Spring Forum Event - Post your best tips and tricks here!

[stetsonaw]

Best car for winding tarmac and offroading, for trying to achieve 3 stars on speed runs, for me, was the Beetle.  BelAir was too big and beefy, whereas the Beetle was so nimble and quick.

[nimo15gt]

I like to consider myself pretty good at editing wraps, I'd like to share some tips. I'll start with, just be creative, don't do the usual. I like to use the wrap editor to add things to the car that aren't on the game. For example, I've made the ice charger from fast and furious 8, most would just add the stripes and call it done, but the key is the riveted windows. On nfs 2015, I made a wood panel wrap for the hot rod truck using arcs, square/rectangles, and gradient ovals. One of the most important things I cannot stress enough is the importance of color selection. DO NOT just select one of the presets, make the color yourself. Adjust the smoothness and metallic compound. The more metallic usually means a darker color especially when the smoothness is higher. White is best made with smoothness and metallic all the way down; turn on the clear coat for gloss. This also works for vinyls (clear coat unavailable). Another significant piece of advice is with the text, never just leave it in it's original shape. I usually stretch it horizontally only, and shrink it vertically a little bit. When adding text to a windshield, keep in mind that the surface is rounded, place the letters one at a time, not the whole word at once, to make it parallel to the top of the windshield instead of just a straight line going acrossed. Adding shadows to text and other graphics is also a nice touch. Simply copy the graphic, change the color to black, lower the transparency, and place it underneath the original graphic. You will have to move it over to one side, and/or up or down as well. Don't be afraid to make the shadow any color you like for a bit of creativity. That is about all I can think of for now, in the words of need for speed themselves,
Stay tuned.

[matthewreinsmith]

Brand Bonus

I've noticed that a 6x brand bonus seems to be much better than trying to do 3x + 3x combos

It also makes it easier to spin for better perks

[matthewreinsmith]

%100 agree that the bug is great for off-roading, so much fun to drive and it can take anything (I love driving over cops with it).  However, it lacks horsepower to stay at speed.

I started using the Porsche RSR and I think it has the best balance for me.

Give it a try and see if you agree?

[Jabberwocky79]

I posted this info in another thread to help an individual, but figured it belonged in this thread as well:

How to make aged, patina, derelict-type looks using the wrap editor:

1) Determine if there's anything on the car that needs to be a specific color that can't easily accept vinyl decals. Things like side mirrors, spoilers, diffusers, etc.. For example, if you want black side mirrors, then make the PAINT color black and choose your desired sheen. Do this even if you don't want the majority of the car to stay black.

2) Choose a base color that you want the car to be - yellow, blue, red, orange, whatever... choose a basic color and apply a square decal to each "wrap zone" with that color. Change the finish of the color to be totally matte. You can choose the predefined "Matte" sheen, however you can make it even more dull by tweaking the "Metallic" and "Smoothness" categories in the "advanced" tab.

3) Add aging and patina patterns using appropriate splatter, fade, and scatter decals the wrap editor provides. Keep in mind that paint tends to become lighter in color and less saturated as it gets older. You can achieve this look by choosing colors for the splotches that are a few shades lighter than your base color you covered the car with. Use the "Transparency" slider in the "advanced" tab to adjust the subtlety of the color changes.

4) Paint usually ages the fastest on roofs, hoods, and trunks since they face the most sunlight. Your aging effects should become more pronounced on the top panels than they would on the sides. Look at photos online to train your eye to "think" like rust and decay, and how it would affect the vehicle you are designing.

5) You can add rust effects using the rust textures provided in the wrap editor. Keep in mind that rust usually occurs the most severely where A) There has been a lack of paint the longest. B) Where water, mud, and road salt sticks to the car the longest. C) Anywhere the car has been crashed or damaged. Severe rust usually occurs on the lower parts of fenders and around the quarter panels in front of and behind the rear wheels.

6) The rust textures provided are not able to be edited, only resized, so you will have to experiment with them to see which ones work best for what you are trying to accomplish. If a texture is too strong, but it's the right size and pattern, remember that you can move that layer down so that it hides behind some of your other layers. Again, adjust the transparency slider of the upper layers to allow the rust to show through at the desired intensity.

I know this was a wall of text, but if anyone is interested in advanced wrap editor techniques, hopefully they found this enlightening. Here are some visual examples of the above principles put in practice. Remember to right-click and choose "view image" to see full screen versions: