GPL Track Creating - FAQ

Authored by the GPLEA

This page should be your first port of call if you have a question. Please take the time to look through these FAQs. If you do not find an answer, please visit the forum, do not email us - we will not reply to any emails regarding track creating/editing.

GPLTrk; TRKs; GTKs

GTK? TRK? Huh?

• TRK file is the physical layout of a track, required by GPL.

• A GTK file is exactly the same, except GPLTrk will only Load GTKs, not TRKs. This is to prevent people editing tracks to gain an advantage (i.e. cheating).

• GPLTrk will convert a GTK into a TRK for GPL.

• trk23dow will only read GTKs

GPL crashes/freezes when I cross from one section to another

• This is caused by gaps/mismatches in the TRK sections. When there is a gap, trk23dow will not fix it, and will create a track with empty spaces - when you drive on those spaces you are driving on 'nothing', so GPL cannot work properly. See the Creating a TRK.Sections page.

I've made the whole track but can't get the last section to meet the first.

• Fix any Orientation mismatch.

• Fix lateral gap by changing corner radii.

• Fix longitudinal gap by changing the length of a straight.

• See the Creating a TRK.Sections page.

trk23dow; TEX; TSO; GRV; FB

errors, output 3DO problems

My track has bad FPS/jerky motion

• See the FPS page.

Can't see enough of the track ahead/objects pop into view

• You need to edit the <trackname>.FB file. This file controls the distance ahead and behind that you can see whilst driving/watching a replay. You should keep the numbers in this file as small as you can, to avoid overloading the CPU with unnecessary info. Look at the .FB guide for more detail.

Track is visible through objects

• This is clipping. See below.

Track is visible through the track - where there are hills

• If you can see parts of the track where you shouldn't be able to - e.g. you are behind a bit of banking and can see the track - then you need to experiment with unk4 flag 1024. This flag is used to split the world into chunks - you need to split the world where the banking meets ground-level.

• If you can see other weirdness that isn't solved by this problem, please visit the forum and ask there.

My object doesn't show in GPL

• Check it is in the .TSO file (properly!) Filenames beginning with numbers, and/or containing symbols are not valid.

• Check that the object is actually positioned within the driving limits (if it is a 'normal'TSO entry); completely on the infield (if it is an infield TSO entry); completely on the outfield (if it is an outfield TSO entry). If you do not make sure of this, the object will probably be ignored by trk23dow.

• Check that the object isn't being hidden by another object, and that the object is at track level.

• Check you haven't placed the object on e.g. a piece of armco. trk23dow will make the object visible on the armco, but because that is a thin piece of the 'world', it will be clipped and lost.

An object is clipping with another object

• Re-organise the objects in the .TSO file. For each TRK section, you can have several trackside objects - you should have the furthest away object in each section listed first in the TSO file, working back to the nearest object. This is when you are driving forwards).

The groove is too blocky/erratic

• A blocky groove is caused by not enough polygons. Use the unk4 flag 8192 to increase the number of polygons.

• An erratic groove is caused by a poor replay - see the GRV tutorial for information.

The cars float above/sink below the track surface

• This is caused by not enough polygons representing the track surface.

• Use of unk4 flags 2048 and 4096 will increase the number of polygons for individual TRK sections.

• Use of the <trackname>.SET file will increase the number of polygons/sections for an entire track.

trk23dow loops when working with the TSO file

• The cause of this is a faulty .TSO file. Check that you do not have any blank lines, that the number of entries values are correct, that each line has the correct format. Also, make sure that no 3DO files begin with a number, because this sometimes confuses the program.

The track is bumpy

• Use either gtk2csv to edit the altitudes manually to smooth the angle changes, or use trk23dow -f or -s to smooth the track automatically.

When crossing sections, I get a spike in my FF wheel

• Caused by TRK sections overlapping.

AI; .ini Files; track.ini; 67season.ini; gp.ini

Could Not Load Track - track name isn't shown in the program cover

• track.ini is missing or invalid.

Track isn't shown in the selection screen

• 67season.ini / gp.ini is invalid. Check the number of events value in each .ini, and make sure that the entry for your track is correct. Also, if an event is repeated, GPL sometimes goes a bit wonky.

Images; MIPs; SRBs; PBFs; Program Covers; MipMan; WinMip; SrbMan

My track doesn't work in software rendering

• This is caused by bad .MIP files. There are many ways a .MIP can be bad, yet still work in hardware rendering. Load your track in RaceCon, turn on all the Texture options and View->3D. RaceCon will tell you if there is a problem, and with the treeview you can narrow down where the problem is. If you find a duff MIP using RaceCon, load & save it in MipMan (no editing required) to fix it.

Some textures are stretched like thin lines

• Use MipMan/WinMip to set the repeating values, so that GPL will tile the textures instead of stretching them (badly).

The track asphalt looks generally weird

• Use unk4 values 2 or 512 to make the track tiled once left-right. 2 is used when the track camber is linear, 512 is used when the track camber is curved.

I can only see the track; my walls are missing

• trk23dow will clip everything that is not within the range of the traces. Use GPLTrk to add/move the traces further away so that all walls are within the traces.

Updated 27-Jan-2001

Transferred to the wiki: 04.05.2009