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Props

Props are meshes that don’t flex, but can be animated. They are very useful for things like steering wheels, shifters, gauge needles, pedals, or other parts that are better animated than simulated. They can also be used to create spotlights that are tied to the glowMap/electrics system to make working lights.

By default, meshes will be positioned where they are in your modelling software, but they’ll need to be rotated into position using the base rotation argument. See modelling guidelines for more information

 Prop axis reference

Each prop uses it’s own reference system made out of 3 nodes. This allows the prop to move when those nodes, allowing the props to move in crashes or for applications like moveable lights.

The nodes chosen for the idRef, idX and idY arguments should form a right angle triangle, similarily to refnodes . Those nodes will form the X and Y axis of the prop’s coordinate system. The Z axis will be created based on those.

For an example, the Pigeon’s dashboard props use the nodes “dsh2”,“dsh2r”,“dsh3” as it’s ref, x and y nodes respectively, with dsh2 being located in the center of the dash, dsh2r to it’s right, and dsh3 underneath.

This means that positive values on the Y axis will move the props down, and on the Z axis the props will be moved backwards.

All movements in translation will be done using that coordinate system, and not using the vehicle’s coordinate system as with nodes and other offsets. Rotation is done around each axis of the mesh’ coordinate system, with the center of rotation is the prop’s origin, as described in the modeling guidelines

Functions and limits

Prop movement is defined with a function using one of the vehicle’s electrics , along with rotation and translation values.

The rotation and translation values define by how many degrees the prop will rotate and by how many meters it will move each time the function goes up by one. So for example if a temperature gauge had the follow parameter for rotation, it would rotate by 1 degree around the x axis for every degree temperature change.

{"x":5, "y":0, "z":0}

Rotation angle can be calculated by dividing the used range of the electric by the angle between the minimum and maximum positions.

Min and max values are used to cap the movement of the prop. For example to simulate the “pegs” found on the gauges of many cars, which keeps the needle from moving beyond a certain range. They are defined as values of the function, and not as angle or translation.

The offset value works in a similar way to the min and max, adding a static factor to the gauge. This is used to compensate for a 0 point which is not located at the needle’s initial position.

The multiplier does exactly what it says on the tin, but it is rarely used, as rotation and translation values are modified instead.

If we use the D-Series tachometer as an example. It has a sweep of 180 degrees, with a range going of 6000rpm, giving us a rotation function of 0.03. As we don’t want the gauge to go above 6000rpm, the max would be set to 6000, and the min to 0. For a temperature gauge the min and max could be values like 60 and 120. For the offset, in this case with an offset of 0 the needle points to 4000, meaning the offset should be -4000 for the needle to land on the correct value. If the needle isn’t aligned with the dashboard’s plane, the baseRotation parameter will be used to rotate the prop and it’s rotation axis.

(...)"baseRotation",           "rotation",                 "translation",       "min", "max", "offset", "multiplier"
(...){"x":160 "y":180, "z":0}, {"x":0, "y":0, "z":-0.03}, {"x":0, "y":0, "z":0}, 0,     6000, -4000,     1

Lights

Lights in beamNG consist of two main elements. The flare, which could be defined as a ball of light at the emitter, and represents the light bulb itself.

The second part is the “cookie”, which represent the light reflected on surfaces by the light’s “beam”.

Lights are often used in combination with glowmaps and emissive textures, so the entire light appears lit.

Lights will turn on as soon as their function’s value is greater than 0, and can be associated to deform and break groups to disable them when the physical light gets damaged.

Lights can transition progressively between the on and off state via linear scale if custom values defined in the electrics section are used as the function value. There are special arguments used to modify the transition effect:

(...){"lightScaling":{"brightnessMinInput":0, "brightnessMaxInput":1, "flareScaleMinInput":0.6, "flareScaleMaxInput":1, "lightColorOffsetRed":0,"lightColorOffsetGreen":60, "lightColorOffsetBlue":80}}

However, these don’t have to be defined usually, as the default values already produce a convincing effect.

