Modernizing GTR2 with the Crew Chief GTR2 Enhancements Plugin

[The Iron Wolf]

does the base steam version of the game run on your PC (before any mods)?

it is hard to do, it randomly does randomly does not. Running gtr2config and gtr2 as admin and 800x600 16bit seems to work.

 

[dbx71]

Yes, crash reproduces without the plugin. Also, crash reproduces on the default profile generated by the game. Good luck, I hope my .plr will at least allow you to enjoy the beast.

it's working! i don't get that crash happening now. whatever you did, thanks!

 

[Wormyyy]

does the base steam version of the game run on your PC (before any mods)?

In order to get it to launch at all from the base Steam install, I have to copy paste the GTR2.exe and rename it to sudo.exe, trying to launch from GTR2.exe just starts an endless loop of opening GTR2Config.exe

 

[dbx71]

In order to get it to launch at all from the base Steam install, I have to copy paste the GTR2.exe and rename it to sudo.exe, trying to launch from GTR2.exe just starts an endless loop of opening GTR2Config.exe

ahh, what a bummer. i was under the impression you couldn't get it to work after installing the patches or crew chief. if you can't even get the base steam game to run properly then it sounds like you may have an issue with your PC.

did you update all the drivers, especially the video card driver??

 

[dbx71]

I investigated your issue and it has nothing to do with my plugin and seems to be purely HQ patch issue (perhaps on Steam GTR2.exe only). Some setting in your PLR file causes game to crash with HQ patch. I will send you my working .plr file, and then (if you want) you could investigate settings one by one to figure out which setting causes the crash

Your .plr does not crash the stock game, so I won't investigate this any further. But if you figure out what setting crashes it you may want to let GTR233 know.

I figured out what the problem was in my case. Evidently, it seems the game was crashing in Race Weekend mode because it was missing certain cars / liveries. I hadn't installed the HQ 2005 Season mod, which brings in those cars with it... I thought that was a mostly optional add-on mod, not realizing that it was a critical extension of the HQ Anni Patch.

After I installed the HQ 2005 Season addon-on the crash to desktop went away.

@GTR233 you may want to make a note in the installation instructions for the Anni Patch that the 2005 Season add-on should be installed as part of that as well. Maybe you mentioned that somewhere and I missed it.
Thanks guys.

 

[Wormyyy]

ahh, what a bummer. i was under the impression you couldn't get it to work after installing the patches or crew chief. if you can't even get the base steam game to run properly then it sounds like you may have an issue with your PC.

did you update all the drivers, especially the video card driver??

to clarify, if I replace sudo.exe like I said and launch the game from that file the game launches. Trying to put in CC makes it crash when loading a weekend.

 

[GTR233]

I figured out what the problem was in my case. Evidently, it seems the game was crashing in Race Weekend mode because it was missing certain cars / liveries. I hadn't installed the HQ 2005 Season mod, which brings in those cars with it... I thought that was a mostly optional add-on mod, not realizing that it was a critical extension of the HQ Anni Patch.

After I installed the HQ 2005 Season addon-on the crash to desktop went away.

@GTR233 you may want to make a note in the installation instructions for the Anni Patch that the 2005 Season add-on should be installed as part of that as well. Maybe you mentioned that somewhere and I missed it.
Thanks guys.

Not exactly, 2005 mod is still an option (and not required) but you need to install hotfix 16.0.16 in the end (this hotfix includes patches for all my mods) of all installs (png3, 2005, butch cars) then RE-RUN GTR2_SETUP.CMD : the hotfix 16.0.16 setup will detect if png3/2005/butch cars are present or not and it will remove these specific updates if these optional mods are not present.
Instead of updating all my mods separately, I prefer to merge all fixes into common hotfix (it saves me time and data upload, I still haven't found time to finish v16.5/17 which is delayed again to next month(s)...) : it is clearly written to re-run GTR2_SETUP after hotfix 16.0.16 install.
For sure, if you have anniversary patch only and do not read what I wrote, after hotfix 16.0.16 without re-lauching setup, you will have 2005 incomplete files that could lead to CTD without the full 2005 mod properly installed.

 

[dbx71]

Not exactly, 2005 mod is still an option (and not required) but you need to install hotfix 16.0.16 in the end (this hotfix includes patches for all my mods) of all installs (png3, 2005, butch cars) then RE-RUN GTR2_SETUP.CMD : the hotfix 16.0.16 setup will detect if png3/2005/butch cars are present or not and it will remove these specific updates if these optional mods are not present.
Instead of updating all my mods separately, I prefer to merge all fixes into common hotfix (it saves me time and data upload, I still haven't found time to finish v16.5/17 which is delayed again to next month(s)...) : it is clearly written to re-run GTR2_SETUP after hotfix 16.0.16 install.
For sure, if you have anniversary patch only and do not read what I wrote, after hotfix 16.0.16 without re-lauching setup, you will have 2005 incomplete files that could lead to CTD without the full 2005 mod properly installed.

good to know. i was fairly certain i ran the hotfix at the end, and then the GTR2_SETUP as the final step. but i may have run it before installing hotfix, and not again afterwards...

thanks GTR233. the game looks amazing, btw. nice work! we GTR2 fans appreciate all the hard work you (and Iron Wolf) put into those patches. and it is running super-smooth!

 

[dbx71]

to clarify, if I replace sudo.exe like I said and launch the game from that file the game launches. Trying to put in CC makes it crash when loading a weekend.

ok, hmmm that's weird. all other game modes work ok then with CC? did you try installing the anniversary patch (including hotfix), and then installing CC at the end...?

i remember that copying those CC files at the end (including the plugin folder and dll files) into the GTR2 drop folder was an important step for me.

i think you have to run CC twice at the end too. just keep playing around with it. it's worth the trouble once you can get it up and running.

i have all the other big-title sims (AC, ACC, AMS2, and rF2) and while each of those are loads of fun to play, and offer amazing graphics, i find the off line single player experience of GTR2 to be unparalleled. i keep going back to it...

 

[Wormyyy]

ok, hmmm that's weird. all other game modes work ok then with CC? did you try installing the anniversary patch (including hotfix), and then installing CC at the end...?

i remember that copying those CC files at the end (including the plugin folder and dll files) into the GTR2 drop folder was an important step for me.

i think you have to run CC twice at the end too. just keep playing around with it. it's worth the trouble once you can get it up and running.

i have all the other big-title sims (AC, ACC, AMS2, and rF2) and while each of those are loads of fun to play, and offer amazing graphics, i find the off line single player experience of GTR2 to be unparallel. i keep going back to it...

No mode works with CC installed. I haven't messed around fully with the anniversary patch yet, and that will be my next step.

 

[Wormyyy]

No mode works with CC installed. I haven't messed around fully with the anniversary patch yet, and that will be my next step.

So update, I tried making a new fresh install and using the Anniversary patch and the game crashes when trying to load cars every time, no matter whether CC is installed or not.

 

[dbx71]

So update, I tried making a new fresh install and using the Anniversary patch and the game crashes when trying to load cars every time, no matter whether CC is installed or not.

did you download and install all 3 parts of the anni patch, followed by the hotfix at the end?

then run the GTR2_SETUP.CMD at the end... one of the setup steps asks if you want to deactivate the base cars, you may want to do that and use only the HQ cars...

 

[Jempy]

I don't understand why it cannot work for you @Wormyyy
I already made a few times a fresh install + Anniversary Patch without any problem.
Adding CC never made problems either .... but all advices need to be followed for a perfect result at 1st time.

Before installing CC:
- Are you following exactly the @GTR233 install guide in all points of view ?
- Don't you forget to launch config.exe and GTR2 with admin rights ?
- Where are you installing GTR2 ?

 

[The Iron Wolf]

Just my 2cents as author of this plugin, but in my opinion it is best to start with Vanilla Steam GTR2 and get that to work. I know though that Elise in Vanilla game crashes, so I have that car unchecked.

But it sounds like Wormy did all of that and it does not work. Unfortunately, there are many, many things that can interfere - security settings, AV, group policy etc. Some people have to run MCAT tool to get GTR2 to run, while it was never needed on 7 computers I tested plugin on. What that means that even if one follows instructions to the letter, there still might be some PCs where game won't run, period. Game was written for Windows XP so it is super outdated and while plugin tries to modernize it, I can only fix issues that I can reproduce locally.

 

[dbx71]

Just my 2cents as author of this plugin, but in my opinion it is best to start with Vanilla Steam GTR2 and get that to work. I know though that Elise in Vanilla game crashes, so I have that car unchecked.

But it sounds like Wormy did all of that and it does not work. Unfortunately, there are many, many things that can interfere - security settings, AV, group policy etc. Some people have to run MCAT tool to get GTR2 to run, while it was never needed on 7 computers I tested plugin on. What that means that even if one follows instructions to the letter, there still might be some PCs where game won't run, period. Game was written for Windows XP so it is super outdated and while plugin tries to modernize it, I can only fix issues that I can reproduce locally.

This is true. I made several attempts at installing and getting GTR2 up and running with Anniversary Patch and CC on my PC. Each time, I would go through the steps for the Anniversary Patch installation very carefully and, somehow, something would always get messed up along the way leading to some crash or another. Then, finally, I could get it working with Anniversary Patch but once I tried to install Crew Chief, new problems would arise! Or vise versa, I would install Crew Chief only, it would be working great, so then I would try to install Anni Patch and bam, crashing game again...

I went through my share of frustration for sure. Can't even remember how exactly I got it all to work but I believe the 'Happy Path' procedure led to success in the end. I've finally gotten it running super-smooth on the new PC now, and I'm not going to mess with it for at least another 5 years!

 

[The Iron Wolf]

For the record, HQ Anniversary works great with CCGEP, but there's a combination of HQ features and .plr file settings that leads to a crash. Starting with vanilla game minimizes the number of things that can go wrong and is easier, more reliable way of starting to use this plugin and getting familiar with it. One confusion with HQ Anniversary is that it defaults to DVD GTR2.exe, whereas CCGEP only works with Steam GTR2.exe.

Glad you got it sorted @dbx71

 

[Wormyyy]

Well, I've finally managed to get it working. It seems that without the HQ patch hotfix the game just didn't want to function but now even CC works as it's supposed to. I massively appreciate all the help and ideas you all have given me, people like you are what make sim racing awesome (along with Iron Wolf and GTR233 for all the incredible work they've done).

 

[dbx71]

Well, I've finally managed to get it working. It seems that without the HQ patch hotfix the game just didn't want to function but now even CC works as it's supposed to. I massively appreciate all the help and ideas you all have given me, people like you are what make sim racing awesome (along with Iron Wolf and GTR233 for all the incredible work they've done)

nice! congrats! have fun!!

 

[dbx71]

and now that i have my own version of GTR2 running without glitches, i went ahead and did a 24 hour test run race at monza (compressed to 24 mins). here is the video, featuring anniversary patch and CC in all it's glory ;-]

had a fun time chasing a couple of vipers through the night, but the action really starting picking up just before dawn:

 

[sandersk]

first great video dbx71,
i would like to ask anyone who may know, how do i set crewchief to run set Crew Chief option which enables automatic fullscreen borderless windowed mode for gtr2, atm i use another program to make it do that, and it would be nice to run one less program.
many thanks.