Any way to "create championship"?

[stuupid1]

I love this sim so much, and thanks too all the amazing modders out there i have a wonderful library of classic tracks and cars that i grew up with in the 70s/ 80s. LOVE IT!
However, the 2 things that irk me are the inability to create custom championships and the inability to allow ai cars into multiplayer? Pretty sure you could do this back in the day on the humble ps1 on the original toca. I will happily admit to being clueless as far as modding goes!
Thanks for any response, Stuu.

 

[Zhabik]

I can only tell you how I did it - I do not use the NoTrackFilter or 10th Anniversary UI, I just put whichever tracks I need in the .gdb file manually. You control which cars race in the .gbd file by putting the Game Filter = SIM_LM55 . You will be able to choose to race with any of these cars. Add to the .car files of the cars you want the AI to use another SIM_* in the classes. Then add to the .gdb file AI Filter = AND: SIM_*. The AI will only race with cars that have both SIM_LM55 and the SIM_* (in other words, as many cars will race as you've added SIM_* to individual .car classes)

If you're creating a whole new class you can add it to the SIM_GTC.gdb file (eg SIM_LM55 = LeMans). It adds the extra class in the QuickRace menu.

I was aware that you want to do your own thing and not copy someone else's - it is just easier to explain with examples.

 

[RaceCarRobs]

I do not use the NoTrackFilter or 10th Anniversary UI
--> are there significant differences in how the championship files work in the 10th anniv.?


The AI will only race with cars that have both SIM_LM55 and the SIM_* (in other words, as many cars will race as you've added SIM_* to individual .car classes)
--> So do I have to manually limit the number of cars tagged with a SIM_* class? Why do other championships classes eg SIM_TC65 not have to do this but randomly pick the correct number of entries as chosen in the UI?
--> How do you control the number of entries with limiting the number of a specific class in cars? I am sure there is a more elegant solution that this!

SIM_GTC.gdb file (eg SIM_LM55 = LeMans). It adds the extra class in the QuickRace menu
--> there are SIM_GTC.gdb files for each default class - I notice the entries in the quick race menu but what controls what entries?

 

[Zhabik]

I do not use the NoTrackFilter or 10th Anniversary UI so I have no idea what the differences are. If you only want to use the 10th Anniversary I can not help you and so ignore the following.

SIM_TC65 does not pick randomly but uses additional SIM_* additions to the .car classes in the standard game - it may with 10th Anniversary. For example: in the mini cooper championship the AI uses cars with SIM_AMINI in the AI Filter. Again, I can only tell you how I did it. It was way before the 10th Anniversary thing came out and it works. Set the car class in the Game Filter in the championship .gdb, and filter the AI with AND: SIM_*

Which cars are in which class are determined by the classes entries in a cars .car file. The way I do it is the way the game was originally programmed. It may not be as elegant as you would like, but the end product is what I'm interested in. Apologies if you feel I'm wasting your time.

 

[RaceCarRobs]

I do not use the NoTrackFilter or 10th Anniversary UI so I have no idea what the differences are
--> it might be useful if someone else could clarify answers on these 2 points but for compatibilities sake I doubt there are major differences.

SIM_TC65 does not pick randomly but uses additional SIM_* additions to the .car classes in the standard game
--> exactly! so if you add more minis to the SIM_AMINI class the when you have a SIM_AMINI championship the sim choses random car numbers within this class and you dont have to limit the number of SIM_AMINI to 30.
--> could someone else tell me if you can limit entry numbers in your championship in the Cup_*.gdb file?

Set the car class in the Game Filter in the championship .gdb, and filter the AI with AND: SIM_*
--> this is not the entire story. There are some other subtulties going on with the class filtering and interaction from elsewhere which I am hoping someone else can answer.

