Wish: Vanilla GTR2 Fixed and Maxxed Out

[Shovas]

I wish there were a mod, like HQ Anniversary Patch, that fixed all the known issues with vanilla GTR2 and maxxed out any current limitations as much as the engine will allow.

Does something like this exist? Is there a known set of mods addressing each bug in original content?

For example,

- Hockenheim AI are bugged: They drive around at pit speed (Steam only?)

- Mirrors can be a lot better but requires using tools to edit tracks

- Track optimizing for pop-in, frame rate, etc.

- So many issues HQ Anniversary Patch fixes but that are not applied to original content

Just fixing and maxxing out what's there, not upgrading textures, or sounds, or physics, etc. Just using the engine to see what GTR2 looks like at its best. This would give us the best vanilla experience.

The reason I'd like to see vanilla GTR2 fixed is because I've learned that I need to develop my mods against vanilla GTR2 for the best chance of compatibility with other mods because they, too, are developed against vanilla GTR2.

If I develop against a particular mod then the mod becomes a variable and the results feel good with that one mod but often don't feel good or aren't even compatible with other mods.

GTR233 has gone to a lot of work to fix all the issues I can think of but they're applied to HQ versions of the content and I think include other non-original upgrades mixed in.

Non exhaustive list of fixes in HQ Cars&Tracks (all these bugs are present in Original GTR2 + Official SimBin patch 1.1) :
- fixed bad engine sound location in some cars
- fixed bad driver/hands/feet positions in some cars
- fixed BMW_MCOUPE_CHASSIS_A.GMT
- fixed MC12 steering wheel in showroom
- fixed Anderstorp/Donington/Dubai/Monza/Enna max vehicles
- fixed Donington pitcrew position
- fixed Oschersleben safety car position which blocked cars pit exit
- fixed Oschersleben invisible start lights box
- fixed AI qualification/race speed huge gap
- fixed Viper Roos Optima wheels style
- fixed GDB championships (skip Qualif.1 to avoid random grid bug)
- fixed BMW M3GTR CPIT03 MASK
- fixed Chrysler Viper Zwann's cockpit
- fixed F575 BODY MASK
- fixed MAGNETTI MT940 SURROUND MASK
- fixed 996 INTERIOR3
- fixed Viper GTS-R rear lights bloom
- fixed F550/F575 steering wheels
- fixed safety car roof lights
- fixed Lamborghini masks
- fixed TVR masks
- fixed dash redlights misalignment (MC12, 993, 996RS-RSR)
- fixed wrong tyres for 993GT2 Proton Competition (Yokohama and not Dunlop)
- fixed 996 RS 03072 Seikel Motor Sport logo on side wing
- fixed 996 RS 03085 JVG exhausts transparency
- fixed 996 R 03061 EMKA GT3 R logo on back
- fixed 996 RS 04105 Emeraude Racing skin and wheels
- fixed Mosler rear lights
- fixed Stack LCD glitch (PRACTICE/WARMUP/RACE were randomly displayed over laptime)
- fixed Gillet shoulders in mirror
- fixed 996GT2BT gearbox
- fixed Seat toledo gearbox
- fixed F360 spin when downshifting from 2nd to 1st gear
- fixed F360 03052/03053 wrong tyres (Pirelli and not Dunlop)
- fixed F550 Wieth wrong tyres (Dunlop and not Pirelli)
- fixed M3GTR cube maps in mirrors
- fixed F575 wrong cube maps on steering wheels
- fixed RSR hood/door misalignment
- fixed TVR rain screen wrong direction (rain falls from top to bottom and not right to left)
- fixed mosler wrong cube maps in cockpit
- fixed 350z cockpit/banner
- fixed 996GT2 chassis style2 black polygon
- fixed tracks black polygons
- fixed shaders
- fixed unfair AI tyre wear in default game where AI can keep tyres longer than player
- fixed crazy damage bug for viper GTS-R
- fixed all brake discs size/position, disc glow and added nice aluminium reflection on every brake disc
- fixed radiator opening reversed values
- fixed Z3/Lotus/C5R/viperCC/F360/F550/lambo/lister/morgan/mosler/GT3Cup-RS/saleen missing wing shadow
- fixed Viper rear shadow bug by night
- fixed TVR rear shadow bug by night
- fixed BMW M/F360/Lambo/Lotus slick tread always ON : now you will see intermediate/hard wet/soft wet tread too
- fixed BMW M3 GTR too dark tread
- fixed wheel ffb clipping for some cars and central dead zone
- fixed Corvette C5R steering wheel position to see oil pressure needle
- fixed Seat toledo steering wheel black polygon
- fixed Viper Roos broken LCD gear indicator and enabled it for all Vipers
- fixed F575 center mirror (image is no more deformed and tiny holes have been removed)
- fixed Murcielago mirrors (removed abnormal cube map reflection)
- fixed MC12 motec bug : removed the black polygon and made the RPM lights work
- fixed F360 cockpit glitches (fixed roof blurry texture, fixed misspelling "IGNITION", fixed "PULL" misalignment)
- fixed F550 Wieth anti-roll bars wrong spec map
- fixed Saleen broken RPM lights
- fixed M3GTR classe to be seen as G2 and not GT
- fixed Vertigo gear display position for better visibility
- fixed corvette black polygon on right door
- fixed lamborghini broken 6th RPM led
- fixed GT3CUP-RS-RSR low fuel led misalignment
- fixed F550 Pi dash fuel/speed misalignment
- fixed broken dash lights (Rev limiter/Shift) in F550 Wieth
- fixed chassis holes in 996 GT2 biturbo
- fixed center mirror in 350z
- fixed Lotus Elise mirrors position and wiper glitch in cockpit
- fixed Morgan broken wheel leds
- fixed P993 GT2 black polygon bug on front chassis
- fixed F550 Wieth deformed mirrors
- fixed Anderstorp weed
- fixed Barcelona bridge reversed textures
- fixed fake gauges in F550 cockpit with real working ones
- fixed broken LEDs on BMW Z3 dash
- fixed C5.R rollcage top front bar which was too low and too big
- fixed headlights flickering and added White/Yellow/Endurance styles
- fixed non working endurance lights for RS#160/RSR#66
- fixed hockenheim speed limiter bug on pit exit
- fixed Barcelona flickering pit walk under rain
- fixed missing ExtDriver-ShiftR_M.LMA/ExtDriver-ShiftL_M.LMA driver animations
- fixed rain bug in TVR cockpit doors
- fixed F360 #72 endurance lights
Plus,
- increased resistance to damages to prevent AI to pit in for small aero damages
- increased driver seat position range (use LEFT or RIGHT MOUSE BUTTON then drag mouse to adjust view)
- removed bump maps from Morgan/ViperCC/350Z cockpits because of cartoon/plastic effect
- removed spa invisible wall in pits
- updated Enna tyres stack with moving ones
- updated 996CUP #123/124 ugly safety net with nicer one from ViperCC
- updated 996 RS with 3 styles : Motec+H gearbox / Motec+Seq gearbox / Stack+H gearbox
- updated all MoTeC/Pi/Stack fonts, display and cube maps, added red zone to Stack and added rev limit to MoTeC
- added 996 GT3 R versions
- added missing brakes/tyres temperatures motec line : now available in ALL cars (cycles show lap time, oil/water/tyres/brakes temperatures)
- added specific Ferrari/Porsche brakes
- added missing #109 Porsche GT3 CUP from 24h Spa 2003 event
- added laptimer to all cars with flags/pit icons
- added missing safety net in #108 C5R cockpit
- added wipers and dirt/rain effects on side windows
- fixed many black polygons on some cars

