Cars PM3DM Super Touring Cars

[AdriGG16_VTS]

Long time with no real news.

We have had more traction recently and have recruited another bunch of excellent modders who are now working under the "PM3DM" banner.

Irfan Pratama
Paule_NLC
The_IC
Reference_92

A lot of progress has been made on the 406 BTCC / STW car, also we have also had someone working on the Prodrive 2000 Mondeo and Alfa 156 STW car utilizing our photoscans.

The BMW 320 is progressing and we have made the first pass at physics, however we are working on improving traction and settling the rear end down at the moment. Video below.

I will include some progress images / videos below. Where appropriate I have also included links to setup data we were allowed to share (some we weren't).

Alfa Romeo 156 STW (maybe 40-50% complete)

Hi, how are you? I would like to know how you can make these cars from images

 

[Dethrone1427]

I must say I've dipped my toe into the AC modding waters simply for the chance to sample this project. I think it's brilliant. What I am shocked about is the sheer attitude of some members of the community, it's proper 1st world privilege. It stinks.

I trawled through some AC threads the other night, it seems like a community that is quite happy to shoot itself in the foot by playing the "aha, gotcha game!"... And will eventually cannibalize itself. Sad really.

Super glad I won't be having anything to do with it beyond downloading the work done here. I think it's excellent work guys, keep it up and good luck.

 

[Kyuubeey]

Question to the physics guy: why the rear suspension of E36 implemented as double wishbone, and doesn't represent real structure of E36 rear suspension? It is not that it cannot be done. It can make a notable difference in car handling/behavior.
That also makes me wonder if the rest was done right...

Semi-trailing arm + 2 links (per side) was considered as very good suspension in terms of handling and its simplicity.
It started its life in BMW Z1 (1989), used in E36,E46,E85/86, and lasted till Z4 E89 (2009-2016).
In motorsport - E36 STW/GTR/DTM, E46 DTC/ETCC/WTCC, E46 M3 GTR, E86 Z4 GTR, E89 Z4 GT3.

About a decade ago as a personal research, I have redone SimBins Race07 E46 WTCC physics and remade the suspension according to real E46 dimensions and geometry (with corrections to retain roll center dive/squat characteristics) and it made a huge difference in handling comparing to SimBins "double wishbone e46" suspension model. It does make a difference.

I don't know if you're wrong or right, not commenting on that, however:

Remember that we do not have any trailing arm geometry in AC. Multilink also has some issues, which is why it's preferable to use DWB.

DWB can create *almost* anything from the common suspension types. The E36 is essentially a multilink + trailing arm.

You *cannot* just put in the link connection points for a multilink or trailing arm. For a multilink due to the nature of the virtual pivot separation, for a trailing arm due to the nature of the wheel connection point.

The E36 is essentially a trailing arm (Wheel connection point not supported in AC so needs to be compensated for) AND it has a single upper camber arm also attached to it, effectively turning it into a hybrid or multilink type suspension.

I actually don't know how to even begin to calculate properties for this layout; it would need to be received from the manufacturer, or via measurement. Unless I am misunderstanding and the lower arm has a joint connection on the trailing arm and it is not fixed.

The correct way is to graph the curves IRL and figure out the IC/RC, then match that behavior. Simply putting in the link positions is extremely unlikely to work at all like it should; I know, I have tried in the past some half a decade ago.

Then you must also compensate the internal force error for vanilla AC, but it is doable while retaining behavior.


So unless you have all of the curves and compare it to this version in AC, it's difficult to tell how much error there is. You can't just look at it.

Also @Patrik Marek like JPG said, you don't really need to make "a lot" of compromises, mainly just design the geo around the internal force. However if making an unconventional geo like this and not a normal DWB, it requires some special design knowledge.

 

[Ben Lee]

Hi, how are you? I would like to know how you can make these cars from images

If you mean the photogammetry then Patrik is your man. I just take the photos...

I took about 200 for the Renault Laguna

@Patrik Marek

 

[AdriGG16_VTS]

[QUOTE = "Ben Lee, publicación: 3172952, miembro: 49109"]
Si te refieres a la fotogametría, Patrik es tu hombre. Acabo de tomar las fotos ...

Tomé alrededor de 200 para el Renault Laguna

[USUARIO = 207012] @Patrik Marek [/ USUARIO]
[/CITAR]
Okay thanks , i will try make my Citroën Xsara

 

[AdriGG16_VTS]

If you mean the photogammetry then Patrik is your man. I just take the photos...

