Searching For Evidence of Hidden Things

[BisharpVercetti]

The track textures can be viewed with "tim2view", thats how I modded the beta tahita dirt track into a grass track...... which is also the same program used to view billboards, rims, nameplates, title screens, ect.......

Yes but I'm talking about seeing the whole track not just textures.

 

[pez2k]

No ingame screenshots to show at the moment, but I've attached a zipped CSV file that's a dump of all of the colour thumbnails and colour names per car from the PAL disc. So far this is just reproducing what GT2DataExploder already can do, but now I'm working on rebuilding that back into the three (!) files it comes from, so that I can hopefully add new colours. There are also a few typos that need to be fixed, and some optimisation on the file size can be done that PD's tools seemingly missed.

Oh, while I'm thinking about it, @pez2k think you can fix the pre-race settings menu where it displays the power value in PS instead of HP (the number is PS, but it says HP)?

That's the game code itself rather than the data files - I very much would like to patch out the PS to HP conversion entirely but I'd need to find it in the code and learn enough MIPS assembly to not destroy it.

@pez2k, how about including Tahiti Dirt track from beta versions?

Not planning to do anything with tracks yet - it'd also run into problems with how I add it to the track list, where I find space on the disc, and so on.

Out of curiosity, is it possible to modify what cars can show up as AI cars in any given race?

(language)_gtmode_race.dat contains the full list of opponents, plus a list of up to 16 of those opponents per race. See the RaceInfo and OpponentInfo structs in the GT2DataExploder source for an idea of how it's laid out. To add a new opponent to an event, you'd simply add that opponent ID into the first free slot in the list for that race.

What I really need is a list of all cars with texture errors like the renault laguna rm that I fixed

I've attached my list of issues I've spotted - most are differences between the day and night versions so presumably the relevant parts of the day texture can just be copied over, but I've not had a chance to work on any yet. The last few are model errors, of which the Neon RM can likely be fixed by adjusting the 4-door side window textures to fit on the existing 2-door mesh and drawing on new shutlines, or merging the RM decals onto the 4-door texture and mesh (a fair bit of artistic work either way).

That's why I asked for the source code (that he actually sent me) in case we could work on it. But it's written in Delphi, which is close to Assembly code, and that one usually people don't like lmao.

I saw that yeah, handy code to have as a reference as I plan to look at palettes soon. Delphi's nowhere near assembly, it's a fairly high level language - it is an awful and antique language though!

@B_rad88! Do you know where is located the opponent car list in gt2vol? I would like to edit it...

See response above - (language)_gtmode_race.dat is the file.

Specially those "garage color squares" I want to know how to mod!

The colour thumbnails are in .carinfoe (and the other region-specific equivalents). See the CarColourInfo struct in the GT2DataExploder source for the layout of it. The file has an index per car at the top which points to the struct for that car. Have fun converting BGR555 to RGB though!

 

[submaniac93]

Jeeezus! That CSV must've taken a while to make o.O Lots of good info there

Also, if you understand and can write in Delphi, then you might be our only current hope at making a .c_o/.c_p converter, and bring down the barrier of texture and 3d modding

 

[tankuroded]

Mk3 Celica headlights always up - t285r, t28rr
Mk4 Celica headlights always up - t2c4r, t2cor, t2crr, t2rrr

ST165 and ST185 WRC headlights are almost always up at daytime rallies, except in rare cases:

 

[pez2k]

Jeeezus! That CSV must've taken a while to make o.O Lots of good info there

Also, if you understand and can write in Delphi, then you might be our only current hope at making a .c_o/.c_p converter, and bring down the barrier of texture and 3d modding

Not a single character of that CSV was manually typed, I just wrote a bit of code to pull apart the files and dump out the required data. Rather than manually carrying out the same task 4000+ times to look up each bit of data, it's faster to automate the task and let it run until it runs out of data to process. The code took a few hours, running it takes under a second. I already had the core of it written to dump out the car names, itself based on a bit of code I wrote for Forza 4 text files a while back.

As for model importing, I wouldn't get your hopes up on that one. I have no experience with 3D model file formats or reverse-engineering them - just because I have half a chance of understanding his model-reading code doesn't mean I could replicate it, never mind the even harder task of doing the reverse.

ST165 and ST185 WRC headlights are almost always up at daytime rallies, except in rare cases

Excellent, that can be crossed off the list then.

 

[SuperFrizzio]

Good job, may I ask you if there is a possibility to replace the background pictures of the game menus with a "custom one"? (Like the special event lineup pages)

 

[B_rad88!]

Not a single character of that CSV was manually typed, I just wrote a bit of code to pull apart the files and dump out the required data. Rather than manually carrying out the same task 4000+ times to look up each bit of data, it's faster to automate the task and let it run until it runs out of data to process. The code took a few hours, running it takes under a second. I already had the core of it written to dump out the car names, itself based on a bit of code I wrote for Forza 4 text files a while back.

As for model importing, I wouldn't get your hopes up on that one. I have no experience with 3D model file formats or reverse-engineering them - just because I have half a chance of understanding his model-reading code doesn't mean I could replicate it, never mind the even harder task of doing the reverse.




Excellent, that can be crossed off the list then.

Yeah 3d model modding is being difficult, but I have managed to fix the renault laguna rm texture and modded a few more......

I have an issue trying to use gt2dataexplorer, as I don't get command line prompt..... I guess I need to learn that too.... lol.


But thank you very much for the info, and maybe we can share some work or colab on a project or something.

Good job, may I ask you if there is a possibility to replace the background pictures of the game menus with a "custom one"? (Like the special event lineup pages)

Yes I want to modify the menu screens too!


EDIT: @pez2k you forgot about the acura integra type r incorrect body/spoiler


The audi s4 rm night error has already been fixed by MMRivitt I beleave...... also there is nothing that can be done for the rx7 lm edition wide body nighttime error at the moment.

 

[tankuroded]

The audi s4 rm night error has already been fixed by MMRivitt I beleave...... also there is nothing that can be done for the rx7 lm edition wide body nighttime error at the moment.

However, as it turns out, you can take the night S4 RM file from one of the demos and hex edit the rims in the cnp to use exactly the same one as the final version uses, for a more straightforward fix. (MMRivit's method causes some taillight effects to be lost.)

 

[pez2k]

That's a neat solution, I'll have to check the demos to see if there are un-broken versions of any other textures in there.

@pez2k you forgot about the acura integra type r incorrect body/spoiler

The audi s4 rm night error has already been fixed by MMRivitt I beleave...... also there is nothing that can be done for the rx7 lm edition wide body nighttime error at the moment.

I'm using a PAL copy (because it has the least bugs unmodified and the most available cars), so there are no Acuras available. I also do have that S4 RM fix, but it's on the list for completeness. As for the RX7, nothing at the moment yes, but it's noted down so I remember it if there ever is a way to fix it.

I'm happy to accept contributions to an unofficial patch, once I've sorted out car colours I might take a look at textures.

 

[B_rad88!]

@pez2k question, what hood gap are you talkin about on the lotus elan? I dont see one, then again, I may be overlooking it.

Also you can add vw lupo rm to that list, with a windshield color error..... I know someone who fixed that one.

 

[pez2k]

It's not quite the bonnet, but the night version has a dark line along the top of the front wings.

 

[submaniac93]

@pez2k I'm afraid I dontt see it... at least not on GT2carViewer. Maybe it's a rendering issue in game?

 

[NoGoodNames]

A VW Golf Cabriolet was apparently cut.

Cut color of the VW Golf RM, seen in the infamous PlayStation Magazine UK Xmas '99 issue:

 

[pez2k]

@pez2k I'm afraid I dontt see it... at least not on GT2carViewer. Maybe it's a rendering issue in game?

Sorry, it's the original Elan (ios2n) - I always forget that the front-drive one was in GT2.

 

[submaniac93]

Oh right. It's on both Elan and S4 Sprint too.

 

[EncounterGTR]

@pez2k So, if i want to change AI cars in GT2 Arcade Mode i need to edit arcade_data.dat with GT2DataExplorer?

 

[pez2k]

No, GT2DataExploder isn't an editor, it's just a little datamining tool to list out cars, races and so on - the tool itself is not for modding. You'll need to use a hex editor to edit any of these files, I only mentioned GT2DataExploder as the source code for that tool lists how the files are laid out, which can be used as a guide to figure out what to hex edit. I don't know about Arcade opponents though, the file I mentioned is for GT mode.

 

[pez2k]

Cracked it:

This is using the Viper GTS palette from MMRivit that adds the earlier plain red and blue / white colour schemes from GT1. The colour names and thumbnails are quite the nuisance to edit - the data is spread across three files that all have to stay exactly in sync and all have specifically indexed data so you can't just insert a byte or two without rebuilding the whole index table. By hand I think this one change would have taken a very long time to do, but for now I can just edit (a later version of) that CSV file I posted the other week and rebuild from that.

 

[submaniac93]

Wow! Very very cool!

 

[B_rad88!]

