At first glance a .TRK file is perhaps the most enigmatic of all the files a truck maker will be dealing with: however, it is easy to understand the code in which it is written and to work with it.

A .TRK file is simple a text file with the extension .TRK, so it can be opened and edited with any basic Windows program like NotePad or WordPad. The hardest bit is learning the code, and that's not too hard. I will explain it all using Bigfoot.trk as an example.

Line
Bigfoot.trk
1

3

5

7

9

11

13

15

17























42























66

68



72

74











86











99











111











123











135











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MTM2 truckName
Bigfoot
truckModelBaseName
bigfoot
tireModelBaseName
bfc
axleModelName
axle3.bin
shockTextureName
shock2.raw
barTextureName
axlebar2.raw
axlebarOffset
1.281250,-3.156250,-0.113281
driveshaftPos
0.000000,-2.456250,-0.113281
faxle.rtire.static_bpos.x
4.291666
faxle.ltire.static_bpos.x
-4.291666
raxle.rtire.static_bpos.x
4.291666
raxle.ltire.static_bpos.x
-4.291666
faxle.rtire.static_bpos.y
-3.800000
faxle.ltire.static_bpos.y
-3.800000
raxle.rtire.static_bpos.y
-3.800000
raxle.ltire.static_bpos.y
-3.800000
faxle.rtire.static_bpos.z
6.100000
faxle.ltire.static_bpos.z
6.100000
raxle.rtire.static_bpos.z
-5.500000
raxle.ltire.static_bpos.z
-5.500000
Scrape point 1 body axis x,y,z
-3.671875,0.000000,9.195312
Scrape point 2 body axis x,y,z
3.667969,0.000000,9.195312
Scrape point 3 body axis x,y,z
-3.671875,2.562500,9.195312
Scrape point 4 body axis x,y,z
3.667969,2.562500,9.195312
Scrape point 5 body axis x,y,z
-2.605469,5.230469,1.894531
Scrape point 6 body axis x,y,z
2.605469,5.230469,1.894531
Scrape point 7 body axis x,y,z
-2.144531,5.230469,-0.796875
Scrape point 8 body axis x,y,z
2.097656,5.230469,-0.796875
Scrape point 9 body axis x,y,z
-3.671875,2.816406,-9.199219
Scrape point 10 body axis x,y,z
3.667969,2.816406,-9.199219
Scrape point 11 body axis x,y,z
-3.671875,0.000000,-9.199219
Scrape point 12 body axis x,y,z
3.667969,0.000000,-9.199219
Instrument Cluster
powerbig
Wave File
bfootf.wav
bfootu.wav
bfootd.wav
Number of Lights
11
Light 0 type
0
Light 0 body axis pos x,y,z (ft), bitmap radius (ft)
-2.421875,1.862500,8.695312,1.250000
Light 0 heading (rad), pitch (rad), heading spin speed (rad/sec)
0.000000,-0.174533,0.000000
Light 0 cone: length (ft), base radius (ft), rim radius (ft), texture name
75.000000,0.700000,11.000000,litefuzz.raw
Light 0 source: bitmap name
headlite.raw
Light 0 ms on, ms off (0 if light doesn't blink)
0,0
Light 1 type
0
Light 1 body axis pos x,y,z (ft), bitmap radius (ft)
2.417969,1.862500,8.695312,1.250000
Light 1 heading (rad), pitch (rad), heading spin speed (rad/sec)
0.000000,-0.174533,0.000000
Light 1 cone: length (ft), base radius (ft), rim radius (ft), texture name
75.000000,0.700000,11.000000,litefuzz.raw
Light 1 source: bitmap name
headlite.raw
Light 1 ms on, ms off (0 if light doesn't blink)
0,0
Light 2 type
1
Light 2 body axis pos x,y,z (ft), bitmap radius (ft)
-3.371875,1.600000,-9.299219,1.000000
Light 2 heading (rad), pitch (rad), heading spin speed (rad/sec)
3.403392,0.000000,0.000000
Light 2 cone: length (ft), base radius (ft), rim radius (ft), texture name
0.000000,0.000000,0.000000,redfuzz.raw
Light 2 source: bitmap name
brltford.raw
Light 2 ms on, ms off (0 if light doesn't blink)
0,0
Light 3 type
1
Light 3 body axis pos x,y,z (ft), bitmap radius (ft)
3.367969,1.600000,-9.299219,1.000000
Light 3 heading (rad), pitch (rad), heading spin speed (rad/sec)
2.879793,0.000000,0.000000
Light 3 cone: length (ft), base radius (ft), rim radius (ft), texture name
0.000000,0.000000,0.000000,redfuzz.raw
Light 3 source: bitmap name
brltford.raw
Light 3 ms on, ms off (0 if light doesn't blink)
0,0
Light 4 type
1
Light 4 body axis pos x,y,z (ft), bitmap radius (ft)
0.000000,4.675000,-0.492000,0.800000
Light 4 heading (rad), pitch (rad), heading spin speed (rad/sec)
3.141593,0.349066,0.000000
Light 4 cone: length (ft), base radius (ft), rim radius (ft), texture name
0.000000,0.000000,0.000000,redfuzz.raw
Light 4 source: bitmap name
brlttcab.raw
Light 4 ms on, ms off (0 if light doesn't blink)
0,0
Light 5 type
3
Light 5 body axis pos x,y,z (ft), bitmap radius (ft)
-1.900000,5.000000,-0.500000,0.700000
Light 5 heading (rad), pitch (rad), heading spin speed (rad/sec)
-0.104720,-0.069813,0.000000
Light 5 cone: length (ft), base radius (ft), rim radius (ft), texture name
40.000000,0.400000,3.000000,litefuzz.raw
Light 5 source: bitmap name
headlite.raw
Light 5 ms on, ms off (0 if light doesn't blink)
0,0
Light 6 type
3
Light 6 body axis pos x,y,z (ft), bitmap radius (ft)
-0.700000,5.100000,-0.500000,0.700000
Light 6 heading (rad), pitch (rad), heading spin speed (rad/sec)
-0.052360,-0.052360,0.000000
Light 6 cone: length (ft), base radius (ft), rim radius (ft), texture name
40.000000,0.400000,3.000000,litefuzz.raw
Light 6 source: bitmap name
headlite.raw
Light 6 ms on, ms off (0 if light doesn't blink)
0,0
Light 7 type
3
Light 7 body axis pos x,y,z (ft), bitmap radius (ft)
0.700000,5.100000,-0.500000,0.700000
Light 7 heading (rad), pitch (rad), heading spin speed (rad/sec)
0.052360,-0.052360,0.000000
Light 7 cone: length (ft), base radius (ft), rim radius (ft), texture name
40.000000,0.400000,3.000000,litefuzz.raw
Light 7 source: bitmap name
headlite.raw
Light 7 ms on, ms off (0 if light doesn't blink)
0,0
Light 8 type
3
Light 8 body axis pos x,y,z (ft), bitmap radius (ft)
1.850000,5.000000,-0.500000,0.700000
Light 8 heading (rad), pitch (rad), heading spin speed (rad/sec)
0.104720,-0.069813,0.000000
Light 8 cone: length (ft), base radius (ft), rim radius (ft), texture name
40.000000,0.400000,3.000000,litefuzz.raw
Light 8 source: bitmap name
headlite.raw
Light 8 ms on, ms off (0 if light doesn't blink)
0,0
Light 9 type
5
Light 9 body axis pos x,y,z (ft), bitmap radius (ft)
-3.371875,0.900000,-9.299219,0.600000
Light 9 heading (rad), pitch (rad), heading spin speed (rad/sec)
3.403392,0.000000,0.000000
Light 9 cone: length (ft), base radius (ft), rim radius (ft), texture name
0.000000,0.000000,0.000000,litefuzz.raw
Light 9 source: bitmap name
brltrv.raw
Light 9 ms on, ms off (0 if light doesn't blink)
0,0
Light 10 type
5
Light 10 body axis pos x,y,z (ft), bitmap radius (ft)
3.367969,0.900000,-9.299219,0.600000
Light 10 heading (rad), pitch (rad), heading spin speed (rad/sec)
2.879793,0.000000,0.000000
Light 10 cone: length (ft), base radius (ft), rim radius (ft), texture name
0.000000,0.000000,0.000000,litefuzz.raw
Light 10 source: bitmap name
brltrv.raw
Light 10 ms on, ms off (0 if light doesn't blink)
0,0