 Required arguments

func
name
string
type
Defines the electric that will drive this prop

See the electrics page for more information.

For lights, the light will turn on as long as the function is greater than 0.

If you want your prop to not be animated, use “nop” for a function that always return 0.

mesh
name
string
type
The name of the mesh to use for this prop
idRef
name
string
type
The reference node that will be used to position this prop
idX
name
string
type
The X axis reference node
idY
name
string
type
The Y axis reference node
rotation
name
dictionary
type
{“x”:0, “y”:0, “z”:0}
default
The rotation of the prop around each axis.

Defined in degrees of rotation for each change of 1 of the function.

Uses the intrinsic Euler -X -Z -Y rotation system.

translation
name
dictionary
type
{“x”:0, “y”:0, “z”:0}
default
The translation of the prop around each axis.
Defined in meters of movement for each change of 1 of the function.

 Optional arguments

baseTranslation
name
dictionary
type
{“x”:0, “y”:0, “z”:0}
default
Initial translation of the prop (non-spotlight props in meters, spotlight props in xnorm units for x and y and meters for z)

Overwrites the Location parameters in modelling software.

Relative to the defined axis reference system. {“x”:0, “y”:0, “z”:0} will put the prop in the location of the idRef node.

baseTranslationGlobal
name
dictionary
type
{“x”:0, “y”:0, “z”:0}
default
Initial translation of the prop in JBeam/world space (meters)

Overwrites the Location parameters in modelling software.

Relative to the Jbeam/world coordinates. {“x”:0, “y”:0, “z”:0} will put the prop in the position 0, 0, 0 according to the coordinates of the modelling software.

baseTranslationGlobalElastic
name
dictionary
type
{“x”:0, “y”:0, “z”:0}
default
Same as baseTranslationGlobal but allows prop to maintain certain proportional distance from ref nodes as they stretch or compress
baseTranslationGlobalRigid
name
dictionary
type
{“x”:0, “y”:0, “z”:0}
default
Same as baseTranslationGlobal but prop becomes fixed a certain distance away from ref nodes
baseRotation
name
dictionary
type
{“x”:0, “y”:0, “z”:0}
default
The initial rotation (degrees)
Uses the intrinsic Euler -X -Z +Y rotation system.
baseRotationGlobal
name
dictionary
type
{“x”:0, “y”:0, “z”:0}
default
The initial rotation of the prop in JBeam/world space (degrees)
Uses the intrinsic Euler +Y +Z +X rotation system.
min
name
number
type
0.0
default
The minimum value of the function that will be used
max
name
number
type
100
default
The maximum value of the function that will be used
offset
name
number
type
0.0
default
Offset value
multiplier
name
number
type
1.0
default
Multiplier of the input value
deformGroup
name
string
type
The name of the deform group which will disable the prop when activated
Mostly used for lights, to disable them when broken.
breakGroup
name
string
type
The name of the break group which will disable the prop when activated
Mostly used for lights, to disable them when broken.
optional
name
boolean
type
false
default
Disables errors when one or more nodes of the prop were not found.
Useful for driveshafts, which have one end of the rotation axis in a separate component.
nodeOffset
name
dictionary
type
{“x”:0, “y”:0, “z”:0}
default
Offsets the mesh on the YZ axis, and offsets it in a mirrored fashion on the X axis if the position is not centered on it (m).
This is never set explicitly in Props section but rather passed from the Slots section.
nodeMove
name
dictionary
type
{“x”:0, “y”:0, “z”:0}
default
Offsets the mesh on the XYZ axis (m).
This is never set explicitly in Props section but rather passed from the Slots section.
ignoreNodeOffset
name
boolean
type
false
default
Whether the position of the mesh should ignore the nodeOffset modifier.

 Optional arguments (lights only)

These will only work when “mesh” is set to “SPOTLIGHT” or “POINTLIGHT”.

lightInnerAngle
name
number
type
40
default
The angle at which the brightness is max (degrees).
lightOuterAngle
name
number
type
45
default
The outer edge of the light beam (degrees).
Brightness decreases from the inner angle gradually until the outer angle.
lightBrightness
name
number
type
1.0
default
How bright the beam of light is.
lightRange
name
number
type
10
default
How far the light is still being reflected in meters.

lightColor
name
dictionary
type
{“r”:0, “g”:0, “b”:0, “a”:0}
default
The color of the flare and emitted light.

In an RGBA format.

"lightColor":{"r":255, "g":255, "b":150, "a":255},
lightAttenuation
name
dictionary
type
{“x”:0, “y”:1, “z”:1}
default
How quickly the light is reduced in the respective directions.
"lightAttenuation":{"x":0, "y":1, "z":1}
lightCastShadows
name
boolean
type
false
default
If the light will cast shadows on the objects it hits.
Enabling this will cause more load on the GPU, and should be limited to the headlights and other primary ilumination. It is not required for indicators and taillamps.

flareName
name
string
type
vehicleDefaultLightflare
default
Name of the flare to be used.

Commonly used values:

  • “vehicleDefaultLightflare”
  • “vehicleBrakeLightFlare”
  • “vehicleHeadLightFlare”
  • “vehicleReverseLightFlare”

Other valid values:

  • “BNG_LightFlare_1”
  • “BNG_SpokeFlare_1”
  • “BNG_Sunflare_1”
  • “BNG_Sunflare_2”
  • “BNG_Sunflare_3”
  • “LightningLightAnim”
flareScale
name
number
type
1.0
default
The size factor of the flare.

cookieName
name
string
type
Path to an image file which specifies the shape and texture of the reflected light.

Commonly used values:

  • “/art/special/BNG_light_cookie_headlight.dds”
  • “/art/special/BNG_light_cookie_lightbar.dds”
  • “/art/special/BNG_light_cookie_underglow.dds”

Any other grayscale image will work, where white is 100% visible and black is 100% invisible.

texSize
name
number
type
256
default
The resolution of the reflection of the light (px).
Increasing it makes it look smoother but it increases the strain on the GPU.
shadowSoftness
name
number
type
1.0
default
Defines how the edge of the shadows look like.
lightScaling
name
dictionary
type
Contains some extra options to be used for material transitions.

Example usage:

(...){"lightScaling":{"brightnessMinInput":0, "brightnessMaxInput":1, "flareScaleMinInput":0.6, "flareScaleMaxInput":1, "lightColorOffsetRed":0,"lightColorOffsetGreen":60, "lightColorOffsetBlue":80}}

The arguments are described below. All of the transitions use linear scale. These are to be used together with glowMap transitions. Usually, default values don’t have to be changed. In that case you can make the dictionary empty:

(...){"lightScaling":{}}

LightScaling arguments

scaleLightBrightnessMinInput
name
number
type
0.0
default
Function value at which lightBrightness will be at 0 during material transition
scaleLightBrightnessMaxInput
name
number
type
1.0
default
Function value at which lightBrightness will be at its default value during material transition
scaleLightFlareScaleMinInput
name
number
type
0.6
default
Function value at which flareScale will be at 0 during material transition
scaleLightFlareScaleMaxInput
name
number
type
1.0
default
Function value at which flareScale will be at its default value during material transition
scaleLightColorOffsetRed
name
number
type
0
default
Number to be subtracted from red channel as the function value reaches 0 during material transition
scaleLightColorOffsetGreen
name
number
type
60
default
Number to be subtracted from green channel as the function value reaches 0 during material transition
scaleLightColorOffsetGreen
name
number
type
80
default
Number to be subtracted from blue channel as the function value reaches 0 during material transition

 Simple Examples

A set of two gauge needles.

