2010 season mod

[tyred2010]

Someone's still working on this game...

autoracing.virgula.uol.com.br/forum/index.php?showtopic=54586

rapidshare.com/files/356791206/F1_PRO_-_2010_V3.rar.html

File will install:

* Non-CD version of F1 Manager Professional (Spanish [?] name of executable is jogar.exe, but in-game the language is still English), modded to 2010 season
* Dosbox 0.73
* Manual
* Extra documentation (in Spanish)
* Some utilities (in German!)

I'm pretty sure this mod used Simtek's work and built upon it... I think a few of the pictures are even ones I posted on this forum some years ago.

[minarin]

thanks for the link.

[daniracer]

great! i will be testing it.

I found the 2008 mod too easy.

On the first year I qualified 3rd on Monaco and 1st on Canada. With Jaguar-Cosworth and a completely under-developed car. With un-experienced Mario Andretti as pilot.

At Monaco my drivers where blowing up engine (even if they were at "finish race" order)

At Canada I WON. Cause I had my second assembly hall ready (more reliability).

THANKS FOR THE POST! I GOT THE GAME MANUAL AGAIN! ;D ;D

I hope this mod would be more difficult.

[tyred2010]

VERY interesting, daniracer.

It's been so long since I played an unmodded version through an entire game, I didn't remember/realize all that was changed.

So I poked around in the files. Most things have probably been altered with the built-in editor, as one might expect. But one thing that's been heavily altered is the "motoren.dat" file, from 2/27/2005.

1) Ferrari is in the first position of the modded file, the same listed-position as Farreri; but it uses mostly Merdeces data (after the first block).
2) Ford CR8-V8 is in the 2nd file position, where Ferd Zetac R was; and data seems mostly the same.
3) Cosworth RSX is in position of Ferd ED; and data looks mostly the same.
4) BMW P86/8 is in the position for Soft 830; but uses mostly Geopeot data.
5) Mercedes is in the position of Merdeces; but uses Renault (vanilla name??) data
6) Honda is in the position of Jonda in the motoren.dat file; but uses mostly Ferd Zetac R data.
7) Ferrari 056 in the mod is in the position of the Petranas; and also uses mostly Petranas data.
8) Peugeot is in the Geupeot position; but uses mostly data from Soft 830.
9) Renault is in the Renault (vanilla name?) position; but uses mostly data from Farreri
10) Toyota is in the Hayama position; but uses mostly Jonda data.

It's all very confusing.

It also probably makes the game easier once you get the Ferrari engine, since I think it's operating like a 5-star Merdeces. Also, the weak teams all are starting with Ford/Cosworth engines, and there's no equivalent of Minardi, which used a one-star engine iirc; and if one tried swapping engines to make a team use a one-star engine in the editor, they'd probably end up giving them an engine that acts like Geopeot by mistake (I was about to do this in my next game.)




I'm thinking of doing a couple things:

(1) play the game with vanilla, and see how it feels (hopefully it's harder, although maybe I'll find out I suck ); and/or
(2) replace the modded "motoren.dat" file in the "DATA97_E" folder with a basically vanilla version of the file (one should be included in the same folder with the download, renamed to "motoren1.dat" [date 10/15/1997]).

If I do (2), I may also swap teams' starting engines with the built-in editor; and MAYBE use a hex editor to re-name the engines etc., but only in known data fields that I'm pretty sure have no effect on gameplay.

[kadaffy]

Hey would like to hear if you could upload the Manual again?

[tyred2010]

There's an English version of the manual included in the 2010 download.

Dangoth also uploaded it somewhere else:

www.megaupload.com/?d=8PV6OAGL

[kadaffy]

Thanks just starting to play this game again, have 12 hours a day when im at work to play it ..
Just cant figure out how to get more the 3* things :/... but im also playing with the original DB

[kadaffy]

okay that manual is in German

[dangoth]

The manual is inside in the mod 2010

www.4shared.com/file/231487818/fd0e5d64/F1_Manager_Professional_-_2010.html

tyred2010 the 2010 mod needs updated, and I have some question:
- in the editor the pilots are in disarray, the engineers also
- another thing is that new teams are imaginary and I wonder if you can delete, and only the current teams grill.

I find the 2009 mod in rtm-base.de but its in German and I cannot play it cuz my laptop doesn't have the CD unity, and the f1.exe needs hack for to play without the CD.
Maybe you can see what updates have been made and how to improve for the 2010 mod.

[tyred2010]

dangoth,

"pilots" = "drivers"? [like M. Schumacher?]

With the 2010 mod, the most major problem I know is with USF1. Are you having problems with the editor in fixing such things?

If you're looking to replace pictures:

"[they] must be in the same section of the hard disk and in PCX format (256 colours or 24 bit truecolor). If your picture is smaller than 75x75 pixels smallest size, it can't be loaded. Larger pictures will automatically be reduced to the necessary size."

=====

My knowledge of what mods have been made is mostly outdated.

I took a look at rtm-base.de for the first time today. I didn't know of the existence of some mods there, and others I lacked because of dead hyperlinks.

It seems I can install the 2008 Fussel update over the 2010 mod, and everything is okay by starting with the cracked "jogar.exe" (no CD needed). I'm guessing this ends up with a 2008 version working 95% as intended.

The 2009 v1.00 Beta says: "must ihr die Deutsche Version: 1.0118.11.1997 installiert haben." So that one has extra German/English version problems, besides the CD issue. Folder and filenames are different; and I also think several files can't be just renamed [or stuck in the equivalent folder name], because of slightly different formats.

[tyred2010]

It seems I can install the 2008 Fussel update over the 2010 mod, and everything is okay by starting with the cracked "jogar.exe" (no CD needed). I'm guessing this ends up with a 2008 version working 95% as intended.

Well, not really. The scheduled dates for the races are set to 2008, while "jogar.exe" starts the game in 1997.

Theoretically, one can hex-edit "jogar.exe", search for the second time it says "CD070000" [1997], and then change it to "D8070000" [2008]. But for all I know, there'd be other little hidden incompatibilities.

[DSR]

Hi there! I just discovered this board when I was looking for somewhere to advertise my 2010 mod. A little depressing to find there already is one, especially since I didn't really expect people to even be playing F1MP still.

But if anyone wants to try it out, you can download it at www.filefront.com/16130053/F1MP2010_v091.rar. It is based on the original CD version of the game, not a cracked exe, but if you use DOSBox to mount the game directory as cdrom it doesn't need the CD anyway.

In its defense, it's made from scratch instead of mashed together from an earlier mod as this Spanish one sounds to be. I made it for fun, for my own amusement, but there's no reason not to share and I think it's reasonably thorough. I've not ever searched for any other mods and never played them... I found rtm-base.de a couple of weeks ago, and of course it's in German, but it inspired me to see if there was an English-speaking community.

I've also built up a decent knowledge of the files from doing this so if there are any questions that remain unanswered about hex editing the files maybe (maybe!) I can help

[tyred2010]

dsr,

I haven't tried playing it yet, and only looked at the motoren.dat. But from that, it looks like you know what you're doing. Slowest engine looks to have values in its power/speed tables (whatever you want to call them) ~9.8% higher (on average) than the fastest non-modded engine. Haven't checked all the other mods out there, but haven't seen anyone else do that yet.

You did that all by hand, or have some way to automate the process?

[DSR]

Hi tyred,

I used excel to expedite the process of converting the curve data from & to hexadecimal. First time around I copied the values by hand but I've now worked out a way to format it so I can paste each modified curve/data block directly into the hex editor. I kept the data the same 'shape' as the original and I can easily tweak a few formulae to adjust top speed or 'bottom' speed or whatever. Which is good because I will need to change engine performance once I get some playtesting done (or feedback).

Some data for you:
The original engines go from, say, 100 to 300 (roughly). Mine go from 115 to 350 (roughly).
I don't really understand how the 4 different curves work, but the original engines have a spread of about 2 at the start and 7-8 at the end. I've kept approximately the same difference between the first and fourth curves of each engine.
I don't have all the original data written down, but from memory there is a slightly greater spread in top speed between the strongest and weakest engine - I'll need to check that.

EDIT: I just solved the team order problem so the next update should have correct car numbers.

[tyred2010]

Did something similar myself, but with gnumeric.

I made it read the entire file's hexdump string, edit it with the MID function etc, and then have it create a new hexdump string. Had a problem saving it as Excel, tho, as the formatting gets all corrupted; maybe the strings are too big or something.

I was really surprised to see you had added pictures, and by the method; I didn't know anyone else had ways to do that properly (although the basics were discussed here in 2006). But now I see "pat" has been working on this over at the German site.

[DSR]

I've no interest in changing the sponsor graphics. Most of them aren't in F1 anymore so it's fantasy one way or the other. But I really wanted to correct the menu graphics. I'd been on the verge of working it out the last time I tried, years ago, but only caused the game to freeze. I found out the trick after I finished the previous version (on 21 Mar). Yeah, it was actually from a post by Pat on the German site that held the key - pixel view in Hexplorer. I didn't understand much else so I don't know if he has a 'special' method but I what I do is a hell of a lot of hex editing by comparing pixels and hex bytes. Pixel view just means I can actually find the right place to edit.

The palette is the main trick - some places use what I call the 'game palette', and others what I call the 'import palette'. Driver nationality flags use the import palette but team nationalities use four separate images in the other palette.

As for surprises, I'm surprised someone else already knew how to change engine performance.

[tyred2010]

There are all kinds of palettes used.

I'd call the palette of the first set of driver pics in user_e.rsc the "normal" palette. f1_e.rsc sponsor sets 1 and 3 use this.

f1_e.rsc sponsor set#2 uses what I'll call the "main alternative palette".

I've tried making color conversion lookup tables between different palettes, when the unmodded game had duplicate sets of images that differed by palettes. So if [hypothetically] like 7A was normally turned into 3B most often in another palette, then there's a conversion method ["most often" = "mode", as in not median or mean]. Again, using spreadsheet comparisons of hexdumps as much as possible to find the conversion modes. And compiled programs doing the actual pixel conversion of images from user_e.rsc into other palettes.

It's still a pain in the butt, especially since many potential color values won't be used at all in a given set, so any idea of how they should be converted is a guess based on surrounding values, and/or trial and error. There are other problems, but that specific one is the worst.

[DSR]

I only found two.

I certainly wouldn't try to convert from one palette to another. I'm not sure what you're trying to do but it sounds like asking for trouble.

Better to convert to RBG in an image program (from a screenshot, if necessary) and let it find the nearest matches in the palette. (Of course then you need to import it into user_e.rsc with the editor, hope it doesn't 'merge' too many colours, and search and replace on each colour... or at least that was my crazy method).

I can provide a photoshop palette and a colour chart for the bytes, if you don't already have this information.

[punkrohan]

DSR,

A very good mod. Congratulations on the work.
Hopefully, with some of the information about start dates, a truly top shelf mod can be made.

A few questions on where you found things...
1. Where did you find the offset to change the team order so cars have correct numbers?
2. Are the nationality flags changeable, and if so, where abouts?
3. What graphics program did you use for your logos? they look really good in the game...
4. Your mod has driver contracts for 24 months in the editor screen, but you get into the game and their contracts are still only 12 months, where did you change the contract length to 24month? Id like to have a look around and see if it can be transported into the game.
5. Where are the pictures of the motors stored?

Cheers,
Ro

[tyred2010]

I think I can answer 4

fahrer.dat, position 144 (or 712 or 1280 or 1848 etc) = contract in months. Values over 12 become 12 when a new game is started. (value before at 140 is accidents; one after at 148 is salary)

[DSR]

Apr 17, 2010 6:27:53 GMT punkrohan said:

DSR,

A very good mod. Congratulations on the work.
Hopefully, with some of the information about start dates, a truly top shelf mod can be made.

Thanks very much I've changed the year and race dates for the 0.92 version.

1. Offset for actual team order is at 1,354,006, and 2,070,380 is I think for the driver numbers as they appear in the editor.

