Retro compatibility of mods

[shadow82]

I think an important feature would be the capacity to just easily import any existing AC cars/tracks, the modding community went well beyond what is usually done for a game, would be a shame to lose the thousands of hours each and every contributor made.

 

[davoroni]

There are certainly lots of great mods that could carry over, or I'd like them.

Or maybe a mod port feature, checks for compatibility and says what doesn't work or needs changing (models, or files x,y,z etc.)

 

[Bram Hengeveld]

I have voted against it as I don't wish to see yet another game with quick ports of ancient GP4 tracks and other really graphically outdated circuits and cars.

For sure the super talented modding teams will be able to quickly upgrade their older mods to match any new standards. That said, there is no confirmation yet that modding will be supported in Assetto Corsa 2. It's very much requested by the community though.

 

[Ghoults]

I really don't see any reason to create a conversion tool from ac1. All it would do is to encourage people to take someone else's content and port it lazily into ac2. Even official content. Not to mention conversions from older games will always happen early in any game's existence. It takes a while for content to appear that was specifically created for the game. Those who have the ability to port and upgrade their mods from ac to ac2 have the option to do so without any conversion tools.

Imho it would be far better to spend that effort somewhere else in the game. App compatibility from ac1 might be useful for example.

I have voted against it as I don't wish to see yet another game with quick ports of ancient GP4 tracks and other really graphically outdated circuits and cars.

For sure the super talented modding teams will be able to quickly upgrade their older mods to match any new standards. That said, there is no confirmation yet that modding will be supported in Assetto Corsa 2. It's very much requested by the community though.

To be fair when it comes to any new racing game that is moddable the first content is always going to be conversions from older sims. In rf1 we had tons of gpl content, scgt and gtr1/2/gtl content, in ac we had some rf1 content, rf2 was rf1. It is just bound to happen.

 

[Bram Hengeveld]

To be fair when it comes to any new racing game that is moddable the first content is always going to be conversions from older sims.

Absolutely true.

 

[FS4A]

It would be nice if all current mods will still work in AC2.

Virtual reality is also a must imho.

And telemetry output for motion rigs and audio-based feedback systems.

 

[delpinsky]

First we need to see what kind of graphic engine they are going to use... I hope in UE5 (...)
I'm in for modding help by Kunos and I'm also in to have from Kunos all the official content from AC1 and ACC into AC2.
That said, I hope the next Kunos editor will be able to read the old persistence files, to ease the life of modders who created top quality content from scratch, in first place, and then all the other good modders who updated abandoned/unfinished mods.

 

[Nrde]

It would be nice if all current mods will still work in AC2.

Virtual reality is also a must imho.

And telemetry output for motion rigs and audio-based feedback systems.

I would think a way to convert 3d models would be better, as full compatibility would most likely mean using less data for the (new) physics engine.

But modding in general is a must feature. It just needs to be well documented, to allow quality mods to be made.

 

[jonelsorel]

I think an important feature would be the capacity to just easily import any existing AC cars/tracks, the modding community went well beyond what is usually done for a game, would be a shame to lose the thousands of hours each and every contributor made.

No thanks. AC is already full of 5 minute facebook mods (and "modders") that I definitely don't want to be attracted by AC2 as well.

 

[Brownninja97]

No thanks. AC is already full of 5 minute facebook mods (and "modders") that I definitely don't want to be attracted by AC2 as well.

With all due respect them converting models from other games is a bad reason to use to make the life of all modders harder. It comes with the territory with modding, you will get more talented people but you will get more low effort mods. You cant have one without the other.

 

[FS4A]

No thanks. AC is already full of 5 minute facebook mods (and "modders") that I definitely don't want to be attracted by AC2 as well.

I don't see the problem. You can uninstall a mod if you don't like it.

 

[Icky427]

No thanks. AC is already full of 5 minute facebook mods (and "modders") that I definitely don't want to be attracted by AC2 as well.

would you rather have the choice from the hundreds of tracks we have? or only the 21 tracks that came with the game? its not hard to just ignore the bad ones. ac would have died a long time ago if not for the modding community.

 

[Icky427]

there shouldnt just be a public conversion tool that allows anyone to do it, but the people that create the mod should be able to take their same source files and export them for ac2 the same way they did for ac1. i cant really see tracks being much of a problem. its mostly the 3d model and textures. cars may be a different story with all the lines of data in ini files that define the physics of the car. i think the best we can hope for is having to go through each data file and copy numbers into the corresponding place for its ac2 counterpart. i doubt the data files will all be the same.

 

[jonelsorel]

would you rather have the choice from the hundreds of tracks we have? or only the 21 tracks that came with the game? its not hard to just ignore the bad ones. ac would have died a long time ago if not for the modding community.

Hundreds of tracks at race track builder standards? No, thanks. I'd rather have quality rather than quantity, if that's what you ask, not a 30 second conversion of a track that looks like it came out in 2003. As for cars, I drive about 20 out of the 1300 I currently have installed. And yes, I definitely don't wish AC2 to be the same cesspool of mediocrity AC is when it comes to community content.

 

[jonelsorel]

I don't see the problem. You can uninstall a mod if you don't like it.

I do.

 

[wein]

I did a reflection on this in another thread. I think it would be a great idea, as it would start the game with a huge amount of optional content, it would be a big start. It would make the purchase of the game much more attractive as well as extend the life of a lot of wonderful mods. I would remind those who are against that they don't have to install mods ...

 

[RasmusP]

there shouldnt just be a public conversion tool that allows anyone to do it, but the people that create the mod should be able to take their same source files and export them for ac2 the same way they did for ac1. i cant really see tracks being much of a problem. its mostly the 3d model and textures. cars may be a different story with all the lines of data in ini files that define the physics of the car. i think the best we can hope for is having to go through each data file and copy numbers into the corresponding place for its ac2 counterpart. i doubt the data files will all be the same.

This!!
Make it easy for original creators but don't make a conversion tool that does a half-assed job on any AC1 content.

 

[Emery]

I would remind those who are against that they don't have to install mods ...

Building in backwards compatibility is a nightmare for developers if they're giving you new features. Example: rF2 lighting. Example: AC tire model versions and sound packs. The developers are bound to break something and then your old mod won't work properly. If you're lucky, it's only the colors that are off. There inevitably comes the day when the developer will say, "sorry, we no longer support feature X because we can't move forward with feature Y if we do."

 

[wein]

Building in backwards compatibility is a nightmare for developers if they're giving you new features. Example: rF2 lighting. Example: AC tire model versions and sound packs. The developers are bound to break something and then your old mod won't work properly. If you're lucky, it's only the colors that are off. There inevitably comes the day when the developer will say, "sorry, we no longer support feature X because we can't move forward with feature Y if we do."

Ah, okay ... Let's see, here you ask what we would ask AC2. I agree with asking you for compatibility with AC mods, but if you can, of course. The developers will have to see if it pays off. I have no idea how much work we are talking about. If it is as you say I suppose they will not do it and voila ...

 

[Snailer]

I'm going to have to vote against on this one. A backward compatibility would mean that the game would have to use the same physics and visuals of the old game at which point.... what is even the point of a sequel?

What I'd like them to do Instead, would be to make the physics be an extension of AC1's physics (a bit like CSP does), rather than a ground-up rework, so that mods could be adapted into the game with not too much effort, rather than having to be a complete rework.

As far as the visual part goes, while I don't have nearly as much experience with the visual side of thigs, I don't think redoing the process should be too much of an issue, as I reckon the modelling and texturing is the actually difficult / time consuming part, and which wouldn't change... right?