Best Car and Track Mod Creators For GTR2?

[Townski]

I've recently got back into playing some GTR2 when I have some time free and it's been such a blast playing it again after all these years

Back in the day I installed alot of mods, mainly from No Grip Racing which I saw no longer exists. Would like to install extra Cars and Tracks but is there any particularly good Car and Track content creators people would recommend or specific Cars and Tracks to get in general?

Any help would be appreciated, thank you

 

[Speednut357]

Hello, the collaboration between GTR233's 16th-anniversary patch and Crew Chief introduces a substantial enhancement to the game. This update not only brings about graphical improvements and introduces high-quality cars and tracks but also incorporates several enhancements through Crew Chief. Among these, my preferred addition is the Real Feel Force Feedback that is enabled by Crew Chief.
There are numerous mods and tracks to choose from, but if you're looking for a good starting point, these two are highly recommended.

 

[dwightyone]

There are so many...my only advice is if you go for track or car mods don't go for massive file size ones. I now keep tracks on average to 100mb most in size - I made an exception for the Race 07 version of Nordscheliefe. With cars I tend to stick to simbin's cars from their entire catalogue i.e. from Race 07 and it's DLC also. They tend to work better in fps and the look of them suit GTR2. For example I did try some grid prototypes cars and some cars from need for speed shift and the cockpits looked unnatural in GTR2 for me. Saying that there are some Forza models from Forza 2-3 which look pretty good in GTR2. Aside from Virtua Le Mans stuff I find rfactor mods for GTR2 hit and miss, mainly miss - maybe I need to be educated by someone on that count. I concur the Anniversary patch and Crew Chief are default essential in my eyes - the latter can do magic for GTR2 where you have AA to die for. This sim is the best since sliced bread for me.

Lots of stuff here: https://esport-racing.de

By the way - does anyone know of F1 track pack for GTR2 - I can see EEC forums have a pack apparently but I don't have enough rep' to gain access to them. If they are freely available elsewhere does anyone know where?

 

[Caribstu]

There are so many...my only advice is if you go for track or car mods don't go for massive file size ones. I now keep tracks on average to 100mb most in size - I made an exception for the Race 07 version of Nordscheliefe. With cars I tend to stick to simbin's cars from their entire catalogue i.e. from Race 07 and it's DLC also. They tend to work better in fps and the look of them suit GTR2. For example I did try some grid prototypes cars and some cars from need for speed shift and the cockpits looked unnatural in GTR2 for me. Saying that there are some Forza models from Forza 2-3 which look pretty good in GTR2. Aside from Virtua Le Mans stuff I find rfactor mods for GTR2 hit and miss, mainly miss - maybe I need to be educated by someone on that count. I concur the Anniversary patch and Crew Chief are default essential in my eyes - the latter can do magic for GTR2 where you have AA to die for. This sim is the best since sliced bread for me.

Lots of stuff here: https://esport-racing.de

By the way - does anyone know of F1 track pack for GTR2 - I can see EEC forums have a pack apparently but I don't have enough rep' to gain access to them. If they are freely available elsewhere does anyone know where?

DM me regarding the EEC F1 tracks.

 

[jgf]

By the way - does anyone know of F1 track pack for GTR2 - I can see EEC forums have a pack apparently but I don't have enough rep' to gain access to them. If they are freely available elsewhere does anyone know where?

Virtually every track F1 has used the past forty years is available, though you will probably have to track them down individually. In many cases there are several versions from which to choose, either mere graphics differences or representing plan changes for various years (look at Silverstone, the "chicane of the month" track).

 

[Townski]

Thank you for the responses so far been helpful!

Two questions I have, I did attempt to get the 16th Anniversary Patch installed and I followed the instructions but I ended up getting into a bit of a muddle with it. Don't suppose someone could advise me how to install that correctly? Also when it comes to track mods in particular, I installed a Mid Ohio track, did a race but the AI never pitted for fuel and when I pitted for my second time I automatically retired? When it comes to bugs with track mods and the AI, how common are these?

 

[Caribstu]

Thank you for the responses so far been helpful!

Two questions I have, I did attempt to get the 16th Anniversary Patch installed and I followed the instructions but I ended up getting into a bit of a muddle with it. Don't suppose someone could advise me how to install that correctly? Also when it comes to track mods in particular, I installed a Mid Ohio track, did a race but the AI never pitted for fuel and when I pitted for my second time I automatically retired? When it comes to bugs with track mods and the AI, how common are these?

Check the GDB file and see what the settings are. It's likely the AI are on a no stop strategy. You can change this by altering the settings file to have the AI start on a specific tyre option, and fuel level, then one, two, or three stops.

In game load the track and load your race settings file.
Edit it to select the tyres and fuel stops you want the AI to run.
Save the new AI setting file with a specific name,
Example : MidOhioAIstrategy
then exit the game.

Open the GDB file in notepad and find the text SettingsAI = MidOhio.svm (or whatever its called)
Edit that text to read with the same name as how you saved the AI strategy settings
Example:
SettingsAI = MidOhioAIstrategy .svm

Save and close

Reload the game and the AI should now start the race using the strategy you've created.
You can run with the same settings, with the same strategy, or use a different settings file.

