ATCC - All Time Car Championship

[abrimaal]

Alltimer Grandtour (ATGT3, formerly ATCC3 - All Time Car Championship) is a gigamod, rather a completely new game based on GTR Evo engine.
It contains also some features from GTR2 that were unavailable in Race 07 / GTR Evo.
The game is a halfway between simulation and arcade. It means that the fun of driving and racing is more important than exact engine specifications. The original Race 07, GTR Evo, GTL, WTCC, STCC cars do not have modified physics, but other car engines could have been adjusted to fit the class they are in.

The game features completely new classes, not based on real racing events. The classes are based on production years and car power. The main classes are:
Race (passenger cars, mainly street and touring racing cars),
Race Pro (hotwired passenger cars, with power comparable to GT or even stronger, such as WTCC Extreme or DTM)
V8 - large passenger cars, street and racing with V8 or V12 engines
GT (GT cars including GT4, GT3, GT Club cars)
GT Pro (GT1 cars, GRID, LM prototypes and other very fast machines excluding Formula)
Formula (Formula Raceroom and Master)
Formula Light (lightweight racing cars such as Caterham or Radical).
SUV, Vans, Trucks and probably karts.

The game is a tribute to the history of home computers and consoles, classic racing games and the modding scene.

The UI is being modified to give the game an unique look, enable features that were hidden (or not active) in the original games - for example full screen car preview. Other features have been added or activated.
You can also run some classic 1980-199x games directly from the ATCC menu, and also GTR2 installed in a subfolder. These features have not been tested yet under various versions of Windows, screen resolutions and available graphic modes.

UI preview part 1, 2019-07

Game base download link

MediaFire

MediaFire is a simple to use free service that lets you put all your photos, documents, music, and video in a single place so you can access them anywhere and share them everywhere.

www.mediafire.com

 

[AndreasFSC]

I have some questions, maybe you could help me?
1. I saw that you wrote: "displaying track name in the menu before start racing and in race results"
Is there a working "APP_TEXTVALUE...." for that to use in menus? I have tried to add track names in some places, but no luck so far...
2. Do you know if there is a way to edit the starting grid page other than the background texture? I would like to edit the text position and color of "starting grid", but perhaps it is hard coded?
3. You also mention "UI is partially adjusted for 16:9 displays (round buttons)".
I have tried to edit this too, but it doesn't seem to work for fullscreen pages. Do you know a way to fix that?

 

[abrimaal]

ad1: this is APP_TextValue_CurrentTrack - it displays VenueName, not TrackNameShort. I haven't found yet how to display TrackNameShort

ad2: I tried to find the grid page too, but unsuccessfully. I have only changed the background.
Some gizmos send numbers to app and the positions may be hidden somewhere in these numbers.
The same with in-game fonts, colours and sizes. I could not find how to change the font for driver names that are flying above cars. I changed the font .tga file.

ad3: I resize the buttons x 0.75
4:3 aspect = 16:12,
and 12 x 0.75 = 9
There are still many buttons not resized.
example
{
Pos-w-h=(0,0,27,35)
Surface="Symbol_Play_Normal.tga"
}

original values were 0,0,35,35

You wrote in WIP projects that you changed fonts. Do you use any converter to generate font maps?
I tried some font map creators, but the game crashed every time.
However the game works with GTR2 and RFactor fonts.

 

[AndreasFSC]

I have tried BMFont and Bitmap Font Builder, but the game crashes for me too. So I have to use the included MyriadPro font, but I wish there were one with higher resolution available.
I have also been able to rescale some logos, but sadly some cant be fixed it seems. I would like to have higher menu resolution, and downscaled bigger textures look better.

Tanks for the track name info. I thought I have tried all app_textvalue... but probably I have used this one in the wrong place before

 

[abrimaal]

About the grid page.
It is displayed only when there is .grd file in the track files, so the game first checks if the file Trackname.grd exists, then goes to this page.
Finding where it goes is too difficult for me.
Modifying the numeric values may be risky for the game stability. Text values may be replaced with any other string of the same length (and always saved as a new file).


There is one more fragment of code with .grd that is certainly used in GTR2 (notice the references to .GTR files, unused in Evo).
I think this may be the part that enables pit animations in GTR2.

 

[AndreasFSC]

This is very interesting. I have spent many hours looking in the code in a hex-editor and tried so many different combinations of files and edits, but no luck.
I guess they have som coded 'switch' somewhere in the Race 07 code that turns the animations off

 

[abrimaal]

Are motos allowed in a car racing simulator?

It is possible this motorcycle can be drivable, but it is a looooooot of work with physics and animations.

The first test - the moto has 8 wheels (4 transparent). I think the wheels are assigned to wrong instances, because when turning left, it leans right.
It is visible on replays that the front wheel (two wheels in the same position) are moving not on the same line.

The front suspension. I still don't know if it should be a part of suspension, steering wheel or maybe fixed to the driver arms.

 

[abrimaal]

Maintenance break. It may take a few weeks. Rearranging folders to make updates faster and easier.
For this time the automated unpack will not work, some folders and files may be duplicated.
The Music pack is deleted temporarily to make space for rearranging.
First updating the existing cars, tracks and other game data, then the new version of UI data will be uploaded.

By the way...
Thinking of a new name of the game.

There are too many "ATCC" games, even not related to cars.

 

[abrimaal]

Preview of the new game. Yes, because the name has changed to
Alltimer Grandtour
Planned release: December 2021.

 

[abrimaal]

Release v3.2
A new version of the game has been uploaded. (not tested yet).

major changes:

+ New name Alltimer Grandtour
+ The game starts without internet connection
+ Race Event button opens the Garage where you can select cars, opponents, tracks
+ new car logos and country flags
+ 7 new safety cars
+ Fonts and icons adjusted to 16:9 display
+ Full list of available cars in Car Filter menu (updated manually, not selectable)

important for car and track makers:
and it refers not only to this mod, to all Race 07 and GTR 2 based games

Shared files for cars, such as tires, gears and common textures are moved out of Shared folder (and subfolders) directly to Teams.
Only these remained in Shared that are different (for car packs and some original cars)

Every car SearchPath links to VEHDIR, there will be no more missing parts and game crashes, because they are in Teams.
This is important to set up correct link order in .cas files
1. to TEAMDIR
2. to TEAMDIR..\ - there are all files: inccar, tyr, dmg, eng, cas, cam...
3. to other folders of this car (Data, Obj, Textures, Cockpit, Wheels)
4. to Shared folders, subfolders and Drivers (if really required) - better to put these textures in car folder or directly in Teams.
5. To VEHDIR = GameData\Teams where are all generic files.
6. No linking to other cars and their parts.

Example of a perfect link order in .cas file
SearchPath=<TEAMDIR>
SearchPath=<TEAMDIR>..\
SearchPath=<TEAMDIR>..\DATA
SearchPath=<VEHDIR>

For tracks: textures with unique filenames, moved out of subfolders of Shared directly to Locations\Shared
Because every track .trk file links to Shared. Not every track links to subfolders of Shared
Added to Shared: common textures from various tracks that are found in .jpg, .bmp, .png converted to .dds - now you can simply move these slowing down .jpg workfiles out of the game.

Important to set up the correct link order in .trk files

1. to subfolders Textures, Models, Objects of this Track
2. to this track main folder, where are trk, aiw, gdb, cam, ani, grd and screens
3. To shared subfolders: skies_region, misc, teammaps or teammaps2, generic banners
4. To Shared
5. Tracks may link to other track parts, if they are in the same folder, no linking to different tracks.

Example of a perfect link order in .trk file
SearchPath=GameData\Locations\Trackname\Textures
SearchPath=GameData\Locations\Trackname\Models
SearchPath=GameData\Locations\Trackname
SearchPath=GameData\Locations\Shared\skies_central
SearchPath=GameData\Locations\Shared

If we set Shared as the first link, all car drivers will wear the same helmet and we will see the same ads on every track.

Back to the game
There is no automatic unpacker. I haven't written it yet.
The newest versions of cars are uploaded to
https://www.mediafire.com/folder/a8a2tjfhalqq7/CARS

The cars from
https://app.mediafire.com/oku1kgaz4536y
will be deleted

If I forgot to upload any important files to BASE, and the game does not start or crashes, please notify me. Well, I'm only a human.

 

[abrimaal]

I already see the first bugs.
1. Car Filter.
When it is off, I want the game to select opponents only from the same class, where my car is.
But the game selects from all cars.
The "Full" class should be only activated when the Car Filter is ON,
and selected "All Cars".

There are two events in menu for Car Filter.
Savefilter and Usefilter.
I think "Savefilter" should be used every time when closing Car Filter,
but now there are too many buttons that go out of the Car Filter.
It may take some time to analyze this.

and I am not sure if I can use two actions for a single button.
For example:

Actions="Release"
{
Event="CARFILTER_SAVEFILTER"
Do_Page="PAGE_NAME"
}

If not, I will add a button to Save car filter.

2. Car List added by myself, that displays all available classes and what cars are there.
The button BACK sometimes crashes the game.
The Car List may be opened from Options menu and Car Filter menu, so there cannot be Do_Page assigned to the BACK button. We should go back where we came from.
I messed this part up. When changing sub-pages with <- Previous Next -> many times, then pressing BACK, it goes to the previous sub-page, instead of returning to Options or Car Filter.
I have to do it differently, maybe use layers or so.

