RomRaider

Hello all!

So I know it has been discussed in the past, but nothing has seem to come from it. What would be the best way to standardize ROMs so that we could get people the required maps + RAM parameters without needing to define hundreds of ROMs? Obviously ROMs are vehicle and transmission specific, but trim levels could just alter flags. Meaning, you could just use the same ROM, but alter the flags depending on what trim level it was. Then put the ROMs out with different flags enabled specifying which to use for what trim level. The main thing I can think of for 350z's would be TCS and VDC. That's just in theory, however. Would it make sense to mass define a ROM from 03-06, one for auto and one for manual then have different variants available for specific trims? I know that we currently can have multiple ROM's be based on more defined versions, but is this guaranteed to be 100% accurate? I presume most of the changes would be in the code, and not the data. But is this verified? On top of this, what about when it comes to RAM addresses? Are those identical as well for the similar ROMs?

The second issue, I don't like keeping the same names for my maps in the A2L.xml template haha So even if multiple ROMs were defined, I'm constantly altering the names as I gain more knowledge and understanding of how they all function. My solution would be to keep track of all the name changes and put them on my github, or maybe try to create a basic tool that could just replace the old names with the new names automatically. I don't know jack about coding, so not sure how difficult that would be. Having it automated like that would be the best way imo. Hell, there might be an application out there already that can do this. I'll definitely have to look into it further!

Anyone have any ideas of how to go about this or any potential issues that could inhibit the possibility of standardization?

It's simply not possible. It works within some specific model families, ROMs adding TCS/VDS or AT have identical code, and the variables/maps are in identical locations, so they can inherit definitions from a base.

Otherwise, the ROM parameters are not ever likely to be in identical locations, and the RAM variables are even less likely to ever line up.

For some reason I just rushed right past the whole inheritance thing lol But it's definitely looking like the only standardization available is in the ROM families. I suppose the best method would be what I originally had planned and setup a template of the most useful maps, tables, values and just fill them in for multiple ROMs. For 350z's, it'll be a breeze haha But I haven't really messed with many 1D values in other vehicles. So I'm not sure how they'll line up.

As for RAM addresses, is there anyway to workout an inheritance system for RAM addresses? Or do they need to be added individually, even within the same family? Off topic but related to RR Logger, how do you utilize bitmasks there? There's a "Switches" section, but I'm not sure what you would need to alter to have it setup for a 0xFF RAM address.