Assetto Corsa PC Mods General DiscussionPC

[Alguecool]

Hello,

I'm not an expert skinner and am only talking from my own experiments point of view.

• Using mipmaps increases skin size by 25%. I have no definitive idea about having them stored in the dss or not. I've read somewhere you can safely avoid mipmaps, Assetto will then generate them at loading time (increasing a bit loading time) . Lastest RSS releases don't use mipmaps, for example but I would like other people to elaborate this point.
• If the skin file contains blurry shapes, noises, etc ; you can safely reduce its size or use compression. I don't see the point of having 4k tyres skin files, for example.
• If the skin file have sharp shapes like inside banner, stickers, compression WILL produce artefacts. Are those artefacts noticeable or not depend on the source quality and the skin visiblilty from the player point of view. So, to me, carpaint dpesn't need to be uncompressed.
• If you decide to use compression, DXT1 produce the same quality than DXT5. The only difference rely on the loss of the alpha channel (if present). That is, you will have an on/off transparency with DXT1 while a graduated one with DXT5. To me, a carpaint without alpha channel can safely be saved as DXT1.

Finally, using compression or not has a simple answer : open the uncompressed file and compare it with the compressed one (at 100% zoom level)

@Langheck_917
A few (personal) tips from my days of skinning (gosh, it feels ancient said like this haha) :

- always remember the viewpoint : the size of the texture should always be equivalent to the size of the object in world space. As a reference, consider the "1 meter rule" : what is the relative size of the object from 1 meter afar, and what is your biggest texture size. For exemple, on a car with a full-shell skin, correctly mapped, at 4k, tyres/wheels shouldn't be above 1K, frontlights and rearlights above 512p, the largest interior map shouldn't be above 2k and everything "visible" only when closing on it between 512 and 128 maximum. The main reason is for coherence in pixel affectation : it looks better to have everything a tiny bit blurry than some things perfeclty sharp next to blurry things. keeping a "rule of size" is a great optimization trick, and helps a lot with visual logic. On the same idea, the viewpoint is also a question of "what is important". If you have to make compromise, you would prefer keeping a high res texture on the steering wheel, dashboard, and basically what's in front of your eyes while using the car than the seats, rear shell, and pretty much everything "out of view". It might look has important in showroom or in the making, but when optimization comes, only the viewpoint matter.

- No alpha = DXT1. Period. Like, really. Up to a third of the size for the exact same thing. Avoid mipmaps (useless for AC) and everything "un-necessary", like a big blank normal for a flat surface. If the normal is mandatory for the shader, a 16p is already too much

- Remember that the ratio of the texture matter, not the size. You can have a 1k texture/normal for the sharp tire for good rendering and a 512p texture and 256p normal for the blurred one, you probably wont see a difference in action.

Anyway, if you have any question, feel free to PM, i'll gladly help on what I can !

 

[carTOON]

Even with the lotus 49 it does the same. lol

I think you need to create side boundaries...

​

 

[Perico Lospa]

(Reading these latest messages about to properly mod makes you appreciate the work of modders even more...)

 

[Smurth]

@Langheck_917
A few (personal) tips from my days of skinning (gosh, it feels ancient said like this haha) :

- always remember the viewpoint : the size of the texture should always be equivalent to the size of the object in world space. As a reference, consider the "1 meter rule" : what is the relative size of the object from 1 meter afar, and what is your biggest texture size. For exemple, on a car with a full-shell skin, correctly mapped, at 4k, tyres/wheels shouldn't be above 1K, frontlights and rearlights above 512p, the largest interior map shouldn't be above 2k and everything "visible" only when closing on it between 512 and 128 maximum. The main reason is for coherence in pixel affectation : it looks better to have everything a tiny bit blurry than some things perfeclty sharp next to blurry things. keeping a "rule of size" is a great optimization trick, and helps a lot with visual logic. On the same idea, the viewpoint is also a question of "what is important". If you have to make compromise, you would prefer keeping a high res texture on the steering wheel, dashboard, and basically what's in front of your eyes while using the car than the seats, rear shell, and pretty much everything "out of view". It might look has important in showroom or in the making, but when optimization comes, only the viewpoint matter.

- No alpha = DXT1. Period. Like, really. Up to a third of the size for the exact same thing. Avoid mipmaps (useless for AC) and everything "un-necessary", like a big blank normal for a flat surface. If the normal is mandatory for the shader, a 16p is already too much

- Remember that the ratio of the texture matter, not the size. You can have a 1k texture/normal for the sharp tire for good rendering and a 512p texture and 256p normal for the blurred one, you probably wont see a difference in action.