2. Yes they are changeable, but it is somewhat difficult as they aren't square. Firstly the team flags are separate and there is only 4. There are 23 driver nationalities as you know; I've added Poland, India, Russia and a plain white flag.

3. I created them in photoshop, but I had to convert them to the game palette by hex editing.

5. I don't know about the motors, I haven't looked yet.

[tyred2010]

punkrohan,

latest version of my pic utility shows offsets, and you should be able to modify smaller engine pics with it (not sure if there are any palette problems in some game screen, but not that I've seen thus far).

[tyred2010]

DSR,

Finished ~2.5 seasons with your 2010 mod (0.91), and enjoyed it.

I played it with a different executable, strinfo.dat and history.dat; not sure how much I missed there. Other files were yours, overwriting a vanilla installation.

Graphics were all attractive, as punkrohan has mentioned.

Year 1 team results were: McLaren 166, Mercedes 111, Ferrari 80, Red Bull 59, Williams 15, Virgin (me) 6, Renault 3, F. India 2.

Year 1 drivers were: Button 84, Hamilton 82, Schumacher 65, Rosberg and Alonso 46, Vettel 38, Massa 34, Webber 21, Barrichello 15, others <=3.

Fired diGrassi and hired Heidfeld at start of year 1, replaced Glock with rookie in September of year 1.

Year 2 picked Renault engine because I couldn't get Mercedes, and didn't like the looks of the Ferrari intake requirements, especially with new FIA rules. Finished 2nd that year, despite forgetting to take engines to test-stand until mid-season (doubt if it would have made a difference.)

`````

Next game I play will likely be with a lot more of the files I've been modding myself; but I plan on continuing to use your user_e.rsc, teams.dat, fahrer.dat and ings.dat (maybe motoren.dat too). I'll tweak the drivers a bit, including making all of them a little stronger, so new fictional drivers compare less favorably for awhile longer.

[DSR]

Thanks for your feedback. Glad you like it.

Next version I've fixed the year/dates in the exe and strinfo.dat, if that's the reason you're not using the executable. My notes are terribly disorganised so I couldn't tell you exactly what you missed but I think mostly text changes (for instance I moved technical director to the production hall role).

Should be ready with an upload very soon, but the changelog so far is:

0.92
- Start date set to 2010, and race dates match the first 17 races of the real calendar
- Replaced unused nationalities with Poland, Russia, India (new flag graphics)
- Team/driver numbers are now in the correct order
- Sponsor pay scales modified (overall sponsor income is unaffected).
- Modified inital sponsor relationship for each team (try USF1 if you like a tough game)
- Bridgestone control tyre (2*)
- Sponsors/suppliers reorganised for 2010
- More minor driver tweaks
- Fixed a mistake with Volkswagen engine
- Fixed a glitch in engine menu icons

I found the sponsor pay at the RTM site, and in the end followed a similar scheme to them, excepting that I made 4* contracts more lucrative than 5* for medium teams. (All 4 and 5 star sponsors are title sponsors.) I see in the other thread you found the same thing.

I haven't touched anything since Monday; I spent the week experimenting with and preparing (menu) graphics for new sponsors. Despite insisting earlier I had no intention of doing so... it's extremely time consuming. However I think I may now have found a shortcut avoiding the driver photo import and its palette problems.

Issues that bug me:
- Still haven't found a way to change the order of the car backgrounds in sponsor view.
- It would be nice to influence team performance for slightly more realistic results. Is it simply a combination of engine, sponsor rank and facilities or is there a value somewhere?
- Steel brakes and manual gearboxes.

[tyred2010]

I figured out the other sponsor data I mentioned in the other topic. I wouldn't know if the RTM site already has that too, since going through German is more taxing than puzzling out the files.

I always suspected there was module data that was somehow created for all the teams, and this had a significant influence on team strength; and also suspected that it had more to do with original team order than anything else. I *think* module data can be viewed in save files, but it's been years since I dug through them. I know I didn't investigate long enough to confirm that that this was a major hidden variable screwing with team strength, so it's only a suspicion.