I've been searching and haven't really been able to find an effort like this.

Am I missing something?

 

[Kenneth Jurmann]

I thought the same thing yesterday but was too lazy to wright it all down. So first off all, thank you for taking the time and secondly, thank you for bringing it up.

I would love to have all the known fixes and optimizations for the original content. I somehow don't like the HQ stuff too much.

 

[Jempy]

I'm not sure this should be really legal ....
In fact @GTR233 does what Ilja does with AC .... adding something better above the original content but keeping the original content without modifying it.

HQ Anniversary Patch ... works like a big mod but doesn't replace anything of the original content.... That way, there might not be any legal problem with the original authors.

 

[Shovas]

I love HQ Anniversary Patch and I have a dedicated GTR2 drop just for that so I can play HQ Season 2005 in all its glory so don't get me wrong. GTR233 deserves a medal or something for his contributions to GTR2

But when I need the vanilla version it would be nice to have all the fixes.

That's why I call it a wish. Can't really expect anyone to do it for me. There's a lot track and car editing expertise needed to fix a lot of these issues. If it was just text files I would've already done it.

 

[Shovas]

I'm not sure this should be really legal ....
In fact @GTR233 does what Ilja does with AC .... adding something better above the original content but keeping the original content without modifying it.

HQ Anniversary Patch ... works like a big mod but doesn't replace anything of the original content.... That way, there might not be any legal problem with the original authors.

I've never really heard that angle on it before. Has it ever been an issue?