By the way.
I can display an image, using its file name with
Gizmo="Generic_Static_Picture"
I can play a video, using its file name with
Gizmo="Generic_BinkAnimation"
but how can I display text using its file name?

Instead of updating the list in a menu page,
I could open a text file generated by such tool as Race Analyzer.

 

[AndreasFSC]

I think the only way to get opponents from one class is to use the class select buttons. I made some tests using gtr2 gdb files for car filters, but it only worked halfways. Maybe it is possible to find a way to activate it in the game...

 

[abrimaal]

It always worked so, when Car Filter was off, the opponents were selected from the same class.
I have to look in an older version.

 

[abrimaal]

Yes. You are right, @AndreasFSC
Racing against the same class worked before, because there was the standard selector.
I rearranged it a little in the newest release.
When I go back to the Garage (using back button), the selected class becomes reset.
Do you know if there is an event "save selected class". Certainly is, but hard to guess its APP_NAME
And I will also try with events "save filter" and "use filter".

 

[AndreasFSC]

Sadly not, I have searched for a different way to select classes, but no luck so far

 

[abrimaal]

Updated safety cars. They are in the file GameData_Teams

Overview of the added cars. The original cars are there too.

Maserati Coupe from GTR2

Jaguar XJ. Original author: @AndreasFSC

Range Rover. Author unknown

Alfa 156 repainted to the Soviet Militia The original car is there too.

Ford Falcon. Source and author unknown.
Low poly. May be deleted and replaced in future.

Renault Dauphine. From rFactor mods, author unknown.

Renault Megane 2. From rFactor too, probably the same author, unknown too.

Chevrolet Camaro, recently added

The cars are selected randomly by the game engine.
There is a value in Classes="2009, NotAi", and all cars have Modelid=0 and Classid=0
I am a little uncertain to change the year in the class, for example to 1965 for Dauphine,
because I think, I should give it a new Model ID and Class ID.
I haven't tested it yet.
I would like to assign a safety car to a specific track or racing class.
It looks funny when starting a GT 2013 car and seeing an oldtimer as a track vehicle.

 

[abrimaal]

Safety cars separated from GameData\Teams folder (downloadable separately).
The pack Teams contains now only textures for special effects on cars and tracks (updated), and empty folders for cars.
TrackVehicles pack contains safety cars only (easier to update and reinstall).

All main game files are still in the same folder
https://app.mediafire.com/oku1kgaz4536y

Direct link to Teams pack:
https://www.mediafire.com/file/yjzq883nn3dx14l/ATCC3_GameData_Teams.7z/file

Direct link to Safety cars:
https://www.mediafire.com/file/4l2k9ps3t2xzsc3/ATCC3_GameData_Teams_TrackVehicles_Safetycar.7z/file

By the way:
Testing advanced graphic effects. Sepang track.
Projecting a semi-transparent video on a mov(e)able sphere

 

[abrimaal]

I wonder how much the 2006 game can handle.
The original models take nearly 600 GB, for the game the whole scene cannot exceed 4GB. So the models are highly simplified. The buildings will be without roofs, because roofs are not visible when driving a car.
The hardest work is cleaning up the models, to get rid of the sky, because it takes space in textures. The textures take the most of memory, the models are light, about 10 MB for an object.
I will add as much as possible and improve the quality of existing models.

 

[abrimaal]

UI update 202207

Updated files:
UIData
Textures
folder: https://www.mediafire.com/folder/e6003vt5tplao/BASE

Support for various track images

Four types of track screens can be displayed.
1. Monochrome screen
2. Full color screen
3. Track map / thumb
4. Mini track image

Monochrome screen is used in track selector and track loading.
It is scalable, the color is defined in UiData\MenuSkins parameter TrackImageHue
Filename pattern is TrackName_scrn.tga
No changes from the previous version.

Full color screen is available in track info and race monitor > View track screen
It is not scalable and not centered. So it cannot be used as loading screen and in track selector.
To use these images as loading screens, all images should be resized to 1024 x max 768 (or a way to resize found in game code)
Smaller screens are displayed in the top left, larger are displayed partially.

image size 1024 x 768

smaller image size

Supported filenames:
TrackName_scrn.tga is the highest priority screen, if other files exist in the track folder, _scrn is displayed.
If _scrn.tga is not found, these files may be displayed:
GTR2 TrackName_LOD.jpg but it must be renamed from 3 letters Trk_LOD to TrackName_LOD
rFactor TrackName_loading.jpg works without modifications
If these files are not found, TrackName_Thmb.tga or TrackNameThmb.tga are used,
but again GTR2 TrkThmb must be renamed to TrackName_Thmb
rFactor TrackNameThmb.tga works without modifications

View screen button in Race Monitor

Track map (thumb) is displayed in track info only, because it is not scalable.
The recommended sizes are 607 x 322 px (Race 07) or 650 x 400 px (GTR 2) or 612 x 294 px (rFactor)
Black images with transparent background are poorly visible.
The best are intermediate colors, that may be used in various games with bright and dark background.

Supported filenames:
TrackName_Thmb.tga (Race 07)
TrackNameThmb.tga (rFactor)
GTR2 Trk_Thmb.tga must be renamed.

Race 07 _thmb.tga image

Mini track map is displayed in track selector and track info.
The recommended size is 128 x 128 px, but they may be a little larger or smaller.
Black images with transparent background are invisible
The best are red or grey.

Supported filenames:
TrackNameTrack.tga
TrackName_track.tga
TrackNameTrack.bmp (GTR 2, GTL)
TrackNamemini.tga (rFactor)

More options in Race Settings (before start)
added:
track name
in-car music on / off
record best lap on / off

More car logos and country flags.
Car logos in car selector are not displayed yet.

Car List updated manually.
All cars adapted to this game, released or not.
It can be displayed from Car Filter menu and in Main Menu / Options
It sometimes crashes when started from Options and pressed BACK without changing pages.

 

[abrimaal]

updated Locations and Teams main files

Cleaning up shared folders, reducing the number of Search Paths in tracks and cars.

Locations

Every track links to Shared, so such folders as Shared\3dpeople Shared\Cars Shared\IGA Shared\Trucks
were useless, these files could be safely moved directly to Shared.
The filenames did not collide.
This does not change any track apperance.
If the track links to Shared and Shared\subfolder, the game will find the same texture in Shared.

Specific folders, such as
Ads for the original R07 tracks remained, because the original tracks link there to display different ads every year.
Misc remained, but the same files are copied to Shared
Teammaps and Teammaps2 remained - for GTL Tracks use Teammaps, for GTR2 and dedicated R07 tracks use Teammaps2
For RFactor conversions use Commonmaps before Teammaps.

Added a lot of textures to Shared

Textures that are found on various tracks as .jpg, .bmp, .tga, .png format are converted to .dds and added to Shared.
So you can delete the most of non .dds textures from tracks.

But... textures must have unique filenames to be added to Shared.
Such filenames as 003, material1, texture000 will not be accepted and will not be added.
Filenames starting with _ or other separator are not accepted too.
( _filename or !filename means excluded from project, unused)

Textures specific to a single track only, such as terrain map, will not be added to shared. If this is a .jpg file, it is converted to .dds and replaced in the track.
If the same texture is repeated multiple times on the same track, such as metal_aluminium and metal_aluminium1 metal_aluminium11 etc..., only the first file is added to Shared.
(Track makers, take a look at repeating textures before release)

https://www.mediafire.com/file/0zjmo0mdym0kp1w/ATCC3_GameData_Locations.7z/file

Teams

Motec (all found variants), Drivers and Shared subfolders are here.

Drivers subfolder contains helmets and suits for the original R07 cars and some addon car packs,
where various drivers use the same helmet (selected by start number).

Subfolders Wheels and Tyres are deleted, the textures moved directly to Teams.
If a car links to GameData\Wheels, the game will find the texture in Teams,
because every car links to VEHDIR = Teams main folder
If your car does not link to Wheels and it requires these files, it will not crash.

Shared subfolders contain dedicated textures and models for original and addon car packs.
If their filenames are unique, they can be moved to Teams, too
These shared subfolders still require a lot of cleaning, leaving there only files with the same filenames, that are different than these in Teams.

Some shared packs are dedicated only for a single car, their proper place is in this car folder, but...
other cars sometimes use these files.
All links to other cars have been removed long time ago, adding these textures to car folder.

The goal is not to use shared parts at all, so every car can be used individually,
Any car will start placed in any subfolder within Teams, when the .cas file links only to
SearchPath=<TEAMDIR>
SearchPath=<TEAMDIR>..\
SearchPath=<TEAMDIR>..\Data (or Obj, Cpit, Wheels within the car folder)
SearchPath=<VEHDIR> (for all shared parts)

Links to other folders are not welcome. The most of shared files take 10kB up to 1MB, it will not overweight a car, adding these files to every car (instead of creating a Shared pack, that only causes crashes).

Common camera files, gearboxes, tyres, damage files are also added to Teams.

https://www.mediafire.com/file/yjzq883nn3dx14l/ATCC3_GameData_Teams.7z/file

Where is my steering wheel?
The car you didn't like and deleted stole it

Where are the ads?
If it was GTR2 you would see the desktop icons

 

[abrimaal]

Pre-release overview of all cars.

part 1 : 1938 - 2004 (almost one hour video)

The game is the game only with all cars.
Cars made by hundreds of talented people, gathered for many years, adjusted, upgraded, optimized...