RobExplorien Posted April 6, 2013 Share Posted April 6, 2013 Everyone that completed/played the game LEGO Racers knows that it mostly is just too easy to win. I do bet that some found Basil or Gypsy difficult, and trying to beat Rocket Racer for the first time was nerve-racking. But then, the more you play it, it gets easier, which probably is a common thing for most games. You may have developed new ways of playing LEGO Racers, to make the game more difficult for yourself. These ways may include refraining from shortcuts, refraining from the use of warp boosts, using the FSTFRWRD cheat or, maybe not very common, playing as an 'AI-like' racer. The downside of these ways of playing is that you're not racing at your best. You probably want to, but then you feel overpowered compared to your opponents, unless you let two advanced racers race against each other in multiplayer mode. What my main question is: How can you increase the difficulty of LEGO Racers, without having to race in an 'un-overpowered' way? Now that modding has become (more) advanced in LEGO Racers, if I may say so, new ways opened to increase the game's difficulty. You can modify game aspects (including opponents) to make reaching first place (a little) more difficult. Such modifications (that we are able to create at the moment) to make the game harder include: Modifying the .PWB files, to create custom power-up layouts. Setting a different speed for (parts of) the path of an AI. Modifying an AI path to make it use shortcuts or other shorter routes. Make obstacles on certain tracks (like Adventure Temple Trail) harder to pass. I'm not saying that modding such aspects of the game is easy, to create harder gameplay, but merely showing the possibilities. If you have other ideas, feel free to share them. Custom power-up layouts have been made already, and I must say that some do make the race more difficult and/or funnier. I've heard of modifying obstacle effect, like setting the pull of the UFO in Alien Rally Asteroid reversed. I'm not too sure on making obstacles harder to pass, but there's probably a way. But my interest lies in the AI path. The modifying of AI path speed still is in Alpha stages for me, but I did some tweaking, and like to present to you a little more difficult Circuit 1 & 4. The first 90 nodes of an AI path (and specifically set to 100 for the boss racer) are set to a different byte, in order to increase the speed to pass a waypoint. The amount of nodes may seem intimidating, but really isn't that big. Remember, this is just a test mod. The game may not even seem harder to play for you, but this speed editing is just a start. Feedback is appreciated, and helps me/others know what the best way is to make the game more difficult for you. Also, what seems more appealing; give the AI a headstart or set a (slightly) faster speed for the whole AI path? Below in spoiler tags is a link to download the 'harder' gameplay for both circuits. In order to have the mod work, you have to replace your original GAMEDATA with the one included in the .zip file. If you just opt for overwrite, the modified .RRB files may not have an effect, because I only modded and included one path for each AI on each track now. If GAMEDATA contains multiple .RRB files for a single AI on one track, it does not always/ever pick the right path file. It is PatchIt 1.0.3 compatible, but you can decide how to install it. LEGO Racers DifInc. test Also, the headstart looks something like this for now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daomich150 Posted April 7, 2013 Share Posted April 7, 2013 Maybe you can make it a head-start+faster speed? Because even with the massive head-start it's still a bit easy As for funcionality,it works great with no bugs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobExplorien Posted April 7, 2013 Author Share Posted April 7, 2013 Maybe you can make it a head-start+faster speed? Because even with the massive head-start it's still a bit easy As for funcionality,it works great with no bugs. I'd expected it to still be a bit easy, but then again, it merely poses a possibility to make the game harder. I figure that this same headstart would be much harder to cope with on Rocket Racer Run. But yes, I could have the AI go faster at the first few waypoints, to slow down later on to a slightly faster speed for the rest of its path than the default speed. But speed editing has its risks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daomich150 Posted April 13, 2013 Share Posted April 13, 2013 The problem is the game's speed-correction. AKA,if a node has different speed than it should have,it changes it back. That is good for this way (giving AI a big boost at the start),but when you try to make the AI slighty faster on all nodes,the game corrects them... What does the game even do to figure out that the node has the wrong speed? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobExplorien Posted April 13, 2013 Author Share Posted April 13, 2013 The problem is the game's speed-correction. AKA,if a node has different speed than it should have,it changes it back. That is good for this way (giving AI a big boost at the start),but when you try to make the AI slighty faster on all nodes,the game corrects them... What does the game even do to figure out that the node has the wrong speed? Strange, I have not witnessed that effect. So, when you modify all bytes of an AI's path (of a single .RRB file), it changes them back? Right now I don't see any reason the game would do that, for I have modded many times with those files and changes made in the .RRB files kept being changed for me (if saved ofcourse). Even changing hundreds of bytes gave the desired output. It is true that some parts of an AI's path speed are hardcoded, but this shouldn't be a problem here. Could you perhaps share the modified .RRB file in PM, and show me how it changes by 'game-correction'? Or tell me which .RRB file you changed, to which value you set all the bytes and to which value the bytes were changed after 'game-correction'. Were all bytes set to their default values again after modifying, or just a selection of bytes? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alan Posted April 13, 2013 Share Posted April 13, 2013 It might also happen that you think you have edited the AI's path of another track than you did. For example if you edited a path in C0R0 you don't edit Imperial Grand Prix but Royal Raceway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daomich150 Posted April 15, 2013 Share Posted April 15, 2013 It might also happen that you think you have edited the AI's path of another track than you did. For example if you edited a path in C0R0 you don't edit Imperial Grand Prix but Royal Raceway. But when I replace the entire C0R0 folder with C1R0 folder (and do all the neccesary steps) it replaces Imperial Grand Prix and Tribal Track Trail,not Royal Raceway and Somethingy Something,so that's definetly not the case... For some time I thought it was hardcoded for bosses,but I modified paths of other racers and the results are the same... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alan Posted April 16, 2013 Share Posted April 16, 2013 C0R0 folder with C1R0 folder (and do all the neccesary steps) it replaces Imperial Grand Prix and Tribal Track Trail,not Royal Raceway and Somethingy Something,so that's definetly not the case... That happens because IGP is not C1R0! C0R1 is IGP! C0R2 is Desert Dragway! C0R3 is Magma Moon Marathon! C1R0 is Dark Forest Dash! C1R1 is Tribal Island! C1R2 is Amazon Adventure! C1R3 is Ice Planet Pathway! The rest is sorted normally! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobExplorien Posted April 16, 2013 Author Share Posted April 16, 2013 That happens because IGP is not C1R0! C0R1 is IGP! C0R2 is Desert Dragway! C0R3 is Magma Moon Marathon! C1R0 is Dark Forest Dash! C1R1 is Tribal Island! C1R2 is Amazon Adventure! C1R3 is Ice Planet Pathway! The rest is sorted normally! I made the same mistake in order too, the first time I modded in .JAM archive. But eventually, you'll get used to it. For some time I thought it was hardcoded for bosses,but I modified paths of other racers and the results are the same... The path is partially hardcoded (probably because of the different physics applied to AIs), as far as I know. And what results are you talking about? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daomich150 Posted April 16, 2013 Share Posted April 16, 2013 C0R0 folder with C1R0 folder (and do all the neccesary steps) it replaces Imperial Grand Prix and Tribal Track Trail,not Royal Raceway and Somethingy Something,so that's definetly not the case... That happens because IGP is not C1R0! C0R1 is IGP! C0R2 is Desert Dragway! C0R3 is Magma Moon Marathon! C1R0 is Dark Forest Dash! C1R1 is Tribal Island! C1R2 is Amazon Adventure! C1R3 is Ice Planet Pathway! The rest is sorted normally! WHOA! Thanks! I didn't know that until now ... Also,the results I'm talking about is that when I modified the paths,when putting the modified .JAM and running the game everything was like I didn't modify anything... But that was because I didn't know about the weird track order... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alan Posted April 18, 2013 Share Posted April 18, 2013 the weird track order... I think the makers were... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobExplorien Posted April 30, 2013 Author Share Posted April 30, 2013 It does increase the difficulty, in some way, but not the way I'd like to. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKz6NcmY3VA LimeKiller 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimbob Posted May 1, 2013 Share Posted May 1, 2013 Yeah, I don't think that's a great solution. I'd feel like I was racing in a lawn mower, not some high-speed car. aidenpons and alan 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fluffy Cupcake Posted May 2, 2013 Share Posted May 2, 2013 How exactly did you do that, RE? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lol username Posted May 2, 2013 Share Posted May 2, 2013 How exactly did you do that, RE?Probably something akin to the reverse of this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobExplorien Posted May 2, 2013 Author Share Posted May 2, 2013 How exactly did you do that, RE? Probably something akin to the reverse of this. From what I've read, that method works with .TMB files. The 'lawn mower'-effect was done by changing some .BMP files and swapping entries in the .BVB file of the designated track. EDIT: Also jamesster, are you threatening me by having myself hit me with a bat? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts