Forum Postings 2000 November

collected and (very little) formatted by addie walti


Threads

The start of a thread is on top right below the title

Learning how to make tracks
monaco garage
Grass at street tracks
Objects and jams
fence extension help!?!?

cc line problems
fence-extension, second
still cc problems
spectator banking on gp3 tracks (e.g copse corner)
circuit laps

Help with Pit lane Gp2
... driving under?
import/export of objects
Max???? (swivel arm limit)
location code type A for gp3

cmd 0xcd
WIDTH LIMIT
looking for realism (cc-car cornering speed)
(underlying-) bitmap size???
Sky disappears in Camera View

Track Editing Major Problem (gp3 crashes to desktop)
building catch-fences arround the track?
venetian effect
default texture on ribbons
Help (general)

Roadsurface markings
Pit-Lane entrance problem (entry not visible)

ribbons
changing texture id in hardware jams

green pit exit, split-position, cumul. alt

end of file


Index

Learning how to make tracks

Posted by Mike Luczak from 198.207.223.251:

I am interested in learning how to make new tracks and how to convert GP2 tracks to GP3 tracks. What is the best way to learn ? What is the process to convert GP2 to GP3 ? Is it automatic or does it require some manual work ? Thanks.

Posted by addie from 194.191.82.27:

all i could offer is the info on my page @
http://www.grandprix3.ch/TEIC/index.html

a lot of manual work is needed in any stage of developement of a track. but most important is to "get the feel" what is possible and what isnt. of course you also need to be as stubborn as a rock to keep it on. i'd say its rewarding at the end, but the prize is high

happy editing
addie


Index

monaco garage

Posted by Gregor from 212.139.181.120:

I have tried to find the monaco garage object definition s i can paste it onto my new track but i cant find it. I can easily find the pit building in melbourne where is it at monaco?

Posted by Paul Hoad from 195.92.194.107:

Its probably done using scenery ribbons!

Paul Hoad

Posted by John Verheijen from 212.64.25.123:

Monaco has no Pitbuilding as object.
It is made of scenery, that's why you don't see an object definition called pitbuilding.

Greetings
John Verheijen

Posted by Bob P from 206.47.244.60:

Which, by the way, is because of the curvature of the pitlane--I think.


Index

Grass at street tracks

Posted by Gregor from 212.139.181.120:

I have been wondering how you can place grass into certain areas of street tracks. Is it possible? if not is it possible to get a certain section of the track to use a differant jam file than the tarmac in the rest of the track? How can this be done

Posted by Bob P from 206.47.244.60:

My guess is add the grass jam to the track, then use that jam where you want. Should be that easy.

Posted by Dennis Grebe from 62.155.188.231:

If you want to build a street track based on one of the original not-monaco tracks, just place tarmac where you want to have tarmac. :-)
You won't have any problems with the grass then at all.

Dennis


Index

Objects and jams

Posted by Gregor from 212.139.181.120:

Can you get an object definition (e.g Bridge,flyover) to use a differant jam file? if you can how is this done?

Posted by John Verheijen from 212.64.25.123:

You can do this in 2 different ways.
1. change the texture in the jam file.
2. change the textureID in the object.

Greetings
John Verheijen


Index

fence extension help!?!?

Posted by graf berge from 62.104.210.70:

hi all
i have some problems to get a fence extension...
it should start at somewhere at the end of the track and run over start/finish to the first turn.
the textures should be some catchfences, but thats not the problem.
where do i have to set the commands "fence-extension on" ; "ex09";
"set fence-extension height right/left"?
also when i insert the commands, first there is only one argument in each command available?!?!
just after saving and opening again there are the other args?!?!
but then sometimes the msg"unknown-command" or something else appears.
or the game returns to desktop, when loading the track!
1000 thanks
graf berge

ps: coming soon: portland/USA1.1

Posted by John Verheijen from 212.64.25.123:

If you want an fence extension at the end of the track, that run over the startfinish line do this:
Place a 0xe2 in TS 0, place a 0xe1 where the Fence extension must stop.
At then end of the track put a 0xe2 where the extension must begin, and a 0xe1 in the last TS, but be sure that the value of Arg1 do not over run the length of the track section, else the track could cause a crash.
You can set the fence height to 512 (arg2), this is a good heigth for catch fences.
And the Cmd 0xe9 is for texture mapping :-)
See my tutorial on that on Paul's site :-)

I know that in the TE if you insert 0xe1 and 0xe2 cmd's, you only can fill in 1 Arg instead of 2.
With the 0xe5 Cmd you only can fill in 1 Arg instead of 3.
It's better if you copy and past these Cmd's from another track into your own, i've notice that then the track never causes a crash, except if you over run the start/finish.
When I insert a scenery structure (0xee) you can't fill any value :-(,
all the boxes are greyed out, so if you want to insert some Arg, you must open the scenery structure
after it is put in the tree :-(
I hope that Paul will fix these things in the next release :-)

Greetings
John Verheijen

Posted by Paul Hoad from 195.92.194.106:

Sorry John I didn't know these bugs existed I'll look into them shortly


Index

cc line problems

Posted by Sam Martens from 203.164.3.165:

when i draw the cc line save it then load the track the cc line has moved and the track wont work why is this so?

Posted by addie from 194.191.82.27:

this is one of the oldest question in TEing. i'm afraid geoff crammond only could answer it. looks like we have to live with it ...
at least we know about it since a long time
e.g. @ http://www.grandprix3.ch/TEIC/index.html


Index

fence-extension, second

Posted by Graf Berge from 62.104.210.91:

hi again

ok now i have the extension and mapped a texture of catchfences on it. here the next problem is, that this kind of blueboxcolour (for transparent textures) is appearing!? so the catchfence isnt transparent at all!
anybody know, why that colour does appear?
in other jams this colour does its work and dissappears!

tks gb

Posted by addie from 194.191.82.27:

there IS a blueboxcolor (great term !) but there also is a switch to engage it.

for softwarejams just open a jam with the jameditor of mal ross and doubleclick a texture to see the checkbox.
and the blueboxcolor is the very first color in palette.

with hardware jams there is also a bluebox color, as can be seen e.g. in the tree-textures. a switch seems to exist also, but is not yet identified, or at least not know to me. anybody ?


Index

still cc problems

Posted by Sam Martens from 203.164.3.165:

i have made a track for gp3 that works if i remove the cc line but if i make a cc line save the track then copy it to the circuits directory as F1ct?? the game freezes. could anyone offer some help please

Posted by Dennis Grebe from 62.155.188.182:

I guess you made the whole CC-Line in one step in the TE...

This simply doesn't work, so you have to od it step by step... Make on section and then check it in the game. If it looks like you wanted it to, go over to the next section...

Dennis

Posted by alfa from 202.76.128.22:

I havnt made any GP3 tracks yet, but from what I read in here it seems that its a lot easier to create the CC-line in GP2 because at least you can see where it has gone wildly wrong without the game freezing up. So, is it worth making the cc-line in GP2, and transferring it over once finished? Is that easier?

Posted by Dennis Grebe from 62.155.188.206:

At least on my machine, Gp2 loads faster than GP3... :-)))

If gp3 freezes after you changed something to the CC-Line, you made something very wrong ;-)

Gp3 doesn't freeze if you have a CC-Line that stays on the track so to say.
I don't see any advantage by doing the CC-Line in GP2, inspite the fact that it loads faster. :-)

Dennis


Index

spectator banking on gp3 tracks (e.g copse corner)

Posted by Andrew from 212.49.255.119:

Hi could someone give me the comands I need to create spectator banking, no tutorial etc all I need is the comands and I cam find the rest out from the tutorials.

Posted by addie from 194.191.82.27:

spectator banking ?
you mean like hockenheim nord kurve ?
its done with "scenery-ribbons" and then mapped textures.

for setting up "scenery-ribbons" its cmd 0xee and for mapping textures its cmd 0xe9

i hope its useful info
addie

Posted by Andrew from 212.49.244.8:

Hi, thanks for that addie it is exactly what I wanted but I have followed the tutorials buut still no banking appears. Could this be because I am doing it is Track section 0?.
So please could someone give me a short/brief tutorial of how to go about this I know it shouldn't be that hard and I can't figure out where I am going wrong.

Posted by alfa from 202.76.128.22:

You cant do it all in track section 0, it has to be done in the track sections relevent to the corner you have in mind. For example if you want a bit of a hill next to a corner halfway around the track, then you'll be putting the commands in sections 20 or 30 (or thereabouts - for that corner).
You'll need the commands 0xaf and 0xb8 for each track section in that area, plus a command to turn the sections on (oxd9 i think, without looking up the tutorial), and a command after the corner to turn them off (0xb0 ??).
Maybe it's best to take a look at a track that someone else has done, and see how they created the appearance that you wish to recreate.

Posted by Andrew from 212.49.246.67:

Thanks alfa but I mean is it possable to put the commands in section 0 because that is the track section I want them in.

Posted by Andrw from 212.49.253.209:

Ok, I have got the ribbons to appear but they are in the middle of the track. How do I possition them please?

Posted by addie from 194.191.82.27:

looks like you have to read the tutorials again :)
the arguments of 0xb8 define where the ribbons are located.

as for switching on ribbons please also consider the difference between cmds 0xb9 and 0xd9.

and as soon as your track sectors are curved in any way do also consider 0xba, 0xc2, 0xc3 and 0xc4 ...

