This was originally created to help you change or improve your game play in
existing
N4/N2002/N2003 tracks however it can also be used as a guide to creating a track.ini for a new track. Not all items in the track.ini are covered here though.
To edit the track.ini open it with notepad or another text editor. The track.ini files are located at C:\Papyrus\NASCAR Racing 2003\tracks and then in the folder of the track you want to edit. The path may differ though if you have installed to a different drive or directory. I recommend that you make a backup copy of the file until you are sure you want to keep the changes.
For the game, night and day at the same track is considered two separate tracks. If you want the change to affect both, you have to change both track.ini files.
If you can't find a line you want to edit in notepad I find it easiest to go to Edit>Find, then do a search for a unique word in the line. If you don't have the latest patch for your game then you may not have all of these lines.
In online multi-player racing most of your settings are changed to the hosts and then changed back after the race. If you host the race everyone's settings are changed to yours. For a few settings though, like the restrictor plate setting, it won't let you join the server unless your file
matches
the server's file.
The Car
Restrictor Plate Removal
Removing the restrictor plate allows you to go faster at Daytona, Daytona Night, and Talladega. With this line you can also try any other car chassis type at any track.
chassis_type - For restrictor plate tracks change from a 1 to a 5 to remove the restrictor plate. Enter any of the numbers below at any track to try that chassis type on it.
1 = Superspeedway with a restrictor plate.
2 = Speedway
3 = Short Track
4 = Road Course
5 = Superspeedway without a restrictor plate.
Roof Flaps Removal
Turning roof flaps off makes it easier to get airborne. This edit is not in the track.ini files like all the other edits here. For this one you have to edit the player.ini file. This is located at C:\Papyrus\NASCAR Racing 2003\players or wherever you installed the game. From here you chose the folder for the player you want to change and open the player.ini.
employRoofFlaps - Enter a 1 to turn roof flaps on or a 0 to turn them off.
Tires
There are several lines that effect tires. These are
sensitive so for fine tuning I recommend
only changing these + or - .02 at a time until you find what you like.
track_tire_heat - Affects how much the tires heat up at that track. Higher number = more heat.
track_tire_wear - Affects how much and how long it takes for the tires to wear. 2 is twice the wear of 1 and .5 is half the wear of 1.
track_asphalt_grip - Affects how well the tires grip asphalt. Higher number = more grip.
track_concrete_grip - Affects how well the tires grip concrete. Higher number = more grip.
The Track/Race
Number of Laps
There are two lines to
change
for the number of laps at a track.
default_event_laps - This is the number of laps in a 100 % race. The % race length figures the number of laps from the percentage of this number.
default_qual_laps - This is the number of qualifying laps you get at the track.
Speed Limits
There are two lines to change for speed limits at a track
speed_limit_MPH - The speed limit on pit road. Note that if you change the speed limit to more than 70 mph your spotter says "Keep it on 70 mph" but you can actually go up to the speed limit you set without being black flagged.
pace_speed_limit_mph - The speed the pace car goes for the pace lap and cautions.
Pit Box Location/Driving in the Infield
Changing where you appear on the track allows you to drive in places you couldn't because walls were in the way (infield or outside the track). There are three sections with lines for each stall in that section:
; stalls - Set where pit stalls are on the track.
[ starting_grid_0 ] - Set where cars start on the track for half pace lap starts.
[ starting_grid_1 ] - Set where cars start on the track for half pace lap starts.
Each stall line is the order of the pit boxes/starting grid from first to last. The pit stall you start in for testing and practice in offline races is stall_0. The values of these stall lines work in the following way:
The first number after each stall is the how far the stall is down the track. For ex. 0 is at the start finish line, 100 is 100 meters down the track, etc.
The second number is how far in meters left or right the stall is from the centerline of the track. Positive numbers are left of the centerline and negative numbers are right of it.
The third number is the angle the car is pointing in relation to the direction of the track. This is measured in radians. 0 is parallel and 1.57 (90 degrees) is perpendicular to the direction of the track.
The AI
AI stands for Artificial Intelligence and is the cars
controlled
by the computer. If you have mods installed, such as the CTS or BGN mods, these values appear in the track.ini under a heading for each series.
Collision Detection
The game was originally made to not detect a lot of AI-to-AI contact, instead allowing AI cars to pass through each other. This is called morphing. When they get to far overlapped, they sometimes pop-up in the air and get stuck to each other. You can set it to detect all contact however this makes the AI cause too many crashes (about 1 a lap at some tracks).
ai_wall_offset - Set
anywhere
from 0 for no contact detection up to 100 for full contact detection. I have found that a good balance at most tracks is about 30.
AI Tires
These are similar to the lines that affect your own tires. Higher number = more grip/more wear.
ai_grip_modifier - Affects
overall
grip in corners.
ai_arcade_grip_modifier - Affects
overall
grip for arcade mode.
ai_accel_modifier - Affects how well the tires grip as the AI accelerate. (More grip = quicker acceleration)
ai_decel_modifier - Affects how much grip the car has under braking. (More grip = faster stopping)
ai_tire_wear_left - Affects left side tire wear only.
ai_tire_wear_right - Affects right side tire wear only.
ai_arcade_wear_modifier - Affects
overall
wear for arcade mode.
strategy_lap_time_wear_loss - Affects how much
overall
time is lost as the tires wear.
strategy_base_pit_time - Affects how long the AI thinks it takes to pit. The number represents the time of a stop and go penalty. The more time, the less likely they are to pit because they think it takes longer.
AI Fuel Consumption/Pitting
Though you can't edit your own fuel consumption, you can edit the AI's.
ai_fuel_use - Rate at which fuel is used. Higher number = lower fuel mileage.
ai_arcade_fuel_use - Rate at which fuel is used for arcade mode. Higher number = lower fuel mileage.
strategy_lap_time_fuel_use_gain - Affects how much faster the AI go as they lose the weight of fuel. Higher number = faster times.
strategy_base_pit_time - Affects how long the AI thinks it takes to pit. The number represents the time of a stop and go penalty. The more time the less likely they will pit because they think it takes longer.
AI Drag
Drag slows the AI cars down especially at larger tracks. Higher number = More drag
ai_drag_modifier - Affects
overall
amount of drag.
ai_arcade_drag_modifier - Affects drag in arcade mode.
AI Qualifying
There is one line that affects how fast the AI qualify
ai_qual_modifier - Higher number = faster AI qualifying.
AI to AI Distance
There are several lines that affect the distance AI cars stay from each other in races. All of these numbers are measured in average car lengths back.
ai_drafting_distance - Affects AI during green flag racing. A lower number creates closer racing and more passing but more accidents as well. Try lowering the number until you have a reasonable balance.
ai_bunching_distance - Affects how the AI cars bunch for the start or a restart. The lower the number the closer they bunch up just before the green flag.
ai_pacing_distance - Affects how the AI cars behave during the pace lap and under cautions. The lower this number is, the closer the AI stay to each other.
43 Cars at All Tracks
Four tracks in N4/N2002/N2003 do not allow 43 cars at them: Bristol, Bristol Night, Dover, and Richmond. In real life all tracks run 43 cars and some teams have to share pit stalls. To fix this problem in the game you must change and add a few lines to the track.ini. For this adjustment at Bristol 42nd and 43rd share a pit stall and at both Dover and Richmond, 38th shares a pit stall with 41st, 39th shares a stall with 42nd, and 40th shares a stall with 43rd. Each one of the lines you add below must be on its own line. Note that the AI sharing pit stalls may occasionally cause "pop-up" type accidents on pit road, especially in practice sessions and warm-ups. I haven't had this problem in races very often though.
Bristol:
Change the line max_starters = 42 to 43.
There are 4 lines called stall_20. Under the second one in the stalls; section (reads stall_20 = 345.50 34.01 0.00) add –
stall_21 = 345.50 34.01 0.00.
There are two stall_41 lines. Under the one in the [ starting_grid_0 ] section (first one) add –
stall_42 = 768.70 27.97 -0.01.
Under the stall_41 in the [ starting_grid_1 ] section (second one) add –
stall_42 = 330.60 6.37 -0.11.
Make these exact same changes to Bristol night.
Dover:
Change the line max_starters = 40 to 43.
There are three lines called stall_39. Under the one in the stalls; section (first one) add –
stall_40 = 1456.00 29.91 -0.00
stall_41 = 1445.53 29.91 0.00
stall_42 = 1435.07 29.85 0.00.
Under the stall_39 in the [ starting_grid_0 ] section (second one) add –
stall_40 = 1592.12 26.02 0.00
stall_41 = 1592.12 21.02 0.00
stall_42 = 1583.64 26.02 0.00.
Under the stall_39 in the [ starting_grid_1 ] section (third one) add –
stall_40 = 730.47 2.39 -0.03
stall_41 = 730.47 -1.61 -0.03
stall_42 = 721.99 2.39 -0.03.
Richmond:
Change the line max_starters = 40 to 43.
There are three lines called stall_39. Under the one in the stalls; section (first one) add –
stall_40 = 1062.06 36.90 0.11
stall_41 = 1051.03 35.91 0.11
stall_42 = 1040.00 34.94 0.11
Under the stall_39 in the [ starting_grid_0 ] section (second one) add these –
stall_40 = 76.51 64.19 -0.06
stall_41 = 76.51 60.19 -0.06
stall_42 = 67.63 64.81 -0.06.
Under the stall_39 in the [ starting_grid_1 ] section (third one) add –
stall_40 = 580.47 4.28 -0.02
stall_41 = 580.47 0.28 -0.02
stall_42 = 571.99 4.39 -0.02
Weather/Climate
Wind
Three lines change normal wind conditions when
realistic
weather is used in the game.
track_wind_speed - Enter an average wind speed measured in mph. For some fun set it to 1,000 mph and watch your car lift off and fly away.
track_wind_direction - Measured in degrees. (0° is due north, 180° is due south)
track_wind_speed_range - Affects how much the wind speed varies.
Temperature
This line changes the average temperature when
realistic
weather is used in the game.
track_base_temp - Measured in degrees Fahrenheit.
Altitude
This line changes the track altitude. A higher altitude makes the car go slower because the engine is running in thinner air.
track_altitude - I'm not sure if this is measured in feet or meters but to see a
noticeable
difference you'll need to change it a lot. (i.e. 5000)
