With the recent addition of cloth physics editing to zmodeler3, I decided it was time to make a mod that I've always wanted for GTA V... a police tape mod! This is still in development and needs a bit more work before it'll be ready for release, but I think it's working well enough now to share it with the world. Check out the video below to get a quick look at how the mod works, then scroll down for some more info:

 

 

How do you use it?

Press a key combo to activate police tape placement mode. You can then aim and click (same as using a weapon) to attach tape to props and world objects, such as fences, telephone poles, walls, street lights, mail boxes, etc. You can also spawn barriers/cones using the mod, and the tape will automatically attach to the barrier/cone. 

 

Does it actually stop peds?

Yes! Ambient peds are blocked from crossing any police line you set up. Once you remove the police line, peds will be allowed to walk through again. Peds with navigation tasks (such as police backup, peds you've ordered to follow you, bodyguards/partners, etc.) may go through the tape sometimes. 

 

Does it stop cars, too?

Yes. It uses several methods to prevent cars from going through, including preventing some ambient traffic from going through that area, and if any vehicles do make it through, they will be stopped before they can cross the line. The traffic control isn't perfect still, and that's one of the things I'm continuing to work on. Additionally, emergency vehicles are always allowed to pass through the police line. 

 

How do you remove tape?

Right now, with a console command. I'm working on adding an RNUI menu that will allow you to manage all active tape strands. 

 

Will there be an API?

Yes, that is something else I'm still working on. Developers will be able to use police tape in scenes for callouts, etc. 

 

Does it require any other mods?

Only RPH. It runs as a stand-alone RPH plugin. 

 

When will it be released?

I don't know yet, but sometime relatively soon. Probably before Coastal Callouts. You can get early access through the Parks Benefactor Program if you're so inclined. 

 

The tape seems to bend/blow in the wind/droop through the ground a lot...

Yeah, I know. There's limitations to what's possible with cloth physics right now. The zmodeler3 devs are still researching cloth data formats, and I'm still experimenting with the various parameters. I don't know if it'll be possible to eliminate this issue, but it is definitely mitigated by using shorter strands (i.e. placing cones more frequently). 

 

Is it hard to install?

I don't know, how good are you at installing mods? The tape requires installing a simple DLC. I might make an OIV installer for it before public release, we'll see. 

 

Can you put text on the tape?

You're welcome to edit the tape texture. But in my testing, I found that text looks really weird and distorted, due to how rendering of cloth material works in the game. 

 

Can I beta test it for you or use it in my YouTube videos?

Beta testing and video use is available to members of the Parks Benefactor Program. Please don't send me unsolicited PMs asking for beta access, especially if I don't know you. 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 24, 20187 yr by PNWParksFan

This is amazing

Nooooo wayyy! This is sweet! Hopefully we all get to try it out soon!

Pretty neat idea.

Only suggestion from me is to make it more tight.

17 hours ago, Schecter004 said:

Pretty neat idea.

Only suggestion from me is to make it more tight.

 

Since everybody seems to think they're the first ones to notice that the tape isn't very tight, and thinks that I would never have possibly noticed that in my own testing and thought to fix it, I will repeat what I have already posted here before, bigger this time, so that people might perhaps read it:

 

On 3/24/2018 at 9:57 PM, PNWParksFan said:

The tape seems to bend/blow in the wind/droop through the ground a lot...

Yeah, I know. There's limitations to what's possible with cloth physics right now. The zmodeler3 devs are still researching cloth data formats, and I'm still experimenting with the various parameters. I don't know if it'll be possible to eliminate this issue, but it is definitely mitigated by using shorter strands (i.e. placing cones more frequently). 

Edited March 27, 20188 yr by willpv23
Adjusted font size.

10 hours ago, PNWParksFan said:

 

Since everybody seems to think they're the first ones to notice that the tape isn't very tight, and thinks that I would never have possibly noticed that in my own testing and thought to fix it, I will repeat what I have already posted here before, bigger this time, so that people might perhaps read it:

 

 

That was a bit hostile, don't you think? He was the first to mention it here. I get it's in your original post, but that doesn't give you the right to be rude about it. The giant red font is also completely unnecessary, and actually violates one of our Guidelines. I've gone ahead and adjusted that for you (don't worry, I left it slightly bigger).

