Hello All,

New to the forums and new to LSPDFR. I stumbled across Jeff Favignano's YouTube video(s) one night and became mesmerized. That dude's voice could put Rob Gronkowski into a relaxing state...

To save time; I built a gaming rig, immediately downloaded GTA V, and then went to work on getting RageHook working for LSPDFR. An hour later, I am on duty and getting calls on Pursuits in Progress.....Righteous. But, it was short lived when I realized I needed quite a few add-ons to get the full experience. I was able to get most of the working except...New Cop Car(s) Mod(s)!

Yes, I read the French guy's passive-aggressive guide. It is helpful, but I am still left with a few questions...

*Note: I have the mods folder figured out and copied the entire update folder per a video user's advice. So all of update folder is in mods for easier access to it all.

A) Most of the guides I have seen (i.e. OpenIV) show the best way is to drag and drop or "replace" older police models i.e. policecar2, etc. Then....like a light beam shining down during a tornado...I saw that guide state it is much faster, easier to simply copy all the files into the patchday10ng folder. Sorry to be so layman, but does this literally mean ANY vehicle file I download from here (i.e. Police Interceptor 2012) I can simply drag and drop the .ytd files (and whatever the other file extension ones are) into this patchday10ng/x/x/vehicles.rpf archive? That simple? And this does not mess-up/replace the other cop-cars that I cycle through at the PD Station? It will just show the extra ones I add? 

If not; Can someone explain a bit more clearly how it works in laymans terms? 

Lastly; Vehicle metas/carvariation metas. I have perused this website all day and followed multiple YouTube videos, followed the sticky guide since there was a discussion later on about it and it doesn't seem that there is a concise, clear answer because it is so dependent on the vehicle mods themselves. 

However; I know to follow the ReadMe file that comes with the vehicles to check out the meta stuff. But, to help me understand, hear me out. 

Example A: I download the sheriff charger lets say. I use the guide's method to simply paste it into the patchday10ng (through the mods folder of course) vehicles folder...The. .ytd files are in there now. Solid. Great. 

Now there's a carvariations meta to add... I go into OpenIV, open the vehicles.metadata through my mods folder.............And now what do I look for to get the livery on there? PoliceCar2/PoliceCar1/OldPoliceCar3? The reason for the confusion is; A lot of carvariations want to use the same vehicles.... i.e. undercover Mustang wants to use policecar3 to put in the specific path for their livery. However, the next vehicle cop car (LSPD Ford Explorer) wants to use that same exact "policecar3" as well to change the liveries. If they both want to use the same template/police vehicle...which one gets the override, or do neither? ....Or am I doing that method all wrong and can simply use a new carvar that has been preloaded by someone here and just keep adding to it down the list with the command lines shown in the readme files for the vehicles? 

I also saw a LSPDFR plugin that allowed you to add a ton of cars? Is that in the same vein of what im trying to do? Is all this idiotic to do and I could simply install these plugins I see that have all these car additions? 

Boy, what a world of info this place is. Can get more confusing before it gets easier.

If I can nail down the fact that I don't have to replace anymore police cars and can simply add them to the most recent dlc.....I'll be mostly happy. That will help a ton!

But, I continue to get hung up with these carvariations and vehicles.metadata for the liveries and messing with handling, looks, etc.

Kicker: I work in IT doing penetration testing so I thought I could do this blind-folded. Nope. Welcome to reality, noob.

Any and all help would be mucho appreciated! Thanks!

Edited July 5, 20169 yr by PumaBreath

21 minutes ago, PumaBreath said:

A) Sorry to be so layman, but does this literally mean ANY vehicle file I download from here (i.e. Police Interceptor 2012) I can simply drag and drop the .ytd files (and whatever the other file extension ones are) into this patchday10ng/x/x/vehicles.rpf archive? That simple? And this does not mess-up/replace the other cop-cars that I cycle through at the PD Station? It will just show the extra ones I add? 

As long as it replaces existing slots and you didn't install several cars in the same slot (AKA cars having identical names), it should be fine, it's actually very easy!

22 minutes ago, PumaBreath said:

Now there's a carvariations meta to add... I go into OpenIV, open the vehicles.metadata through my mods folder.............And now what do I look for to get the livery on there? PoliceCar2/PoliceCar1/OldPoliceCar3? The reason for the confusion is; A lot of carvariations want to use the same vehicles.... i.e. undercover Mustang wants to use policecar3 to put in the specific path for their livery. However, the next vehicle cop car (LSPD Ford Explorer) wants to use that same exact "policecar3" as well to change the liveries. If they both want to use the same template/police vehicle...which one gets the override, or do neither? ....Or am I doing that method all wrong and can simply use a new carvar that has been preloaded by someone here and just keep adding to it down the list with the command lines shown in the readme files for the vehicles? 

When a car comes with carvariation.meta lines, just copy the said lines and add them to an existing carvariation.meta file like in mpchristmas2, and simply change the name at the beginning to the name of the slot you installed the car in!

As for vehicles.meta lines, you have to replace the lines of the slot you installed the car in with the ones provided, if they are provided, which is not necessary nor obligatory!

Make sure to not mix up vehicles.meta, and carvariation.meta, they're two different things! 

13 minutes ago, ScarletDraconis said:

As long as it replaces existing slots and you didn't install several cars in the same slot (AKA cars having identical names), it should be fine, it's actually very easy!

When a car comes with carvariation.meta lines, just copy the said lines and add them to an existing carvariation.meta file like in mpchristmas2, and simply change the name at the beginning to the name of the slot you installed the car in!

As for vehicles.meta lines, you have to replace the lines of the slot you installed the car in with the ones provided, if they are provided, which is not necessary nor obligatory!

Make sure to not mix up vehicles.meta, and carvariation.meta, they're two different things! 

Hey Scarlet! Thanks so much for the prompt reply. And your response helps me understand the gist of this.

So: If I am reading you right: Technically there's no just adding them to that update10ng vehicles folder. In short: There is no such thing as just adding extra police cars. There's only replacing. Hmph. I guess I thought that the way I was thinking was making it easier, when in reality, its just driving to a new folder instead of the specific folder the vehicle mod itself is telling me to replace it? Because it will "read" that file first?

If I already added a few vehicles (and they worked i.e. Blaine County Sheriff Charger)....Will utilizing the update10ng vehicle folder and replacing those cop models through that folder overwrite my previous cars? I want it to. I would rather sort of just pick out the few cars that are available if I am capped on cop cars.

And I guess my confusion lies on the folders. People are saying use/modify carvariations.meta from x folder or y folder and z folder. Everyone says something different. So, my question is: Why Mpchristmas2? Is that because its the most recent dlc and thus will be "read" first by the game?

 

Ugh, I feel like I am going backwards instead of forwards after figuring out the basics of LSPDFR very quickly. I got all the hooks in great. Just vehicle mods are mind-screwing me.

 

I truly do appreciate your help on this Scarlet! Sorry, I run in circles at times because I like to understand the root of an issue/solution before just moving on.

Thanks again!

 

6 hours ago, PumaBreath said:

So: If I am reading you right: Technically there's no just adding them to that update10ng vehicles folder. In short: There is no such thing as just adding extra police cars. There's only replacing. Hmph. I guess I thought that the way I was thinking was making it easier, when in reality, its just driving to a new folder instead of the specific folder the vehicle mod itself is telling me to replace it? Because it will "read" that file first?

You could technically have cars that are not replacing any existing police slots, but the manipulation to install them is a bit more complicated, so I'd suggest to stick to replacing existing cars first to get used to the whole thing, and when you're confident enough with this kind of exercise you can try to add a car as an add-on 

6 hours ago, PumaBreath said:

If I already added a few vehicles (and they worked i.e. Blaine County Sheriff Charger)....Will utilizing the update10ng vehicle folder and replacing those cop models through that folder overwrite my previous cars? I want it to. I would rather sort of just pick out the few cars that are available if I am capped on cop cars.

It will not overwrite them, however it will override them! When you install a car in the latest patch folder, it does not overwrite other car models with the same name, but it will override them by loading in the game first! :)

6 hours ago, PumaBreath said:

And I guess my confusion lies on the folders. People are saying use/modify carvariations.meta from x folder or y folder and z folder. Everyone says something different. So, my question is: Why Mpchristmas2? Is that because its the most recent dlc and thus will be "read" first by the game?

I believe that from personal experience any carvariation.meta file is a valid choice, I have always replaced/installed the carvariation.meta lines of the car mods I use in the one existing in the mpchristmas2 patch, and it always worked! 

I put them all in patchday10, then overwrite mpchristmas2 and it works 100%.

Thanks Scarlet. I got most of it working last night. And finally got police radio working as well (although need to find the commands list).

 

Thanks for your help, too, Starmix! I was able to get most working, but I changed the vehicles.meta file and the game stopped loading. I think I filled in too many vehicle info names in the vehicle.meta list and the game didnt care for that too much.

So to clarify, StarMix- Can I simply edit the mpchristmas2 vehicles.meta file and it will simply override those changes I made to the vehicles.meta file in an older folder?

I believe that's how it works for vehicles.meta as well. Just want to clarify!

 

Thanks to you both for taking time out of your day to help!

Yes. The newer file will overwrite the older one.

On 2016-07-06 at 4:23 PM, Starmix said:

I put them all in patchday10, then overwrite mpchristmas2 and it works 100%.

Is there any easier way to edit the .meta files, like alot of cars come with just the carvation file, If i put it in will it replace the whole file and remove all the other cars/lines i've put in by hand or just put in the carvation lines I need and keep the other lines i've put in my self?? :/ 

Edited July 9, 20169 yr by Makan