Modernizing GTR2 with the Crew Chief GTR2 Enhancements Plugin

What is it?

Crew Chief (CC)

• The Crew Chief (CC) is an app that gives you a speech-enabled spotter and race engineer you can get information from while driving
• It's a normal app you run in a background window and it supports many sims
• The app can tell you about various in-game elements such as lap times, tire temperatures, fuel levels, and gaps between you and other racers
• It can also alert you to crashes ahead and track your position throughout the race
• The virtual "crew chief" can communicate with you using pre-configured hotkeys or voice commands
• You can even speak to the Crew Chief with a microphone and ask it questions it will respond to
• Download it from https://thecrewchief.org/

GTR2 Enhancements Plugin (CCGEP)

• The GTR2 Enhancements Plugin (CCGEP) comes bundled with The Crew Chief app and is specifically meant to enhance GTR2
• The Crew Chief GTR2 Enhancements Plugin is designed to modernize and improve various aspects of GTR2
• The plugin has many features that enhance GTR2, itself, and not just how The Crew Chief app operates
• It introduces enhancements like multi-threading support, improved graphics (reducing flickering and crashes), better force feedback integration, and VR support
• Additionally, it enables automatic borderless windowed mode, automatic use-all-cores, changeable weather fix, VR support, gearbox enhancements, high refresh rate physics and ffb, DXVK, ReShade, RealFeel FFB, Wiper Patches, and Real Weather features
• It does even more, as well. Find out more on the plugin's Homepage
• The plugin that comes bundled with The Crew Chief might not be the absolute latest as betas are released on the discord. See the plugin homepage for the discord link. See #Beta Installation for beta steps.
• Download it from https://thecrewchief.org/ as it comes bundled with The Crew Chief app

Download

• Download The Crew Chief from https://thecrewchief.org/
• The Crew Chief comes bundled with the latest release of the GTR2 Enhancements Plugin so you don't need to download anything else
• Newer plugin betas can be downloaded via discord. See the plugin homepage for the discord link. See #Beta Installation for beta steps.

Features

• Requires Steam GTR2 or HQ Anniversary Patch compatibility options

Here's just some of what The Crew Chief and the plugin can do:

I particularly like the flicker fixes, various crash fixes, borderless windowed mode, automatic use-all-cores, changeable weather fix, VR support, gearbox enhancements, high refresh rate physics and ffb, DXVK, ReShade, RealFeel FFB, Wiper Patches, and Real Weather features.

• Crew Chief
  • Spotter with real voice call-outs for things like “car left/right”, time remaining, cars gaining from behind, etc. It’s extremely well done. Absolutely recommend downloading Crew Chief.
• GTR2 Enhancements Plugin
  • Spotter Implementation and some Accuracy Customization
  • VR Support
  • Custom Rules
    • Customize various stock rules
    • Add DRS Rules
  • FFB Changes
    • Stationary Tyre Friction
    • Fix for losing FFB
    • Flat Spots
    • Dirt Pickup
  • Gearbox Changes
    • Lift-to-Shift
    • Antistall
    • Damage
    • Gear grinding on mis-shifts
  • Graphics Changes
    • Flicker fix
    • Borderless Windowed Mode (excellent implementation; feels native)
    • UI Squeeze for Triples and Ultrawide Screens
    • Wiper Animation
    • Backfire Effects
    • Improved Rain Reflection Quality
    • Improved Rain Reflection Performance
  • Motec Changes
    • Enhanced Motec (more information)
    • Additional Data Pages
    • Additional Data Page Unit Styles
  • Tire Enhancements
    • Separate Visual Tire Per Compound
  • DXVK Integration
    • “DXVK implements DX9 by using Vulkan. On some hardware, when used with GTR2 it improves framerate (especially in VR), memory usage and image quality.”
    • DXVK “SGSSAA”
      • “GTR2 specific DXVK fork supports AA form that looks similar to SGSSAA”
  • Memory Usage Optimizations
  • Decoupled High Refresh Rate Physics
    • A new physics thread can now run at native rate (tied to fps) or 400hz, 800hz, 1600hz, and 3200hz (real-world performance depends on your cpu)
  • Decoupled High Refresh Rate Inputs/FFB
    • A new Inputs/FFB thread can now run at native rate (tied to fps) or 200hz, 400hz, 800hz, or 1600hz (real-world performance depends on your cpu)
  • ReShade
  • RealFeel FFB
  • Real Weather
  • Wipers Patches
  • Additional Fixes
    • Always-on Fixes
      • Various crash case fixes
      • Optimized Framerate, memory usage, and image quality (on some hardware)
      • Reduce Headlight/Shadow Flicker (introduced with Steam GTR2)
      • Fix Missing rF1 Plugin API Telemetry Data
      • Enable Championship/Driving School Page Icons
      • Disable Use of My Documents for Game User Profile
      • Applies Changeable Weather Patch by Jstn
      • Add New Control Bindings In-Game Under Controls->Extra (scroll to bottom to view them)
    • Automatic Use-All-Cores-or-Some-CPU-Cores Setting for Improved FPS
    • VR Lens Flare Effect adjustment
    • Motion System Mode
    • Per-Car Settings File for Modders (mostly)
    • Per-Track Settings File

What You Can Expect

Here are two videos that show off GTR2 at its best. On the left is "Vanilla GTR2" in its original state and and on the right is "Modern GTR2" optimized with the Crew Chief GTR2 Enhancements Plugin.

All of the tweaks mentioned below are documented here or in the main GTR2 article.

The first video is a true vanilla Steam GTR2. If it couldn't be configured in-game, it wasn't configured, so no optimizations, no patches, no high resolution textures, no mods.

The second video is a modern Steam GTR2 with the Crew Chief GTR2 Enhancements Plugin and all the optimizations possible inside and outside the game.

This video is an optimized vanilla Steam GTR2. So, it's got things like NVIDIA profile tweaks, 4GB patch, using all cores, car and track mods, high res skies, hidden PLR and defviews.cam tweaks, etc. The only thing it doesn't have is the Crew Chief GTR2 Enhancements Plugin.

Installation

Note: You don't have to install every part all at once. You can do Crew Chief one day, DXVK another, and ReShade on another. I know it's a bit much, so take your time.

First download Crew Chief and it'll come with the latest GTR2 Enhancements Plugin:

https://thecrewchief.org/

The download link is in the middle of the page: “Download CrewChief for PC”

Install:

• Install Crew Chief, run it, select GTR2 under the Game heading, and click Properties:
• Set GTR 2 install path (text) to your GTR2 folder path
  • Something like C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\GTR 2 – FIA GT Racing Game but yours might be different
• Set GTR 2 launch exe (text) to your GTR2.exe path and file name
  • Something like C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\GTR 2 – FIA GT Racing Game\GTR2.exe but yours might be different
• Then you just click the Start Crew Chief button when you want to use it with GTR2.

Once you run GTR2, the plugin will generate Plugins\CrewChief.ini which you can then configure.

Is It Working?

• You’ll know it’s working if you hear a voice when you get into the cockpit.
• It should generate Plugins\CrewChief.ini in your GTR2 folder when you start and exit GTR2

Notes

• Check out the latest plugin info from its homepage
• The plugin comes with some things enabled right off the bat but there are some extra things which can be enabeld by hand in Plugins\CrewChief.ini file.

Beta Installation

Optional: Betas can be found on the discord. Find the invitation link on the plugin homepage.

If you do it this way, you'll download a ZIP and simply extract it into your GTR2 folder. It will typically ovewrite d3d9.dll and Plugins\CrewChief.dll.

That's it, give it a try. You usually don't need to do anything else. If you're having problems then check release notes and any READMEs in the zips in case you need to update DXVK, CCGE ReShade Tools, or anything else along with it.

Tweaks

Here are a few recommendations for things to set in GTR2\Plugins\CrewChief.ini:

• rulesDisableAutomaticSpeedLimiter: Disable automatic pitspeed limiter
  • Try 1
• overrideVRMaxSeatRange: Allow moving seat farther. Works without VR.
  • Try 1.20
• graphicsRearViewLODMultiplier: Increase Level of Detail / Draw Distance for mirrors
  • Try 8.00
• physicsOfflinePlayerMode: Decouples Player Physics from Framerate allowing higher fidelity.
  • Try 1 (400hz)
• physicsDecoupledInputsMode: Decouples inputs from framerate allowing higher fidelity
  • Try 2 (400hz)

DXVK

Note: You don't have to install every part all at once. You can do Crew Chief one day, DXVK another, and ReShade on another. I know it's a bit much, so take your time.

"DXVK implements DX9 by using Vulkan. On some hardware, when used with GTR2 it improves framerate (especially in VR), memory usage and image quality... Additional benefit of using DXVK is the possibility of moving the near clipping plane as close as 0.03, which can be useful in VR and modern open wheelers... Lastly, DXVK VR rendering path supports OpenXR and ReShade with full depth info available in VR." (from the manual)

Download GTR2 specific fork of DXVK from the manual and extract the files into your GTR2 folder:

https://thecrewchief.org/downloads/gtr2/gtr2_dxvk_TIWF_latest.zip

Run GTR2Config.exe and save your choices.

Tweaks

Edit dxvk.conf to make any changes you may want:

• Fullscreen vs Windowed: You might need to set d3d9.enableDialogMode = True in dxvk.conf to get Windowed mode back. Otherwise, it seems to default to Fullscreen mode.
  • Important! Overlays such as SimHub will not be able to display properly without d3d9.enableDialogMode = True
• Max FrameRate: Check d3d9.maxFrameRate = 100 and set to zero to disable or your desired max framerate

Check out dxvk.conf for DXVK settings, such as MSAA level, max frame limit etc.

Is It Working?

• GTR2_d3d9.log is generated when you run the game
• See if you can switch between windowed and fullscreen modes
• If both of the above are true, congratulations - you have DXVK running correctly!

If you use MSI Afterburner overlays, you can see "VULKAN" where it normally says "DXD9"

Whenever You Enable/Disable DXVK

Every time you turn DXVK on or off, make sure to re-run GTR2Config.exe. In fact, you may want to run it twice, as refresh rate choice may not show up the first time.

Disable DXVK

To turn DXVK off and go back to DX9, simply rename d3d9_dxvk.dll to d3d9_dxvk.dll_off

Notes

• Overlays such as SimHub will not be able to display properly without d3d9.enableDialogMode = True

ReShade

Note: You don't have to install every part all at once. You can do Crew Chief one day, DXVK another, and ReShade on another. I know it's a bit much, so take your time.

The following is based on the CCGEP ReShade Tools section of the manual.

Before You Try:

• If you want the full experience, however, you'll need to download version 3+ of the GTR2 Enhancements Plugin available from the discord which you can find via the plugin homepage.
  • Version 3+ is not available from the Crew Chief app at this time (2024-03-12) so you'll need to download v3 via discord.
• Otherwise, you can try vanilla ReShade with any version of the GTR2 Enhancements Plugin
  • Just install ReShade to your GTR2 folder

Here's the quickest way to try it out:

• Download the ReShade installer version with Addon support and install to your GTR2 folder:
  • Important: You want the installer version with Addon support
  • Select the location of your GTR2.exe file using the Browse button
  • Select Vulkan as your renderer (if you setup DXVK per above).
  • Do NOT install any presets, unless you want to, as you will be using the Retrolux Reshade preset for now. You can always run the ReShade installer again and install other presets.
  • Update ReShade Only: Select this option to avoid overwriting anything important.
    • Once you're confident with ReShade, you can backup your files, and try the other options which update your shaders and related files.

• Download CCGEP Reshade Tools and extract into your GTR2 folder:
  • Read the README file just in case it contradicts these instructions
  • This contains the important CCGEPReShadeAddOn.addon32 file that goes at the root of your GTR2 folder
  • Create a reshade-presets folder in your GTR2 folder and move the tiw-vr-preset\*.ini files into it
  • Move tiw-vr-preset\reshade-shaders into your GTR2 folder
• Download Retrolux Reshade for GTR2
  • Copy ReShade\Presets\*.ini files to your reshade-presets folder
  • Copy ReShade\Shaders\*.* and ReShade\Textures\*.* files to your reshade-shaders folder
• Start GTR2:
  • At the main menu, you should see an obvious shaded box in the top-left telling you ReShade has started successfully and offering a tutorial.
  • Open the ReShade overlay (Default Home key), go to Addons, disable Generic Depth, and Enable CCGEP Add On by The Iron Wolf

ReShade 5 or lower:

• Copy CCGE Reshade Tools Latest file ReShade32.dll to C:\ProgramData\ReShade\
  • Note: Only for people who have an old Tools archive with this custom DLL who want to run ReShade 5 or lower, otherwise you need to run ReShade 6+ now

You can use any ReShade presets you can find on the internet once you get used to where the files go. Watch out for conflicting files, though. ReShade presets often come with their own Shaders and Textures that you'll have to put in the right place.

