I've mentioned it over here already but starting this thread to share some more info about 'Gridder'. It's still work in progress (and not available yet) - but I'm interested to hear any feedback on the ideas. What is it? In short, it’s a desktop ‘companion app’ that helps you manage skinpacks, custom AI and offline championships in a GUI - without the need to manually edit xml files, use batch files or create spreadsheets to keep track of everything. Gridder started as an experiment to see if I could make AMS2's livery override and custom AI systems a little more accessible/user-friendly. There are other tools that do elements of this well already, but none had quite the combination of functionality I was looking for. I've spent quite a lot of time making xml files for IMMERSION Modding Group mods, which we've handled with batch files to allow users to select different 'preset' configurations. That all works fine, but is not the most satisfying or intuitive process to use (or to make). Gridder functionality so far 1. Grid Editor mode: Automatically creates ‘grid presets' from all your existing skinpacks (and creates multiple presets for any pack with a batch file that loads multiple configurations) Adds all your existing liveries and AI drivers to 'pools' Browse the presets with vehicle preview images and 3d helmet previews Edit/remix existing presets - by e.g. assigning an alternate drivers from your driver pool, or suitable alternative skins from your livery pool, to a grid slot Rename, save/save-as or delete presets Create new presets (from a blank grid, or with randomised pool assets) Basic validation on grid presets, e.g. reports missing textures Load grid presets into the game (creates a new set of xml files, leaving originals intact) Associates helmet textures with drivers instead of liveries and allows drivers to have multiple variants (when you assign a driver to a car slot, Gridder will use an appropriate helmet for that series if available) Associates vehicle reliability with liveries instead of drivers (so e.g. putting Prost in an Andrea Moda will not improve the car's reliability) 2. AI Editor mode: Visualise AI profiles (compare drivers, visualise grid performance spread) Edit AI profiles using sliders (for individual drivers, or globally across an entire grid) 3. Championship mode: Create championship presets (with grid presets specified for each round) Launches AMS2 with the correct grid preset loaded for your upcoming round Connects to AMS2's shared memory for results logging Automatically logs championship progress and displays results, standing, etc. Post-race view shows previous round details, standings and next round details. 4. Helmet Painter Create basic helmet designs (for AI drivers or yourself) by painting in 3D with simple tools (more info below) Export helmet designs files in the DDS format needed for AMS2 What might Gridder do in future? (emphasis on might, as I have no idea what will work out) Multi-class grid presets Multi-class championship management Create new AI drivers to add to your pool Simplify adding additional downloaded liveries to your pool More flexible AMS2 launcher options Manage consecutive championship seasons with dynamic elements, etc More considered integration of mod cars & tracks Whatever else seems possible/interesting to me… I’m not following a specific plan with this, but there are at least a few other possibilities that I'll hold off on for now until I've investigated them a little further. What does Gridder not do? Anything else not mentioned above I'd hope there may be some 'community potential' here, in that Gridder offers the possibility to create and share grid and championship presets (small json files) based on existing content, or to bundle grid/championship presets with skinpacks. E.g. you could make and share a preset based on the work of multiple modders to unify it into a coherent experience, or provide multiple grid variants and a championship template with your skinpack without the need to tediously make multiple sets of xml. For anyone curious - this is made in the Godot engine with an integrated C# extension for AMS2 shared memory access. If all goes to plan, I hope to share a beta/test version of this in due course - but in the meantime I will post some progress updates here. Feel free to let me know if this is something you might use, or if you've any ideas that could make it better.
Basically it does automatically my workflow to use AMS2 and more. I will definitely be a user of this app Very, very nice idea. Do you plan to release this as free (open source) software?
Thanks - I'll hopefully release it for free (or have some kind of donationware/PWYW option perhaps, but basically free). I don't know about open sourcing it. Probably not initially at least. I'd need to look into the pros and cons of that.
This is awesome jusk, as groundbreaking as CSM was for GP4. Will definitely throw some triple whiskey shots your way once you release it!
Very nice, 1. does this include the ability to have proper ai driver names in multiplayer? So if me and a friend were racing with AI we would see Senna, Mansell etc? 2. Would it be possible to have the same functionality with the single player xml for race specific files including reliability settings etc but for multiplayer? 3. Also would there be any control with what cars are selected in multiplayer? It seems very hit and miss - sometimes three McLaren’s and one Ferrari etc?
Unfortunately I don't think any of that is possible for now. And iirc, I think Renato said in a Q&A a few months back that custom AI for multiplayer was unlikely to be added - so it's more of a feature request for Reiza than for me, as I understand it.
I was hoping you found a work around - understood. I look forward to your progress. Sadly I don’t think Reiza will action what I would call a game changer for AI multiplayer.
That’s incredible work, I’m looking forward to multi class championships and I hope you will be able to implement the consecutive championship mode as well, that will finally help me in my career mode wish, where I can make it last for several seasons. Mega job, keep pushing, everything looks very intuitive on UI side, and perfect for users like me who have very game limited time and less time to tweak liveries, AI files, etc. Well done!
A brief progress update - I've been working on two aspects mainly: 1. Championship functionality This is starting to take some shape. The UI needs a little refinement, but it's basically functional now. It includes: Launcher - loads the grid preset (liveries & AI) needed for the next round and launches AMS2. (You still need to configure the race weekend yourself manually - no avoiding that for now.) Automated monitoring and logging of results to json files. Post-race view shows previous round details, standings and next round details. Previous round details includes 'biggest mover' and fastest lap: Stuff on the to-do list for the Championship tab: Constructor's standings (requires a robust way to define teams, as this is not in AMS2 data; I plan to add this to the Grid Editor tab so it can be included in the grid preset files. This will be a) extrapolated from livery names if possible (as a starting point), and b) editable by the user (i.e. user can create/edit/assign teams) Multi-class results/standings (as mentioned previously - also requires adding the ability to create multi-class grid presets) 2. Helmet painter This is very experimental/WIP, but works better than I thought it might so far. It's basically a little paint app within Gridder that lets you paint a helmet in 3D using basic brush tools, 'MS-Paint-style'. The 3D brushes shown in the UI here don't work properly yet, but the 2D tools work fine. It's not perfect - there are a few quirks, but you can create a simple design in a minute without any additional tools and save it in the DDS format needed for AMS2. I hope to incorporate this into the Grid Editor / AI Editor workflow in the app, which would allow you to e.g. create a new AI driver, paint a helmet for them, assign them to a grid preset and load it to the game without editing any xml files. You could also use it to add basic helmets for AI drivers who don't have one, or to create your own personal helmets, etc. I'm looking into the possibility of adding stickers/decals and a few other refinements. I don't expect this to replace the tools/methods used by talented helmet painters in the community who make detailed replicas of real helmets - but it might be of use to someone looking for a quick and easy way to add simple helmet designs to the game.
The helmet editor is a dream coming true for us without talent to use photoshop! Thanks for providing more immersive tools for us