The first 16 lines are set out with a descriptive line followed by the actual data. For example, look at lines 1 and 2.

Truck Name
"MTM2 truckName" is descriptive of the line following it: the truck's name, which for Bigfoot is "Bigfoot" (duh). This is the truck's name as it will appear in the game.

Body .BIN Model
The next two lines (3 & 4) are the "model base name". MTM2 trucks actually have three body models of varying detail: for Bigfoot, these are bigfoot.bin, bigfoot0.bin, and bigfoot1.bin. Bigfoot.bin is the high-detail model, used when the truck is near the "camera"; bigfoot0.bin is the medium-detail model, used when the truck is a distance from the camera; and bigfoot1.bin is the low-detail model used when the truck is far away. The reason that there are different detail levels is because a high-detail model requires a lot of computing power, but from a distance you won't see the detail so a medium- or low-detail model is used instead to make it easier on the computer. (Nearly all addon trucks, however, don't have medium- and low-detail models as computers nowadays are able to cope, and it would just be too much work.) The "basename" is the name of the .BIN files without the numbers: for Bigfoot this is "bigfoot".

Wheel .BIN Model
The next two lines, 5 & 6, are the wheel basename. Wheel models have three levels of detail just like body models. Bigfoot's wheels are bfc08l, bfc08r, bfc10l, bfc10r, bfc16l, bfc16r. "08" denotes a low-detail wheel, "10" is medium-detail and "16" is high detail. As well as this, each wheel has either "l" or "r", which denotes left or right wheel. The basename for Bigfoot's wheels is "bfc".

Axle .BIN Model
Lines 7 & 8 are the axle model that the truck uses. Bigfoot, as a stock (ie came with the game) truck, uses the stock "axle3.bin" model as its axles.

