TO MAKE THIS EASIER TO READ WRAPPED,GO BACK TO THE LINK YOU JUST CLICKED AND RITE CLIK IT then SAVE TARGET AS,SAVE IT TO YOUR DESKTOP OR WHEREVER AND READ IT THERE....NOTEPAD HAS A WORD WRAP FEATURE AS DESCRIBED BELOW. NASCAR Heat MOD Launcher 2 Version 1.5.0 Coded by Oleg Astakhov (a.k.a. TheMask, HeatMaster) in 2003-2004 e-mail: themask@one.lv Quick Note before reading: ========================== Maximize your Notepad and from the "Edit" menu choose "Word Wrap" - this will make it much more easier to read this file. Introduction: ============= This program allows you to launch the MODs which you have previously installed on your system without having the shortcuts to every MOD, especially if they are all placed on your desktop; therefore, if you wish, you can delete them to make your desktop free from dozens of icons. From its title it is obvious that its primary task is to launch MODs, but it also has a built-in Track Manager. Nascar HEAT cashes all the tracks you have installed, thus, taking up extra system memory. Using the Track Manager you can avoid this, besides, it's much more easier to find/select tracks from within the game when only those tracks are in the list which you race in this particular MOD. Installation: ============= Just double-click NH_ML_2.exe and follow the instructions. You can select any destination for the program. Everything should install properly. Running the program: ==================== You can run NASCAR Heat MOD Launcher 2 from your "Start -> Programs" menu. This program is designed to work with NASCAR Heat installed even into a NON-standard directory or/and drive!!! WARNING: ============ You will be prompted once to browse to your Run/Data folder at the first startup of MOD Launcher 2 (browse to Run folder if you HAVE NO-CD patch installed, and browse to Data folder if you DO NOT have NO-CD patch installed). Make sure you double-click on that folder, otherwise the program will NOT work! Utilization: ============ Everything is quite simple - you select a MOD and launch it, the MOD Launcher 2 will automatically close. If you race any particular MOD more than others then I've added a "StartUp MOD" feature you might find useful. In order to save time scrolling through all installed MODs you can set any MOD you like as a "Default" MOD by going to File -> StartUp MOD and choosing "Set Current as Default". But if you race random MODs then you can choose "Last Launched" from that same location. There's also a built-in Track Manager at your disposal. You can make your own sets of tracks for each particular MOD and the MOD Launcher 2 will remember all your sets. You will be able to modify them anytime you want by selecting the MOD you need and then opening Track Manager. You can move the tracks from one List Box to another one by one or you can select several tracks by pressing and holding CTRL button on your keyboard. The only MOD that you can't make a track set for is the original "Winston Cup 2000 MOD" - it's not a MOD actually, it's the NASCAR Heat game itself; the reason it can't be done is because I'd need to make a separate algorithm for this purpose...but then again, if everybody wants it, I will add this feature. For other MOD Launcher 2 features read below. PATCH Swapper: ============== I'd say this one is universal because you can add new patches and remove the old ones yourself! Here's an instruction on how to use it: By default, there are no patches to swap, I didn't include them in the Installer because of the size of the download, besides, I don't know which ones you need and which ones you don't, so you will have to add them yourself, it's not difficult at all. First off, the most important thing you must do is create a folder named 'Patches' in the folder where you have MOD Launcher 2 installed!! Then, install a patch you want to be shown in the Patch Swapper as you normally do. Go to your NASCAR Heat directory (default path is: C:\Program Files\Hasbro Interactive\NASCAR Heat) and find there a file named 'patch.bin' - this file is the patch you've just installed, and of course you know the version of the patch you've just installed, right-click on this file and choose 'copy'. Now, go to the directory where yo have MOD Launcher 2 installed and open the directory which you had created before (Patches). Make another folder here and choose any name for this folder you like - the name you will give to this folder will be assigned to this patch in the Patch Swapper, e.g. if you created a folder 'MGI Patch v1.72e' then it will have exactly the same name in the Patch Swapper built in the MOD Launcher 2. And then put the 'patch.bin' file from the NASCAR Heat folder into the one you've just created by right-clicking on white