Stock-Power Go Kart Now Available
Preface
During ICR mod development back in 2019-2020 plans were made for future mods to be possibly made. One of them on the list was a fictional Go Kart mod. NR2003 has had a wide variety of mods but no smaller style racing vehicles such as a Go Kart yet. The closest would have to be the Sprint and Whelen mods that were on the smaller scale. One of the main challenges with creating smaller racing cars in NR2003 is indeed the bounding box limitations. While this ‘code’ has never been cracked before on how to change the bounding box size this would not stop Armory Digital Racing Designs from making a Go Kart mod.
Welcome to the Stock-Power Go Kart Mod
While the overall design of this mod is completely original and fictional it was heavily inspired by the 1990’s LEGO Kart racing sets. Taking those simple Kart aesthetics and turning them into a higher resolution version within NR2003 itself. Of course the mod wouldn’t be complete without bringing that classic #4 Octan Kart as the showcase for the mod.
Like with any mod, this one can be used for any series or tracks you have in mind. This one was primarily made for any fictional smaller series that race on paved short tracks and road courses. You of course can put 40+ of these on a superspeedway and go to town but be aware of the bounding boxes and the margin for error being way smaller than most mods you race with. So without further adieu it is time to jump into the details of the Stock-Power Go kart mod.
The Template
The Stock-Power Go Kart mod comes with one generic template that allows a wide array of customization to it to tailor to you needs on the fictional series you want to race with. If you are not sure how to proceed with paint idea or how schemes work with the template the carset included with the mod should give you a good demonstration on the variety of design flexibility the template offer to paint on. The template itself includes several layers with guides and instructions where to place sponsors and car numbers too.
In regards to layer options, the template includes with it several contingency sets and tire brand sets as well so you can paint a wide variety of unique cars for your choosing. The template allows you to create additional tire brands if you choose as well as the tires can be painted.
All the features
By all standards this mod provides what you would expect from other mods: custom cockpit view, exterior views, car damage, and performance friendly textures and models to keep your game stable. However, similar to the ICR mod, the Go kart mod has exclusive features and optional choices to customize this mod you won’t find with any other mod out there:
UI Compatible Mirror Position:
It wouldn’t be an official Armory Digital Racing Designs mod without built in mirror support for the UIE Mod. If you use UIE (specifically the ticker options) you will be happy to know this mod includes straight out of the box a compatible option that moves the mirror down the screen so it is not covered up by the UI mod. This is a feature that in the past when making UIE 2013 would have been nice to edit for other mods to make them compatible without having to use 3rd party programs such as camhack to achieve it. Even if you do not use UIE or do not need to have the mirror moved a default option is included as well for mirror position.
Damage Models:
While the goal in racing is to win, getting into a wreck or witnessing another car wrecking is part of the game. The Stock-Power Go kart mod offers a highly detailed damage model from both the cockpit view and exterior cameras. If the car gets hit enough parts will come off and some will be taken off on pit road as well.
HUD UI Display Screen:
Since NR2003 has existed the UI was constrained to the old 4:3 screen ratio. While this is still true the Stock-Power Go Kart mod has a way to break that barrier a bit and give you more space on the corners of the screen to detail it however you like. The new UI Display Screen or in more simple terms ‘Quads’ is a mip replacer the user can paint on and add whatever they want. You can choose to just use one of the corners or all 4. For demonstration purposes just 2 of the corners were used in the screenshot below where a number and broadcast channel logo was included. However, the sky is the limit here, you can use this space to paint whatever you want whether that be sponsors, team logo, a series logo, you name it.
The mod includes this feature off by default but with the template provided in the mod download you can easily paint on the layer and export the mip to add it to your mod.
Driver Display Indicator:
Last and certainly not least, the biggest and most well known feature first revealed to the NR community from the ICR mod is back: DDI (Driver Display Interface). If you have not used the ICR mod or not famailir with the DDI, in most simple terms is a real-time reactive UI element that will appear or disappear above each car. Even more than this the DDI will always face the player’s camera so regardless of rotation or position of another car it will always be 100% viewable. The DDI is also individually paintable on each car’s template and what you paint on it can be really anything.
For the carset included in the mod the DDI displays the car number, driver name, and sponsor. This is just an example of what can be done but the user could use it completely for something entirely different. Maybe you want to use it to track standings, a rival/ally system, or just have other logos on it. The DDI is a fully customizable billboard essentially above each car. It was designed to look similar to how UI elements in the arcade racing games like nascar Thunder and Nascar Heat would appear.
The DDI is viewable in race mode, replays, and even in the cockpit view. As you race it won’t always be viewable on each car either so it does not block your view when racing. The DDI has been specifically designed to only appear on the cars near you and even then only appear for car you are closing in on or ones that are driving away from you. The DDI is also viewable in the menus for the player info and opponent manager screens. By default the DDI is enabled for the replays/race mode and menus. You can view all the options in the mod folder for how to have it on or off.
Your racing career begins right now
Below you will find link to all the main pages for downloading the mod, templates, and render scenes. The past few months has been a lot of work and dedication to get the mod and carset completed, now it is time for everyone to be able to enjoy it and have fun racing for years to come.
