WinMip 2 - Release 16
http://www.horbra.de/winmip
Introduction
This tool converts GPL/N2/N3/NL/NR4/NR2002/NR2003/ICR2 texture files to bmp and vice versa.
When using this tool, please be aware of the wishes of the original
copyright holders not to post or distribute DAT files containing original textures, it is illegal
to do so. Use your head.
IMPORTANT!! Make sure you make backups of any file you work with.
I am not responsible for data loss caused by errors in the program or
by any misuse.
WinMip 2 is freeware, however any distribution apart from the WinMip 2 official website, for profit or non-profit is prohibited.
Installation
This program will run on Win95/98/98SE/ME/NT/2000/XP.
DirectX 8 or higher is required.
Unzip all the files into an own directory. So WinMip2.exe (the program file) and Dxtex.exe (a MS texture creating tool) are in the same directory. WinMip2 will not work when trying to start it in the zip file.
WinMip 2 needs theses additional files installed in your Windows/System directory to run correctly: Msvbvm50.dll of 29.04.1999 or later, MScomctl.ocx of 11.05.2000 or later. Most likely these are already installed in your system. If not, you´ll get an error message when starting WinMip2. You´ll find these files on your Windows installation CD-ROM (preferred) or on the WinMip 2 homepage.
Run WinMip2.exe
General Usage
WinMip 2 has a multiple windows surface, so you can have as many textures open at the same time as your RAM allows to.
First select the Sim in the toolbar of which you want to open textures. All of the supported sims store their textures in mip-files but the structure of these files are different and so it is easier for WinMip to identify them and is prepared for the special needs of the respective sim.
The files of a sim are stored in a dat-file. You first have to unpack the dat-file before you get hold of the single files. WinMip does this for you. Select "Unpack"
in the "Extras" menu to select the dat-file. A new sub-directory "Unpack" is created which holds the unpacked files and a *.pck file, which is a list of the extracted files. The pck-file can be edited by a usual text editor. The first line is the filename of the dat, the second line the number of files contained in the dat. So when you want to join or remove files, change this number respectively before repacking. GPL, N4, NR2002 don´t need to have files packed into a dat. Just put the edited files into the same directory where the original dat is located. When loading, the sim first looks for a single file and loads this one instead of the one contained in the dat.
NOTE: You can read N4/NR2002 files directly out of the dat. When you open the dat, a fileselection window opens which lets you choose the file you want to convert. The dat files contain internal subfolders. When unpacking the dat Winmip generates these subfolders of the unpack folder. For the sim can read an edited file you have to put it into the correct subfolder. Eventually you first have to create this folder. Example: You unpack california.dat: Winmip creates a folder california\unpack and a folder california\unpack\trackmat with the files of the dat. When you edit a file of the unpack\trackmat folder you have to create a california\trackmat folder and put the edited file into it for the sim will read it.
When packing N4/NR2002 files make sure the files are in the re. folders and subfolders.
Open the file you want to see and convert as you are used to by other Windows programs. A new window opens showing the contents of the file and, depending on the sim, some list boxes with additional file informations. When you have opened a mip-file, for example, there is a listbox showing "mip". You now want to convert and export this file as a bitmap, so you can edit this texture with a graphic program. Just change the listbox to "bmp" and save the file. After having edited the texture, you will open it in WinMip as "bmp" and save it as "mip", so the sim can take use of it. Please refer to the filetype descriptions of the specific sim here below for detailed informations.
For zooming select the lens icon. Clicking into the picture with the
left mouse button lets it look bigger; the right mouse button zooms out.
GPL
GPL stores the graphics as "mip", "srb" or "pbf", depending on the usage.
All GPL files contain their own color palette, they are inter-
changeable between tracks.
There are 6 types of files:
Type(0): 4-bit (16 colors out of 16,7 Millions), all opaque.
As import, WinMip asks for a 4-bit bmp.
Type(1): 4-bit , one invisible color
As import, WinMip asks for a 4-bit bmp. A color is made invisible by clicking on the "U" below its palette entry. It changes to an "I" then.
Type(2): 4-bit , with transparent color(s), level of transparency
0 to 255. Every of the 16 palette entries has its own level of transparency.
