[Ben]

Ok, I'm going to attempt to finalise the vehicle handling data for LC. The first thing I want to emphasise though is that a 100% authentic conversion from GTA3 is not possible, however, I will be aiming for increased authenticity through the changes I implement. Because the VC engine works differently to GTA3 (mostly through VC's improved vehicle physics), the only way to get a 100% authentic conversion is to work out a series of long and complicated equations/algorithms in the EXE, which works out as a waste of time (for the effort required), not to mention the fact that LC "markets" the improved physics as a feature.

Anyway, a lot of the vehicles are pretty much right - they might need some minor tweakage, but I'll get to that at some stage. In fact, I'm only working on this every now and then at the moment as I have one more assignment for school, before I'm free for a while. The vehicles that have problems I will list below:

Vehicle	Issue	Fixed?
Kuruma	Flips on corners sometimes	Yes
Manana	Flips on corners sometimes	Yes
Police Car	Not as balanced as in GTA3	Yes
Yardie Lobo	Flips sometimes whilst using hydraulics	Yes
Sentinel	Model Flag error	Yes
Stretch	Model Flag error	Yes
Mule	Model Flag error	Yes
FBI Kuruma	Model Flag error	Yes
Bus	Model Flag error	Yes
RC Baron (Dodo)	Model Flag error	Yes
Stallion	Model Flag error	Yes
Mafia	Model Flag error	Yes
Yankee	Model Flag error	Yes

The issues listed exist in LC only (as in, they are differences between LC and III) - the Kuruma, for example, is quite difficult to flip around corners in III, yet this is relatively easy to do in LC.

If there are any other vehicles that handle significantly differently in LC when compared to III, please report the vehicle's name and issue here and I'll look into it at some stage. This list will also be kept updated, and updates can be found here.

This post has been edited by Ben on Wednesday, Jan 24 2007, 01:59

[Blackadder.]

Maybe changing Mass slightly would help? Or maybe change the suspension upper limit, so that the car can't go too far from the wheels.

[Ben]

I've changed a few values - for the cars that flip, I've lowered the centre of mass to make them more stable, and for the Yardie Lobo, I've changed some suspension settings to make it match the Voodoo from VC. But I haven't done any testing yet - I'll let you know how it goes .

[Blackadder.]

Sounds Good . Also I havn't played GTA3 for a while, but in LC the stallion slides a bit too much. I'm not sure if its a handling problem or if its meant to be like that. Its just annoying when you go round corner and slide into the damn wall.

[Ben]

I'll look into it and have a play around with some of the traction values . Cheers.

[Blackadder.]

Cool,also i'm reporting from V6, not 2.7 or whatever, so it might of been fixed.

You got MSN?, if so add me so we can discuss Vehicle Handling

This post has been edited by blackadder18 on Thursday, Aug 24 2006, 09:23

[Ben]

The handling data hasn't changed since before Beta 1 as far as I'm aware. The only change was to the vehicle names with handling.cfg, but I don't think any actual values were changed. There's definitely been no changes from v6 to v7test - all values match GTA3. So report anything you think is out of place and I'll look into it .

[Blackadder.]

Ok, I will, I mght go for a drive tonight

[simplyunkillable]

copy the lines from gta3, but add the extra value from a similar car.

[Blackadder.]

You cannot do that, as the physics have changed, so even if you do sucessfully convert handling line, it would most probably never be the same as the physics are different.

[kiwidesign]

QUOTE (blackadder18 @ Aug 24 2006, 08:33)

...Also I havn't played GTA3 for a while, but in LC the stallion slides a bit too much. I'm not sure if its a handling problem or if its meant to be like that. Its just annoying when you go round corner and slide into the damn wall.

the stallion has always been a craply sliding car, in all 3 GTAs

[simplyunkillable]

QUOTE (blackadder18 @ Aug 24 2006, 11:55)

You cannot do that, as the physics have changed, so even if you do sucessfully convert handling line, it would most probably never be the same as the physics are different.

funny, funny man. try comparing, for example the gtaIII manana handling line with that of the vice city line. they are the same exept for one new value added near the end.

[Blackadder.]

No you dont get it, the engine has changed slightly so even if you convert the line perfectly, it won't be EXACTLY the same as the GTA3 handling.

[Ben]

Alrighty, I have an update to handling.cfg which fixes a few issues. Check out the text document included for all of them, but basically it makes the Kuruma, Manana, Police and Yardie much more GTA3-like. Get it here .

[offthewall]

Aww, cool...so does that mean the first post will have green letters saying yes? Or is there still a little more to be fixed?


edit: The words changed when I posted the reply, haha Good Job! LC is coming along great.

[Ben]

Ok, there's been a few minor updates that fix a few errors (such as two plumes of exhaust smoke when there was only one muffler on a car, etc.). This is untested, but shouldn't cause any problems. Thanks to simplyunkillable for pointing this out to me.

The crux of the problems was in model flag data - there were several differences between the data in GTA3's handling.cfg and LC's. After wrecking my head, I eventually figured out how to read the data correctly (and I'll explain that below). If you check out the Change Log included in the download, you can see what changes I have (and haven't) made. The table in the first post has also been updated to briefly note the changes made.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

READING HANDLING MODEL FLAG DATA:
The way that the flags are written in the model flags field in handling.cfg is a little strange. I know next nothing about HEX, except that it uses 16 digits and uses the letters A, B, C, D, E and F (A=10, B=11, and so on to F=15 - 0-15 is 16 digits). Considering my knowledge (or lack thereof) of HEX, my assumptions could be a little incorrect, but the bulk of this explanation should be right.

Unlike conventional number-related reading, the flags do NOT read from left to right - rather, from right to left. However, the number of digits also plays a part in way to read them - it's a little difficult to explain, so I'll try and use some examples.

Consider this flag data:

CODE

8102

It has four digits, so the 8 applies the flag data for the 4th digit (remember, we're reading from right to left) - see below for flags data (from GTA3):

CODE

; (ad) flags!!!  WARNING - Now written HEX for easier reading of flags ;  1st digit =  1: 1G_BOOST         2: 2G_BOOST       4: REV_BONNET    8: HANGING_BOOT ;  2nd digit =  1: NO_DOORS         2: IS_VAN       4: IS_BUS        8: IS_LOW ;  3rd digit =   1: DBL_EXHAUST     2: TAILGATE_BOOT  4: NOSWING_BOOT  8: NONPLAYER_STABILISER   ;  4th digit =  1: NEUTRALHANDLING  2: HAS_NO_ROOF    4: IS_BIG        8: HALOGEN_LIGHTS

Therefore, the HALOGEN_LIGHTS flag is applied. Moving on to the 1 - as you can see, the DBL_EXHAUST flag is applied. The 0 means that the 2nd digit uses no flag, and the 2 means that the 2G_BOOST flag is applied. Pretty simple, eh? Well, consider this flag data:

CODE

81024

It has five digits, so straightaway it can only apply to VC (as opposed to GTA3) - VC has three extra flag fields when compared with GTA3 - see below for VC flag data:

CODE

; (ae) flags!!!  WARNING - Now written HEX for easier reading of flags ;  1st digit =  1: 1G_BOOST         2: 2G_BOOST       4: REV_BONNET      8: HANGING_BOOT ;  2nd digit =  1: NO_DOORS         2: IS_VAN         4: IS_BUS          8: IS_LOW ;  3rd digit =   1: DBL_EXHAUST     2: TAILGATE_BOOT  4: NOSWING_BOOT    8: NONPLAYER_STABILISER   ;  4th digit =  1: NEUTRALHANDLING  2: HAS_NO_ROOF    4: IS_BIG          8: HALOGEN_LIGHTS ;  5th digit =  1: IS_BIKE          2: IS_HELI        4: IS_PLANE        8: IS_BOAT ;  6th digit =  1: NO_EXHAUST       2: REARWHEEL_1ST  4: HANDBRAKE_TYRE  8: SIT_IN_BOAT ;  7th digit =  1: FAT_REARW        2: NARROW_FRONTW  4: GOOD_INSAND

In this instance, the 8 applies the flag data for the 5th digit - therefore, the IS_BOAT flag is used. The 1 in this case applies to the 4th digit - NEUTRALHANDLING, and so on, meaning the other flags would be IS_VAN and REV_BONNET. Keep in mind that this is simply a made-up example and obviously wouldn't work very well in-game, but it demonstrates how to read the flag data pretty effectively. The same process is used for any number of digits from one through to four (as per GTA3) or from one through to seven (for VC).

I hope that will help someone out who (like me) couldn't figure out how the heck the flag data applied. As I said above, my lack of HEX knowledge might mean that this was a bit obvious - perhaps HEX reads from right to left? I don't know - either way, this explanation still makes sense, and is explained from a n00b's perspective.

[Cerbera]

The best way to edit flags is to simply use a handling editor, such as CFG Studio. It doesn't preserve any comments you put in the file, but it makes flag editing easy:

640 x 480, 88kB.

Hexadecimal numbers are read the same as regular. Highest values on the right, lowest values on the left. "Digit 1" means the lowest value digit, so it will appear furthest to the right.

You're dead right about the slight physics changes between GTA3 and GTAVC. You could try comparing my GTA3 Handling Overhaul with my GTAVC Handling Overhaul. The biggest differences I found in the weight shifting and how the tyres respond to the ground. I ended up using slightly different styles in each game so I could make the most of the better physics in GTAVC.

You can't get the performance identical in each game - particularly when on two wheels - but it should be pretty close. Feel free to use any/all the setups from my overhauls if you like.

This post has been edited by Cerbera on Friday, Jan 5 2007, 03:30

[Ben]

Thanks. At this stage we've got it going pretty well - we've marketed LC as taking advantage of VC's improved physics engine, so the difference isn't too much of an issue. But this thread's been open for a while and no-one's reported any drastic differences, so I think we might have got it to a stage where everyone's happy .

Somehow I knew that HEX thing would get the better of me though...

[[CTD]LaBan]

but guys, can u put helicopter height limit to higher level?

[richard the pissed]

what was the flag error on the stallion?