Warning

This page is WIP.

Vehicle Generation

Introduction 

Of course, the vehicle that is to be rendered in the game needs to be generated somehow and this is achieved through scripting in so-called GEN files. These files basically tell the game where to retrieve mesh files and textures from, how or if and when they are rendered (Levels Of Detail (LOD)). But they are also used to define any visual upgrade parts (changeable through upgrades) and any head, brake, or pit/rain lights available for a vehicle.

Typically, there are two different GEN files: One GEN file the in-game or track rendering and a second file for the showroom or spinner rendering of a vehicle. This page is structured according to that principle, with the first sub-section explaining the scripting in GEN files for the in-game generation of a vehicle and the second sub-section will explain the scripting in GEN files for the showroom or spinner generation of a vehicle.

All information included in this page, except tokens, were copied from the source files directly and amended or formatted as needed.

Structure of GEN Files 

Search Paths, MAS Files, ReflectPlane, Main Instance, Actor, Sub-Instances

In-Game Generation of a Vehicle 

The GEN file used for the generation of a vehicle in-game is usually having a simple name, like the name of the vehicle itself. It does not have a file name extension to not confuse with the GEN file used for generating the vehicle in the showroom. This GEN file is referenced to by one or more VEH files.

Tokens for In-Game 

The available tokens for the in-game vehicle generation are:

Note

Tokens have the format <value>.

ID: This is replaced by the proper slot identification (000, 001, etc.), or
1,2,3,etc: This is replaced by the first 1,2,3 characters of the vehicle GenString
VEHDIR: This is replaced with the proper vehicles directory (e.g. E:Dataseason01vehicles)
TEAMDIR: This is replaced with the proper team directory (e.g. season01vehicleswilliams)
SPIN: For the vehicle spinner in the options only
NOTSPIN: For everything EXCEPT the vehicle spinner
LOW: Low detail only
MED: Medium detail only
HIGH: High detail only
MAX: Maximum detail only
DASHLOW: Low detail dash
DASHHIGH: High detail dash
STARTUPGRADES: These token starts the section of where mesh instances can be replaced through upgrade parts.
STOPUPGRADES: These token ends the section of where mesh instances can be replaced through upgrade parts.

Example: For slot #2 using the vehicle file “nicecar.VEH”, the line

Instance=SLOT<ID> MeshFile=<123>gva.GMT

would be replaced with

"Instance=SLOT002 MeshFile=nicgva.GMT"

Search Paths 

The search paths tells the game where to retrieve the model files and textures from to build an instance of a vehicle.

Note

Please note that the game always uses the last file it can find. So in case you have multiple files with the same name present in either the Search Paths or a MAS File, the game will always use the last one. Especially when using the Dev Mode, this can be a source of error.

SearchPath

Example value: <VEHDIR>

The value can either be a token or a folder name or a combination of both. Paths are separated with a backslash \.

Search Path Example

SearchPath=<VEHDIR>
SearchPath=SkipBarber
SearchPath=<VEHDIR>SkipBarber\maps
SearchPath=SkipBarber\maps

Mas Files Reference 

The MAS files references tells the game from which packed files to retrieve the model files and textures from to build an instance of a vehicle.

MASFile

Example value: SkipBarber\skipbarber.mas

Example value: cmaps.mas

The value can either be a token, a folder name, a file name, or a combination of all. The file extension .mas should be included.

MAS File Example

MASFile=SkipBarber\skipbarber.mas
MASFile=cmaps.mas

Reflection Plane 

The reflection plane is a definition of a layer needed to tell the game where to render the reflection of a vehicle. It is just one line in the GEN file but without this line, no reflection would be rendered.

ReflectPlane

Example value: (0.0, -1.0, 0.0, 0)

Layer at which the vehicle is reflected.

ReflectPlane=(0.0, -1.0, 0.0, 0)

Instances 

The vehicle generation is done basically by creating the main instance and multiple nested instances inside it, all with one or more mesh objects in them. Thereby the main instance always comes first and is defined as Instance=SLOT<ID>. All nested instances follow the same principle but have default names or user- defined names assigned.

Note

Please note that some default names are mandatory to appear in the GEN file or the game might crash when the vehicle is loaded. Those names are printed bold in the list below.

Default instance names are:

COCKPIT
WHEEL
WINDOWS
WINDSHIELDOUT
FWING
RWING
BODYIN
DEBRIS0 to DEBRIS9
LFTIRE
LFSPINDLE
RFTIRE
RFSPINDLE
LRTIRE
LRSPINDLE
RRTIRE
RRSPINDLE
HELMET
DRIVER
HLIGHTDS
HLIGHTPS
BLGLODS
BLGLOPS
BACKFIRE

File types inside an instance can be:

MeshFile
AnimFile

Every instance is started and closed using curly brackets, { and }. The first line in every instance should then be the definition of the parameter Moveable that can be True or False. After that, one or more mesh objects can be defined to be part of an instance. These lines start with MeshFile, followed by the file name of the mesh object to be loaded and additional render settings.

Render settings for mesh objects

Moveable

Example value: True

Can be True or False.

CollTarget

Example value: True

Can be True or False. Sets whether the instance can collide with other instances.

HATTarget

Example value: True

Can be True or False.

LODIn

Example value: (0)

The number inside the round brackets is a distance in meters measured from the active camera’s position. This setting will tell the game when to show this mesh object: LOD stands for “Level Of Detail” and In can be understood to be something like “when the object is being inserted into the scene”.

LODOut

Example value: (100)

The number inside the round brackets is a distance in meters measured from the active camera’s position. This setting will tell the game when to hide this mesh object: LOD stands for “Level Of Detail” and Out can be undestood to be something like “when the object is being cut out of the scene”.

ShadowCaster

Example value: (True, Solid)

Can be True or False. If True, then the shadow the object creates can be further defined: It can be a solid static or a dynamic shadow.

Reflect

Example value: NoLOD

Can be True or False or NoLOD.

Damageable

Example value: True

Can be True or False.

Render

Example value: False

Can be True or False. With this setting the object to be loaded but switched on or off for being shown in the scene. Typical use cases are shadow objects, which are supposed to cast shadows but should not be shown as an object in the scene, or collision objects, which should not be shown in the scene but invisibly block other objects from clipping with the objects enclosed by the collision object.

AmbientObject

Example value: (True,Texture)

Was used to render flat shadows below vehicles. Is now obsolete.

Instance Example

The below code is an example for a mesh instance in the GEN file. For the purpose of this example all available options are included, but of course in practice only those found necessary should be included.

Instance=SOMEINSTANCE
{
  Moveable=True
  MeshFile=SOMEMESH_LODA.GMT CollTarget=False HATTarget=False LODIn=(0) LODOut=(123) ShadowReceiver=True ShadowCaster=(True, Solid) Reflect=True
  MeshFile=SOMEMESH_LODB.GMT CollTarget=False HATTarget=False LODIn=(123) LODOut=(456) ShadowReceiver=True ShadowCaster=(True, Solid) Reflect=True
}

Lights 

Type

Example value: Spot

Defines the type of light. Can be spot …

Render settings for light objects

Pos

Example value: ( 0.51, 0.49,-1.9)

No explanation provided

Dir

Example value: (-0.07,-0.08,-0.85)

No explanation provided

Range

Example value: (0.0, 320.0)

No explanation provided

Active

Example value: False

Can be True or False.

Attenuate

Example value: (0.15, 0.01, 0.00003)

No explanation provided

Hotspots

Example value: (10, 60)

No explanation provided

Falloff

Example value: (2)

No explanation provided

Intensity

Example value: (2.1)

No explanation provided

Color

Example value: (254, 234, 184)

No explanation provided

Lights Example

The below code is an example for a headlight in the GEN file. For the purpose of this example all available options are included, but of course in practice only those found necessary should be included.

Light=HeadlightL
{
  Type=Spot Pos=( 0.51, 0.49,-1.9) Dir=(-0.07,-0.08,-0.85) Range=(0.0, 320.0) Active=False Attenuate=(0.15, 0.01, 0.00003) Hotspots=(10, 60) Falloff=(2) Intensity=(2.1) Color=(254, 234, 184)
}
Light=HeadlightR
{
  Type=Spot Pos=(-0.51, 0.49,-1.9) Dir=( 0.07,-0.08,-0.85) Range=(0.0, 320.0) Active=False Attenuate=(0.15, 0.01, 0.00003) Hotspots=(10, 60) Falloff=(2) Intensity=(2.1) Color=(254, 234, 184)
}
Light=TailLight
{
  Type=Spot Pos=(0.0, 0.87, 1.86) Dir=(0.0,-0.12, 0.85) Range=(0.0, 4.5) Active=False Attenuate=(0.51, 0.06, 0.05) Hotspots=(80, 170) Falloff=(0.75) Intensity=(0.7) Color=(250, 8, 8)
}

Showroom Generation of a Vehicle 

The GEN file used for the generation of a vehicle in the showroom or spinner is usually having a file name extension “_spinner” but may have any other name to allow for easier distinction and reference in a VEH file. This GEN file is referenced to by one or more VEH files.

Tokens for Showroom 

Available tokens in this GEN file are:

ID: This is replaced by the proper slot identification (000, 001, etc.), or
1,2,3,etc: This is replaced by the first 1,2,3 characters of the vehicle filename
VEHDIR: This is replaced with the proper vehicles directory (e.g. E:Dataseason01vehicles)
TEAMDIR: This is replaced with the proper team directory (e.g. season01vehicleswilliams)
SPIN: For the vehicle spinner in the options only