Is It Working?

You should see an obvious shaded box in the top-left telling you ReShade has started successfully and offering a tutorial.

It should prompt you to hit the Home key for a tutorial. You should probably walk walk through this if you're new to ReShade. You don't have to make changes, just keeping clicking Continue.

Tap Home at any time to open the ReShade overlay. Tap Home again to close a ReShade overlay. You can remap these key bindings in the ReShade overlay Settings tab.

Notes

• Reinstalling from the official ReShade will overwrite the custom ReShade32.dll from CCGEP Reshade Tools so re-do that step if you reinstall ReShade
• You don't have to overwrite your ReShade.ini if a Reshade preset comes with one. The preset will have its own *.ini file(s) usually named after itself and these go in your presets folder.
• You shouldn't need to use DLLs distributed by ReShade Presets that overwrite your own (eg. ReShade.dll)
• Home key seems to be triggering Driving View shortcut even if you have a different key set to that. Change the shortcut in the ReShade overlay Settings tab.

Troubleshooting

• If there's an error, open the ReShade overlay and go to the Log tab and review what's there. Look for warnings and errors.
• "Failed to iterate all files in "G:\Games\GTR2\CCGEPReShadeAddOn.addon32"
  • Example: 15:03:28:735 [22140] | WARN | Failed to iterate all files in "D:\PnG3 MASTER\CCGEPReShadeAddOn.addon32" with error code 267!
  • Check ReShade.ini:
    • If you have AddonPath ensure it matches the path to the folder that contains GTR2.exe and ensure CCGEPReShadeAddOn.addon32 is in there.
      • Example: AddonPath=G:\Games\GTR2
    • If you do not have AddonPath, that's okay, leave it out, just ensure CCGEPReShadeAddOn.addon32 is in your GTR2 folder containing GTR2.exe
      • Example: G:\Games\GTR2\CCGEPReShadeAddOn.addon32

RealFeel FFB

Note: You don't have to install every part all at once. You can do Crew Chief one day, DXVK another, ReShade another, etc. I know it's a bit much, so take your time.

RealFeel FFB became popular back in the rFactor 1 and Game Stock Car days. Its FFB was based only on physics except for 'parking lot' physics that helped provide a more realistic friction of a tire at rest.

It's a good step up from my tuned PLR parameters found in SHO Competition FFB. At any rate, it's nice to have different options and the way it simplifies and eases general and car-specific ffb may be valuable to you.

First, read this helpful post to familiarize yourself with RealFeel and the parameters you'll be tuning. Different wheels can have very different values so it can be discouraging if it feels weird but it's probably worth it if you stick to it.

https://www.racedepartment.com/threads/realfeel-settings-and-discussion.107251/page-2#post-2101592 (Backup Link)

Installation

1. Open the manual and review the RealFeel section which should be the "rFactor Real Feel Plugin wiring" section
2. Follow the manual instructions under "Getting Real Feel Plugin" and download the RealFeel Plugin
   1. Extract RealFeelPlugin.dll to your GTR2\Plugins folder
   2. Extract RealFeelPlugin.ini to your GTR2 folder
3. Review the manual instructions under "Configuring Real Feel Plugin FFB in GTR2"
   1. You can probably safely ignore the manual details under "CrewChief.ini settings" as it comes with reasonable defaults but it can be helpful to familiarize yourself with what's possible there.
4. Run GTR2 and Tune RealFeel FFB for your Wheel
   1. Start GTR2, load into a track, enter the car, then exit GTR2: A default RealFeelPlugin.ini will be generated in your GTR2 folder
   2. Edit RealFeelPlugin.ini and use RealFeelPlugin.ini General Settings For Reference below that most closely matches your wheel
   3. Start GTR2 again, load into a track, enter the car, and try driving.
   4. The wheel should at least feel like there's a little more friction to turn the wheel when the car is stopped. Out on track, FFB should feel roughly the same compared to SHO Competition FFB, or, depending on how you tune original FFB, it could feel a lot better.
   5. While driving, use the keyboard shortcuts to tune your FFB. See Tuning with Keyboard Shortcuts below.

Is it working?

• Can you feel it?
  • You should be able to feel a dynamic, elastic-like friction when turning your wheel when the car is stopped. This effect should decrease as you accelerate until it is unnoticeable above say around 50km/h.
  • This is NOT the always-on friction or damping feeling that you're probably already used to.
  • It should feel like how a car's tires require a bit more muscle to turn when the car is off vs when it's on and also as compared to with and without power steering assist (the Crew Chief GTR2 Enhancements Plugin models power steering assist on vs off effect for this).
• Can you hear it?
  • Try one of the numeric keypad keyboard shortcuts and listen for a voice confirming your input
• RealFeelPlugin.ini
  • Ensure RealFeelIsOn=True
  • RealFeelPlugin.ini should be overwritten each time you start and exit GTR2. If it's loaded in Notepad++ or similar you'll get a notification that the file has been changed and needs to be reloaded. This is how you know the plugin is active.

Gotchas

• Reverse FFB
  • Flip to positive or negative for SteerForceInputMax
• FFB too Strong
  • Increase MaxForceAtSteeringRack values. Yes, increase this parameter to reduce FFB strength.
• Oscillation
  • See manual section "Notes on Direct Drive wheel oscillation"
  • Start by increasing (yes, increasing) MaxForceAtSteeringRack to reduce FFB strength such as a large number like 200000 then decrease gradually to bring back ffb strength until oscillation occurs again and then back off until satisfied
• Physics FFB Only, No Extra Effects
  • RealFeel FFB, itself, doesn't provide any other effects like your get in the PLR, such as Steer Vibe, Brake Vibe, Throttle Vibe, Friction, Damper, Rumble Strips, and Jolts.
  • But if you have these effects enabled in your PLR then they will be present when using RealFeel, as well.
  • With the FFBMixerRealFeelPercent parameter, you can also mix in origingal FFB steering forces to complement RealFeel's physics-only steering forces. I have no specific recommendation here but it may be worth an experiment for some.