"props": [
    ["func", "mesh", "idRef:", "idX:", "idY:", "baseRotation", "rotation", "translation", "min", "max", "offset", "multiplier"]
    //needles
    ["wheelspeed", "needle_speedo", "f7r","f7l","f8r", {"x":5, "y":0, "z":0},
    {"x":0, "y":0, "z":-4}, {"x":0, "y":0, "z":0}, 0, 54, -27, 1],

    ["rpm", "needle_tacho", "f7r","f7l","f8r", {"x":5, "y":0, "z":0},
    {"x":0, "y":0, "z":-0.038}, {"x":0, "y":0, "z":0}, 0, 6000, -2900, 1],
],

A steering wheel prop

"props": [
    ["func", "mesh", "idRef:", "idX:", "idY:", "baseRotation", "rotation", "translation", "min", "max", "offset", "multiplier"]
    //steering wheel
    ["steering", "steer_04a", "f1l","f1r","f6l", {"x":-78, "y":0, "z":180}, {"x":0, "y":0, "z":1}, {"x":0, "y":0, "z":0},
    -1000, 1000, 0, 1, {"baseTranslation":{"x":-0.070,"y":0.605,"z":-0.56}, "breakGroup":"steeringWheelBreak"}],
 ],

Advanced Examples

A set of various interior props for pedals and others driver controls.

"props": [
    ["func", "mesh", "idRef:", "idX:", "idY:", "baseRotation", "rotation", "translation", "min", "max", "offset", "multiplier"]
    //pedals
    ["brake", "pedal_brake", "b1l","b1r","b5l", {"x":0, "y":0, "z":180},
    {"x":-25, "y":0, "z":0}, {"x":0.0, "y":0, "z":0}, 0, 1, 0, 1],

    ["throttle", "pedal_gas", "b1l","b1r","b5l", {"x":0, "y":0, "z":180},
    {"x":-25, "y":0, "z":0}, {"x":0.0, "y":0, "z":0}, 0, 1, 0, 1],

    ["parkingbrake", "pedal_parkingbrake", "b1l","b1r","b5l", {"x":0, "y":0, "z":180},
    {"x":-25, "y":0, "z":0}, {"x":0.0, "y":0, "z":0}, 0, 1, 0, 1],
    //turn signal stalk
    ["turnsignal", "signalstalk", "dsh","dshl","dsh2", {"x":27 "y":180, "z":175},
    {"x":0, "y":-15, "z":-2}, {"x":0, "y":0, "z":0}, -1, 1, -1, 1],
],

A single headlight with both a low and high beam.

"props": [
    ["func", "mesh", "idRef:", "idX:", "idY:", "baseRotation", "rotation", "translation", "min", "max", "offset", "multiplier"]
    {
        "lightInnerAngle":0,
        "lightOuterAngle":120,
        "lightColor":{"r":255, "g":255, "b":170, "a":255},
        "lightAttenuation":{"x":0, "y":1, "z":1},
        "lightCastShadows":true,
        "flareName":"vehicleHeadLightFlare",
        "cookieName":"art/special/BNG_light_cookie_headlight.dds"
        "texSize":512,
        "shadowSoftness":0.5,
    },
    //low beams angled right slightly to avoid blinding oncoming traffic
    ["lowbeam", "SPOTLIGHT", "fa2rr", "fa2r", "fa1rr", {"x":180, "y":0, "z":10}, {"x":0, "y":0, "z":0}, {"x":0, "y":0, "z":0},
    0, 0, 0, 1, {"baseTranslation":{"x":0.3, "y":0.75, "z":0.3},
    "lightRange":50,"lightBrightness":0.3,"lightOuterAngle":95,"flareScale":0.07,"deformGroup":"headlightglass_R_break"}],
    //high beams
    ["highbeam", "SPOTLIGHT", "fa2rr", "fa2r", "fa1rr", {"x":180, "y":0, "z":10}, {"x":0, "y":0, "z":0}, {"x":0, "y":0, "z":0},
    0, 0, 0, 1, {"baseTranslation":{"x":0.3, "y":0.3, "z":0.3},
    "lightRange":80,"lightBrightness":0.6,"lightOuterAngle":80,"flareScale":0.09,"deformGroup":"headlightglass_R_break"}],
],
Last modified: December 20, 2024
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