reg126

Having made models of various types for 40 years...I always try to make them better and improve on my previous efforts . This includes taking advice from many sources and considering it carefully. Models for uk dirt bangers are rather complex so have lots of room for errors in their constuction let alone errors in judgement in regards proportions and what looks right and works well and what does not. Constructive opinions should be welcomed and considered on their merits in regards to wether something is right or not. Errors in car models can sometimes take a long time to show up. For instance certain paint schemes may reveal something wrong in the construction that many other paint schemes that have been used may not reveal. That in itself is not a major issue..as paintschemes can often be adjusted to work around small errors and problems so they are less noticeable. Making perfect models is only a goal modellers should try and aim for but in reality if modellers give it their best shot then thats all that should reasonably be expected. Hopefully my posts have been helpful and informative for both modellers and non modellers and that some people may have gained from them while others have posted views expressing different views and sometimes the reasons for holding those views.

Gaming wise wether made professionally or by amateurs virtually every game I know of has some faults somewhere...and yes they are still enjoyable. All the tracks and cars in use have faults..though some have less than others. The poly limits restrict how much detail can be put into cars ..which in some ways may be a good thing as the huge amount of polys in say x box 360 games may give fantasic graphics it means the programmers have to do a lot more work to produce them and for say cars ..it means they have a lot longer development time. When checking out models...useful for modelling purposes..and testing them..then having a reference such as the swaffham tv view test is useful. It does correspond though to use in game whichever mode you use to view when driving. As cars go into or come out of distance it certainly is better that they are observed clearly and with an indication of status...ie visible and damage showing. Good close up detail and retaining damage at observable distances by making pacecar 4 are not related. Both can be acheived as neither will really effect the other. Rounded complicated shapes apart from being harder to model well with low poly counts can still be reduced to acceptable poly levels for pacecar 4. Finer detail can be removed entirely as its not needed at distance. In effect there is no either or situation and many models demonstate good close detail AND show corresponding damage correctly at pacecar4 ranges. Making pacecar 4 is a total pain compared to the rest of making a model and a dispropotionate amount of work for the relatively small but important part it plays in the game. If ppl dont want to make pacecar4 files in the approved way..thats up to them though obviously it will let their models down to what they potentailly could be. Should I become aware of any real major faults in my models I will rectify them as I will with the few minor errors I am now aware of .

Basically Boss.. ; if Pacecar4 files are not made correctly..there are observable situations in the game when this will be revealed ...as referred to in the swaffham tests. Therefore the cars without proper files will look stupid either due to reverting to an undamaged state or have parts dissappearing..again looking stupid. Using the main files for pacecar4 is also unacceptable for online use as they have higher poly counts and may cause warp. The way I make Pacecar 4 files means all the 17 components of the main pacecar (1.2 and 3) file have to have the poly count reduced substantially while retaining the same basic appearance including the damage. From doing the swaffham test ..you can get an idea of detail that needs to be retained. This in itself is a time consuming and not very easy task. Once all the poly counts have been reduced to an acceptable lower level..which may mean some adjustments to component joints (which may mean careful re-alignment) then some re mapping will be needed. This is a much more major task . When a model is first built it is mapped before being divided into 5 parts...main-front-rear-left-right. . After reducing the 17 components to lower poly counts each part will need to be remapped individually.....ooh lots more work.. In addition ..though bearing in mind the car is far more in the distance,, the paintscheme for each part needs to line up with other adjoining parts. To make it even more fun...if thats not enough...the damaged parts mean the map will need to be adjusted to fit the template in an appropriate way . I have only recorded a few results of my observations from swaffham tests...mainly on more recently released cars..most cars have not been checked .. PASSED(damage retained and no dissappearing parts)........ROVER P5BC (coupe), vx490,mk10 jaguar. PARTS GO MISSING(invisible bits)....A35,A60E,sierra estate. REVERTS TO UNDAMAGED STATE....Nomad,saab,Monach,Volvo264,Hunter,mk3cavalier,Lincoln Limo,Crown hearse,mondeo,fx4taxi,peugeot 404,P5B,fury hearse, Buick limo. When so much work goes into building a model..its a shame really that the extra work is often missed out or done wrongly thus spoiling what otherwise could be a good model.

You can save lots of time by modelling below the standards expected in uk dirt approved cars. That way the hardest and most time consuming part of modelling is missed out. Ok for the free leagues but means a lots less skill is also needed. A quick test to see if a car is of the better quality type is to use swaffhamR or swaffham8 and crash hard in the car you want to check out. In the replay (dont wind back or you will lose damage)...use tv mode and on the bend when the camera position is on the outside of the track observe the cars as they round the bend. As the cars reach about three quarters of the way round the bend PACECAR4 files kick in. The cars made to the higher standards should retain their damage and not have parts dissappear (apart from the insides). The poorer quality cars will revert back to undamaged state until the camera position following the car changes.. Some will even have external parts go missing. All models take a lot of work and are appreciated...but please bear in mind that some are built to the higher standards and take much more work and skill to produce than the lower quality types.

very welcome from me indeed..Last few days been thinking of what next to model and the A50 cambridge (not the A55 mk1) is one I want to tackle. With a bit of luck work may commence in next few days and model ready in about 3 weeks

check wether you have accidentally clicked wireframe instead of smooth and highlights in your view options.

Hmmm there was never any made so its a fantasy car...crab 1800 in wolsely guise ok but not austin 3 litres...though BWC may have made a prototype...I have not seen any pictures of one. With your max experience Erik another attempt at modelling may be worthwhile..but do try and do a real production car...not Postman Pats van or Noddy's runabout.

Here is the car file and template for the Vauxhall vx 490 fc model as pictured in the victor thread. [attachmentid=16512] vx490_car_file_and_template.zip

great to see another for the pre 68 type class..especially an unders car.

