Hello everyone Our family has a Honda Jazz 2003 for years now (Actually since 2003) and that car holds a special place in my heart, given the fact that I absolutely love BeamNG I'm thinking of merging these two things I love into one! Think is.. I don't really know where to start, I'm willing to put into it all the times it requires (And speaking of high fidelity/study level simulations I know we're talking hundreds of hours if not more.), so does anyone have any recommendations as to how I approach this thing? Any particular software to study? What's the process like? I'd appreciate any possible recommendations. (And yes, I really do want to create it to the highest level possible, with it's different configurations (1.2l, 1.4l, 1.5VTi and I even heard of a FWD config, I'm willing to add more, tuning kits, K24 engine swap and all that juicy stuff.)
I would start from reading the docs so you have an idea about the physics engine before you start making the car. https://documentation.beamng.com/modding/vehicle/intro_jbeam/ https://documentation.beamng.com/modding/vehicle/intro_jbeam/jbeamsyntax/ https://documentation.beamng.com/modding/vehicle/intro_jbeam/partslotsystem/ https://documentation.beamng.com/modding/vehicle/sections/nodes/ https://documentation.beamng.com/modding/vehicle/sections/beams/ https://documentation.beamng.com/modding/vehicle/sections/beams/support/ https://documentation.beamng.com/modding/vehicle/sections/flexbodies/ https://documentation.beamng.com/modding/vehicle/sections/information/ https://documentation.beamng.com/modding/vehicle/sections/refnodes/ https://documentation.beamng.com/modding/vehicle/sections/slots/ https://documentation.beamng.com/modding/vehicle/sections/torsionbars/ https://documentation.beamng.com/modding/vehicle/sections/triangles/ If you are planning to make the 3D model yourself (which is usually the best idea), you should read this: https://documentation.beamng.com/modding/modelling/vehicle_modeling/ Keep in mind that this is not all you need to make a car, it's just the basics to understand the physics system. And yes it will definitely take many hours, possibly half a year in total. Experienced modders usually take several months to make a car.
One thing you should know is that on the forums barely anyone will want to help you, and all tutorials here are outdated. For proper help and up to date tutorials go here: https://discord.gg/Z7UpZQt6Mu
You could start learning Blender, learning to model small things at first from youtube tutorials etc. It's probably one of the better modelling programs out there now, it's free and great all-rounder, there are minor issues but compared to even 5 years ago, it's progressed a ton in the user friendly department. Oh and when modelling, it's better to get used to modelling approximately and fast than to spend 3 hours on a box. You're really trying to increase your effectiveness more than worry about the appearance of the final product until it's actually complete. As you get better you'll get faster naturally and might even conclude it's better to remodel the entire thing anyways! Overall modelling is fun, and more so when you've finally got a real handle on it, then it's satisfying
That is absolutely awesome advice, when I started modelling all I was caught up on was being as 100% accurate as possible and when your starting off usually that isn't possible. Once you get that first model finished you will feel a HUGE sense of achievement. Im still rubbish at it but thats because im not persistent and dont model enough lmao.
I'm really glad if it helps! A lot of people can fall into the trap of perfectionism or aiming to just get it perfect on the first try!, which as it turns out can suck a lot of time and productivity away from the learning process and whatnot. Learned that tip from a youtube tutorial on speed modelling
Yeah, but being new/amateur and perfectionist is not too good a mix, however you're the opposite so doesn't really apply to you! You have too much experience xD