Conversions from sims to rFactor

[Finno Zidjian]

I have a complicated question.
Do you know anything about the physics editor for engine files. Im just learning about it at the moment. One thing ive noticed is when generating engine data the curves are more shallow as compared to other already existing engine files from other mods with the same specifications. These already existing engine files were generated according to the first line of the file but I can see when loaded up in the editor they had thier curves manually changed as its not smooth. Im just wondering what logic or thinking do people use to make manual changes and also is there a way to specify engine size or other variables when generating engines get more realistic curves. I dont expect you to know the answer to this. Physics is a whole different thing to converting models.

Hi, my friend!
Yes, you are right that I am unaware of the subject of engine physics; It's a fact! The little I touched engines were small details of the HDV and nothing else, I'm sorry for not being able to contribute to your search.
I even saw some forums here on Ovartake where I saw some posts by user JGF that seemed to deal with this with some propriety; Maybe you can search for it or even look for other forums.
I wish you good luck in this mining!
Hugs

 

[Lord Haw-Haw]

To answer part of your questions, to adjust some variables, look under the Edit menu: Edit Engine/Tire Parameters.
Most mods I play are from published peak numbers, max hp & tq plotted at the specific rpm published and then kind of connect the dots to complete the curves. If available copy a published dyno curve point to point visually.

 

[Gulag_Express]

To answer part of your questions, to adjust some variables, look under the Edit menu: Edit Engine/Tire Parameters.
Most mods I play are from published peak numbers, max hp & tq plotted at the specific rpm published and then kind of connect the dots to complete the curves. If available copy a published dyno curve point to point visually.

Thanks. Manual adjustments are the way. For now Im just using physics from another mod as doing custom engines will probably require me to make new gearing. Another thing i dont know allot about.
Thanks

 

[Gulag_Express]

I have done a couple of conversions but Ive never seem to have solved this issue regarding the main body of the car being not visible in T cam.

Here is the car from outside view. Clearly visible.

Now here is an image of the same car in T cam view if thats what you call it.
See how the the suspension, tires and wheel is visible but not the body of the car.

This happens to me on every F1c to rfactor conversion I do, sometimes even GTR2 to rfactor sometimes.
Ive never understood what causes this issue. The lod values in the gen file should be working. As it loads from outside and is also visible in other cameras except T cam. The camera file should be working aswell as I copied that from an already existing rfactor mod that doesnt have this problem. The model itself, ive compared its properties to other rfactor models that dont have this problem, they have the same properties, visible all raceweekend and render = true.
It looks like a simple problem fix but I struggle to find the solution to it.
Any ideas?
Thanks

 

[Finno Zidjian]

I have done a couple of conversions but Ive never seem to have solved this issue regarding the main body of the car being not visible in T cam.

Here is the car from outside view. Clearly visible.
View attachment 779822
Now here is an image of the same car in T cam view if thats what you call it.
See how the the suspension, tires and wheel is visible but not the body of the car.
View attachment 779823
This happens to me on every F1c to rfactor conversion I do, sometimes even GTR2 to rfactor sometimes.
Ive never understood what causes this issue. The lod values in the gen file should be working. As it loads from outside and is also visible in other cameras except T cam. The camera file should be working aswell as I copied that from an already existing rfactor mod that doesnt have this problem. The model itself, ive compared its properties to other rfactor models that dont have this problem, they have the same properties, visible all raceweekend and render = true.
It looks like a simple problem fix but I struggle to find the solution to it.
Any ideas?
Thanks

Hi, Gulag!
This is strange for me... not to say that this has never happened to me, but whenever it has, I've received a message right at the entrance describing the problem and, from what you present, it seems that you're not receiving any message... worse is that you can see the car in a camera, but in the TVCockpit (as I understand it, it's the one you call “T”, right?!) you can't see it... well, I believe that your camera settings are ok... what you may be missing is the cockpit mesh file, no?! If this file isn't missing, if you're OK with it, I'd look at the subtextures... specular, bump or CubeMap... maybe the problem lies in one of them... and then I'd put my money on CubeMap... in F1C, for example, the game accepts the CubeMap texture in a simple way, that is, normally the shine is given with a texture called EMAPRLTM or something similar to that... in RF, the CubeMap only works with a more complex file with six faces in a single file and doesn't accept this EMAPRLTM call with a single face... but, normally, the game sends an error message to CubeMap when you apply a simple texture instead of a more complex one... the game even loads it, but the car image doesn't...
Well... anyway, I don't have any other tracks to offer you and I can't try to open your car in my game because I don't mix different mods in it; if it was a circuit I wouldn't have a problem, but I don't mix cars.
I hope I've helped.

