Tutorial - Beginner's guide to making rFactor AIW

[chub_pearson]

Here's a reposting of the guide to making the AIW file I did that was up on our old RSC forum.

You’ll need to download the AIWCamera editor [rFactorAIWCAMEditor1255.zip]. Go to http://www.rfactor.net/index.php?page=devcorner where it's listed under:
Waypoint and camera editing tools
* Download v1.255 [zip]
Put the unzipped file [rFactor AIWCAM Editor.exe] in your main rFactor folder and double click it to run rFactor with the editor.

You also need the 'Dev' files folder - this is essential for the AIW editor to work, but for some reason is not included with the editor. It used to be at RSC, but I've put a copy up here:
http://www.filefactory.com/file/agb595c/n/rF_AIW_Editor_DevFiles_rar
Unzip this to your main rFactor folder. It contains two folders:
DEVFILES - the folder needed for the editor to work.
AIW Editor Docs - contains screenshots of the editor plus another guide to using it.

You can also use the AIW CAM Editor by Guitarmaen to fine tune the AI. I didn’t use it myself as I found I could do all I needed using the rFactor editor. Get this from rFactor Central, it’s under Addons\ Mod tools. It doesn’t have to be in the rFactor folder, but you need to edit the rF_AIW_CAM.conf file to point to your rFactor installation.

Cheers,
Chub

 

[p00se2]

kinda got me confused that my AI driver used the fast path..at least sometimes but the other AI drivers didnt

is it necessary to adjust the racing "groove" to get AI to use the fastpath (more often) ?

AIWeditorseems to be the better and proper way to do this kind of stuff yes ? in BTB i cant edit the fastpath on its own - its linked to the centerpath


anything else i have to remember when using AIWeditor?


thanks in advance !

 

[Lee Knight]

With BTB's AIW editor you can 'hide' either of the paths by un-ticking the one you wish to hide in the pop-up window after having selected the 'Driveline' tab.
Just thought I'd clear that up & I hope it's of some use to you.

 

[PeterB]

I have done the AIW in BTB and am now trying to add a Pit Extension lane using the AIW Editor..........I get the waypoints in and save the waypoints leave the track and then reload the track and the new waypoints are there, so I close down rFactor and restart the game in it's normal mode, but now the track crashes when it tries to load...........
Can anyone HELP?????

 

[R Soul]

I've just started using the aiw editor, but there are couple of things I can't work out. How does one move a waypoint? My pit lane path gets awfully close to a stack of tyres, but for wider cars that may prove rather damaging.

My second question is about the blue corridor lines. They should extend all the way to the nearest wall, but they only seem to go out to a certain distance. I have a couple of gravel traps where the blue lines only go halfway in. Is it possible to widen them? I know that shift + arrow keys is for the track corridors, but I don't want to experiment too much in case I break something.

 

[chub_pearson]

As long as corridors are being shown, you may select waypoints and move the corridors with the SHIFT key and the arrows. Use left and right arrow keys to move the right corridor in and out, and up and down arrows to move the left corridor in and out.

The same applies to the waypoints. With waypoints only showing [turn off everything else] you move them with the Shift and left/right arrow keys

You have to save the AIW, quit and reload the track for the new waypoint positions to show, before that as soon as you deselect them they pop back to their original position - which can be quite misleading!

Mind you, how close the AIW cars get to a stack of tyres depends more on the fast path than the waypoints. You can move the fast path in the same way as the corridors above, just have waypoints and fast path showing, select a waypoint and move the fast path with the Shift and left/right arrows.

You won't break anything. Back up your existing AIW file before you start though

PS: I think it only works with the left shift key.

 

[R Soul]

As long as corridors are being shown, you may select waypoints and move the corridors with the SHIFT key and the arrows. Use left and right arrow keys to move the right corridor in and out, and up and down arrows to move the left corridor in and out.

I know about the red/white lines. Do you know if there's a similar way to move the blue lines?

As you can see above, they don't go all the way to the barrier. Maybe they don't have to. I just had a look at Essington and then at Goodwood, and the blue lines don't always extend all the way to the barriers in those tracks.

The same applies to the waypoints. With waypoints only showing [turn off everything else] you move them with the Shift and left/right arrow keys

Thanks. My mistake was that I wasn't turning off the corridors.

before that as soon as you deselect them they pop back to their original position - which can be quite misleading!

I found that the method of deselecting is what counts. Click & drag causes them to appear wrong, but selecting 'Unselect all' shows their proper position.

Mind you, how close the AIW cars get to a stack of tyres depends more on the fast path than the waypoints. You can move the fast path in the same way as the corridors above, just have waypoints and fast path showing, select a waypoint and move the fast path with the Shift and left/right arrows.

Thanks again. I started with Normalize curve but things were still a bit wonky. The line is better now.

You won't break anything. Back up your existing AIW file before you start though

PS: I think it only works with the left shift key.[/QUOTE]

 

[chub_pearson]

i know about the red/white lines. Do you know if there's a similar way to move the blue lines?
as you can see above, they don't go all the way to the barrier. Maybe they don't have to. I just had a look at essington and then at goodwood, and the blue lines don't always extend all the way to the barriers in those tracks.

I think they do go all the way, I think they've just gone under the terrain. In the editor, when you're in chase view you can swing the camera down underground and see the track from below - the terrain vanishes, so from there you'll be able to see how far they go.

 

[R Soul]

I was scrolling through the waypoints using guitarmaen's editor and noticed two values that never went above 30: wp_dwidth (cl and cr). I can increase all those 30s to 50s (or some other number), but it will be a chore when it's just the second value. I'm only going to look into it if there are issues with cars going off track.

A more pressing issue is a mistake I might have made right at the start. I don't see any waypoints for my grid or pit spots. Having re-read the docs, I think I forgot to save the AIW after reloading the track. I deleted everything from the [GRID] and [PITS] sections and followed the instructions properly, but still got no waypoints. I then tried moving the AIW out of the folder and redoing things from scratch. I did get waypoints for the pit spots, but still none for the grid. I'm not sure if grid waypoints are necessary. My AI had no problems with the starting grid when I set up a race.

They were appalling during the pit stops. Instead of going left to get to the pit line, they tended to briefly veer right, hitting the building. That caused quite a few retirements. Now, could that be a result of the lack of waypoints? I know that those waypoints can be linked to those from the pit path. Here is a picture of my pitlane:

At Silverstone, x=6 and y=7. At Essington, x=12.5 and y=4.

Clearly I need advice from someone with a bit of experience. My Y value is a little high. Could that be causing problems, or is it the lack of waypoints?

 

[Brad Dibble]

When you do not save the grid spaces in the rFactor editor, rFactor must generate them each time the track is loaded, slowing the load process some.

For the pit issue try reducing the track corridor width in the pit lane to include only the part of the track you want the cars to drive on excluding the pit spaces (between the white lines on your image where it says pit exit). Also make sure the pit fast path has no abrupt changes in direction. A large y distance can make the cars do some crazy manuvers, but the distance in your image dosen't look excessive.

 

[R Soul]

Thanks for your advice. I decided to start from scratch, and I managed to get the waypoints. That made the pitstops much smoother. It's a great relief - I had been considering lengthening the pits to increase the X distance. I made a copy of my project to see what the consequences would have been. At the beginning of a project, that sort of thing isn't an issue, but at the end when there are lots of objects, walls, fences etc, enlarging the pits would have meant lots of other things had to be moved.

It's mostly fine now. ISI's instructions say that the waypoint procedure must also be done for the Teleport location. I think I did it properly: Select waypoint, select Mark Teleport Spot, save AIW file, exit to main rFactor menu, reload track, save AIW. I don't see any waypoints, but I don't know if I have to.

 

[Brad Dibble]

It does save them, did you set "show/hide Teleport spots"? You can also view/edit the teleport locations in Gutarmeans Aiw Editor.
Generally I do not bother, the ISI editor does a good enough jop of making them, but remenber to save them as ISI recommends, so they do not have to be generated each time you start the track.

 

[R Soul]

I don't see that option, but I definitely followed the instructions. In Gutarmean's program I can select the grid and alt-grid waypoints, but I don't see anything for a teleport spot. I looked at some other tracks, including ISI's tracks and Le Mans 1979, but it's the same.

I also noticed an interesting test option in the ISI editor: Force line. I had a look at Left, right and then far right, and in all three cases, the AI didn't brake for the corners.

Later on I'll set up some rolling starts in rFactor and see how things go, literally.

 

[labombarda]

In BTB set the corridors with the red and green lines, green to edge of road , red to extent of driving area.
The easy way to correct cut track issues is to use Guitarman's AIW editor after you've finished the track.
But to make the .aiw perform correctly you really need to make the .aiw file from scratch with rFactor AIW editor first then small edits and refinements can be made with guitarmans editor.