As import, WinMip asks for a 4-bit bmp. The transparency can be imported by the b-bit bmp palette or set within WinMip by clicking on the "U" below the re. palette entry and enter the transparency value from 0 (invisible) to 255 (not transparent).
Type(3): 16-bit (65536 colors composed of 32 reds, 32 blues and 64
greens), all opaque.
As import, WinMip asks for a 24-bit bmp.
Type(4): 15-bit (32768 colors, 32ea R,G,B) with (one) invisible color(s).
As import, WinMip asks for a 24-bit bmp. The invisible color is set by pressing "shift" and click on the color in the picture with the mouse.
Type(5): 12-bit (4096 colors, 16ea R,G,B) with 16 levels of transparency.
When converting a Type(5)-mip to bitmap, WinMip creates 2 bmps of the same size: One containing the picture, the other one the alpha map (trancperency map). The alpha map has the same filename as the picture plus a "_ti" at its end. As import, WinMip asks for a 24-bit bmp and the alpha map as well.
These types are used by MIPs, SRBs and PBFs as well.
Mip-Files
The width and height of the images must be a power of 2, minimum 16 pixels.
(16, 32, 64, 128 etc.) For the positioning of the texture within a
polygon is done relatively to these values it is important to follow
this convention strictly. But this makes it possible to replace mips with bigger ones. Also a 4-bit mip can be replaced by the corresponding 16-bit one. Type(0) co. to Type(3), 1 to 4 and 2 to 5.
When creating mip-files you must set the number of subimages (WinMip defaults to the maximum number of subimages. Do not change until you have specific reasons.), the
file-type and the mapping.
SUBIMAGES: When seeing a texture from a further distance it must not
be so exact and detailed as when standing right in front of it. For
this reason mips contain besides the big image several smaller images
to speed-up the video output. WinMip 2 proposes a standard value which
is used by nearly all GPL-mips. Choose 1 or 2 subimages to force the video card into a high detail
texture at the expense of a possible fps loss. You can
influence the detailing with the "graphic detail slider" in GPL and the LOD setting in the core.ini for D3D. Also important is the LOD setting in your graphic card driver.
The subimages are calculated by a pixel being the average color of a
square of the big picture. Please consider: the RGB values of the
invisible colors are included into this calculation (unlike N2!).
When you choose black as invisible color this may result in a dark
outline (comic look) in the subimages. The best choice is an average
color between the texture and the background.
MIP-TYPES: From 0 to 5. Depending on the type they may have invisible
or transparent colors. Description see above.
TYPE 2-MIPS: As you already know each of the 16 palette entries may have
one of 255 transparency grades. When displaying a type-2-file WinMip 2
lets you push a button to change between the picture and its
transparency-map. When displaying the transparency-map you can save it
as a bmp. This is recommended before editing such a mip. WinMip 2 stores
the transparency value in the colormap of the bmp, but after editing and
saving the bmp with a standard graphic program these values would get
lost. You can re-import the transparency map with the respective command
in the "Edit"-menu. The transparency value can be set manually by clicking on the label of the palette-entry and changing the now displayed value. (0 is invisible, 255 is opaque)
CAR SHADOWS: They are type-2-mips with the picture being all darkgrey.
The shadow is the different grade of transparency of this darkgrey
palette entries. You can edit a shadow by exporting the transparency-map
and then edit it with a graphic program without changing the palette.
Import it with the respective command in the WinMip 2 Edit menu.
TYPE 5-MIPS: As you already know, every pixel of a type-5-mip may have
one of 16 grades of transparency. When converting such a mip to bmp,
another bmp is stored into the same directory with the same filename
plus "_ti". These files may be edited seperately. When loading a bmp,
Winmip 2 looks for a "_ti"-file and loads this one too automatically.
MAPPING: I lack for a better expression. It describes how a texture is
placed within a polygon. Values are from 0 to 3.
Value 0: The texture is mapped like a mosaic into the polygon.
Value 1: Several copies of the texture are aligned horizontally.
Value 2: Several copies of the texture are aligned vertically.
Value 3: The texture is stretched to fill the complete polygon.
The values must match with the settings in the 3do.
Srb-Files
SRB-Files are mips with an additional header. They are always seen frontally, so they are used to simulate rotationsymmetric 3D-objects, such as trees. Usually they contain an invisible color, so they are type(1) or type(4).