 

[Gulag_Express]

I have figured out what's causing this. Its not the cube map, the LOD values in the gen files, or the cockpit info and camera files that was causing it. It was only when I started learning to get the mirrors to function that I fixed the problem. By setting render target=true of the mirrors material and now the car body is visible in TV camera.
Who would've thought that the mirror was behind this problem. It doesn't make any sense but it works. A important discovery I will never forget.

 

[Finno Zidjian]

I have figured out what's causing this. Its not the cube map, the LOD values in the gen files, or the cockpit info and camera files that was causing it. It was only when I started learning to get the mirrors to function that I fixed the problem. By setting render target=true of the mirrors material and now the car body is visible in TV camera.
Who would've thought that the mirror was behind this problem. It doesn't make any sense but it works. A important discovery I will never forget.

Very good!

Really, after I gave you my impressions, I was thinking about the impossibility of it actually being a problem with the Cubemap, since if this file was used in a general assembly, I would probably have used the same Cubemap file for the body and for the cockpit and if the car appeared in one type of camera and not in another then my theory would be annulled and, when I thought about it, I went back to thinking more about the possibility that the cockpit mesh file was really missing, as I gave you, but, in the end, I didn't get it right either. ... in short, without having access to all the data and being able, above all, to carry out experiments, everything gets murky for me...

Well, I'm glad you're resilient and have managed to find the solution once again! Most people give up easily... but you're the opposite, you're always on the go even when it's difficult to find the solution, and that's something I've always admired about you since we met: you always look for solutions at the limits; even if you don't find the answer in others, you continue your research, your experiments on your own and end up finding something that satisfies you! That's very good; congratulations on that!!!

Let's move on!
Hugs

 

[Gulag_Express]

Ok im working on a new project. Im converting Monaco 1973-1975 from Asetto Corsa to rFactor but ive ran into problems. Ive have all the models and textures I need, removed all those unesesary AC stuff, all the sectors set up and pit and start lights, and mas file, scn file and all the other important stuff setup. When loading the track in game it will load all the way with the loading bar filling up. But will remain stuck there on the loading screen instead of loading up the track. No error message popup, just stuck. Since ive never converted from asetto corsa before i dont know allot and im not sure what might be causing it. I know the tdf file is correct, and the scn file seems to be correct. I cant seem to find anything out of the ordinary that could be causing this.
Thanks

 

[philrob]

I had a problem like this and it turned out to be textures that were not multiples of 2 i.e should be 512 x 512 but odd sizes like 511 x 498 often jpg format.

 

[Finno Zidjian]

Ok im working on a new project. Im converting Monaco 1973-1975 from Asetto Corsa to rFactor but ive ran into problems. Ive have all the models and textures I need, removed all those unesesary AC stuff, all the sectors set up and pit and start lights, and mas file, scn file and all the other important stuff setup. When loading the track in game it will load all the way with the loading bar filling up. But will remain stuck there on the loading screen instead of loading up the track. No error message popup, just stuck. Since ive never converted from asetto corsa before i dont know allot and im not sure what might be causing it. I know the tdf file is correct, and the scn file seems to be correct. I cant seem to find anything out of the ordinary that could be causing this.
Thanks
View attachment 783705

Hi, Gulag!

In fact, converting from AC requires a lot of attention to basically everything, since all the settings files (SCN, GDB, CAM, AIW and TDF) are assembled for Rfactor from scratch... And, as our friend Phill rightly pointed out, many textures are not up to RF standards, either in terms of dimensions or format, as he mentioned. But one thing's for sure: if there was no error message when loading, I'd rule out, at first, problems with textures, either in format or size. But anyway, in my experience with conversions I've had similar problems and usually the problem is related to the AIW, but I can't rule out other settings files... However, as an experiment, I recommend that you take the coordinates of a part of the circuit, through 3dsimed, that you can place your car on solid ground; take an AIW from another circuit and rename it with the name of the circuit you have converted and apply these coordinates to the garage you normally use for your car... I, for example, always use a Minardi and I know that my garage is always the one with TeamIndex=9... so I would place these coordinates in the corresponding garage: GarPos=(0,...***). Once this is done, try opening the circuit in the game with this “new” AIW... if it doesn't load completely, try doing it with another AIW from another circuit, because sometimes it doesn't work with one AIW, but it does with another... Do this in the private test section where only your car can enter the circuit, with no other cars present. Well, if you try the process with about three AIWs and it always gives the same result, then we'll know for sure that the problem isn't with this file, which is my first bet that it's causing the problem, but if you open the circuit with another AIW, we'll know for sure that the problem is with the AIW you've built...

Considering that the problem is not in the AIW, after testing, you, for example, are ruling out the possibility that the problem is related to the TDF file, but I wouldn't rule out this possibility because many floor materials in AC come with different names from the RF settings, for example, instead of road, sand or grass, they use b1road, 1road, b2road, 1sand, 1grass; these small differences are important... if the TDF is not well configured in these senses, the game considers that there is nowhere to land the cars and simply doesn't open. In fact, when the whole bar loads, it means that all the files for the circuit and the cars have been found and that everything is OK, so in principle I rule out the possibility of the problem being related to meshes or textures, but if there is no solid terrain configured in the TDF on which to land the cars, the game gets confused and doesn't open the circuit, so he stay stuck without knowing what to do.

Well, as I said a long time ago, it's always a shot in the dark, but try reviewing and experimenting with what I've given you and, if it doesn't work, don't bother sending me the material so I can try to help you with something; I've already converted four circuits from AC to RF and I'm well aware that the task isn't the simple...

*** edit: just to be clear, pay attention to the coordinate values in the AIW garage, where the axes are X,Z,Y... and in 3dsimed they are X,Y,Z, ok?!

 

[Gulag_Express]

Track context: The track looks to be based on monaco 1988 from rfactor with modifications as mod for asetto corsa wich I am converting to rfactor because this version doesnt exist for rfactor.

No luck with the conversion yet. I have tried a copying a few aiw files and changing out all the garage position 0 cordinates with those taken from 3dsimed using xzy. Still having same problem. The textures are all even numbers. The shaders are suported by rfactor. The TDF file is referencing the right material names. I look more deeply into the model using the hint you gave me that the game needs somewhere solid to place the car. I noticed that the road objects have coll target and Drivable set to false. Ive set them to true but the track will still not load. Ive also noticed that there was separate objects for groove and another set of plain white objects with material name physics overlapping the road objects. I didnt modify those. Ive removed those from the scn because I felt like they wernt needed for rFactor.

 

[Finno Zidjian]

Track context: The track looks to be based on monaco 1988 from rfactor with modifications as mod for asetto corsa wich I am converting to rfactor because this version doesnt exist for rfactor.

No luck with the conversion yet. I have tried a copying a few aiw files and changing out all the garage position 0 cordinates with those taken from 3dsimed using xzy. Still having same problem. The textures are all even numbers. The shaders are suported by rfactor. The TDF file is referencing the right material names. I look more deeply into the model using the hint you gave me that the game needs somewhere solid to place the car. I noticed that the road objects have coll target and Drivable set to false. Ive set them to true but the track will still not load. Ive also noticed that there was separate objects for groove and another set of plain white objects with material name physics overlapping the road objects. I didnt modify those. Ive removed those from the scn because I felt like they wernt needed for rFactor.

ok; if you want to send me the files, I can check them tomorrow.

 

[Gulag_Express]

ok; if you want to send me the files, I can check them tomorrow.

MonacoAC.zip

drive.google.com

I hate doing this to you but sometimes its only way forward. Thanks in advance

 

[Finno Zidjian]

MonacoAC.zip

drive.google.com

I hate doing this to you but sometimes its only way forward. Thanks in advance

Hi, Gulag!

