Are you looking to enhance your BeamNG.drive experience with realistic and performance-optimized traffic? Look no further! As a dedicated creator in the BeamNG.drive community, I’ve poured years into developing the Agent Traffic Tool and accompanying Vehicle Packs, designed to bring your game to life with dense, varied, and incredibly efficient traffic. This isn’t just another mod; it’s a complete traffic overhaul engineered for both realism and optimal performance, even on average PCs.
This comprehensive guide will walk you through everything you need to know about the Agent Traffic Tool and Vehicle Packs, considered by many in the community as the best mod tool for BeamNG.drive traffic. We’ll delve into the features of the tool, explore the diverse vehicle packs, and provide essential information to get you started. Forget about performance bottlenecks and generic traffic – it’s time to populate your BeamNG.drive world with dynamic and optimized vehicles!
Alt text: BeamNG.drive Mediterranean map showcasing dense and diverse traffic, highlighting the capabilities of the Agent Traffic Mod.
Alt text: Italian cityscape in BeamNG.drive filled with a variety of European vehicles from the EU Traffic Pack mod.
Alt text: Polish countryside road in BeamNG.drive featuring realistic traffic flow enhanced by the Agent Traffic Mod.
Alt text: Highway scene in BeamNG.drive with a large number of traffic vehicles smoothly running thanks to optimized vehicle packs.
Alt text: Urban traffic intersection in BeamNG.drive demonstrating the variety of vehicle models included in the traffic mod.
Alt text: BeamNG.drive traffic mod showing detailed vehicle models and realistic traffic density in an urban environment.
Alt text: Night scene in BeamNG.drive with vehicle lights illuminating the road, showcasing the visual quality of the traffic mod.
Alt text: BeamNG.drive traffic mod displaying a mix of vehicle types and models, enhancing the game’s realism.
Alt text: Wide angle view of BeamNG.drive traffic mod in action on a detailed map, emphasizing the mod’s performance and visual appeal.
Maps in order of appearance: https://www.beamng.com/threads/the-mediterranean-special-stages-rally.96096/ Italy (stock game) https://www.beamng.com/resources/polish-roads.5846/
Agent Traffic Tool: Your Control Center for BeamNG.drive Traffic
At the heart of this mod is the Agent Traffic Tool. This powerful utility is the key to unlocking the full potential of the vehicle packs. Accessible in-game with a simple key press (default: [ key – configurable in keybinds), the tool provides an array of options to customize and control your traffic like never before.
Alt text: Screenshot of the Agent Traffic Tool UI in BeamNG.drive, showcasing options for vehicle spawning, license plate customization, and region selection.
Here’s a breakdown of the functionality you gain with the Agent Traffic Tool:
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Pooled Vehicle Functionality: Spawn large numbers of optimized traffic vehicles efficiently, significantly increasing traffic density without crippling your system’s performance.
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Parked Vehicle Functionality: Populate your maps with parked cars, adding to the realism of cityscapes and environments. The tool even allows for on-the-fly parts switching for parked vehicles, saving memory and resources by avoiding duplicate configurations.
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Region/Country-Based Vehicle Groups: Select specific vehicle groups based on region or country. Currently featuring basic groups, future updates promise more granular control for even greater regional accuracy as more vehicle packs are added. Imagine driving through Italy with predominantly Italian vehicles, or exploring Japan with authentic Japanese models!
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License Plate Customization: Take control of vehicle license plates with options to:
- Choose Specific License Plate Designs: Tailor the look of your traffic to match the region you’re simulating.
- Use Custom License Plate Models: Expand beyond standard plates with support for various modded plate shapes, including:
- Italian small front plates (courtesy of gsbr_697)
- British rear yellow plates (courtesy of JorgePinto)
- Mercosur/Mercosul plates (courtesy of RealVector)
- Cypriot front white/rear yellow plates (courtesy of RealVector)
Note: While the tool supports these custom plate styles, the actual plate model mods are required separately and will prompt for download if selected without installation. This keeps the core mod lightweight and modular.
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Randomized Front Plate Usage (American Traffic Focus): For simulating US traffic, where front plates are not universally required, this option randomizes front plate appearance for added realism.
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Quick Start Option: For instant action, the “Quick Start” feature spawns vehicles already in motion, eliminating the need to manually start traffic flow.
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Custom Spawning Code with Vehicle Rarity: The tool utilizes custom spawning code to introduce vehicle rarity. This prevents traffic from becoming monotonous by ensuring a diverse mix of common and less frequent vehicles.
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Region-Based Presets for Official Simplified Traffic: Even if you prefer the official simplified traffic vehicles, this tool provides region-based presets to give you more control over their spawning and distribution. While some advanced plate options might be limited with official vehicles, you still gain enhanced control.
Important Considerations for Spawning Traffic
When spawning a large number of pooled vehicles, especially beyond your system’s real-time loading capacity, expect a brief period of lag. This is normal as the game engine initializes and loads all the vehicles. Patience is key, and the system will stabilize quickly.
For users on lower-spec CPUs, the default behavior of generating license plates upon spawning might cause temporary slowdowns or even crashes when creating very large traffic fleets. To mitigate this, the tool offers an option to defer plate generation until traffic is started. This initial start-up may cause a brief lag while plates are generated in bulk (a progress counter is displayed), but it ensures smoother spawning overall.
Modders Welcome: Expand Your Traffic Universe!
The Agent Traffic Tool is designed with extensibility in mind. If you’re a modder with your own optimized traffic vehicle packs (not just resource-intensive mesh-slap collections!), you can seamlessly integrate them with this tool. As long as you adhere to the naming conventions for parked wheels and license plate parts, and structure your vehicle groups in a compatible format, your custom traffic will work flawlessly with the Agent Traffic Tool. Feel free to expand the traffic universe and share your creations!
Vehicle Packs: Diverse and Optimized Traffic Fleets
To keep things organized and manageable, the vehicle content is divided into “packs.” While categorized by region, the global nature of many car models means some overlap. Most packs are bundled within the main download, with standalone expansions released separately (like the Yakuza pack).
For instance, the EU pack might include some Japanese-market rebadged vehicles common in Europe, and certain vehicle types (like SUVs and sedans more prevalent in the US) might be found in other packs currently under development.
The initial release highlight is the EU Standard Pack, boasting 43 unique cars. More packs are actively in development and will be released progressively. Stay tuned for future announcements!
While technically you can spawn these vehicles individually from the vehicle selector, they are intentionally buried deep within the list alongside the official simplified traffic. They are not optimized for player driving and are specifically tuned for AI traffic behavior. Manual spawning is primarily intended for setting up static car park scenes or screenshots – driving them directly is not recommended.
EU Traffic Pack: European Roads Reimagined
The EU Traffic Pack is the flagship of this release, featuring 43 of the most commonly seen cars across Europe. Initially focusing on vehicles popular in Italy (given the in-game Italy map), the pack offers a broad representation of the European automotive landscape.
The development of this pack marks a transition towards higher-quality, scratch-built models. Older content leans towards late 2000s/early 2010s hatchbacks sourced from older games like Forza Motorsport 4. Newer additions (“EU2” internally) are being modeled from the ground up by myself and collaborators, promising increasing variety and fidelity as development progresses, free from the limitations of pre-existing assets.
All vehicles in the EU Traffic Pack are fully integrated with the Agent Traffic Tool’s features, including the dynamic fading glowmap system, complete license plate options, and the latest standards of optimization and visual polish.
Alt text: Close-up of a Fiat Seicento model from the EU Traffic Pack, showcasing the detailed modeling and optimization for BeamNG.drive.
Alt text: Render of a Nissan Qashqai +2 model, part of the EU Traffic Pack, highlighting the variety of vehicle types included.
Alt text: Peugeot 308 model featured in the EU Traffic Pack, demonstrating the mod’s commitment to representing common European vehicles.
