Tracks Help modding track with new start/finish lines

[de Pawel]

Hey all

I'm trying to make...what I believe is a relatively simple mod, but despite my best efforts, my skills and understanding of how modding works are clearly not there.

What I'm looking to do is create a new version of the Nordschleife, but it would have a separate start and finish line (similar to the Touristenfahrten, but instead utilizing the pit straight). It would mainly involve creating new start and finish lines. Maybe removing the start points and adding a barrier / fence in a few places, but all of that is secondary. I've tried reading tutorials and watching videos, but I just don't understand how the file system works in AC.

If anybody wants to help me creating this mod, or give me a step-by-step walkthrough of what I'm doing, I would be extremely grateful.

Thanks in advance

 

[mgcg12]

afaik the only way to do it is editing the .kn5... and since you dont have the original .fbx it seems you have to export the .kn5 and the problem is you lose texture information and you need to texture everything again... maybe theres a way of doing it with lua scripting but i dont really know

 

[de Pawel]

afaik the only way to do it is editing the .kn5... and since you dont have the original .fbx it seems you have to export the .kn5 and the problem is you lose texture information and you need to texture everything again... maybe theres a way of doing it with lua scripting but i dont really know

So I have exported the files to fbx, but that's where I'm getting stuck. I've narrowed down the files, but I can't figure out how to edit them directly. I can't open them in Blender, and I don't understand how to work from scratch.

 

[mgcg12]

So I have exported the files to fbx, but that's where I'm getting stuck. I've narrowed down the files, but I can't figure out how to edit them directly. I can't open them in Blender, and I don't understand how to work from scratch.

you should be able to open .fbx converted from .kn5 on blender. how did you convert it? why cant you open the fbx in blender? do you get an error or something

 

[mgcg12]

Basically, this is what you have to do.

1. Convert kn5 to fbx with kn5conv.exe
2. Import to Blender, if you get ASCII error convert fbx file with Autodesk FBX Converter (https://aps.autodesk.com/developer/overview/fbx-converter-archives)
3. Edit the start/finish elements im showing on 3rd pic

...but honestly its all pointless imo since you lose all texture information, i think you really need the original .fbx to do something like you want :l ... ive been there, as you can see

 

[de Pawel]

Basically, this is what you have to do.

1. Convert kn5 to fbx with kn5conv.exe
2. Import to Blender, if you get ASCII error convert fbx file with Autodesk FBX Converter (https://aps.autodesk.com/developer/overview/fbx-converter-archives)
3. Edit the start/finish elements im showing on 3rd pic

...but honestly its all pointless imo since you lose all texture information, i think you really need the original .fbx to do something like you want :l ... ive been there, as you can see

Ok. I got the files converted, and I'm trying to make the changes I need, but now I'm having trouble creating a new Start line within the same folder (I may be using the wrong terms). I was going to duplicate the objects for the finish line, then move them and rename them, but when I copy them, they create a new folder.

((Thanks again for your advice. You're already helping a ton.))

 

[Stereo]

...but honestly its all pointless imo since you lose all texture information, i think you really need the original .fbx to do something like you want :l ... ive been there, as you can see

If you lose texture information, you're extracting the fbx wrong (or using wrong tools). It should create both fbx and the fbx.ini containing material properties.

 

[mgcg12]

If you lose texture information, you're extracting the fbx wrong (or using wrong tools). It should create both fbx and the fbx.ini containing material properties.

Cool, can you provide some info on how to extract the .fbx properly then?

 

[mgcg12]

Ok. I got the files converted, and I'm trying to make the changes I need, but now I'm having trouble creating a new Start line within the same folder (I may be using the wrong terms). I was going to duplicate the objects for the finish line, then move them and rename them, but when I copy them, they create a new folder.

((Thanks again for your advice. You're already helping a ton.))

View attachment 750071View attachment 750070

Hi friend, in order do duplicate objects in blender, you have to select the parent object (the one youre calling folder) and the object inside it. You click on them both holding CTRL, then move the mouse cursor to the main 3d screen and press Shift + D, following by ESC to cancel the automatic position transform.

After duplicating, then you move the parent object (folder) to the desired position and the object inside will follow.

 

[de Pawel]

Hi friend, in order do duplicate objects in blender, you have to select the parent object (the one youre calling folder) and the object inside it. You click on them both holding CTRL, then move the mouse cursor to the main 3d screen and press Shift + D, following by ESC to cancel the automatic position transform.

After duplicating, then you move the parent object (folder) to the desired position and the object inside will follow.

Alright, so I've made some progress. Now I've reached a new hurdle:
I'm tossing around adding some barriers into the closed section of the track. Since it's pretty much the same as how things go on the Touristenfahrten, I tried to lift these objects from that file. But when I try to move the objects to the other collection, they move to some wonky places and they disappear. They're still on the list, but in the rendering there's nothing there.
And even if I leave them, they are way offset from the centerpoint of the object, which makes them really difficult to move.
(Also, if I could edit the shape of the objects at all, that would be great, but can't figure that out either.)

Any ideas?

 

[mgcg12]

Alright, so I've made some progress. Now I've reached a new hurdle:
I'm tossing around adding some barriers into the closed section of the track. Since it's pretty much the same as how things go on the Touristenfahrten, I tried to lift these objects from that file. But when I try to move the objects to the other collection, they move to some wonky places and they disappear. They're still on the list, but in the rendering there's nothing there.
And even if I leave them, they are way offset from the centerpoint of the object, which makes them really difficult to move.
(Also, if I could edit the shape of the objects at all, that would be great, but can't figure that out either.)

Any ideas?

View attachment 750937

View attachment 750938

That might be an object origin problem. Make sure the objects inside the collections have their transform set to 0,0,0, and when you want to move them, you move the collection.

To fix the origin position of an object, first press Shift+S > Cursor to world origin, then right click the object > Set origin > Origin to 3d cursor. Do that on the object and the collection, just in case. I believe this will fix your issue!

I still want to know how to convert kn5 to fbx without losing material/texture information like someone else commented in this post

 

[de Pawel]

That might be an object origin problem. Make sure the objects inside the collections have their transform set to 0,0,0, and when you want to move them, you move the collection.

To fix the origin position of an object, first press Shift+S > Cursor to world origin, then right click the object > Set origin > Origin to 3d cursor. Do that on the object and the collection, just in case. I believe this will fix your issue!

I still want to know how to convert kn5 to fbx without losing material/texture information like someone else commented in this post

The Transforms were already at 0,0,0. Despite that, the objects are still offset from the origin point. When I set cursor to world origin, and origin to 3d cursor, there was no change.

 

[de Pawel]

That might be an object origin problem. Make sure the objects inside the collections have their transform set to 0,0,0, and when you want to move them, you move the collection.

To fix the origin position of an object, first press Shift+S > Cursor to world origin, then right click the object > Set origin > Origin to 3d cursor. Do that on the object and the collection, just in case. I believe this will fix your issue!

I still want to know how to convert kn5 to fbx without losing material/texture information like someone else commented in this post

And a further issue:

I tried to do some testing, but I can't even get the track to load. It pops up this error, which makes me think that it's not being treated as an A-to-B correctly, but I've done everything I can figure out.