Tuning RealFeelPlugin.ini

Per @Niels_at_home in this post:

• Kf, Ks, A, Kr: These are the parking lot FFB parameters from LeoFFB. These are only active at very low speed, and should not be felt once you are driving, even in a hairpin.
• Kf: is the maximum force you feel when the car stands still, to turn the tires. 11500 is max.
• Ks: is the stiffness of the tires, a higher number will make it feel less 'elastic'
• A: escapes me at the moment! sorry! :)
• Kr: How fast all of the above fall away as car speed increases. At higher values the forces drop off quicker as you speed up.

Tuning FFB While Driving with Keyboard Shortcuts

Remember this handy keyboard shortcut infographic for when you have RealFeel running in-game as it will make tuning while driving very easy:

Tuning Notes:

• Remember you should hear a voice confirming your keyboard shortcut commands
• Note that Left CTRL and Right CTRL change values by greater or lesser amounts. To make large adjustments, use LEFT CTRL. To make small adjustments use Right CTRL.
• Left/Right CTRL + 7: Stronger FFB
• Left/Right CTRL + 9: Weaker FFB
• Left CTRL + 8: Reset to Min/max (ie. Auto FFB, I think)
• Right CTRL + 8: Reverse FFB (if FFB feels like it's pushing or rolling away from center)
• Left/Right CTRL + 4: Softere FFB Response (Damper)
• Left/Right CTRL + 6: Sharper FFB Response (Damper)
• Left CTRL + 5: Softest FFB Response (Damper)
• Right CTRL + 5: Sharpest FFB Response (Damper)
• Right CTRL + 1: Decrease RFP Mix (useful to mix in some original ffb if desired)
• Right CTRL + 3: Increase RFP Mix (useful to mix in some original ffb if desired)
• Right CTRL + 2: RFP On/Off
• Right CTRL + 0 (zero): Decrease FFB Smoothing
• Right CTRL + . (del): Increase FFB Smoothing

Notes

• Car-specific Settings in RealFeelPlugin.ini
  • Car-specific settings will be automatically generated and saved to RealFeelPlugin.ini each time you try a car in GTR2 and exit GTR2
• Mixing Original and RealFeel FFB
  • This is possible with the FFBMixerRealFeelPercent parameter that gets generated with car-specific settings in RealFeelPlugin.ini
  • It's possible, that's all I can say. Try it out if that's something you're interested in.
• FrontGripEffect
  • This value seems to relate to the PLR FFB steer force grip weight parameter
  • This means at least in part RealFeel FFB feeling will depend on how the PLR FFB feels
  • In this case, it's may be worth your time to investigate the crowd-sourced ffb settings in the SHO Competition FFB mod

RealFeelPlugin.ini General Settings For Reference

SimuCube 2 Pro:

[General]
RealFeelIsOn=True
ConsoleEnabled=False
ConsoleRepeatDelay=0.100000
SpeechEnabled=True
KeyRepeatDelay=0.100000
SteerForceInputMax=-11500.000000
MinSpeed=10.000000
DefaultMaxForceAtSteeringRack=16562.500000
DefaultSteeringDamper=11500.000000
DefaultFrontGripEffect=0.018750
DefaultSmoothingLevel=0
VehicleDelimiterSize=64
DefaultKf=4312.500000
DefaultKs=7.000000
DefaultA=1.500000
DefaultKr=6.000000

Fanatec DD1:

[General]
RealFeelIsOn=True
ConsoleEnabled=False
ConsoleRepeatDelay=0.100000
SpeechEnabled=False
KeyRepeatDelay=0.000000
SteerForceInputMax=11500.000000
MinSpeed=0.000000
DefaultMaxForceAtSteeringRack=100000.000000
DefaultSteeringDamper=11500.000000
DefaultFrontGripEffect=0.565000
DefaultSmoothingLevel=0
VehicleDelimiterSize=64
DefaultKf=-11500.000000
DefaultKs=7.000000
DefaultA=1.500000
DefaultKr=3.000000

Wiper Patches

Description

Patches to animate windshield wipers in GTR2 which had static and non-operational wipers in original cars.

Downloads

• Wiper patches download links for supported mods

Install

Notes:

• Assumes a Modern GTR2 drop with the Crew Chief GTR2 Enhancements Plugin
• Wiper Patches Forum Thread (Official Thread I guess)
• "Wiper Animation" manual section the Crew Chief GTR2 Enhancements Plugin

Overview:

1. Download
2. Extract and overwrite

Steps:

1. Download Wipers (4GB archive, 12GB extracted):
   1. Extract GameData folder to your GTR2 folder
2. Original Cars (Optional):
   1. Download GTR2 HQ Anniversary Patch 15.3 or newer (26fps requires 16.0 or newer)
   2. Extract _GTR233_SETUP\GTR233-WIPERS-HQ-CC\GameData into your GTR2 folder
      • Ex. Extract GTR2 HQ Anni Patch 16.0 _GTR233_SETUP\GTR233-WIPERS-HQ-CC\GameData into your GTR2 folder
3. Mod Cars (Optional):
   1. Download the correct wiper patch for the mod you have that is supported
   2. Extract the files into the correct GameData\Teams\<Team> folder in your GTR2 folder
      • Ex. Extract WIPER_PATCH_80FPS_FIA_GTE_2018_BMW_M8_1.2.zip into GameData\Teams\FIA GTE Series 2018\BMW M8 GTE 2018 folder in your GTR2 folder
4. Configure Controls:
   1. Assign Wipers in-game under Controls > Extra > Wipers
      • Consider assigning the CCGEP-enabled bonus controls: Car FFB Mult. +, Car FFB Mult. -, and DRS while you're reviewing the controls
5. CrewChief.INI Tweaks (Optional):
   • Clean Dirt Too: Set graphicsWipersClearDirtScreen = 1

Is it working?

• You should see obvious moving windshield wipers in the cockpit when you press the Wipers control
• The windshield should clean off rain briefly as the wipers operate
• The windshield may clean off dirt, too, if you have that configured in CrewChief.INI (See Tweaks Above)

Trivia:

• Very early days of wipers (Video)

Real Weather

Status: Ready
- Requires CCGEP Download from Discord. See Beta Installation steps.

Latest Release: 2024-09-19 - 2024-09-26
- New tracks supported: Adria International Raceway, Castle Combe Circuit (Wiltshire, England), Grand Prix of Cleveland (Burke Lakefront Airport), Falkenbergs Motorbana, Gateway Motorsports Park (World Wide Technology Raceway), Circuito de Jerez, Ring Knutstorp, Mondello Park, MotorLand Aragón (Circuito de Alcañiz), Nelson Ledges Road Course, Salzburgring
- Improved dry weather slot selection logic to be based on real weather stats instead of a basic random selection. Wet weather slot selection was already based on real weather stats.
- Improved real weather data weather states to improve preciseness of stats. For example, in meteorology, a Thunderstorm may or may not have Rain. So, stats were improved to be more precise in cases like this.
- Fixed starting state logic by removing Minute=0.25 logic which might been confusing AI about the right tyres to pick during a race. This is different than initial weather conditions logic which is still there. So, weather will still progress from an 'initial' state into the first slot's time but it will be far more gradual as it relies on the in-game weather progression algorithm.
- 2024-09-26: Critical fix discovered and implemented that now allows AI to select the correct tyres before a session begins. This fixes an issue where AI could start a session on the wrong tyre and have to do an unnecessary pit to change to the correct tyres.

Description

Enjoy real weather scenarios, based on real weather data from OpenWeatherMap.org, including realtime and slots-based weather, inspired by AMS2 Weather Slots, that just works in-game by new Rainfall selector options powered by the Crew Chief GTR2 Enhancements Plugin (CCGEP) by the The Iron Wolf.

Install

1. Download Weather Files:
   • Download (33 GB 1000 Weather variations per track per month)
   • Download (3.3 GB 100 Weather variations per track per month)
   • Download (336 MB 10 Weather variations per track per month)
2. Open ZIP and extract into GTR2 UserData\Log\custom_weather folder (create custom_weather folder as needed)
   • Do NOT extract ZIPs found inside. They are intended to be zipped and remain in UserData\Log\custom_weather\ as-is.
3. Edit CrewChief.ini and set customWeatherFilesPath to the full path to your UserData\Log\custom_weather folder
   • For example, mine is customWeatherFilesPath = G:\Games\GTR2Plus\UserData\Log\custom_weather\. Yours will be different.

Size: Weather includes 10, 100, or 1000 variations for every month of the year for every track. That's why the download is so big. See Configuration below for options to save disk space.

I usually recommend a Mod Package Manager for easy one-click install/uninstall but since these files are so big, and it's only one folder to drop in place, it's not a big deal.

Want to help?

Donate to paypal@shovas.ca or send BTC Bitcoin to bc1q8nwwnwp9zljndlcaw4jcmj0yfyqe69fa5k54dm, LTC Litecoin to ltc1qljlmg5673q6j0s5cmxk4ggyn0x5d4npaw25vah, DOGE Dogecoin to DSMwwdHqJ3LMxPe1HiGgNKsWBY2jPi2RwW, or XRP Ripple to rGUoiGSjhsM14sPyePao1eqvjD6sXa1uLL and help me continue this project. Thank you!

Weather costs $10 per location from OpenWeatherMap.org. For that price, you get 40 years of data with hourly granularity. The data is open, can be freely shared, and has potential for re-use and repurposing for other mods, games, or software. I think it's good value.

Purchase OpenWeatherMap.org Marketplace > History Bulk weather data, download it, and share a link to the download.

If you do, check and double-check:

1. Date range: 1979-01-01 to 2023-12-31
2. Weather Parameters: All
3. Units: Kelvin
4. File Format: CSV
5. Download: File per location

Like this:

Real Weather Data

This mod makes use of the data from the Racing Circuits Real Weather Data project also hosted here on Simwiki.

Check it out for raw racing circuits weather data in csv or sqlite formats.

Features

• [Quasi-realistic weather] Based on real weather data for each track location
• [Real Weather Data] From OpenWeatherMap.org. Each supported track has 40 years of complete hourly weather data, from 1979 to 2023.
• [It Just Works] Once setup, all you have to do is select either Realtime or a Slots option from the in-game Rainfall selector. The Crew Chief GTR2 Enhancements Plugin by The Iron Wolf takes care of everything else behind the scenes.
• [All GTR2 tracks supported and many extra] Supports all GTR2 original tracks and many extra tracks (see below for a list), each with 40 years of real weather data from OpenWeatherMap.org
• [Differentiated Weather Types] Weather Types Supported: Clear, Mostly Cloudy, Overcast, Light Rain, Rain, Storm, Thunderstorm (Matches AMS2 Weather Slots)
• [Smooth weather transitions] Weather progression smoothly transitions between weather conditions, without wild swings, using GTR2's own internal weather progression algorithm
  • Slot-by-slot weather may swing drastically but weather still progresses at a more realistic pace, taking the entire slot length to change over
• [Unique weather per session type] Each session type (Practice, Qualifying, Warmup, Race) has its own weather scenario
• [All race types are supported] Race Weekends and 24H Races
  • Time Trials and Driving School use fixed weather
• [All session types are supported] Open Practice, Practice 1, Practice 2, Qualify 1, Qualify 2, Warmup, Race
• [All session lengths are supported]
  • Users can select between Realtime and Slots-based weather (like AMS2) using the in-game Rainfall selector
  • Supporting all session lengths is done by a clever but simple approach, thought up by The Iron Wolf, where 24H of weather are always simulated but the user can choose how often weather changes by selecting length-based slots using the in-game Rainfall selector
  • This ensures users can always setup the desired configuration regardless of session length
  • Ex. Selecting 10-minute Slots using the Rainfall selector will change the weather every 10 minutes
  • Slot lengths available: 10min, 15min, 20min, 30min, 1hr, and 2hr slots
• [Realtime minute-by-minute or slot-by-slot weather progression]
  • Slots were inspired by AMS2 Weather Slots
• [Smart Temperatures] Temperatures start from a smart normal distribution, leveraging average and standard deviation metrics for the location and time of year, so that temperatures better reflect reality for the track's locale.
• [Starting Weather States] Sessions have distinct real weather-based starting states from which realtime or slots weather immediately proceeds from. One of the interesting scenarios this makes possible is a "rain delayed" race where it is no longer raining but the track is still wet and drying out.
• [Starting Track Temperatures] Track temperatures start at a realistically higher temperature to simulate being in the sun for a while. Temperature and rain have an effect on starting track temperature.
• [Rain causes a cooling trend] and the cooling trend ends when rain stops
• [Rainy Weekend] There is a small but distinct chance all sessions of a Race Weekend will be wet/rainy (ie. a 'rainy weekend')
• [Smart Race Date Weather] Weather is based on the month specified by the track. For example, a track in Europe might be July or August weather, but, in Australia, the weather might be based on February or March because of Southern Hemisphere opposite Summer/Winter seasons.
• [Correct Northern vs Southern Hemisphere Weather] Southern Hemisphere tracks, which are far enough south to experience summer in Northern Hemisphere winter, will use weather from February instead of August which will provide for more realistic racing weather temperatures. For now, this includes Adelaide, Bathurst, and Phillip Island.
• [Realistic chance of session rain] Chance of rain in any given racing session involves a broad probability (ie. rainy days per month) and a more specific probability that your session occurs during the time of day when it is rainy
  • So, you can be at a track with a lot of days with rain but the chance your session coincides with the rainy hours is, realistically, lower
  • Ex. Zhuhai has up to 50% 'rainy days' in August but the actual rainfall occurs in only a subset of hours in a day, so the actual chance is more like 25%

Releases

• [2024-09-26]
  • Download (33 GB 1000 Weather variations per track per month)
  • Download (3.3 GB 100 Weather variations per track per month)
  • Download (336 MB 10 Weather variations per track per month)
  • Critical fix discovered and implemented that now allows AI to select the correct tyres before a session begins. This fixes an issue where AI could start a session on the wrong tyre and have to do an unnecessary pit to change to the correct tyres.
• [2024-09-19]
  • Download (33 GB 1000 Weather variations per track per month)
  • Download (3.3 GB 100 Weather variations per track per month)
  • Download (330 MB 10 Weather variations per track per month)
  • New tracks supported: Adria International Raceway, Castle Combe Circuit (Wiltshire, England), Grand Prix of Cleveland (Burke Lakefront Airport), Falkenbergs Motorbana, Gateway Motorsports Park (World Wide Technology Raceway), Circuito de Jerez, Ring Knutstorp, Mondello Park, MotorLand Aragón (Circuito de Alcañiz), Nelson Ledges Road Course, Salzburgring
  • Improved dry weather slot selection logic to be based on real weather stats instead of a basic random selection. Wet weather slot selection was already based on real weather stats.
  • Improved real weather data weather states to improve preciseness of stats. For example, in meteorology, a Thunderstorm may or may not have Rain. So, stats were improved to be more precise in cases like this.
  • Fixed starting state logic by removing Minute=0.25 logic which might been confusing AI about the right tyres to pick during a race. This is different than initial weather conditions logic which is still there. So, weather will still progress from an 'initial' state into the first slot's time but it will be far more gradual as it relies on the in-game weather progression algorithm.
• [2024-08-18]
  • Download (29 GB 1000 Weather variations per track per month)
  • Download (2.9 GB 100 Weather variations per track per month)
  • Download (297 MB 10 Weather variations per track per month)
  • New tracks supported: Carolina Motorsport Park, Chang International Circuit, Mantorp Park, Moscow Raceway, Most (Autodrom), Portland International Raceway, Sepang International Circuit, Slovakia Ring (Automotodróm), Sonoma Raceway, Zhejiang International Circuit
  • Track starting state will no longer start overly wet or flooded to mirror the track draining and drying to acceptable levels during a rain delay
  • Fixed realtime weather files missing track starting state logic where a distinct starting state quickly progressed to another state to start the race.
  • Fixed an issue where rain could quickly cycle on/off, mostly noticeable in realtime weather. There's now a minimum jump over the dry/rain threshold that is large enough for it to take a good amount of time to progress back over if the random progression goes that way.
• [2024-08-09]
  • Download (26 GB 1000 Weather variations per track per month)
  • Download (2.6 GB 100 Weather variations per track per month)
  • Download (260 MB 10 Weather variations per track per month)
  • New tracks supported: Algarve (Portimao), AVUS, Croft, Helsinki Thunder, Indianapolis, Ingliston, KymiRing, Macau, Mallory Park, Mont-Tremblant, Riverside
  • Track temperature now starts at a more realistic higher temperature than ambient and, if it's raining, it might start at a lower temperature than ambient.
    • Track temperature progresses automatically by the in-game weather progression algorithm and can only be set to an initial value in the weather files.
    • There is a basic model for faster and slower heating and cooling based on temperature and rain but since it can only be set at the start it only affects the starting state.
  • Fixed an issue where realtime weather was starting from a basic random value instead of a smarter random value from a normal distribution. This only affected starting state so there's no big change.
  • Re-uploaded files 2024-08-09 for a Spa fix for wildly negative temperatures
  • Mallory Park wasn't properly mapped for Mallory Park 2009 (09Mallory.gdb). Needs "*mallory*" line in the mallorypark.ccgep-mapping file. Fix will be included in next release.
• [2024-07-05]
  • New tracks supported: Cadwell, Goodwood, Knockhill, Lausitzring, Pau-Ville, Rockingham, Targa Florio
  • Starting weather states are now supported. These are real weather-based scenarios that realtime or slots weather immediately proceed from. This enables scenarios like a rain-delay where it's no longer raining but the track is still wet when the race starts.
  • There's now a small but higher distinct chance of a 'rainy weekend' where all sessions in a Race Weekend could be wet/rainy
• [2024-06-27]
  • New tracks added: Assen, Jarama, Long Beach, Mugello, Norisring, Sachsenring, Thruxton
  • Temperatures now start from a smarter normal distribution temperature leveraging average + standard deviations metrics that result in more expected temperatures for the location and month
  • Temperatures still progress randomly (with maximum change-per-time limits) as progressing with a normal distribution just ended up sticking around the average, which is boring, and didn't feel accurate.
• [2024-06-24]
  • New tracks added: Hungaroring, Mexico City, Miami, Monaco, Shanghai, Willow Springs, Zandvoort
  • Fixed an issue where random slots were over-selecting Mostly Cloudy and Overcast over Clear slot types
• [2024-06-10]
  • Weather now uses GTR2 Location GDB RaceDate to autoselect the correct month's weather.
    • This is why the download is so much bigger now: We had to generate weather for every month, for every track, instead of just a single month before.
  • Weather metrics are now based on whole months instead of single days to attain better averages. It's still based on 40 years of weather, though.
  • All non-Race sessions now have 180min of weather progression to accommodate mod tracks which have arbitrary session lengths (eg. 90 minute qualifying). Race still always has 1440min (24h) of weather progression.
• [2024-06-06]
  • New tracks added: Adelaide, Detroit, Kyalami, Mid-Ohio, Motegi, Oulton Park, Snetterton
  • New "Mostly Cloudy" Weather Slot type added. Full list is now: Clear, Mostly Cloudy, Overcast, Light Rain, Rain, Storm, Thunderstorm
  • Southern Hemisphere tracks, which are far enough south to experience summer in Northern Hemisphere winter, will use weather from February instead of August which will provide for more realistic racing weather temperatures. For now, this includes Adelaide, Bathurst, and Phillip Island.
• [2024-06-04]
  • Every variation now has 1000 weather files instead of 100
  • This release is intended for a new CCGEP beta that supports zipped weather files (no need to extract weather files individually) which is much, much faster. May need to wait for a new CCGEP beta release (check discord for betas).
• [2024-06-02]
  • Added supported tracks: Fuji Speedway, Brands Hatch Circuit, Circuit Gilles Villeneuve (Montreal), Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit, Virginia International Raceway (VIR), Lime Rock Park, Circuit Zolder
• [2024-05-30]
  • Rain causes cooling trend, various bug fixes
  • Temperature averages based on daytime to avoid nightime extremes
  • Conditions change limited to avoid wild swings in weather
  • Added supported tracks: Daytona, Autódromo José Carlos Pace (Interlagos), Red Bull Ring, Road America, Road Atlanta, Suzuka, Watkins Glen
• [2024-05-25]
  • Initial public release, quasi-realistic weather based on real weather data
  • Supports all original GTR2 tracks
  • Supports extra tracks: Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (Mosport), Sebring International Raceway, Circuit de la Sarthe (Le Mans), Nürburgring Grand-Prix Strecke, Silverstone Circuit, Mount Panorama Motor Racing Circuit (Bathurst), Laguna Seca

