Car Editing/Package.zip Tutorial

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Alonsomania
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Car Editing/Package.zip Tutorial

Post by Alonsomania »

To make installing addon-cars easier, an installation package is used for installation. This file is named package.zip (ZIP FORMAT!) and includes:

- dlc.png (add-on logo)
- dlc.xml (holds add-on information such as author, package name)
- package.xml (holds all car info and statistics)
- ID.car (where ID is the Car ID)
- ID.png (where ID is the Car ID)

Each car (and thus each Car ID) needs a .CAR file and a .PNG image.

NOTE: Do NOT use special characters, that doesn't work. I have yet to check if this is a technical limitation or an error I made somewhere.

Image
Example of an uncompressed package folder.

STEP 1
Request Car IDs here.

STEP 2
Launch the editor: Go to Add-ons, then click Car Creator
Image

STEP 3
Open the Excel sheet and fill in every box like below:
Image

Nationality
Use two letter codes.
Examples: us - USA, uk - United Kingdom, de - Germany, fr - France, ca - Canada, it - Italy, jp - Japan, ko - Korea, etc

Use lower cases.

Engine type
I - Inline (most road cars)
V - in a V shape
F - flat engine

isTurbo
0: does not have a turbo
1: has a turbo

Use this for turbo only - does not affect physics but is only used for event eliglibility.

Body Styles
Is used to define the car type.

Kei: tiny city cars; Daihatsu Copen, tiny Suzukis etc
Microcar: Subaru 360, Messerschmidt, BMW Isetta
City Car: Peugeot 107, Peugeot 206, Ford Fiesta etc
Coupe: Citroen C4 Coupe, Datsun 240Z, Maserati BiTurbo etc
Family car: Volkswagen Golf, Skoda Fabia, Ford Focus
Van: Volkswagen Transporter
Executive: BMW 5, Volvo S80, Audi A8,
Sports car: Lamborghinis, Ferraris, Porsches, Audi R8 etc
Grand tourer: Ferrari 512, Jaguar XK, Maserati GranTurismo
Supercar: Pagani Zonda, Koenigsegg, Bugatti Veyron, Ferrari Enzo, Maserati MC12 etc
Roadster: Honda S2000, Mazda MX-5, Audi TT etc
MPV: Renault Scenic, Renault Espace, Ford C-Max, Ford Galaxy etc
SUV: Toyota RAV4, Honda CR-V, Range Rover, Jeep etc
Pick-Up: Ford F-150 etc
Lightweight: Ariel Atom, T-Rex etc
Tuner: Any tuner car; Mugen S2000, Mine's R34, RE Amemiya RX-7, HPA R32 etc.

GT1: Modern or old GT1 race cars; McLaren F1, Mercedes CLK-GTR
GT2: Old GT2 race cars; Porsche 911 GT2
GT3: (FIA) GT3 spec cars, Super Taikyu; Nissan GT-R GT3, Aston Martin DBRS9 etc.
GT4: (FIA) GT4 spec cars; BMW M3 GT4, KTM X-Bow GT4 etc
LMP: LMP1 and LMP2; Audi R18, Audi R8, Panoz LMP1 etc
GTP: (IMSA) GTP; Nissan GTP
Formula 1: Ferrari F1, Red Bull F1 etc
for other Open Wheel cars, use championship. Dallara F3 has body type Formula 3 etc
Group C: Mazda 787B, Sauber C9, Porsche 956
Group 7: CanAm, Toyota 7 etc
Touring Car: Supertourers, Super 2000 etc; Chevrolet Cruze, Peugeot 406, Audi A4 etc
DTM: modern/old DTM; Audi A4 DTM, Alfa-Romeo 155 DTM
GT500: SuperGT GT500; Nissan Skyline, Nissan GT-R, Toyota Supra etc
GT300: SuperGT GT300; Nissan Silvia, Toyota MR2, ASL Garaiya etc
LM Edition: LM Edition (like in previous Gran Turismo games)
Daytona Prototype: Daytona Prototypes such as the Corvette, Riley etc
Kart: Karts
GT: 1950s-1970s GT race car; Ford GT40, Jaguar XK13, Jaguar D-Type, Ferrari Testarossa etc

Please use these types. It doesn't affect physics but does affect which car is eliglible for events.

STEP 4
Fill in the car statistics as shown in the tab 'GR CAR STATS' in any car editor. For values higher than what Juans Car Editor allows, use Strava his car editor.

STEP 5
Save the .car file with the ID as name (if the Car ID is 2105, save the file as 2105.car) in the packages folder.

STEP 6
Create an image of the car. What I have done is load the car in GR Option tool, copy image and make the background transparant.

