Automation Game Wiki - User contributions [en-gb]

Modding

2022-01-10T18:15:46Z

ZilverBlade: Added a section in the Unreal Engine setup section that shows how to improve editor performance by disabling ray tracing.

'''''Modding''' of the legacy Kee Engine version is possible, but discouraged, as this version is no longer in development.''

Modding of the UE4 version of Automation is supported, having started at the end of September 2017.

== Mod types ==

* [[Car Body Mods]]
* [[Fixture Mods]]
**[[Badge Fixture Mods]]
**[[Decal Mods]]
* [[Rim Mods]]
* [[Photoscenes|Photo Scenes]]

== Required software ==

* The [https://www.unrealengine.com/en-US/ UE4 Editor]
* A 3D modeling suite (e.g. [https://www.autodesk.com/products/3ds-max/overview 3DS-Max], [https://www.blender.org/ Blender], or [https://www.autodesk.com/products/maya/overview Maya])
* The Automation SDK (from [https://store.steampowered.com/app/293760/Automation__The_Car_Company_Tycoon_Game/ Steam])

== Installing UE4 ==
You will need to download and install the Epic Games Launcher from here: https://www.unrealengine.com/download

then download and install <code>UE4 version 4.27</code>.

'''''Do not''''' install the UE4 Editor to Program Files. Instead, install it to a custom location '''''without a space in it,''''' like <code>C:\UE4\UE_4xx</code> or similar.
== Installing the SDK ==
Within Steam, go to <code>Library -> Tools</code>, and download <code>Automation - Car Company Tycoon Workshop Tool</code> . This contains the SDK for Automation.

It is recommended to '''''copy''''' the <code>AutomationGame</code> project '''''to another folder''''' before using it. This eliminates the risk of mod files being overwritten or erased in the event of an SDK update.

Make sure that the SDK is installed to a directory that does not contain spaces, and does not require admin user privelages.

Browse to the location of the modding SDK in your Steam Tools library (by default, this is <code>C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Automation_SDK</code>), and copy the project folder to a new location.

Once installed, open the <code>AutomationGame</code> project by:

* launching the UE4 Editor from the Epic Games Launcher
* browse to the project file, which is located in <code>Automation_SDK\AutomationGame\AutomationGame.uproject</code>.
<gallery mode="nolines" widths="240" heights="180">
File:Project browser 01.png
File:Project-browser-02.gif
File:Project-browser-03.gif
File:Project-browser-04.gif
</gallery>

== Troubleshooting startup issues ==

* The first launch of the SDK will be very slow (on slower computers, it can take between 30 minutes and 2 hours). This is due to the editor generating cache data (in <code>DerivedDataCache</code>). If you make a shortcut to <code>UE4Editor.exe</code>, you can change the target to <code>D:\UE4\UE4_424\Engine\Binaries\Win64\UE4Editor.exe D:\AutomationGame\AutomationGame.uproject -LOG</code>. With the paths updated to where your UE4Editor is installed, and where you have copied the Automation SDK to. This will open the editor with a Log Console Window along with the splash screen, which will give you an idea if it is actually processing items or has gotten stuck.
* If you get errors relating to the FMOD Studio plugin not loading, or other plugins not loading, this could be due to redistributables and dependencies not being installed correctly. [https://support.microsoft.com/en-nz/help/2977003/the-latest-supported-visual-c-downloads Visual C++ 2019] and [https://www.microsoft.com/en-nz/download/details.aspx?id=40784 Visual C++ 2013] redistributables, along with [https://www.microsoft.com/en-nz/download/details.aspx?id=8109 DirectX June 2010] runtimes, are required.

== SDK Performance considerations ==
As automation since the 4.2 update supports ray tracing, it's also enabled by default in the SDK, meaning that level editors will automatically ray trace the scene on supported cards (being ones that support both '''DirectX12''' and '''Ray Tracing''').
[[File:Project settings.png|thumb|358x358px]]
As this is not needed for 99.99% of mod making (other than some Photoscene mods which bake the level using GPU Lightmass), to prevent this from happening, it's recommended on cards that are at least an '''Nvidia''' '''GTX 1060 or better''' to disable this in the project. To do so, click on the '''"Edit"''' button on the menu bar on top, and select '''"Project Settings"'''.

Now scroll down to '''"Rendering"''' (under '''"Engine"''') and click it, and search for '''"Ray Tracing"''' in the search bar, and disable '''Ray Tracing'''. You will need to restart Unreal Engine for it to take effect, and it will need to compile shaders again if you have compiled them before.

After that, the editor should now run a lot smoother.

[[File:Disabling ray tracing.png|left|800x800px]]

== Core concepts ==

* Despite being referred to by UE4 as 'plugins', mods are stored in the 'Mods' folder.
* Do not create any assets in the Root '''Content''' folder. Only make assets in your mod's folder. (See "Content Browser" below.)
* Editor assets cannot be used directly by the game; they have to be 'cooked'. Additionally, only plugins can be cooked, hence the requirement to make content in your mod folder.

=== Mod performance considerations ===
Performance of [[Fixture Mods|fixtures]] and [[Car Body Mods|bodies]] in UE4 is a heated topic. While it is true that in terms of mesh rendering and draw calls, there is practically zero performance impact for meshes with less than 2,000 polygons, the same cannot be said for shader rendering or fixture stamping.

* Shading is calculated with a 2x2 grid, so poly count only impacts performance here if you end up with polygons too close together in screen space. This is usually not an issue in Automation, but meshes that are too dense or small will impact performance. This is a negligible consideration compared to raycasts for fixtures, however (explained below).
* There is a performance impact to poly count with fixtures in that a ray is cast to the body for every vertex; the more vertices there are in a mesh, the longer it'll take to conform to the body. This is why you'll see more detailed fixtures sit there for a few seconds before conforming to the car. This is doubly so for fixtures that cut into the body—a UV mesh's vertices are raycast to the car on every frame while you're dragging the fixture around. UV meshes impact performance signinficantly with a higher poly count; try to keep UV meshes as low-poly as possible.
* Likewise, the poly count of a car body impacts performance in that the more polygons a car has, the longer it takes to complete fixture raycasts. A 10K-poly body may make dragging fixtures around and conforming them to the car take slightly longer than usual, but if that same body uses morph targets in addition to (or instead of) bones, this poly count is multiplied by the number of shape keys and the vertices they move. A 10K-poly body with 10 shape keys affecting every vertex effectively has 100K polygons that the fixture system has to raycast to, and this significantly impacts the time it takes for fixtures to conform.

==== For optimal performance: ====

*Keep UV meshes lower than 100 triangles. With between 100 and 150 triangles, the fixture may lag when being dragged around; any higher and it will lag too much to use properly.
*Try to keep conforming meshes lower than 5,000 triangles. Higher-resolution meshes take longer than usual to conform to the car once they are placed.
* try to keep bodies between 7k-30k polygons, and use bone weighting for as many morphs as possible. Use shape keys and morph targets sparingly.
**The fewer vertices a body has, the less information there is to interpolate the cutouts, so some fixtures may have misaligned holes.
**the greater vertices a body has, the longer it takes to stamp a fixture.

This is a body that uses only bone weighting for its morphs, and has 7K polygons:

{{#ev:gfycat|DiscreteLonelyBluetonguelizard}}

This is a body that uses only shape keys for its morphs, and has 40k polygons:

{{#ev:gfycat|InfinitePaleJellyfish}}

== Content browser ==
Click on the 'Show or hide sources' icon to the left of the Content Browser search box to view the folder structure. Click on 'View Options' (bottom right of the content browser), and turn on 'Show Plugin Content' to view all mods.

[[File:Project-browser-05.gif|frameless|600x600px]]

== Creating and cooking your mod ==
To create a mod, refer to the following sections:

* [[Car Body Mods#Import Car Body to Unreal Engine|Import Car Body to Unreal Engine]]
* [[Fixture Mods#Fixture setup within Unreal Engine 4|Fixture Mods]]

When you've made your files and want to share your mod, select 'Share Mod' -> [Mod name to share].

[[File:Project-browser-06.gif|frameless|840x840px]]

'''''WARNING:''''' The folder you select as the cooking path will have '''''all of its contents deleted.''''' You have been warned!

Select an empty or new folder, in a path '''''where there are no spaces''''' in the file path.

#<code>C:\Users\Name\Documents\Unreal Projects\AutomationGame</code> will ''not'' work, as there is a space between "Unreal" and "Projects".
#<code>C:\Users\Name\Documents\UnrealProjects\AutomationGame</code> ''will'' work, because there is no spaces in the file path.

To fix possible cooking issues:
* Search the Output Log for <code>Error:</code>. Relevant lines will be prefixed by <code>UATHelper</code>.
** If Error contains "Unable to find PackagePlugins" or similar, this is due to the Editor being in Program Files. It will be unable to copy <code>Camso_UATScripts.Automation.dll</code> to <code>Engine/Binaries/DotNet/AutomationScripts</code>. You can do this yourself by going to <code>AutomationGame/Build/Camso_UATScripts/bin</code> and copying the DLL to <code>UE4/Engine/Binaries/DotNet/AutomationScripts</code>.
**If Error contains "an item with the same key already exists", then you have a mod or plugin somewhere with a duplicate <code>.uplugin</code> file. navigate to the plugin and mod files in a file browser, and delete any duplicate <code>.uplugin</code> files and try again. If any one mod has a duplicate, all mods will fail to cook.

You can visit the Automation [http://discourse.automationgame.com/ forum] or [https://discord.gg/automationgame Discord] for further help.

== Testing your mod ==
After cooking, it's possible to test your mod in-game without having to upload it to the Steam Workshop.

The file path of your cooked mod should look something like this:<pre>
ExampleMod
└─ WindowsNoEditor
├─ Manifest_NonUFSFiles_Win64.txt
└─ AutomationGame
└─ Mods
└─ ExampleMod <- Copy this folder over
├─ metadata
├─ ExampleMod.uplugin
└─ Content
└─ Paks
└─ WindowsNoEditor
└─ ExampleModpakchunk0-WindowsNoEditor.pak
</pre>Subscribed mods are stored in <code>[Steam install folder]\Steam\steamapps\common\Automation\UE427\AutomationGame\Mods</code>, which is where you can copy your cooked mod. To be specific, copy the <code>ExampleMod</code> subfolder directly inside of the cooked mod's <code>Mods</code> subfolder.

After copying your mod, be sure to '''''start Automation without the launcher''''' to make sure it recognizes the new mod.

== Uploading your mod to the Steam Workshop ==
Once you have your cooked content, navigate to the modding SDK folder and open <code>Automation Workshop Publishing Tool.exe</code>. This tool will handle the initial upload of any mod you want to share with the community. Once you have uploaded your mod and created a Workshop page for it, you can edit some of its properties, such as uploading images, editing the description, or setting the visibility, from the Steam Workshop page of the mod.

This tool is also used for updating mods; to do so, select an existing mod from the list on the left and upload a new version with an optional change note.

[[File:SteamModSharing_01.gif|frameless|840x840px]]

# Your list of uploaded mods. Select 'New Item' to upload a new mod.
# The mod file path. Browse to the location of your mod by picking the path or typing the location in manually. The mod location is the root mod folder that you cooked the mod to; said folder should contain a <code>WindowsNoEditor</code> subfolder.
# The title and description field. These can be edited from the mod's Steam Workshop page. A long-enough description that belongs to an already-uploaded mod may be cut off when said mod is selected—this only applies to the Workshop uploader tool, and the description can be recovered from the Workshop item's description edit page (or saved in a text file beforehand). Copying the description from the Workshop page itself will likely result in the loss of any [https://steamcommunity.com/comment/Guide/formattinghelp text formatting] used.
# The main image file path. The image you select will show up as the thumbnail when browsing the Workshop, and if you don't have any images on the actual workshop page (uploaded via Steam), then this image will also be the header image at the top of the page. All thumbnail images must be under 1 MB. Be aware that '''''the main image of a mod cannot be changed via Steam.'''''
# The visibility setting. This can be edited later in the Workshop page for your mod. By setting it to private or hidden first, you can see if any text formatting and images on the Workshop page appear as they should before publishing it.
# The mod category tags. While optional, these help with discoverability, as players may be looking for specific types of mods.
# The optional change note field. This can be used to label versions in case you need to revert to an earlier version. Change notes can be edited via Steam.

Once the submission or update process is complete, a browser window will open to the newly created Steam Workshop page for your mod.

== Known issues ==

* any custom material initially assigned to a mesh will be kept as long as the player does not change the material. As soon as a fixture's material slot is changed in the fixture menu, any custom material assigned to that slot is lost (but can be reverted using the material reset button).

== See also ==

*[[Mods and the Beam.NG Exporter|Mods and the BeamNG Exporter]], for custom materials
*[[Blender Specific instructions|Modding in Blender]]
*[[Upgrading 4.21 Mods to 4.24]]

[[Category:Articles]]

File:Disabling ray tracing.png

2022-01-10T18:03:38Z

ZilverBlade:

How to find the ray tracing toggle in the Rendering menu

File:Project settings.png

2022-01-10T17:56:56Z

ZilverBlade:

How to find the project settings button

Mods and the Beam.NG Exporter

2022-01-08T22:54:13Z

ZilverBlade: Added some images to clarify following instructions

Car body and fixture mods should in theory export to Beam.NG just like the built in bodies and fixtures. If it works in Automation, then the exporter should be able to deal with it. One exception to this is custom materials.
=Custom Materials=
When the exporter exports a material, it checks which base material is being used and chooses from a series of built-in handlers based on that. Custom materials that are material instances of existing car/fixture materials should already export properly. Where possible, it’s best to use instances of existing materials rather than create new ones.
==Textures==
Pixel formats (selected in the “Compression settings” dropdown) supported by the exporter:
* RGBA8d
* DTX1/BC1
* DXT3/BC2
* DXT5/BC3
* BC4 (Alpha)
* BC5 (Normal map)

RGBA textures will be saved with DTX5/BC3 compression by the exporter.

For best results on export, make sure the “Global Force Resident Mip Levels” option is ticked on, otherwise the texture may export down-resed, depending on whether or not Unreal feels like loading the full resolution texture at that time.

= Material Export Parameters =
This is the data attached to Automation materials to help the BeamNG exporter know how to interpret these materials in order to build one that works in BeamNG. Developed after all attempts at naming conventions failed, it lists material parameter names according to the function those parameters perform, as well as a few other bits of information that the exporter needs to know about.

Many of the parameters use the '''Combined Parameter Data''' type, which allows a group of parameters to be combined into one for export.

* An exported material defaults to a colour and opacity of #FFFFFFFF. This is a hexadecimal colour of "White, and completely opaque."
* If a vector or texture parameter is specified in the Colour Param or Diffuse Tex variables within the Export Material User Data, those variables will be used for the colour of the exported material.
* If both are specified, they will be multiplied together.
* The exported opacity is assumed to be 1 (completely opaque) if no Alpha Param is specified. if a Diffuse Tex variable is specified, then the opacity is defined by the alpha channel of the texture. If the texture is single-channel, it is assumed to be an alpha texture as well as a diffuse texture. If a texture is RGB without an alpha, the alpha is unaffected by the diffuse tex.

== To Add ==
[[File:Asset User Data.png|thumb|604x604px]]
To add export parameters, click the plus icon next to Asset User Data, in the material editor. In the dropdown that appears, select "Export Material User Data".

==Basic Parameters==

===Material Type===
The type of material. Some materials need special handling by the exporter. The type is used to help determine these. If in doubt as to the correct type, leave it as the default (Other) value.
[[File:Material Type.png|thumb|312x312px]]*'''Grille''' - The exporter will create a proper two layered material and generate a blend map. One layer is chrome, the other is black.
*'''Clear Glass''' - For transparent glass materials.
*'''Decal''' - This is for multicoloured decals. Because these don’t work in a consistent way in Automation, the output is hard-coded for each base material. Don’t use this value for a brand new material as the exporter won’t know what to do with it.
*'''Number Plate''' - Another one that needs a two-layered material, one for the plate background and one for the numbering/lettering.
*'''Badge, Mirror''' - These are treated the same as “Metal” for BeamNG, though custom exporters may wish to separate them.
*'''Metal''' - For metallic materials. These default to full metallic and specular values, if those parameters are not specified.
*'''Black Plastic, Carbon Fiber, Leather, Opaque Glass''' - These are treated the same as “Other” for BeamNG, though custom exporters may wish to separate them.
*'''Other''' - default behaviour. If in doubt, use this value.

