GtaToFps

[Shrew]

Installation

 

To try it out you must have the following:

• The GtaToFps executable
  • download here (v0.1.2). Hosted by JernejL.
• DirectX
  • Latest install via web installer.
  • Latest install via regular download.
• .NET Framework
  • Latest install via regular download.

Operation

 

On running you need to set up the paths for the games / mods on your machine.

• Select [settings | Set Input Gta Paths...] to bring up a dialog.
• Select a game at a time that you own in the list, then set the location of the .dat file either by pressing [Guess] or set it manually with [...].
• Close the dialog.

Now load a game.

• Select [File | New Project...] to bring up a dialog.
• Choose the available game from the drop down list.
• For the biggest viewport close all the information panes. (ALT+H)

Source Code

• download here (v0.1.2). Hosted by JernejL.

The source code here was compiled using Visual Studio Express: C#. You also require the docking library dotNetMagic, and the latest sdks for DirectX and .Net Framework (see above).

 

Description

 

The aim of GtaToFps is to allow selection of an area of any of the Gta games and export them into levels to play in the free Enemy Territory game.

 

I love the scenery of the Gta games and want to get it into an optimised team based online fps. Currently the application only loads and renders Gta3 and VC. SA is being worked on now. This means it is only useful as a viewer of those games, but it works pretty well. There is a list of known bugs available from within the application, the main one being that I've hard coded what ipls and ides are loaded; this means edited games might not load correctly or at all.

 

Shrew

[DexX]

dx10, and .net 3? are you saying this will only work on vista?

[REspawn]

dx10, and .net 3? are you saying this will only work on vista?

Im running it on XP with DX9.

 

Excellent work as always Shrew, looking forward to the end product

[Shrew]

dx10, and .net 3? are you saying this will only work on vista?

.NET 3.0 should work on XP.

As REspawn has shown I must have made a mistake about it being DX10. I've got confused as to which version it actually is as I'm developing on Vista. My brother, like REspawn, has got it working on XP with the downloads I linked.

 

It definately does need the up to date directX though (which I think is the latest 9c) so I'll update the post above.

 

 

Shrew

[DexX]

sure enough. a bit buggy, but it works (on my Xp2 SP2, .net 2, Dx 9.0c system).

[steve-m]

Works fine for me without having to install anything. Can't remember when I last updated .NET/DX9, so it certainly doesn't need the very latest versions.

 

When I run it, configure the games and create a new project, it only shows me an empty green panel. To render something I have to double-click on an item in the list. Is it supposed to be like that, or can it render whole maps as well? Also, I had problems with several objects, they just rendered as big gradient across the whole viewport (although being physically small); looks like your dff importer does something wrong there.

 

Also, your game detector still needs some work. It detected GTA3 well, and it also found a VC dir, but that was probably the one I initially installed the game to, which doesn't exist anymore (renamed). So if you're reading those from the registry, at least check if the directory still exists (might also help to do a basic file system check, i.e. look for game exe, gta[3|_vc].dat, gta3.img and such).

 

And btw, once it crashed there the loading dialog doesn't go away. Some error handling wouldn't hurt either.

 

Edit: I just noticed that the viewer you wrote 4 years ago also needed a hardcoded list of map files. What's the problem with parsing the gta*.dat?

[Shrew]

 

When I run it, configure the games and create a new project, it only shows me an empty green panel...

 

Also, your game detector still needs some work...

 

And btw, once it crashed there the loading dialog doesn't go away. Some error handling wouldn't hurt either.

 

Edit: I just noticed that the viewer you wrote 4 years ago also needed a hardcoded list of map files. What's  the problem with parsing the gta*.dat?

It shouldn't show an empty green panel, it should be loading the whole area. I suspect any form of modified game will have problems loading, possibly because of not parsing gta3.dat, and perhaps because of unsupported txd / dff formats. I've only implemented what it takes to get an unmodified copy of the game running. If you are running it on an unmodified game then I'm not sure. The only thing I can think of is that our gfx cards have different caps, which I'm not validating at game start. I'd be a little surprised though as I'm using fairly simple stuff.

 

Re: the install directories - I'm not sure I'll validate it, simply because full validation should check all the files in existence. I guess I draw the line that the registry is supposed to tell the truth There's not much I can do if people move isntalled applications; it will cause problems beyond my little app! There is the [...] button to set the dir manually though.

 

Error reporting, yeah I'll have to think about that one. I've got some ideas for a logfile.Probably just add an errorlog

 

I don't parse the gta3.dat for a couple of reasons 1) I don't want at all to modify my vanilla install until everything works and 2) in development I need to easily be able to modify what gets loaded, and an array of filenames is the quickest.

 

To everyone that has contributed to the decompiling of the Gta file formats, I want to say thanks, but I'd also ask for some understanding as to why my app doesn't handle everything. I'm grateful for all the info here, but it has its problems.

• In some cases (KCows dff file format doc) its not just out of date, in some cases its wrong
• The info I need probably is on here but its either buried deep within a thread or I don't know what to search for :|
• Other times it appears there are conventions for data that everyone just seems to know that I don't, coming back to it after 4 years or so. (Like what files to load automatically, like generic.txd for 3 and VC, but what about SA? I dont know)

Theres a lot of good info here but it is a bit messy It's only by switching between 3 tools (moomapper, g-img and rwanalyze) that I have had any chance at all of loading 3 and VC as well as I have (still not complete). I'm surprised noone has set out to create an authoritative doc. That I'm using rwanalyze to tell me about the contents of new rwdatatypes is surprising, but without it I'd actually be unable to do anything.

 

I'm now onto the binary ipls for SA and I need to reread the thread on it to try to understand the context of their usage (as opposed to their actual contents). I wouldn't mind trying to create some docs myself except that I cant access my website for the next month or so.

 

Shrew

[steve-m]

 

It shouldn't show an empty green panel, it should be loading the whole area.

Nope, doesn't work. And I'm pretty sure all of the games I've tested it with are in their original state. Only rendering of single, selected objects works for me, but by far not all of them.

 

 

Re: the install directories - I'm not sure I'll validate it, simply because full validation should check all the files in existence. I guess I draw the line that the registry is supposed to tell the truth

Well, apparently it doesn't. As I said, just checking if the directory and a few of the most important files are there should be just fine. Could even use that to identify the game.

 

 

Error reporting, yeah I'll have to think about that one. I've got some ideas for a logfile.Probably just add an errorlog

I was talking about error checking, i.e. the good old try/catch/throw stuff...

 

 

To everyone that has contributed to the decompiling of the Gta file formats, I want to say thanks, but I'd also ask for some understanding as to why my app doesn't handle everything. [...] I'm surprised noone has set out to create an authoritative doc. That I'm using rwanalyze to tell me about the contents of new rwdatatypes is surprising, but without it I'd actually be unable to do anything.

As for documentation, that's what we started the modding wiki for. However, it's still very incomplete, so if you'd like to add some things you find out or rediscover while writing your editor, everyone would be happy. Unfortunately, RW Analyze is pretty outdated, so you can't really rely on that either.

 

Some links you might find useful: RW file format (overview), txd data section, dff geometry section

[Shrew]

 

It shouldn't show an empty green panel, it should be loading the whole area.

Nope, doesn't work. And I'm pretty sure all of the games I've tested it with are in their original state. Only rendering of single, selected objects works for me, but by far not all of them.

 

I can't think why your version isn't working correctly when individual objects are loading correctly. I can only assume the draw distances aren't being loaded correctly. For Gta3 I get "Scenery Loaded: 7928" and GtaVC I get "Scenery Loaded: 7361" shown on the "All Scenery" pane. Do your readings match that.

 

Are there possible different versions of the games released (I know there were for GtaSA but thats all).

 

 

Re: the install directories - I'm not sure I'll validate it, simply because full validation should check all the files in existence. I guess I draw the line that the registry is supposed to tell the truth

Well, apparently it doesn't. As I said, just checking if the directory and a few of the most important files are there should be just fine. Could even use that to identify the game.

 

I'm still not that fussed about validation, the button is only marked "guess" Having checked a few other tools they don't even offer that. Something for me to update later as its just a one time init.

 

 

Error reporting, yeah I'll have to think about that one. I've got some ideas for a logfile.Probably just add an errorlog

I was talking about error checking, i.e. the good old try/catch/throw stuff...

I haven't needed any try / catch simply because my intention is to fix all the bugs I come across. Exception handling is for exceptional circumstances, imho not for just loading data that should be handled. If I was processing odd user generated data then I can't rely on any of the data coming in being valid, but for vanilla Gta it should be. This is why I'm more inclined to add error logging for your game because it should be loading. Just skipping the data won't help me support vanilla data :|

 

 

To everyone that has contributed to the decompiling of the Gta file formats, I want to say thanks, but I'd also ask for some understanding as to why my app doesn't handle everything. [...] I'm surprised noone has set out to create an authoritative doc. That I'm using rwanalyze to tell me about the contents of new rwdatatypes is surprising, but without it I'd actually be unable to do anything.

As for documentation, that's what we started the modding wiki for. However, it's still very incomplete, so if you'd like to add some things you find out or rediscover while writing your editor, everyone would be happy. Unfortunately, RW Analyze is pretty outdated, so you can't really rely on that either.

 

Some links you might find useful: RW file format (overview), txd data section, dff geometry section

I didn't know the modding wiki. Funnily enough I came on to the forum today to see what was possible with the forum formatting to see about putting up the info i know about, in a form that I would find useful as a programmer. If this forum prefers it goes on the wiki then I'll try it there. I will do it in some innocuous corner of the wiki so as not to touch already generated pages. I figure it would be better for me not to whinge without trying to rectify the issue myself.

 

Shrew

[Gouveia]

Anyone can get me any pics, please?

[Shrew]

http://www.gtamodding.com/index.php?title=RwSections

 

...is a first draft. I ought to go hunting for information regarding other methods of displaying data in wiki - its not straightforward to get something that clear...

 

That page is a floater; ie not linked from any other page so it can't clutter the place up with unclear information. Oh yeah, the <ref> tag doesn't appear to work either on it

 

 

Shrew

Edited May 30, 2007 by Shrew

[steve-m]

Erm, what exactly are you doing?? We already have set up an infrastructure to document RW sections in the wiki, and most of those you added do already exist. Also, you seem to base your information (including section names) mainly on the KCow docs, which are partially incorrect and very incomplete. So again, please look here first before adding even more redundant articles:

• RenderWare binary stream file - main article with general information about the RW streams and links to existing articles
• List of RW section IDs - use one of the red links here to create new articles with proper names
• Category:RW Sections - this is the category for all the RW section articles

Also, you can preview your articles before submitting changes...

[Shrew]

 

Erm, what exactly are you doing?? We already have set up an infrastructure to document RW sections in the wiki, and most of those you added do already exist. Also, you seem to base your information (including section names) mainly on the KCow docs, which are partially incorrect and very incomplete. So again, please look here first before adding even more redundant articles:

 

RenderWare binary stream file - main article with general information about the RW streams and links to existing articles

 

List of RW section IDs - use one of the red links here to create new articles with proper names

 

Category:RW Sections - this is the category for all the RW section articles

 

Also, you can preview your articles before submitting changes...

I know the information I've been putting up is not complete or correct and is based on KCow, which is one reason I have done it in isolation.

 

Being honest - I find what is up on the modding wiki to be a mess and unhelpful as well I don't really like saying that because of the effort thats gone into it. In most situations where something is wrong people can either whinge about it and do nothing, or attempt to rectify it in some form or another and enter discussion which is what I'm doing. What I put up there (as stated before) isn't linked anywhere so at worst it has done nothing bad, but what I did serves two purposes for me:

 

1) as its based on what I've got in my code (from a variety of sources) its a very easy way to communicate with people as to what I have that is wrong and needs fixing.

2) it shows what could be a useful and professional layout of information. I contend what I've put up there (on the RwTypes pages) is more what I as a programmer need than what is already there. Presentation is very important in documentation which is why I revised mine so much.

