Mario Kart Wii tracks

The pieces of a track

• course_model.brres: what you see.
• course.kcl: collision, which decides what the wheels touch.
• course.kmp: course data: start points, CPU and item paths, checkpoints, respawns, objects, cameras.
• map_model.brres: the minimap.
• vrcorn_model.brres: the sky.

Turn on Mario Kart Wii in Settings > Games to get the game's own tool menu.

KMP: course data

The KMP editor is a top-down 2D canvas with an inspector on the side.

• Sections: start points, enemy (CPU) paths, item paths, checkpoints, respawn points, objects, areas, cameras and routes. Each has its own list and properties.
• Backdrop: load the course model or collision behind your points so you place them against real geometry. Material Colors lets you tint each material so road and grass are easy to tell apart. Purely visual; nothing is saved into the KMP.
• Pen tool: click for straight segments, click-drag for curves, then Finish to fill the path with evenly spaced points. Choose what kind of point it becomes and the spacing.
• Snap to ground: raycasts visible points down onto the collision so nothing floats or sinks.
• Duplicate to Enemy / Item / Checkpoint path and Equalise Gaps speed up repetitive work.
• Respawn Point per Checkpoint builds a respawn point in the middle of every checkpoint, facing the next, snapped to the ground.
• Advanced opens every field of a section as an editable spreadsheet, for when you need exact values. Integers accept decimal or 0x hex.
• Info explains each section and which games use it.

Check it works

• Check Laps validates checkpoint groups, key checkpoints and quad shapes the way the game uses them, then drives the CPU route round three laps and confirms each one counts.
• Make Testable fills in whatever the KMP is missing to load and be raced: a start point, respawn points, checkpoints, dead-end paths, and any camera, object or area pointing at something that doesn't exist. It leaves anything already set up alone, lists what it changed, and Undo reverses it.
• Battle arenas are detected automatically (12 start points, battle respawns, no checkpoints) and use the battle rules.

Intro cameras

Open Intro Cameras… in the KMP editor to build and play the opening fly-over in 3D, frame for frame at 60 fps.

• Start from Nintendo's usual three shots (a high overview, a sweep across the far side, a swoop onto the start line) with Standard Intro, or Add Shot one at a time.
• Use the Free view to orbit the track, then send its camera position to a shot's camera or route point.
• A button sets the route, look and zoom speeds so each finishes exactly when the shot ends.

KCL: collision

Collision is usually a simplified copy of the visible model. There's no vertex editing, as in every KCL tool. The workflow for shape changes is to model collision elsewhere and import the whole mesh. What you can edit is each triangle's surface type.

• Import OBJ… (or from a .brres/.szs). Tick Convert Z-up to Y-up for Blender and most other tools. Untick any material to leave its triangles out.
• Assign Surface Types by flag, individually or in bulk per type. Select a triangle in 3D to grab every connected triangle sharing its type, then retag just that patch.
• Wireframe and Culling help spot overlapping, missing or backwards triangles. If part of the track vanishes with culling on, those triangles' winding is wrong.
• Delete Triangle removes it from collision only, leaving an invisible hole.
• Link a reference texture to a flag to colour-code it. It's an editor aid and isn't written to the file.

Minimap

Create Map builds map_model.brres from an existing course model.

1. Tick the textures that belong on the minimap (the road, usually, not scenery or sky).
2. Give each a shade: white for the main road, darker for off-road, lower levels or tunnels.
3. Create. Retail minimaps are a couple of thousand triangles, so the sheet warns you if you're keeping far more.

The Minimap Editor… reopens it later.

Sky

The sky picker builds vrcorn_model.brres three ways: from a 2:1 panorama image wrapped all the way round, from your own .obj, or by copying the sky of any retail track or arena from your linked Mario Kart Wii disc.

Objects

• If your track uses an object whose model isn't in the project, a banner offers to copy its files in from your linked Mario Kart Wii disc.
• The game can't load brand-new object types, so custom objects borrow a retail “host” object: placing one uses the host's ID and replaces the host's model in your track. One custom object per host, per track.

Budget, preview and render

• Track Budget (in the BRRES editor) compares your model against the median and maximum of every retail course. Past the retail maximum the game isn't guaranteed to cope: expect frame drops in split-screen first, then running out of memory.
• Preview Track opens the whole course in 3D, with a Driver's View that rides the CPU line.
• Create Render sets lights, camera, background and fog live on the preview, then exports an image at the size you choose.
• Texture Gallery (File menu) browses every texture on your linked Mario Kart Wii or Double Dash disc and exports them as PNG.