Assetto Corsa PC Mods General DiscussionPC

[Rusty_Chest]

Can someone explain me what Ambient Occlusion (AO) VAO do exactly what they mean for Assetto Corsa and how they affect the game? And if I don't ask too much why there are different LOD for cars, such as the lod_a, lod_b and so on...? Thanks in advance

Adding on to what was said before me,
Assetto Corsa uses "baked AO" as it doesn't have realtime ambient occlusion in the base game meaning that one needs to UV Map a mesh and run it through an Ambient Occlusion "bakery" to generate a texture that has premade ambient shading. Without this ambient shading, cars and tracks will look straight out of 2005, most low-level modders are clueless about this and often release cars that aren't AO'd at all.

VAO is Vertex Ambient Occlusion, rather than baked AO found on cars this VAO is made by using a standalone bakery from either x4 or NVIDIA to find vertices on cars/tracks which have overhangs/places that need shading and put shadows under them through the .vao-patch file. This method of Ambient Occlusion is dynamic, meaning shading can be added or removed entirely at will depending on lighting conditions; baked AO will remain 100% of the time as it is a static texture, which isn't necessarily a bad thing.

The controversy with the latter was that the first releases of the OptiX bakery did not support bounced light and as such every other patch it generated was way too dark. Another minor controversy happened over ideologies of what constitutes as bad practice or not, someone from this thread decided that UV Mapping was too retro for them and started making VAO patches to crutch along some of the worst mods one could find, then contacting the authors and egging on their non-UV'd antics by allowing them to bundle the patch with their car(s).

 

[Rusty_Chest]

Turn 10 are still very busy, I don't think they have let it bother them too much. Bigger fish and all that...

I think Turn10 won't pursue DMCA takedowns against the AC modding community as we're still rather small, they're not exactly losing sales over people converting their 9 year-old models to a 6 year old engine. The original market for Forza Motorsport/Horizon isn't being replaced by their AC counterparts anytime soon and they're waayy too busy holding their modellers slaves with minimum wage positions to care.

 

[Ken134]

Cams for Oulton Park (all layouts)
Does not overwrite the existing cams.
Have Fun.

Now tested all cams. Brilliant close up action cams. Is it correct that even though I extract 2 camera sets for each track I only see one set in game or is there a limit on cams per track. Would love to see more of these action cams on other British tracks. Many thanks

 

[alexlockout]

can anyone share the skins from this post? there the link is dead.
https://www.gtplanet.net/forum/thre...ral-discussion.307899/page-1248#post-13126346

 

[Paintbox]

Adding on to what was said before me,
Assetto Corsa uses "baked AO" as it doesn't have realtime ambient occlusion in the base game meaning that one needs to UV Map a mesh and run it through an Ambient Occlusion "bakery" to generate a texture that has premade ambient shading. Without this ambient shading, cars and tracks will look straight out of 2005, most low-level modders are clueless about this and often release cars that aren't AO'd at all.

VAO is Vertex Ambient Occlusion, rather than baked AO found on cars this VAO is made by using a standalone bakery from either x4 or NVIDIA to find vertices on cars/tracks which have overhangs/places that need shading and put shadows under them through the .vao-patch file. This method of Ambient Occlusion is dynamic, meaning shading can be added or removed entirely at will depending on lighting conditions; baked AO will remain 100% of the time as it is a static texture, which isn't necessarily a bad thing.

The controversy with the latter was that the first releases of the OptiX bakery did not support bounced light and as such every other patch it generated was way too dark. Another minor controversy happened over ideologies of what constitutes as bad practice or not, someone from this thread decided that UV Mapping was too retro for them and started making VAO patches to crutch along some of the worst mods one could find, then contacting the authors and egging on their non-UV'd antics by allowing them to bundle the patch with their car(s).

I'm assuming then moving on from the minor controversies in the past, VAO is now the preferred method given it is more dynamic than the baked textures?

Was looking of dipping my toes into track editing and even scratch building some stuff down the line like this, so this is all great info thanks

 

[Rusty_Chest]

Adding on to what was said before me,
Assetto Corsa uses "baked AO" as it doesn't have realtime ambient occlusion in the base game meaning that one needs to UV Map a mesh and run it through an Ambient Occlusion "bakery" to generate a texture that has premade ambient shading. Without this ambient shading, cars and tracks will look straight out of 2005, most low-level modders are clueless about this and often release cars that aren't AO'd at all.

VAO is Vertex Ambient Occlusion, rather than baked AO found on cars this VAO is made by using a standalone bakery from either x4 or NVIDIA to find vertices on cars/tracks which have overhangs/places that need shading and put shadows under them through the .vao-patch file. This method of Ambient Occlusion is dynamic, meaning shading can be added or removed entirely at will depending on lighting conditions; baked AO will remain 100% of the time as it is a static texture, which isn't necessarily a bad thing.

The controversy with the latter was that the first releases of the OptiX bakery did not support bounced light and as such every other patch it generated was way too dark. Another minor controversy happened over ideologies of what constitutes as bad practice or not, someone from this thread decided that UV Mapping was too retro for them and started making VAO patches to crutch along some of the worst mods one could find, then contacting the authors and egging on their non-UV'd antics by allowing them to bundle the patch with their car(s).

Piling onto myself here;
Car VAO is entirely fine and dandy if the car is already built on a solid base, and now with the bakery x4's using that has bounced light there's no issue with over-darkening of interiors, but with the current public release of the OptiX Bakery (v8) which is the one used for baking cars there was no bounced light and as such many interiors ended up far too dark for actual human use. I only recently caved into it by baking at 50% ambient occlusion opacity meaning only very light shadows were added to supplement my PBR configs, but for cars that aren't pipeline standard the bakery will spit them out in horrible condition.

This is what happened when I tried to bake VAO for the first time on Some1's C6, the door was parented to the COCKPIT_HR node rather than being under a body dummy or having no parent at all, meaning the bakery considered it part of the interior and tried to brighten it up. Most "bad mods" you'll find won't have a COCKPIT_HR node and as such the bakery won't actively be brightening the interior up, it'll all just be baked as if it were the exterior in a rough and dumb manner.

 

[Rusty_Chest]

I'm assuming then moving on from the minor controversies in the past, VAO is now the preferred method given it is more dynamic than the baked textures?

Was looking of dipping my toes into track editing and even scratch building some stuff down the line like this, so this is all great info thanks

Oh yeah, for tracks there was really never an issue with VAO patching as it's rare to begin with that track makers map things properly in a way that would allow them to be baked by something "proper" like VRay first and then baked by the patch's bakery. Currently, track VAO is not ideal per-se but it works really well if you make use of the patch's bounced light feature to dynamically brighten up surfaces / darken them based on time of day.
https://github.com/ac-custom-shaders-patch/acc-extension-config/wiki/Tracks-–-Bounced-light

 

[Paintbox]

Oh yeah, for tracks there was really never an issue with VAO patching as it's rare to begin with that track makers map things properly in a way that would allow them to be baked by something "proper" like VRay first and then baked by the patch's bakery. Currently, track VAO is not ideal per-se but it works really well if you make use of the patch's bounced light feature to dynamically brighten up surfaces / darken them based on time of day.
https://github.com/ac-custom-shaders-patch/acc-extension-config/wiki/Tracks-–-Bounced-light

This my weekend sorted cheers!

 

[DaBaeda]

Now tested all cams. Brilliant close up action cams. Is it correct that even though I extract 2 camera sets for each track I only see one set in game or is there a limit on cams per track. Would love to see more of these action cams on other British tracks. Many thanks

I think its no limits for cams.
You can change the cams with F3 or with the cambutton.

 

[Ken134]

I think its no limits for cams.
You can change the cams with F3 or with the cambutton.View attachment 977504

Yes I use F3. Is it correct it's 1 set of cams per track layout. Very much appreciated that you have made these.

 

[Fanapryde]

can anyone share the skins from this post? there the link is dead.
https://www.gtplanet.net/forum/thre...ral-discussion.307899/page-1248#post-13126346

Here you go: https://mega.nz/folder/CbgUiQzL#9TDBdOh6_9zRibnqGOGU3A

 

[Rusty_Chest]

This my weekend sorted cheers!

np, here's the track bakery link if you need it
https://github.com/ac-custom-shaders-patch/acc-bakeryoptix/releases
You'll need the entire CUDA SDK to get hardware acceleration which is a bummer but definitely worth it
https://developer.nvidia.com/cuda-downloads?target_os=Windows&target_arch=x86_64&target_version=10

 

[Ken134]

Porsche 964 Carrera RSR (V0.1) (New version)

Link : https://mega.nz/file/cRB2BTSB#ojdVz9KmVIq0rQDVX558kuWOdMQFT_fXFbK-A8V-nkQ

Enjoy !

Brilliant car. Would you ever consider doing the 1974 911 Carrera RSR Turbo Le Mans car .

 

[DaBaeda]

Yes I use F3. Is it correct it's 1 set of cams per track layout. Very much appreciated that you have made these.

2 cams per layout.

 

[Nclsbrn89]

FIXED
I HAD SAME NAME WIPER IN 3DSMAX
Hey Guys, I noticed that i have a problem on my windows with the water....
One of you are able to fix that please ?
I try to add line in ext_config.ini with the name of the int and ext windows but it change nothing
Thanks

 

[Bjorn_G]

Ahhh good to see there is a model out there but no C60 mod for AC. I wonder what other older LMPs we got released (apart from the ones i already have) like the Lister Storm, Riley and scott etc.

Aren't those of pretty poor quality?

 

[Ivan Gabrovec]

Cams for Oulton Park (all layouts)
Does not overwrite the existing cams.
Have Fun.

hey DaBaeda, you'r a real cammakermachine! love your cams and oulton is superb! thanx 4 all and keep on!
wish: the yas marina from acu needs some for this weekend

 

[xezez]

Thought I'd momentarily break my current self-imposed GTP 'vow of silence' to say thanks to:

@DaBaeda for all your recent camera files. Very grateful for all of these.
@KevinK2 for your Ai files. Very grateful for these too.
@shi & @__EASY__ for your recent track conversions. Thanks to you also.

I could/should thank many more people for recent contributions here, but my 'word count' has now exceeded the self-imposed limit. Now it's time to return to being a ghost.

 

[Fanapryde]

Any skinner who would be so kind to take a shot at a skin for the vrc_pt_pavey (Panoz LMP-1 Evo).
I know...I asked for it before about a year ago iirc, but I can try right ?

Den Blå Avis ...

 

[dragster666]

Jeez the wipers in this game are a nightmare i might quit animating them completely at this point.
So the wipers won't work properly again this time its way worse now the wipers wont even fully work what do i mean?
Just look at this I've literally animated all of the 45 animation keys in 3DS MAX and the wipers won't fully do the sequence even though i set 45 keys as in export animation in 3DS ,Max
This is how they look with the full sequence in 3ds MAX

In game/showroom they barley move

And the Left wiper won't even clean the screen i had a similar issue on my XJ220S TWR. I managed to fix it one time but when i was reanimating it it screwed itself up again.

Edit managed to make the wipers wipe the screen but they still don't rotate or fully do the sequence still.

 

[FileMissing]

Jeez the wipers in this game are a nightmare i might quit animating them completely at this point.
So the wipers won't work properly again this time its way worse now the wipers wont even fully work what do i mean?
Just look at this I've literally animated all of the 45 animation keys in 3DS MAX and the wipers won't fully do the sequence even though i set 45 keys as in export animation in 3DS ,Max
This is how they look with the full sequence in 3ds MAX
View attachment 977520
In game/showroom they barley move
View attachment 977521
And the Left wiper won't even clean the screen i had a similar issue on my XJ220S TWR. I managed to fix it one time but when i was reanimating it it screwed itself up again.
View attachment 977522

@flyingsaucer Can probably provide some advice here, he has a section in our discord specific to wipers where he posts updates on vehicles he is working on, hints, tips, tutorials and fixes etc.
Drop him a PM or jump on Discord and have a chat with him 👍

 

[SpeedStar2000]

Aren't those of pretty poor quality?

The v12 LMR (Velo or legion), 333 SP (legion), Dallara SP1 (them lot but get it from the Grid pack), R8R and R8C (assetto garage) are eh but good enough as grid fillers. Same as the LMP-01 Evo (use legions) along with the Northstar if you don't have VRC's same as the R8 with the Assetto garage.

There is a free Bentley Speed 8 as well but if you don't have VRC's Bentley then use that.

so the best from the pre-2004 era currently are the R8, Speed 8, Northstar and Roadster-S which are all VRC.
to add to the grid go for legions 333 and velo's V12 to add to the rest.

 

[Sodemo]

Based just on the photos or have you actually seen them in motion?

Yea I downloaded the new CSP and gave it a try. It has potential but the default implementation is a bit lacking in my opinion.

 

[racealot]

the link in his discord doesn't work anymore

Just became aware that all mod-links are not working... Which could mean the modder is currently working on them, and may release updates in the near future...

@K E N N E T H
Would it be fair to say your mods may be released once again?
Or is there a another genuine reason for the links not to be working?
Any feedback would be appreciated, gracias...

 

[FileMissing]

Just became aware that all mod-links are not working... Which could mean the modder is currently working on them, and may release updates in the near future...

@K E N N E T H
Would it be fair to say your mods may be released once again?
Or is there a another genuine reason for the links not to be working?
Any feedback would be appreciated, gracias...

They are being worked on

 

[Masscot]

Yea I downloaded the new CSP and gave it a try. It has potential but the default implementation is a bit lacking in my opinion.

I thought it was a huge improvement over the default Kunos rotating flowers.

 

[SpeedStar2000]

Well, I am trying to fix the skins of the AG Audi R8R trying to create the number 7...all I can fix really is the mirrors.

because this is the reason.

 

[racealot]

what Formula car was this in this post? View attachment 977288

The mod-name is included in the image-file-name...

Screenshot_z_formula_agile_ladehesa

 

[Lucky3x]

Ahhh good to see there is a model out there but no C60 mod for AC. I wonder what other older LMPs we got released (apart from the ones i already have) like the Lister Storm, Riley and scott etc.

I have 2 C60s. Can't remember where i got them from. I think the Prototype pack on here.

Scratch that 4 different ones. Variations between canards and spoiler.

 

[ReisF1]

x4fab has uploaded VAO Patches for all Kunos cars using a special OptiX bakery that bounces light around, effective immediately they're all available for download through CM

Some issues are present such as the RSR 2017 being too dark as the windows weren't properly set up but overall this is a good thing, makes a lot of that late 2014 content look much better.

For real, man! So many cars now have the interiors too dark, any fix for that?