Sorry, custom liveries for consoles (PS4 and XBOX One) aren't available at this moment.
Just extract and overwrite files under "[your drive]:\[your system]\STEAM\SteamApps\common\pCars\Vehicles\Textures\CustomLiveries"
1. Photoshop CS (or higher) or any other software (e.g. GIMP) that can deal with PSD and DDS file types.
3. A bit of knowledge how to use Photoshop, GIMP or whatever software you chose.
5. Overwrite the related custom livery in "[your drive]:\[your system]\STEAM\SteamApps\common\pCars\Vehicles\Textures\CustomLiveries"
* Template file names don't necessarily correspond to the livery names. Change, if necessary.
LIVERY_AI 1024x1024 DXT1 Vehicle AI Livery. If AI uses the "Custom Livery"
Set the DDS plugin to "create new mip maps".
Your PC performance and memory is the limit.
Can we just use 1 custom livery per car?
Yes. Only 1 custom livery per car at moment.
There is a 3D viewer?
No. But you can save the DDS while game is running. See the "3D Viewer Alternative" in the "Tip" section of this FAQ.
Where do I find the custom textures?
In your pCARS runtime under "[your drive]:\[your system]\STEAM\SteamApps\common\pCars\Vehicles\Textures\CustomLiveries" you will find default custom liveries for all cars.
They are all white and show a black wireframe.
Simply replace these textures with your own and choose the "Custom Livery" in the GUI selection.
Will my liveries be deleted when I uninstall the game or install a new version?
We've changed the installer to not replace the files if they're already present, or uninstall them if they've been modified from the defaults, so it should be fairly safe.
But if you blindly delete your whole pCARS folder say, you'll lose them.
So you better keep the PSD files of your liveries somewhere safe.
I have problems saving the DDS files. What can I do?
Save the livery as TGA.
Then open the TGA and save the DDS from there.
That will usually always work. Sometimes there are problems saving DDS files from layered PSD files.
What settings do the liveries need to be saved with?
You save them as simple "DXT1" DDS with all MIP maps.
The DDS file should be saved as a square image, so if a PSD file is not square (e.g. 4096x6144 pixels), you first need to resize it to 4096x4096 before exporting it to DDS).
No, only solid paint is possible at the moment.
The shaders for these effects are too complicated to be externally influenced.
However, chrome and matte effects are possible. See specular + fresnel maps at the bottom of these FAQ.
Last edited by Fernando Pedace; 21-05-2015 at 12:29.
What can I do with specular maps for liveries?
Specular maps control the specularity and glossyness of the material.
In the RGB channels (normal painting area) you can control how much light gets reflected and what colour it reflects.
Glossy paint materials usually reflect white light, so it would be 255/255/255 white.
For matte or semigloss paint you would choose a grey tone, something around 160/160/160 works well for matte paint.
For the blue chrome (see below) you would choose a bright blue colour.
The alpha channel controls how glossy the material is, i.e. how blurred the emap reflections are.
Greyscale values: White = glossy (sharp reflections), Black = matte (blurry reflections). 20/20/20 works well for matte paint.
The darker the alpha channel, the more blurry the reflections get.
Specular maps have to be saved as DXT5 (with alpha).
See attached screenshot and livery textures as example!
What can I do with fresnel maps for liveries?
Fresnel maps control the fresnel value of the paint material, i.e. the amount of reflections per angle.
This is actually the effect that makes paint and glass look realistic.
With the fresnel map you are able to create chrome paint effect like on the McLaren F1 cars.
Fresnel maps have to be saved as DXT1 (without alpha).
Last edited by Fernando Pedace; 08-05-2015 at 11:52.
All bright colous should be 90% brightness maximum, unless you want flourescent neon colours. And pure black can cause transparency issues.
You can save your livery DDS file in the livery folder while the game is running.
ALT+TAB and back to the game. In "My Garage", move one livery left (or right) and back to the Custom Livery to see your updated livery.
You can rotate it and zoom in/out in the "Take a Photo" area.
Last edited by Fernando Pedace; 08-05-2015 at 14:45.
The size of the PSD file(if using photoshop) doesn't matter. When converted to a DXT1 DDS file it should be about 10meg for a 4096x4096 livery.
You can safe your livery DDS file in the livery folder (or safe it elsewhere and overwrite the ones in the livery folder) while the game is running.
Can I ask...Is there a way of having a pack of car liveries per car, or is it still one livery per car?
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