Man, I've got good news: I managed to open the track! But, unfortunately, I also have bad news: I don't know exactly what was decisive for the track to actually open... what happened was that I kept modifying and experimenting with some things that I thought might be causing the freeze and with each experience of a given item that caused me frustration, I tried another modification on some other item that I thought was relevant to modify, but I didn't go back to the modification of the first item. ... in other words, I kept accumulating changes and when the track finally opened up, I didn't know if the last item modified was the determining factor or if it was the set of operations that was the determining factor, you know?

You see, if I were to say that applying the correct data to the TDF was what really determined the success of opening the scenery, I'd be lying, because when I tried to apply just that to this file, the track didn't open... so I believe it was a set of settings that went through the TDF and SCN that made the good result worthwhile. What I can really say is that the problem was due to the non-application of the TDF material settings; as I said earlier, the floors of the circuit were not being recognized as solid. Just like the SCN, none of the floor objects were configured to appear solid, they were all set to “False”. Also in the SCN, the View settings were a little out of certain standards and I changed them too. I also modified the entry for the MonacoAC folders (I mean, that was at first, because I put them in a more standard way of presenting the RF, but I don't consider that to be relevant).

Anyway, I'm explaining this because I'm going to have to return the circuit the way I managed to open it, because I can't give you any tips on how to open what you have there; if that satisfies you, I'm sure I've been able to help you...

Well, I think you'll really be starting your work now, as there's a lot to do on the track: applying shadows to the asphalt, solidity to the walls, transparencies in data objects and so on.

Ah, yes, even though it doesn't harm anything, the settings of all the instances of all the objects have “.gmt” and that's quite strange... the objects do have “.gmt”, but not the instances... but, anyway, if I hadn't been able to open the circuit, I would have suspected that this could be causing the problem, since it's a very non-standard setting. ... well, it turns out to be non-standard, but it doesn't seem to be detrimental to the game's performance, which is quite strange, since the program is sensitive to so many things and this turns out to be irrelevant to it... go figure...

Finally, if there's anything else you need, don't worry about taking my time; I'm available for any task I feel up to. If I don't feel able or comfortable doing something, don't worry, I'll tell you, just as I've told you in other situations involving things I didn't feel able to help you with, ok?!

The link: https://mega.nz/file/4EVTXLAQ#NTwlS-0IQAFvMyOyrFFSR7y21gvhqQ5PrP3aKqY3z58

Hugs

edit: One detail: I entered with the "sky.mas" file next to SCN, and I also “authorized” the "common.mas" file. If you have problems opening the track, look for these two files and add them to the folder. If you don't have them, I can send them to you, OK?

 

[Gulag_Express]

Thank you so much for your help. I can see what changes you have made, Its a shame you could find out exactly what made the difference but I can always reverse engineer and find out myself by comparing your work to mine. Now im going fine tune the track to get it race ready.
Many thanks once again.

 

[Finno Zidjian]

Thank you so much for your help. I can see what changes you have made, Its a shame you could find out exactly what made the difference but I can always reverse engineer and find out myself by comparing your work to mine. Now im going fine tune the track to get it race ready.
Many thanks once again.

Yes, the reverse path and comparisons are always the best way!
For my part, once I had succeeded in opening the track, I tried to start again from all the files you sent me, removing the folder with the work I had already done and putting back the one extracted from the RAR, that is, as if I were opening it for the first time, doing this in order to try to identify the most significant change, But this didn't work because the game made records that I had no way of reversing, in other words, even though I deleted as much information as I could from the CCH, PLR and HAT files relating to MonacoAC, something went wrong and instead of the track loading the way you sent me, the game simply dumped me into CTD (Crash To Desktop). .. And then I didn't have the patience to try again. I know it would be important to determine exactly what caused the freeze, but I honestly believe it was the entire set of settings in the TDF, SCN and even the GDB, since I made a small configuration to read the SVM files in it.
Anyway, I'm glad you're able to continue with your work; I think that's the most important thing and I wish you the best of luck!

 

[Gulag_Express]

Ok ive found out what made the difference. Its the finish, pits and sector model things. You were right about the instances having .gmt in thier name. Its ok for most instances to have them but for important stuff like xfinish xsector etc you can not have that. Those important instances are sensitive. So now the track loads but the textures are all funny and transparent. Wich ive fixed using the code for main view and rear view from the top of your scn.
Another important lesson for me, always check my scn after 3dsimed generates it.
Thanks