Vehicle models in Transport Fever 2 are bound to one of the means of transportation road, rail, water or air. The distinction between the types of vehicles is achieved by specialized metadata entries in the .mdl-files for each type.

Road vehicles are bound to the street network built by the game or the player. They can drive along streets as well as on construction lanes of the right type in stations, depots and similar constructions.

They are indentified by the roadVehicle metadata block and the .mdl-files usually are located in the subfolders:

• /vehicle/bus
• /vehicle/car
• /vehicle/truck

For trams, see rail vehicles below.

The roadVehicle metadata block consists of several block children as well as the properties for speed and weight:

roadVehicle = {
  configs = {
    -- light configuration
    -- axles configuration
    -- fakeBogies configuration
    -- wheels configuration
  },
  engine = {
    -- engine configuration
  },
  soundSet = {
    -- soundSet configuration
  },
  topSpeed = 13.8,      -- [m/s] maximum speed the vehicle can reach
  weight = 1.6,         -- [t (metric)] empty weight of the vehicle
  blinkInterval = 500,  -- [ms] interval for blinker lights, optional
},

The configs block covers several properties regarding the 3D model. For each level of detail, there is one block with several properties. Some properties are used to define the lights of road vehicles:

• blinkLightsLeft is a list of mesh ids which should only be used when the road vehicle turns left or a passenger vehicle leaves a bus/tram stop. Trams do not blink at intersections.
• blinkLightsRight is a list of mesh ids which should only be used when the road vehicle turns right or a passenger vehicle stops at a bus/tram stop. Trams do not blink at intersections.
• brakeLights is a list of mesh ids which should only be used when the vehicle reduces speed.
• headLights is a list of mesh ids which should be used for the normal headlights.

Be aware that a mesh can't be used for multiple lighting purposes. Each mesh id may at most appear in one of the config lists.

Beside the lights, there are further config properties that are used for steering and wheels:

• axles is a list of .msh references pointing to the meshes which are axles that only rotate around the y axis while the vehicle is moving. This is usually used for rear axles.
• fakeBogies is a list of fake bogie definitions. Usually road vehicles have at least one positioned approximately in the middle between the steering axis and the first back axis.
• steeringParts is a list of mesh ids that are rotating around z axis when the vehicle turns around curves.
• wheels is a list of .msh references pointing to the meshes that represent wheels which rotate around z axis in curves and around y axis while the vehicle is rolling. This is usually used for front wheels.

The engine block describes the type and power of the vehicles motorization:

• type describes the motor type. Available are “HORSE”, “STEAM”, “DIESEL”, “ELECTRIC”. This property has an influence on the emission calculation, e.g. electric has lower emissions than diesel.
• power is the maximum power the engine can produce in kW.
• tractiveEffort is the maximum tractive force the vehicle can develop in kN.

The soundSet block contains the sound related properties:

• name is a reference to a soundset file. The path is relative to res/config/sound_set/.
• horn is a reference to a custom horn sound. If this is set, it overrides the horn event reference in the soundset above. The path is relative to res/audio/effects/.
• openDoors is a reference to a custom door opening sound. If this is set, it overrides the openDoors event reference in the soundset above. The path is relative to res/audio/effects/.
• closeDoors is a reference to a custom door closing sound. If this is set, it overrides the closeDoors event reference in the soundset above. The path is relative to res/audio/effects/.

The other three properties are not contained in a block:

• topSpeed is the maximum speed the vehicle can reach in meter per second.
• weight is the empty weight of the vehicle in metric tons.
• blinkInterval is an optional parameter to adjust the frequency of the blink lights by specifying the interval in milliseconds. If unset, the default value of 500 ms is used.

