Lazza
rFactor (1) Motec Plugin - v1.10, 14th Feb 2012
Mirrors:
http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?kpzdtu803cxc005
http://www.gamefront.com/files/21330879/rF1MotecPlugin_14Feb2012_rar
'g' version (non-Trymedia version) patch:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/9g808ij800o24fz/MotecPlugin_patchedG.rar?dl=0
Installation
Extract the entire archive to your rFactor root folder. If done correctly you'll have the MotecPlugin.dll sitting inside your rFactor\Plugins folder.
You'll also find a Plugins\MotecPlugin folder containing a few sounds used to indicate logging progress (logging on/off, 'log building' completed - more info below), plus in your rFactor\ folder you'll have rFactorToMotec.exe for generating i2Pro track diagrams.
Once installed, load up rFactor to the menu (no need to go to the track just yet), quit out, and if the plugin is running correctly you'll find a MotecPlugin.ini in your rFactor folder. This contains some settings you might like to adjust, which I'll explain later.
Telemetry
For those not familiar with telemetry logging: you might have noticed on your HUD you can see things like your current average tyre temperatures, engine oil/water temperature, brake temps, etc. Also if you're using a GUI that has included the brake disc indicators you can exit back to the pits and see the current brake disc thickness, helping you work out the right setup parameters to maximise performance while minimising the risk of a failure.
That's all well and good, but what if you're so busy driving you can't keep an eye on your tyre temps? Or you do a 20-lap stint to check your brake wear... and then forget to look before changing the setup or heading back out on track? (gee, I did that a lot lol) What about all the other things you can't really see - ride height, suspension behaviour, or even how much throttle you used when you nailed a particular corner?
With telemetry logging you can look at laps you've driven and see exactly what was going on both at the controls and with the car itself. Instead of having to glance at the HUD mid-corner to see what your tyres are doing under load, and maybe Esc back to the pits to check the temperature balance across the tyre at that moment (and interrupt your run), you can bring up your tyre temp graphs and see how they changed over the course of a corner, or a lap, or a stint. If looking at the graph is a bit bewildering you can display the average temps (across each tyre) for the lap; if you'd prefer you can 'switch off' values when you were on a straight, and generate average temps during cornering; if you're really keen you can even separate left and right corners and check out exactly what your front left is doing over the course of a lap when it's actually being used - for example
Logging process
In real life the logger is activated before the car rolls out onto the track. Motec is therefore built around an expectation of having an out-lap, timed laps, and an in-lap. With a plugin we aren't limited to this, so you can switch it on for a lap (or a corner) if you wish, but be aware you might find some strange apparent laptimes if you do this.
To minimise memory use this plugin only stores a couple of seconds worth of data at any one time; it writes data out to a temporary file in 1-second chunks, and when you finish logging either by switching it off or exiting the car it will convert that file to an i2Pro compatible log file. (the log file format is such that generating it on-the-fly isn't possible).
In doing this conversion it places some extra load on the CPU, so the .ini allows you to set whether to start converting logged data while still in the car, plus how 'hard' to work both in-car and at the monitor. The good news it only takes a few seconds to convert an hour or two's driving at normal telemetry rates, but if you find your monitor updating slowly or rFactor 'hanging' on exit it will be the data conversion process.
Extra channels
This plugin will read extra values from the current downloaded rFactor .exe (v1.255f) including: brake disc thickness, steered angle (uses setup steering lock and current steering input), engine boost, brake bias, and it calculates an 'engine wear' figure as well (in seconds, so to put it in context you need to go and find out your engine's average life). I honestly don't know if this works with other versions of the .exe file. (I'm guessing not)
MotecPlugin.ini options
The MotecPlugin.ini file has comments which should be self-explanatory. If you need to revert to defaults just rename your .ini file and the plugin will recreate it on rFactor startup.
One point to note: There are two sounds to indicate log-conversion processing. 'One log built' is by default just a single beep, and indicates that one file was converted but more are pending. This is a leftover from a previous version of the plugin that did the conversion much more slowly; it's unlikely now that you'll manage to have more than one log conversion pending unless you collect several hours' worth of data and then collect a few short bursts, or you've disabled in-car file conversion and collect a number of logs before returning to the garage.
If you choose to switch logging off (and begin conversion) in the car and find your framerate suffers as the log file is converted, try reducing 'Duty log cycles'. Same goes for 'Idle log cycles' if you find your monitor struggling with the conversion, but it's usually better to suffer a few seconds of stuttering video than sitting and waiting for the log to be ready
'Data Rate' - rather than log all channels at the same rate, I've set the default rates to match those found in the log sample provided with Motec. You can reduce this setting to -1 or even -2 if you want to reduce the log file size, but you will lose resolution by doing this. "= 1" sets the rates somewhat higher, while "= 2" puts all channels on 90Hz. 0 or 1 are usually enough for most purposes.
Usage
If you've set logging to be active on startup, as soon as you jump in the car you'll hear beeps indicating logging is active.
Otherwise, hit Ctrl-M (or your own defined key) to switch logging on.
'Upwards beeps' = logging on. 'Downwards beeps' = logging off.
When logging is finished, either through switching it off or by exiting the car, you will hear the beeps indicating the log has finished being built (converted from the temp file) usually after a short pause. You can then open it up in i2Pro as you wish.
rFactorToMotec
This tool, which you will find in your rFactor folder after extracting the .rar, is to generate track maps for MoTeC.
Recent versions of MoTeC include GPS map capability. My previous plugin logged GPS position data which could be used to compare driving lines between laps - but to actually see the track itself you had to log the track edges manually, just like real life (drive around the entire track staying first on one side, then on the other, then select those laps and tell Motec what they are).
Not a huge chore for a single test track that isn't too long... but a headache for anything else.
So, if you run the tool (double-click rFactorToMotec.exe in the rFactor folder you installed the plugin to) it will go through the rFactor tracks present, read the layout data, and create Motec Track files in your Motec project folder.
It checks rFactor's config.ini first, so if you've changed to a custom tracksdir it will find it. (if for some reason it can't find a config.ini, it'll just look in all subfolders for tracks)
If you already have i2 Pro installed, and have opened up a project with it previously, the tool will find the project location using the registry and write all the track files into the appropriate place. It will write all track files into every project folder it finds. (if you don't have i2 Pro installed yet, or haven't loaded a project into it, the tool will create a new Motec Tracks folder in your rFactor install and write all the tracks there. You'll have to move them to the appropriate project folder yourself - or run the tool again after installing and running i2 Pro)
If you install a new track and want to generate the map for Motec, just run the tool again. It will find all the tracks but will ask if you want to overwrite each one - hit the 'z' key (for 'no to all') and it won't overwrite any existing files, just the new ones. (that way any custom sectors you've set up for existing tracks won't be lost)
Finally, to avoid conflicts, both the Plugin itself and the tool append a checksum to the track name. Since various versions of a particular track can have the same track name (pretty sure I have several Barcelonas, for example) this avoids getting the wrong map for your particular layout. It just means the track name in Motec might be something like "Barcelona qmq5w1".
Issues
- Logging is done in 1-second chunks. If you Escape as soon as you cross the line you might not get the laptime recorded. So just leave a few seconds either side of laps
- If rFactor crashes and you're left with just the .ldtemp file, the plugin won't try to convert it later.
- I don't use UAC. I don't know how it affects things.
Disclaimers
First, I don't offer any guarantees on this plugin's performance, ability to work, or it not formatting your hard drive. I've used it for many many hours without issue but computers are weird things. If you have a problem I'm not promising to fix it.
Second, the EULA for i2Pro states it's not to be used with data generated by non-Motec devices. While strictly speaking I don't think this falls into that category as it's not replacing a Motec 'device' (read: plugin) you should be aware Motec doesn't support the use of i2Pro with rFactor logs. Do NOT ask them for help!!!
Feedback is welcome
Mirrors:
http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?kpzdtu803cxc005
http://www.gamefront.com/files/21330879/rF1MotecPlugin_14Feb2012_rar
'g' version (non-Trymedia version) patch:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/9g808ij800o24fz/MotecPlugin_patchedG.rar?dl=0
Installation
Extract the entire archive to your rFactor root folder. If done correctly you'll have the MotecPlugin.dll sitting inside your rFactor\Plugins folder.
You'll also find a Plugins\MotecPlugin folder containing a few sounds used to indicate logging progress (logging on/off, 'log building' completed - more info below), plus in your rFactor\ folder you'll have rFactorToMotec.exe for generating i2Pro track diagrams.
Once installed, load up rFactor to the menu (no need to go to the track just yet), quit out, and if the plugin is running correctly you'll find a MotecPlugin.ini in your rFactor folder. This contains some settings you might like to adjust, which I'll explain later.
Telemetry
For those not familiar with telemetry logging: you might have noticed on your HUD you can see things like your current average tyre temperatures, engine oil/water temperature, brake temps, etc. Also if you're using a GUI that has included the brake disc indicators you can exit back to the pits and see the current brake disc thickness, helping you work out the right setup parameters to maximise performance while minimising the risk of a failure.
That's all well and good, but what if you're so busy driving you can't keep an eye on your tyre temps? Or you do a 20-lap stint to check your brake wear... and then forget to look before changing the setup or heading back out on track? (gee, I did that a lot lol) What about all the other things you can't really see - ride height, suspension behaviour, or even how much throttle you used when you nailed a particular corner?
With telemetry logging you can look at laps you've driven and see exactly what was going on both at the controls and with the car itself. Instead of having to glance at the HUD mid-corner to see what your tyres are doing under load, and maybe Esc back to the pits to check the temperature balance across the tyre at that moment (and interrupt your run), you can bring up your tyre temp graphs and see how they changed over the course of a corner, or a lap, or a stint. If looking at the graph is a bit bewildering you can display the average temps (across each tyre) for the lap; if you'd prefer you can 'switch off' values when you were on a straight, and generate average temps during cornering; if you're really keen you can even separate left and right corners and check out exactly what your front left is doing over the course of a lap when it's actually being used - for example
Logging process
In real life the logger is activated before the car rolls out onto the track. Motec is therefore built around an expectation of having an out-lap, timed laps, and an in-lap. With a plugin we aren't limited to this, so you can switch it on for a lap (or a corner) if you wish, but be aware you might find some strange apparent laptimes if you do this.
To minimise memory use this plugin only stores a couple of seconds worth of data at any one time; it writes data out to a temporary file in 1-second chunks, and when you finish logging either by switching it off or exiting the car it will convert that file to an i2Pro compatible log file. (the log file format is such that generating it on-the-fly isn't possible).
In doing this conversion it places some extra load on the CPU, so the .ini allows you to set whether to start converting logged data while still in the car, plus how 'hard' to work both in-car and at the monitor. The good news it only takes a few seconds to convert an hour or two's driving at normal telemetry rates, but if you find your monitor updating slowly or rFactor 'hanging' on exit it will be the data conversion process.
Extra channels
This plugin will read extra values from the current downloaded rFactor .exe (v1.255f) including: brake disc thickness, steered angle (uses setup steering lock and current steering input), engine boost, brake bias, and it calculates an 'engine wear' figure as well (in seconds, so to put it in context you need to go and find out your engine's average life). I honestly don't know if this works with other versions of the .exe file. (I'm guessing not)
MotecPlugin.ini options
The MotecPlugin.ini file has comments which should be self-explanatory. If you need to revert to defaults just rename your .ini file and the plugin will recreate it on rFactor startup.
One point to note: There are two sounds to indicate log-conversion processing. 'One log built' is by default just a single beep, and indicates that one file was converted but more are pending. This is a leftover from a previous version of the plugin that did the conversion much more slowly; it's unlikely now that you'll manage to have more than one log conversion pending unless you collect several hours' worth of data and then collect a few short bursts, or you've disabled in-car file conversion and collect a number of logs before returning to the garage.