I took about 200 for the Renault Laguna

@Patrik Marek

Does he have the program or the program that you use is called Autodesk recap 360?
I'm sorry, I don't speak English very well

 

[Patrik Marek]

Does he have the program or the program that you use is called Autodesk recap 360?
I'm sorry, I don't speak English very well

Autodesk recap is something similar , yes!

what I used was Agisoft Photoscan, and then later on Capturing Reality

the most important thing is to try to reduce as much of the reflection as possible, so if it's your car, it's good do it after you haven't washed it in a long time, under cloudy sky

you could also try to use some paper that you put on the car, or just some tape to put some helper lines. tehy tend to increase accuracy

as far as photo go, try to have at least noise as you can (low ISO), and as sharp image as possible (the smallest aperture number)

 

[AdriGG16_VTS]

Bien, lo tendré en cuenta.
¡Muchas gracias por ayudarme!

 

[Patrik Marek]

So I was exploring the option of having the rim aero plates as optional thing in the setup, that you would turn on/off, but It seems that engine doesn't like that , it's done the same way as before, but this time it doesn't work in game
and my only conclusion is because it's parented to wheel, so it's being moved around , and that doesn't support animation on the pieces the same way you can do it for the rest of the car

not sure if CPS would allow some workaround but probably not

so the only other option I can think of is to have additional kn5 file and a .ini where you turn it on / off

 

[Deleted member 223075]

@Patrik Marek Why not playing with Alpha channel ? Like some bodykit that change on the car (already seen here)

 

[Patrik Marek]

@Patrik Marek Why not playing with Alpha channel ? Like some bodykit that change on the car (already seen here)

do you have an example? Only car I know of was the small Suzuki ( or whatever car that was) , and it was quite confusing to edit the files to get the right combination of bumper / sideskirts and what not, I find it
much easier to just edit .ini file where you pick what you want

plus it still wont' work live in game, which would be my main goal

 

[Ryno917]

do you have an example? Only car I know of was the small Suzuki ( or whatever car that was) , and it was quite confusing to edit the files to get the right combination of bumper / sideskirts and what not, I find it
much easier to just edit .ini file where you pick what you want

plus it still wont' work live in game, which would be my main goal

The Kunos longtail 962 is a good example; you can hide/show the turbofans by making the alpha of their normal map black/white. It also has a separate normal map for the front and rear wheel turbofans.

 

[Patrik Marek]

The Kunos longtail 962 is a good example; you can hide/show the turbofans by making the alpha of their normal map black/white. It also has a separate normal map for the front and rear wheel turbofans.

as these are not on wheels, I feel that it would be almost easier to do it the same way I did the switch for the display on BMW , no need to copy / edit anything

but yes, alpha channel would not care about being on wheel or not

 

[Deleted member 223075]

do you have an example? Only car I know of was the small Suzuki ( or whatever car that was) , and it was quite confusing to edit the files to get the right combination of bumper / sideskirts and what not, I find it
much easier to just edit .ini file where you pick what you want

plus it still wont' work live in game, which would be my main goal

Yep the Suzuki. Or why not using the same method as ier_p13c. In showroom if we press "0" we can see the front aero kit change. You can try to do the same for aero wheels. But if it don't work don't worry. I think it's not an important feature for now. Better to concentrate on improving and updating your cars.

 

[Patrik Marek]

Yep the Suzuki. Or why not using the same method as ier_p13c. In showroom if we press "0" we can see the front aero kit change. You can try to do the same for aero wheels. But if it don't work don't worry. I think it's not an important feature for now. Better to concentrate on improving and updating your cars.

that's exactly the method I used, and it worked to open door/hood/trunk, but not on the wheel ( when in-game)

 

[Ryno917]

as these are not on wheels, I feel that it would be almost easier to do it the same way I did the switch for the display on BMW , no need to copy / edit anything

but yes, alpha channel would not care about being on wheel or not

The nice thing about the alpha method is that it also works in the CM showroom, while the extensions method does not. Either way they're both pretty easy to do

 

[Deleted member 223075]

that's exactly the method I used, and it worked to open door/hood/trunk, but not on the wheel ( when in-game)

I don't know if it can help you but just chercked drm_3h_2 and they made it with textures in skin folder

With .dds related to wheels

Without .dds related to wheels

 

[Patrik Marek]

The nice thing about the alpha method is that it also works in the CM showroom, while the extensions method does not. Either way they're both pretty easy to do

extension method should work for at least 3 "wing" animations, so if your thing is part of the 3, it will work fine as well in showroom , it's only if you do more , then it doesn't work for anything ,
if you press numkey 0,1,2 it plays those animations . that'show I was recording my video

 

[Deleted member 223075]

 

[Patrik Marek]

this is the method that I wanted to use, as I find it the most slick, cool but yep, doesn't seem to work on wheels / suspension