JoelC

So, it's been a while since we've provided an update on LSPDFR 0.4.  As you might've guessed from the title, though, there's a good reason for this...  It has taken us a lot of work to get to this point, and in the last couple of months alone we've made hundreds and hundreds of changes.  Anyway, here we are - who knows how many months late - but we're here.  No riddles, no treasure hunts, no @MSA (at least I'm pretty sure they're not here), but straight to the point!  We can now confirm that we'll be releasing LSPDFR 0.4 in February, 2019.  
 
Anyway... with the scary part out of the way, I wanted to take the opportunity to explain ourselves a little.  No, @LMS wasn't renditioned to an IAA black site, no I didn't fall victim to the Orbital Cannon, and no...  the ghost of @ineseri didn't drive a train into us.  Perfectly plausible scenarios given our silence about 0.4 as of late, but we're actually still alive.  Instead, we've been pretty busy rushing to the finish line as far as 0.4 is concerned, and to complement the big news above, we thought we'd throw in a couple of sweeteners below to show just how much 0.4 is going to change things. 
 
We've talked a lot about our Character system in LSPDFR 0.4.  It's one of the biggest changes to the mod, but we also think it represents an entirely new direction in general.  I say this because, not only does it allow us to have a bunch of really cool stuff natively integrated into the mod, like customizing a character, but it also lets us have a bunch of other really cool stuff natively integrated into the mod!  Having your own character dials up the immersion quite substantially, but we wanted to take things to another level.  We thought, for example, wouldn't it be cool if instead of spawning as Franklin in Franklin's house, you could instead, say, I don't know?  Actually spawn as your own character, in their house.  Or maybe, instead of switching to Trevor and your camera panning down to him being pursued by the LSPD, you could switch to one of your other characters, and "Google Earth" down to them being the LSPD. 
 
LSPDFR 0.4 introduces a fully functional GTA Online Apartment to single-player, complete with transition sequences, working interactions and more Steve Haines than you can handle.
 
It's not just that, though, we really wanted to dial it up.  Having your own character, them having an apartment, switching, customizing, it's all cool, right?  But you might be thinking, what's the point?  These are "multiplayer features".  And sure, LSPDFR is and most likely always will be a single-player mod, but that doesn't mean we can't think outside of the box every once in a while. 
 
Recently, @Cyan, in addition to all of her work on the website, has also been developing an all new framework called LSPDFR Sync.  LSPDFR Sync lets you connect up to your LSPDFR.com account in-game, and you can then synchronize your LSPDFR characters with your LSPDFR.com profile.  To top it off, we've brought back statistics too.  Ever wanted to know how many shots your character has fired?  It's as simple as taking a look at your character's profile on the site - which, we should add, you can actually edit.
 

 

 
LSPDFR Sync provides all-new, seamless connectivity with your LSPDFR.com profile.
 
And frankly, it doesn't even end there.  When I said before that we wanted to dial the immersion up to the max, I guess I lied.  What I actually meant to say was that we'd just ripped the dial clean off the controls, strapped it to a rocket, and sent the damn thing up to the moon.  Not only can you now create a character, customize them, share them, spawn as them...  You can actually do things as them too!  Like, actual game things.  Ever wanted to run the triathalon as your LSPDFR Character?  Now you can.  Or, how about practicing with your sidearm down at the range?  Yep, got that too.  Simply want a can of sprunk from a vending machine?  No problem.
 

 
With the introduction of a new innovative system by @LMS, it's now possible to do many of the single-player minigames while playing as your LSPDFR Character.
 
Of course, with the Character system, and all of the features that come with it, being such a huge part of LSPDFR 0.4 it'd be easy to forget that this is a police mod.  Indeed, I think we almost did given the grotesquely gargantuan amount of work that has gone into it.  Fear not, though, as we have also been working on some incredible new gameplay features too, including massive improvements to interaction with suspects and people that you arrest.
 
LSPDFR 0.4 introduces, in a game-changing way, the ability to take hold of and drag arrested suspects.  Yes, we know that there's some great API mods which have held the fort, and we're grateful for that, but this is something we wanted to get absolutely right, and indeed, we think the result is simply stunning.  The possibilities are pretty far-reaching too and encompass just about everything from shoving suspects up against cruisers, to personally escorting them into their cells.  
 

 

 
No, these aren't cutscenes.  No, they're not edited screenshots.  With 0.4, this is real.

Are you using NVR?  If so, go into the NVR dlc named "emissives", delete "firetruk", "riot", "pranger" and "sheriff".  It'll work now.

This is the fourth part of our LSPDFR 0.4 Preview Series.  Not caught up yet?  Check out the rest of this series here: https://www.lcpdfr.com/forums/forum/880-news-updates/
 
It's probably the most critical component of the mod, so it follows that with any new version of LSPDFR, you can be pretty confident that the underlying systems which enable police pursuit gameplay will be updated.  LSPDFR 0.4 is, of course, no different in this regard, and following on with the general theme of 0.4's development (which is more less pulling everything out and ripping it to pieces), we've taken the opportunity to revamp much of the pursuit gameplay in the mod.
 
As an aside, we had hoped to publish this preview at an earlier date but unfortunately due to both @LMS and myself being away from home, on various different continents in the past month or so this was a little difficult.  Nonetheless, we hope that you enjoy this preview and that it nicely illustrates just a couple of the changes that we've made to pursuits, as alluded to in our last post about AI improvements.
 
 
Pursuit Interaction Menu
 
Since LSPDFR 0.3, we've had an Interaction Menu, à la GTA Online, which has, as you would expect, facilitated interaction between you as a player and your character and their job as a cop.  While this is cool and all, there's definitely a number of areas where the interaction in LSPDFR falls a little short, with pursuits being perhaps the most obvious.
 
In LCPDFR for GTA IV, there were a couple of toggles available during pursuits - notably the option to force or disable the usage of lethal force.  With 0.4, however, we think we've far surpassed that by introducing a handful of new options which definitely provide more control than ever.  
 

 
The Pursuit Interaction Menu in LSPDFR 0.4 offers advanced controls for the current pursuit, as well as the ability to disengage.
 
The cool thing about the new Interaction options for Pursuits is that it ties in nicely with the new customization options introduced in 0.4, and covered earlier in our previews.  So, not only can you define and configure law enforcement agencies to your liking, but you can also carry this through to pursuits too by designating a specific agency to handle the chase.  If, for example, a pursuit that starts in Los Santos crosses multiple jurisdictions then it's entirely probable that you'll end up with a number of agencies joining, which depending on the circumstances and/or your own preferences, might not be so desirable.  With the new Interaction options, you could simply specify that the initiating agency (i.e. the LSPD in this case) handles the pursuit, leaving the other agencies to mind their own business.
 
Similarly, there's a lot of other practical usefulness be found in these options: we've brought back the ability to force on/off the usage of lethal force against pursuit suspects, and there's also the ability to enable or disable pursuit intervention tactics (more on these below).
 
And of course, for those in search of the ultimate exercise in boredom (I mean, err, realism), then you might find that setting a pursuit into Tracking Mode - where ground units will hang back and follow from a distance, leaving your small air force of helicopters following above to do all the work in true Angeleno fashion - makes you feel so much more at home.
 
 
Pursuit Intervention Techniques
 
As alluded to above, LSPDFR 0.4 also introduces a number of changes to the artificial intelligence in pursuits.  Currently, the main tactic employed by NPCs in GTA V during pursuits is to rather aimlessly ram into the back of the suspect vehicle in the unrealistic belief that this is actually going to help end the pursuit.  Of course, this usually just results in the cop crashing into oblivion, and it looks really, really dumb too. 
 
So, naturally, one of the coolest new additions to LSPDFR 0.4 is the implementation of a working PIT maneuver:
Demonstration of NPC officers bringing a pursuit to a safe conclusion through successful usage of the new PIT maneuver in LSPDFR 0.4
YouTube version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TiFFFho3hd0
 
 
As cool as this is, we know that NPCs performing PITs may not be to everyone's taste, and that it may not be suitable in every circumstance, so these can easily be enabled or disabled on-the-fly, during a pursuit, through the Interaction menu by changing the Tactics option.  If pursuit Tactics are disabled, pursuing NPCs will not attempt PIT maneuvers, and they will also shy away from most other advanced tactics, like blocking.
 

 
A closer look at the termination of the pursuit, with the suspects surrendering, after a successful usage of the PIT maneuver.
 
 
Air Support
 
Throughout the history of our two mods, air support has always been a touchy subject.  For those of you who played LCPDFR, you will likely still carry with you many terrifying memories of those white and blue flying death machines.  In previous versions of LSPDFR, things generally weren't that much better either - especially when your pilot decides, in a moment of wisdom, that flying through the bridge, rather than over it, is the best course of action.
 
With 0.4, we've taken the time to address some of the most frustrating issues with air support, with a particular focus on dramatically increasing both the usefulness, and lifespan, of our helicopters.  Specifically, you'll notice that helicopters in LSPDFR now fly at a much more realistic height and will properly increase or decrease their altitude as the situation requires, such as when a pursuit is passing through a heavily built up area.  They're also far more competent at actually keeping up with the suspects they are pursuing and will do so with a degree of intelligence, rather than just trying to fly directly above them.
 

 
A watchful LSPD air support unit circles overhead, tracking as a suspect attempts to flee on foot.
 
Furthermore, we've built in special modes for our air units, giving them the ability not only to follow suspects, but also to conduct searches over wide areas - something which is especially useful when ground units have lost visual, or are attempting to locate a target.
 
In addition, our helicopters are also responsive to changes in the conditions of pursuits they follow - such as if a suspect is in a vehicle or not - and will adapt accordingly.  When tracking a suspect on foot, air units won't simply hover above them but will engage in a more realistic flying pattern where the aircraft seeks to maintain continuous movement, while operating varying angles to compensate for possible obstructions like buildings.
 

 
Not a helicopter, but just in case you were wondering what happened to the guy pictured above...
 

 
This, though, definitely is a helicopter.  It's also not flying at street level!
 
As always, stay tuned for more news about LSPDFR 0.4 as we progress towards its completion.

Been a while, huh?
 
You know, when we first started making LSPDFR, the whole process was pretty much one big roller-coaster that didn't have any brakes:  there were the obvious highs when we'd finally add in something cool, but the low points were pretty hard as well - the amount of work that went into simply researching how things worked really took its toll as well.  And, of course, while this was all going on there just simply wasn't any stopping, we were a couple of (somewhat) real people who essentially lived in Los Santos for just about all of 2015, spending month after month pushing forward and trying to come up with things that everyone here would like to see.
 
So, of course, the grind and the pace of everything simply just wasn't sustainable and after 0.3, it's no secret that while the numbers and everything for our site are still on the up, month after month, things did slow down quite substantially for the actual mod itself.  But, we can tell you, this wasn't all bad news - it's afforded us the opportunity to take a step back and really look at the mod and figure out where we want to go next with it.  While our approach before was all about cramming as much new stuff as we could into a couple of months of development, we've now been able to look back at many of the original ideas and concepts that we had for LSPDFR and build on them.  Of course, with that being said, there's still a lot of new stuff crammed into 0.4!
 

 
With 0.4, we've taken the time to fix a couple of those "how the hell didn't they add this yet" moments :)
 
Aside from the cool little additions like this, though, the major theme of 0.4 is Character.  Ever since seeing the character system for GTA Online, it was always our goal to implement something similar in LSPDFR.  There's just something that much more personal and immersive about playing a game with your own character, and the possibilities that it offers are staggering too.  And yes, while mods like EUP are fantastic (and awesomely compatible with 0.4!), they still feel somewhat separate or distant.  With 0.4, this separation is gone.
 

 

 
No, these shots aren't taken from GTA Online.  This is our own, fully-featured, LSPDFR Character Creator.
 
Of course, we'll talk more about the new Character features in LSPDFR 0.4 later.  The Character Creator menu shown above is obviously only one part of what's new in this regard, although hopefully it emphasizes the effort that we've gone to.  Thanks to some of the new additions like this, much of 0.4 actually looks and feels like an entirely new mod altogether.
 

 
Officer Ronson and his clones obviously couldn't make it to the flashlight party. 
 
Stay tuned!  We'll be sharing more about 0.4 soon.

This is the second part of our LSPDFR 0.4 Preview Series.  Not caught up yet?  Check out the initial announcement here: https://www.lcpdfr.com/forums/topic/81745-lspdfr-04-announcement-first-preview
 
With LSPDFR 0.3, we got the ball rolling with backup customization, letting players configure their own backup units, giving players the ability to have four separate agencies in their game, each able to cover a different part of the map.
 
Now, back then, this was a pretty cool system - car mods weren't even a thing when we released LSPDFR 0.1, and even by 0.3, the modding scene was nowhere near as massive as it is now.   Obviously, there's a whole lot more available to players in terms of content now, especially with popular mods like RDE and EUP which add multiple new ped models, vehicle models, and even entire police agencies.  As such, we wanted to find a way to bring these in to LSPDFR.
 
So, forget just rolling the ball.  With 0.4, we're hoping to hit it clean out of the park...
 

 
LSPDFR 0.4 gives you the ability to add your own custom law enforcement agencies, each with their own officers, outfits, inventories, vehicles, police stations and patrol areas. 
 
 
Custom Agencies
 
One of the coolest new capabilities in 0.4 is our new approach to dealing with the various police agencies in the game.  LSPDFR has always had a collection of pre-defined agencies, and you've been able to choose from them while going on-duty and you've seen them respond as backup units, but you've never really been able to properly configure them to your liking.  Perhaps you've always wanted to set up Rockford Hills as an independent city with its own department, or maybe you've longed for the full, authentic Southern Californian experience of having way, way more cops than you could ever know what to do with?
 
LSPDFR 0.4 now gives you complete control over every agency in the game that we've already added (so the defaults that you're familiar with since 0.1, like the LSPD), but it also lets you define entirely new ones too.
 
The possibilities of this system are extensive: you can even have multiple agencies assigned to share one jurisdiction, and there's no pre-set limits for how many different agencies you can add.
 
 
Patrol Areas
 
Of course, what good are a bunch of custom agencies if you don't actually see them?  0.4 also expands on our existing backup customization capabilities, now letting you define your own patrol areas.  With this system, you can assign any number of agencies to a particular zone in the game (like Strawberry or Del Perro), and you can combine these areas together into wider groups which can be used in-place of individual zones, making things much easier to manage.
 
Likewise, in LSPDFR 0.3, it was called Backup Customization for a reason - the only time you'd really see any of your customizations was when calling for backup.  Again, this has been revamped in 0.4, and similarly, we're calling them Patrol Areas for good reason too.  You'll now see your agencies actually patrolling in their designated areas.
 

 
Kiss goodbye to pesky data file edits - LSPDFR 0.4 actually puts cops on the beat.  And not just any cops... your cops!
 
 
Police Stations
 
In light of the way in which we approach police agencies and backup areas, we've also taken the time to rework the various police stations in LSPDFR.  Now, in 0.4, each police station is also configurable, and in similar fashion to Agencies and Patrol Areas, this system is also fully expandable, meaning you can define your own police stations too.
 
Aside from the various options like choosing where vehicles will spawn, you can also choose which agency each station belongs to and LSPDFR will configure things accordingly so that you'll actually see vehicles and officers belonging to the specific agency situated around it.
 
This system is pretty powerful in its own right as well, to the extent that even if you defined a police station at a random office building, you'd still see parked cars outside belonging to the agency.  Plus, there's also extensive customization options for this too, meaning that you could choose a very specific vehicle model (like a special car with a recruitment livery) to be visible outside a specific police station, without it ever being used as part of the core backup system (i.e. you wouldn't have recruitment vehicles arriving at shots fired).
 

 
The Davis Sheriff's Station, all grown up...  It looks a lot better now with the right people outside! 
 
 
Outfits & Inventories
 
For the first time, 0.4 also introduces full support for multiplayer freemode characters (like those that you'll be familiar with from EUP), meaning that not only can you now play as a custom character in LSPDFR (through our new Character systems, which we'll talk about later), but you can also make it so that all the cops around don't look like clones anymore too!
 
If you add freemode characters to your Agency definitions, LSPDFR will automatically handle all of the nuances that they typically bring, generating everything from unique faces to head overlays and props.
 