EU Traffic Pack – Vehicle List & Credits:
- Fiat Seicento: Scanned by Car_Killer, modeled by Ezo
- Kia Picanto: Scanned and modeled by Ezo
- Nissan Qashqai +2, Lancia Ypsilon, Toyota Corolla Touring, Fiat Panda, Mk1 Talbot Express/Fiat Ducato campervan: Modeled from scratch by AgentMooshroom5
- Saab 9-3: From FM4, extra parts by Spiicy
- Alfa Romeo 147, Fiat 500, Peugeot 307 CC, VW Golf 4, Toyota Yaris, R56 Mini Cooper: From GT6
- Mini Countryman: From TC2
- Mk7 Ford Transit, F21 BMW 1-Series: From FH1
- Peugeot 107, Peugeot 308, Mercedes A-Class, Vauxhall/Opel Agila, Chevrolet Aveo, Toyota Aygo, Citroen C1, Renault Clio III, Citroen DS3, Ford Fiesta, Smart Fortwo, VW Fox, Seat Ibiza, XE20 Lexus IS250, Ford Ka, Nissan Leaf, Seat Leon, Mazda 2, K13 Nissan Micra, R53 Mini Cooper, Alfa Romeo MiTo, VW Polo, Peugeot RCZ, Chevrolet Spark, Renault Twingo II: From FM4
All models have been significantly reworked and improved for BeamNG.drive, with trim level variations, alternate parts, wheel options, and optimization enhancements.
Yakuza Traffic Pack: Streets of Japan in BeamNG.drive
Originally hosted with Yakuza map ports, the Yakuza Traffic Pack now finds its home here, perfectly complementing the Agent Traffic Tool. Completely reworked since its initial release, this pack features improved jbeams (still undergoing refinement), various bug fixes, and integration of the new fading light system.
Alt text: Yakuza Traffic Pack in BeamNG.drive, showcasing Japanese vehicles and the mod’s visual enhancements.
Alt text: BeamNG.drive scene with vehicles from the Yakuza Traffic Pack driving through a Japanese-themed environment.
Yakuza Traffic Pack – Vehicle Credits:
- All cars from Yakuza Like A Dragon by Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio, extracted using the Yakuza GMD Tools by theturboturnip.
Specific vehicle names are not available, but the pack accurately represents the diverse vehicle fleet found in the Yakuza game world.
Showcase Videos
(Links to showcase videos would be embedded here if available, further enhancing user engagement and visual appeal. Consider adding YouTube or similar video embeds if possible on cardiagnostic.store)
Important Notes & Troubleshooting
- Keybind Conflicts: If the default [ key doesn’t activate the Traffic Tool, check your BeamNG.drive control settings. Look for “Agent Traffic Tool” under “General Debug” to rebind the activation key.
- Game Version Compatibility: The mod is designed for the latest versions of BeamNG.drive. Older versions are not supported. Ensure you are running a legitimate copy of the game.
- Mod Conflicts: If you encounter persistent errors, especially Lua errors, mod conflicts are the most likely cause. Police/lightbar mods and comprehensive mods like BeamMP or DFA pack are common culprits for conflicts. Try disabling these and other recently installed mods to isolate the issue.
- Intel CPU Bug (12th-14th Gen): Users with 12th to 14th generation Intel CPUs might experience seemingly random or nonsensical Lua errors. This could be related to a known hardware issue with these CPUs under heavy load. BeamNG.drive, especially with traffic, can expose this issue due to its CPU-intensive nature. Research Intel CPU stability issues and potential BIOS updates for your motherboard. The provided Reddit thread offers a starting point for investigation: https://old.reddit.com/r/intel/comments/1egthzw/megathread_for_intel_core_13th_14th_gen_cpu/
Technical Details: Optimization is Key
Performance optimization is a cornerstone of this mod. The goal was to create high-density traffic that runs smoothly even on less powerful PCs. This project even served as a tech demo that influenced the development of BeamNG.drive’s official simplified traffic vehicles, indicating a comparable or superior level of performance.
Optimization Strategies Employed:
- Simplified Traffic Jbeams: Based on the official simplified vehicle jbeams for efficient physics calculations.
- Generic Materials: Extensive use of data-driven generic materials, minimizing texture usage. Only badges and paint colors utilize textures (with minor exceptions).
- PBR Texture Cooker Formats: Where textures are necessary, proper PBR (Physically Based Rendering) formats are used for optimal GPU performance.
- Vertex Color Glowmaps: Smart glowmap system utilizing vertex colors instead of baked textures and UV maps, further reducing texture overhead.
Despite these extensive optimizations, visual quality has not been sacrificed. Proper PBR materials, the fading glowmap system, and carefully balanced polygon counts ensure the vehicles still look great while maintaining peak performance.
Alt text: Close-up in BeamNG.drive showroom showcasing the optimized PBR materials and visual fidelity of the traffic vehicle models.
Upcoming Content & Future Plans
The EU Pack is an ongoing project with continuous expansion planned, primarily through the addition of new vehicles. Expect regular updates with fresh content in the future! Parts and variants for existing vehicles are also in development, including a Chrysler version of the Ypsilon and a Japanese-market Corolla variant.
Future development directions being considered:
- Simplified Trailers for traffic vehicles.
- Specialized Work Vehicles: Buses, coaches, street cleaners, and even novelty vehicles like land trains (pending AI capability).
- Enhanced Traffic Tool Features: More granular control over license plates, vehicle age-based spawning filters for even finer-tuned regional and temporal traffic simulation.
For more frequent progress updates, check the mod’s thread on the official BeamNG.drive Discord server. This forum thread will also be kept updated with major releases and announcements.
New Japanese Pack in Development!
A brand new Japanese vehicle pack is under active development, featuring exclusively scratch-modeled vehicles. This pack is a priority and is expected to be released in the coming months.
Alt text: Preview image of a new Japanese vehicle model under development for the upcoming Japanese Traffic Pack for BeamNG.drive.
US Traffic Pack (Work in Progress)
An extensive US Traffic Pack is also in the works. However, due to the scale and complexity of bringing this pack up to current quality standards, it is a longer-term project with a release likely 6+ months away.
Ezo’s “Random Things” Traffic Expansion
Ezo (a contributing modeler) is developing a unique expansion pack featuring a collection of diverse and sometimes unconventional vehicles optimized for traffic. This pack focuses on fun and rarer vehicles, with a greater emphasis on realistic driving performance where possible. This pack is currently in heavy development with no firm release date.
Alt text: Preview of unique and varied vehicles from Ezo’s “Random Things” Traffic Expansion pack for BeamNG.drive.
Future Pack Concepts:
- “Chod Traffic” Pack: Featuring classic 70s/80s/90s British/European vehicles.
- Brazilian Traffic Pack.
- Australian/New Zealand Traffic Pack.
Common Questions (FAQ)
- Sound Issues: Ensure your “Audio Max Voices” setting in BeamNG.drive is set to “Ultra” (512). The Traffic Tool now includes an in-game warning about this setting.
- Installation: Install like any standard BeamNG.drive forum mod – place the downloaded ZIP file into your “mods” folder.
- Feature Requests: Please understand the scope of this project. Requests for interiors, detailed jbeams, full specs, drivable versions, specific car models, etc., are not being considered. The focus is on optimized AI traffic.
Credits & Acknowledgements
- Full vehicle credits are listed within each pack description above.
- Car_Killer: Lua scripting assistance and contributions to the Traffic Tool code.
- Ezo, Ai’Torror: Jbeam contributions, help, and advice.
- LuisAntonRebollo: BeamNG.drive graphics developer – whose knowledge shared indirectly and directly through Car_Killer has been invaluable for optimization techniques.
- ! nick: (Acknowledged with humor as per the original post)
- 3D Modeling & Scanning Contributions: Ezo, Spiicy, Car_Killer
- Original Simplified Traffic Jbeams: Agent_Y, synsol, and the BeamNG team.
- Legacy Models: Forza Motorsport 4 (FM4), Forza Horizon 1 (FH1), Gran Turismo 6 (GT6), The Crew 2 (TC2).
Downloads: Get Started Now!
Main Traffic Mod + Traffic Tool:
- Google Drive: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ssj9vQzlS-UBPUrdwdsng52tenc019bP/view
- Mediafire: https://www.mediafire.com/file/urcvmt4u71s9984/agent_traffic_mod.zip/file (Last updated: December 19th, 2024)
Yakuza Traffic Pack (Standalone):
Important Download Notes:
- These are the only official download links. Downloads from other sources are unauthorized and potentially harmful or modified.
- Please do not redistribute, re-upload, or reuse content from this mod without explicit permission. This includes both my own creations and the contributions of my friends. Respect the creators and their work.
- Absolutely no selling of content from this mod is permitted.
- Direct message me if you have any questions regarding permissions or usage.
- No Requests: Please refrain from vehicle requests. The development roadmap is already extensive and based on years of planning and research.
Enjoy bringing your BeamNG.drive worlds to life with realistic and optimized traffic!