background and choosing 'paste'. From this point, the MOD Launcher will find this patch automatically. Then, install another patch, and do the same procedure for all the patches you want to be shown in the Patch Swapper. MOD Launcher will find all your patches. If you don't wish to have any of the patches to swap anymore, then just delete the folder with that patch. Easy as that. CARSET / DRIVERS.TXT Swapper: ============================= The reason this function is both Carset Swapper and Drivers.txt Swapper is because I've decided to make it more flexible (customizable if you wish). Basically, a Carset is a set of two files - Paint.res and Drivers.txt, therefore to swap one Carset you would need to swap both files at once - this is what 'Carset / Drivers.txt Swapper' function does, BUT, I've made it possible to swap them separately if you wish, i.e. you can install only new drivers.txt OR only Paint.res, but use it wisely! You must have at least an idea of how these two files are interconnected, if you're not sure, then always swap BOTH files (in case if you downloaded a MOD with the Carsets done for you and there is only one choice available, then it means the MOD creator knew what he was doing, so feel free to swap one file). In order to make this function available you must do a few mandatory things first. By default, 'Carset Swapper' is grayed out, and in general, I'm coding programs the way user couldn't perform an action which is not allowed, for instance, pressing 'Swap' button before you've chosen the Carset from the selection box, this is why I make buttons grayed out when something is not possible at present, not all programmers do this because it's not that simple, I have to predict every action and any possible combination, besides, that essentially inscreases the amount of lines in the source code... Do these steps and all will be well: 1) Create a 'Carsets' folder in the folder of the MOD you where want Carset/Drivers.txt to be swapped in, e.g. C:\Program Files\Hasbro Interactive\NASCAR Heat\V8SRS\Carsets\ ; 2) Create another folder in the 'Carsets' folder and name it as you wish (this name will appear in the selection box), e.g. C:\Program Files\Hasbro Interactive\NASCAR Heat\V8SRS\Carsets\Euro 500\ ; 3) Put either one of the following files or both of them into that folder: --- paint.res --- drivers.txt NOTE: You must not put any other files into this folder, they will simply be ignored; that is, if you want only drivers.txt to be swapped, then add drivers.txt, if only paintjobs - then paint.res, if both drivers.txt and a paintjobs - then both files; ONLY from this point when you've created those two directories and put at least one of the mandatory files in, the 'Carset Swapper' function will become available; 4) Add at least one more Carset/drivers.txt by repeating steps 2 and 3 (otherwise nothing to be swapped); 5) Run MOD Launcher; 6) Choose a MOD where you've just made modifications in; 7) Choose 'Carset Swapper' from the 'Utilities' Drop Down menu; The Launcher will find the directories you had created and show them to you as 'names' of the Carsets. 8) You will see several options. First of all, 2 main checkboxes: #1 - 'Paint.res' #2 - 'Drivers.txt' You can check either both checkboxes or only one of them - as you wish (for more information read above); Note: If both checkboxes are not grayed out then it means the Carset folder has both files in it, if either of them - then only one; There are two more checkboxes: #3 - 'Convert Paint.res to Paint256.res' #4 - 'BackUp Existing Carset' The third has to be used only by those who has low-end PCs and who is obliged to rename Paint.res to Paint256.res to see the paintjobs. Otherwise, don't tick this option! And the forth is self-explanatory, if you don't want to overwrite the existing Carset, then just tick the last checkbox and it will not be overwritten. You can also see the 'Restore Back Up' button which is currently grayed out - this is because you don't have anything Backed Up, but once you will, the next time you run 'Carset Swapper', you will see this option available (but the 'BackUp Existing Carset' checkbox will be grayed out. Note: you can only make one Back Up) 9) Click the 'Swap' button and depending on how many checkboxes you checked you have a new Carset/Drivers in-game ; IMPORTANT: BackUp function works only with Paint.res & drivers.txt (not Paint256.res & drivers.txt) To MOD Makers: For example, when you release a MOD with several Carsets to choose from, you will have a 'so called' default carset, which is not going to be included in the 'Carsets' folder, right? Now think this way, the user will want to install a different Carset, and by installing the new one, he will