And, to top things off - we've included a comprehensive system for managing outfits for multiplayer characters, meaning that LSPDFR 0.4 is fully compatible with EUP, both for player characters and non-player characters.  With this, adding all of your favorite custom outfits is a breeze and there's also support for templating - meaning that you can define one complete outfit as a template, which can then be used as a base for other similar outfits - like having the same uniform with both short sleeves and long sleeves.
 
It doesn't stop there, either, because we've also included support for each Agency (and for each different type of officer within that agency) to have their own Inventories too - this handles everything relating to weapons, including attachments, and also supports the MK 2 weapons added in recent GTA Online updates, like pistols with hollow-point ammunition.
 
 
Putting it all together
 
We've really gone the extra mile in making sure that all of these systems join together, forming what we think is one amazingly powerful platform which will give everyone the freedom to play LSPDFR exactly as they like, with as much or as little additional content as they desire. 
 
To give just one example, there's been a lot of thought into the structure behind this, and we've devised a system similar to that of the 'mods' folder in OpenIV, meaning that in most cases all of your customizations will be seamlessly merged together, eliminating the burden that comes with maintaining huge XML files that contain everything and drastically simplifying the process of installing customizations made by others.
 
There's a lot of great mods out there already like Custom Backup by @PNWParksFan, Emergency Uniforms Pack by @Alex_Ashfold, and Realism Dispatch Enhanced by @dilapidated that have done a fantastic job in demonstrating the potential that GTA V has for adding new content and giving players much greater control of their games, and we're really excited to be taking things to a whole new level in 0.4.
 
Finally, I'd like to say a special thanks to @SuperStumpje from the RDE team for his efforts behind the scenes in helping to refine many of the features shown above.
 
We hope that you're all as excited about LSPDFR 0.4 as we are, and we're looking forward to sharing more about 0.4 soon!
 

 
Customizations to LSPDFR are still made using simple XML files, and can also be split-up and neatly arranged on a per-agency basis.
 

 
No smart captions here - we just thought this looked cool ;]
 
Note that many of the pictures shown in this post contain a number of vehicle and character modifications (mainly EUP), simply to demonstrate their compatibility with 0.4.

Go into the vehicles.meta and add/edit the following on the CVPI's entry.
<flags>FLAG_HAS_LIVERY FLAG_EXTRAS_REQUIRE FLAG_EXTRAS_STRONG FLAG_LAW_ENFORCEMENT FLAG_EMERGENCY_SERVICE FLAG_NO_RESPRAY FLAG_DONT_SPAWN_IN_CARGEN FLAG_REPORT_CRIME_IF_STANDING_ON</flags>
      <type>VEHICLE_TYPE_CAR</type>
      <plateType>VPT_FRONT_AND_BACK_PLATES</plateType>
      <dashboardType>VDT_GENTAXI</dashboardType>
      <vehicleClass>VC_EMERGENCY</vehicleClass>
      <wheelType>VWT_MUSCLE</wheelType>
      <trailers />
      <additionalTrailers />
      <drivers>
        <Item>
          <driverName>S_M_Y_Cop_01</driverName>
          <npcName />
        </Item>
      </drivers>
      <extraIncludes />
      <doorsWithCollisionWhenClosed />
      <driveableDoors />
      <bumpersNeedToCollideWithMap value="false" />
      <needsRopeTexture value="false" />
      <requiredExtras>EXTRA_1 EXTRA_2</requiredExtras>
      <rewards>
Note that this was originally intended for F5544's Dual Lightbar models, so you'll likely need to change it to only EXTRA_1 or 2 depending on which it is.

The ELS mainframe coding hasn't changed since it was released, so therefore it still recognizes a few siren traits, and until Lt.Caine updates ELS ( assuming that LMS also updates the mainframe with new traits ) it will stay the same.  

 
 

We only allow members to upload content which they either created or if you are part of the team that worked in the modification, if not they are prohibited from being uploaded. We have to respect the wishes of the original author who decided to remove their modifications.

If you want any more information on the Guidelines for files you can find them here: 
 

nope the only way is with non els vehicles that is what I have done most of my police cars are els apart from my highway cars so they can have the siren that the highway cars get from rde, until they crack the audio strings you cant change a few police vehicle sirens only all of the vehicle sirens

@GravelRoadCop @Lt.Caine Yes please do give an update. I'm sick of hearing the same siren on every vehicle.

Try again later.