Location and naming scheme for files used in car skinning
There are some graphic objects around a driver that can be "skinned".
That is : for which you can customize the way they look by selecting a named skin in the Driver Select or Car Select menu, while configuring a race.
Here are which ones :
- the car livery,
- the 3D wheels,
- the logo painted on the pit door.
Important notes:
- The below explanations are only relevant for SD 2.x series (for 1.4.x ones, things may be slightly different, please ask if needed).
- This is not a How To article for creating car liveries (there should be a dedicated article about it) : we only explain here how you have to name the livery files and where you can put them in order SD can locate and load them smoothly.
- We'll use either "livery" or "skin" below : the 2 words mean the same here.
Quick reference (for end-users)
Let's say you've designed a new great Vulture V6R livery (see <install>/cars/ls1-vulture-v6r/ls1-vulture-v6r.png as a good start for that).
And you've decided to name this skin as "mine".
And you want to use it when driving yourself the Vulture V6R monster (are you sure you can ;-?)
Then you have to name your livery file as "ls1-vulture-v6r-mine.png" (only PNG format supported).
And to put this file in one of the following folders :
- <user settings>/drivers/human/ (the simplest way : whatever the player = profile you use)
- <user settings>/drivers/human/1/ (only for when you use the player = profile number 1)
- <user settings>/drivers/human/1/ls1-vulture-v6r/ (only for when you use the player = profile number 1)
- <user settings>/drivers/human/ls1-vulture-v6r/ (whatever the player = profile you use)
Note: The user settings folder is :
- Windows : <My documents>\speed-dreams-2.settings\ (ask you Windows explorer about where this <My documents> is actually located, 'cause it's known to be different from one Windows flavor to the other)
- Linux : ~/.speed-dreams-2/
Then, if you want to have you're "mine"-skinned 3D wheels, just put your "wheel3d-mine.png" file in the same folder (but warning about the 1st and 3d folders above : the wheel skin will be used for any car ! We might fix this one day, it is a bug !).
Just as for a "mine"-skinned driver inside the car : a "driver-mine.png" file in the same folder will do the job.
And why not go for a "mine"-skinned pit door ? OK, name your file logo-mine.png and put it in one of the 2 first above listed folders (beware: when sharing a pit with another player, only the first driver's logo will be used : only room for 1 logo on the door !).
Of course, you can have as many skins as you will, and do it for any car.
You may even apply it to robots (ex: for Simplix SC, replace "human" by "simplix_sc" in the above explanations).
Full reference
The "Standard" livery
It is the only mandatory livery file for a car.
How to name the associated file
The skin file name must be "<car name>.png" (where <car name> is the exact name of the car folder in the install tree ; example : "sc-cavallo-360" for the "Cavallo 360" from the "Supercars" category).
As suggested right above, the only supported format is PNG.
Where to store it
For developers, it has to be at least in the following folder :
- <install>/cars/<car name>/ folder at run-time.
Example for the ls1-vulture-v6r :
$ ls -l /usr/local/dev/share/games/speed-dreams/cars/ls1-vulture-v6r/ total 10436 drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 2010-09-25 20:24 ./ drwxr-xr-x 45 root root 4096 2010-09-25 20:24 ../ -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 746179 2010-03-21 19:46 ls1-vulture-v6r.acc -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1044501 2010-09-13 23:22 ls1-vulture-v6r.png <---- the "standard" skin file -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 20997 2010-09-13 23:22 ls1-vulture-v6r.xml -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 476 2010-02-25 14:05 readme.txt -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 3044 2010-02-25 14:05 shadow.png -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 133914 2010-02-25 14:05 tex-wheel.png -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 121052 2010-09-17 19:15 v8sp.wav -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 175022 2010-02-25 14:07 wheel3d.png
For developers, it can be customized for any robot or human driver. To do so, the standard skin file (same naming rule) can be stored in the following install folders :
- drivers/<robot name>/ (for any driver for this robot)
- drivers/<robot name>/<car name>/ (for any driver for this robot)
- drivers/<robot name>/<driver index>/ (for the driver of given index for this robot)
- drivers/<robot name>/<driver index>/<car name>/ (for the driver of given index for this robot)
Example for the USR driver "Tazio Nuvolari" (index 1) and the 36gp-milano-12c36 car :
$ ls -l /usr/local/dev/share/games/speed-dreams/drivers/usr_36GP/1 total 332 drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 2010-09-25 20:23 ./ drwxr-xr-x 15 root root 4096 2010-09-25 20:23 ../ -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 305616 2010-03-21 19:07 36gp-milano-12c36.png <---- the "standard" skin file -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 16788 2009-08-01 11:33 logo.rgb -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1080 2010-03-21 19:17 skill.xml
For the end-user, it can also be ustomized for any robot or human driver. To do so, he can put the standard skin file (same naming rule) wherever he wants in the following limited list of user settings folders :
- drivers/<robot name>/<car name>/ (for all the drivers for this robot, probably from the same team)
- drivers/<robot name>/<driver index>/<car name>/ (for the driver of given index for this robot)
Example for the any human driver riding the wr-kenji08 car :
$ ls -l ~/.speed-dreams-2/drivers/human/wr-kenji08 drwxr-xr-x 2 me user 4096 2010-09-25 20:23 ./ drwxr-xr-x 15 me user 4096 2010-09-25 20:23 ../ -rw-r--r-- 1 me user 305616 2010-03-21 19:07 wr-kenji08.png <---- the "standard" skin file
Folder search scheme
At load time (race start), the "standard" livery is searched for in the above listed folders right in the reverse order, that is :
- <user settings>/drivers/<robot name>/<driver index>/<car name>/ (for the driver of given index for this robot)
- <user settings>/drivers/<robot name>/<driver index>/ (for the driver of given index for this robot)
- <user settings>/drivers/<robot name>/<car name>/ (for all the drivers for this robot, probably from the same team)
- <user settings>/drivers/<robot name>/ (for all the drivers for this robot, probably from the same team)
- <install>/drivers/<robot name>/<driver index>/<car name>/ (for the driver of given index for this robot)
- <install>/drivers/<robot name>/<driver index>/ (for the driver of given index for this robot)
- <install>/drivers/<robot name>/<car name>/ (for all the drivers for this robot, probably from the same team)
- <install>/drivers/<robot name>/ (for any driver for this robot)
- <install>/cars/<car name>/
The first <car name>.png file in these folder is the one.
"Custom" liveries
A car can wear any livery, not only the "standard" one (and its variants under the same file name).
A "Custom" livery has a name, and it can be selected in the Driver Select menu as well as in the "Car Change" menu.
How to name the associated files
A custom livery file must be named like this : "<car name>-<skin name>.png".
We recommend that <skin name> is only 1 word or at most 2 short ones, because if longer, it can give display issues in the selection menus.
Where to store them
It works exactly the same way as for the "Standard" livery.
Example for the ls1-vulture-v6r with its "beast" and "jd1" custom liveries:
$ ls -l /usr/local/dev/share/games/speed-dreams/cars/ls1-vulture-v6r/ total 10436 drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 2010-09-25 20:24 ./ drwxr-xr-x 45 root root 4096 2010-09-25 20:24 ../ -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 746179 2010-03-21 19:46 ls1-vulture-v6r.acc -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1044501 2010-09-13 23:22 ls1-vulture-v6r.png <---- the "standard" skin file -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1547715 2010-09-13 23:22 ls1-vulture-v6r-beast.png <---- the "beast" "custom" skin file -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1217188 2010-09-13 23:22 ls1-vulture-v6r-jd1.png <---- the "jd1" "custom" skin file -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 20997 2010-09-13 23:22 ls1-vulture-v6r.xml -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 476 2010-02-25 14:05 readme.txt -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 3044 2010-02-25 14:05 shadow.png -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 133914 2010-02-25 14:05 tex-wheel.png -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 121052 2010-09-17 19:15 v8sp.wav -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 175022 2010-02-25 14:07 wheel3d.png
Example for the USR driver "Tazio Nuvolari" (index 1) and the 36gp-milano-12c36 car with its "grand" "custom" livery :
$ ls -l /usr/local/dev/share/games/speed-dreams/drivers/usr_36GP/1 total 332 drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 2010-09-25 20:23 ./ drwxr-xr-x 15 root root 4096 2010-09-25 20:23 ../ -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 305616 2010-03-21 19:07 36gp-milano-12c36.png <---- the "standard" skin file -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 198523 2010-03-21 19:25 36gp-milano-12c36-grand.png <---- the "grand" "custom" skin file -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 16788 2009-08-01 11:33 logo.rgb -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1080 2010-03-21 19:17 skill.xml
Example for the any human driver riding the wr-kenji08 car and its "mono" "custom" livery :
$ ls -l ~/.speed-dreams-2/drivers/human/wr-kenji08 drwxr-xr-x 2 me user 4096 2010-09-25 20:23 ./ drwxr-xr-x 15 me user 4096 2010-09-25 20:23 ../ -rw-r--r-- 1 me user 305616 2010-03-21 19:07 wr-kenji08.png <---- the "standard" skin file -rw-r--r-- 1 me user 305616 2010-03-21 19:07 wr-kenji08-mono.png <---- the "mono" "custom" skin file
Folder search scheme
It works exactly the same way as for the "Standard" livery.
Car and livery preview
If you want to have a preview of your car + livery in the Driver Select and Car Change menus, you'll have to shoot it in some way (no automatic system for the moment) and then install the preview file somewhere.
The rules to get it to work are the following ones :
- your skin file have to be named like this : "<car name>-<skin name>-preview.jpg"
- as suggested right above, the only format supported is JPEG
- install your preview file right in the same folder as the associated skin file.
"Custom" 3D wheels liveries
The 3D wheels of a car can wear any livery, not only the "standard" one (and its variants under the same "wheel3d.png" file name).
This works just as for the whole exterior (= body) livery of the car : you simply have to ship a wheel3d-<skin name>.png in the above listed folders.
"Custom" driver liveries
The driver of a car can wear any livery, not only the "standard" one (and its variants under the same "driver.png" file name).
This works just as for the whole exterior (= body) livery of the car : you simply have to ship a driver-<skin name>.png in the above listed folders.
"Custom" pit door logos
The pit door of a racing team can wear any logo, not only the "standard" one (and its variants under the same "logo.png" file name).
This works just as for the whole exterior (= body) livery or 3D wheels of a car : you simply have to ship a logo-<skin name>.png in the above listed folders.
Except that you should not use any folder whose path contains the car name (of course, because the team logo is not attached to cars, but drivers). And beware that only one logo can be painted on a pit door : the one of the 1st driver in the team.