Which cars are in which class are determined by the classes entries in a cars .car file
--> yes they are

The way I do it is the way the game was originally programmed. It may not be as elegant as you would like, but the end product is what I'm interested in.
--> I understand how you create simple championships but i am trying to understand how the filtering and menu filter work as there seem to be some strange effects such as if you only have LM55 in the categories section of the Cup file you can't see any opponents but if you add TC65 you get opponents from that class.


Thanks for your answers anyway Zhabik.

 

[Pablo_101]

It's not too difficult. I recommend backing up all the files before you start changing, and then you can create your own version of the game. Championships are added by adding to the ChallengeList in the CupStages.cdb (I have six championships on each level, naming them 1-1, 1-2 and so on). Whatever you have called your championship in the CupStages.cdb file you need to create a .gdb file with the same name (eg 1-1.gdb). This .gdb file defines everything about that championship - you can list a track more than once if you so wish, but I wouldn't have more than 10 tracks in a championship as it looks bad in the menu. To choose which cars are in the championship it's best to put your own car classes (this is a time consuming part) in each cars .car file. As an example; I have a class of cars which is labeled (in the 'classes' of each .car file) SIM_CAT, and some of those cars are also labeled SIM_1-S. In the new .gdb championship file I've put SIM_CAT as the game filter and SIM_1-S as the AI filter which means that when I come to race in that championship I can choose my car from any of the SIM_CAT class, but the AI cars are restricted to those which also have SIM_1-S. So you decide which cars compete in the championship through changing the classes in the .car files. I completely redid the car classes (to a roughly power/weight ratio to get better racing) and although it took a long time I'm very happy with the results. I also changed the difficulty level and on some tracks the speed of AI cars. I can't attach .gdb ,cdb or .car files here because they're not acceptable files for attachment, but if you pm me your email address I will happily send you so you can see what I've done. I know I'm not the best at explaining things, so if you have any questions feel free to ask!

Hi could you help me with a query, I have created quite a few championships but I am at a loss to configure the code so that after the first race the grid lines up in result sequence first at the front and last at the back, and so on through the rounds. I have played around with this but haven't manged to work it out... Thanks

 

[Zhabik]

Sorry Pablo, it's not something I've thought about doing myself and so don't know how to go about it. Have you tried asking at Trackaholics? - they are a very friendly GTL/GTR2 community that have helped me a lot in the past.

 

[RaceCarRobs]

Moreover, you must either add track name in car classes or simply add a line IgnoreTrackFilter in your championship GDB file, otherwise you won't see the cars.

Hi Please can you expand on this?
I have a hardy 0 opponents problem and I think I have missed the significance of what you are saying here.

So for new championship I understand that you need to
adjust *.car file with classes= "SIM_TAG" for releveant cars
Create Cup_*.gdb based on 10th anniv. template with SIM_Tag set as per instructions.
Adjust CupStages.cdb in section E with the new championship.

Mostly the championship works with just the cars I wanted!
However other championships with special cars based on the templates fail with 0 opponents (despite showing the eligible teams to be exactly the cars I want racing !)

Am I missing a step?
Does GTL have another car class filter or mechanism I have missed?
Which file does IgnoreTrackFilter go into and why is it needed?

What does SIM_GTC.gdb and similar do?
I have seen some issued with major mods eg SIM_1937_GPL.gdb
But haven't seen they do anything except add some menu items.

Do I have to write a SIM_tag.gdb for every new car class?

I'd be very grateful if you could provide some pointers.

Thanks.

 

[GTR233]

You need to define a class tag in your CAR files at line
Classes="blabla, ..."

Then you can make a championship which calls "blabla" tag : only cars with "blabla" word in classes line will show up in races.
If i recall, I set "SIM_GTC76" as tag in template so replace all SIM_GTC76 by blabla inside template and that's it.

 

[RaceCarRobs]

You need to define a class tag in your CAR files at line
Classes="blabla, ..."

Then you can make a championship which calls "blabla" tag : only cars with "blabla" word in classes line will show up in races.
If i recall, I set "SIM_GTC76" as tag in template so replace all SIM_GTC76 by blabla inside template and that's it.

I have done exactly this and got other working championships!

Just cannot get two particular groups to work.
One is Leman55 and the other is road cars.
My SIM_LeMans55.gdb is correctly coded and track and cars verified working with correctly set classes and CupStages.cdb is adjusted accordingly (checked easily by swapping to SIM_another and getting the another car group, so the issue follows the cars and not the championship files)

I have traced the problem to a car, GTR converted C type jag which works fine in GTL.
When I remove the classes="SIM_LM55" then the championship works fine.

When I tag all the C type non WSC cars the championship worked fine.
As soon as I tag the WSC cars with SIM_LM55 then I get 0 opponents.

Looking at working and non working car files they look the same in they use the same cas, hdc, aud files - I just can't spot the difference! There were no mistakes in the class tags.

Has anyone come across this before?


Can anyone give me pointers on how to spot rogue cars in your car set that affect championships quickly?
(I have be systematically disabling/enabling cars)

 

[GTR233]

How many cars did you enroll in your custom championship ?
I don't recall the exact number but there is a limit in GTL contrary to GTR2 : set 20-24 cars grid max to avoid issues.
There is obviously something wrong with your WSC mod but what ???
I recall that you also need "SIM_FULL" tag in your classes : it may help

 

[RaceCarRobs]

How many cars did you enroll in your custom championship ?
I don't recall the exact number but there is a limit in GTL contrary to GTR2 : set 20-24 cars grid max to avoid issues.
There is obviously something wrong with your WSC mod but what ???
I recall that you also need "SIM_FULL" tag in your classes : it may help

So I have used
Max Vehicles = 20 in the cup_*.gdb file to limit numbers (I think the max is 30 as per slider in game)

I have checked all the cars I want as AI in championship are drive-able in a quick race.
Also they cars from the opponents=0 championship can be called in other cup_*.gdb files when for example doing an all ferrari race or all Aston race which indicates the cars work.

All cars have SIM_FULL set. All cars are correctly SIM_* labelled and the championship files are definitely written correctly.

After much experimentation what I have found is that some cars, although driveable, when included in a championship cause the opponents=0 issue.
One car is a C Type jag (but only certain skins) and others include Lotus Eleven, Ferrari 250LM, Chevelle and Impala.
I haven't got to the bottom of it yet.

As some C type skins work and others don't I have been playing spot the difference in the *.car files to see if I can spot an issue but as they work I haven't found the golden bullet yet. Of course I may be looking in the wrong place!

Any thoughts on how you could cause an error which would include a car in eligible teams for a championship but cause an error resulting in opponents=0?

Suggestions appreciated.

 

[RaceCarRobs]

Opponents=0 in Championship solved!

Hi
Thought I post a solution rather than a problem!
This took me ages to figure out!

When I was writing my own championships for GTL occasionally I would find that the number of opponents would be zero or a strange fixed number.
Experimenting by removing certain car skins from the championship would result in the number of opponents going to the correct maximum and adding them back in would return it to a low fixed number or zero opponents again.

These certain cars would all drive correctly and there were no errors.

What I have discovered is that all the drivers in a championship must have a unique name as set in the skins *.car file eg Driver="Peter Perfect" else this causes the opponents=0 problem.

This is actually very difficult to spot if you have added a large number of cars!
I have added in a number of new car mods and by chance a number of driver names in different car mods did coincide.
Nothing for it but to read thru ALL the car files and spot the repeating names and adjust them for something unique (and adjust the talent file if you so wish but not needed to get operating).
My preference is to adjust something like;
//Driver="Peter Perfect"
Driver="Peter Piper"

Anyway I hope this will save some others from much head scratching.

 

[jgf]

A bit late but let me recommend "Tom's Driver Shop" for this issue. It works in GTR2 and GTL and allows creation and editing of talent files, it will also scan for duplicate names.