Road vehicles support some animation events. They can be used in mesh nodes to support model aspects like opening doors:

• forever animation is used for roof ventilators or other elements that turn independently from the speed of the vehicle. It is looped forever and has no fixed length.
• drive animation is used for vehicle parts that move according to the current speed of the vehicle.
• open_all_doors is triggered after a vehicle stops at a station or bus/tram stop. It is triggered for stops on both sides of the vehicle.
• close_all_doors is triggered before the vehicle leaves a station or bus/tram stop. It is triggered for stops on both sides of the vehicle.
• open_doors_right is triggered after a vehicle stops at a station or bus/tram stop. It is only triggered for stops on the right side.
• close_doors_right is triggered before the vehicle leaves a station or bus/tram stop. It is only triggered for stops on the right side.
• open_doors_left is triggered after a vehicle stops at a station or bus/tram stop. It is only triggered for stops on the left side.
• close_doors_left is triggered before the vehicle leaves a station or bus/tram stop. It is only triggered for stops on the left side.
• empty_load animation is used to empty the payload of tipper trucks. This animation is currently not used in game.

Rail vehicles run on the track network built by the player and can drive along built tracks as well as on track lanes in stations, depots and similar constructions.

They are indentified by the railVehicle metadata block and the .mdl-files usually are located in the subfolders:

• /vehicle/train for motorized rail vehicles
• /vehicle/wagon for unmotorized rail vehicles
• /vehicle/tram for trams.

Although trams are defined with a railVehicle metadata block, they run on streets (with tram tracks) instead of train tracks.

The railVehicle metadata block consists of several block children as well as the properties for speed and weight:

railVehicle= {
  configs = {
    -- axles configuration
    -- fakeBogies configuration
    -- lights configuration
  },
  engines = {
    -- engines configuration
  },
  soundSet = {
    -- soundSet configuration
  },
  topSpeed = 27.4,         -- [m/s] maximum speed the vehicle can reach
  weight = 107,            -- [t (metric)] empty weight of the vehicle
  blinkInterval = 500,     -- [ms] interval of blinking lights, optional, only for trams
},

The configs block covers several properties regarding the 3D model. For each level of detail, there is one block with several properties. Some properties are used to define the lights of rail vehicles:

Be aware that a mesh can't be used for multiple lighting purposes. Each mesh id may at most appear in one of the config lists. It is possible to use these configurations for other purposes like end of train devices, switching pantographs depending on the location in train and interconnecting gangways between coaches.

For trams, there are additional metadata properties for the blinking lights.

• blinkingLights0 / blinkingLights1 are used for meshes that should blink when a tram leaves a station.
• blinkLightsLeft0 / blinkLightsLeft1 are used for meshes that should blink when a tram turns left at an intersection.
• blinkLightsRight0 / blinkLightsRight1 are used for meshes that should blink when a tram turns right at an intersection.

The meshes with 0 and 1 suffix alternate when blinking. Keep in mind that a mesh can't be used for multiple lighting purposes. Each mesh id may at most appear in one of the config lists.

Beside the lights, there are further config properties that are used for axles and the correct rotation of vehicle parts:

• axles is a list of .msh references pointing to the meshes which are axles that rotate around the y axis while the vehicle is moving. This is usually used for any physical axles.
• fakeBogies is a list of fake bogie definitions. Train vehicles with jacobs bogies and other nested constellations might need these.

The engine block describes the type and power of the vehicles motorization:

• type describes the motor type. Available are “HORSE”, “STEAM”, “DIESEL”, “ELECTRIC”. This property has an influence on the emission calculation, e.g. electric has lower emissions than diesel. Electric do only run on tracks with catenary.
• power is the maximum power the engine can produce in kW.
• tractiveEffort is the maximum tractive force the vehicle can develop in kN.

The soundSet block contains the sound related properties:

• name is a reference to a soundset file. The path is relative to res/config/sound_set/.
• openDoors is a reference to a custom door opening sound. If this is set, it overrides the openDoors event reference in the soundset above. The path is relative to res/audio/effects/.
• closeDoors is a reference to a custom door closing sound. If this is set, it overrides the closeDoors event reference in the soundset above. The path is relative to res/audio/effects/.
• horn is a reference to a custom horn sound. If this is set, it overrides the horn event reference in the soundset above. The path is relative to res/audio/effects/.
• clacks is a reference to a custom clack sound. If this is set, it overrides the clacks event reference in the soundset above. The path is relative to res/audio/effects/.
• chuffs is a reference to a custom chuffing sound. If this is set, it overrides the chuffs event reference in the soundset above. The path is relative to res/audio/effects/.

The other two properties are not contained in a block:

• topSpeed is the maximum speed the vehicle can reach in meter per second.
• weight is the empty weight of the vehicle in metric tons.
• blinkInterval is an optional parameter to adjust the frequency for the blink lights of trams by specifying the interval in milliseconds. If unset, the default value of 500 ms is used.

Rail vehicles support some animation events. They can be used in mesh nodes to support model aspects like opening doors:

• forever animation is used for roof ventilators or other elements that turn independently from the speed of the vehicle. It is looped forever and has no fixed length.
• drive animation is used for vehicle parts that move according to the current speed of the vehicle.
• wheels animation is used for vehicle parts that move according to the current speed of the vehicle. The animation length is mapped to the wheel rotation by the game engine.
• open_all_doors is currently unused.
• close_all_doors is currently unused.
• open_doors_right is triggered after a vehicle stops at a station. It is only triggered for platforms on the right side.
• close_doors_right is triggered before the vehicle leaves a station. It is only triggered for platforms on the right side.
• open_doors_left is triggered after a vehicle stops at a station. It is only triggered for platforms on the left side.
• close_doors_left is triggered before the vehicle leaves a station. It is only triggered for platforms on the left side.

Some rail vehicles are defined as multiple units. Then they are a fixed consist of more than one model. The configuration files for multiple units are located in the res/config/multiple_unit/ folder.

function data()
return {
  vehicles = {
    { name = "vehicle/train/ice1.mdl", forward = true },
    { name = "vehicle/train/ice1_waggon_1.mdl", forward = true },
    ...
    { name = "vehicle/train/ice1.mdl", forward = false },
  },
  name = _("VEHICLE_MULTIPLEUNIT_ICE1_NAME"),
  desc = _("VEHICLE_MULTIPLEUNIT_ICE1_DESCRIPTION"),
  groupFileName = "",
 
}
end

The configuration has four properties:

• vehicles is a list of vehicle models used in the multiple unit consist. For each of the vehicles there are two properties:
  • name is a reference to the model file relative to res/models/model.
  • forward is a boolean value. If set to true the model is used as is, otherwise it is flipped by 180 degrees.
• name is the name of the multiple unit that is used in the buy menu. It can be translated in a strings.lua file.
• desc is the description of the multiple unit used in the buy menu. It can be translated too. The technical data is calculated based on the single vehicles used in the multiple unit.
• groupFileName is an optional reference to another multiple unit or a model to define this multiple unit as a variant under the other multiple unit / model as main group. See the buy menu group explanation for further details.

Ships are bound to the navigatable water on the map. The routes are dynamically calculated based on the reachable water regions. In harbors, they stop at designated points.

They are indentified by the waterVehicle metadata block and the .mdl-files usually are located in the /vehicle/ship subfolder.

The waterVehicle metadata block consists of several block children as well as the properties for speed and weight:

waterVehicle = {
  configs = {
    -- paddles configuration
    -- rudder configuration
  },
  waterLine = {
    -- waterline configuration		
  }
  area = 5,                       -- [m^2] cross sectional area, which linearly correlates with the drag force
  availPower = 294000.0,          -- [W] maximum power the engines can produce
  weight = 135000.0,              -- [kg] empty weight of the ship
  maxRpm = 55,                    -- [rpm] used to animate movable parts of the engines
  topSpeed = 7.5,                 -- [m/s] top speed (movement speed is clamped to this value)
  type = "BIG"                    -- is used to deny access for big ships at small piers (alternative "SMALL")
},

The configs block covers several properties regarding the 3D model. For each level of detail, there is one block with several sub blocks.

