AC Modding Questions Thread

[Ben O'Bro]

i haven't read much about track modding cause you know... seven & all
but since i'm taking some time to help Phoenix on his journey in LA
i'm having my first issues with ksTree vs KsPerPixel
see screenshot below i hope is clear enough :

ksTree works well when you want cast shadow on the ground and not self cast shadow
But ksTree doesn't receive ANY shadow, not even from other trees or environnement, which is pretty bad given all the cliff & mountain that might put a part of the track in the shade.

Any idea how to solve this self shading thing ?

 

[Stereo]

The shadow bias material parameter may help, I'm not clear on if it's in useful units or just scales the default biases though. (making it larger means objects have to be farther away to cast a shadow)

I believe lilski makes trees cast shadows using a 1% opaque object with alphaTest set to 0.005 and disables shadowcasting from the visible object?

 

[LilSki]

Y objects really can't cast shadows unless using the kstree shader then as you said they don't receive shadows. You can play with shadow bias stuff but I've never bothered with it.

My simple process is if it needs to make a shadow then kstree. If it needs to receive a shadow then ksgrass with shadows off. I like to use the variation texture in ksgrass.

The trick I did with the 1% texture was for horizontal plane shadows and also only works with kstree shader.

 

[Neils on Wheels]

Where do i go to get good info on car modeling? Specifically the 3D modeling aspect of it, I have very little experience & want to learn it. Also maybe info or tips on how to get references for the modelling if there is any of that info out there.

 

[stingray_SIX_TWO]

Trying to get my model working correctly in the editor...to keep it simple just working with the wheels for now but I got the following issues:

That's a bit far out isn't it? I got the hierarchy and naming set, scale in Blender set to 1, metric and all values are correct in Blender. Using standard export and the little button next to Scale=1 is deselected...

 

[AccAkut]

Trying to get my model working correctly in the editor...to keep it simple just working with the wheels for now but I got the following issues:

That's a bit far out isn't it? I got the hierarchy and naming set, scale in Blender set to 1, metric and all values are correct in Blender. Using standard export and the little button next to Scale=1 is deselected...

"applied scale" on everything?

 

[Ben O'Bro]

Where do i go to get good info on car modeling? Specifically the 3D modeling aspect of it, I have very little experience & want to learn it. Also maybe info or tips on how to get references for the modelling if there is any of that info out there.

Hey Neils,

I'd say aim for Youtube and find tutorial, plenty to find there!
Best of luck

 

[AccAkut]

Where do i go to get good info on car modeling? Specifically the 3D modeling aspect of it, I have very little experience & want to learn it. Also maybe info or tips on how to get references for the modelling if there is any of that info out there.

Really depends on what program you want to use. For 3dsMax finding tutorials may be easier as its the primary tool for these types of models, but if you want to go down the Blender route try searching for "game asset modelling" or "hard surface modelling", else you will end up with models with way too high triangle counts.

Apart from that it's lots of trail and error, also won't be a bad idea to experiment with ripped models to get a hang of the general structure and mesh density. Just don't try releasing those as scratch made.

 

[stingray_SIX_TWO]

"applied scale" on everything?

Yep, had scaled all and set to 1 but you need to select "Apply Scaling 'FBX ALL' ", then it worked.

Yeehaa! On to fixing the materials...

Amazingly my windows are transparent even though I'm using a complex shader in Blender - how does that work?

 

[Mascot]

Dumb question: is there a technical reason why a lot of car mods (okay... rips) have pitch-black dashboards that seem to suck all light in? Similarly why are so many track mods (okay, okay already... RIPS!) greatly overexposed with sun-bleached beige road surfaces?

Inb4 "lazy-ass modding from talentless hacks".

 

[AccAkut]

@Mascot
Lazy-ass modding from talentless hacks. I have really been wondering if there is one "guide" out there which all of those rippers follow, because pretty much all rips that appear (for a short while) on here and on other typical sites have the exact same issues with their shaders. Dark cockpits are one thing, but the most mind numbing is the setup of the main outer body/skin, its always setup with no reflection at all and a uniform yellow (255,255,0) RGB map. Any sort of grey would be more intuitive, but why schoose yellow?
Also both sunSpec values are always at 0. And basic "Kunos-like" shader templates have been public since 2014, not to mention how easy it is to look them up with CM.