overwrite the previous Carset, without the possibility to restore it (unless he reinstalls the MOD). Therefore, there are 3 ways out: 1) either you will have to inform all users to BackUp the current Carset using the 'BackUp' function first before installing the new one (not reliable); 2) or you will have to copy the 'default' carset into the Carsets folder, which means there will be 2 same Carsets (not good); 3) or you will have to make an installer for your MOD which during the installation process would simply copy the 'default' Carset into the 'Carsets' folder - thus the size of the download will be the same as if you had only one copy of the 'default' carset (I think this option is the best way out) Disable GCFs Option: ==================== A GCF is a file with a ghostline for AI cars. When a new MOD is released it has to have its own GCF files for ALL tracks which are associated with this particular type of racing. So, the reason you race competitive AI (OFFLINE) is because people who were involved in the project of this MOD made these GCF files for you. But sometimes users want to make their own ghostlaps, and they do them, and then, naturally, replace the original ones. With that said, when they go to race ONLINE, they may have different GCF files. This is one of the reasons of the warp during online races. 'Disable GCFs' option eliminates unwelcomed warping by temporarily renaming extensions of ALL track GCF files to TGF and GHOSCAR.RES to GHOSTCAR.TMP (if such exists) (NASCAR Heat will think that there are no custom GCFs in the MOD folder). Thus, all users will have the SAME GCF file which is packed into the track file itself (.TRK) . Therefore, I strongly recommend 'ticking' this option before going 'online' ! IMPORTANT: When you 'tick' this option, NO changes are made, this option will ONLY work if you launch a MOD from within this program (and not by running a shortcut or 'BAT' file), because, when 'Launch Nascar HEAT' & 'Connect to Server' button commands are being executed, MOD Launcher 2 looks if you had checked/ticked this option, and if you DID tick it, then ALL GCFs (+GHOSTCAR.RES) for current MOD will be disabled. You might wonder: "How do I turn them back on?", the answer - simply, don't tick this option, MOD Launcher 2 will look if you had ticked this option and if it sees that it's unchecked AND GCFs for current MOD had been previously disabled, it will enable them ALL back on. NOTE: This option will NOT work for the 'Winston Cup 2000' MOD (this is the original NASCAR Heat game itself) and you won't get any error message, simply, nothing will happen, exept that the MOD will be launched. DIRECT CONNECT: =============== This is one useful feature for those who race online. As you know, not all HEAT servers are seen on IRF (Internet Race Finder), this is because people use IP numbers to connect to a server. And it's not very convinient always to type them in, besides, sometimes you may forget IPs or lose them... Well, you don't have to remember and type them in now. This feature let's you add servers to the list and then directly connect to a server by choosing the one you want to connect to from the list. The servers will be shown as names (you can choose any name you like), and when you select one server from the list you will be shown an IP address for this particular server right below the list. You can remove the ones you don't need anymore very easily by selecting it and pressing the 'Remove Selected' button. When adding a server you only have to enter an IP address and a description (note: when entering IP you might want to use the 'TAB' button on your keyboard to switch edit boxes, simply because it's faster than using a mouse). I've also added a possibility to select a port. 2001 is the default port for NASCAR Heat online connection, if for some reason you use a different port then choose custom and enter the port number. If you use this port ALWAYS then you may want to add this port to options.cfg (which is located in the MOD folder) to the [MULTI] section by changing the 'port 2001' line, and then when you're going to connect to a server using the 'Direct Connect' feature select 'Use port from options.cfg' and ML2 will read it from that file - this will free you from typing the port number every time before connecting. The list of servers is kept in one file - servers.lst - which is located in the main MOD Launcher 2 directory. IMPORTANT: Before joining a server, MAKE SURE you select the PROPER MOD from the selection box, otherwise you will connect to a server which hosts a different MOD and despite that NASCAR Heat WILL let you race using 2 different MODs! TRACK SET Manager: ================== Now you can create your own track sets, such as Ovals, Dirt Ovals, Road Courses, Night Tracks, even a real life schedule for a specific type of racing, e.g. F1 Schedule, Winston Cup Schedule, basically anything you like, and then quickly load them before launching a MOD. The track sets that you will create will be stored in one file named 'track.set', which is located in the main MOD Launcher 2 directory. You can edit the ones you had already created, remove un-needed, or add new sets! You can view your track sets by clicking 'View' button to the right of the selection box. IMPORTANT: The track set is loaded to the currently selected MOD by overwriting the one you created via 'Track Manager'. Also, if you have created a set, and then uninstalled one of the tracks that were included in this set, MOD Launcher WILL DETECT this and automatically remove this track(s) from the set, otherwise you would see a track in the game which DOES NOT exist in the Run folder, and then you would select it without suspecting anything and then you'd get a crash log! But don't worry, this will never happen, I'm trying very hard to make the use of this program a pleasure. Custom Program Launcher: ======================== This is a small handy utility built in ML2 which lets you run different applications from within ML2 itself. Everything is quite straight-forward here, you browse to the executable of the program you want to be launched and give it a name; that's all there is to it, it will be added to the list and then you can select it from the list and click on 'Run Application' button. The CPL form (window) is not modal, it means you can work with ML2 with CPL being opened, but of course if you close ML2 then it will also be closed. Custom Splash Screen Support: ============================= Actually, you can't 'see' this feature. The purpose of it is to show a custom 'Splash Screen' before the MOD loads up instead of a regular generic one. You don't have to do anything, just do things you usually do, if it finds a new 'Splash Screen' in the MOD folder then you will see it. Hopefully MOD makers will take care of that and make custom 'Splash Screens' for their MODs and include them in the package from now on. If you want to make your own then do the following: - Create your new 'Splash Screen' in any Paint program you like. The size of the image should be 510x385 (510 being Width and 385 - Height) and saved as '.BMP' only! - If you can't see your file's extension then in your 'Windows Explorer' go to 'View' -> 'Folder Options' -> 'View' tab -> and in the Advanced Settings find 'Hide file extensions for known file types' and uncheck it. Now you should see full name of the file, e.g. image.bmp ; - Rename your file to: spl_scr - And the last step is to put it in any MOD folder you like. ML2 will find it and do its job. Starting Grid Manager: ====================== With this feature you can make your own line-up very quickly without touching drivers.txt. It works pretty much the same as 'Track Manager' does. You're free to choose only those drivers to appear in the game which you want to. Or if the MOD has a lot of cars, e.g. more than 16, you will not be able to race less than 16 opponents unless you go and edit drivers.txt manually, but now it's automated, just select the mod and open up 'Starting Grid Manager', and make any number of oppenents as you like - 15, 12, 11, 3... This might also help if your PC is not very fast and gives you low frame rates with lots of opponents (even 16 oppenents can give you a lot of stuttering if the cars are high in polys). To be on the safe side, before this feature touches any of your driver.txt files, it make a copy of your original drivers.txt and saves it in the same folder with a new name: backup_drivers.txt That way if anything went wrong you can always revert back to your original file (the file is only a few KBs so it will not affect on your HDDs space at all). This is not the final version of this feature, it will be expanded, so stay tuned. How the program works: ====================== When you run the program it does the following actions: - searches/creates/reads "root.txt" file in the directory where you have installed MOD Launcher 2; - generates the MOD list; - searches/creates/reads "startup.cfg" in the directory where you have installed MOD Launcher 2; WARNING: do not modify the contents of these files or you will have errors! -root.txt contains the root to your Run/Data directory. If the file doesn't exist the program will prompt you at startup to browse to that directory and then it will create the file. If you've accidently chosen the wrong path, you'll get an error, don't mention it, BUT, go to "File -> Locate NHeat..." option to re-locate your Run/Data folder, then close the program and run it again, everything should be back to normal. The program uses this file when searching for MODs and when creating/modifying track sets. Therefore, you must enter a valid directory. - when creating the list of all installed MODs, MOD Launcher 2 analizes your "..