Multiple tracks and their Mas files

[Nobby76]

Hi guys..

Just a quick question...
Ive created a venue which has 2 tracks ( a long and a short. ) Where they meet obviously there is a junction, what i would like to achieve is. When you race the long track the cones blocking the junctions follow the corner for the long route and when you race on the short the cones will be blocking the other corner ( showing that you have to turn left or right. )
Now ive seen this done before so i know it is possible, my only real concern is how the Mas files would be used.. Im thinking it would be a main Mas file containing all the track objects, such as pits, trees, buildings. Called for example MyLevel.Mas then i would strip down the map and only have the cones for the long track and export that. then export another set of files which have the cones in the position for the short track. So i end up with 3 Mas files

MyLevel.Mas ( containing most of the track objects )
MyLevelLong.Mas ( containing cones going round one corner )
MyLevelShort.Mas ( containing cones going round another corner )

Then just tell the two info files to use either...
Mylevel.Mas AND MyLevelLong.Mas ( for the long track )
MyLevel.Mas And MyLevelShort.Mas ( for the short track )

Or Would i just have to make 2 lots of mas files both containing all the main objects plus there respective cones?
But to me that just seems like your having to double up on all the objects making your track trice the filesize.

If it can be done the way i want, is there anything else i should be aware of ? any other files id have to tinker with to make it work?

One thing i have just thought of.. How do i go about exporting these ??? If i export a main set of files ( without cones ) to create my main mas file. Then what do i do for the 2 other sets of files?? do i 1 strip all objects from the map, then add some cones, Or 2 keep all the other objects and add my cones then export the map. Because i can see problems with both..

problem with 1. If i strip the map down then add just some cones then export it. That track has no reference to all the other main objects ( even if i tell the info file to use another mas file ) the actual map still has no object placement references... so how would it know to use them ?

Problem with 2 . If i export firstly a Main map, then i add some cones to the map then re-export it, while it will have all the object placements referenced, it would mean id have to go in the objects folder and remove all objects (except for the cones) How do you know which are the cones ( when looking at the file names in the folder ) becuse ive looked at all those files before when makin my first track aand most of them dont really have relevant names just things like OBJ_23 and SOBJ_43 ( which i know means object and String object ) but that doesn't really tell you which one is which. So how would i get around this if if did it this way ?


Any help anyone can give me will be great.

Nobby.

 

[legendsatlunch]

in short yes you are correct with the first option! 1 main mas for all tracks then small mas files with track specific items ( cones, xfiles etc)......

In answer to the second part, 2 words 3D SIMED! :smile:
with simed you can load up the track, separate the objects ( cones, xec's ) you want then pack them into their own mas file.
Can be time consuming especially if you do as most of the great track makers do and rename everything when grouping objects....... That kinda stuff just does my head in....

hope this helped but you where on the right track anyway....

In BTB save project as the short track, the original becomes the long.
then export both to relevant track names and sort the files manually as per above... then you have all the ai and start, fin, xsec's etc for each

when exporting for RFactor the venue name is the same, just change the track name!.

don't forget to separate the x gmt's....

 

[legendsatlunch]

SearchPath=CIRC
SearchPath=CIRC\CIHCallroad
SearchPath=.

//-------------------------------------------------------

MASFile=BTB6.5.mas
MASFile=OBJ6.5.mas
MASFile=allroad.mas
MASFile=SPECIAL.mas
MASFile=sky.mas
MASFile=COMMONMAPS.MAS

Here's an excerpt from one of my venues. It has 5 circuits attached to it with multiple object changes in each...

BTB6.5.mas contains permanent objects. The rest change per track.
The entries in each scn have been modified to suit. Using simed I can call up the objects I want, remove what I don't want and update the scn accordingly.
hopefully no missing object errors etc in game.

 

[Nobby76]

So just to make sure i understand this properly before i attempt it...

I need to first make a mas file containing all of the main track stuff. but i dont need awi files or stuff like that coz its just basically an object placement holder. I then need to add my cones and make my drive lines etc for the long version, then export that, but when i make the mas file remove all objects except for the cones ( using 3dsimed). so when the game looks for the objects and cant find them in the ( LONG ) mas file it looks in the MAIN mas file instead. Then just repeat the same thing again but for a short track.

So in short i'm exporting 3 tracks / mas files, and 2 sets of driveline,pits, etc files.
I hope thats what you meant other wise i really misunderstood you lol