Making Custom Wheelsets
by ZOtm_BigDOGGe
Custom Wheels...ok...here we gooooooo.........
The game uses 6 BIN models for each wheelset, in 3 pairs..left and right wheel models in each pair....
Each pair has 16, 10, or 08 in the name, to identify it as a high detail, medium, or low detail model (the lower res models are used for trucks in the distance to reduce lag.. only trucks close up have the high-res (16) wheels... the number signifies how many surfaces ring the circumference of the tire. "08" has 8 surfaces for long distance camera shots and look blocky up close, and "16" has 16 sides respectively for close-ups, and appear round. "10" models fall in between, of course.
Also in each pair the wheel filenames will have a R or L at the end of the name to identify it as a right or left wheel model. There's a right and left model (usually mirror images of each other, except for sidewalls with text) so the tire-threads on one side of the truck (or the sidewall text if any) doesn't look reversed compared to the other side...
To clear this up a bit, here's an example set from BIGFOOT... the wheelset is called BFC in the truck (.TRK) file
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bfc16r.bin
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close ups
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bfc16l.bin
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bfc10r.bin
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medium distance
camera views
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bfc10l.bin
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bfc08r.bin
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long distance views
/very low detail wheels
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bfc08l.bin
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Usually I use a four letter word (no puns!) when I rename a modified wheelset after repainting.... like DEJA (DEJA16r.bin on my truck DEJA 'VU's right side...
*** for simplicitys sake, I'm going to call this example wheelset SHAG ***
NOW... here's the trick..... you don't need all of these models when you modify stock or fabricate new wheels.... you just need to make the one high-res pair (16R and 16L).... then after saving, rename them under the names of the other 2 pairs...
The game was written when it had to be able to run on a pentium 166, so these extra-low detail (read that as "faster to draw") wheel models were needed.... at the game's 640x480 resolution, wheels on trucks far away had little detail anyway.... but computers are fast enough now that the low-detail wheel models aren't needed anymore... BUT... the game engine stilll looks for them....
So what you do is.....
1. make the single left/right pair of wheels models (or repaint the 16-surface stock models) save them as SHAG16R.BIN & SHAG16L.BIN {replace SHAG with the name of your choice, 5-digit max, I think...keep the whole name to 8 letters max}
2. save the same pair under the "10" file name SHAG10R.BIN & SHAG10L.BIN respectively...
3. same with the 3rd set. Save under SHAG08R.bin & SHAG08L.bin
Now you have 3 pairs that are identical, but have different names to satisfy the game's engine. All 3 pairs must be included in a truckpod (TRACKeD2 adds all 3 wheel pairs automatically to your truck when you make a POD with it)
To add the new set to your truck, open the .TRK file with NOTEPAD, and right under where it says " tireModelBaseName" replace the tire filename with SHAG (actually, type whatever name you chose for your wheelset, not "shag") You can also apply new wheels to a truck in TRACKeD2, and it lets you see the wheel swap in realtime... if the new wheelset has any errors, TRACKeD2 will crash and close... a handy de-bugger... heh heh...
Each wheel model has 3 textures (RAW).... the THREAD pattern, the SIDEWALLS, and the WHEEL .... start BinEdit fresh, load a stock wheel, then go to GROUPS and select MAP FACE GROUP TO TEXTURE. In the window you will see the names of the 3 RAW files that go to that wheel pair (left and right share the same 3 RAW files)
As long as you haven't loaded any other models in BinEdit that session, the 3 RAW files for the loaded model is all you will see... this is a trick I use to learn the names of textures applied to a paticular BIN model..... close BinEdit and restart it again to clear the texture list before viewing the next BIN model...
you can repaint and rename these 3 RAW files anything you wish, just like a repainted truck BIN model... limit new RAW filenames to 8 characters max.... then apply them to the wheel BINs the same way as you would apply repainted textures to a truck BIN...
NOTE: just repaint the RAW files with "16" in the names... these are the textures for the high-res stock wheels you will be using...
ANOTHER NOTE: when you repaint the tread, make sure the top and bottom edges match-up, or else you will see the break in the tread as it is mapped repeatedly around the tire...
I hope this helps.....feel free to ask if more info or help is needed....
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