[attachmentid=16420]If the twin carb one (vx490 lump..by the sound of it) also has the pukka gearbox bellhousing..cast iron one...then make sure that gets used too. Column change models were the most common..which put ppl off racing them...as the rod links could come apart...easy solved with little wire twists though . quick preview of the vx 490 model courtesy of ryano..

Yeah they can be good bangers...One I had on the dirt I won about 12 races with. It was a solid example back in 1982 ish and mileage of 51000 meant it was still lively...It lasted ages and was only scrapped when the clutch burnt out...though it was getting bodily worn out by then.. It got repainted at one stage and even went in heavy team racing ..10 v 10 head to heads. 3 speed column change ones have good gearing...for oval racing..but best if you can get floor change gear selector mechanism and use 3 speed with floor change ..or put diff from column change cars into 4 speed floor change cars. Once set up right they do go very well. Of the 1960's british mid range standard saloons..ie A60, cortina mk1 and 2 , minx ,superminx etc....the victor was the fastest...though not as quick as GT cortinas, vx490's and Magnettes etc.

get winrestools or mod launcher 2 from the MODSQUAD WEBSITE....Both contain a more civilised version of mktex so no need to use command lines etc. makes for much easier tga to tex conversion.

It is the fc type model victor ...which often carried the 101 badge with it. The VX 490 used the same shell and was really just a hotted up upmarket version of the victor. A more powerful lump and cast iron gearbox bellhousing being used on the vx 490 version as the ally bellhousing wasnt strong enough for the extra power. I had a 101 on the road and that broke its ally bellhousing. Raced 3 victor 101 's myself and quite a few of the later fd model victors ...and a ventora.

Nice pictures..ideal for modelling...but bit late for my own FC Vauxhall project...My vx490 version will be making its online debut next thursday

Will have to get an engine piccy done for the proper hunter lump...I mean...cant go htiing things with cam belted pinto lumps...like ya can with the pukka push rod lump.

My vx 490 is nearly finished...no doubt there will be complaints that it does not have a door plate (hmm neither has the A60...WELL GOOD.. It takes very little time to copy and paste a doorplate onto a skin...the alternative of painting in doorlines etc and shading and other details would be much harder and time consuming. Can we have more complaints please...like cars with two fuel flaps or some with none....all easy to remedy.....A template is just that...a guide...its what a "good" skinpainter does with it that counts. All models will have errors to some degree... poly limits mean corners have to be cut...game mechanics also mean some things cant be done. Try appreciating all models that ppl have took the trouble to make...and only mouth off ..when you have actually produced one yourself and can show everybody the goods. Free choice..use what you want.

Mod launcher 2 is the best utility about for launching the game and has many extras that will come in handy. That and many other useful nascar heat stuff and info can be obtained from the MODSQUAD WEBSITE http://themodsquad.uni.cc/ Explore that site and you will find lots of useful information and downloads.

Try installing to the correct place and in the correct order.....really needs to be under program files...use mod launcher 2 for starting the game. Bangers is not the best choice for setting the game up to run..but it can be done. load one track such as bristol and install one of the other formulas...ssc is a good one as it has a full ui. Run the game with that at first. Once running with no cd patch etc and then 1.72e you may find installing the bangers a lot easier. Apart from location ..its clearly not installed right as the stock chassis is a nascar default one and shouldnt be called up. Your order of files are totally wrong too...thr tree should be C:\Program Files\Hasbro Interactive\NASCAR Heat\ukdirtbangers if your going to run bangers. your files will be all screwed up the way you have located them.

here's a shortcut to the file front site to get bws9 skinpack ..get the patch too lol all files needed are on that site http://files.filefront.com/BWS9zip/;7445000;;/fileinfo.html

I will be running the Mini series at normal start time so be in chat for 7.15 skinpack will be one used at previous meetings. anyone stuck use the bws hotmail addresses or back up forum to make contact..bws registered drivers only please

on mod launcher 2 ..the vertex damage controls are on the right hand side.....highlight vertex on or off to change from one to the other before launching the game...for online use then always use off. The "as is" selection will mean vertex will be on what it was last set as.

Seems to be on about the Mod launcher 2...the swiss army knife one. It works really well once set up. There are help files that come with it...always worth a read. Setting up can be tricky the first time as clicking correctly to browse through to the run folder can be fiddly. Vertex is fine for OFFLINE USE ONLY . Its use online, such as with private servers would always need to be arranged properly so all people are on the same settings. Generally in regards any online play...Dont race online until you are really confident you understand how the basics work.

A taxi was also used in jolt in an unlimited TNB v WNB team clash. That was with about 20 cars in jolt of mixed types and no problems were experienced. Running the taxi pack at 22 cars offline on an older computer which struggles a bit with large fields showed no noticeable difference in performance compared with similar packs and car field sizes. Talking with some free league racers.. some have rather old computers which cant handle the amount of cars used in jolt so stick with the free leagues where their computers can handle the lower car amounts in private servers. Though consideration for people having older computers should be given when looking at maximum poly counts and other game issues there does come a cut off point when you cant really expect to hold game development back to cater for the dwindling amount using very outdated equipment.

Not sure what the poly count is on swindy's superb Taxi model..but it performed great in jolt on BWS with 23 cars on the cowdenbeath track. Physics of the taxi are in my view the most banger like of anything i have tried online..wether thats just for the cowdie track or not awaits to be seen. Certainly the cowdie track has gone up in most peoples estimations in the last week with some good meets held there.

I'll be paying a visit to my closest track (70 miles approx) for the world cup. Hope my old team mate Nigel 'Son of Zoot' Forton has a good time. cya's there