Well after trying a few things with this RBR_MaterialEditor.. and after reading the uber vague txt file provided with it, and after spending a good while looking on the web for some basic help before asking for help.I still cant figure out how to use this. I understand you load an ini (what ini ive no idea?) .. then it also says to open my texture dds, but most of my textures are xpacks.. made by xpacker.
I make textures/materials by making jpgs in photoshop, then bring them into xpacker.. i then put whatever physics i want on it (but there is very little choice.. no sand or anything). i then zip to xpack and apply them in btb on whatever i happen to be working on. I dont use dds for these types of textures, such as road and most terrain. The txt file provided refers to dds and ini files.. it says i must load a dds... yet what is the the Load Ini button for?.. to load an ini yes, but what ini and where.
From text file:
1. Run the RBR_MaterialEditor.exe
I can do this much
2. (Optional) Click the "Texture" button and select "YourMaterial.dds" file that you intend to map surfaces to.
Cant do this as its asking for dds files, and all the textures I have that i want changed with different physics are ziped xpacks (in particular sand for the terrain close to the road). As it is im temporally using xpackers Gravel1 setting for this but it no where near to what ide like it to feel like. I want it to have some slide but slow the car down significantly, ... if u can invisage flat sand over hard ground.. like compacted sand on a beach or something.
3. Click the "Edit" checkbox.
I assume this is in refrence to step 2 since the "texture" button is unclickable until this "edit box" is checked on first load of RBR Materials Editor
4. Choose a material from the right hand side.
I Understand that you can paint different physics onto a texture/material (this came as a surprise to me as i thought rbr was one physics per texture).. nice!
5. Click "Fill" to make the whole area that surface material.
I Understand all this.
6. Select other Materials and paint the texture until satisfied.
I Understand all this.
7. Click "Save", then enter a filename and dont forget to add the ".ini" extension.
Despite the fact ive not got to this stage since i was never able to load my textures in the first place I`m a little unsure as to the whole "ini" thing. I know what an ini is, but where exactly am i saving this to? and shouldn't i be saving it as a dds? or xpack or something? If for example I have the texture i want changed to sand in an xpack, do i unzip the folder, lets say to a temporary location. Do i then copy and paste the saved ini from RBR Materials Editor into the root dir or one of the other subfolders? Do i then zip the folder up again and replace it into my project folder within bobs track builder folder, or do i put it my rbr folder somewhere?
8. Edit the file using a text editor, remove the first 4 lines, then save as "YourMaterial.rbr" and add it to your BobsTrackBuilder\Textures folder alongside your "YourMaterial.dds" file.
I understand i must edit my exported ini and take out the first 4 lines. However it then says save it as an .rbr file, Ok, but what name do i give this file, the name of the xpack where my sand texture is in? the name of the jpg file?.. no idea., Secondly it refers to the directory "BobsTrackBuilder\Textures" ... it seems my bobs track builder dose not have a folder called "textures".. certainly not in the root directory of btb. ... is it refaring to the texture folders within btb/myprojects/project1/xpacks/Common/textures/ ("project1" being an example).. Then it says put along side your material.dds .. right,.. so let me assume at this point
"BobsTrackBuilder\Textures" is acctualy refaring to "btb/myprojects/project1/xpacks/Common/textures/" .. and then lets say within this folder I dont see some of the textures i want changed that i had made originally in xpacker using originally jpgs not dds's. what dose one do then?
If its a case i have to redo all the textures i want changed with new physics and make them dds files ill do that, but im still confused about the ini thing, where to save it or what to load in the first place... Im sure i can work all the rest out my self
"You can also create ready-to-use templates for XPacker" ... this sounds like an ideal way for me.. if i could make the sand and a couple of lighter sandy/gravel or a slipperier tarmac it would be great
hope someone can help, or direct me to a tutorial on how to use it (i did look around a good bit for help on this, but its thin on the ground)
PS. is one able to edit the sounds in any way for different types of surface? or dose thr rxplugin only support default sounds in terms of distributing this to other ppl.
regards
pan