Project CARS Modding Questions & WIP

[Didouc]

Hello everybody, I see that the best are back on the forum it's good.
@Shiimis your tools are good especially engine tool, for me the most important is to make a Chassis tool.
Thanks to all to share your works.

Regards,
Fred

 

[gvse]

2006 Chevrolet c6z06 is out (with S2U disc-check) at NoGrip.
Brought to you by me and JDougNY

 

[JDougNY]

@ shiimis
Firstly, if somebody is simply taking models from TDFRL or S2U, they are wasting their time with the meb exporter...there is only some minor edits needed in a few mebs, along with basic things like removing static wipers, adding some wiper masks, animating shift paddles...simple stuff.

Secondly, I know how to work with Zmodeler and get around it's little quirks (the old NFS Shift filter it uses)....the others out there don't.

What I don't like about meb exporter is the need to install 3dsmax, which I feel is overkill, along with cross converting between various formats to finally arrive back to a meb. Also, things like animating and external state ID's end up needing Zmodeler.
I only read the instructions on the meb exported and did not test it out.
So, is it able to do this?....
UV layer 1 - mapped to choose a color on a multi-colored texture
UV layer 2 - a different mapping that is scaled over windscreen reflection
UV layer 3 - another unique mapping of uniform scale for cracks/rain effects
UV layer 4 - another unique mapping to the wiper mask

Note: each of the mappings above are different, it's not the same mapping reused on each layer.

Can it set and retain external state ID's for lighting poygons?
Can it handle skeleton/bones/animating?

If the meb exporter can't do what I can do Zmodeler as listed above, it's of no real use to me, at least.

 

[Shiimis]

yes it can have up to 4 different UV layers. If you agree to help I can make the external state ID working. I can also add easily animation data (that is in the meb file, I can also add generation of animation bab/bas files). I also can add a direct shift2u > pcars meb conversion so no external apps like 3dsmax are needed. I can also add a MEB > DAE converter which will effectively enable you to edit model in almost any modern 3d editor. I just need to consult someone who understands 3d better than I do from time to time. And currently I have no one to help me.

 

[JDougNY]

@Shiimis
Not committing at this point....just thinking out loud....
Hmmm....the multiple UV layers is one of the quirky things in Zmod. The solution is Zmod is simple, but requires some extra steps...nothing all that time consuming.
So, the first thing is locking into a 3d program that can handle 4 UV layers and accept models in format of OBJ, GMT, etc (thinking outside of general S2U/TDFRL mebs). For instance, if I'm working with Forza models, I'm starting with OBJ format. For other sources, I might export out source models as GMT as a starting point.
Does 4 UV mapping layers put things back into having to use 3dsmax or are there other programs that are capable....that is the question?...
I just don't care for too much cross converting between formats before editing can begin. Likewise, having to do cross converting on something exported. Sometimes, the cross converting will degrade the quality of the model (shading, precision, normals).

ha....you p.m'd me as I posted this.

 

[walken]

@JDougNY & @gvse

Wow wow wow Love your cars, so different !!! You can learn them and drive faster and faster every new lap ! Thank you so much for your work !!!

 

[IBOOFF]

@JDougNY & @gvse please put the corvett in your mediafolder - cant' get it from nogrip, thank's a lot for your amazing works. (sory for bad english).

 

[gvse]

MediaFire folder is now-up-to-date.

 

[IBOOFF]

thank you!!

 

[LamboMantisMan23]

Got this reply from Ian about modding pCARS2

 

[JDougNY]

Due to the response Ian provided..... I suppose a follow up question to Ian would be if the old (non-obfuscated) mebs would still be readable, which would allow people to add in new cars.

 

[LamboMantisMan23]

Due to the response Ian provided..... I suppose a follow up question to Ian would be if the old (non-obfuscated) mebs would still be readable, which would allow people to add in new cars.

I asked if they would be supplying a way to make new MEBs without releasing how to rip their files. So basically the same question.

 

[gvse]

On the whole good news! I would assume the game will read Pcars-style mebs just as it reads the encrypted ones, but sure, would be nice to get some sort of clarification on that.

 

[LamboMantisMan23]

On the whole good news! I would assume the game will read Pcars-style mebs just as it reads the encrypted ones, but sure, would be nice to get some sort of clarification on that.

I think that is what was being proposed. He did not reply to my follow up question.

 

[Hobbnob]

One scenario is that the game can't read old style meb's. If this is the case then they would need to release a method to encrypt (and therefore decrypt) meb's for pc2 use, which would defeat the point. It's pretty safe to say the game will be able to read old style meb's

 

[Shiimis]

Let's hope they do allow old style mebs, however your reasoning that it will is not convincing. If they're using encrypted mebs, they do not need to release anything at all (if they are not making the game moddable) because decryption is done in pcars.exe when files are loaded. Also so far they have only made statements that they are not against modding, but they sure do not make modder's lives easy and one could argue that they're actually doing everything they can to not allow modding. So I'm not sure how you came to conclusion that they would have to release encrypter/decrypter (as it would benefit only modders) if they would not support old style mebs.

 

[Hobbnob]

That's . . . the exact opposite of what I said.

 

[Shiimis]

"One scenario is that the game can't read old style meb's. If this is the case then they would need to release a method to encrypt (and therefore decrypt) meb's for pc2 use, which would defeat the point."

This is what you said. I was just saying that I don't see how the second sentence follow from the first.

 

[Hobbnob]

The second sentence intentionally invalidates the first. Saying something 'defeats the point' means it makes it pointless. In this instance, handing out encryption tools would make encryption pointless in the first place because it would be reverse engineered to decrypt pc2 models. In other words, pc2 will pretty much definitely be able to read old style meb's, there isn't really a viable alternative available to them.

 

[Shiimis]

You are right about the fact that they will not release encryption tools. That however is not enough to warrant that game will surely support old style mebs (because they themselves do not need support for old style mebs).You seem to assume that they somehow care about whether their game is moddable and hence they need to provide options for us modders to get our stuff in their game, while in fact there is evidence which suggests that not only they do not care about modding but they are actively making it more difficult (making all files binary and now introducing encryption).
So they need not release encryption tools and they need not to support old style mebs (as far as they are concerned , the game needs to run their own assets and that's it). So your optimism unfortunately is without basis.