I agree it. Sametime ago I had a good tutorial for Guitarmaen's AIW, but I loose it when my disc had broke it. Do wyou have it to share, please? Thanks in advance

 

[Gerda 3]

Is it possible to disable the camera group "CYCLE"?

 

[Kennett Ylitalo]

I did new AIW for Cicada and everything else is fine but: when AI exits the pits, it keeps pitlimiter on until the pitline join the mainpath... XPitout.gmt (possible typos there)... is in the right place.. What's the trick there? This will not do since the join happens at the end of long straight.....

 

[Kennett Ylitalo]

I've been struggling with CIcada and the first uphill part. It's suppose to be full throttle with F1 car but AI didn't agree with my line. I know that it's the fastest line around there but AI refuse to understand that the slight understeer at T2 will correct itself by just keeping the wheel locked to one position, there's plenty of room. So it kept braking.. I tried to widen the line, take different attack angles, those turns are actully easy for F1s. For others it's a different thing but the track is for the Kings.

So i tried something different. I turned the Steering Assist in 'High' setting ( assigned a button in the wheel for it...) and took the corner flat out, wheel centered. The "AI" made the turn in full speed but it changed the fastline a bit. I tried that with other corners that i had trouble with and it worked like a charm. I just kept the steering wheel centered, no matter what, the game rides that line with a correct speed.

As a base i used very carefully laid fastline driven with low speed, the line that i use. Then i switched Steering Assist on and gunned the first turns with the correct speed. Brake in the first hairpin to target speed approx at the right time, the AI smoothed out the line it wanted to use. Repeated this thru out the whole track, except the most slowest chicane. The AI wanted to cut too much in such a slow speed...

I noticed something truly great:

With steering assist, you can "shave" the fastline. If you want a wider line, just increase speed. If you want to cut, decrease speed. The resulting fastline is soooo smooth, i mean it's like it's calculated precisely.. In some sense it controlled calculation, speed is the variable.

With my own fastline: AI set to 100%, AI grip boosted by 20%: 1:33.1, and that's only when it was lucky. The AI kept spinning a lot (40% grip increase did get the spinning but then they were doin 1:28... lol) and the average laptimes were in the high 1:38. My own time was 1:34.1, basically the same as the fastline.

Steering Assisted fastline: AI set to 100%, AI grip boosted by 10%: 1:33.1, no spins with one turn needing rework, the AI onvercorrects a regularly occurring slide.. fourwheel drift with F!, no wonder but AI doesn't understand " let it slide, trust me..." Without that one turn mishap the AI time will drop to 1:32.5.So it's already faster than i (PS: rFactor F1 testdriver wanted !!! ) When i get that slow chicane perfected too the AI will do it in 1:32 flat or less. In that place i just have to drive fast in to it.

I'm thinking that with this method i could shave the fastline with other car classes to adjust those corners were F1 has different possibilites because of the high aero. Driving the track with touring cars and possibly some GT...

The steering assist will make the finishline "kink" a history too.. Switch it on everytime you cross the line and it will become absolutely perfect.... Straights, no problem.. Pit line? just start the path normally and switch steering assist on at the pitin gate (and again off at the exit, otherwise it switches to racingline suddenly) and the pitline is as straight as it was when it came out of BTB. I also switched it on when doing the start point for the pitline. you get the smoothest transition to racing line..

Has anyne tested steering assist yet or is this again just old news?

PSS: In rFactor, the AI is remarkably better than in Race07. In Race it's much more picky but in Rfactor it somehow is just more intelligent.. It keps meating me with the original fastline.. So this 'method' kinda brings the rFActor AI to Race. At least the AI in Race reacts much better to rFactor assisted line

 

[Dan Marr]

When I load a track in the rf AIWCam editor (the ISI one) it crashes - no warning things, no errors, just crashes has anyone else had this?

 

[chub_pearson]

When I load a track in the rf AIWCam editor (the ISI one) it crashes - no warning things, no errors, just crashes has anyone else had this?

Just a thought, do you have the 'DEVFILES' folder in your main rFactor folder? I believe the editor won't work without this.

 

[Dan Marr]

Just a thought, do you have the 'DEVFILES' folder in your main rFactor folder? I believe the editor won't work without this.

I do have the folder

 

[Kennett Ylitalo]

And you got the right version of rF? i think it was 1.255 or something that was needed for it to work (don't know if it is limited to that version, got this image in my head that it didn't work with others)