4 hours ago, willpv23 said:

 

That was a bit hostile, don't you think? He was the first to mention it here. I get it's in your original post, but that doesn't give you the right to be rude about it. The giant red font is also completely unnecessary, and actually violates one of our Guidelines. I've gone ahead and adjusted that for you (don't worry, I left it slightly bigger).

Sorry, but I've been asked this question dozens of times between here, youtube comments, discord, etc. It's quite frustrating to be asked the same thing over and over again. You're right that he was the first to ask that in this particular forum thread, so I apologize for overreacting in that particular response. I did specifically mention it in the FAQ though exactly because I knew people would have that observation. 

Pretty needo my man!

 

Keep up the work.

Just added the main things needed before public release! The update is available to my early access beta testers now. I plan to release it publicly later this month, after the beta testers get a chance to check out the new update and make sure it doesn't have any bugs.

 

• Added a menu to manage the tape (delete nearest/most recently placed/all/specific tape)
• Added a developer API (compatible with LSPDFR and non-LSPDFR RPH plugins)

 

 

 

 

Edited April 15, 20188 yr by PNWParksFan

Enjoy a couple of videos by @acepilot2k7 and @OnyxEyeRocketCityGamerZ demonstrating the Police Tape mod in action! 

 

Also, after watching these videos and seeing how people interact with the mod.... I've made quite a few changes to the UI to help make it a bit easier to figure out what you're doing. I've also added a continuous taping mode which will start a new tape strand wherever your previous strand ended. That update is now available to beta testers. I've also created an API which is compatible with LSPDFR and non-LSPDFR RPH plugins, and a tape scene import/export menu. If you're a callout developer who wants to try out the API, feel free to PM me to request access. 

 

Still doing a bit more beta testing and figuring out if there's any more features that should be added or changed.  I'm still on track for releasing the mod sometime in May. In the meantime, if you have any suggestions please leave them below, or you can try out the mod for yourself during early access beta if you're a member of the Parks Benefactor Program. 

 

 

 

Well, I got super busy with work, and then was doing a bunch of development for Coastal Callouts, and basically this didn't get released in May like I thought it would. Oops. 

 

So, currently I'm working on some slight changes to the API so that @khorio can add police tape support to the next Automatic Roadblocks update, and I'm working on an OIV installer. Once that's all done this should be ready to go. I believe all the main functionality is pretty stable now. Might try making a few more adjustments to the tape models just to see if I can fines their physics behavior a bit better, but we'll see. 

 

So hopefully this will be out by the end of June? No promises but I think that's a reasonable goal. 

Today I made an OIV installer for Police Tape. It's out for testing with my beta participants right now. Once I confirm that's good, we should be all set for a release soon! I tried messing with the tape physics some more and couldn't get it any better than where it's at right now, so I guess we'll let that be for now. 

 

If anybody is a callout developer and would like to check out the police tape API for use in their callouts, please PM me to get access. The API needs a bit more testing still.  

I think the tape should have been in yellow at least

11 hours ago, PNWParksFan said:

Today I made an OIV installer for Police Tape. It's out for testing with my beta participants right now. Once I confirm that's good, we should be all set for a release soon! I tried messing with the tape physics some more and couldn't get it any better than where it's at right now, so I guess we'll let that be for now. 

 

If anybody is a callout developer and would like to check out the police tape API for use in their callouts, please PM me to get access. The API needs a bit more testing still.  

Is there a way of retexturing? I would love a uk police tape version.

You can easily edit the tape by just editing the texture file in the DLC. I made a yellow version myself but found that it looks weird when the tape blows in the wind because it distorts the text oddly. But you can make it any color or text that you want. Perhaps I will include a couple of texture variations in the download for people to choose from. 

As you can see, anything is possible, but the text may appear distorted: 

 

 

Note that currently there is no way to support multiple different tape textures to be loaded at once. Unlike vehicle models, prop models don't have any kind of multi-texture support. I could theoretically add some way to support different tape models, but it would require duplicating all ~20 of the tape model files and config entries for every texture variation. So while you can choose a texture to install in the DLC, it'll always be the same texture within any given game session. 

That look great! Distortion of text doesn't really matter because police tape in the uk is always blowing in the wind and is barely readable. Great work on the mod anyway.

Just doing some final testing of the release build, should be released before the end of June!

Uh? What else is in your bag of modding goodies? 😄

Police Tape is released: