big rigs over the road racing modding guide

Big Rigs Modding Guide by Xeno

Version 1.0

Updated 26 Oct 2017

Big Rigs is easy to mod aesthetically and probably the maps will be able to be edited if someone can make a .SCO editor tool. Eventually I plan to get at CarZ.exe and see whats in there.

The files are all in CarZ.res. Extract it to another folder - it has the game executable in there too.

MAT File Format Documentation:
They're included with 3D models and cars. They're kinda like .mtl files.

[MaterialBegin] - Starts material config.
[MaterialEnd] - Ends material config.
Name - The material name.
Flags - Unknown, but in the Thunderbull's only material, set to "texture_gouraud_envmap"
Opacity - Material opacity/transparency
Texture - The Material's texture.
EnvMap - The enviroment map for the file.
EnvPower - Probably how much it reflects the EnvMap.
Color24 - Color of the material? Set to 150,150,150.

SCO File Format Documentation:
I don't know much about this. It makes up all the objects, scenery, and cars in the game. But, this is what I know:
[ObjectBegin] - Starts the object config
[ObjectEnd] - Ends the object config
Name - Object Name
CentralPoint - The central point of the object
Verts - Presumably the vertices count.

Then, it has hundreds of XYZ coords.

Line 27 of Mega2_Body.sco (The Body of the Megaone): "-9.4688 31.1478 37.5598" Presumably these are vert locations.

After the amount of verts there are (1057) are listed (it goes to line 1061, and it starts on Line 6 while 1057 verts are listed on line 5), it then has

Faces= amount of faces in the model

and then goes to
[Line 1063, the first line of it] "3	  36   37   38	truck_Mega1         	0.062896959484 -0.708675384521 0.062896959484 -0.615403831005 0.034733701497 -0.615403831005"

I don't know what 3	36   37   38 is, but truck_Mega1 is presumably the name, while the other numbers are presumably the XYZ location and size of each face. 36 37  38 however could also be it.

If you're confused about what I'm saying, go to Data/Cars/Mega2 and open Mega2_Body.sco in a text editor.
[FILE GUIDE]

Menus:
Data/Menu/ - The menus
Data/Menu/cursor.bmp and cursor_a.bmp - The cursor. cursor_a is when you move it around, I believe.
Data/Menu/GButton01.bmp - The "Return to Race" button on the ingame pause menu.
Data/Menu/GButton02.bmp - The "Quit to Windows" button, which actually quits to the menu, button on the ingame pause menu.
Data/Menu/CarSelect - The Car Select Menu:

Arrow_X.bmp - Arrow_a, Arrow_2, Arrow_2_a, Arrow_3, and Arrow_3_a.bmp. Unused. Supposed to be for arrows on the Car Select - More cars/trucks were planned for Big Rigs!

Back and Back_A.bmp - Back button on the Car Select Menu. Back_a is when hovered over.
Back_1 and Back_2.bmp - Copies of the Car Select Menu itself. Back_2 is used. Back_1 has a "Change Color
Done and Done_A.bmp - Done button on the Car Select Menu. Done_a is when hovered over.
Sel_X.bmp - sel_a, sel_no, and sel_yes.bmp - Sel_yes and maybe sel_a.bmp are the only ones used. Sel_yes is for when you click on a car.

Data/Menu/Credits - The Credits menu.
Data/Menu/Credits/back_3.bmp - The credits menu itself.
Data/Menu/Credits/CreditLogo.psd - The credits menu for Midnight Race Club Supercharged (from now on to be referred to as MRC:S)

Data/Menu/HighScores - The nonworking High Scores Menu.
Data/Menu/HighScores/back.bmp - The High Scores Menu itself.
cont and cont_a.bmp - The Continue button on the High Scores Menu. cont_a is when moused over.

Data/Menu/Main/ - The main games.

Data/Menu/Main/Back.bmp - The MRC:S menu background
Data/Menu/Main/BackBR.bmp - The main menu background
compet and compet_a.bmp - Unused "Competition Mode". compet_a is when moused over.
cred and cred_a.bmp - Credits button. cred_a is when moused over.
custom and custom_a.bmp - Competition Mode. custom_a is when moused over.
navig and navig_a.bmp - Unknown.
opt and opt_1.bmp - Options button. Weirdly, opt_1 instead of _a. opt_1 is when moused over.
quit and quit_a.bmp - Quit button. quit_a is when moused over.
random and random_a.bmp - Random Race button. random_a is when moused over.
score and score_a.bmp - High Scores button. score_a is when moused over.
singl and singl_a,bmp - Single Race button. singl_a is when moused over.