The file properties show you 3 pairs of additional values of the srb-
header. They are used for positioning the picture within the area
defined in the 3do. When converting a bmp to srb Winmip 2 gives you
default values which may in no way fit for the placement of the texture.
When replacing an original srb with a new one simply copy its settings
and it should work ok. There is a utility in the "Edit" menu to copy and paste these srb-values.
Pbf-Files
PBF-Files are used for the graphical layout screens of GPL. They are mips but without subimages and so there is no limitation in width or height. When doing replacement pbfs, they should have the same size as the ones included in the sim.
Bmp-Files
BMP-Files are used for import into WinMip 2. See "Miptypes" for the requests.
You can open 8-bit bmp files too. Depending on the colors used, WinMip 2
will propose you to increase or decrease the color depth for the usage
with GPL.
GPL Batch
GPL Batch is a tool to convert several files at once. You load GPL Batch by pressing "Batch Conversion" in WinMipİs file menu. It is only activated, when GPL is selected as sim in the toolbar!
Before starting GPLBatch unpack the DAT-file with WinMip.
Iİd propose to create seperate output folders for bmps converted from
mips, srbs and pbfs.
Then set the destination folder by selecting the folder in the
directory list and clicking the SET button. You´ll see the complete
path of the output folder in the textbox. GPLBatch overwrites files
in the output folder without prior message!
Copy the original MIPs and SRBs into the folder where your modified
BMPs are located. GPLBatch reads some informations out of them.
Choose the input folder by double click in the directory list and
check the conversion you want to proceed in the check boxes. Then you
can select one or more files to be converted as you are used by the
Explorer.
With a click on the START button the conversion begins. Depending on
the number of files to be converted and your CPU it may take several
minutes! The program should not hang; you´ll get a message if an
error occurs.
A message appears in the upper textbox when the conversion is done.
Clicking on the down-arrow opens the conversion protocol.
GPL Files
Please refer to the file description in the GPL section of this document.
MIP-Files
Most of the mips are 4-bit (16 colors). Some of them contain a
transparent color. When drawing a new texture, make sure the transparent
color is the same palette index as of the original one. They also include
a mapping-orientation byte. GPLBatch reads these informations from the
original MIP. Though PLACE THE ORIGINAL MIP INTO THE SAME FOLDER with
the bitmap to be converted. Example: You created a texture "sample.bmp"
to replace the original "sample.mip". GPLBatch looks for "sample.mip"
in the same directory as "sample.bmp". If it´s not found "sample.bmp"
is not converted. This is different to WinMip but makes the batch-
conversion faster and easier. You can change the size of the texture,
however the width and height must be always a power of 2 and min.8
(8, 16, 32, 64, 128, etc.) Keep the proportions.
Use only 16-bit textures when no transparent color is used (type(0/3)).
GPLBatch changes the mip-type automatically from 0 to 3 or 3 to 0 when
different from the original mip.
Type(5)-mips work like type(5)-pbfs.
SRB-Files
All the same as with the mips. They always contain a transparent color,
which must be the first color in the color index. The header contains
sizing informations which should not be changed until you know what you
are doing! Therefore the conversion looks into the original file. The
bmp must have the same name as the srb to be converted in. The dimensions
of the bmp cannot be changed.
PBF-Files
There are different types of pbf-files. You will see when you convert
them! Some contain transparency informations, will mean how much of the
background shines through when being painted over an other picture. For
this information would get lost when converting to bmp, GPLBatch creates
a "transparency map" for each picture. It is stored together with the
bmp. It contains shades of black to white; black means completely
transparent, white no transparency. Do not change the palette! You can
edit the picture and keep the transparency information, or edit both.
Both files must be present when re-converting to pbf. (Load the pic.bmp)
GPL Mipchecker
This program is for checking your mips and srbs to be compatible with all GPL rasterizers.
The program can be lauched from the WinMip 2 file menu when GPL is
selected.
Select the files to be checked in the file list box or by the "Select all" button. The result is displayed in the text box.
The following messages will appear:
OK
This file corresponds 100% to the GPL standard. No changes necessary.
NO SUBIMAGES
This file has no subimages. There should be at least one subimage to avoid a screen flicker. See also next topic.
ONLY X OF Y SUBIMAGES
This file has not the maximum possible number of subimages. This will cause a fps loss on low end systems, espacially with asphalt and grass textures. Try to find a good balance of visual quality and fps. The mipchecker will create a mip with the maximum possible number of subimages when you check the corresponding autofix option.
TOO MANY SUBIMAGES
This file has subimage(s) with a width smaller than 8 pixels and/or a calculated height smaller than 1 pixel. The track will not work in software mode. The autofix function will create a correct mip for you.
SCANLINE NOT A MULTIPLE OF 4 (IN SUBIMAGE)
The pixelline is not a multiple of 4. This file will not work in software mode and will possibly crash other rasterizers when the wrong subimage is accessed. The autofix function will create a correct mip for you.
MIPWIDTH AND SCANLINE DON´T FIT
The file has a wrong entry for either the width or the scanline. Make a new conversion from bmp.
MIPWIDTH AND IMAGEVALUE DON´T FIT
The file either has a wrong entry for the image value or the width is not a power of 2. Load and save the file with WinMip 2.
MIPHEIGHT AND IMAGEVALUE DON´T FIT
The file either has a wrong entry for the image value or the height is not a power of 2. A wrong height will cause flashing triangles in D3D. Correct the texture size with a graphic program and convert it anew.
MIPWIDTH (MIPHEIGHT) HIGHER THAN 256
The file will not work with the 3dfx Glide rasterizer. Correct the texture size with a graphic program and convert it anew.
The Mipchecker offers you some autofix options. You´ll find the fixed files in a new subfolder "Corrections".
"Too many subimages" - Let this option checked, for this is a fatal error for all rasterizers.
"Mip has not all subimages created" - Check this to get a mip created with all subimages. This helps to gain fps on systems with low end video boards.
"Limit size to 256x256" - This is necessary to work in Glide. THIS OPTION IS NOT YET IMPLEMENTED INTO THE CURRENT WINMIP RELEASE.
"Store mips bigger than 256x256 as 16-bit" - Check this to be compatible with OpenGL. The OGL rasterizers handles big textures fine, as long as they are 16-bit.
"Wrong scanline" - Let this option checked, for this is a fatal error which will GPL crash as soon as this miplevel is used.
Note: Not all errors can be fixed by the autocorrection. Look at the report list which errors could be fixed and which you have to fix manually.
N4
N4 stores the graphics as "mip" or "stp", depending on the usage.
All N4 files contain their own color palette, they are interchangeable between tracks. The original N4-Files are usually compressed with the lossfree DCL-compression, to save diskspace. Thanks to Ben Rudiak-Gould, who published an article about the DCL-compression, I was finally able to include support for N4 and NR2002 into WinMip without having to buy the expensive DCL tool. The files created by WinMip are not DCL-compressed. It wouldn´t be of any benefit, besides a smaller filesize. So when you distribute your files, just zip them. This is more effective. WinMip up from rev.15 doesn´t read or write N4-demo files anymore.
There are 6 types of files:
Type(3): 16-bit (65536 colors composed of 32 reds, 32 blues and 64
greens), all opaque.
As import, WinMip asks for a 24-bit bmp.
Type(4): 15-bit (32768 colors, 32ea R,G,B) with (one) invisible color(s).
As import, WinMip asks for a 24-bit bmp. The invisible color is set by pressing "shift" and click on the color in the picture with the mouse.
Type(5): 12-bit (4096 colors, 16ea R,G,B) with 16 levels of transparency.
When converting a Type(5)-mip to bitmap, WinMip creates 2 bmps of the same size: One containing the picture, the other one the alpha map (transparency map). The alpha map has the same filename as the picture plus a "_ti" at its end. As import, WinMip asks for a 24-bit bmp and the alpha map as well.
Type(6): 24-bit (16.7 M colors composed of 255 reds, 255 blues and 255
greens), all opaque.
As import, WinMip asks for a 24-bit bmp.
Type(7): 32-bit (16.7 M colors, 255ea R,G,B) with 255 levels of transparency.
When converting a Type(7)-mip to bitmap, WinMip creates 2 bmps of the same size: One containing the picture, the other one the alpha map (transparency map). The alpha map has the same filename as the picture plus a "_ti" at its end. As import, WinMip asks for a 24-bit bmp and the alpha map as well.
Type(8): 8-bit monocolor (255 shades of grey with ea. identical values for red, green and blue. This miptype is only used for shadows. The creation of Type(8)-mips is currently not supported by WinMip 2. It is no more used by NR2002.
NOTE! Unlike the demo, N4 retail only uses the 16-bit mip-types(3) to (5). Type(6) is used for car textures only. I guess this has been done to gain fps and to get as many textures as possible into the video RAM. However you can replace any 16-bit mip by a 24/32-bit one!
The type(3 to 5)-mips are basically the same as used by GPL, but have a different file structure. So you can´t exchange the files without converting them. A direct conversion is or will be supported by WinMip.
Mip-Files
The width and height of the images must be a power of 2.
(1, 2, 4, 16, 32, 64, 128 etc.) For the positioning of the texture within a
polygon is done relatively to these values it is important to follow
this convention strictly. But this makes it possible to replace mips with bigger ones. The original mip may have a size of 256x256 pixels. You may replace it by one with 512x256 or 512x512, etc. pixels to gain a sharper texture on high-end video cards.
When creating mip-files you must set the number of subimages (WinMip defaults to the maximum number of subimages. Do not change until you have specific reasons.), the
mip-type and the mapping.
SUBIMAGES: When seeing a texture from a further distance it must not
be so exact and detailed as when standing right in front of it. For
this reason mips contain besides the big image several smaller images going down to 1x1 pixels to speed-up the video output. WinMip 2 proposes a default value which
is used by all original N4-mips. Do not change it!
The subimages are calculated by a pixel being the average color of a
square of the big picture. Please consider: the RGB values of the
invisible colors are included into this calculation (unlike N2!).
When you choose black as invisible color this may result in a dark
outline (comic look) in the subimages. The best choice is an average
color between the texture and the background.
MAPPING: I lack for a better expression. It describes how a texture is
placed within a polygon. Values are from 0 to 3.
Value 0: The texture is mapped like a mosaic into the polygon.
Value 1: Several copies of the texture are aligned horizontally.
Value 2: Several copies of the texture are aligned vertically.
Value 3: The texture is stretched to fill the complete polygon.
The values must match with the settings in the 3do. When you are unsure, which mapping flag to set, take a look at the original mip.
Stp-Files
STP-Files are used for the graphical layout screens of N4. They are mips but without subimages and so there is no limitation in width or height. The mip part of the stp may be any of type(3 to 7). When doing replacement stps, they should have the same size as the ones included in the sim. Stp-files are identical for N4 and NR2002 and can be exchanged between them without conversion.
NR2002/3
NR2002/3 stores the graphics as "mip" or "stp", depending on the usage.
All NR2002/3 files contain their own color palette, they are interchangeable between tracks. The data part of some of the files is DCL-compressed. WinMip 2 doesn´t create DCL-compressed data parts, so the files may be a bit longer. There is no disadvantage by this when running the sim.
There are 7 types of files:
Type(3): 16-bit (65536 colors composed of 32 reds, 32 blues and 64
greens), all opaque.
As import, WinMip asks for a 24-bit bmp.
Type(4): 15-bit (32768 colors, 32ea R,G,B) with (one) invisible color(s).
As import, WinMip asks for a 24-bit bmp. The invisible color is set by pressing "shift" and click on the color in the picture with the mouse.
Type(5): 12-bit (4096 colors, 16ea R,G,B) with 16 levels of transparency.
When converting a Type(5)-mip to bitmap, WinMip creates 2 bmps of the same size: One containing the picture, the other one the alpha map (trancperency map). The alpha map has the same filename as the picture plus a "_ti" at its end. As import, WinMip asks for a 24-bit bmp and the alpha map as well.
Type(6): 24-bit (16.7 M colors composed of 255 reds, 255 blues and 255
greens), all opaque.
As import, WinMip asks for a 24-bit bmp.
Type(7): 32-bit (16.7 M colors, 255ea R,G,B) with 255 levels of transparency.
When converting a Type(7)-mip to bitmap, WinMip creates 2 bmps of the same size: One containing the picture, the other one the alpha map (trancperency map). The alpha map has the same filename as the picture plus a "_ti" at its end. As import, WinMip asks for a 24-bit bmp and the alpha map as well.
Type(10): 24-bit, using texture compression. The texture compression reduces the video RAM needed for a texture to a quarter. So it is possible to use bigger, which will mean sharper, textures, compared to N4. However, texture compression is not lossfree. (You may know a jpeg compressed image is much smaller in filesize than a bmp, but it doesn´t look as good anymore). Usually a 512x512 texture compressed image looks better than a 256x256 not compressed image. They both need the same space in video ram.
As import, WinMip asks for a 24-bit bmp.
You can also set an invisible color. This is done by pressing the "shift"-key and clicking with the mouse on this color in the image. When opening a compressed mip, WinMip shows the invisible color as magenta (pink).
Type(11): 24-bit, using texture compression, with a 4-bit alphamap.
When converting a Type(11)-mip to bitmap, WinMip creates 2 bmps of the same size: One containing the picture, the other one the alpha map (trancperency map). The alpha map has the same filename as the picture plus a "_ti" at its end. When exporting as tga, the alpha map is included in the tga. (32-bit tga). As import, WinMip asks for a 24-bit bmp and the alpha map as well.
The type(3 to 5)-mips are basically the same as used by GPL, but have a different file structure. So you can´t exchange the files without converting them. A direct conversion is or will be supported by WinMip.
The type(3 to 7)-mips are the same as used by N4, but with a small difference in the header. So you can´t exchange the files without converting them.
NR2002/3 uses nearly everywhere the compressed texture-types 10 and 11. But naturally, you are free to use the types 3 to 7 instead.
WinMip2 also accepts 24-bit tga files instead of bmps as input for the NR2003 mip/srb creation. When using tgas, WinMip doesn´t read seperate alpha maps. Just include these into the tga. Please refer to the manual of your graphic program on how to do this.
Mip-Files
The width and height of the images must be a power of 2.
(1, 2, 4, 16, 32, 64, 128 etc.) For the positioning of the texture within a
polygon is done relatively to these values it is important to follow
this convention strictly. But this makes it possible to replace mips with bigger ones. The original mip may have a size of 256x256 pixels. You may replace it by one with 512x256 or 512x512, etc. pixels to gain a sharper texture on high-end video cards.
When creating mip-files you must set the number of subimages (WinMip defaults to the maximum number of subimages. Do not change until you have specific reasons.), the
mip-type and the mapping.
SUBIMAGES: When seeing a texture from a further distance it must not
be so exact and detailed as when standing right in front of it. For
this reason mips contain besides the big image several smaller images going down to 1x1 pixels to speed-up the video output. WinMip 2 proposes a default value which
is used by all original NR2002/3-mips. Do not change it! For NR2002/3 does not display the textures with the OpenGL rasterizer when the subimage number is not set correctly, Winmip2 lets you only choose now between no and all subimages.
The subimages are calculated by a pixel being the average color of a
square of the big picture. Please consider: the RGB values of the
invisible colors are included into this calculation (unlike N2!).
When you choose black as invisible color this may result in a dark
outline (comic look) in the subimages. The best choice is an average
color between the texture and the background. This does not refer to the compressed type(10)-mips where there are no colors stored for invisible pixels.
MAPPING: I lack for a better expression. It describes how a texture is tiled within a polygon. Values are from 0 to 3.
Value 0: The texture is tiled like a mosaic into the polygon.
Value 1: Several copies of the texture are aligned vertically.
Value 2: Several copies of the texture are aligned horizontally.
Value 3: The texture is stretched to fill the complete polygon.
The values must match with the settings in the 3do. When you are unsure, which mapping flag to set, take a look at the original mip.
PRIORITY: NR2003 mips can hold a priority value which determins how much miplevels are kept when forced to drop levels compared to other mips. Will mean the higher the priority, the longer you will see this texture sharper than a texture with a lower priority. You can set the priority between 1 and 40. (In the mip it is stored as 0.1 to 4.0) Usually car textures have a priority of 8, the dashes have the highest prority of 40. For tracks, the textures in the trackmat folder have a priority of 3 or 4, while those of the trackside objects are set to 1. Feel free to do your own experiments.
Stp-Files
STP-Files are used for the graphical layout screens of NR2002/3. They are mips but without subimages and so there is no limitation in width or height. The mip part of the stp may be any of type(3 to 7) (Not the texture compressed types 10 and 11!). When doing replacement stps, they should have the same size as the ones included in the sim. Stp-files are identical for N4, NR2002 and NR2003 and can be exchanged between them without conversion.
Using The NR2003 Papytools Makemip and Makestp with WinMip2
In the package of the track creation tool "Sandbox" you´ll find also tools to create stp and mip files for NR2003. These tools work with a command line in a DOS box and are not easy to handle. WinMip2 will work as a surface for them.
SETTING UP WINMIP2 TO WORK WITH PAPYTOOLS: Copy "makemip.exe", "makestp.exe" and "rts.dll" into your Winmip folder. Select or deselect the usage of these tools for the mip/stp creation in Winmip´s "Settings/Papytools" pulldown menu. When selected, WinMip2 will use these tools for the mip/stp creation instead of its own build-in code. This effects the WinMips2 surface, the NR2003 car editor and the batch conversion as well.
WHY USING THE PAPY TOOLS? Well, this gives you the feel to create your textures the same way and with the same tools Papy did. They also have a compression routine which reduces the filesize. On the other hand my own conversion routines include some improvements for the texture compressed miptypes 10 and 11and the subimage creation. It´s your choice...
N4/NR2002/3 Batch Conversion
The batch conversion is a tool to convert several files at once. It reads the header of the original file and takes information about miptype, mapping, subimages off the original file. So you donİt have to mess around with these flags and your mip will be set up correctly. However it accepts bigger or smaller bmps. It is loaded by pressing "Batch Conversion" in WinMip´s file menu. Please select N4 or NR2002/3 in the toolbar before starting the batch conversion!
I´d propose to create seperate output folders for bmps converted from
mips and stps. When you select dat->bmp, the converted mip and stp-files go into the same folder, however they follow the subfolder structure of the dat.
Then set the destination folder by selecting the folder in the
directory list and clicking the SET button. You´ll see the complete
path of the output folder in the textbox. The batch conversion overwrites files
in the output folder without prior message!
For creating mips and stps the batch creation tool reads the header informations of the original file. This means, the original mip/stp-file must be located in the same folder and with the same name as your bmp. When it doesn´t find the original file it looks for the original dat in the output folder and tries to find the necessary file informations.
Choose the input folder by double click in the directory list and
check the conversion you want to proceed in the check boxes. Then you
can select one or more files to be converted as you are used by the
Explorer.
With a click on the START button the conversion begins. Depending on
the number of files to be converted and your CPU it may take several
minutes! The program should not hang; you´ll get a message if an
error occurs.
A message appears in the upper textbox when the conversion is done.
Clicking on the down-arrow opens the conversion protocol.
NR2002/3 Car File Editor
The car files contain the car texture, the crew texture and the car.ini. You can import/export car and crew textures with NR2002/3s built-in paint shop. Besides this, the WinMip car file editor allows you to import bigger textures and to access values in the car.ini.
You open the car file editor in the "Extras" menu. It displays the current contents of the chosen car file. Now you can import new car or crew textures. The imported textures must be in 24-bit bmp format. Allowed is any size as long as the width and height are a power of 2. (For example 256, 512, 1024, 2048, etc.; 2048x512 would be a valid size.) You can choose whether the texture should be saved as 24-bit texture compressed (default), 24-bit or 16-bit mip within the car file. Note: when importing other texture sizes than the default ones, you will not be able to edit this car file with NR2002/3s paint shop anymore.
The car file editor allows you to import textures as tga when NR2003 is selected. Also there is a priority slider. Default priority is 8. The priority determins how fast mip levels are dropped compared to other mips.
When in the car.ini the value for NumChampionships in the [CareerStats] section is bigger than 0, then "Official Nascar Champion" will be displayed in the opponent manager.
Troubleshooting
There is a known problem with opening bmp-Files which don´t follow the standards set by Microsoft for the fileformat. Especially Photoshop does a lot of stupid things to bitmaps. Make sure, a 4-bit bmp is stored with a 4-bit palette and a 4-bit data section, a 8-bit bmp is stored with a 8-bit palette and a 8-bit data section. 24-bit bitmaps usually should work well.
Klaus Hörbrand, November 12th, 2003; winmip@horbra.de