How To Use:

• Once installed, start GTR2, setup an Open Practice, Race Weekend, or 24H Race, and select an option from the Rainfall selector: Realtime, 10min Slots, 15min Slots, 20min Slots, 30min Slots, 1hr Slots, or 2hr slots. Start the racing session and CCGEP will automatically load a random weather file.
• Realtime weather files have weather that progresses minute by minute
• Slot-based weather files have weather that progresses in blocks, much like other modern sims like AMS2, rFactor2, etc.

Is it working?

• When entering a racing session (practice, qualify, warmup, or race) you should see Ambient Temperature, Track Temperature, Track State, Conditions, and Forecast that more accurately reflect the location's real weather
• You can run GTR2.exe with the -cccon argument to have it open up a logging console window which you can alt-tab to see (1) mapping files initially when you get into GTR2 and then (2) loading a random weather file for the appropriate location when initially loading into a track.
  • You need to edit CrewChief.ini and set debugOutputLevel = 267 and debugOutputSource = 1025 to see the appropriate logging

Configuration

CrewChief.INI:

• customWeatherMode:
  • 0 - use month from RaceDate in .gdb (This is the default and recommended setting)
  • 1-12 - use specific month
  • 13 - use current month

Tips:

• Saving space with multiple GTR2 drops
  • If you run multiple installations of GTR2:
    • Place the custom_weather folder in a common location (Ex. C:\GTR2CustomWeather)
    • Edit CrewChief.INI and set customWeatherPath=C:\GTR2CustomWeather
• Saving space by keeping only the weather sets you use
  • If you only use, for example, Realtime and 20min Slots, then you can remove the other files
  • Ex. If you only use Realtime and 20min Slots then remove 10min-slots.zip, 15min-slots.zip, 30min-slots.zip, 60min-slots.zip, 120min-slots.zip from each of the folders
  • Note: If you then try to use Realtime or Slots by the in-game Rainfall selector that you don't have the files for then CCGEP will select a random weather file from among the files you do have.
• Saving space by keeping only August weather
  • You can save disk space by removing all UserData\Log\custom_weather\monthN folders except the month8 folder indicated by the CrewChief.INI customWeatherMode=8 setting
  • Then all tracks will only use August weather
  • It must be cutomWeatherMode=8 and folder month8. No other months will work in this way.

Racing Tips:

• Adjust WetGrip Levels for More Enjoyable Racing
  • Edit GDB files in GameData\Locations\Track folders and change RoadWetGrip and AIWetGrip to 0.93572998046875
    • Ex. GameData\Locations\_Cleveland2006\06Cleveland.gdb
    • The new WetGrip value is a systematically tuned value where the goal was less realism and more enjoyment bringing out the challenge and characteristic of wet tarmac driving without being either too overdone (not enough grip) or underdone (too much grip). It may not be realistic but it has provided many enjoyable races that still feel different than dry races.

