VOLCANIC RED 1.0

Hi There!

This post is not a content update, and this mod remains unchanged. However, I would like to announce that my next major project will be released soon!

While I have no set date for publishing, my aim is to get it out to everyone before the end of the year. Yes, it is still quite a while considering it is 'just some AC skins', but factor in a slow work process and a bad case of perfectionism, and things start to lengthen out in result.

In addition to my upcoming project, I would like to review my creative progress made in comparison to my first major releases published on RaceDepartment over 5 years ago. Since 2018, I feel that I have made significant strides in both understanding the software I work with and the craftwork in developing unique visuals. One thing that has remained constant is the principle of these projects; original teams, with original graphic design.

The only way I can demonstrate the result of five years of improvement, is through a visual showcase. Here are some preview screens of my upcoming liveries, contrasted against those made at the start of my creative journey.

Left - DIVERSE SYSTEM - Coming Soon
Right - JIMMY BROADBENT 100K MILESTONE - SYNECHISM - 2018

Note: My first few livery sets released were made originally in 2K resolution. I believe this is what was provided by Kunos' own templates, and I was not used to generating my own resources using Content Manager's own AO and Wireframe generators. I later upscaled my older skins to 4K. However, some cars, such as Jimmy Broadbent's Audi, used custom rasterised textures that I wasn't able to reproduce. This resulted in the 'paintbrush texture' to appear blown up when upscaled. A valuable lesson learned.

Left - CYBERMAX - Coming Soon
Right - CYBERMAX - 事象の地平面 [EVENT HORIZON] - 2018

Note: Up until HALBERD DELTA, my 5th major release, my works did not make use of specular maps. This meant that the bodywork of my liveries were uniformly shiny. As a result, some liveries would suffer visually in some lightning conditions, particularly in high exposure settings. Decals and shapes would be drowned out by strong light, and the livery as a whole loses its clarity and looks washed.

Having taken some time to study specular mapping, it is now a standard feature included in all of my liveries. I find CM's paint shop tool to be useful for its metallic detail sliders, which allows for real time previewing of specular details, and also to export a MAP texture which can be viewed and eyedropped for use in my project.

Left - RACING POP - Coming Soon
Right - SIMRACING PADDOCK - SYNECHISM - 2018

Note: One goal in particular that I always aim to improve is the accuracy of details pertaining to the context of each livery. While all my projects will feature primarily fantasy teams with unique team identities, the racing series I place these cars often have their own regulations for visuals and commonalties between competitors. Some series have mandatory sticker placement for tyre and oil providers. Some cars have particular spots for tow hook and extinguisher stickers.

My original works were very flawed in this way. In example, the Porsche shown above uses Michelin tyres, along with stickers in the livery, despite the fact that only Pirelli tyres were used in the Blancpain GT Series. You may consider the livery to appear acceptable visually, but details like these can remove the believability of being a race driver for the team.

Now, it is usually standard practice to try and source regulation handbooks to understand the requirements and limitations of the series I am basing my project around, as well as ensuring that all regulation compliant safety decals were present. Furthermore, I usually try to source localised brands as sponsors depending on where in the world the series is based in (American companies for the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge, Japanese for Super GT, etc)

Left - DEADBEEF - SYNECHISM - 2018
Right - HYPERBRAVEGT - Coming Soon

Note: Originally I would only work with the resources provided by Kunos, which restricted the output in terms of overall quality as not everything needed to make a complete product was available. The AMG GT3 on the left is a prime example of this. The tyre walls and window banner are from the default car, and the decal used on the rear wing is also unchanged, as these are separate textures from the main body. This not only affects the authenticity of the livery racing in its respective series, but also limits creative applications.

Now I have a better understanding of identifying texture file names and creating respective textures (again, Content Manager has been a big help with this). In some cases, modders will have provided adequate textures such as tyre branding, or even a good reference for number plate sizing and mandatory sticker placements, which I will use as it would complement their product alongside my own.

Left - TRIPLE SPIRIT - SYNECHISM - 2018
Right - PARACOM - Coming Soon

Note: Overall, I feel that the overall visual detail in my works have seen a consistent improvement. Race cars now have more the appearance of race cars, and in my opinion, do have some ability to blend in with the rest of the grid (perhaps with a little added flare to give it a visual edge). Shapes and lines are cleaner, the flow of the car's body is understood and utilised better. Cars now have more sponsor decals, many of which are my own scratch made logos that have been part of an ever growing library over the years.

These past 5 years have been an interesting, tough, but fun journey into expressing my love of racing, in the machines, the drivers, the talent behind the scenes, and the atmosphere that the world of motorsports creates.

As of writing I am almost done with finalising all of my liveries, and then moving onto designing the team identity posters.

I cannot wait to share my latest work with you all.

Thank you for reading, and I hope to see you soon!