Content manager goodies

[Pixelchaser]

So today I got my hands on Cm for the first time . and im perplexed as to how the shader updates work. and dont see anyone chatting about it here. do people not use it ? can anyone help with how to get it up and running ? cant believe the files are so scattered. and what are the dependency ? how the heck does this shit work for both user and developer ???

 

[luchian]

You don't need to look into the contents of Shader Patch, let CM take care of it. Just drag&drop into CM and installation will be automatic.

This works for every track/car/app mod also, btw. Yup, CM is that smart .

 

[luchian]

PS: I find CM a very slick piece of software, btw. Packed with tons of features, that can be accessed in multiple ways.

 

[Pixelchaser]

yeah its nice. but really what an absolute mess the information scattered everywhere. more interested in vertex AO for the tracks right now than anything else.

If there was an instructions anywhere how to install I wouldn't have just installed all this manually to then unpack a read me that tells me to put it in documents folders .

 

[Pixelchaser]

haha, loving it already !

 

[luchian]

haha, loving it already !
View attachment 3186

Perfect looking shot ! That sky is basically my favorite sky for "night" racing !

 

[barf]

The custom shaders are a brilliant DirectX hack and Sol is a great example of lua wizardry. I think discord is where all the custom shader/sol chatter takes place... not exactly a good way to collate information but ohwell.

FYI The custom shader works by using a DLL load-order hack. The dynamic link library search order in Windows includes the current directory first, before system-installed DLLs. So, if you drop a 'dwrite.dll' into the same directory as an executable that normally would load that from an OS-wide location, it loads your modified dwrite.dll instead.

As great as it is, I find the custom shaders/sol combo really screwed my tracks up compared to the default ks ones and made some extra work... had to learn lua and patch sol (sent patch to peterboese). There are some incorrect assumptions in the code. Like atmospheric visibility being 4km in clear weather, and I can't get lights visible beyond that distance even after solving the 'fog bug'... Then again, most track use a skybox instead of a 35x40km DSM background.

 

[luchian]

not exactly a good way to collate information

^THIS^ x 1000.
Imagine if all the modding took place on closed Discord groups.. we would've probably not figured half of the stuff by now. Hive mind works best in full open. But indeed "ohwell"..

 

[Pixelchaser]

my experience yesterday with it was that without discord I would have known nothing. its quite well filtered on there now. not too hard but brain power required.

I cant stand the multiple people making the lights and additions for everyone elses tracks. certainy puts me off. id go mental if they didn't do my track right .

ithink they have done a good "broad" job of being inclusive for the content already there. the only things ive changed in my track is brightened it up decimal spot and increased the magic multi to work stronger. @barf I think if it has upset your track your track shader figures might have not been optimal because iam blown away as I said regards the inclusivity of implementing such a thing.

I cant decide presently whether to give the blue hour more scenic light or less. but applying more range between ambient and diffuse at a (raised or lower benchmark) will bring more contrast and general range of light possible and I reckon it work great between mod or vanilla. I will test such things soon.

 

[Pixelchaser]

anyone know of any tutorials on implementing lights into tracks. info on anything on the dev side surely is sought by all track makers ?

also I wondering If anyone used the vertex ao baking yet ? any how to advice and tips we can discuss ?

 

[luchian]

Have a look at ks_brands_hatch, under \STEAM\steamapps\common\assettocorsa\extension\config\tracks
It will have some comments about the lines it contains.

Additionally, you can then use the common conditions.ini (it's ok to start with), or you can define your own, in the same folder.

 

[Pixelchaser]

so make object on track and use it with conditions as a light in these .ini files. seems reasonable. just shade the object as normal in the editor? and how might a spot light object be made to light further objects ? so much more to learn now haha

 

[luchian]

I don't know all the bits my self yet, did not had the time to experiment too much . But in the ini, just use the name of the mesh you wish to act as a light (the shader settings have no influence on the actual light - so just set it to "look" like a light - self luminescence).

 

[barf]

The 'official' lighting documentation is an example .ini file here:
https://github.com/ac-custom-shaders-patch/acc-extension-config/blob/master/_doc_config_tracks.ini

I managed to get a flashing light on top of a radio tower with this config:

assettocorsa\extension\config\tracks\summit_road.ini:

[LIGHTING]
SPECULAR_MULT = 0.2
CAR_LIGHTS_LIT_MULT = 1
LIT_MULT = 1

[INCLUDE]
INCLUDE=common/conditions.ini

[MATERIAL_ADJUSTMENT_0]
ACTIVE=1
DESCRIPTION=Light at top of Sugarloaf
MATERIALS=SugarLoafLight
KEY_0=ksEmissive
VALUE_0=255,0,0,2
VALUE_0_OFF=0, 0, 0
CONDITION=BLINK1
RANGE=25000

[CONDITION_0]
NAME=BLINK1
INPUT=ONE
FLASHING_FREQUENCY=2
FLASHING_SMOOTHNESS=0.4
FLASHING_SKIP_OFF_STATE=0
FLASHING_NOISE_AMPLITUDE=0
FLASHING_MIN_VALUE=0.0
FLASHING_SYNCED=1

Lighting seems to be applied either as a material adjustment, or by whole objects being turned into a light source. "SugarLoafLight" was the name of the material assigned to the object's faces in blender here.

Lights are a bit weird though, the draw distance is too small, they attenuate-out at a few hundred meters to 2-3km at best. Not a problem for most tracks but totally ruins my plans for summit road to light up towns, streets and Christchurch city using GIS data :-/

PS @Pixelchaser thanks but I traced the track-too-dark issue to an issue with sol (rather than custom shaders, oops).

Sol introduces a thick, dark fog even in clear weather, which probably goes unnoticed on tracks with a radius or scene visibility <10km. But it's a "feature" and not a bug.. adjustments to the fog are made in sol__track_adaptions.lua -- I found the parameters below (IMHO) provide more realistic look:

ta_fog_level, ta_fog_blend, ta_fog_distance = 0.5, 0.5, 2.0

 

[Prototype]

So I've been looking into this as well coincidentally, and what I don't understand is - what is the / mesh / null / point / - whatever : the physical reference point that indicates where you want a "pool of light" ?

Also found this on RD, not sure how valuable it is .... was released in Nov '18. Lots has happened since ...

https://www.racedepartment.com/downloads/blm-lights.22463/