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Better Car Physics
Description Discussions8 Comments754 Change Notes
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Mods: Build 41, Balance, Misc, Multiplayer, Realistic, Vehicles
File Size
Posted
Updated
346.898 KB
29 Dec, 2022 @ 11:24am
21 Feb, 2023 @ 1:15pm
9 Change Notes ( view )
Required items
This item requires all of the following other items
Created by
Neidmare
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Better Car Physics

Description
This mod requires manual installation steps. You must do these, otherwise the mod will not work.
See installation section.



What does this do?
In a nutshell:
  • Better engine sound
  • Manual shifting (toggle in settings, requires ModOptions mod)
  • Several improvements to driving physics, including offroad driving
Watch the video for an example.


Installation (Windows)
You can install the mod into existing saves.
  • Close Project Zomboid
  • Subscribe to this Mod
  • Wait for the download to finish
  • Go to
    Steam\steamapps\workshop\content\108600\2909035179\mods\BetterCarPhysics
  • Copy the zombie folder and nothing else
  • Paste it into
    Steam\steamapps\common\ProjectZomboid
  • Overwrite all files (should be 24)
  • Start Project Zomboid
  • Enable the mod. Done!

Installation (MacOS)
See this guide

Installation (Linux)
Same as Windows. The steam folder is usually located in ~/.local/share/Steam


Uninstall
You can uninstall the mod at any time without affecting save files.
  • Deactivate mod in game
  • Close Project Zomboid
  • Right click game in steam -> Properties -> Local files
  • Click 'verify integrity of game files'
  • It should download 24+ files. Done!


Multiplayer
I only did some basic testing, use at your own risk
  • Should work on any server. Both server and client need the mod installed.
  • Anyone who wants the physics has to install this mod and follow the manual installation steps.
  • If someone joins without the manual installation steps, they can still join, but will have the vanilla physics.
  • The mod turns itself off completely if the server does not have it installed. You can freely switch between servers without changing anything.


Features
Realistic car engine and transmission behavior
  • Engine behaves/sounds much like it would in a real car
  • Releasing throttle leaves the car in gear
  • Engines have different torque curves. Vans operate best at low RPM, sports cars at high RPM
  • Lower gears produce more torque. Helpful for driving offroad.
  • Engine braking
  • Smooth gear shifts with rev-matching
  • Shifting into a low gear with too much speed will slide the car as the wheels lock up
  • Proper road friction and wind resistance forces

Manual and Semi-automatic transmission
  • Option to toggle manual on for all cars via ingame settings (Requires ModOptions mod)
  • In semi-auto mode, car shifts automatically, but you can override it using the shifting keys
  • Customizable keybinds for shift up (up arrow) and shift down (down arrow)
  • Change in keybind menu under 'Vehicle'
  • Clutch is always automatic

Smooth cruise control
  • With automatic transmission, automatically shifts + picks an appropriate gear
  • With manual transmission only controls the throttle, you can freely change gears
  • Vanilla controls: Shift + W to enable and Shift + W/S to increase/decrease by 5

Integrates with Sunday Driver and Speed Demon perks
  • Sunday Driver accelerates slowly, because they are scared of the throttle
  • Speed Demon shifts like a racedriver

Compatible with all vehicle mods that add new cars
  • I tested a bunch of the most popular mods, they all work fine.
  • If a car accelerates super fast, its likely because some mod boosts its engine horse power. See my explanation here
  • To modders: This mod ignores the gear ratios defined in the resources files. I had to do that as most vanilla cars dont have any, and the ones that were present didnt work that well. I created some logic that picks gear ratios based on engine type (generic, firebird, van, jeep). You configure this with 'engineRPMType' in the vehicle definition. The engine type also determines the max RPM, and when the semi-auto transmission shifts.

Workshop ID: 2909035179
Mod ID: BetterCarPhysics
Popular Discussions View All (8)
83
10 May @ 8:32am
PINNED: Bug reports
Neidmare
56
23 Jan @ 2:17pm
PINNED: Suggestions & Planned Features
Neidmare
12
9 Jun @ 10:27am
Install on MacOS
Neidmare
754 Comments
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Neidmare  [author] 57 minutes ago 
@OutbackCatgirl you can do a litlle twist when driving backwards as shown in the video. Drifting doesnt work unfortunately, the cars acceleration mysteriously drops to 0 when going sideways. The code for this is ... cryptic. Maybe Ill figure it out someday.
Neidmare  [author] 1 hour ago 
@iamraidentv did you activate the lua mod too? if youre adding it to an existing savegame, you habe to go to load game -> select save -> bottom right "mods"
Neidmare  [author] 1 hour ago 
@Posh Octavia Yes that is indeed a bug, and a quite elusive one at that. It happens kinda randomly, I could not manage to reproduce it consistently.

Cars use more gas when you drive at high RPM (vanilla mechanic). Shifting early and staying in low RPM should use less gas than vanilla. If you redline it, it uses much more than vanilla. I tested it driving along the highway, if you stay at mid RPMs, gas consumption is about the same.
If its still too high/annoying you can change the fuel usage in the sandbox settings.
Posh Octavia 2 hours ago 
as a side thing, are cars using alot more gas now? it feels like i used to be able to drive a ton on a tiny bit of gas but now my tiny town car is downing jerry cans worth just puttering about town a bit
Posh Octavia 3 hours ago 
thinking of it, is it just a mysterious bug that causes the forward key to not start the car now? i assumed it was something that had to be done for a programming reason of some sort, but i feel like its probably a bug since its too silly
Posh Octavia 3 hours ago 
i was just able to get away, the zombies must have thought i was quite the sight, panicking and repeatedly starting and stopping the car while they moseyed up, bumped on the window, then broken it, then took a few swipes
Posh Octavia 3 hours ago 
i have a big problem with the mod, it removed the ability to start the car by pressing the forward key and made it so that it requires you to use the n key, but the n key also removes the key and turns the car off when its turned on. why in gods name would you want to do that? when your pinned in byzombies and would normally be able to just press forward till the car starts then go, instead you wind up trying to start it and repeatedly also, when it starts, pulling the key out and turning it off.
TWITCH iamraidentv 5 hours ago 
Hello, i did the installation, replaced folders et even tried reinstalling the mod, it doesnt seem to work for me ( i am using a lot of mods, maybe thats why )
FFF-class Trashero 30 Jun @ 1:51am 
Thank you for saying how many files should be overwritten in your instructions, it's great prophylaxis
OutbackCatgirl (kot) 28 Jun @ 11:09pm 
say, does this by chance also reinstate the ability to do J-turns without the car stopping, on semi-auto? that's something I miss dearly from the old version of Zomboid.