===Colour Param===
This group of parameters controls the diffuse colour of the material. See '''[[Mods and the Beam.NG Exporter#Combined Parameter Data|Combined Parameter Data]]''', below.

===Opacity Param===
This group of parameters controls the opacity of the material. See [[Mods and the Beam.NG Exporter#Combined Parameter Data|'''Combined Parameter Data''']], below.

===Roughness Param===
This group of parameters controls the roughness of the material. See [[Mods and the Beam.NG Exporter#Combined Parameter Data|'''Combined Parameter Data''']], below.

===Metallic Param===
This group of parameters controls the metallic value of the material. See [[Mods and the Beam.NG Exporter#Combined Parameter Data|'''Combined Parameter Data''']], below.

===Specular Param===
This group of parameters controls the specular value of the material. See [[Mods and the Beam.NG Exporter#Combined Parameter Data|'''Combined Parameter Data''']], below.

===Diffuse Tex Param Name===
The name of the parameter that refers to the diffuse texture.

==Extra Parameters==

===Alpha Cutoff Name===
This parameter determines the alpha cutoff, or the point where the pixel being rendered gets culled.

===Secondary Colour===
This is a secondary colour parameter. Not currently used.

===Multi Colour Decal Texture===
This parameter identifies the texture for a multicoloured decal.

==Normal Map==

===Bypass Normal Map===
If true, this material will not be exported with a normal map.

===Normal Switch Name===
The name of the switch parameter that turns normal mapping on/off for this material.

===Explicit Normal Map===
Normally, the exporter will pull out all of the textures in a material and use the first one it finds with the normal map pixel type as the material’s normal map. If the material has a 'detail normal' and a 'normal map', or multiple normal maps, the explicit normal map should be set to 'normal map' (or the same name as the variable name of the texture you want to be the normal map).

==UV Tiling==
UV tiling in Automation uses all kinds of projection maths that is not available to us in BeamNG. These parameters are used to help us get something that looks approximately right, though it will likely never be an exact match.

Because BeamNG does not support UV offset and scale, the UV data in the mesh vertices need to be modified for tiled UVs to work.

===UV Tiling===
The name of the parameter that controls UV tiling.

===V Stretch===
This parameter controls a scaling multiplier in the Z axis of the object. Only has effect if World Scaled UVs is true.

===World Scaled UVs===
If true, the UV scale is determined by the size of the mesh.

===Uniform Scaled UVs===
If true, UV scale values are forced to be the same in all 3 axes. Only has effect if World Scaled UVs is true.

===Force Rescale UVs===
If true, overrides the meshes UVs to a Z-projected (top-down) version of the vertex position, scaled to 2cm per UV tile.

=Combined Parameter Data=
This data allows for a group of parameters to be combined into one for export.

===Param Name===
The main parameter for the value. If Param Name 2 is empty, this will be the only parameter used and its value will be exported as is.

===Param Name 2===
The second parameter for the value. Many Automation materials blend between colours or other values via a noise/bump map or via some other user or child driven value. Because BeamNG needs a single value, we need to do the blending once for the whole material.

===Param Name Lerp===
This parameter, if named, controls the blending between the values of Param Name and Param Name 2. If Param Name 2 is empty, this value has no effect. If this value is empty but Param Name 2 is not, the two values will be averaged.

===Override===
If set to true, the above parameter names will be ignored in favour of the given override value.

===Value Override===
If Override is true, this value will be used for the parameter instead of the named material parameter.

File:Export Material User Data.png

2022-01-08T20:41:12Z

ZilverBlade:

Export Material User Data and it's list of parameters and options

File:Material Type.png

2022-01-08T20:36:17Z

ZilverBlade:

List of available material types in the Export Material User Data

File:Asset User Data.png

2022-01-08T20:34:09Z

ZilverBlade:

How to find and add Asset User Data