Audi R8 Conversion

In this thread I'll document my attempts to import an Audi R8 into The Simpsons Hit and Run.

Tools Used:
Lucas P3D Editor 3.1.5
Lucas' Simpsons Hit & Run Car Shadow Adjuster 1.0
Lucas' Simpsons Hit & Run Car Renamer 1.1
Lucas' Simpsons Hit & Run Mod Launcher 1.21
Blender 2.76b
Adobe Photoshop CS6 (GIMP or Paint.NET are good free alternatives)

Model Used:
Audi R8 (ahmetsalih)

I found the Ferrini File at "...\The Simpsons - Hit & Run\art\cars\bart_v.p3d"

I found the body mesh at "bart_vShape".


I removed the wheels from the R8 model and scaled it to the size of the Ferrini in Blender.

I reduced the vertices count of the R8 model in Blender because P3D Editor gave me incorrect vertices errors otherwise.

I imported the R8 model over the original bart_vShape but there are no textures, lighting etc.

.

Running the game with the modified bart_v.p3d crashes as soon as the game launches (works fine with the unmodified bart_v.p3d).

What else needs to be modified to get the model to appear with shaders/lighting etc. and without crashing the game (wheel alignment etc. can come later)?

Thanks

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After setting up the mod using CustomFiles and the various .inis required, I managed to load the modified bart_vShape without crashing the game.


The picture still needs changing.


The car is now in-game but has no textures or lighting. The wheel placement is also completely off at the front.


Homer's head pops out when driving. I think this can be fixed by just removing the character model entirely when driving.

As always any help/feedback is welcome.

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You can adjust the wheels by adjusting the 4 skeleton joints associated with them (w0, w1, w2, and w3).

You can also adjust the driver and passenger position in the same way (dl and pl).

And the headlights (hlr, hll) and reverse/taillights (rev1, rev2, rev3, rev4) as well.

I have to go now while writing this message, but someone else can chime in hopefully to help you more.

Thanks, is this all done within P3D Editor?

How would I go about adding lighting/reflections/textures?

I've found the skeleton joints. Is it just a case of trial and error when aligning everything?

The reason there was no texture was because I had to manually point each part of the mesh to a texture file already within the P3D file (for example [b"]bart_vDoorDNorm_m"[/b] for the body.


I added textures to each part of the mesh from what was available.


Here is the R8 in-game.


I think I've worked out how to add custom shaders and textures to a P3D file so I can make proper textures for each part.

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You are getting there.

I managed to import a higher poly model by triangulating it first in Blender. This was what was causing the incorrect vertices error.

I made shaders and corresponding textures for the various parts of the model.


I removed the movable skeleton parts of the Ferrini model (doors, hood etc.). Maybe these can be added in later.


For some reason removing the doors causes the model to use the police car doors. Any clue why?

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This car honestly looks pretty freakin' sweet... So close!

I removed the player model from view when in the car by setting SetCharactersVisible to 0 in bart_v.con (thanks @Jake Andreøli). From the back the car looks basically complete.


Still left to do:
- Find a way to remove the police doors (any help?)
- Add the traffic car entrance animation instead of the door opening animation (any help?)
- Align wheels (thanks @Loren Goodwin)
- Align smoke/lights (thanks @Loren Goodwin)
- Re-centre R8 mesh (it's not properly centred for some reason)
- Import custom wheel mesh
- Add bottom to mesh (maybe)
- Add custom image to the phone booth screen
- Optimise textures
- Find a way to add the vehicle without replacing another (currently Bart's Ferini)

I hope other people will find this useful for importing their own vehicles. As always any help/advice from more experienced modders would be very much appreciated. The Team have hinted at new modding tools coming with the 22nd-23rd December Christmas event which should make the process easier.

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