pal versus ntsc versions of gt4: what are the differences?

[Tedehur]

its pretty unlikely that the data shown in the replay theater table of contents is saved in the replay data. since, if you pull the replay data out of a max file, and then insert data from a different file. the replay theater will still show the name and time from the original file. but when played, it will show the *new* replay.

I never tried this. But then it means that the laptime/replay name can be accessed to pretty easily.

 

[Sphinx]

The Replay Theatre info (time, user comments, track and car etc) is located in the thumbnail.

Try extracting the thumbnail from one replay and adding it to another.

The result will be that the original replay will be maintained (and playable) and the added thumbnail extracted from the other replay will display the time, track, car and user comments etc, in the Replay Theatre.

EXAMPLE:
Replay from Beginner Course (Lotus Elan S1) with thumbnail taken from:

Track: Suzuka Course
Car: AMG Mercedes 190 E Evoll Touring Car
Time: 1'52.278

[PAL/.max]

 

[Sphinx]

The Replay Theatre info (time, user comments, track and car etc) is located in the thumbnail.

Just to add to this comment of mine:

Although the time and car type can be found in the thunmbnail, it seems that it isn't exclusive to the thumbnail.

Also the HP, tyre/tire type that appears in the replay can't be in the thumbnail. In the replay data perhaps?

 

[Tedehur]

Just to add to this comment of mine:

Although the time and car type can be found in the thunmbnail, it seems that it isn't exclusive to the thumbnail.

Also the HP, tyre/tire type that appears in the replay can't be in the thumbnail. In the replay data perhaps?

Why wouldn't the HP and tire be in the thumbnail too ?
The thumbnail is 256 bytes which is more than enough to store that kind of information. There are 18 tire types, so it can be stored on 2 bytes only. Make it 4 bytes to have both front and rear tires.

 

[Sphinx]

Why wouldn't the HP and tire be in the thumbnail too ?
The thumbnail is 256 bytes which is more than enough to store that kind of information. There are 18 tire types, so it can be stored on 2 bytes only. Make it 4 bytes to have both front and rear tires.

Because in the example replay provided, when you load the replay to view it, the hp, tyre type, car and replay type is displayed for the lotus after the replay theatre has loaded the replay data. Remember that the thumbnail is from a different replay and therefore would not hold data for the lotus. It must be coming from elsewhere

Also the time is displayed for the lotus at the end of the replay.

 

[Tedehur]

That makes sense.
From what we know, the garage seems to use blocks of 64 bytes (when you save a game, then save it again, the only difference is a 64 bytes block), and there are in the game some 'shstr' routines from which we can assume that something is encrypted by a string shifting method.
I've done a few operations (XOR, left shift) on 256-byte thumbnails coming from the same race, with no big result : the XORed binary still looks random ; the left shifted binary looks more like a real file (much more null bytes) but still no obvious data or pattern.

 

[Sphinx]

I've done a few operations (XOR, left shift) on 256-byte thumbnails coming from the same race, with no big result : the XORed binary still looks random ; the left shifted binary looks more like a real file (much more null bytes) but still no obvious data or pattern.

And this is where we are stopped in our tracks I'm afraid. Maybe someone will come up with something one day, but I know it won't be me, because my knowledge is limited in this area.

 

[steven]

this week (wrs week 76) a lenghty discussion is being held on the issue of the differences in lap performance between ntsc and pal.

let this thread be the place to continue that discussion.

maybe a small group of wrs players that have both versions set up some sort of tests to determine the exact differences.

good luck all!
steven/bigracer

 

[Tedehur]

Actually there was already a thread concerning PAL / NTSC differences, so I moved it back out of the archive and merged it with your new thread Steven.
No need to have 2 separate threads to deal with something to which we can change nothing.

 

[steven]

didnt know cyril. excellent mod work done there. thanks!

 

[Tedehur]

I even kept the title that you gave to your thread instead of the old thread's title

 

[steven]

nice one!

 

[su27killer]

Hmm tell me does NTSC version support km/h?! I guess I can play HD only on NTSC version.

 

[steven]

if the differences between pal and ntsc are noticable my suggestion would be to have split outcome tables for wrs series but only for div1 and maybe for div2, because i'm sure that for my own division (div3) the differences are not so big that race results would be influenced by them.
or, cyril could continue as he does now and split the outcome list based on pal/ntsc versions used.

 

[MP]

if the differences between pal and ntsc are noticable my suggestion would be to have split outcome tables for wrs series but only for div1 and maybe for div2, because i'm sure that for my own division (div3) the differences are not so big that race results would be influenced by them.
or, cyril could continue as he does now and split the outcome list based on pal/ntsc versions used.

Or maybe if we have another situation where there are obvious differences in versions we could just put 'PAL' or 'NTSC" in brackets next to the racers name on the results post...just my 2 cents (seems to be a common saying in GTP lol)