 

I am aware of the preview button, but depending on how you are editing the page the preview is not always correct (only very minor differences admittedly). I do preview loads but as I'm in a state of experimentation with this particular wiki I've been saving to it loads as well. Its hard setting up the tables and stuff, you know

 

Shrew

[X-Seti]

This is an interesting tool, as i've tested this with SOL (heavily modded VC engine)

 

The path search isn't compatible with the mod folder, A folder called GTASOL49.0 on the D drive, I take it that the paths have to be the generic installed folder, like C:/Program Files/Rockstar Games/Grand T.... etc/

 

I think this might be the reason why i'm getting the unhandle expection, other changes are the GTA_VC.Dat file, in SOL I have the GTASOL.dat file which holds all the maps IMG, 2dfx, IDE, COL and IPL data.

 

Default IDE has been broken down into Vehicles.ide, Peds.ide, and Misc.ide (car parts)

 

Because i've been able to up the vehicle limit to 600 slots.

 

Dunno what else to say at the moo, Look forward to your reply.

Edited May 30, 2007 by X-Seti

[Shrew]

 

The path search isn't compatible with the mod folder, A folder called GTASOL49.0 on the D drive, I take it that the paths have to be the generic installed folder, like C:/Program Files/Rockstar Games/Grand T.... etc/

 

You should be able to use apps in any location on your hard drive, but I've updated the program anyway (v0.1.1: see first post for details).

 

The settings page now asks for you to point to .dat files instead of install folders (the guess buttons still try though). The application now does read the .dat file so people who have added their own ides/ipls should find it works a bit better.

 

Also, you can add variants of the games (Im calling them mods) by setting the entries to point to different .dat files. You can create and remove entries on the install dialog by using the context menu on the list. Having never installed a mod I still don't know whether it should be fine but I've made assumptions about file layout / position.

 

Give it a go if you want.

 

Shrew

[X-Seti]

Dead link 404; I'll try again later for 1.1.

[Shrew]

Dead link 404; I'll try again later for 1.1.

Sorry, i made a mistake cutting and pasting, its working now.

 

Shrew

[X-Seti]

Received with thanks.

 

I'll let you know my findings soon.

[X-Seti]

No luck mate, but I do have some exception data, that a will PM back to you.

[X-Seti]

Having problems with the PM system; and forum.

 

 

GTA SOL49.0\                     \Data\                        ->     GTA_VC.dat (48.2) will be GTASOL.dat (49.0 version)                       ->     Default.ide                        ->     Vehicles.ide (49.0 version)                      paths        ->              \maps\sm_vcpaths.ipl (VC paths)                                          ds_lcpaths.ipl (LC paths)                                          ma_libpaths.ipl (49.0 MLL paths)                                          sa_sapaths.ipl (not added yet, SA paths)                                                      I'm thinking about moving these to Data/Paths/                                          Because theres going to be alot of path files. (49.1)       maps        ->                \maps\LC\comnbtm\ (IPL, IDE only)                                          \LCS\CommerN\ (IPL, IDE only)                                          \VCS\airport\ (IPL, IDE only)                                          \VC\airport\ (IPL, IDE only)                                          \SA\etc                                          Each city has its own folder.       cols           ->      \maps\Collision\ (All the cols reside, no longer in IMG)          generic      ->        \maps\generic.ide                                   \dynamic.ide                                   \lcwgeneric.ide (49.0)   I've broken everything down into their own folders.I'm accessing the forums from a net cafe, I dont have a working comp at the moo, but I will check in and reply as soon as pos.

 

 

Download link, Click the sig.

'EDIT; Oppps, I didn't mean to triple post, shows I'm not paying much attention at the moo.

Edited June 1, 2007 by X-Seti

[Shrew]

Slightly tweaked version up, and source code available. See first post for downloads and any info.

[JohnPro]

I dont quite understand what it does.

Is it Grand theft auto TO First Person Shooter?

[Neova]

Wow! Someone bring the whole GTA world to Counter Strike Source or something!

 

Imagine 256 person battles across the world of GTA! Great work!