Shock and Axlebar Textures, Axlebar Offset, Driveshaft Position
Lines 9 and 10 are the texture file used for the truck's shocks: in this case, "shock2.raw". Lines 11 and 12 are the texture file used for the truck's axle bars: "axlebar2.raw". Both of these texture files are superimposed onto the truck several times to make the shocks and axlebars so that the axles aren't just floating in space but look like they're actually attached to the truck! Shocks stick up vertically with the bottom ends attached to the axle, so where ever you move the axle, the shocks will go with it. The axlebars also have one end tethered to the axles, but the other end has coordinates which can be changed, lines 13 and 14. These values are x (left/right), y (up/down), and z (forward/backward) values and can be altered so that the axlebars look like they are attached to the truck's frame. It is a similar story with lines 15 and 16, which are the values for the position of the driveshaft (the other ends are attached to the axles).

Wheel Positions
Lines 17 to 41 are the x, y and z values for each wheel. These are "static" positions, ie this is where they are when the truck is simply sitting still on the ground, when its driving around obviously they move to cope with the terrain. The values are arranged in order of front and rear x values, front and rear y values, and front and rear z values. A quick tip at this point: the wheel sizes are hard-coded into the game, so even if you use different sized wheel models, the game will always think they are 6 foot monster wheels, thus smaller wheels may appear to float and larger wheels may sink into the ground. Also be wary when using custom-made wheels wider than the stock wheels, which may stick through the shocks and require adjustment of the wheel x values to move them out.

Scrape Points
Lines 42 to 65 are the "scrape points": the points which define the outside shape of the truck's body. Tracked2 will automatically set these for you when you save the truck, however they can be manually edited if you want the body to be a specific shape which Tracked2 does not give you.

Instrument Cluster
Lines 66 and 67 are the "instrument cluster". Apparently this is the in-truck dashboard view.

.WAV Files
The next four lines from 68 on are the .WAV commentary files the truck uses. These are the .WAVs the game uses when Army Armstrong is commentating during a race and mentions the truck: "Bigfoot is doing it in the air!" and stuff like that. See the .WAV page for more information.

Number of Lights
Lines 72 and 73 tell the game how many lights the truck has: in Bigfoot's case, there are 11. The limit seems to be 14 lights - Tracked2 crashes if a truck has 15 or more lights.

Lights
Lines 74 to the end of the file are given over to each of the lights' settings, position, type etc. Let's examine the first one of these:

Light 0 type
0
Light 0 body axis pos x,y,z (ft), bitmap radius (ft)
-2.421875,1.862500,8.695312,1.250000
Light 0 heading (rad), pitch (rad), heading spin speed (rad/sec)
0.000000,-0.174533,0.000000
Light 0 cone: length (ft), base radius (ft), rim radius (ft), texture name
75.000000,0.700000,11.000000,litefuzz.raw
Light 0 source: bitmap name
headlite.raw
Light 0 ms on, ms off (0 if light doesn't blink)
0,0


Firstly, note that "0" counts as the first light, therefore the last one will be number "10".

The first two lines are the light type:
Number Type
0 Main headlight
1 Brakelight
2 Unknown, apparently also headlights
3 Secondary headlight/KC lamp
4 Seems to be reserved for siren lights (such as those on Monster Patrol)
5 Reverse light

It can be seen that this light is one of Bigfoot's headlights (type 0).

Light 0 body axis pos x,y,z (ft), bitmap radius (ft)
-2.421875,1.862500,8.695312,1.250000

The next two lines are the light's position (x, y and z values, in feet) and the radius (in feet) of the texture file that is superimposed over the truck when the light is turned on, to give the impression of light glare.

Light 0 heading (rad), pitch (rad), heading spin speed (rad/sec)
0.000000,-0.174533,0.000000

The next two lines are the light's heading, pitch and spin speed. Heading is the horizontal direction, in radians, where 0 is straight ahead. This is one of Bigfoot's headlights, so it points straight ahead. Pitch is the vertical direction, again in radians, and again 0 is straight level. As a headlight, this light is deflected slightly downwards to shine on the road. Spin speed is in radians per second, where a positive value is a clockwise spin and negative is anticlockwise. This is a headlight, so it doesn't spin.

Light 0 cone: length (ft), base radius (ft), rim radius (ft), texture name
75.000000,0.700000,11.000000,litefuzz.raw

The next two lines are the setting for the light "cone". This light shines 75 feet forward - the cone is 75 feet long. The end of the "cone" at the light is .7 feet radius, and the other end that shines on the road is 11 feet radius. The texture litefuzz.raw is the texture used on the cone. This is almost transparent, so you can see through it, and makes it look like the light is shining through the darkness.

Light 0 source: bitmap name
headlite.raw

The next two lines are the texture file that is superimposed onto the truck when the lights are turned on to give the impression of light glare. For this headlight the texture file is headlight.raw.

Light 0 ms on, ms off (0 if light doesn't blink)
0,0

The final two lines are the time (in milliseconds) the light flashes on and off. As it says, if the light doesn't blink, these values are 0.