What every vehicle meta file does
A car resource usually ships four or five XML files, and every one controls a different part of the vehicle. When something is wrong — no tuning parts, wrong colours, sirens not working, missing sound — knowing which file owns that feature takes you straight to the fix.
Short answer: vehicles.meta defines the model (spawn name, textures, handling ID, name, class, layout, LOD distances, flags); handling.meta the driving physics; carvariations.meta colours, liveries and which mod kit the car uses; carcols.meta the mod kits themselves and siren settings; vehiclelayouts.meta seating and entry animations for unusual vehicles. IDs must match across files, and mod kit and siren IDs must be unique server-wide.
#The files at a glance
| File | data_file | Controls |
|---|---|---|
| vehicles.meta | VEHICLE_METADATA_FILE | Model, textures, handling link, name, class, layout, LODs, flags |
| handling.meta | HANDLING_FILE | Mass, power, gears, grip, brakes, suspension, damage |
| carvariations.meta | VEHICLE_VARIATION_FILE | Colour combinations, liveries, mod kit link, lights |
| carcols.meta | CARCOLS_FILE | Mod kits (tuning parts) and siren setups |
| vehiclelayouts.meta | VEHICLE_LAYOUTS_FILE | Seat and entry animations for special vehicles |
#vehicles.meta: the key fields
<Item>
<modelName>mycar</modelName>
<txdName>mycar</txdName>
<handlingId>MYCAR</handlingId>
<gameName>MYCAR</gameName>
<vehicleMakeName>ANNIS</vehicleMakeName>
<audioNameHash>elegy2</audioNameHash>
<layout>LAYOUT_STANDARD</layout>
<lodDistances content="float_array">15.0 30.0 60.0 120.0 500.0 500.0</lodDistances>
<type>VEHICLE_TYPE_CAR</type>
<vehicleClass>VC_SPORT</vehicleClass>
<flags>FLAG_SPORTS FLAG_RICH_CAR</flags>
</Item>audioNameHash borrows a vanilla engine sound unless the pack ships its own audio. lodDistances decide when cheaper models take over — too high and busy areas cost frames.
#carvariations.meta and carcols.meta
carvariations.meta lists allowed colour combinations and liveries and names the mod kit (<kits>) the car uses. carcols.meta defines those kits — spoilers, bumpers, liveries as mods — and siren settings for emergency vehicles. Every kit and siren has an ID; two packs using the same ID overwrite each other, which is why tuning menus suddenly show another car’s parts.
#handling.meta
The handlingName in handling.meta must equal handlingId in vehicles.meta. The physics fields are explained in the handling.meta guide.
#vehiclelayouts.meta
Only needed for vehicles with unusual seating or entry points (buses, special bikes). Most cars reference a vanilla layout such as LAYOUT_STANDARD and ship no layouts file.
Questions
What does vehicles.meta do?
Why do tuning parts from another car appear on mine?
Which file controls car colours?
Do I always need vehiclelayouts.meta?
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