Cracked it:

This is using the Viper GTS palette from MMRivit that adds the earlier plain red and blue / white colour schemes from GT1. The colour names and thumbnails are quite the nuisance to edit - the data is spread across three files that all have to stay exactly in sync and all have specifically indexed data so you can't just insert a byte or two without rebuilding the whole index table. By hand I think this one change would have taken a very long time to do, but for now I can just edit (a later version of) that CSV file I posted the other week and rebuild from that.

Very cool! Another big step in gt2 modding! I have to know what files you had to mod and how you done it.......lol. I understand its difficult, so its ok if its to complicated to explain.

 

[pez2k]

Very cool! Another big step in gt2 modding! I have to know what files you had to mod and how you done it.......lol. I understand its difficult, so its ok if its to complicated to explain.

The explanation might not make a lot of sense until you sit and hex edit the files, but in short:

.cclatain / .ccjapanese are a simple string table, there's a list of indices that point to the location of the relevant string in the file. Unlike the other string tables there's no header, string count or individual lengths, it just reads until it hits a null terminator.

.carinfoe / a / j have a list of car IDs, each followed by an short pointer and a short value I'm not sure on, with some of its upper bits being the number of colours. The pointer locates a small data structure later in the file which has 2 bytes for each colour which is the BGR555 thumbnail, then 1 byte for each colour which is some sort of other colour descriptor (it's pretty consistent). Finally, the structure has a string length byte, then the car's replay name string.

.carcolor, in short, maps colours to name strings. It starts with a list of indices again, which are mapped to car IDs simply by being in the same order as the entries in .carinfoe and its equivalents. Each index points to an array of shorts, which are each the number of an entry in the list of indices in .cclatain (and .ccjapanese). The length of each array is the number of colours value from .carinfoe (etc.) - the game will only read that many entries.

It doesn't make much sense to have the colour data in .carinfoe along with the replay names, but the purpose of .carcolor is so that they can split the colour names into the two alphabets, .cclatain for Latin (ASCII) and .ccjapanese for I believe Katakana (UTF8), and map one colour entry to both.

Oddly the default game has a fair few duplicated colour strings like Chaste White - after doing duplicate removal, the file ends up nearly 2kb smaller than the original.

 

[B_rad88!]

The explanation might not make a lot of sense until you sit and hex edit the files, but in short:

.cclatain / .ccjapanese are a simple string table, there's a list of indices that point to the location of the relevant string in the file. Unlike the other string tables there's no header, string count or individual lengths, it just reads until it hits a null terminator.

.carinfoe / a / j have a list of car IDs, each followed by an short pointer and a short value I'm not sure on, with some of its upper bits being the number of colours. The pointer locates a small data structure later in the file which has 2 bytes for each colour which is the BGR555 thumbnail, then 1 byte for each colour which is some sort of other colour descriptor (it's pretty consistent). Finally, the structure has a string length byte, then the car's replay name string.

.carcolor, in short, maps colours to name strings. It starts with a list of indices again, which are mapped to car IDs simply by being in the same order as the entries in .carinfoe and its equivalents. Each index points to an array of shorts, which are each the number of an entry in the list of indices in .cclatain (and .ccjapanese). The length of each array is the number of colours value from .carinfoe (etc.) - the game will only read that many entries.

It doesn't make much sense to have the colour data in .carinfoe along with the replay names, but the purpose of .carcolor is so that they can split the colour names into the two alphabets, .cclatain for Latin (ASCII) and .ccjapanese for I believe Katakana (UTF8), and map one colour entry to both.

Oddly the default game has a fair few duplicated colour strings like Chaste White - after doing duplicate removal, the file ends up nearly 2kb smaller than the original.

Wow! Thank you, that makes more sense to me than you know. As I've been staring at the sections in those files, seeing the patterns and being able to separate the areas, so I can understand what your saying, now its a matter of my execution....... I hope for the best, but first, still trying to finish the neon 4door rm error fix.......



On a side note...... who agrees with me about trying to use the jdm integra type as a base to recreate the usdm integra type r instead of trying to delete all of those decals and stripes on the usdm integra rm body?.......... plus the spoiler on that usdm integra rm looks to small to be accurate anyways........ if the jdm integra doesnt work out then I'd be stuck with the integra rm........

 

[pez2k]

who agrees with me about trying to use the jdm integra type as a base to recreate the usdm integra type r

Definitely sounds like the best way to do it - the headlights aren't modelled on either so switching them over on the texture seems the easiest route. I don't know as much about the earlier USDM model but at least later years only came in yellow and black, so you might need to modify the palette too, looks like it comes in all the same colours as the GS-R ingame.

I spent a good while in Forza 4 fixing their JDM Type-R as it was totally wrong - the tyres were smaller than the wheels, it was as heavy as the USDM car, it's missing certain paint colours, and it's a mishmash of 1996 and 2000 spec. The car seems difficult for developers to get right!

 

[tankuroded]

Usable references for fixing the USDM Integra Type R:

 

[B_rad88!]

Definitely sounds like the best way to do it - the headlights aren't modelled on either so switching them over on the texture seems the easiest route. I don't know as much about the earlier USDM model but at least later years only came in yellow and black, so you might need to modify the palette too, looks like it comes in all the same colours as the GS-R ingame.

I spent a good while in Forza 4 fixing their JDM Type-R as it was totally wrong - the tyres were smaller than the wheels, it was as heavy as the USDM car, it's missing certain paint colours, and it's a mishmash of 1996 and 2000 spec. The car seems difficult for developers to get right!

Ok thanks for the info. It may be a little tricky to split the headlight/grill area of the acura onto the jdm integra, the front bumper may also be a pain, but I'm optimistic. And oh I'm not sure what model year they are or if they was repainted but I have seen close to oem stock white usdm integra type r (running around my town few years ago) and a red usdm integra type r before....... but I'm not sure on they'er accuracy.

The main issue was trying to delete all those decals would have taken along time, because I got to repeat the process for not only the H-lod but also the M-lod as well........ the L-low I don't really care about, but those can be done with color editing.

Usable references for fixing the USDM Integra Type R:
View attachment 708023
View attachment 708024
View attachment 708029

Cool thanks for the pics! And see what I mean about the usdm integra rm spoiler vs the jdm integra type r spoiler? While aesthetically the usdm integra rm looks ligit, but to me the spoiler isn't accurate and the bumper just doesn't have enough reach......

And hey tankuroded, what audi s4 rm nighttime taillight detail loss are you talking about? there is some minor detail changes, but all mostly up front, most notable change is the headlight detail loss, the gt2 jdm demo has extreme bright headlights, while no other gt2 demo build has that s4 rm....... and I closely compaired MMRivitt's version to final error version the rear end and also tail lights are the same even the 3rd brake light in the bottom of the rear window is still there, so I'm confused as to what your refereeing too.

 

[tankuroded]

Ok thanks for the info. It may be a little tricky to split the headlight/grill area of the acura onto the jdm integra, the front bumper may also be a pain, but I'm optimistic. And oh I'm not sure what model year they are or if they was repainted but I have seen close to oem stock white usdm integra type r (running around my town few years ago) and a red usdm integra type r before....... but I'm not sure on they'er accuracy.

The main issue was trying to delete all those decals would have taken along time, because I got to repeat the process for not only the H-lod but also the M-lod as well........ the L-low I don't really care about, but those can be done with color editing.




Cool thanks for the pics! And see what I mean about the usdm integra rm spoiler vs the jdm integra type r spoiler? While aesthetically the usdm integra rm looks ligit, but to me the spoiler isn't accurate and the bumper just doesn't have enough reach......

And hey tankuroded, what audi s4 rm nighttime taillight detail loss are you talking about? there is some minor detail changes, but all mostly up front, most notable change is the headlight detail loss, the gt2 jdm demo has extreme bright headlights, while no other gt2 demo build has that s4 rm....... and I closely compaired MMRivitt's version to final error version the rear end and also tail lights are the same even the 3rd brake light in the bottom of the rear window is still there, so I'm confused as to what your refereeing too.

MMRivit's method removes the circled area:

Compare the gas4r.cnp from Test Drive: (just noticed the headlights are brighter here)

Looking further though... using the Test Drive gas4r.cnp would also require the Test Drive gas4r.cno.

 

[B_rad88!]

Ok, hum well then I wonder who's s4 fix I have because mine has that little bit of taillight you circled.

Also on the gt2 test drive version have you noticed how the trunk (under spoiler) is errored, and also the "audi rings" on the side isn't finished because of the trunk error....... but the beta headlights may be able to be applied to the final version.

 

[jwest]

Is modding finding hidden things?
Not trying to be rude just not following here.

 

[BisharpVercetti]

I'm afraid I'll have to agree that this isn't the place for modding.
While I do understand that there's no other place in the forums for modding, this is still the place for finding hidden things.

 

[pez2k]

I resumed posting here as I'd found ways to start properly restoring this hidden stuff instead of just looking at it, but if there's somewhere else I should be posting instead just point me to it.