Anyway, if you have any question, feel free to PM, i'll gladly help on what I can !

Thank you for the feedback ; much appreciated.
So, you confirm the uselessness of mipmaps ; in any case (I mean for car textures) ?

 

[Raphael87]

How i could fix this? No shadows under the car (only with this car DRM Bmw 320i "drm_121_3")

 

[Fanapryde]

How i could fix this? No shadows under the car (only with this car DRM Bmw 320i "drm_121_3")

View attachment 1328342

Can't reproduce that here:

 

[Peugeot905]

As long as you guys keep those sweet mods coming, you could take a screenshot of "RMS" writting in a piece of paper that it would be enough for me, jokes aside, i think it looks cool.

Glad you like the logo. Trust me we are cooking right now.

 

[gavkiwi]

How i could fix this? No shadows under the car (only with this car DRM Bmw 320i "drm_121_3")

View attachment 1328342

I found this issue with a different car mod, found it was the version of CM shaders patch, went to an older version, and it fixed it

 

[Gabriele]

free practice lap.
mechanical damage percentage=0%
0% but still I damaged a wheel in an accident, how is this possible?
Alfa 33 Stradale Kunos
Targa Florio

 

[JK1977]

TVR Sagaris GT Update 1.1

LOD A update: GT3Masters97
new Skin :maximeerkat
new lods: F302
GT2 update by :MisterWaffles

thx to all

f302_tvr_sagaris_gt

MediaFire is a simple to use free service that lets you put all your photos, documents, music, and video in a single place so you can access them anywhere and share them everywhere.

www.mediafire.com

 

[maximeerkat]

Not sure if i was meant to but i did anyway

Tvr Sagaris gt3 close replica


credit to @jaqory for starting the skin, i have tidied up the union jack and finished the skin i am presuming that's what i was meant to do seeing as the psd was there to use..........so i used it 🤓

had to work with what i have in some area's and the real thing the back end is different so had to adapt here and there.

i havent included it but if anyone wants the pdn to see if they can improve more then i can give you that. But overall i am happy with this and the way it has turnt out.

Tvr Sagaris GT3 close replica 2k/4k

to install: unzip choose which res you want and drag the "content" folder to CM. credit to @jaqory for starting this skin all i have done is tidy up the union jack and finish the skin off. some area's are really hard to get perfect so i made...

www.gtplanet.net

 

[MrHunt]

Rework-Release '70 Dodge Charger R/T 440 from Smallblockhero
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
New:
AO
AO Maps
CSP effects
New Shader
Tyres
Materials

dodge_char_70hunt

MediaFire is a simple to use free service that lets you put all your photos, documents, music, and video in a single place so you can access them anywhere and share them everywhere.

www.mediafire.com

 

[ImNotVettel]

del

 

[Masscot]

i do the three or more identical versions of textures because im flexible with giving different parts different colous
So it only looks like that at first glance
and you are right with that it can be simple DXT1 4x4 pixel DDSes rather than the 512x512 pixel versions
but im no more on rfactor1 modding 15 years earlier.

My mistake did not check the filesize when i test the skins.
and my PC tricked me because even with version 1.0 of the skinspack I didn't notice that I had bad loading times, not even in the CM showroom and with all 42 skins on the Nordschleife.i had 90fps.
maybe i have a to good PC for Assetto.

Version 1.1 of Skinpack is available with for me Standart 4096x4096 DXT3 (i dont do smaller textures for the car skins)
and for other parts i dont do smaller than 512x512 pixel.

Improvement 1 = skinpack is done

If the skinpack doesn't work for you, you should be experienced enough to make the textures smaller for you likeing and your PC.

So from my side the discussion about textures is closed.
I don't mean that in a bad way and im speaking to all not only to you Masscot.
Next time we will do it better.

I liked your tread before better when you constructively said what could be improved on the car that helped me a lot
and on weekend i will bring a update for the car.

the lenses of the headlight where painted, yes because i wanted give an option to have normal headligts
but i forget to put in the folder with textures.

smoke from where wheelbarrow exhausts would normally be needs moving to the sidepipes -- no problem i can do

I tried tweaking the driver posture and adding a new shifting animation --- i give Langheck the driver_open_face.kn5
and that is missing in the zipfile so I'm surprised that the car even charges in game and you have a driver visible in CM
will be fixed in update.

So all i can say sorry guys please give me time to update.

No need to apologise to anybody, we are all glad that your team brought us these cars and that you're open to suggestions for improvements. Lots of different people here are happy to contribute where they can.

 

[NivekBS]

Because the DRM Mod is hyped again (fully deserved) i have shared my BOP settings with the goal to make closer and more varied races vs AI possible

As always feedback is welcome.

nivekBSs DRM BOP Project

After the release of the latest patch for the DRM mod, it has become current again. Therefore I would like to share my BoP settings. These Project differ significantly from my previous projects. The aim here is not to make the vehicles have...

www.racedepartment.com

 

[Jodurson]

Guys, question: no one has this skin on Sidekick Extended? It was removed from the RD, as I understand it, but it’s interesting to see “what’s there.”

 

[JK1977]

Not sure if i was meant to but i did anyway

Tvr Sagaris gt3 close replica


credit to @jac0 for starting the skin, i have tidied up the union jack and finished the skin i am presuming that's what i was meant to do seeing as the psd was there to use..........so i used it 🤓

had to work with what i have in some area's and the real thing the back end is different so had to adapt here and there.

i havent included it but if anyone wants the pdn to see if they can improve more then i can give you that. But overall i am happy with this and the way it has turnt out.

Tvr Sagaris GT3 close replica 2k/4k

to install: unzip choose which res you want and drag the "content" folder to CM. credit to @jaqory for starting this skin all i have done is tidy up the union jack and finish the skin off. some area's are really hard to get perfect so i made...

www.gtplanet.net

View attachment 1328384

For the GT3 version I had the idea of closing the sidepipes (physic base BMW Z4 GT3)

 

[JK1977]

W.I.P.
Here is the
Fictional Ferrari 599 GT1

 

[Alguecool]

Thank you for the feedback ; much appreciated.
So, you confirm the uselessness of mipmaps ; in any case (I mean for car textures) ?

For AC, yes, definitely. Like Masscot said, mipmaps are generated automatically by the engine, it's just a waste of space. Well, from my experience it is, adressing customized mipmaps doesn't do anything, so... I don't even talk about loading times in fact, I don't think it makes much a difference (supposedly longer, but by what margin), but it does make one in size, and size do matter (wink)

It depends very much on the game engine/virtual engine you're using your texture with. For some it's mandatory, for others a waste of ressource (mostly because they already create them).

And I don't know why I quoted your message, anyway, I 100% agree with it

i do the three or more identical versions of textures because im flexible with giving different parts different colous
So it only looks like that at first glance
and you are right with that it can be simple DXT1 4x4 pixel DDSes rather than the 512x512 pixel versions
but im no more on rfactor1 modding 15 years earlier.

My mistake did not check the filesize when i test the skins.
and my PC tricked me because even with version 1.0 of the skinspack I didn't notice that I had bad loading times, not even in the CM showroom and with all 42 skins on the Nordschleife.i had 90fps.
maybe i have a to good PC for Assetto.

Version 1.1 of Skinpack is available with for me Standart 4096x4096 DXT3 (i dont do smaller textures for the car skins)
and for other parts i dont do smaller than 512x512 pixel.

Improvement 1 = skinpack is done

If the skinpack doesn't work for you, you should be experienced enough to make the textures smaller for you likeing and your PC.

So from my side the discussion about textures is closed.
I don't mean that in a bad way and im speaking to all not only to you Masscot.
Next time we will do it better.

I liked your tread before better when you constructively said what could be improved on the car that helped me a lot
and on weekend i will bring a update for the car.

the lenses of the headlight where painted, yes because i wanted give an option to have normal headligts
but i forget to put in the folder with textures.

smoke from where wheelbarrow exhausts would normally be needs moving to the sidepipes -- no problem i can do

I tried tweaking the driver posture and adding a new shifting animation --- i give Langheck the driver_open_face.kn5
and that is missing in the zipfile so I'm surprised that the car even charges in game and you have a driver visible in CM
will be fixed in update.

So all i can say sorry guys please give me time to update.

Who you're apologizing for ? No need to, for others I can't speak but personally I'm just glad if I can help making it better in any way. For the rest, decision and such, you and @Langheck_917 are in charge, You do it your way.

And yes, you do have a good PC 42 cars on Nords and mine gets hotter than a volcano, with the fps of the original Tetris.