Troubleshooting:

• AI Pitstops DNFs and General Bugginess File:Weather BAK 240924 test 001 rain.txt
  • Create a new profile. Seriously.
  • During testing, creating a new profile solved a problem where AI were being DNF'd in their first pitstop changing fuel and tyres and disappearing to the garage
  • After creating a new profile, AI were pitting and exiting flawlessly

Notes

• For most moderate climates, most days (~75%) are dry and the remaining (25%) have rain (light, moderate, and heavy).
  • But, in Dubai, the percentage of dry days will be much more than, say, Donington.
  • And, in Zhuhai, the percentage of wet days appproaches 50% in August
  • So, weather can vary based on local climate

How It Works:

• CCGEP maps folders of weather files to tracks.
• Mappings are done by Track.ccgep-mapping (Ex. Anderstorp.ccgep-mapping) in the UserData\Log\custom_weather folder
  • If no mapping file exists, or no mapped GDB is found in the mapping file, CCGEP will select a random weather file across all locations weather files compatible with the selected Rainfall mode
• Anderstorp in Anderstorp.ccgep-mapping refers to the folder UserData\Log\custom_weather\...\Anderstorp that has the actual weather files
• When you load up a track, you're loading a track GDB file (Ex. GameData\Locations\Anderstorp/3Anderstorp.gdb)
• CCGEP automatically selects a random weather file for the appropriate location, based on this mapping, when you load into a track and places the weather file into UserData\Log\weather.txt which is where the game then uses it like normal for your racing session

Mod Tracks

• Mod tracks will need .ccgep-mapping files if not already present.
• Mapping files can be created easily (see How It Works above)

Creating Mapping Files

• The .ccgep-mapping file contains simple lines referencing the GDB loaded (Eg. SAnderstorp, 3Anderstorp; One per line)
• You can easily make your own .ccgep-mapping with any text editor (Ex. Notepad++). Open up an existing .ccgep-mapping file to see it for yourself.

Tracks Already Supported

• Original GTR2 Tracks:
  • Anderstorp Racing Club
  • Barcelona-Catalunya, Circuit de
  • Brno (Masaryk Circuit)
  • Donington Park Circuit
  • Dubai Audodrome
  • Enna-Pergusa (Autodromo di Pergusa)
  • Estoril (Autódromo Fernanda Pires da Silva)
  • Hockenheimring Baden-Württemberg
  • Imola (Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari)
  • Magny-Cours (Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours)
  • Monza, Autodromo Nazionale
  • Oschersleben, Motorsport Arena
  • Spa-Francorchamps, Circuit de
  • Valencia (Circuit Ricardo Tormo)
  • Zhuhai International Circuit
• Extra Tracks:
  • Adelaide Street Circuit
  • Adria International Raceway
  • Algarve (Portimao), Autódromo Internacional do
  • Assen, TT Circuit
  • AVUS (Grunewald)
  • Brands Hatch
  • Cadwell Park Circuit
  • Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (Mosport)
  • Carolina Motorsport Park
  • Castle Combe Circuit (Wiltshire, England)
  • Chang International Circuit
  • Cleveland, Grand Prix of (Burke Lakefront Airport)
  • Croft Circuit
  • Daytona Interational Speedway
  • Detroit Belle Isle [Shared with Detroit Street Circuit]
  • Detroit Street Circuit
  • Falkenbergs Motorbana
  • Fuji Speedway
  • Gateway Motorsports Park (World Wide Technology Raceway)
  • Gilles Villeneuve (Montreal), Circuit
  • Goodwood Motor Circuit [Donated by Wingnut]
  • Helsinki Thunder
  • Hermanos Rodríguez (Mexico City), Autódromo
  • Hungaroring
  • Indianapolis Motor Speedway
  • Ingliston Racing Circuit
  • Interlagos (Autódromo José Carlos Pace)
  • Jarama, Circuito del
  • Jerez, Circuito de
  • Knockhill Racing Circuit
  • Knutstorp, Ring
  • Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit
  • KymiRing [Shared with Helsinki Thunder]
  • Laguna Seca Raceway
  • Lausitzring
  • Lime Rock Park
  • Long Beach, Grand Prix
  • Macau Grand Prix (Guia Circuit)
  • Madonie (Targa Florio, Palermo), Circuito delle
  • Mallory Park Racing Circuit
  • Mantorp Park
  • Miami International Autodrome
  • Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course
  • Monaco, Circuit de
  • Mondello Park
  • Mont-Tremblant, Circuit
  • Moscow Raceway
  • Most, Autodrom
  • Motegi, Mobility Resort
  • MotorLand Aragón (Circuito de Alcañiz)
  • Mount Panorama Motor Racing Circuit (Bathurst)
  • Mugello Circuit
  • Nelson Ledges Road Course
  • Norisring
  • Nürburgring Grand-Prix Strecke
  • Oulton Park Circuit
  • Pau-Ville, Circuit de
  • Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit
  • Portland International Raceway (Oregon, USA)
  • Red Bull Ring
  • Riverside International Raceway
  • Road America
  • Road Atlanta
  • Rockingham Motor Speedway (Corby, UK)
  • Sachsenring
  • Salzburgring
  • Sarthe (Le Mans), Circuit de la
  • Sebring International Raceway
  • Sepang International Circuit
  • Shanghai International Circuit
  • Shanghai Street Circuit [Shared with Shanghai International Circuit]
  • Silverstone Circuit
  • Slovakia Ring, Automotodróm
  • Snetterton Cicuit
  • Sonoma Raceway (Sears Point Raceway / Infineon Raceway)
  • Suzuka International Racing Course
  • Thruxton Circuit
  • Virginia International Raceway (VIR)
  • Watkins Glen International
  • Willow Springs International Motorsports Park
  • Zandvoort, Circuit
  • Zhejiang International Circuit
  • Zolder, Circuit

Future Tracks To Cover:

• Pending:
  • ...

Scratched Tracks:

• Bilster Berg Drive Resort: No GTR2 track
• Zhejiang International Circuit: No GTR2 track

Monitor App

• Handy optional monitor app that shows Player and AI drivers with a lot of detailed info not available in-game
• Search for "Monitor Application" download Link in manual : https://thecrewchief.org/showthread.php?2012-Crew-Chief-GTR2-Enhancements-Plugin-Setup-Instructions-Known-Issues-and-Changelog&p=8180&viewfull=1#post8180
• It runs in a separate window so you can alt-tab to it at any time while you're in-game

Tips:

• If you want to prevent GTR2 pausing while you alt-tab to the app, use a GTR2 window size less than the fullscreen resolution