There must be tonnes of mods that change original content?

 

[GTR233]

At the beginning of 10th Anniversary patch 7 years ago this is what I did, updating only stock game with screenshots comparison for each fix, but very soon many members at nogripracing complained that many mods were broken because of my patches, this is the reason why I created separate HQ cars/tracks which are independant from stock vanilla game : as jempy said, with this strategy HQ Anniversary patch is compatible with 99% of all mods/skins available since 2006 (1% which modify STEX.GTR/TEAMMAPS.GTR files will break my patch though).

At the beginning I did not know 3d so I asked friends to make 3d patches (Arthur, Bjarne, DerDumeklemmer, Philipp and Scorpyo) then I learned 3D and the number of fixes and their quality increased a lot along the years, I did myself most of the content of hq anniversary patch alone (more than 2Go) while I asked for permission to friends when quality content already existed (DucFreak UI, Shovas FFB, etc...)... but many modders refused to give me permission to use their work so I had to do equivalent myself.
AFAIK nobody else but me worked on stock game to track and to patch all bugs found in all areas during 7 long years because all the modders focused on bringing new content mostly conversions from other games and it is understandable as SHIFT/GRID/AC/RF2 mods make original low polygons gtr2 content looks like LEGO graphics in comparison (I exagerate but this is the idea).

Stock GTR2 has ton of small bugs everywhere and the list of fixes you quoted from hq patch readme is far from exhaustive as I stopped to update it long time ago.

Last but not least, you can deactivate most HQ updates with GTR2_SETUP.CMD for a stock game experience.

 

[Need_For_Speed]

For example,

- Hockenheim AI are bugged: They drive around at pit speed (Steam only?)

- Mirrors can be a lot better but requires using tools to edit tracks

- Track optimizing for pop-in, frame rate, etc.

- So many issues HQ Anniversary Patch fixes but that are not applied to original content

Just fixing and maxxing out what's there, not upgrading textures, or sounds, or physics, etc. Just using the engine to see what GTR2 looks like at its best. This would give us the best vanilla experience.

Hi Shovas,

- Hockenheim AI works fine on retail version, also my physics mod upgrades tracks AIWs so AI are much more competitive and I have included all the necessary setups for them as well,

- I don't have problems with tracks pop ups and frame rate. I have LODs set at 120%. For the smooth frame rates you must run multi CPU utility like Process Lasso. It makes a huge difference,

- I will take care of last 3 areas. As you know I have already released new physics mod which was the hardest and most time consuming part. Currently working on a mega sound pack which will be a game changer. Complete game remaster is next, which I have already tested for some cars and tracks with promising results.

 

[Need_For_Speed]

Stock GTR2 has ton of small bugs everywhere and the list of fixes you quoted from hq patch readme is far from exhaustive as I stopped to update it long time ago.

Do you have full patch log saved somewhere?

 

[Shovas]

Thanks GTR233 your work is amazing!

I think there's value in having both kinds of mods. Mods that upgrade and mods that improve the vanilla experience as much as possible. Then we can have the best of both worlds.

I have started building out a folder that will become a mod if I find value in it of all the fixes and vanilla improvements that I can find. I don't have expertise editing tracks or cars which is a lot of the fixes GTR233 has done so for now I'm just looking for pre-existing fixes.

Just starting has already got some ideas flowing.

Here's what I've recorded in the plans so far:

- [Mirrors] Increase resolution

- [Mirrors] Increase draw distance

- [Hockenheim] Fix AI stuck at pit speed while out on track

- [UserData PLR] Provide maximum graphics parameters

  - See "MODS\...\User - Graphics Options.PLR"

- [Defviews] Optimize defviews.cam?

- [CAR Files] Fix bad seat movement range params (ie. negatives in MaxSeatRear/Front, MaxSeatUp/Down)

    Fix bad negatives:

    Find:    MaxSeat(Rear|Up)=\s*-
    Replace: MaxSeat\1=

    Find:    MaxSeat(Front|Down)=\s*[^-]
    Replace: MaxSeat\1=-

- [CAR Files] Extend seat movement range (ie. MaxSeatRear/Front, MaxSeatUp/Down)

    Set new adjustment values:

    Find:    MaxSeat(Rear|Front)=((-)?[\d\.]*)
    Replace: MaxSeat\1=\31.20 // DEFAULT=\2

    Find:    MaxSeat(Up|Down)=((-)?[\d\.]*)
    Replace: MaxSeat\1=\30.50 // DEFAULT=\2
   
- [HDC Files] Optimize car ffb multiplier (ie. SteeringFFBMult)

    *.HDC:

    Find:    SteeringFFBMult=[\d\.]*
    Replace: SteeringFFBMult=1.0
   
- [Settings DDB] Disable SpinRecovery on Novice / Disable by default but allow changing if possible

    Difficulty {
     Beginner {
      Assist {
       SpinRecovery = 0
     
- [Settings DDB] Allow disabling damage even on Simulation mode

    Difficulty {
     Professional {
      Assist {
       Invulnerability = 1

This might also provide some insight and context into what I picture such a mod including.

There's so much more, of course, but it would just be a V1.

 

[Shovas]

Hi Shovas,

- Hockenheim AI works fine on retail version, also my physics mod upgrades tracks AIWs so AI are much more competitive and I have included all the necessary setups for them as well,

Just got a recommendation to check out your stuff so I'll take a look

- I don't have problems with tracks pop ups and frame rate. I have LODs set at 120%. For the smooth frame rates you must run multi CPU utility like Process Lasso. It makes a huge difference,

Yes, I use process lasso, but I think due to unoptimized code it can still bog on older but still strong cpus like my old i7 2600k @4.2Ghz. I noticed rain reflections were hard on it so I had those disabled until I upgraded my hardware recently.

Also, from what I gather from some other people here it seems like patching this into the EXE is not much of a problem anymore. It'd be great if we could make something like the 4GB patcher tool to patch in using all cores.

- I will take care of last 3 areas. As you know I have already released new physics mod which was the hardest and most time consuming part. Currently working on a mega sound pack which will be a game changer. Complete game remaster is next, which I have already tested for some cars and tracks with promising results.

I didn't read closely enough you're saying you're already handling fixes like this in vanilla GTR2? That would be super.

 

[GTR233]

Thanks GTR233 your work is amazing!

I think there's value in having both kinds of mods. Mods that upgrade and mods that improve the vanilla experience as much as possible. Then we can have the best of both worlds.

I have started building out a folder that will become a mod if I find value in it of all the fixes and vanilla improvements that I can find. I don't have expertise editing tracks or cars which is a lot of the fixes GTR233 has done so for now I'm just looking for pre-existing fixes.

Just starting has already got some ideas flowing.

Here's what I've recorded in the plans so far:

- [Mirrors] Increase resolution

- [Mirrors] Increase draw distance

- [Hockenheim] Fix AI stuck at pit speed while out on track

- [UserData PLR] Provide maximum graphics parameters

  - See "MODS\...\User - Graphics Options.PLR"

- [Defviews] Optimize defviews.cam?

- [CAR Files] Fix bad seat movement range params (ie. negatives in MaxSeatRear/Front, MaxSeatUp/Down)

    Fix bad negatives:

    Find:    MaxSeat(Rear|Up)=\s*-
    Replace: MaxSeat\1=

    Find:    MaxSeat(Front|Down)=\s*[^-]
    Replace: MaxSeat\1=-

- [CAR Files] Extend seat movement range (ie. MaxSeatRear/Front, MaxSeatUp/Down)

    Set new adjustment values:

    Find:    MaxSeat(Rear|Front)=((-)?[\d\.]*)
    Replace: MaxSeat\1=\31.20 // DEFAULT=\2

    Find:    MaxSeat(Up|Down)=((-)?[\d\.]*)
    Replace: MaxSeat\1=\30.50 // DEFAULT=\2
  
- [HDC Files] Optimize car ffb multiplier (ie. SteeringFFBMult)

    *.HDC:

    Find:    SteeringFFBMult=[\d\.]*
    Replace: SteeringFFBMult=1.0
  
- [Settings DDB] Disable SpinRecovery on Novice / Disable by default but allow changing if possible

    Difficulty {
     Beginner {
      Assist {
       SpinRecovery = 0
    
- [Settings DDB] Allow disabling damage even on Simulation mode

    Difficulty {
     Professional {
      Assist {
       Invulnerability = 1

This might also provide some insight and context into what I picture such a mod including.

There's so much more, of course, but it would just be a V1.

I have already done all what you listed in HQ cars/tracks, except simulation mode where you must disable all aids otherwise set semi-pro to get no damage option. I set different values options for each car class with less and less aids each time you increase level, otherwise there is no more interest to change car class if options are always the same, final goal is to increase challenge till simulation level.

 

[Need_For_Speed]

I didn't read closely enough you're saying you're already handling fixes like this in vanilla GTR2? That would be super.

My improvements are meant for the original content yes. The goal is to remake stock GTR2 to a more authentic experience in 3 core areas. I will try to include as many fixes as possible.