With this patch, we have made several changes to the custom paint kit to simplify the system a little, and give you more flexibility on what is on your scheme. In addition, we’ve made it easier to choose when you want to see custom numbers in official and hosted races.
Our paint system uses several stamps that contain certain graphical elements that when placed together create your scheme. They are the base pattern, the car_decal layer, the car_mandatory layer, the sponsors, and the numbers.
The base pattern is the base scheme of the car, and is in a pure RGB state (red channel is pure red, green channel is pure green, etc.). It also has greyscale elements put into it. When the sim loads, it loads that pattern up, and exchanges the RGB colors with the colors you pick form the paint kit. Since greyscale colors don’t contain any red, green, or blue, they don’t change. This Is how the patterns in the paint kit change color.
The car_decal layer contains elements of the paint scheme that we don’t want to color change (since they are rgb color), and that we are allowed to have you change on the car. This is usually contingency decals, banners, number plates, etc.
The car mandatory layer contains the elements of the paint scheme we can’t have change.
Finally the sponsors, and number stamps are self-explanatory.
When you use a custom scheme, it inserts the scheme (named car”account number”.tga, ie car_012345.tga) in place of the base pattern, then stamps all the other stamps on top of it. In the past, if you wanted to edit the contingency and other decals in the car_decal layer, you had to use a tga with the car_decal (car_decal”account number”.tga, ie car_decal_012345.tga) prefix to tell the sim to place that custom decal in place of the car_decal stamp.
Today’s patch changes how our stamping system works with custom schemes. Now when it detects a tga with the car_ prefix, it will skip the car_decal stamp entirely. This means when you use a custom scheme, you won’t have to have a car_decal based tga to alter all contingency decals, or anything else that is on our car_decal stamp. This will allow you to edit those items in a much easier way than before. Unfortunately, a side effect of this is that those items will no longer appear on any of the custom schemes that are out there, and if you want them on your car, you will need to add them yourselves. We have updated all the Photoshop templates to show this new layer so you can add it to any previous custom scheme you have.
The custom tga’s with the car_decal prefix still work as before, it’s just now they aren’t necessary. The texture still works as a 32 bit tga with an alpha channel to cut out the parts you want stamped, or a 24 bit tga without alpha channel that contains the whole car with the changed car_decal layer merged in.
Finally we have altered how custom schemes with user created numbers work in the sim. We have added a new prefix called car_num, and a checkbox in the options menu on the graphics tab called ‘Hide Car Numbers’.
If you want to see custom car numbers in official race sessions, you should name your custom car file with the numbers merged into it to car_num_”account number”.tga (i.e. car_num_012345.tga), and check the option Hide Car Numbers. The sim will then take your texture, and load it into the paint kit, skipping the car_decal, the sponsors, and the numbers stamping process. As noted, the Hide Car Numbers option MUST be checked for this to work in race sessions. If it is unchecked, you won’t see custom numbers on a driver’s car. Please note that this feature only effects what you see on your computer and doesn’t have any effect on someone else’s race unless they also happen to have your car_num file.
So to summarize today’s changes:
You no longer need a car_decal tga to remove some stamped items from you car, you can now just have the one car_XXXX.tga. You will need to add the car_decal layer that is now in the updated templates to your custom scheme if you want to have it on there. The templates are available from the website paint kit.
The car_decal tga’s you had before today’s patch still work as they did, you just don’t need them if you want to burn those details into your scheme.
If you add custom numbers to your tga, and rename it to car_num_XXXX.tga, and then check the ‘Hide Car Numbers ‘in the graphics tab on the option menu, you will be able to see custom numbers on your car during official and league races. You will only see opponent car custom numbers if you have their car_num_XXXX.tga file.
Drew did a Twitch stream last night on this new process:
https://www.twitch.tv/videos/397676369
We hope this will simplify the custom scheme process, while also giving you more options to express yourself in iRacing!