 

[Smurth]

(…) for me Standart 4096x4096 DXT3 (i dont do smaller textures for the car skins)
and for other parts i dont do smaller than 512x512 pixel.

Why DXT3 ?
It's a real question ; not a trick to quibble.

 

[maximeerkat]

For the GT3 version I had the idea of closing the sidepipes (physic base BMW Z4 GT3)

yeh that's fair enough not a bad idea. 1 thing i have learnt skinning is car's had soooooooo many body variations i never took notice before.

 

[racinjoe013]

With all this talk about mipmaps for car skin textures and how they are not needed, does that go for track textures as well? Or should all track textures have mipmaps and how many? I'm thinking I could reduce a lot of my mod sizes if I didn't use mipmaps for the textures. Thanks for any input...

 

[Masscot]

View attachment 1328377

TVR Sagaris GT Update 1.1

LOD A update: GT3Masters97
new Skin :maximeerkat
new lods: F302
GT2 update by :MisterWaffles

thx to all

f302_tvr_sagaris_gt

MediaFire is a simple to use free service that lets you put all your photos, documents, music, and video in a single place so you can access them anywhere and share them everywhere.

www.mediafire.com

Thanks for the update - the fix for the floating display digits was forgotten though.

Assetto Corsa PC Mods General Discussion

Hi Peugeot905, Was wondering, did you ever release your update/work for the FSR Cadillac DPI? I didn't release it yet. @JK1977 is working on better model for the mod to use when he has the chance. Thanks for asking.

www.gtplanet.net

 

[Alguecool]

With all this talk about mipmaps for car skin textures and how they are not needed, does that go for track textures as well? Or should all track textures have mipmaps and how many? I'm thinking I could reduce a lot of my mod sizes if I didn't use mipmaps for the textures. Thanks for any input...

Honestly : I have no idea. Maybe try without, do both version and share it with a few beta-testers to see if you all get the same results, and analyze the differences. If none visible, then it might be like for the cars.

 

[jac0]

Not sure if i was meant to but i did anyway

Tvr Sagaris gt3 close replica


credit to @jac0 for starting the skin, i have tidied up the union jack and finished the skin i am presuming that's what i was meant to do seeing as the psd was there to use..........so i used it 🤓

had to work with what i have in some area's and the real thing the back end is different so had to adapt here and there.

i havent included it but if anyone wants the pdn to see if they can improve more then i can give you that. But overall i am happy with this and the way it has turnt out.

Tvr Sagaris GT3 close replica 2k/4k

to install: unzip choose which res you want and drag the "content" folder to CM. credit to @jaqory for starting this skin all i have done is tidy up the union jack and finish the skin off. some area's are really hard to get perfect so i made...

www.gtplanet.net

View attachment 1328384

I think you mistakenly credited me instead of someone else , as I did no skin for this one...

 

[maximeerkat]

I think you mistakenly credited me instead of someone else , as I did no skin for this one...

****! yes you are correct i will change my post's sorry about that

 

[racinjoe013]

Honestly : I have no idea. Maybe try without, do both version and share it with a few beta-testers to see if you all get the same results, and analyze the differences. If none visible, then it might be like for the cars.

I did do a quick test and could not see a bit of difference between the two. The odd thing though was I created a 7zip file of the mod with the new textures just to see if it brought down the download size compared to the original and it was larger than the one with the mipmap textures. So the download size of the mod got bigger, but it would take up less disk space when extracted.

 

[marc magnela]

Rework-Release '70 Dodge Charger R/T 440 from Smallblockhero
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
New:
AO
AO Maps
CSP effects
New Shader
Tyres
Materials

I'm so impressed, what a sick rework, an imaginary AO given that the color skins must be applied on the metal_detail.dds and not on Skinbase.dds with a solid color, an ambient shadows not updated and that doesn't correspond to the car, a collider.kn5 in the ground, a colliders.ini in the air, a COCKPIT_HR that doesn't exist any more than LODs, camera F6 placed here and there etc. .....
Professional-quality mod

 

[Alguecool]

I did do a quick test and could not see a bit of difference between the two. The odd thing though was I created a 7zip file of the mod with the new textures just to see if it brought down the download size compared to the original and it was larger than the one with the mipmap textures. So the download size of the mod got bigger, but it would take up less disk space when extracted.

Smaller is better, but bigger is better, therefore smaller is bigger. Makes sense

 

[D4huebner13]

w209