 

[Caribstu]

You don't have to do that, you can look in the GDB and see which settings the AI are using, and then simply edit that file in game to reflect the strategy you want them on. BUT.... by doing it the way I suggest, you will have a definitive race strategy for the AI, and you can be on a different strategy entirely.

So for example, the AI could be on a one stop strategy, running on full tanks, starting on medium tyres and stopping at 3/4 distance for tyres only. Where as you are starting on half tanks and soft tyres, stop for new softs, and then make a second stop for fuel and mediums. Just for example. Putting yourself on a different strategy to the AI can make it interesting.

I did a race last night where the strategy meant i had to build a 35 second lead to pit and come out in front. Ended up only having a 26 second lead, so when exited the pits I was down in fourth, but on new tyres, with ten laps to go.

 

[jgf]

The "settingsAI=" is for assigning the AI a setup for that track, and is car specific. For example, I create my setup for a certain Mustang for ThisTrack, copy that setup to the folder for that Mustang and rename it "ThisTrack.svm" (use what ever name is specified in that section of the trak gdb file). And in your plr file enable :

Vehicle Specific AI Setups="1" // If 1, search specific vehicle directory for "<track>.<qual/race>.svm" or "<track>.svm" or "ai.svm" before falling back on game.gdb defaults
Default Player Setup="1"

Now any AI driving that Mustang at that track will use that setup.

In the track AIW file is "FuelUse=", which modifies the fuel consumption value in the cars eng files, and is a simple way of controlling when they pit. If one type of car consistently isn't pitting as you like, edit that consumption value in its eng file. Note that AI will often pit early if they take a certain level of damage in one hit, not cumulative; cumulative damage will slow them but they will not pit for it (there are other AI adjustments for this).

 

[Caribstu]

The "settingsAI=" is for assigning the AI a setup for that track, and is car specific. For example, I create my setup for a certain Mustang for ThisTrack, copy that setup to the folder for that Mustang and rename it "ThisTrack.svm" (use what ever name is specified in that section of the trak gdb file). And in your plr file enable :

Vehicle Specific AI Setups="1" // If 1, search specific vehicle directory for "<track>.<qual/race>.svm" or "<track>.svm" or "ai.svm" before falling back on game.gdb defaults
Default Player Setup="1"

Now any AI driving that Mustang at that track will use that setup.

In the track AIW file is "FuelUse=", which modifies the fuel consumption value in the cars eng files, and is a simple way of controlling when they pit. If one type of car consistently isn't pitting as you like, edit that consumption value in its eng file. Note that AI will often pit early if they take a certain level of damage in one hit, not cumulative; cumulative damage will slow them but they will not pit for it (there are other AI adjustments for this).

Ok. Interesting. Never thought of doing it that way.
I may be wrong here, but If you create the AI.svm as a car specific file, presumably that would be perfect for a single make series. As all AI cars will apply the .svm
Where are you telling the game to use that AI.svm for that car? In the HDC file?

However, if it's not a single make series and not all AI are using the same model of car, would you need to create an AI.svm for every type of car in the race for each track used?

If so, would specifying the AI.svm in the track GDB mean regardless of the car the AI is using, all AI will use the desired set up?

 

[jgf]

You must enable those two lines in the plr file for the AI to use custom setups, otherwise they use hard-coded defaults. Their setup files must then be in the root folder of that car type (where the hdc files, etc. are located) and properly named for the track, and yes you should have a setup for each type of car in the series, you can even have separate qual and race setups for each if you like (if there is not a custom setup found the default will be used). The lines in the gdb file tell what file name the AI will use, if there is not a file with that name in the car folder they will use defaults.

When you start a race the sim will check for a setup file for each car for that track as the cars are loaded. A simple check that all is working is to give one car type a wretched setup - gearing way too high or too low, for example - and start a single make race with them; you should immediately notice a difference.

Since I try to work up a setup for every car and every track I just give the AI my setups; on very fast tracks you may want to give them a slightly taller top gear. You may need to then tweak the talent files to further optimize their performance.

I recommend the "Von Dutch AI Tutorial", in the library here, it goes into great detail on this and other aspects of AI. It is a long tedious process to get them all adjusted but is worth it, you'll be surprised how good racing you can have with them.

 

[Caribstu]

You must enable those two lines in the plr file for the AI to use custom setups, otherwise they use hard-coded defaults. Their setup files must then be in the root folder of that car type (where the hdc files, etc. are located) and properly named for the track, and yes you should have a setup for each type of car in the series, you can even have separate qual and race setups for each if you like (if there is not a custom setup found the default will be used). The lines in the gdb file tell what file name the AI will use, if there is not a file with that name in the car folder they will use defaults.

When you start a race the sim will check for a setup file for each car for that track as the cars are loaded. A simple check that all is working is to give one car type a wretched setup - gearing way too high or too low, for example - and start a single make race with them; you should immediately notice a difference.

Since I try to work up a setup for every car and every track I just give the AI my setups; on very fast tracks you may want to give them a slightly taller top gear. You may need to then tweak the talent files to further optimize their performance.

I recommend the "Von Dutch AI Tutorial", in the library here, it goes into great detail on this and other aspects of AI. It is a long tedious process to get them all adjusted but is worth it, you'll be surprised how good racing you can have with them.

Ok.
What i've been doing is adding the AI Settings line in the GDB and ensuring the correct track .svm is in the relevant settings file. I'll look into this method you're suggesting and give the Von Dutch a read.