Posted by Andrew from 212.188.145.159:

addie, Arn't those GP2 comands? Im in Gp3 not 2!

Posted by addie from 194.191.82.27:

a lot of cmds are the same in gp2 and gp3. so are 0xba, 0xc2, 0xc3 and 0xc4. but with 0xb9 and 0xd9 you are right andrew, these were gp2 (only). in gp3 you have 0xea-0xed instead. but the differences you had with 0xb9 and 0xd9 are still existant. see cmdlib.


Index

circuit laps

Posted by Rogério Barroso from 195.23.100.3:

Hi,

I just wanted to know if it's possible to change the number of laps on the original Circuits, with the present track editor v2.0.12?
Sorry for the amateur question, and many many thanks!

Rogério Barroso

Posted by Augusto Dewey from 200.16.224.80:

I think that the answer for now is no (Paul?), but there is a utility Gp3 pit lap by Alessandro Carrera that give you that option. i hope it helps you.


Index

Help with Pit lane Gp2

Posted by Juliano Flores from 200.186.238.22:

while i was creating my track i disabled pitlane viewing, for my confort, but then when i finished the track, and want to only fine tune the pitlane, the start finish line,and section2 (which was not modified and are from original monza track), was far away from the original pit.., and now when i try to change gp2 track editor crashs... can anyone help me ?

can someone please make the pitlane for me ? (one that you can enter and exits without major problems..)
to download the not-finished track goto http://boneceva.virtualave.net/files/f1ct01.dat

thanks in advance
Juliano Flores
guitar@boneceva.net

Posted by addie from 194.191.82.27:

if the TE crashes at loading your track, you could try other versions of TE.

as for fixing the pit lane, just look up the original monza track. everything is there. in particular keep your eyes on the layout of the pit lane sectors, then verge-widths of pit lane and track there, then checkboxes in the pit lane sectors and last but not least the cmds 0x86, 0x87, 0xa1, 0xa2, 0xa3, 0xa4, 0xd3, 0xd4, 0xd5, 0xd6 in the track and all cmds in the pit lane ...

i hope its useful info
addie


Index

... driving under?

Posted by Graf Berge from 62.104.210.93:

hi all
i mean on a very tight chicane(here its the festival-turn in portland), with brigded fences, when driving straight on through the grass, the car drives "under" the track and only the way back is the only alternative to get on the road again! (like "plopp" and you are back there...)
and if somebody know this, how could i solve it?
tks
graf berge

Posted by Graf Berge from 62.104.210.91:

Hi all

its me once again.
to clear up the situation, i try to explain the problem in a differant way:

imagine a chicane : straight, then right 90 deg, then left 130 (!) deg, then a short straight and a right 40 deg and a longer straight. here the first and last straight lays in one line, between there is the chicane.
now crossing the chicane as if the straight goes on, the car will dive into the green and dont reach the following straight, it drives under the track (and greens).

if i drive to the other direction (from last straight to first straight, i mean the two straights before and after the chicane), then the following happens:
coming from the track on the green, the car reacts as it should do ("wabbling" and less grip of course). but when get back on the tarmac of the first straight (before chicane), the "wabbling" and less grip doesn't change into the smooth feeling of tarmac, until i drive some more meters, then it makes like "plopp", and the tarmac-feeling starts. So it seems there is a invisible verge (?or bank or ribbon?) on the left side(i think in the sections after the 130 degree turn), a little bit higher as the road before the chicane, and it runs over the tarmac of the (before-chicane-)straight. so when driving straight on over the grass(now again the right direktion), the car is "under" the invisible verge, before it leaves the road!
i hope somebody understand the problem.
and something else:
as i switched in "show-menue" the option "show verges" there appears some very weird lines over the track, in all possible directions, so the problem really could be in the verges, running wild over the track.
in fact of it, that i removed all scenery, its really strange, that there are these weird verges. and also i thought, the verges are defined by the distance of the fences to the road!?!?! how can i edit or remove these stupid invisible verges. and almost the same picture appears when showing the trackpies, weird and in all possible directions...
(what are track pies???)
so, reminding all these facts, i think the only way is to make a ribbon or something else, which changes the hight (+) a little bit, to take the car over the grass to the little bit higher next straight, isn't? (of course nobody should shortcut the chicane, but for the realism it must be possible, to drive straight on there!)

and thats the last problem, influencing the track getting published.
if the problem wont be solved, i must place a fence there, that nobody can cross the chicane straight on :(( but then thats not festival-chicane anymore :((( )
ok, enough now and please help anybody

gbvt

ps: if somebody want to have a look on the problem, i can set the actually version online, the only thing u have to do then is to brigde the fence left (from t6 to t19 or so) of the chicane so that u can drive straight on through the grass, cause momentally there is a fence...

Posted by Dennis Grebe from 62.155.188.192:

The same bug as Matti had with his Monza 2000 track, just to give another example.

Dennis

Posted by addie from 194.191.82.27:

graf, all

i came along this problem twice so far, and couldnt resolve it both times. not even complete leveling of the according section helped. so i'm afraid i cant help.

in case you/anybody find a solution i'm very interested in it also. or if the limits with this effect could be determined. i mean the specific verge-width when the effect starts to appear ...


Index

import/export of objects

Posted by Luigi Campastri from 212.171.91.188:

could anybody tell me how to import objects from other tracks?
In TE export produces txt or gpo files , but importing doen't seem to work.
Thanks

Posted by addie from 194.191.82.27:

its not yet ready


Index

Max???? (swivel arm limit)

Posted by Marcel from 195.121.116.218:

Hi all,

I am wondering if there is also a max to swivelarms and scenery-structure commands in Gp3.
I have build a track which has a total length of 1466,it has 182 tracksections and a total of 731 commands.
I'm able to insert any command but pair of swivelarms and scenerystructure.
More scenerycoms kicks me out of the game.

Marcel.

Posted by addie from 194.191.82.27:

how many swivelarms do you have already ? in gp2 there was a limit at 128 ...

Posted by Marcel from 195.121.116.143:

So,there still is!!!

I have 88 pairs and 39 single swivelarms listed so I guess I have to remove and replace some...

Thanks Addie!

Marcel.

Posted by addie from 194.191.82.27:

marcel

your feedback is much appreciated (as i'm also about to get close and closer to this limit with my current track) !

for being sure on the number you also could look at the cmds 0xee ...
(menu tables / command stats)
if you have several similar or equal swivel-arms in a row, you may want to have a look at cmds 0xba, 0xc2, 0xc3 and/or 0xc4 ...

addie


Index

location code type A for gp3

Posted by addie from 194.191.82.27:

the new location code type A for the cmd 0xcd for gp3.
it also can be found in the updated cmdlib @
http://www.grandprix3.ch/TEIC/index.html

fence left: 1
fence right: 2
ribbons
L5: 256
L4: 512
L3: 1024
L2: 2048
L1: 64
R1: 128
R2: 4096
R3: 8192
R4: 16384
R5: 32768

verges, fences and former banks are still the same. rest is new.

i hope its useful information
addie


Index

cmd 0xcd

Posted by addie from 194.191.82.27:

... cmd 0xcd is for lightening/darkening textures. you control this by setting argument a4 to a value 0..15, where 0 is max dark and 15 is max light. but this only works within a certain range. e.g. imagine on both side of the track you have a forrest and the sun is positioned at the right side of the track and pretty low. so the forrest at the right side of the track, as you see it from the track, is “in the shadow” while the forrest on the left side of the track “is in the light” (hope you see what i mean).

with cmd 0xcd you now could enlighten the dark forrest on the right side, and you could darken the bright forrest on the left side. but you cant make the dark forest darker and the bright forrest brighter, as they are already at the limits. so darkening/lightening only works within certain ranges. you may want to research the original tracks to see how cmd 0xcd is though to be used.

most of the time the application of darkening/enlightening is pretty subtle. but its the subtle thing that gives “the harmony” to a track that makes it “feel good”. drive your track and look out for “where its too dark and/or too bright”, then use cmds 0xcd for fixing it.

addie


Index

WIDTH LIMIT

Posted by MC from 192.92.126.136:

Hi guys,
I would like to know if there is a limit to track width because I'm working on a cleveland cart track and when I increase too much the width a fence cross the track and after that you are out of the world.
It' s my first work so please help me.

THANKS!!

Posted by alfa from 202.76.128.22:

I think you'll find that track width can be easily as wide as you need it to be. Your problem is far more likely to be that your track is starting to extend outside the 'world'.
Check the option to view the world extent in the editor, and see if your track is anywhere near the edge.

Posted by MC from 62.10.69.106:

I' ve looked for the world but the track is in and also far from the boundaries.
I found also that when I add a command to the track the PERFORM SANITY CHECK tells me that a section (different from that where the command is!)is out of the world.

what's the problem??

THANKS AGAIN!!

Posted by Olivier Saussez from 212.166.35.119:

Perhaps it is a bridged fence that gets into a turn? Try to remove the bridge checkbox in the track section properties

Filou

Posted by MC from 192.92.126.136:

No bridge fences command is checked in nearest section.
I use the command 0x85 with this value:
a1=0
a2=15 (lenght of section)
a3=8000

with a a3 value lower than 6000 the track works;with agreater value the fence appear in the middle of the track and if you cross it you go out of the world.
I can' t solve this problem in any way!!
By the way THANKS

Posted by alfa from 202.76.128.22:

Given that the symptoms you describe are exactly those of running off the edge of the world, it's probably worth moving the start origin of the track somewhat just to see if it makes any difference.
Wont take too long... and remember that you cant always trust the results of the sanity check. :)

Posted by addie from 194.191.82.27:

have you also tried different vergewidth-values ? as robin de paus pointed out some time ago, the distance of the fences to the middle of the track (DFC) depends on the verge-width AND the track width. in the command-library you find robins calculations.

maybe a certain combination of track- and vergewidths gives an actual DFC of the fences that is beyond a certain technical limit of say 65535, so the number "overflows" and starts at 0 again ...

addie

Posted by Olivier Saussez from 212.166.34.60:

You should be right Addie because once I tried in GP2 to use the Track Width Change commands instead of using the verge values to make tarmac verges in Monaco, and even if fences were set to 0, the track was totally screwed up (fences that come into it like tyou experienced, MC).

Then, MC, I just want to say you that 8000 is far too much ! No track in the world would use this, not even Cleveland. I can't tell you what real width it is exactly because it seems the width unit has changed between GP2 and GP3 but it would be approx. 80 meters wide !

Filou

Posted by MC from 192.92.126.136:

thanks guys for the help!
Olivier what' s that verge value are you talking about??
To determine the width of the track I use a Background image of the track;I could not know another way to know this.

THANKS!!

Posted by Olivier Saussez from 212.166.36.175:

I would not use the background image way of setting the width because first, the width on the picture might not excatly represent the real track, and then, I'm not sure if the TE is right on the graphical view of track width and of verges.

Filou

PS: Don't bother about that verges thing, it's a time waste (I can't do anything else) I tried in GP2, using the track width change to make a tarmac verge instead of mapping a tarmac on the verge floor


Index

looking for realism (cc-car cornering speed)

Posted by Quebec_01 from 204.19.37.100:

Hi all
I used to edit CC car setups in GP2s trackedit so I could "adjust" computer controlled cars on some downloaded tracks for more accurate rendering.
Saw nothing about CC car set ups in latest version of trackeditor for GP3. Still I need to make controlled cars go faster on straights and slower in in corners. Any Ideas?
Thank yous very much

Posted by Quebec_01 from 204.19.37.100:

I was looking for a way to make GP3 tracks more real life like drive wise.
For example, CC cars go through Chapel turn at Silverstone at about 195 KMH
emmmm This past year, real better F1s were going through there at about 155 KMHs.
Personnally, I (we) can't top 170 KMH no matter the set up, drive line etc...
Testing with GP3 default performance values and ACE mode of course.
This happens on many if not most GP3 tracks. Same situation with Matty's fine Track pac 98.
Would appreciate some input if anyone kows how to counter this situation.
Thank Yous again

Posted by addie from 194.191.82.27:

i guess we have to face the fact we have to compromise here. as we are in for the fun to drive we may want a challenging race, so we have to have challenging opponents that behave not too stupid on the track. the opponents are challenging if their lap times are in a certain range because our laptimes also are in a certain range (from whatever reasons). so we have to look at the lap as a whole in first place.

the only way to also adjust the speed of the cc-cars in specific corners would be setting the cc-line radius in that specific corner. i assume the wing setting does not affect cornering of cc-cars in gp3, as it didnt in gp2 neither.

for gp2 there once existed a list on cc-line radius vs cornerspeed of cc-cars (unfortunately i forgot the name of the author). if you want to have “realistic” cornerspeed, i guess you had to make such a list for gp3 in first place. then, as soon as you know the speed of a real f1 in a specific corner you could set an appropriate cc-line radius there. i’m not sure whether a cc-line made like this would “feel ok” to the keyboard-drivers, but as i see its the only way to get the realistic corner speeds of cc-cars.

addie

Posted by Quebec_01 from 204.19.37.80:

Thanks for the reply.
I remember having the wings settings set waayyy up on a certain track with GP2. Number was way above the 20, but can't remeber if that did it or if it was something else in the CC car set up window. However, got speeds and lap times close to real back then values.
Will keep on collecting data
and bang my head till an accpetable solution comes out, if ever.
Still Thanks for the tip, will look into it.

Posted by Olivier Saussez from 212.166.35.119:

The thing to do would be to decrease c-c cars' rear wing if we could have access to their setup, and lower their grip in GP3Edit, so they would have more realistic top speeds (they're too slow in GP3, as they were in GP2 also) and cornering speeds, instead of changing the cc-lines (I know, i'm a lazy guy, but that would be a nice way of doing the job)

Filou


Index

(underlying-) bitmap size???

Posted by Roberto Fernandez from 200.16.249.231:

Which is the right bitmap size for use as underlying bitmap in track editor, al my atempts results in a small rectangle at top left corner

Posted by Marcel from 195.121.116.248:

Which you can resize and center by changing data in misc config in your tracktree!

Marcel.

Posted by addie from 194.191.82.27:

you could find a description of the handling of underlying bitmaps in "how to make an accurate track" to be found @
http://www.grandprix3.ch/TEIC/index.html

follow "writings"

addie


Index

Sky disappears in Camera View

Posted by Marek Michalak from 194.8.205.172:

Hi all !
I've been changing some camera positions on the Interlagos circuit and I have now encountered a probelm. In some of the camera views, especially those where you have kind of "panoramic view", but also in some "normal" views which zoom in on the car the sky disappears regulary and is replaced by a dark green background.
I tried to solve it by changing increasing the "View Object Ahead/Behind" values, but it didn't solve my problem.
Does anbody know how to "fix the sky" so that it does no longer disappear ?

Any help will be welcome. Thanks in advance.

Regards,
Marek

Posted by Dennis Grebe from 62.155.188.144:

Since you're talking about a "dark gree background" it's maybe because of the scenery...

The original tracks aren't perfect (hehe), so they maybe set the camera positions to where you can't see the bugs from...

Dennis


Index

Track Editing Major Problem (gp3 crashes to desktop)

Posted by Street25 from 193.251.55.112:

How do you manage to make a new track ?
I took Montreal and added ONE kerb = GP3 returned under Windows when loading the track.
I took MAgny-Cours and changed one banking size = GP3 returned under Windows when loading the track.
I took Monza and changed two sections length = GP3 returned under Windows when loading the track...

What is the problem ?
Must I have a registred version of Track Editor to have working tracks ???

Posted by Dennis Grebe from 62.155.188.176:

You don't need the registered Version of the TE to have working tracks, but you would make Paul a bit happiert and confident. :-)

Take a look at Addie's TEIC at http://www.grandprix3.ch/TEIC/ ...

Your problem at Monza most probably is caused by the CC-Line that doesn't fit anymore after changing the length of a TS.

Dennis

Posted by addie from 194.191.82.27:

yeah, the monza problem looks obvious, but the other two are strange, montreal in particular. you are sure you didnt change ANYTHING else in the montreal nor magny-cours track ?

addie

Posted by addie from 194.191.82.27:

oh i just recall ! you had the tracks in their original slot ?

if you put a track in a specific slot, you first may want to have a look at the “minimum track length limits” for the slots. @ http://www.grandprix3.ch/TEIC/index.html follow “primers”. if a track is shorter than this limit, gp3 falls back to the desktop when trying to load the track ...

more reasons for “gp3 crashes” can be found in the “trouble shooters FAQ” @ the same place

i hope its useful info
addie




Index

building catch-fences arround the track?

Posted by Carsten from 195.24.85.191:

making catch-fences around the track. How can I build catch-fences arround Microproses Originaltracks?

Posted by davidoff76 from 157.138.11.235:

I'm interested too ;
I also would like to modify catch fences on M. Burge's tracks (they are bad, I think) but if I change the .jam (same background, dimensions) when I run the game I see only blue surfaces not bipmapped. This also when I change the name of the jam with the track editor to the one of Matti Laitinen TPack98.
Can someone help?

Posted by addie from 194.191.82.27:

basically to have transparency in a texture two things are needed, a particular color in the image and a flag set. the first you can see in e.g. tree-images, just choose the same color in the portions you want to be transparent. the second is a bit more difficult. for software jams you could load the jam-file with the jameditor of mal ross and double-click the image to get a dialog-box with all those flags (checkboxes, bits, whatever you call them). there check “transparency” to enable the bluebox-color.

with hardware-jams its different. so far the “flag” is not yet spotted as far as i know. IF somebody knows about it, please do post here. in the meantime we have to compromise and choose a texture that already has transparency. if you are not sure about the latter, you could load the software version of the jam in the jameditor and look whether the flag is set. if its set in the software-jam, its set in the hardware-jam also, most probably. at least this is true for original jams.

if you work with custom jams, it may be different. btw: if you work with other peoples work please be sure to have their permission and dont forget to give credit !

i hope carstens question is answered also ?! if not, feel free to post again

Posted by Fat Rat from 24.67.224.12:

Hi Addie

Did I read that right , we still don't have transparency for hardware jams ??, ( other than default I guess)
Make things alot tougher, may start looking into a few things , haven't even grabbed John's GP3 tunnels track
Just started back up on the Greg Moore memorail pages & Fat Rat site update ( have maybe 4-6 weeks free ) No promises

CU
Les

Posted by addie from 194.191.82.27:

hello les
yes. as far as i know, the transparency-flag in hardware jams is not yet spotted.
btw: a transparency flag itself is not transparent. so it HAS to be there somewhere. if anybody knows more about it, please post it, i'd be very glad about it, and i'm sure i'm not the only one :)
addie




Index

venetian effect

Posted by Roberto Fernandez from 200.41.203.214:

What is the venetian effect?
I´ve seen when performing a sanity chaeck
that one of the items is venetian effect, and I can´t
understand what it is

Posted by addie from 194.191.82.27:

its thin stripes across the screen and it happens if you are too close at certain limits of track editing. david richards compared them to venetian blinds thats why they are called like this now.

you will definitely recognize them if you see them and you sometimes even have to restart gp2/3 to get rid of them again.

see also "trouble shooters FAQ" @ http://www.grandprix3.ch/TEIC/index.html

its the paragraph @ the very end of the "under construction" part ...


Index

default texture on ribbons

Posted by John Nugent from 154.32.142.253:

in doing a US track for GP2, I
tried to add textures to ribbons on left of track (4 ribbons to left)but all I get is the default textures as set in T0. my track is based on Olivier K.'s and I have deleted quite a lot of unknown commands. Can anyone tell me what is the most likely cause, please?

Posted by addie from 194.191.82.27:

john

i assume you use cmd 0xbc for mapping ?
you use location code type C for gp2 (11, 12, 13, 14 for the 4 ribbons)?
and all other arguments "make sense" also ? (see cmd-lib for details)
if a mapping still does not happen the most likely cause is, the area where you want to map, is too short. e.g. if you have a ribbon and you switch it off after 10 length units, and you map a texture for a length of 11, the texture does not get mapped at all ...

i hope its useful
addie


Index

Help (general)

Posted by Ruben from 212.233.54.87:

Am I stupid or is the Trackeditor so hard in use?
Where can I find some info, manuals, tutorials anything in this dark world?

What's a JAM?

Is there any hope left for me or do I have to delete TE from my hard disk and sell my computer?
Please help.

Posted by addie from 194.191.82.27:

hello ruben

i'm afraid you got it right, trackediting is not easy business. its about impossible to learn it other than the hard way.

maybe my site gives you a few hints: http://www.grandprix3.ch/TEIC/index.html

to answer your first question:
a jam is a file with textures included. the textures for gp2/3 are basically BMPs, but extended by some specific headerinformation per texture. textures are the graphic you use for mapping on grey areas in the track to make it look nicer.

and as for the 2nd question: yes there is some hope, though it means work. hard work.

but as far as i can say, its rewarding also :)

i hope its some hope, i mean help
addie


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Roadsurface markings

Posted by Zanardi from 198.142.200.245:

Hi, need some help on changing
the textures on the road surface. How do I get lines etc in one part of the track.
working on cleveland which has 2 long runways joined by
taxiways. On the runways I need to add white lines down middle.

Posted by Dennis Grebe from 62.96.244.226:

You can easily change the generic texture for the road surface... Just place the two files that include the tarmac textures "somewhere else" and "replace" the old ones within the TE for the textures only be used in your track....

You can do that with jip mappin also, take a look at original Monaco how it is solved there...

Dennis

Posted by alfa from 202.76.128.22:

New texture files?!?!?! Isnt that rather an overkill solution to getting white lines on the road, given that there are perfectly good Road Marking commands that would probably do the job, such as 0x8a (which are used for such things as the dotted lines at pit entry and exit).



Index

Pit-Lane entrance problem (entry not visible)

Posted by Jclem from 213.45.242.189:

I have a problem with my pilane entrance: i can't see the pit-lane in the beginning from the track. My entrance is similar to Imola in GP3 and i tried to use the cmd 0xd3 in the track section ca. 32 units before. What can i do?

Posted by addie from 194.191.82.27:

- i assume a2 of 0xd3 is non-zero, some 10 maybe ?
- and you also have the counterpart 0xd5 at the exit ?
- and the track and pit lane works in general ?
- you have but a single one 0xd3 in the track ? (use menu "tables / command stats" for checking out this)

Posted by jclem from 213.45.113.250:

Thanks, Addie
i forgot the 0xd5. Now it's OK!


Index

ribbons

Posted by MC from 151.30.143.64:

Hi guys,
I need your help!!
I could not make the ribbons function on my gp3 tracks.
I put in t[0] the 0xee command and the "switch ribbons on"command but when i save and run the track the game crash.
What' s the matter??
THANKS in advance

Posted by Dennnis Grebe from 62.226.214.163:

What values did you use in arg2?

L5=1
L4=2
L3=4
L2=8
L1=256
R1=512
R2=16
R3=32
R4=64
R5=128

If you want to turn on more than one ribbon at once, just add the values of the ribbons you want to turn on to each other..

NOTE:
That's what John told me and I'm only rewriting what he told me and it works fine, so full credit goes to John Verheijen for this.

Dennis

Posted by MC from 194.153.103.195:

thanks Dennis,
but I think that mine is another problem.With your trick I could see on 0xee command the right color of ribbons,but my problem is that when i put a ribbons on the track it crash.I read the tutorial but I cannot make it go.
Anyone could help me??

Posted by John Verheijen from 213.17.86.119:

Do you also use the 0xaf,0xc0 or 0xc1?
You must use 1 of this Cmd's in combination with the 0xee Cmd.
If you don't insert 1 of this Cmd's the track causes a crash.

John Verheijen

Posted by addie from 194.191.82.27:

if you remove the "switch ribbon on"-cmd, then the track loads ?


Index

changing texture id in hardware jams

Posted by MC from 151.30.143.64:

I forgot to ask a question:
is possible to change the ID of 16M colors JAM??
if yes,how??
THANKS!! again

Posted by addie from 194.191.82.27:

you could change the id by the help of a hexeditor. my routine: first i look-up the old ID in the appropriate SW-jam, then i "find" the id in the HW-jam with the hexeditor, and replace it. of course make a backup copy of the jam-first, in case you found and changed the wrong two-bytes.

if your not used to hex-editing it may be a little bit tricky at the beginning. but its not magic ...

just change the two-bytes and use the jam. it works right away. no need to set the "read-only"-flag again in the file-atributes. (who spread THAT rumour ? no "read-only" flags necessary allover full installation of gp3!! or did i miss something?)


Index

green pit exit, split-position, cumul. alt

Posted by John Nugent from 154.32.143.30:

first thanks to all who have helped in the past.esp john V & addie
I cant find the answer to these problems
1. how do I get rid of green (default?) texture on the pit exit off ramp RH side. I tried changing the default texture in all the unknown locations in the previous section but it had no effect. can you only change default textures in T0?

2. how do I change the position of the "splits"

3. why does the TE show cumulative heights, even though there is apparently none on the track. TE shows 18m approx but there is no "ramp" like shown in addies tutorial.

Posted by addie from 194.191.82.27:

hello john

1. are you aware of 0x9e in the pit exit ramp ? is its a1-value set in order to show the lane after all ?

2. basically their position is fixed. but if you run gp2/3 with gp2lap/gp3lap(as soon as the latter is published) the latter is able to shift the position according two values you insert in the TE. maybe somebody else could post the details here, as i never used this feature so far ...

3. possible "track start height (delta)" in the track config section is non-zero ? this happens in partiular if you use the suzuka-track as a base ...

i hope its useful information
addie

Posted by John Verheijen from 213.17.86.172:

Q1, where is your 0x87 Cmd?
That must be in the TS where the pitlane ends.
If you place it to soon the pitlane ends where this Cmd is placed.
Try to place it 1 TS further.

John

Posted by addie from 194.191.82.27:

john

q1
so 0x9e seems to be innocent. you could try to alter the vergewith of the track where the pit ramp is. "giving more room to the latter". be aware the track view in TE is not fully authentic here. is the track all straight between pit entry and exit ? (probably not)
please also consider the suggestion of john.
you also could try different angels of the pit lane end ...

q2
anybody post the details how to shift the splits ?

q3
start and end look perfectly joined as long as the cumulative altitude in "tables/track tables" is within a certain limit. if the figure is bigger you start to notice a "sharp bump" at s/f. this is one thing.

but "the ramp" you get from a different reason. you noticed “track start Z” in the track config section. Z is the vertical axis in the gp2/3 world coordinate system. now imagine e.g. a range of 1 to 16384 for this Z-value. if your track has a positiv steepness it climbs up this z-value. with negative steepness it goes down again. now as soon as you reach this value 16384, the track makes a “jump” (ramp) and is down at 1 again and starts over. this is the principle of those ramps. i dont now about the very figures of the range, it may be -16384 to 16384 or 0 to 32768, whatever. i used 1 to 16384 just as an example to show the principle. so fact is, ramps can happen in the middle of the track, everywhere. you even can have several ramps in your track.
i hope this explanation is not too confusing. looking at the sketch in “the guide to trackediting” may help again.

and to finally answer your question: yes, you may want to set those values to zero, as long as your track is even at s/f.





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