Yep, had scaled all and set to 1 but you need to select "Apply Scaling 'FBX ALL' ", then it worked.

Amazingly my windows are transparent even though I'm using a complex shader in Blender - how does that work?

Do you have setup your KSEditor correctly yet? As the pic there is awfully low res. And I never bother with any material setup in Blender as the Editor can't work with them at all. But I'm curious, how did you setup the windows in Blender, and how are the material settings in the KSEditor now before you changed anything on it?

 

[stingray_SIX_TWO]

I actually hadn't then found the old 'save layout and restart' trick...

That's better. Would have to check my glass settings in Blender. I saw some of your posts in the shader and materials threads at AC forum so yeah I won't bother much anymore with materials in Blender. Thing is I'm lost in the materials settings in KS Editor so I need to read up and study the forums. I found these two to start with:

https://assettocorsamods.net/threads/assetto-corsa-shaders-texture-maps-list.794/

https://www.assettocorsa.net/forum/...odelling-stuff-add-your-knowledge-here.19704/

One of them yours . How do I set a color though?

I'll tweak the model for mesh, objects, materials and relationships hoping to get a working car in game by tonight.

 

[AccAkut]

How do I set a color though?

You don't, colour comes only from the texture. Either from the texture in the diffuse slot or from the detail slot.
Lately my "test setup" has been a 100% alpha diffuse (just a small 16x16 pixel dds) in the diffuse slot and a proper metal_detail.dds in the detail slot, the flat_nm.dds from the sdk folder in the Normalmap slot. RGB map is made from a proper AO bake as soon as possible.

For all the starter values I either take those from that thread or I look up a Kunos car from a fitting type and era in CM. So far I have not seen anyone being attacked for "ripping shader values", given we have pretty much no SDK on those and they are unique to the AC engine. From the Kunos side its dealed with in the same way as it is with the soundbanks, we are allowed by implication (if that is the right expression).

 

[stingray_SIX_TWO]

That's good to know thanks for the hint!!

I used some of my airplane textures for color for now...the only thing I ever mapped in Blender was the wheel roundel and it actually shows up . All texture and material fault codes are now gone. On to the collider box and see if I can get this thing in game...only material I edited was the chrome exhaust tips.

 

[AccAkut]

On to the collider box and see if I can get this thing in game...only material I edited was the chrome exhaust tips.

If you make the collider you need to rotate it by 90° upwards before exporting... I always forget with what mode and settinsg exactly but it won't work as a straight export for some reason with Blender

 

[stingray_SIX_TWO]

If you make the collider you need to rotate it by 90° upwards before exporting... I always forget with what mode and settinsg exactly but it won't work as a straight export for some reason with Blender

Yeah I saw that in your Tiga thread, will do. For some reason the game crashes on entry for now. Must be an error in my file structure or data files. I'm using the FormulaK as stand in...model is working graphically speaking...

Woohoo. I recognized the color as well, it is light gull grey US Navy spec (from my Tomcat). Should look good in metallic.

Also I think the model is the wrong way around like y axis is rotated. In CM it show the front where the back should be and the model appears unusually large. Oh and as you can see the windows aren't transparent they're just not there .

 

[Matt Evans]

Just curious can you use tracks where you’ve used the AI line modding tool online as normal? Also can you use cars that you’ve applied sound mods to online?

 

[stingray_SIX_TWO]

I knew the 8 was a big dog but this is like 6m high:

Could this have an effect on my susp?

Lots of dumb questions guys I know but you know what this thread is called

 

[AccAkut]

I knew the 8 was a big dog but this is like 6m high:

Could this have an effect on my susp?

Lots of dumb questions guys I know but you know what this thread is called

something something "Apply Scale" on everything, inclsuing all Empties. In which mode did you take the last pic? Showroom will load the model according to only the model alone, but all game modes load it according to Empty placement

 

[garyjpaterson]

Last pic is CM showroom with wheels set to align to data.