Author Archives: Mystical

#11 – Armory Digital Superspeedway 2023 Edition Released!

Updated on 08/12/2023 by Mystical

Armory Digital 2023 Edition Now Released!

6 years have passed since the last version of Armory Digital SuperSpeedway (ADSS) released. Since the first version of the track came out in 2014 its been 9 years and the track continues to be one of the fictional favorites of the community. As promised when this track first came out this would be a track I update over time similar to how a track in real life would evolve in wear and facility upgrades. This version is the largest overhaul and also a landmark of my new track building methods when it comes to 3do creation and ultimate performance boost.

Major performance overhaul

After I released the ICR mod I learned a lot on how to create and compile true 3dos for NR2003. Making 3do models with 3DSimEd3 has a lot of drawbacks from unable to group multiple 3dos together, advanced scripting, and other native state switches in scripting NR2003 can utilize like animations. The biggest one is it decimates a model by every face thus tripling the vert count. This increases the memory usage a track needs and the more 3dos your track has and the larger the track is performance begins to take a major dip. In most cases you can get away with it, however when you factor in heavy performance mods like FCRD 22 or the ICR mod you can crash the game in replay mode at certain aggressive angles which forces the game to have the cars at high level of detail.

While ADSS 14′ and 17′ never had any major complaints of crashing I still underwent an entire overhaul of all the custom 3dos on the track for the 2023 version to ensure the track is as performance friendly as possible and prevents any great chance of crashing (especially replay mode). Through meticulous rework every custom 3do I made I re-imported and replaced on the track. Every model was compiled with make3do reducing the vert count. Also LODs (level of detail) was added to many of the models too so the farther away the player is the less memory the track is using. You may find that despite this track having so much detail and so large it will now outperform even smaller track’s performance. All my new tracks going forward will use the new 3do method with these performance standards and it made perfect sense that ADSS would lead the way on this performance endeavor.

Below you can see some side by side framerate examples of the ADSS 17′ version versus the ADSS 23′ version. These benchmarks were taken in sandbox and you will see this performance translation in the game regardless if you use the 4 GB patch and dx8to9 dll or not (recommended to use though).

2023 Edition changes

Along with the performance upgrade this was an opportune time to update the track in several ways cosmetically and gameplay wise. Here are some of the major changes to the 2023 edition:

Main track logo moved to the large apron with dark painted background

Grass logo decals updated around the track

Choose cone decal added after the S/F line

Track now supports up to 47 cars, the 3 empty stalls were added to be compatible with more cars. An additional stall for the 47th car was added also extending the entrance to pit road

All wall logos updated including new logos added to the inner walls in the turns

Billboards revamped with new designs

With 3dos compiled in the true method, buildings with reflections have proper dynamic lighting now

Night version track event logo update to Xbox Series X 500

Several logos updated to the modern version, for example the Pepsi 2023 logo coming in late 2023

Track surface lighter than previous version to display the asphalt aging more and more. Track.ini reflects this with a minor addition to tire wear.

2023 Edition changes

Amongst those top changes here is the full detailed changelist for everything adjusted and changed in the ADSS 2023 track:

– complete overhaul of every custom 3do on the track with proper 3do compile and LODs to give the greatest performance leap with the track
– pit road slightly extended to support 47 car stalls
– track surface asphalt faded, tire wear slightly higher as a result for the older surface
– large Armory Digital Superspeedway logo moved to the empty apron section, surface painted black as well
– multiple billboards include new sponsors. billboard mips now easily numbers so if users want to replace sponsors it is easier to identify their location
– multiple wall decals include new sponsors, new wall decals added to the inner walls in the turns as well
– several grass decal logos have been updated and/or changed
– night version has a new primary sponsor: Xbox Series X 500
– errors with 3dos that had transparent textures have been fixed with 2-sided textures so they appear more 3D when viewed
– a turn 2 camper slightly moved that was clipping into the fence
– a turn 4 camper slightly moved that was clipping into the fence
– fence out of turn 4 moved so it is not clipping into ambulance
– start/finish stand slightly moved so it no longer clips into the fence
– minor wall and softwall textures fixed around the track where the textures were stretched
– minor grass textures fixed around the track where the textures were stretched
– removed shadow on the large apron from the front stretch on the night version of the track that did not make sense with the night lighting
– fixed 2 gaps on the sides of the Six Estates hotel
– choose cone decal added on frontstretch
– commitment cone for pit entrance removed, replaced with the commitment box
– many 3dos replaced with a single 3do of the object grouped together (looks exactly the same in the track for the viewer)
– all 3dos that had reflections now have proper dynamic lighting as a result of the new 3do compiling
– speaker 3dos were missing for the backstretch grandstands, now added

Download Armory Digital Superspeedway 2023 edition today

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#10 – New ICR and GoKart Patches Avaliable

Updated on 07/22/2023 by Mystical

New ICR and GoKart patches now avaliable

It has been a few years since either of the mods had an update as there were no known major outstanding things to patch or fix. Recently however as of this past week a new direct X 9 DLL file released that finally allowed players to have shadows working from structures and other cars. In the past the cars would always render black and you had to disable the options in the NR2003 game menus. It was a small sacrifice of using the DLL all these years for the massive FPS boost it gave the game.

You can read more about how to get the new DLL in this reddit thread here. I also have threads on Stunod and ADRD keeping up to date info on the DLL developments as well. I soon found out that some mods (including my ICR and GoKart mods) were not receiving shadows from structures and/or crashing the game as a result. I went into my code and thankfully found the root cause quickly. These new patches for ICR and GoKart have the newly recompiled fixes so you can now enjoy my mods with shadows as well.

Fixing the Shadows in the code

When making a mod these days there are not many of the OG creators around. So you end up having to figure out several things on your own when it comes to the more subtle differences in making code for a NR2003 Mod from scratch. So if you were wondering “why wasn’t this issue found earlier?” when I tested my mods in game as they were being developed I was always using the DLLin my game and comparing it to other successful mods of the past how they looked. Since the DLL black car lighting bug affected every mod regardless it was impossible for me to realize the difference unless I tried the game with a DLL added.

So what causes some mods to receive shadows correctly and others do not? It all comes down to a Bounding Box that has a MIN and MAX coordinates in the code:

Interestingly this code if omitted from your mod doesn’t cause any ‘major’ issues outside of shadow rendering on it. It doesn’t play a role in any other form of lighting such as the sun direction, reflections, or night race lights, its just for shadows and if the car can receive them. I had written in my code the bounding box MIN and MAX but not actually included it to be used in the output for the 3do when it compiled.

To include it in the output it has to be added in the final group of the exterior output but not in the actual parenthesis like you generally group elements for a papyrus script GROUP. Once this is done then the car mod in game will render shadows on it correctly. The only major issue when not including this code is the game could crash if you enable shadows from other cars.

The final result in fixing the code is the mods can now have proper shadows from structures and other cars covering them as the image below:

To get the patches they have been integrated into the latest mod files. Simply head on over to the downloads > mods section and re-download the mod files for ICR and GoKart patches.

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#8 – GoKart Teaser

Updated on 03/05/2022 by Mystical

Stock-Power Go Kart mod announcement

Mod is now available as of 3/5/2022!

Since the release of the ICR mod in 2020, Armory Digital Racing Designs has been quiet about a lot of the development projects since then. While there is still a lot to come for the future that will be exciting, the time has finally come to reveal this next small mod. This mod is considered a mini side project if you will. While the idea for the mod existed as far back as 2020 when the ICR mod was in development it didn’t become an actual reality until a few months ago. So without further delay I’m happy to announce the Stock-Power Go Kart mod is coming to NR2003 soon!

The mod started development on December 24th, 2021 and was completed roughly 1.5 weeks later. Since then all the work has been focused on painting the full carset, final cleanup adjustments, and getting all the promo work done. It has been a very smooth and efficient development to say the least (much of the credit going towards the ICR development learning process that has paid off making future mods easier).

While this mod is considered ‘small’ make no mistake it is still a complete mod with all the features you’d expect in a mod including unique features exclusive to Armory Digital Racing Design mods such as the Driver Display Interface. (see below for a breakdown of features).

There are just a few weeks ago but stay tuned for the the release date and launch trailer premiere. More info on what the mod exactly is and where its place belongs in the NR2003 mod collection will be shared on release day.

Stock-Power Go Kart Launch Trailer 3/5/2021 8:00 PDT

Play Video

Key features included with the Stock-Power Go Kart mod:

– Armory Digital Racing Designs first open-wheel type mod

– Multiple customization options available to truly shape the mod and make your own fictional series such as a customizable template, custom tire brands, custom coloring options, driver suit coloring, and the Driver Display Interface making a return.

– Highly detailed damage modeland detachable parts to give those epic crashes a spectacular viewing.

– Optimized to be as performance friendly so users with lower end pc’s can still jump in on the fun while allowing users with higher end rigs to enjoy the fully highly detailed models for those epic screenshots.

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#9 – GoKart Mod now available

Updated on 03/05/2022 by Mystical

Stock-Power Go Kart Now Available

Play Video

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 3^rd 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.

GoKart Mod

GoKart Templates

GoKart Carviewer

GoKart Blender scene

GoKart Marmoset 4 Scene

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#6 – ICR Mod now available

Updated on 02/25/2022 by Mystical

ICR Mod Now Available

Play Video

Preface

For many years since NR2003 has existed as a sim we have seen a lot of mods created for this game. Ranging from all the years and eras of the Nascar Cup Series, Xfinity, and Trucks players have been for the most part in continuity painting and racing pretty close to what was on track body wise with the main series. Outside of this the game has also seen a lot of creative mods that cover other forms of racing from open wheel, dirt, and the more funny/niche types of racing. In-between all of these there has always been a subset of painters and sim racers that have used these mods to create their own series with fictional paint schemes and drivers. For them it is not emulating what has already happened or racing with real driver and real schemes but creating something new. On the more serious and in-depth side of this some create their own fictional manufacturers to stick on the mods to really create a unique series. As modders has perfected their craft over the years and the cars in the real world have become more complex body/detail wise the challenge to create fictional cars on existing mods has become harder and harder. That is where this story begins on why this fictional stock car mod exists and how half a year ago development for it all began.

The ICR mod is the accumulation of years really for the desire to have a mod that solely caters to the fictional side and allows the painter create exactly what they want without the restraints normal mods usually block them into. This mod is not a secret as you have probably seen the development posts in the past going over the process. This was done to open the doors and show how a mod is made. At the same time you’ve seen the goals of what this mod is and today I am happy to fully reveal all it has to offer.

Welcome to the International Competitive Racing Mod

The International Competitive Racing (ICR) mod is a fictional stock car mod inspired from the real Nascar Cup series. Make no mistake for any similarities it has this mod definitely goes its own way on some key design features to make it truly unique. Unlike other mods this one specifically caters to painters and racers who prefer to race in a fictional setting rather than a real one but still retains that stock car feeling. For that reason the mod has a body shape and 4 different nose designs that allow for easy painting and fictional manufacturer template creation right out of the box. One other important factor is a mod that has ample painting room all around it. The sides, roof, hood, decklid and rear of the mod all have wide open space for large logo placement and design space. This was a really important consideration when making the mod that the racing side looked ascetically pleasing but painting on the car is just as easy and fun too.

The mod is heavily inspired from the Nascar Cup series body with its own design twist. The best way to describe what this mod looks like is it has the body of a gen4 fused with the safety features of the Gen5 COT, and the Gen6 style fused in certain areas all to give the mod a similar feeling like you are looking at a stock car that might have actually existed. With all of that mixed together the mod of course has some design choices like the roof rails and spoiler shape that sets it apart. In the upcoming sections you will find out more in depth what features this mod has to offer and how it all comes together to form one cohesive package that allows possibly the most customization options a mod has ever included for the fictional community.

The Templates

It goes without saying the part of a mod that has the most time spent for many is not the actual racing but the painting of cars, this is even more for the fictional creators out there. If a mod is frustrating to paint on due to UV warping on the template, confusing separated pieces, or the size of section of the UV is different is make creating even the most simple schemes more time consuming. All of these factors were kept in mind when the template layout was out together and also why this is the first mod to not be a square ration but instead a wider version. All parts of the paintable car body are of similar texel density meaning the front, sides, top, and rear parts of the car are all of the same size so when you create a line for example from one part to another you won’t see any distortion in the size of you schemes.

Like other mods there are 4 different body types to choose from. In the case of this mod everything between each make is the exact same except the nose sections. These are simply known as make0, make1, make2, and make3. Each car nose has a distinct shape to allow a wide range of manipulation with whatever manufacturer you choose to use or make that creates a convincing illusion. On release the mod comes right away with 16 different manufacturer templates to choose from. You can use them all in your series you create, one of them or a select few, the choice is ultimately yours to decide.

Play Video

If you find that these manufacturer templates are still not enough or you’d prefer to create something different the mod also comes with default templates (1 for each make type) so you can create from scratch the manufacturer and style you want. The power is in your hands to ultimately design and select what you want the cars to look like in the end.

Speaking of selection the template also comes with a few other features such as paintable tires and gas/energy cap options. For the tires you can choose from over 20+ brands already provided or toggle those off and add a new tire brand as well. This mod will allow you to truly make unique looking cars on track as you have more control over the tire decals along with chassis color and a few other smaller parts on the car. The templates come with a guide to show you those features. You can also check out the template guide video for a more in-depth review if you like to know the full details of it all.

All the features

By all standards this mod provides what you would expect from other mods: interior cockpit, exterior view, car damage, and performance friendly textures and models to keep your game stable. However, there is much more and many of these features are brand new concepts that ended up working out from trying them out as the mod was created. For an ultimately unique racing experience and that extra detail here are all of the features the ICR mod provides:

Deployable flaps:

While its not a completely new feature for mods, the ICR mod stock car features roof and hood flaps but also a decklid flap that deploys for that extra safety. You may still flip but at least your car will spin or flip with that extra style with the decklid flap deploying as well.

Cockpit Mirror Options:

Depending on your preference you have two different options for cockpit mirrors. One will be just the mirror on the top rollbar. The other will include a side mirror and as a result a slightly different zoom level on the main mirror as a result. Regardless of the mirror you choose both include the in-car detail that can be toggled on or off as well for that extra realism.

UI Compatible Mirror Position:

Gauge Color Options:

By default the gauge colors are teal but if you want them to be a different color you can easily swap them out to match your car ‘s paint scheme. There are 9 different color options to choose from.

Cockpit Wheel Input Indicator:

This is a small but still new feature never seen before on a NR2003 mod. While the ultimate goal unfortunately didn’t pan out in the end (due to NR2003’s limitations that couldn’t be done with the psg scripting code) this will still give a little life to that cockpit digital dashboard. Originally the wheel indicator was going to turn any time the player turned their wheel. Unfortunately the code doesn’t allow it to work that way when the player is in the cockpit and trying to copy the steering wheel animation twice doesn’t work for two wheels at the same time (from the trial and error that was tried. Instead this little wheel indicator has a life of its own, more specifically depending on what all the AI or even online competitors wheels are turning this indicator will interpolate rotation of all of them averaged out together. If just one other competitor is out on the track then it essentially will just show their wheel position patters.

This little feature is by no means revolutionary and as stated it was not originally designed to act the way it does but at least now you know what direction the majority of your competitors wheels are turning at any given time in a race.

Cockpit Damage Indicator:

If you race in cockpit mode and take enough significant hood damage you will see a damage indicator appear on the dash. This can range from medium damage to critical damage. Usually critical damage is bad enough you won’t be able to recover and be able to keep racing.

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 ICR 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:

There has been a lot of features shown for the cockpit view and now its time to show what the exterior view has to offer. Since NR2003 has existed the UI was constrained to the old 4:3 screen ratio. While this is still true the ICR 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 screenshots 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. It will be very cool in the coming months after the mod releases to see what users create with this feature.

Driver Display Indicator:

Last and certainly not least is quite possibly the most important and revolutionary feature the ICR mod has to offer. Always striving to think outside the box, not just thinking what NR2003 does, but rather what can be done comes Armory Digital Racing Designs most ambitious feature in a piece of content to date: The Driver Display Interface or better known as DDI for short. 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 display 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 in them menu but disabled for the replays/race mode. You can view all the options in the mod folder for how to have it on or off.

It is going to be really cool to see what users paint on the DDI and how they utilize it in their racing. It is definitely a feature I feel many will find enjoyable to see and make NR2003 racing feel a bit fresher. At the very least it will give each car a more personal touch as the DDI can be an extension of that car’s detail.

Post launch Support:

The fun won’t end once the mod comes out. Post launch content is planned to be supported for the mod giving it extra resources to keep things fresh. With base layer packs, additional template add-ons, and more manufacturer templates on the way the ICR mod will consist of a lot of growing content.

Start your new generation of racing right now

Below you will find link to all the main pages for downloading the mod, templates, and render scenes. Along with these downloads are a few extra videos that will cover the mod itself, the templates, and the new render program Marmoset Toolbag 3. The past half year has been a lot of work and dedication to get this mod right, now it is time for everyone to be able to enjoy it and have fun racing for years to come.

ICR Mod v1.1

ICR Templates v1.1

ICR Template Patch 1.1

ICR Render/Carviewer scenes

Version 1.1 of the ICR mod is now available! See all the details click here.

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#7 – ICR Mod version 1.1 update released

Updated on 05/25/2020 by Mystical

ICR Mod 1.1 Update

It has only been a week since the ICR Mod released and v1.1 update is now ready for download. For a quick breakdown of all the new fixes, improvements, and features you can watch the video below:

Play Video

ICR Mod 1.1 Release Notes:

– #45 car in carset now compressed and rear driver name banner updated so no longer showing placeholder name
– GNS, CTS, and PTA physics types now available as download options for the mod
– Optimizations made to inner shell mesh of undamaged cars, more tris removed for increased performance
– Front bumper section now properly will fall off when hit hard enough
– New debris and falling off parts geometry for wrecks added
– Player now has option to change cockpit dash colors
– Templates updated to 1.1 version
– Driver Display Interface version 2 added to the mod, 2 new paintable sections available to paint on with the 1.1 templates
– In menus manufacturer now displays on a per-car basis, old stp manufacturer images now legacy option

ICR Mod 1.1 Update Overview

If you would like a more detailed breakdown on the new features and how they can be added you can watch the video below to help guide you through the 1.1 update.

Play Video

1.1 Update now available for download

If you have previously downloaded the mod all links have been updated to the 1.1 version. All you have to do is download again and you will automatically have the new 1.1 features. If you do not want to have to re-download every template again you can download the 1.1 template patch and manually update the templates yourself (as shown in the 1.1 overview video above).

ICR Mod v1.1

ICR Templates v1.1

ICR Template Patch 1.1

ICR Render/Carviewer scenes

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#5 – ICR Mod release date

Updated on 05/10/2020 by Mystical

ICR Mod Release Date Details

After many months of work the International Competitive Racing Mod will be available for all very soon:

The mod along with all its content (render scenes, templates, carset, etc) are completed and the final work to package it all up and get it ready for web hosting is being done these next few days. Here are some of the things you can expect when the mod drops next week:

– Mod along with the Launch Trailer will release Saturday afternoon simultaneously around 4pm-8pm PDT window

– Multiple customization options available to truly shape the mod and make your own fictional series such as 16 manufacturer templates on launch to choose from, custom tire brands, chassis and rollbar custom coloring, nameplate in the cockpit, and much more.

– Highly detailed damage model, flap deployment, and detachable parts to give those epic crashes a spectacular viewing.

– Post-launch resource support included but not limited to: additional manufacturer templates, extra template add-ons, base layer packs, car files, and much more.

– Several new features for a NR2003 mod that will allow you to experience racing in NR2003 a whole new way like never before.

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#4 – ICR Mod Manufacturer Showcase

Updated on 04/18/2020 by Mystical

ICR Mod Manufacturer Showcase

If you have been following the dev posts the past few months you are probably well aware by now of the ICR Mod that’s been in development as previously talked about. While the mod itself is still a few weeks out from being fully released, today I am happy to reveal the manufacturer templates that will be launching with it. 16 manufacturers will be available to paint on and choose from to build your own series with this mod. You can use them all or just a few, it really is up to you. To show how customizable this mod body is the manufacturers displayed today give you a good idea of the freedom in template creation. So without further delay here are the 16 manufacturers coming as templates for the mod on release day:

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If you would like to see a still of each one here is a gallery for them as well.

Along with these 16 templates comes the 4 blank ones (not shown in the video). These will allow you to create your own manufacturers if you would prefer to make something different than the provided ones. After the mod releases you can expect a few more templates to be released. The first one to come post launch is planned to be the Mazda. The final pieces of the mod have been coming together and it probably will not be too many more weeks before the official release of the mod comes. Check back in the future for a release date.

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#3 – Site still under construction

Updated on 02/17/2020 by Mystical

Site still under construction in some areas

With the site just opening the majority of the content from the old site has been restored. There are a few downloads not yet added back but for the most part everything that originally was available for download on the old site is back again. It took many hours to rebuild and upload everything and while a decent amount of testing was done to make sure links work there might have been a few errors that slipped through. If you happen to notice a dead link or an incorrect one let me know and I will fix it soon as I can.

The ‘New from the Paintshop’ section has no new paints either because I’ve been away not painting for quite some time. After I release my new mod you will start to see a ton of new paint schemes for that mod of course as that will be the main mod I paint for on this site. All of the old paint schemes are back up on the site though so if you ever want to view the old paints they are all stowed away in the archive section.

On the flip-side of restoring old content the rebuild was not meant to just get us back to square one but build upon it. In the future new sections will open up such as the tutorials and resources section. In here these areas I hope will provide more information and help to those in the community that may want to learn how to mod NR2003 in different way or a place to find useful guides at the very least. For example the resources section may include track resources like wall mips I’ve scratch made so they can use on their own track. Another example could be texture packs for different types of asphalt, grass, and dirt. Other resources may include 3do’s I’ve made that a track builder can download and easily add to their track in sandbox.

In the tutorial section I plan to gather all my previous tutorials and have them neatly indexed for easy access. This section will house in the future I also hope more rare guides such as UI editing, track creation, and even making a mod (as I mentioned in my ICR development posts). Having a place for that information will be really great I think for the community so everyone who want to learn how to make content for NR2003 can. As much as this site serves as just a download center for my content I also want it to be a place information can be found as well. One of the best way for NR2003 to get more content is have more content creators and with useful resources and guides that can help propel a whole lot of new users to engage and make stuff for the game.

There is no definite timeline when these sections will come online but I hope in the future months or year these will be some substantial content at the very least to get the areas jump started. When they do arrive you will see a news post about it for sure.

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#2 – Building a new generation mod

Updated on 02/17/2020 by Mystical

Building a new generation mod

For the first time ever Armory Digital Racing Designs is branching out to make a mod for NR2003. In the past this was never a possibility let alone a focus for the type of content you would see on this website. For the longest time mod creation was a high wall to climb if you wanted to make a mod for NR2003. ThePits.us for many years has always had text documentation and a download link to a mod creation kit so technically anyone could try to jump in and make a mod. The biggest hurdle was trying to understand how to set up the code and also a scene in 3DS Max8 though. If you were not on a team that had been making mods for many years in the community if was very hard to get in on the process on your own. Whether that was due to some holding all the cards and keeping the tips and tricks a secret (several years ago the modding teams were very competitive) and the other modders simply too busy of course to be able to explain and make tutorials. In short, there just wasn’t a way to freely get the information so it mostly remained that last area of NR2003 content creation that was always rare and only a few knew how to do.

This all changed about a year ago when a 5+ hour video from the NR2003 user Burnout surfaced on youtube showing the core mod process of setup in 3ds max and raw code. It really opened eyes to see what needed to be done to get a custom mesh in the game as a working ‘racecar’. Granted this did not include all the process like how to do damage, internal cockpit, and LODs but it was enough of a spark to get the wheels turning. Another generous user you are probably familiar with known as Cosmin who made the wonderfully detailed MENCS mods also around the same time uploaded several mod making videos that showcased things like LOD,s damage, and some cockpit adjustment features. Cosmin has been a big help with this mod in guiding me as I am building it answering a lot of the questions when I got stuck in a process or trying to understand certain things. Without the videos and additional details from Cosmin it would be pretty hard to make a complete mod as easily as Ive been able to so far.

Now that the backstory is out of the way of how we got here Armory Digital Racing Designs has the information and tools to make a mod. Like any traditional content from Armory Digital this is a completely fictional mod. While fictional tracks was not such a rare occurrence in NR2003, fictional mods as far as I know are few and few if any. This mod is a cross between Nascar’s Gen4 and Gen6 features put together along with some of my own custom features of course. The ultimate goal of course other than just having a fictional mod in general is to also have it be fun to paint on.

Not only to have it fun and easy to paint but looks good with large quarter panel sections, rear, and hood area so the logos can look great. With all of that comes the ultimate feature which is 4 separate noses all that have generic different shapes with no complex manufacturer specific details. This allows users to mold this mod to be useful for any type of fictional series they can think of with as many custom manufacturers. Welcome to the ICR mod (International Compettive Racing).

The above is just an introduction to the mod itself and it has actually been in development for quite a few months. Most content I make I do in secrecy and then release when its ready to avoid everyone coming with questions. This time however I have opened the doors to showing the entire development process from start to finish explaining in detail how it is being created. The reason for this is to break the barrier down on how a mod is made so if others wanted to see how it what done and what it takes they could follow along and learn. While the development post are not a direct tutorial they will serve as the new best thing until I make a tutorial series on mod creation (one day hopefully). For the past few months the development process has been posted over on both Stunod and Sim Racing Design which include extra post commentary from users. If you want a cleaner look at the dev posts I will have each section archived in order later on the website. The mod is still in development though so more dev posts will come until the mod is finally released in the future. So until that day comes enjoy reading through the process.

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