If you choose to switch logging off (and begin conversion) in the car and find your framerate suffers as the log file is converted, try reducing 'Duty log cycles'. Same goes for 'Idle log cycles' if you find your monitor struggling with the conversion, but it's usually better to suffer a few seconds of stuttering video than sitting and waiting for the log to be ready
'Data Rate' - rather than log all channels at the same rate, I've set the default rates to match those found in the log sample provided with Motec. You can reduce this setting to -1 or even -2 if you want to reduce the log file size, but you will lose resolution by doing this. "= 1" sets the rates somewhat higher, while "= 2" puts all channels on 90Hz. 0 or 1 are usually enough for most purposes.
Usage
If you've set logging to be active on startup, as soon as you jump in the car you'll hear beeps indicating logging is active.
Otherwise, hit Ctrl-M (or your own defined key) to switch logging on.
'Upwards beeps' = logging on. 'Downwards beeps' = logging off.
When logging is finished, either through switching it off or by exiting the car, you will hear the beeps indicating the log has finished being built (converted from the temp file) usually after a short pause. You can then open it up in i2Pro as you wish.
rFactorToMotec
This tool, which you will find in your rFactor folder after extracting the .rar, is to generate track maps for MoTeC.
Recent versions of MoTeC include GPS map capability. My previous plugin logged GPS position data which could be used to compare driving lines between laps - but to actually see the track itself you had to log the track edges manually, just like real life (drive around the entire track staying first on one side, then on the other, then select those laps and tell Motec what they are).
Not a huge chore for a single test track that isn't too long... but a headache for anything else.
So, if you run the tool (double-click rFactorToMotec.exe in the rFactor folder you installed the plugin to) it will go through the rFactor tracks present, read the layout data, and create Motec Track files in your Motec project folder.
It checks rFactor's config.ini first, so if you've changed to a custom tracksdir it will find it. (if for some reason it can't find a config.ini, it'll just look in all subfolders for tracks)
If you already have i2 Pro installed, and have opened up a project with it previously, the tool will find the project location using the registry and write all the track files into the appropriate place. It will write all track files into every project folder it finds. (if you don't have i2 Pro installed yet, or haven't loaded a project into it, the tool will create a new Motec Tracks folder in your rFactor install and write all the tracks there. You'll have to move them to the appropriate project folder yourself - or run the tool again after installing and running i2 Pro)
If you install a new track and want to generate the map for Motec, just run the tool again. It will find all the tracks but will ask if you want to overwrite each one - hit the 'z' key (for 'no to all') and it won't overwrite any existing files, just the new ones. (that way any custom sectors you've set up for existing tracks won't be lost)
Finally, to avoid conflicts, both the Plugin itself and the tool append a checksum to the track name. Since various versions of a particular track can have the same track name (pretty sure I have several Barcelonas, for example) this avoids getting the wrong map for your particular layout. It just means the track name in Motec might be something like "Barcelona qmq5w1".
Issues
- Logging is done in 1-second chunks. If you Escape as soon as you cross the line you might not get the laptime recorded. So just leave a few seconds either side of laps
- If rFactor crashes and you're left with just the .ldtemp file, the plugin won't try to convert it later.
- I don't use UAC. I don't know how it affects things.
Disclaimers
First, I don't offer any guarantees on this plugin's performance, ability to work
, or it not formatting your hard drive. I've used it for many many hours without issue but computers are weird things. If you have a problem I'm not promising to fix it.Second, the EULA for i2Pro states it's not to be used with data generated by non-Motec devices. While strictly speaking I don't think this falls into that category as it's not replacing a Motec 'device' (read: plugin) you should be aware Motec doesn't support the use of i2Pro with rFactor logs. Do NOT ask them for help!!!
Feedback is welcome
Last edited:
