I couldn't find a comprehensive tutorial on this subject so I decided to write one myself
. It's a work-in-progress right now, so I'd welcome any comments from those more knowledgeable than me! Let's get started...
Magic Data is the name for a set of parameters that controls the way the game behaves at each track. It should really be called Track Data in my opinion.
Magic Data must be aligned with Performance data and Physics data to achieve a good gaming experience. This tutorial aims to explain how Magic Data works.
First some background on tracks:
Tracks are made up of, as a minimum, a WAD file and a DAT file. It is the DAT file which contains the Magic Data.
There are 2 ways to view and edit the Magic Data in the DAT file. First there is
CMagic, available at
SDI Utilities. But I prefer
TSM, part of the
ZaZ Tools package. This gives a visual interface to the Magic Data, instead of the text-based CMagic.
Install a track in TSM by clicking "Create new track". Fill in the name of the track and then link it to the track's WAD and DAT files
Now for the main purpose of this tutorial - it's time to have a look at some Magic Data.
Highlight a track and click the Magic Data tab.
The Magic Data tab is split into 7 sections: Car Setup, Pitstop Strategy, Failure Chance, Grip & Fuel etc, Laps & Sector Splits, Tyre Choice, Skill Factors. Lets look at each section.
(1) Car SetupThis section controls the Player and AI car setup in 3 ways: Wing Level (front and rear), Gear Ratios and Brake Balance.
Wing Level can be a value between 1 (low downforce) and 20 (high downforce).
Gear Ratios should be set so that the car is able to reach its maximum speed without "running out" of revs. It is mainly influenced by the Wing level, especially the rear wing setting. The gaps between the gears should be fairly equal. TSM only shows values for 6 gears. If a car has 7 gears the game will adjust for this automatically.
The
Brake Balance value shown is Front Brake Balance. It is normally around 57% (5700) for AI car setups.
(2) Pitstop StrategyThis section determines the AI cars pitstop strategy (1, 2 or 3 stops) and on which laps they should make their pitstops.
The percentage row should always sum to 100. Pitstop strategy is randomly determined for each AI car according to the percentages assigned to each option (1,2 or 3 stops). There is no way to make certain cars choose a particular strategy.
(3) Failure ChanceThis section decides which types of failures the AI cars might experience. Higher values means a high chance of this type of failure.
(4) Grip & Fuel etcThis is the hardest section to understand and the main reason I wanted a tutorial on Magic Data. It deals mainly with Fuel and Grip parameters but also some other miscellaneous items. Lets run through each parameter in turn:
Track Grip. Affects both player and AI cars. Higher values mean more grip. Of the 17 original 2001 tracks, values range from 15742 (Imola) to 17120 (Indianapolis). The average value is 16365.
Downforce. Affects both player and AI cars. This should be called Air Resistance or Altitude. Higher values give less air resistance, which means higher top speeds but slower cornering ability as there is less downforce generated. Of the original 17 2001 tracks, values range from 17 (Imola, Silverstone, Spa) to 31 (Hungaroring). The average value is 23.
Ride Height. Affects both player and AI cars. I don't fully understand this paramneter. Changing it is not advisable. It seems to affect acceleration and top speed. Higher values give a lower acceleration and top speed. Of the original 17 2001 tracks, values range from 926 (Interlagos) to 1022 (Monaco). The average value 990.
Fuel. Affects both player and AI cars. This value is the amount of fuel 'units' that equals 1.0 laps of fuel according to the in-cockpit readout. Obviously shorter tracks require less fuel per lap, and longer tracks require more per lap. Of the original 17 2001 tracks, values range from 5766 (Monaco) to 10730 (Spa) which is a predictable result.
AI Grip. This value actually alters the AI cars aggressiveness (not grip) in braking zones. The default value is 64768 for most of the original 2001 tracks. Maximum aggresiveness is around 30000, at which point the cars all spin off. This value should be left at 64768.
AI Grip Finetune. Just alters the above value by a small amount. Not really important.
Range min / Range max. Varies the performance of all AI cars by these amounts. Can be left at the default values of 512 (Range min) and 2048 (Range max).
AI Errors. The number of unforced errors made by the AI cars. Higher values mean more errors. The most common value of the 17 2001 tracks is 64, with a range from 24 (Monaco) to 96 (Montreal).
Spin recovery range. The number of track sectors the AI cars check before rejoining after a spin. The default value is 64 for all 17 original tracks.
Sectors to pit in begin / end. Track specific. Do not alter.
Pre pit speed limit. I'm not sure what this does. I believe it is the speed at which the AI cars approach the pit lane entry. Needs more testing.
Fuel consumption player. The Human players fuel consumption. For some reason it is always higher than the AI fuel consumption! Of the 17 original 2001 tracks, values range from 16643 (Hockenheim) to 19190 (Monaco). The average value is 17705.
Fuel comsumption AI. The AI cars' fuel consumption. Of the 17 original 2001 tracks, values range from 15741 (Barcelona) to 17172 (Spa). The average value is 16413, which is 1292 less than the Player fuel consumption average.
Tyre wear. Affects only the players car. Higher values mean a faster tyre wear rate. Of the 17 original tracks, values range from 12258 (Barcelona) to 18574 (Indianapolis).
AI Race performance. This should be called AI tyre wear. Affects AI cars only. Higher values increase AI tyre wear and slows them down as the race goes on. 2001 values range from 2461 (Suzuka) to 4886 (A1 Ring). The average value is 3584.
Weather percentage. Pretty obvious this one. The percentage chance of rain affecting a session at the track.
AI Race grip. I'm not sure exactly what this does, but the value is 256 for all 17 original tracks. I suggest leaving this at 256.
AI Tyres. I have no idea what this does. Any suggestions?
Black flag penalty. The length of time (in milliseconds) that a black flag penalty lasts for.
Black flag. I think this value is the speed the players cars is reduced to during a Black Flag penalty. Lower values mean a greater reduction in speed.
(5) Laps & Sector SplitsLaps. Total number of laps for a 100% race distance.
Split1 / Split2. The track sector in which slits 1 and 2 end. Should be set by the track maker.
(6) TyresPossible values are 52 - 55. The Hard value is always 1 greater than the Soft value. And the Type value is always 100. But I don't know what any of the values mean! Any assistance would be appreciated!
(7) Skill FactorsDetermines how much faster / slower the AI cars are at a given Skill level. Higher values mean faster AI competition.
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Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 02/08/2019 12:53AM by TomMK.