Data/Menu/Options - The Options menu.
Data/Menu/Options/back_o.bmp - The Options Menu itself.
cont and cont_a.bmp - Weirdly, a Continue button. Unused. Cont_a is when moused over.
navig and navig_a.bmp - Unknown.

Data/Menu/TrackSelect - The Track Select Menu.
Data/Menu/TrackSelect/back1.bmp - The Track Select Menu itself - Has no options (does the game fill in the options automatically? - some .nfo/.cfg files need investigation)
back and back_a.bmp - The Back button. Back_a is moused over.
done and done_a.bmp - The Race! button. Done_a is moused over.

Sounds:
Ambience1.wav - Unused. Would be used for ambience.
Ambience2.wav - Unused. Would be used for ambience.
Waterfall.wav - Unused. Would be used for a waterfall.
WaterStream.wav - Unused. Would be used for a stream, river or lake.
Sound.dat - Seems to list sound and Sound IDs, but has no effect in-game presumably (Unused?)

Content of Sound.dat:

1	0	|Ambience1.wav
2	0	|Ambience2.wav

100	1	|Waterfall.wav
101	1	|WaterStream.wav

1, 2, 100, 101 is presumably a Sound ID. 0 / 1 is unknown. Filename is obviousl the sound filename.

Tracks:
Stored in Data/Tracks.

Tracks.nfo: Lists the tracks.

5
001 TrackName1
002 TrackName2
003 TrackName3
004 TrackName4
005 TrackName5

5 is the number of tracks.
001-005 is the track ID. They are stored in Data/Tracks/<Track ID>/.

Data/Tracks/001: Most likely Devil Passage 1
Data/Tracks/002: Most likely Devil Passage 2
Data/Tracks/003: Most likely Forgotten Road 1
Data/Tracks/004: Most likely Nightride. (Missing some files)
Data/Tracks/005: Most likely Small Town Road

Data/Tracks/<track id>/Scene/ - Lists all 3D models that make up the track.
Data/Tracks/<track id>/Scene/Textures - All textures that are used in the track. All .BMP files. There's 234 textures in Devil Passage 1 alone so I'm not going to list them all.

"Lake01.cfg" in Data/Tracks/001/Scene. Simply says "160 50 8". Purpose unknown.

File formats: .SCO. There's also "Room.mat" - a materials file, and "Room.dsc" - unknown.

Data/Tracks/<track id>/SKY/ - Contains the skybox. Filenames for the skybox:

geo_1.bmp - Devil Passage 1
geo.bmp - Devil Passage 2
geo_day.bmp - Forgotten Road 1
geo_sunset.bmp - Nightride
geo_stars.bmp - Small Town Road

In all tracks: Object0.sco - The 3D model of the skybox itself.
Skydome.shd - Unknown, maybe skybox configuration?

Data/Tracks/<track id>/Terrain/ - Contains terrain textures and also terrain heightmaps. Nightride is missing a Terrain folder.
Data/Tracks/<track id>/WPatches/ - Contains unknown files. GIMP launches if I click. (they have a PAT extension). Nightride has an empty folder.
Data/Tracks/<track id>/LMaps - Empty. Only in Forgotten Road 1, Small Town Road and Nightride.
Data/Tracks/<track id>/Normals - Empty. Only in Nightride and Small Town Road.



Track Configuration Files in Data/Tracks/<track id>/:

Cars.pos - The car starting positions. Line 1 = you Line 2 = opponent (x/y/z) (MISSING IN NIGHTRIDE)
Pos.txt - Unknown. Edit your player's Cars.pos to the same as Pos.txt to be safe.
World.dat - WORLD CONFIGURATION FILES!

World.dat Settings:
TerraScale <number1> <number2> - Terrain scale. Unknown why there is 2 numbers.
Terrain - Maybe does this have terrain? Unk Set to 1 in Devil Passage 2.
Sky - Maybe does this have sky? Unknown. Set to 1 in Devil Passage 2.
Forest - Maybe does this have forest? Unknown. Set to 0 in Devil Passage 2.
Weather <number1> <number2> - Sets the weather. Valid settings unknown. Will be updated in 2.0 - Set to 0 0 in Devil Passage 2.
DayTime <number1> <number2> - Sets the time of day. Valid settings unknwon. Will be updated in 2.0 - Set to 15 32 in Devil Passage 2.
Scale <number> - Unknown. Set to 10 in Devil Passage 2
VisRange - Draw distance until fog? Visiblity?. 4500 in Devil Passage 2
ClipDistance - Draw distance? 120000 in Devil Passage 2
StartPos - Player start position - Probably changed to the ones in Cars.pos eventually.
FogData <number1> <number2> <number3> <number4> <number5> - Unknown. Probably sets the fog.

World.lit - LIGHT CONFIGURATION FILES!
World.lit Settings:

[LightBegin] - Starts one light's settings
[LightEnd] - Ends end light's settings

Name - The Light ID. Seems to be Omni<light number>
Type - Light type. Unknown. "2" for light Omni1 in Nightride.
Position - Where the light is. (12113,1462,23737) for Omni1 in Forgotten Road 1
Strength - The light strength. 130 for Omni1 in Forgotten Road 1.
Radius1 - The light radius. 1000000 for Omni1 in Forgotten Road 1.
Radius2 - The light radius. (Unknown?). 2000000 for Forgotten Road 1.
Color - The light color in RGB. 189,160,129 for Omni1 in Forgotten Road 1.

Env.dat
Ambient - Ambient light in RGB. 60,50,40 in Forgotten Road 1
Fog <number1> <number2> <number3> <number4> <number5> - Unknown. Fog settings. 0,15000,198,202,206.

GrayIcon.bmp - The image used on Track Select, but when unselected.
Icon.bmp - The image used on Track Select.
Image.bmp - A larger version of Icon.bmp, with the track name. Used below the Icon.
Cars/Trucks:

Stored in Data/Cars/. They have a config file, wh18.nfo:

Contents:
4
Mega1 Mega1
Mega2 Mega2
Mega3 Mega3
Sun Sun


4 is the number of cars.
Then, for each car

<Car Name> <Car Folder>
so, Mega1 would be in Data/Cars/Mega1, which it is.

Data/Cars/BackGlow.bmp - The Back Glow, aka those stupid "taillights".

The Cars
Data/Cars/Mega1: The Thunder
Data/Cars/Mega2: The Megaone
Data/Cars/Mega3: The Thunderbull
Data/Cars/Sun: The Sunrise W12
Data/Cars/Z350: Nissan 350Z (Unused) - By screwing around with wh18.nfo it might be possible to add back, but files can be replaced to get it anyway
Data/Cars/Ford: Ford Expedition (Unused) - By screwing around with wh18.nfo it might be possible to add back, but files can be replaced to get it anyway
Data/Cars/Celica: Toyota Celica (Unused) - By screwing around with wh18.nfo it might be possible to add back, but files can be replaced to get it anyway
Data/Cars/Hummer: Hummer H1 - the .mat needs to be modified to get the tex's to load up according to TCRF.

Water.dds: A strange file, a picture of (presumably) the developer's offices. Included with all cars and used as the Enviroment Map, according to the MAT files.

Car textures are stored in the car's folder as .BMP files. The unused cars have more than one texture file, while the trucks have truck_<name>.bmp, however this may not be the same as the folder they are stored in.

Textures/Images:
These are stored in Data/Images, as well as Data/Tracks/<Track ID>/Scene/Textures, but we already covered that folder (which contains track-specific textures)

There aren't that many textures in Data/Images - most of them are track-specific or the car ones.:

Data/Images/caustXX.bmp - 00 to 31. Unknown. Maybe used for when you mouse over items on the ingame pause menu.
Data/Images/CheckGlow.bmp - Unknown. Maybe tail lights.
Data/Images/DepthA.bmp - Unknown.
Data/Images/DepthA1.bmp - Unknown
Data/Images/Go.bmp - Go! Only shows up for a fraction of a second when starting a race due to a bug.
Data/Images/Help.bmp - An unused help menu.
Data/Images/LoadLogo.bmp - Weirdly, the MRC:S load screen.
Data/Images/LoadLogo1.bmp - The load screen.
Data/Images/PanelPSD.psd - The Lap / Time / PNT / Ultranav HUD, in easily editable PSD format for Photoshop users.
Data/Images/Prize.psd - You're Winner! (PSD version)
Data/Images/Ready.bmp - Ready? Actually shows up when starting a race.
Data/Images/Water02.bmp - Unused? Water.
Data/Images/Water05.bmp - Unused? Water.
Data/Images/water09.bmp - Unused? Water.
Data/Images/Win.bmp - You're Winner! (used)
Data/Images/Win_a.bmp - The alpha of You're Winner!
Data/Images/Sun/Sun.bmp - The sun. Unused?
Data/Images/Sun/SunGlow.bmp - The sun's glow. Unused?
Data/Images/Sun/SunGlow1.bmp - An alternate glow. Unused?
Data/Images/UI/Panel.bmp - The Lap/Time/Pnt/Ultranav HUD, but the used version
Data/Images/UI/Panel_a.bmp - The alpha of the Lap/Time/Pnt/Ultranav HUD
Data/Images/UI/sp-add.bmp - The speedometer.
Data/Images/UI/sp-needle.bmp - The speedo's needle.
Data/Images/UI/sp-needle_a.bmp - The alpha of the speedo's needle
Data/Images/UI/sp-shadow.bmp - The alpha of the speedo?
Data/Images/Water/CubeMap.dds - Presumably a picture of the dev's offices. Used as the reflection for the water presumably.
Data/Images/Water/Stream1/seabump_xxxx.bmp - From 0000 to 0031. Presumably for some kind of stream. Unused?

