Hello! I am interested in creating mods for TORCS, but i have several of questions about it that i haven't seen answers online.
I have the models, high quality models, but they already have the wheels, and as seen at the tutorial for Car Modelling for TORCS, the models that TORCS uses don't have wheels. Do i need to remove the wheels and create a separate file for it, or can i do some modifications in the XML file to use the wheel ALREADY in the model?
Does TORCS support high-poly models? I got models ranging from 70k triangles to 200k (which i am probably NOT going to use) and 40k vertices to 100k..
What is the recommended model hierarchy? The names for the body, chassis and etc. have to be a specific name for TORCS to recognise it?
Is there a documentation on how to create the mods, a more recent one than the videos?
And is there a way i can compile the project using newer Visual Studio Build Tools versions, like the 2022 version? I can't seem to find the version recommended for use from 2008.
Environment Details:
OS: Windows 10
Build Tool: Visual Studio Build Tools 2022 (msbuild)
Compiler: MSVC 19.44
TORCS Version: Latest source code version on GitHub (didn't find the version)
Bug:
C:\Users\berna\Downloads\torcs>msbuild TORCS.sln
Microsoft (R) Build Engine version 17.14.23+b0019275e for .NET Framework
Build started 9/24/2025 2:48:08 PM.
MSBUILD : error MSB4025: The project file could not be loaded. Root element is missing.
Build FAILED.
0 Warning(s)
1 Error(s)
Time Elapsed 00:00:00.09
C:\Users\berna\Downloads\torcs>
C:\Users\berna\Downloads\torcs>msbuild TORCS.vcproj
Microsoft (R) Build Engine version 17.14.23+b0019275e for .NET Framework
MSBUILD : error MSB4192: The project file "TORCS.vcproj" is in the ".vcproj" or ".dsp" file format, which cannot be built directly by MSBuild. Convert the project by opening it in the Visual Studio IDE, or by running a conversion tool, or, for ".vcproj", use MSBuild to build the solution file that contains the project.
C:\Users\berna\Downloads\torcs>msbuild TORCS.sln /p:VisualStudioVersion="17.0"
Microsoft (R) Build Engine version 17.14.23+b0019275e for .NET Framework
Build started 9/24/2025 2:53:08 PM.
MSBUILD : error MSB4025: The project file could not be loaded. Root element is missing.
Build FAILED.
0 Warning(s)
1 Error(s)
Time Elapsed 00:00:00.04
NOTE: These error logs were translated from Portuguese to English.
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No, the wheels are separate, see trb1 cars as example, and the data/cars/wheels directory in the torcs sources
Performance will probably suck, but it should technically work. See e.g. the p406 car to learn how to define multiple level of details (keyword for googling: LOD)
No, not as far as I know, but they should still work
Not yet, but I plan to update to vs 2022 (or next version) and a 64 bit build myself within the next months, so I expect that we have a version for that sometime next year. If you do not want to wait, I would recommend to open the TORCS.sln in the GUI, I would expect it to have a wizard or something to import/convert the solution. Currently you can only build 32 bit versions on Windows, because the libraries provided are also just precompiled for 32 bit (GLUT, etc.).
Kind regards
Bernhard
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Thank you so much for the detailed and response, that clarified a lot of questions about TORCS modding!
But regarding the compilation process, i have just one final question based in your response, since the project uses 32-bit precompiled libraries , should I specifically ensure that the 32-bit (x86) architecture is selected in the VS 2022 Solution Configuration before compiling? I want to avoid errors related to mixing 32-bit libraries with a potential 64-bit output.
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"should I specifically ensure that the 32-bit (x86) architecture is selected in the VS 2022 Solution Configuration": Yes, that is exactly the point for now.
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Little update: For fun i tried to build it with vs 2022, it will not be so trivial, we need to rebuild some dependencies. I managed to compile plib with vs 2022, check out the r1-3-1 branch, you find the project in https://sourceforge.net/p/torcs/code/ci/r1-3-1/tree/torcs/torcs/src/windows/dependencies/vs2022_win32/. I did not integrate it tough, I guess it will need a few hours of work
more to get it up and running.
