Rigs of Rods

1. with the last installer version ( ogre 1.6 ) some materials are not shiny anymore ( looks like the material settings have changed..this material shows up absolute none reflective and dull:

material blabla
{
    receive_shadows on
    technique
    {
        pass
        {
            ambient 0.65 0.65 0.65 1.0
            diffuse 0.45 0.45 0.45 1.0
            emissive 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.0
            specular 0.25, 0.25, 0.25, 1, 10
            texture_unit
            {
                texture blabla.png
                colour_op modulate
            }
        }
    }
}

2. Custom particles make ror crash with an ofre exception, see attached file
The material works in 1.4 without any problems.