here are my two last creations:
I will release them when physics will be done. For this, I really wait for Shiimis physics tool!
I'm working on several cars, but physics are the only thing I can't really do.
Here are my two last creations:
I will release them when physics will be done. For this, I really wait for Shiimis physics tool!
Last edited:
Hi, guys, sorry for being silent about progress of project cars physics tool, but I've been busy with other more interesting projects. I will explain the reasons why I do believe project cars physics tool to be less interesting.
Firstly, it has come to my attention that pCARS2 which is coming out quite soon, is using obfuscation techniques to protect their 3d assets. I can't say it for certain, but it probably means that there will be no easy way to mod that game, as one third of the vertex values in meb files are obfuscated. So unless someone figures out how they hide the vertex values, we won't be doing any substantial modding to that game. In short, SMS will do everything to make a modder's life as difficult as possible. I take it as a statement from SMS and while I do respect their decisions, I feel that their games are not as good that they deserve the tremendous amount of effort required to make the modding possible.
Secondly, I feel that my efforts would only contribute to the "why-bother-creating-just-steal" culture that is dominant here and other modding sites, and it is something I cannot agree with. To prove my point, take as an example Project C.A.R.S MEB Exporter - a tool which we released and which allows you to export 3d assets to pcars compatible meb file. It seems that people are not very interested in it and the number one requested feature for v1.1 is to add direct shift2u meb > pcars meb conversion, which just shows that most of the people are not interested in creating stuff, just porting. Don't take it the wrong way: the mods that are available so far, proves that there are great modders in this community and I have deep respect for their talents and skills.
Thirdly, and it is related to the second point, is that there are only so many cars in Shift2U that you can port and since most mods are shift2 conversions, creating physics tools would mean that I'm basically helping port assets from one game to another, and once it is done, they will prove to little use.
So unless I have misunderstood or misinterpreted the intentions of most modders around here, I believe that working on pCars physics tool is a little bit a waste of time. However I'm open for you to persuade me to continue this project (and don't get me wrong, I really wanna help, I just don't see good reasons for it now), if you can provide convincing arguments.
Regards,
Shiimis
Firstly, it has come to my attention that pCARS2 which is coming out quite soon, is using obfuscation techniques to protect their 3d assets. I can't say it for certain, but it probably means that there will be no easy way to mod that game, as one third of the vertex values in meb files are obfuscated. So unless someone figures out how they hide the vertex values, we won't be doing any substantial modding to that game. In short, SMS will do everything to make a modder's life as difficult as possible. I take it as a statement from SMS and while I do respect their decisions, I feel that their games are not as good that they deserve the tremendous amount of effort required to make the modding possible.
Secondly, I feel that my efforts would only contribute to the "why-bother-creating-just-steal" culture that is dominant here and other modding sites, and it is something I cannot agree with. To prove my point, take as an example Project C.A.R.S MEB Exporter - a tool which we released and which allows you to export 3d assets to pcars compatible meb file. It seems that people are not very interested in it and the number one requested feature for v1.1 is to add direct shift2u meb > pcars meb conversion, which just shows that most of the people are not interested in creating stuff, just porting. Don't take it the wrong way: the mods that are available so far, proves that there are great modders in this community and I have deep respect for their talents and skills.
Thirdly, and it is related to the second point, is that there are only so many cars in Shift2U that you can port and since most mods are shift2 conversions, creating physics tools would mean that I'm basically helping port assets from one game to another, and once it is done, they will prove to little use.
So unless I have misunderstood or misinterpreted the intentions of most modders around here, I believe that working on pCars physics tool is a little bit a waste of time. However I'm open for you to persuade me to continue this project (and don't get me wrong, I really wanna help, I just don't see good reasons for it now), if you can provide convincing arguments.
Regards,
Shiimis
@Shiimis
Not sure if you saw my prior post on this thread as to my long absence from here.
Firstly, except for the Audi, everything else released to date by Machine Dojo has been some form of rip/port or cosmetic change. Your name is attached to that team...just had to mention this from your "why-bother-creating-just-steal" statement, when your team is not following their own mission statement (all cars being scratch made). Also, on those ripped cars made by your team, the source of the model is not openly mentioned. Obviously, it takes a long time to make scratch 3d models. Not everyone can do that type of work. So, many need to use existing models from other sources, including your own team. Of course, ripped models appear in every racing sim out there, this is nothing new.
