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Better Car Physics
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Build 41, Build 42, Balance, Misc, Multiplayer, Realistic, Vehicles
File Size
Posted
Updated
744.968 KB
29 Dec, 2022 @ 11:24am
6 Jul @ 11:52am
17 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
Manual shifting (toggleable) - Better Engine Sounds - Offroad driving - Engine braking

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.

Build 42
Now compatible with build 42!
Key differences:
  • Install the zombie folder from the 42 folder instead (should overwrite 28 files)
  • ModOptions is not needed anymore, its part of the base game now

Warning
Using build 42 is experimental - back up your save games before updating anything!
There have been issues with missing cars and keys in the past. These have since been fixed, but any future game updates can break things again.


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
  • Go to either 41 or 42, use the same as your project zomboid version
  • Copy the zombie folder and nothing else
  • Paste the zombie folder into
    Steam\steamapps\common\ProjectZomboid
  • Overwrite all files (should be 24 (build 41) or 28 (build 42))
  • Start Project Zomboid
  • Enable the mod. Done!

The mod will show you a popup in game if you need to update. You can turn this off in the mod settings.

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.

Compatible with
  • Customizable Containers - both mods change files in the zombie folder, but its different files, so no problem.

Workshop ID: 2909035179
Mod ID: BetterCarPhysics
Popular Discussions View All (12)
130
6 Jul @ 4:28am
PINNED: Bug reports
Neidmare
74
28 Jun @ 8:43pm
PINNED: Suggestions & Planned Features
Neidmare
5
6
13 Feb @ 10:35am
42.3.0 Quick Fix Until Update
synister
1,203 Comments
< >
Vektor T 9 Jul @ 11:40am 
Update: now a vehicle I used to own and drive around starts the alarm at random while driving.
Neidmare  [author] 9 Jul @ 11:33am 
@Vektor T There was an issue with how cars were saved when migrating from 42.9 to 42.10, see update notes here: https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/sharedfiles/filedetails/changelog/2909035179

All keys in the ignitions will be gone. That's the only thing I didn't manage to fix, everything else should hopefully be smooth sailing from here.
Vektor T 9 Jul @ 11:01am 
Today the mod asked to updated the folder and I did (I think it's from the last mod update, I didn't played since). Most of my vehicle keys dissapeared (I keep they in the vehicle ignition, not in my inventory). One of them also had his alarm set off for no reason (minor issue).

I used admin to get those keys back so no big deal, but not sure yet how it will affect other vehicles, both those I tagged in the map that does have a key I left in ignition or those that didn't spawn yet but should have a key in ignition.
borrowdaledrew 7 Jul @ 6:11am 
This has probably already been answered before but, Do we know why Better Car Physics flags as an incompatibility for Week One NPCs mod?
khgapt 6 Jul @ 2:11pm 
Thank you for solving the issue. I've had a few crashes on initial load of backup, but right now, everything stayed stable.

Unfortunately, my only backup was after the update (I was tearing up clothes for a while), so I still have my cruise control set up to a rocket value xD.

Here is an illustration of my car's ECU thinking she's a spaceship : https://ibb.co/Q36T0g31
It's actually a decimal value, zooming in closer on it (it's 15310.8574... on the picutre)

Does anyone know how to reset that value ? I've tried holding down SHIFT+S but it's going so slowly.

Otherwise, thanks, great mod
Гранат 6 Jul @ 12:38pm 
@Neidmare, thank you very mutch for solving this problem!
magond 6 Jul @ 12:20pm 
@Neidmare, thank you. You are a legend!
Neidmare  [author] 6 Jul @ 12:12pm 
And many thanks to all of you for helping debug this!
Neidmare  [author] 6 Jul @ 12:02pm 
The bug that causes vehicles to be deleted on game load is fixed.
Copy the zombie folder again to update.

This affects players who used mod with game version 42.9

Revert to a backup of your save file before updating to 42.10, make sure zombie folder is copied, then load the game.

It can happen that keys that were in the ignition disappear after the first save. You can prevent this by entering the vehicle once. I recommend that you enter all vehicles you plan on using, and only then save the game (by returning to menu).

If you miss a key you can spawn in a new one using the debug menu.

Apologies for the hassle! I'll have a look how I can prevent this from happening again in the future.
khgapt 6 Jul @ 9:57am 
@Neidmare I do use other mods, I added at the same time as updating this one :
Barricade hurt zombies
Cheval de frise

I run no other mod besides better car physics that modifies zombie folder.
I posted in the bug report thread. I apologize for not having done that in the first place, I'm unfamiliar with commenting and mod discussions.

actually full log here : https://pastebin.pl/view/41a1cf33

About the issue, I never read PZ's code in the first place, but if you need help testing some things, I am available to help, these days. I can test things out, or think of possible fixes in the code, if you pinpoint some specifics to work on.

I advise to deactivate the mod and restore original "zombie" files for 42.9 or 42.10 until then. This seems like the easiest short term fix, without breaking anything (nor the mod, nor the game).

Otherwise, thanks a lot, for the long time work. I've been a long time user of that mod, really good, so thanks. And good luck.