When does the final version of T3ED come out ?
It all depends on how much time I can spare for working on T3ED. No further release is planned before October 1, 1999.
Does T3ED require any specific DLLs in order to work ?
Some Microsoft DLLs are required by T3ED : notably MFC42.DLL and MSVCRT.DLL. These files are very widespread and it is extremely likely that they are already installed on your system. If not, they are quite easy to find as they are distributed with many recent programs, and they might even be available on Microsoft‚s web site.
Where do I find the track files I‚m supposed to edit in T3ED ?
The track files are located in the GAMEDATA\TRACKS\TRK00x subdirectories of your NFS3 installation directory. If there is no GAMEDATA\TRACKS subdirectory in your NFS3 directory, you must reinstall NFS3 in order to have the tracks loaded from the hard disk rather than from the CD-ROM.
In NFS High Stakes, track files are similarly located in the subdirectories of the DATA\TRACKS subdirectory of your NFS HS installation directory.
Can I have both edited tracks and the original tracks at the same time in NFS ?
No. Unlike cars, tracks cannot be added to NFS, so any edited track has to replace an original track.
How can I revert back to the original tracks ?
Simply copy the .FRD and .COL files from the GAMEDATA\TRACKS\TRK00x subdirectory of your NFS3 CD-ROM back into the corresponding subdirectory of your hard disk NFS3 installation directory. In order to be able to modify again these files with T3ED, you will need to remove the Read-only attribute set by Windows when they‚re copied from the CD-ROM.
In NFS High Stakes, proceed similarly with the DATA\TRACKS\... subdirectories ; there is no .COL file, so only the .FRD file needs to be replaced.
How can I distribute a modified track ?
Just create a ZIP file containing both the .FRD and .COL files. People will be able to install the modified tracks simply by unzipping that file in the correct directory. In NFS HS there is no .COL file, so you just need to distribute the .FRD file.
Is it possible to convert NFS2 tracks to NFS3 ?
This is an extremely complicated task which requires the development of specific tools. Vitaly Kootin (vitaly_necromancer@yahoo.com) is working on this.
Is it possible to convert NFS3 tracks to NFS HS and vice-versa ?
Although this is much easier than conversion between NFS2 and NFS3, this feature is not yet offered in T3ED because of the large number of remaining bugs in the conversion code. It might become available in a later release.
Can I create a new track from scratch ?
This is not possible with T3ED, since it is not possible to modify the table of track textures or the track length. However you can use the "Erase All" function in the Edit-Tools menu to remove nearly everything from an existing track, which allows you to start again almost from scratch.
How can I make an oval (or a high-speed ring, or a straightened track) ?
First select Block mode in the Edit-Modes menu, and use the Smoothing properties dialog box (Alt-S) in order to activate the Extra-Smoothing option and to select a large value for the width of the smoothing zone (500 ought to be fine). Select the Move XY tool. By clicking on a track block and slightly dragging the mouse, you can remove all turns over a huge track section at once. Repeat this process two or three times on various track blocks in order to smoothen all the track. Next, select the Move Z tool, and repeat the process to remove the slopes.
In v0.06 there is a new easier way to make a circle track : simply use the "Erase All" function in the Edit-Tools menu to remove the track shape and road elevations.
Is it possible to modify textures or create new textures ?
T3ED is not a texture editor. You need to download a texture converter such as the QFS Editing Suite (available at http://www.math.polytechnique.fr/cmat/auroux/nfs/), which will let you convert QFS files into plain Windows bitmaps that you can edit using your favorite software.
I moved an extra-object, and the cars pass through it as if didn't exist...
Collisions with extra-objects (displayed in green) are only detected over specific track polygons. In order to allow a moved object to be detected, you must modify the track polygon properties accordingly. First choose the High-resolution view, and switch to Polygon mode. Select the track polygon over which the object lies ; use the Polygon Flags command in the Edit-Tools menu (or press Control+Enter), and check the "Extra-object collision detection" option. If the object lies across several polygons, repeat this operation for every polygon to enable object detection.
I moved a polygon object, and I get an invisible wall where it used to be...
Collisions with polygon objects are not handled by NFS ; rather, the track polygons over which the object lies (and the ones beyond in the case of a fence or a wall) are marked as impassable for the cars. The procedure to change the polygon properties (passable or not, etc...) is the following : first chose the High-resolution view, and switch to Polygon mode. Select the track polygon, and use the Polygon Flags command in the Edit-Tools menu (or press Control+Enter) ; choose the relevant option in the "Drive-over behavior" list to change the passable status of a polygon. Also note that collisions with impassable polygons are handled only if all neighboring polygons have the "Wall collision detection" flag set ; normally this flag is automatically set by T3ED when a polygon is made impassable. Also use the Adjust Road Width command in the Edit-Tools menu to adjust the virtual road width.
Is it possible to add extra road sections ?
It is not possible to extend the number of track blocks in the track. However it is now possible to add road polygons to a track block. This is an advanced feature, not intended for beginner users. See the specific help page on this feature.
When I race in NFS, my car is stopped by an invisible wall even after making all polygons passable.
In addition to the passable/impassable flag for each track polygon, NFS also puts invisible walls on both sides of the track in order to delimitate the driveable area. A track polygon, even if marked passable, can be driven over only if it lies between the two boundaries. To adjust the track width, use the Adjust Road Width command in the Edit-Tools menu. Also see the page on See the specific adding track polygons page for more tips.
I get an error message when attempting to save a modified track. What happens ?
T3ED is not able to create the modified track files. First of all, check that you are not trying to save your track on the CD-ROM drive. Also, both the .FRD and .COL files must have the Read-only flag cleared ; be especially careful with this if you have copied the files back from their CD-ROM version. The Read-only status of a file can be modified in its properties box, obtained by right-clicking on the file.
In some instances, the track files of NFS HS come with the Read-only flag set : you need to clear this flag before you can overwrite the tracks.
The textures displayed in the texture browser look very bad. What can I do ?
Check that your Windows display is configured with a sufficient color depth. High-color or true-color modes (at least 16-bit depth, i.e. 65536 colors) are required in order for the texture browser to display textures correctly. In 256-color mode you will get garbled textures, even if you try working with the 8-bit textures.
I can‚t view the textures because the QFS file has the wrong format. What happens ?
Some of the QFS texture files have an abnormal compression format, and cannot be decoded by T3ED. This is in particular the case with the 8-bit mode textures for the Summit track. When this happens, you should try loading a different texture file. In particular the 16-bit mode texture files take longer to load, but do not suffer from this problem.
Why can‚t I use some of the tools ?
Since this is still a preliminary version of T3ED, some features are not yet implemented. Also, most commands are only available in specific editing modes (e.g. texture browsing is only possible in polygon mode).
When I race in NFS, there are lots of display bugs. Why ?
First of all you should be aware that display bugs are partly unavoidable, because the track file formats are not yet fully understood and some of the necessary information is not known. However, the following general tips can be helpful :
- Never create sharp bends in the track which would cause some of the track polygons to overlap with each other. If you accidentally create such a sharp turn, you should use the Undo command to restore a correct track structure, and modify the Smoothing properties in order to increase the amount of smoothing.
- Use block mode whenever possible rather than the extended point mode. Block mode is the only mode in which all the relevant virtual road information gets updated when you move things around.
- Avoid creating slopes that are too steep, or things will tend to disappear in front of you when you race the modified track.
When I race in NFS, my car is stopped by an invisible wall even after making all polygons passable.
See above, in Editing tips section.
It doesn‚t work, what can I do ?
You can send me a precise description of your problem by e-mail (auroux@math.polytechnique.fr). Due to my limited available time, I will only help people who state clearly their problem and whose questions are not answered in this help file. If you get an error message, please state its exact contents. If you get suspicious behaviour, please indicate exactly what actions you performed and what happened.