• paddles is a small subblock with two properties for paddles and propellers. Paddle wheel steamer can keep the mesh orientation as usual, for modern propellers rotation around the x axis, simply rotate the mesh by 90° so the meshs y axis points in the direction of the intended rotation axis.
  • ids is a list of mesh ids that rotate around the y axis of the mesh while the vehicle is moving.
  • maxAngle is set to 0.
• rudder is another small subblock. The rudders are rotating around z axis when the ship curves.
  • ids is a list of mesh ids.
  • maxAngle is an angle in degree that limits the maximum deviation of the rudder meshes.

Other animated parts of the ship like waving flags and dangling anchors can be realized with drive and forever animations instead of the old config properties.

The waterLine block describes the form of the ship at water level that is used to generate the spume around the ships body. It is a list of two-value pairs each representing a point with x- and y-coordinate relative to the model origin.

There are several other properties:

• area is the maximum under water cross sectional area of the ships body in m², which linearly correlates with the drag force
• availPower is the maximum available power the engines can produce in W (not in kW!)
• weight is the empty weight of the ship in kg (not in tons!)
• maxRpm is the maximum rotation per minute of the main paddle wheel. This value is used for animation calculation.
• topSpeed is the maximum speed the vehicle can reach in meter per second.
• type is used to distinct between small and large ships. Only “SMALL” ships can stop at the small piers. “BIG” ships need the large pier.

In contrast to the road and rail vehicles, the sounds are not in the waterVehicle block but in a special soundConfig block:

soundConfig = {
  effects = { },
  soundSet = {
    horn = "",
    name = "ship_diesel_modern",
  },
},

It contains two parts:

• The effects block is left empty for now.
• The soundSet block contains the known soundset related properties:
  • name is a reference to a soundset file. The path is relative to res/config/sound_set/.
  • horn is a reference to a custom horn sound. If this is set, it overrides the horn event reference in the soundset above. The path is relative to res/audio/effects/.

Ships support some animation events. They can be used in mesh nodes to support model aspects like opening doors:

• forever animation is used for continous animations like the radar beacons on ships.
• drive animation is used for vehicle parts that move according to the current speed of the vehicle.
• open_all_doors is triggered after a vehicle stops at a harbor. It is triggered for stops on both sides of the vehicle.
• close_all_doors is triggered before the vehicle leaves a harbor. It is triggered for stops on both sides of the vehicle.
• open_doors_right is triggered after a vehicle stops at a harbor. It is only triggered for stops on the right side.
• close_doors_right is triggered before the vehicle leaves a harbor. It is only triggered for stops on the right side.
• open_doors_left is triggered after a vehicle stops at a harbor. It is only triggered for stops on the left side.
• close_doors_left is triggered before the vehicle leaves a harbor. It is only triggered for stops on the left side.

Airplanes are not bound to any terrain or infrastructure except the airports where they land, stop and start.

They are indentified by the airVehicle metadata block and the .mdl-files usually are located in the /vehicle/plane subfolder.

The airVehicle metadata block consists of several block children as well as the properties for speed and weight:

airVehicle = {
    configs = {
       -- axles configuration
       -- wheels configuration
       -- elevator configuration
       -- aileronLeft configuration
       -- aileronRight configuration
       -- flaps configuration
       -- rudder configuration
    },
    maxPayload = 0,             -- [kg] (currently not in use)
    maxTakeOffWeight = 78000.0, -- [kg] (currently not in use)
    maxThrust = 236000.0,       -- [N] maximum total thrust the engines can generate
    idleThrust = 11800.0,       -- [N] thrust generated by the engines in idle state
    timeToFullThrust = 3,       -- [s] time the engines need from idle state to generate full thrust
    topSpeed = 230.0,           -- [m/s]
    weight = 44000.0,           -- [kg] empty weight of the aircraft
    wingArea = 122.6,           -- [m^2] wing area, which correlates linearly with the lift force
    type = "BIG",               -- is used to deny access for big planes at small airfields (only "SMALL")
},

The configs block covers several properties regarding the 3D model. For each level of detail, there is one block with several sub blocks.

• ids is a list of mesh ids that rotate around the x axis of the mesh during rolling maneuvers.
• maxAngle is an angle in degree that limits the maximum deviation of the aileron meshes.

• ids is a list of mesh ids that rotate around the x axis of the mesh during rolling maneuvers.
• maxAngle is an angle in degree that limits the maximum deviation of the aileron meshes.

• ids is a list of mesh ids that rotate around the x axis of the mesh during pitching maneuvers.
• maxAngle is an angle in degree that limits the maximum deviation of the elevator meshes.

• ids is a list of mesh ids that rotate around the x axis of the mesh during flaps adjustments.
• maxAngle is an angle in degree that limits the maximum deviation of the flaps meshes.

• ids is a list of mesh ids that rotate around the z axis of the mesh during yaw maneuvers.
• maxAngle is an angle in degree that limits the maximum deviation of the rudder meshes.

For some purposes, other properties in the config block are available:

• fakeBogies is a list of fake bogie definitions. Air vehicles with complicated axle and wheel constellations might need these.
• steeringParts is a list of mesh ids that are rotating around z axis when the vehicle turns around curves.

Beside the config block, there are several other properties:

• maxThrust is the maximum total thrust the engines can generate in N.
• idleThrust is the thrust generated by the engines in idle state in N.
• timeToFullThrust is the time the engines need from idle state to generate full thrust in seconds.
• topSpeed is the maximum speed the vehicle can reach in meter per second.
• weight is the empty weight of the plane in kg (not in tons!)
• wingArea is the wing area in m², which correlates linearly with the lift force.
• type is used to distinct between small and large planes. Only “SMALL” planes can land at the small airfields. “BIG” planes need the large airports.

In contrast to the road and rail vehicles, the sounds are not in the airVehicle block but in a special soundConfig block:

soundConfig = {
  effects = { },
  soundSet = {
    land = "",
    name = "aircraft_prop_modern",
  },
},

It contains two parts:

• The effects block is left empty for now.
• The soundSet block contains the known soundset related properties:
  • name is a reference to a soundset file. The path is relative to res/config/sound_set/.
  • sonicBoom is a reference to a custom sonic boom sound. If this is set, it overrides the horn event reference in the soundset above. The path is relative to res/audio/effects/.
  • land is a reference to a custom landing sound. If this is set, it overrides the horn event reference in the soundset above. The path is relative to res/audio/effects/.

Planes support some animation events. They can be used in mesh nodes to support model aspects like opening doors:

• forever animation is used for elements that turn independently from the speed of the vehicle. It is looped forever and has no fixed length.
• drive animation is used for vehicle parts that move according to the current speed of the vehicle.
• open_all_doors is triggered after a vehicle stops at a gateway. It is triggered for gateways on both sides of the vehicle.
• close_all_doors is triggered before the vehicle leaves a gateway. It is triggered for gateways on both sides of the vehicle.
• open_doors_right is triggered after a vehicle stops at a gateway. It is only triggered for gateways on the right side.
• close_doors_right is triggered before the vehicle leaves a gateway. It is only triggered for gateways on the right side.
• open_doors_left is triggered after a vehicle stops at a gateway. It is only triggered for gateways on the left side.
• close_doors_left is triggered before the vehicle leaves a gateway. It is only triggered for gateways on the left side.
• open_doors_cargo animation is used to open cargo payload doors.
• close_doors_cargo animation is used to close cargo payload doors.
• open_wheels is triggered before the landing approach to extend the landing gear.
• close_wheels is triggered after take off to retract the landing gear.