\NASCAR Heat" directory. It ignores the following folders: Run, Data, Ghostcar, Paint, Record, Replay, Setups - because these folders CAN NOT contain MODs. It looks in every other folder that you have in your "..\NASCAR Heat" directory. Only those MODs will be added to the MOD list which have 3 following files in their own folders: | drivers.txt | mod.cfg | and at least one .CAR file in fact, if either of these files is absent that means that you won't be able to play this MOD, so why add it to the MOD list? :) Besides, it increases the probability of actual MOD. - startup.cfg - as mentioned above in the "Utilization" section, you can choose between two options - whether to store the name of the last launched MOD or you can set a Default MOD - in both cases MOD Launcher 2 will automatically select that MOD and put its name in the Text Edit box, so that you could launch it at once. So, this file contains the variant that you've choosen as well as the names of the MODs for this feature. If you deleted the MOD which the MOD Launcher 2 will try to put in the Text Edit box at startup then it will automatically choose the very first MOD from the list of all found MODs. If this file doesn't exist the MOD Launcher 2 will automatically create it and put in both fields the same name of the very first MOD from the list of all found MODs, and as a default it chooses "Last Launched". Now when the program is running you can start working with it. - Track Manager: First off all, I must say that track sets are stored in "track.ini" file which is located in every MOD directory (that is, if you have already created a set). When you run the Track Manager it searches for this "track.ini" file for the MOD that you've chosen and if it finds it, it looks through this file and compares the tracks in your "track.ini" with the tracks that are located in your Run/Data folder; if it can't find the actual track which is listed in your "track.ini" file it automatically removes this track from the list (in other words - you won't see a track in the Track Manager which is NOT installed), then it sorts the list in alphabetical order and when the process is finished it loads the track set into the Left List Box of the track Manager which is named "IN". All the rest tracks which weren't found in your "track.ini" file BUT ARE found in your Run/Data folder are added to the List Box named "OUT" also in alphabetical order. Then you can add the files from OUT to IN, or remove the tracks from IN to OUT. If the MOD Launcher 2 can't find the "track.ini" file for the MOD that you've chosen then it will add all the tracks it finds in your Run/Data folder to the OUT List Box, and you will have to make a new track set and then by pressing "OK" the "track.ini" will be created. A condition - MOD Launcher 2 won't allow you to make a track set consisting of 0 tracks, you must have at least one track added to the set. You can move the tracks from one List Box to another one by one or you can select several tracks by pressing and holding CTRL button on your keyboard. There's also a possibility to move all tracks at once. If you don't want to save the changes you have made in the Track Manager then simply press "Cancel", otherwise press "OK". IMPORTANT: When swapping tracks IN and OUT, the track files themselves are NOT copied/moved/deleted/renamed in any way! So don't be afraid, MOD Launcher 2 will not mess up your files. NOTE: I think there's no need in describing the structure of any other features that MOD Launcher has because of several reasons, one of them is - nobody will ever read it :( Security/Reliability: ===================== I disabled the ability to type in the name of the MOD manually because if you enter an incorrect name of the MOD or MOD which does not exist you will get errors. Nonetheless, you can highlight the Text Box and type the first letters of the MOD you want to launch and it will automatically select that MOD for you. - MOD Launcher 2 Generated files: Most of the files that you can see in the main MOD Launcher 2 directory are NOT text files, so DON'T even try to edit them, you will corrupt your files. Uninstallation: =============== To remove this program from your system double-click on "My Computer", then open "Control Panel", choose "Add/Remove Programs", find "NH MOD Launcher 2" in the list and click "Add/Remove", then follow on-screen instructions. IMPORTANT: All files which have been created after installing MOD Launcher 2 will REMAIN on your HDD after uninstalling this software. If you're not planning to use MOD launcher 2 in the future then find the folder where ML2 had been previously installed and delete it manually. But if you want to upgrade to a newer version of MOD Launcher 2 and want to save all your custom files, then all you have to do is uninstall it, and then install the new version in the same directory where your previous version was - in this case ML2 won't even prompt you to locate NASAR Heat's Run folder again! Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ): ================================= Q: ML2 doesn't find any of my track files. What do I do? A: Most likely you've been using the OLD MOD Launcher (I mean not the old version of my program, but a completely different software made by another programmer) which renamed track file extensions to '.TRK.1' in order to hide tracks so that they were not seen in the game. My MOD Launcher searches for files with .TRK extension, so if it can't find it then it means you'll have to rename track extensions either manually or from within the old MOD Launcher itself. Version History: ================ *** v1.0.0 *** - No additional HDD space required; - Does not move/modify/delete/rename your files; - NON-standard NASCAR Heat directory support!! - Built-in Track Manager; - No 32 track limit! - Launches selected MOD and then closes itself; - Enables you to make your own track sets as well as modify them; - Stores track sets for each and every MOD; - Choose whether to show a "Default MOD" on startup or "Last Launched" MOD; - Easy to use. *** v1.1.0 *** - Universal Patch Swapper added; - Copy track sets from one MOD to another feature added; - Instant access to NASCAR Heat folder added; - Now when you swap tracks from IN to OUT and vice versa the tracks lists are being automatically sorted in alphabetical order. In v1.0 they were sorted only when you opened Track Manager. *** v1.2.0 *** - Carset / Drivers.txt Swapper added; - Small Bug fix - in v1.1 in the Track Manager from the 'Copy Track Set' function you could copy a track set to a 'blank' MOD; - Now the MOD Launcher will detect those MODs which have 'Archive' or/and 'Read Only' attributes on; - Patch swapper will not be available until it locates patch.bin file. in v1.1 it only searched for 'patches' folder for the 'Patch Swapper' to become available; - Instant access to 'Run' folder added. *** v1.3.0 *** - Direct Connect feature added; - Disable GCFs option added; - Custom Track Sets feature added; - Instant access to MOD Launcher 2 folder. *** v1.4.0 *** - Custom Splash Screen Support; - Custom Program Launcher feature added; - Instant access to current MOD folder; - Small Bug Fix - if you had StartUp MOD set as 'Last Launched', after you once launched 'Winston Cup 2000', next time loaded ML2 and then launched Winston Cup 2000 again it would give you 'File not Found' error. My guess is this bug has been since version 1.2 though noone have ever reported it, I've found it by accident when I was testing v1.4. It's fixed now. *** v1.4.1 *** - Bug Fix - there were two problems with custom Splash Screens: 1) Sometimes regular Nascar splash screen reappeared; 2) When users run NHeat on XP they get a prompt "Nascar Heat not designed for Windows 2000, Continue?", and the splash screen covers it so that it's impossible to click "Yes". Now this prompt won't appear at all, MOD Launcher 2 makes a copy of nheat.exe and renames the clone to 'nascar heat.exe', and works with this file (that's what makes prompt disappear). Read below for more info. *** v1.4.2 *** - Ghostcar.res file support *** v1.5.0 *** - Mod_ghostcar.res file support; - Starting Grid Manager. Notes: ====== There's a known bug on WinXP and W2k systems - usually a message pops up saying that NASCAR Heat is not designed to run under Win2000, and you have to press 'OK' or 'Yes' or whatever to continue, and if a MOD has a custom splash screen then it will overlap that message and you won't be able to press any of those buttons; in this case you have to 'minimize' custom splash screen by clicking it in the taskbar, then you will be able to proceed. And one more bug in NT systems is that sometimes an old generic splash screen re-appears _after_ the new splash screen is shown. Hopefully that will be fixed in future versions. CONTACT: ======== If you have any questions, comments, suggestions, requests, problems, e-mail me at: themask@one.lv , I will reply to everyone. Author's Notes: =============== I want to thank all the guys at MGI for making the best racing SIM ever, for supporting it all the way and for helping MOD and track makers (including me)! Special thanks goes to Dave Broske!