STEP 7
Copy the content of the dlc.xml tab to the dlc.xml file in your package folder:
Image

STEP 8
Copy the content of the package.xml tab to the package.xml file in your package folder:
Image

If you have more then one car in your add-on package, simply add a new <cars> section after the first car.

Example:
Image

STEP 9
Create a ZIP archive of the package folder and release your add-on car(s) in this thread.

Make sure to keep a backup of your files - upon installation, all files are automatically removed from the /packages folder!


Please be aware that the regular car editing rules still apply - if you're editing cars you will still need permission to post them :)
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XYY
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Re: Car Editing/Package.zip Tutorial

Post by XYY »

Is it only for me, or does everyone else also gets no values for air resistance, downforce and top speed? :vsad: And which AI values should we typically use?
Alonsomania
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Re: Car Editing/Package.zip Tutorial

Post by Alonsomania »

XYY wrote:Is it only for me, or does everyone else also gets no values for air resistance, downforce and top speed? :vsad: And which AI values should we typically use?
Did you fill in everything correctly? It should calculate the right values. Can you show a screenshot of your car data?
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XYY
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Re: Car Editing/Package.zip Tutorial

Post by XYY »

Okay, there you go. I was also wondering why there's no possibility to enter the top speed, but uh well ;)

Edit: problem solved, you may not use dots but instead comma ;)
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Mad Dan
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Re: Car Editing/Package.zip Tutorial

Post by Mad Dan »

Why did you choose size in inches? :D

and what are types of drivetrain? I recognize only 4WD but rest is unclear to me.
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Trigger Happy
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Re: Car Editing/Package.zip Tutorial

Post by Trigger Happy »

Front-front, front-rear, middle-rear, rear-rear. Positions of engine and drive wheel axis. :roll:
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Lukeno94
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Re: Car Editing/Package.zip Tutorial

Post by Lukeno94 »

I presume it was chosen in inches as that's what Haruna's system, and probably by extension Forza, uses.
Alonsomania
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Re: Car Editing/Package.zip Tutorial

Post by Alonsomania »

Mad Dan wrote:Why did you choose size in inches? :D

and what are types of drivetrain? I recognize only 4WD but rest is unclear to me.
Yes, as Luke says I'm using Haruna's physics system.

FF = Front wheel drive, front-placed engine
FR = Front wheel drive, rear-placed engine
MR = Rear wheel drive, mid-placed engine
RR = Rear wheel drive, rear-placed engine
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XYY
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Re: Car Editing/Package.zip Tutorial

Post by XYY »

Another dumb question: How (zipped or unzipped) and where do we have to put the files to test our add-ons? It always tells me that the package.xml is missing ;)
Btw, don't you think it could be good to reactivate the support subforum and then have all car editing related questions there? :D
Alonsomania
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Re: Car Editing/Package.zip Tutorial

Post by Alonsomania »

XYY wrote:Another dumb question: How (zipped or unzipped) and where do we have to put the files to test our add-ons? It always tells me that the package.xml is missing ;)
Btw, don't you think it could be good to reactivate the support subforum and then have all car editing related questions there? :D
There's no such thing as a dumb question :)

Zip up the whole folder (packages) as package.zip. Keep a backup of that folder and all files (still need to add a test folder for tests). Copy package.zip to the packages folder and see how it works.

The car uninstaller is broken (hope to finish that up today) so don't just try that.
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Lukeno94
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Re: Car Editing/Package.zip Tutorial

Post by Lukeno94 »

Going back to XYY's problem with commas and full stops, I had no issue with ".", so I guess it's an Excel version or config issue.
Alonsomania
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Re: Car Editing/Package.zip Tutorial

Post by Alonsomania »

Lukeno94 wrote:Going back to XYY's problem with commas and full stops, I had no issue with ".", so I guess it's an Excel version or config issue.
Yes, does depend on local settings in Excel. But that is simply an user setting and I shouldn't mess with that.
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XYY
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Re: Car Editing/Package.zip Tutorial

Post by XYY »

Alonsomania wrote:NOTE: Do NOT use special characters, that doesn't work. I have yet to check if this is a technical limitation or an error I made somewhere.
Where musn't we use those characters? in the xmls or as the GR car names themselves?
Alonsomania
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Re: Car Editing/Package.zip Tutorial

Post by Alonsomania »

XYY wrote:
Alonsomania wrote:NOTE: Do NOT use special characters, that doesn't work. I have yet to check if this is a technical limitation or an error I made somewhere.
Where musn't we use those characters? in the xmls or as the GR car names themselves?
In the XML file. You can use any name in the GR car file :)
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