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So, I commited a version to r1-3-1 which compiles for me with VS 2022. I did not yet have the time to see if it works, build at least the release build goes through here. Let me know if it works for you. I will continue working on it later this week.
Last edit: Bernhard Wymann 2025-09-29
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Commited some more changes, use the TORCS_VS2022.sln. TORCS runs now for me, although I did not yet do any extensive testing. I did also not yet check the debug build and the tools. These changes probably break the VS 2008 build, because of the updated libraries with different headers. I am not sure if I will fix it, or get rid of it, but I will definitively going to remove the VS 6.0 stuff.
Last edit: Bernhard Wymann 2025-10-02
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Hope you are well! Thought id post my question in here so that anyone who may be finding the same dll messages can get a jumpstart.
Im running TORCS on a Windows platform and have installed the base game along with the scr-win-patch.zip to enable the AI server functionality. However, when I launch TORCS, I encounter the following messages:
windowsModInfoDir: ... can't open dll drivers/./..dll
windowsModInfoDir: ... can't open dll drivers/../...dll
windowsModInfoDir: ... can't open dll drivers/scr_server/scr_server.dll
windowsModInfoDir: ... can't open dll drivers/sparkle/sparkle.dll
- screenshot in attachment
Here’s some context:
TORCS is installed in a directory named C:\torcs (lowercase).
I’ve verified that scr_server.dll is present in drivers/scr_server/.
I’ve checked my PATH variable and added the relevant TORCS directories.
Still, the error persists. Could this be related to case sensitivity in config files or hardcoded paths? If anyone has successfully run TORCS with the AI server patch on Windows, I’d really appreciate any guidance or working config examples.
The sparkle case is easy, this module just does not get compiled in Windows, but there is a directory with the configuration, so the dll missing is sport on, but can be ignored. Now, from "can't open dll drivers/scr_server/scr_server.dll" I would suspect, that the scr_server.dll is either missing or not binary compatible somehow (e.g. built/linked with different name mangling or so). According to the SCR manual it was compiled against 1.3.4:
"It is possible to compile TORCS on Windows from sources but it can be rather challenging. Therefore, we provide the binary distribution of the competition software for Windows. In this case, to install the competition software first download the TORCS 1.3.4 Windows installer from https://sourceforge.net/projects/torcs/files/torcs-win32-bin/ and install it"
Did you copy the whole scr patch over the torcs installation, I guess this might be required (because the patch also contains the wtorcs.exe etc.), or just the driver dll?
Kind regards
Bernhard
Checked it quicky, did not see anything special, WS2_32.dll should be around on Windows:
C:\Users\berni\Development\scr-win-patch\drivers\scr_server>dumpbin /dependents scr_server.dll
Microsoft (R) COFF/PE Dumper Version 14.44.35217.0
Copyright (C) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
C:\Users\berni\Development\scr-win-patch\drivers\scr_server>dumpbin /exports scr_server.dll
Microsoft (R) COFF/PE Dumper Version 14.44.35217.0
Copyright (C) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
Dump of file scr_server.dll
File Type: DLL
Section contains the following exports for scr_server.dll
Thanks Bernhard - user error of course :) I was installing the patch against 1.3.8 rather than the competition version (which was stated clearly in the doc - i just missed it). I now see the bot cars in the race car lineup
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Hi there Bernhard - apologies for the questions. Im super happy to have gotten the bots to appear in the game - which is great. Although ive been attempting to run the pyclient - without much success. Just seems to continually wait - although when i do start the python client i see an additional
!identified message from TORCS - but the race itself doesnt start
i know that the 3001 port is critical - so ive checked and i dont see a PID against it (which suggests that nothing is listening on 3001 - which is odd). Ive checked Windows defender and both TORCS and Python (the client im using) arnt blocked - but yet im not seeing a PID against the 3001 port - any ideas?
Weirdly i do see this new !odentified message when i run the py client - so something appears to be happening - but still no progression from wait screen.
If you would like to refer to this comment somewhere else in this project, copy and paste the following link:
Hello! I am interested in creating mods for TORCS, but i have several of questions about it that i haven't seen answers online.
I have the models, high quality models, but they already have the wheels, and as seen at the tutorial for Car Modelling for TORCS, the models that TORCS uses don't have wheels. Do i need to remove the wheels and create a separate file for it, or can i do some modifications in the XML file to use the wheel ALREADY in the model?
Does TORCS support high-poly models? I got models ranging from 70k triangles to 200k (which i am probably NOT going to use) and 40k vertices to 100k..
What is the recommended model hierarchy? The names for the body, chassis and etc. have to be a specific name for TORCS to recognise it?
Is there a documentation on how to create the mods, a more recent one than the videos?
And is there a way i can compile the project using newer Visual Studio Build Tools versions, like the 2022 version? I can't seem to find the version recommended for use from 2008.
Environment Details:
OS: Windows 10
Build Tool: Visual Studio Build Tools 2022 (msbuild)
Compiler: MSVC 19.44
TORCS Version: Latest source code version on GitHub (didn't find the version)
Bug:
C:\Users\berna\Downloads\torcs>msbuild TORCS.sln
Microsoft (R) Build Engine version 17.14.23+b0019275e for .NET Framework
Build started 9/24/2025 2:48:08 PM.
MSBUILD : error MSB4025: The project file could not be loaded. Root element is missing.
Build FAILED.
0 Warning(s)
1 Error(s)
Time Elapsed 00:00:00.09
C:\Users\berna\Downloads\torcs>
C:\Users\berna\Downloads\torcs>msbuild TORCS.vcproj
Microsoft (R) Build Engine version 17.14.23+b0019275e for .NET Framework
MSBUILD : error MSB4192: The project file "TORCS.vcproj" is in the ".vcproj" or ".dsp" file format, which cannot be built directly by MSBuild. Convert the project by opening it in the Visual Studio IDE, or by running a conversion tool, or, for ".vcproj", use MSBuild to build the solution file that contains the project.
C:\Users\berna\Downloads\torcs>msbuild TORCS.sln /p:VisualStudioVersion="17.0"
Microsoft (R) Build Engine version 17.14.23+b0019275e for .NET Framework
Build started 9/24/2025 2:53:08 PM.
MSBUILD : error MSB4025: The project file could not be loaded. Root element is missing.
Build FAILED.
0 Warning(s)
1 Error(s)
Time Elapsed 00:00:00.04
NOTE: These error logs were translated from Portuguese to English.
Hi Bernardo
Kind regards
Bernhard
Hi Bernhard,
Thank you so much for the detailed and response, that clarified a lot of questions about TORCS modding!
But regarding the compilation process, i have just one final question based in your response, since the project uses 32-bit precompiled libraries , should I specifically ensure that the 32-bit (x86) architecture is selected in the VS 2022 Solution Configuration before compiling? I want to avoid errors related to mixing 32-bit libraries with a potential 64-bit output.
Hi
"should I specifically ensure that the 32-bit (x86) architecture is selected in the VS 2022 Solution Configuration": Yes, that is exactly the point for now.
Little update: For fun i tried to build it with vs 2022, it will not be so trivial, we need to rebuild some dependencies. I managed to compile plib with vs 2022, check out the r1-3-1 branch, you find the project in https://sourceforge.net/p/torcs/code/ci/r1-3-1/tree/torcs/torcs/src/windows/dependencies/vs2022_win32/. I did not integrate it tough, I guess it will need a few hours of work
more to get it up and running.
So, I commited a version to r1-3-1 which compiles for me with VS 2022. I did not yet have the time to see if it works, build at least the release build goes through here. Let me know if it works for you. I will continue working on it later this week.
Last edit: Bernhard Wymann 2025-09-29
Commited some more changes, use the TORCS_VS2022.sln. TORCS runs now for me, although I did not yet do any extensive testing. I did also not yet check the debug build and the tools. These changes probably break the VS 2008 build, because of the updated libraries with different headers. I am not sure if I will fix it, or get rid of it, but I will definitively going to remove the VS 6.0 stuff.
Last edit: Bernhard Wymann 2025-10-02
Hi Bernhard,
Thank you so much for putting in the effort to update the source code to compile with VS 2022!
I will let you know the results of the build as soon as possible!
HI Bernhard,
Hope you are well! Thought id post my question in here so that anyone who may be finding the same dll messages can get a jumpstart.
Im running TORCS on a Windows platform and have installed the base game along with the scr-win-patch.zip to enable the AI server functionality. However, when I launch TORCS, I encounter the following messages:
windowsModInfoDir: ... can't open dll drivers/./..dll
windowsModInfoDir: ... can't open dll drivers/../...dll
windowsModInfoDir: ... can't open dll drivers/scr_server/scr_server.dll
windowsModInfoDir: ... can't open dll drivers/sparkle/sparkle.dll
- screenshot in attachment
Here’s some context:
TORCS is installed in a directory named C:\torcs (lowercase).
I’ve verified that scr_server.dll is present in drivers/scr_server/.
I’ve checked my PATH variable and added the relevant TORCS directories.
Still, the error persists. Could this be related to case sensitivity in config files or hardcoded paths? If anyone has successfully run TORCS with the AI server patch on Windows, I’d really appreciate any guidance or working config examples.
Hi John
The sparkle case is easy, this module just does not get compiled in Windows, but there is a directory with the configuration, so the dll missing is sport on, but can be ignored. Now, from "can't open dll drivers/scr_server/scr_server.dll" I would suspect, that the scr_server.dll is either missing or not binary compatible somehow (e.g. built/linked with different name mangling or so). According to the SCR manual it was compiled against 1.3.4:
"It is possible to compile TORCS on Windows from sources but it can be rather challenging. Therefore, we provide the binary distribution of the competition software for Windows. In this case, to install the competition software first download the TORCS 1.3.4 Windows installer from https://sourceforge.net/projects/torcs/files/torcs-win32-bin/ and install it"
Did you copy the whole scr patch over the torcs installation, I guess this might be required (because the patch also contains the wtorcs.exe etc.), or just the driver dll?
Kind regards
Bernhard
Checked it quicky, did not see anything special, WS2_32.dll should be around on Windows:
C:\Users\berni\Development\scr-win-patch\drivers\scr_server>dumpbin /dependents scr_server.dll
Microsoft (R) COFF/PE Dumper Version 14.44.35217.0
Copyright (C) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
Dump of file scr_server.dll
File Type: DLL
Image has the following dependencies:
Summary
C:\Users\berni\Development\scr-win-patch\drivers\scr_server>dumpbin /exports scr_server.dll
Microsoft (R) COFF/PE Dumper Version 14.44.35217.0
Copyright (C) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
Dump of file scr_server.dll
File Type: DLL
Section contains the following exports for scr_server.dll
Summary
Last edit: Bernhard Wymann 2025-10-11
Thanks Bernhard - user error of course :) I was installing the patch against 1.3.8 rather than the competition version (which was stated clearly in the doc - i just missed it). I now see the bot cars in the race car lineup
Hi there Bernhard - apologies for the questions. Im super happy to have gotten the bots to appear in the game - which is great. Although ive been attempting to run the pyclient - without much success. Just seems to continually wait - although when i do start the python client i see an additional
!identified message from TORCS - but the race itself doesnt start
i know that the 3001 port is critical - so ive checked and i dont see a PID against it (which suggests that nothing is listening on 3001 - which is odd). Ive checked Windows defender and both TORCS and Python (the client im using) arnt blocked - but yet im not seeing a PID against the 3001 port - any ideas?
Weirdly i do see this new !odentified message when i run the py client - so something appears to be happening - but still no progression from wait screen.