Basic overview and some notes using TDU2VPE

[JandG]

Things you will need:
An unpacked game using TDU2 Unpacker GUI
https://turboduck.net/files/file/276-tdu2-unpacker-gui/
TDUdecGUI
https://turboduck.net/forums/topic/32728-tdudecgui/
TDU2 Vehicle Property Editor  (referred to simply as VPE from here on)
https://turboduck.net/forums/topic/33748...pe-release/

Open Office or Excel or an equivalent spreadsheet program(optional)

***WARNING***
Before making any changes make a backup of the car database "db_data.cpr" found in the \Euro\Bnk\database folder!
Restore this file if your game fails to load after making changes.
With this in mind, make regular backups each time you make any changes to any vehicles or all your changes will be lost.

Note: Always click on the Apply button or your changes will not be saved to the vehicle after closing VPE!

VPE Setup
Open VPE and click on the Settings tab then choose the location of your unpacked game, TDUdecGUI, and click on Done, save.




Select a vehicle from the drop-down and then click on Load



Each vehicle has many tabs for adjusting. Drive-train, Aerodynamics, Tires/Rims, etc.
Here I will adjust the transmission gear ratio by adding a 7th gear. Afterwards, click on Apply.



You can see on the right side graph how the gears will shift and the estimated speed and times.


Now you can quit VPE and test your car in the game.

Other settings on the other tabs:
Engine/Performance
All these settings should be easy enough to figure out. Don't add too much power or torque or the car will be undrivable.

Transmission
Gear Ratio tab
number of gears, shift points, speed, and 0-100 times
Specs tab
the left side should be easy enough to figure out. The right side has a drop-down for shift up and shift down @ rpm.
Red line: at what engine rpm it will shift to the next gear
Red line sport: same as above, but in sport game mode
Blue line: at what rpm the gear will shift down
Blue line sport: same as above, but in sport game mode

Traction control
Slip ratio tab
Traction control: 1=on, 0=off
hypersport: hardcore game mode slippage. The higher this number is, the more it will slip before fully gaining traction. Lowering this number reduces the slippage.
off road: how much it slips off-road
secure: Full assistance game mode slippage
sport: Sport game mode slippage

Torque balance(4 wheel drive only)
How much torque is applied to the front and rear of the vehicle

Brake performance tab
Brake type: you can change the type of brakes on the vehicle.
Brake force
Brake power: the amount of stopping power the vehicle has. The higher the number, the harder it brakes. a value of 200000 makes the car slow down very quickly.
Balance: how much brake power is applied to the front and rear brakes.
braking 100-0: how many meters it takes to go from 100 km/h to 0

Brake slip ratio
HyperSport: brake slippage in hardcore game mode
Sport: brake slippage in sport game mode
OffRoad: brake slippage on off-road.
Lowering this number to -0.300 will dramatically affect how fast the vehicle comes to a stop (along with brake power). If you go too much lower than that the vehicle will not steer well while braking. -0.200 is a pretty good number if you want to stop fast and still have good steering
The rest in brake performance is easy enough to figure out.

Aerodynamics tab
Suspension length
how far the suspension travels on the vehicle. Changing this to a higher number will make the vehicle ride smoother and land softer on jumps.
Dampers
The shock absorber rates. The lower the number, the softer the absorber, higher number is a stiffer absorber. If you go too stiff the car will not want to turn and bounce on jump landings. Only increase/decrease this number by 1 and test how the car feels.
Ride Height
Pretty simple, lower the number, the lower car drops down. The opposite for a higher number.
going too high the car will be hard to handle. Lowering it too far will cause the car to go slow and ground out on every bump. It also may not want to shift.

Anti roll bar
How stiff the car is side to side (body roll). Increasing the number will make it more stiff, lowering it will make it handle more loose.
Anti roll bar damping
How loose/stiff the car is in the front or rear
Wings/Spoilers
Lift-drag ratio
Ratio: The efficiency of air drag on the wing of the vehicle. The lower it is, the more downforce it has. Better cornering, but lower top speed. The opposite effect on a higher number.
Down force
Velocity: the higher the number the more the car is forced to the ground.
Front: how much down force is applied to the front of the vehicle.
Rear: Same as above but to the rear.
Having these front and rear close to equal will make the car keep level in a jump. This is why you see some cars nose dive and others the rear drops down first in air. In both of these situations, most of the time you will have a rough landing and or flip the car over. This setting along with a suspension length increase, the car will land level and smooth.
Wings
Opening speed: at what km/h the wings start to have an effect on the handling
Full open speed: at what km/h the wings will have full effect on the handling
Open in sec: Seconds the wings start to have an effect on the handling
For the most part these 3 Wings numbers are best left to the stock setting.

Tires/Rims tab
folder/file name tab
The description and filenames of the rims used for each vehicle. Changing these values has a certain amount of risk of corrupting the database. Change these at your own risk!
If you are interested in how to change these and add additional rims, view my video at: https://youtu.be/a3GN-_X_HL4?si=28ImpveY2rjtZ-Kr
Specifications tab
the dimensions of the tires and rims for the vehicle. Changing these values may or may not look good on the car. You just have to test it. This will not effect the performance of the vehicle at all, just how they look.

Grip performance tab
Grip at tarmac
Lateral front: How well the vehicle grips going forward on the paved roads. Increasing this number to 2.0-2.3 will add a lot of grip and make the vehicle accelerate very fast. If you go too high, it will have a slower top speed but will climb hills very well.
Rear: same as above but to the rear wheels

Gravity center
The center of gravity of the vehicle. Almost always just use the stock settings.
Grip at wet
Friction: How much the car looses grip on wet roads
Grip at grass
Grip in the grass in a straight line and side to side turning
Grip at dirt
Same as above but in dirt

Dimension tab
These are all the dimensions of the vehicle. Don't change these unless the car has the wrong dimensions.

Miscellaneous tab
Class: which class the car is in
Price: How much the car costs
State flags tab
The only checked buttons should be is valid PC, is paintable, is valid sticker. is Available in SCR may or may not be checked by default. Windows type and other tab just leave how they are set.
Sensitive data drop-down menu
Vehicle IDs
ID-Camera, ID-Car, ID-IK: the ID number of the vehicle. These should not be changed unless you are replacing a new vehicle into the game that is unique to the model its replacing.
File name definition tab
File name -Vehicle: the name of the car file found in the \Euro\Bnk\vehicules\high folder
Gauge: the name of the gauges in the vehicle found in the \Euro\Bnk\frontend\hires\gauges, \Euro\Bnk\frontend\lowres\gauges, and \Euro\Bnk\frontend\medres\gauges folders
Sticker: the name of the vehicle livery found in the \Euro\Bnk\scenarics\stickers folder.
Given pointers tab
Nothing to change here.
All items (include unknown) drop-down
All the values you can change using the VPE tabs, plus other settings not shown.
For instance: exhaustflames modify to 1=on, 0=off to see flames come from the exhaust. click on Write to buffer to change the value.

Names tab
Simple to understand. Do not make any changes here unless you are replacing a new vehicle into the game that is unique to the model its replacing.

Colors tab
The body and interior colors of the vehicle. I have never got this to work in VPE.

Dealership tab
Simple to understand. The location of each vehicle in each dealership. You can add or delete cars from dealerships on both islands.

Settings tab
The game root folder and location of TDUdec or TDUdecGUI
Other commands drop-down menu
Export to CSV tab
All items list of vehicles: Export all the settings of the vehicles to an CSV file saved on your desktop. This can be opened using MS Excel or Open Office Calc. Settings for Open Office:

After making manual changes to the CSV file, use the Import CSV tab
There should be no errors reported

Other things:
You can view the other cars such as unreleased and traffic cars in the Model drop-down menu.
You can also export and import VPE settings for vehicles.

An example VPE performance file I made for the Ford Mustang Fastback 302cid car here: https://www.mediafire.com/file/vt6q1kp7x...d.bin/file Before doing anything, choose the Ford Mustang Fastback 302cid in the Model drop-down menu and click Load. Then click on Export. Now you have the stock settings saved for the Mustang. Now click on Import then choose the file I have uploaded. You will see the numbers change in VPE to the ones I changed on the car. Then click on Apply and the changes have been saved to the Mustang. You can now test my Mustang settings and tweak it to your liking.