Some people are new to conversions, so they are starting with prior SMS games as a means to port over....a little less work. Also, some people liked the cars in their prior games and wanted them in pCars. The issue is that people are not taking the time to understand the basics, such as shaders/techniques, UV layers and what belongs in each of those layers, how to properly use tools like Zmodeler beyond just clicking "import" and "export". It's up to each person to self educate....just blindly jumping in, then posting here asking for somebody to take over and finish isn't the way to learn.
I, personally, can make a car from any source as I know everything that is required when it comes to UV mapping layers, I know all of the shaders/techniques, I know how to animate parts and I know how to get it all done in ZModeler. So, a tool such as the meb exporter is of no use to me. For the most part, I help GVSE with the cars that he is choosing to put together. Those cars being mainly from S2U, but also drawn from other souces (Rfactor, Assetto Corsa, Porsche.com, etc). Sometimes I put together a car of my own if I'm real bored. I do like the creative part of making a car and working out physics. Should the new Forza6/FH3 models become properly extracted with correct groupings, correct scale, correct UV mapping and all textures, I would probably find myself making cars from those sources. I'm also looking at cars from other sources, but GVSE has put several cars into my queue to work on.
Physics porting. I can't speak for the others, but I write physics out from scratch. I don't retain (port) any physics calibrations from the souce of the model.
From what I heard about pCars2, the game can read still read the old Mebs. So, maybe the idea was to encrypt their new mebs to prevent ripping their work into other games. Not sure on this, because I'm not involved with pCars2 development/testing.
Physics tools.....
There's too many unknowns to have a tool be useful (IMO), especially in the chassis file. A tool for the engine and suspension would be usable. Gearbox is simple enough to create from scratch. I actually use your old "pCars Binary File Modification Tool" to make suspension files with new geometry and to generate an engine file (but I only copy out the torque curve data into my working EDFbin).
Another issue with some chassis files in pCars is that some areas have parameters disabled, such as aero, or the ability to tune various items...so, to get all of that working requires changing hex string id's, adding bytes/words, changing count registers at the beginning of the file. Even though I've made available the file translations started by you and expanded upon by me, people are still hesitant to tackle the coded files manually. To have a tool be useful would require making templates, based on car type/class/wheeldrive/shifting type/etc, while having all of the appropriate parameters enabled from the start.
Not sure if you saw my prior post on this thread as to my long absence from here.
Firstly, except for the Audi, everything else released to date by Machine Dojo has been some form of rip/port or cosmetic change. Your name is attached to that team...just had to mention this from your "why-bother-creating-just-steal" statement, when your team is not following their own mission statement (all cars being scratch made). Also, on those ripped cars made by your team, the source of the model is not openly mentioned. Obviously, it takes a long time to make scratch 3d models. Not everyone can do that type of work. So, many need to use existing models from other sources, including your own team. Of course, ripped models appear in every racing sim out there, this is nothing new.
Some people are new to conversions, so they are starting with prior SMS games as a means to port over....a little less work. Also, some people liked the cars in their prior games and wanted them in pCars. The issue is that people are not taking the time to understand the basics, such as shaders/techniques, UV layers and what belongs in each of those layers, how to properly use tools like Zmodeler beyond just clicking "import" and "export". It's up to each person to self educate....just blindly jumping in, then posting here asking for somebody to take over and finish isn't the way to learn.
I, personally, can make a car from any source as I know everything that is required when it comes to UV mapping layers, I know all of the shaders/techniques, I know how to animate parts and I know how to get it all done in ZModeler. So, a tool such as the meb exporter is of no use to me. For the most part, I help GVSE with the cars that he is choosing to put together. Those cars being mainly from S2U, but also drawn from other souces (Rfactor, Assetto Corsa, Porsche.com, etc). Sometimes I put together a car of my own if I'm real bored. I do like the creative part of making a car and working out physics. Should the new Forza6/FH3 models become properly extracted with correct groupings, correct scale, correct UV mapping and all textures, I would probably find myself making cars from those sources. I'm also looking at cars from other sources, but GVSE has put several cars into my queue to work on.
Physics porting. I can't speak for the others, but I write physics out from scratch. I don't retain (port) any physics calibrations from the souce of the model.
From what I heard about pCars2, the game can read still read the old Mebs. So, maybe the idea was to encrypt their new mebs to prevent ripping their work into other games. Not sure on this, because I'm not involved with pCars2 development/testing.
Physics tools.....
There's too many unknowns to have a tool be useful (IMO), especially in the chassis file. A tool for the engine and suspension would be usable. Gearbox is simple enough to create from scratch. I actually use your old "pCars Binary File Modification Tool" to make suspension files with new geometry and to generate an engine file (but I only copy out the torque curve data into my working EDFbin).
Another issue with some chassis files in pCars is that some areas have parameters disabled, such as aero, or the ability to tune various items...so, to get all of that working requires changing hex string id's, adding bytes/words, changing count registers at the beginning of the file. Even though I've made available the file translations started by you and expanded upon by me, people are still hesitant to tackle the coded files manually. To have a tool be useful would require making templates, based on car type/class/wheeldrive/shifting type/etc, while having all of the appropriate parameters enabled from the start.
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@Shiimis
JDougNY has covered everything so I'll just emphasize your 1st point:
Regarding meshes in PCars2: let's not jump the gun. So far all it means is that they don't want their own 3d assets to be opened and used outside the game, which is understandable; fair enough. It does not mean the game will not accept normal (non-obfuscated) mebs. This remains to be seen after the release of the game. Also any modding support is an open question and no-one knows (this includes WMD members) what it will be like (if any at all). So, right now we just don't know.
JDougNY has covered everything so I'll just emphasize your 1st point:
Regarding meshes in PCars2: let's not jump the gun. So far all it means is that they don't want their own 3d assets to be opened and used outside the game, which is understandable; fair enough. It does not mean the game will not accept normal (non-obfuscated) mebs. This remains to be seen after the release of the game. Also any modding support is an open question and no-one knows (this includes WMD members) what it will be like (if any at all). So, right now we just don't know.
@JDougNY
Welcome back, I hope you're doing ok. Yes you're right to point out that Machine Dojo Team does the same and I am part of the problem I was complaining about (although I'm not directly involved in their projects, just helping with tools for modding, but still).
But the fact you are still using zmodeler which produces files that require hex editing is beyond my comprehension, when the tool we made does everything for you and does not require any modifications to meb files once they are made. But I guess people tend to stick to old ways even if it means doing a lot of extra work.
What you say just confirms my belief that creating modding tools for this game is a waste of time. While I can make a tool which supports several templates, you're right about the fact that there is still very much we do not know about those physics files.
Regarding meb files, if you think that pcars2 will accept old style of mebs, then maybe it is worth working on meb exporter. If there is a way to convince you in the ease of use of MEB exporter, I could improve it's functionality. I already started working on feature which is similar to zmodeler's external ID (I just need some details regarding correct implementation) and I believe it is also possible to automate the lightglow meb creation, given that I have a full understanding of the problem and method that is used to solve it. I also have about 70% - 75% of bab/bas files translated, so in theory it is possible to create animated mebs (without using donor animation files). However currently I have no one to consult on these matters so I'm kinda stuck.
Welcome back, I hope you're doing ok. Yes you're right to point out that Machine Dojo Team does the same and I am part of the problem I was complaining about (although I'm not directly involved in their projects, just helping with tools for modding, but still).
But the fact you are still using zmodeler which produces files that require hex editing is beyond my comprehension, when the tool we made does everything for you and does not require any modifications to meb files once they are made. But I guess people tend to stick to old ways even if it means doing a lot of extra work.
What you say just confirms my belief that creating modding tools for this game is a waste of time. While I can make a tool which supports several templates, you're right about the fact that there is still very much we do not know about those physics files.
Regarding meb files, if you think that pcars2 will accept old style of mebs, then maybe it is worth working on meb exporter. If there is a way to convince you in the ease of use of MEB exporter, I could improve it's functionality. I already started working on feature which is similar to zmodeler's external ID (I just need some details regarding correct implementation) and I believe it is also possible to automate the lightglow meb creation, given that I have a full understanding of the problem and method that is used to solve it. I also have about 70% - 75% of bab/bas files translated, so in theory it is possible to create animated mebs (without using donor animation files). However currently I have no one to consult on these matters so I'm kinda stuck.
@JDougNY
Btw I remember we talked about zmodeler's meb exporter and you had theories about stuff it does (like the ending of the file). I had an opportunity to look at the actual source code of that plugin (provided by author of application himself) and I can safely say that there is nothing that zmod does that is not already achievable by using our MEB exporter. Sure things can be improved and features can be added, but the files created by it (given correctly prepared input data) provides the same functionality without the need to do any manual editing.
Btw I remember we talked about zmodeler's meb exporter and you had theories about stuff it does (like the ending of the file). I had an opportunity to look at the actual source code of that plugin (provided by author of application himself) and I can safely say that there is nothing that zmod does that is not already achievable by using our MEB exporter. Sure things can be improved and features can be added, but the files created by it (given correctly prepared input data) provides the same functionality without the need to do any manual editing.
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