Fonts:
Big Rigs stores it's fonts as BMP, with DAT files with the same name. The DA Tfiles contain 96 lines (always) of four numbers between 0-1 seperated by spaces.. Presumably, font scaling or where to put the fonts?
This is a font list
Note that anything in quotation marks is the font name listed to the left, then an underscore, then the stuff in quotation marks.
Filenames are like:
"CBT_-12_700_0.bmp" Unknown.

The first number in the file name is font size, the second number is font width, and the final number seems to be
0 = normal
1 = italic

Maybe 2 is bold, but there seems to be "400" and "700" versions of some font sizes, which appear to change the font width

The second number is

400 = normal
700 = bold

Courier New - "-16_700_0.bmp"
Impact - "-19_700_0.bmp"
Impact - "-32_400_0.bmp"
Impact - "-32_700_0.bmp"
Impact - "-64_700_0.bmp"
SF Digital Readout "-27_400_0.bmp"
SF Digital Readout "-27_400_1.bmp"
SF Digital Readout "-27_700_0.bmp"
SF Digital Readout "-32_400_0.bmp"
SF Digital Readout "-32_700_0.bmp"
SF Digital Readout "-33_700_0.bmp"
SF Digital Readout "-35_400_0.bmp"
SF Digital Readout "-35_700_0.bmp"
SF Digital Readout "-37_700_0.bmp"
SF Digital Readout "-40_700_0.bmp"
Tahoma "-13_400_0.bmp"
Verdana "-12_700_0.bmp"
Verdana "-13_400_0.bmp"
Zeroes "-9_700_0.bmp"
Zeroes "-13_700_0.bmp"
Zeroes "-16_400_0.bmp"
Zeroes "-16_700_0.bmp"
Zeroes "-24_700_0.bmp"

These mean:
CBT (Unknown font), size 12 bold
Courier New size 16 bold
Impact size 19 bold
Impact size 32
Impact size 32 bold
Impact size 64 bold
SF Digital Readout size 27
SF Digital Readout size 27 italic
SF Digital Readout size 27 bold
SF Digital Readout size 32
SF Digital Readout size 32 bold
SF Digital Readout size 33 bold
SF Digital Readout size 35
SF Digital Readout size 35 bold
SF Digital Readout size 37 bold
SF Digital Readout size 40 bold
Tahoma size 13
Verdana size 12 bold
Verdana size 13
Zeroes size 9 bold
Zeroes size 13 bold
Zeroes size 16
Zeroes size 16 bold
Zeroes size 24 bold

Misc:
There are some odd files in the Data folder itself

Distort.bmp: Something distorted. Unknown.
GLOW01.bmp: A star.
Glow02.bmp: Another star.
Grass.vs content:

vs.1.1

;Use the scaled expansion vector in v3 to expand the vectex
;in the correct up and side directions. The result is
;stored in r1
mov r2, v3
mad r1, r2.xxx, c6, v0
mad r1, r2.yyy, c7, r1

mul oT1.x, r1.x, c8.x
mul r4.y, r1.z, c8.y
sub oT1.y, c9.z, r4.y

;transform and output
;dp4 r3.x, r1, c0
;dp4 r3.y, r1, c1
;dp4 r3.z, r1, c2
;dp4 r3.w, r1, c3
m4x4 r3, r1, c0
mov oPos, r3
mov oD0,  c9
mov oT0,  v7

;subtract the Fog start distance from r1.z (the distance)
;multiply the resulting distance by the Fog Range
;sub r3.z, r3.z, c5.x
;mul oFog.x, r3.z, c5.y

; Calculate Alpha fading over distance
mul r2.z, r3.z, c5.z
sub oD0.a, c9.z, r2.z

Seems to be assembly code, but I don't know what it does. It might have something to do with grass.
Grass01.bmp: Just a picture of grass. Couldn't be used as a texture.
Grass01a.bmp: The alpha of Grass01.bmp.

Thanks for reading this guide and hopefully it helps with getting the modding scene for BROTRR started.

Xeno