handling.cfg

(Redirected from Handling)

The handling.cfg file stores handling configuration data and settings for vehicles in Grand Theft Auto III, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.

GTA III and GTA Vice City

Format and syntax description

The file is in plain text format so it can be opened with any text editor (like Notepad). Line comments are indicated by the character ; (semicolon) and empty lines are allowed. They can be placed anywhere in the file. Each entry takes up one line and follows a specific format detailed below. Data in each entry are separated by  (space) and  (horizontal tab). The file must contain the line ;the end\n (;the end with at least an empty line after it) in order for the game to stop reading the file. The length of each line is limited to 200 characters and the size of the file is limited to 55000 bytes but the games do not perform any checks on the limits so going past them can cause instabilities or crashes.

Standard Data

This section contains all the performance settings for land vehicles and provides the base settings for boats, bikes and flying vehicles. In GTA III the special behaviour of boats, bikes and flying vehicles are hardcoded and are not included in the handling.cfg file. GTA Vice City included many of those handling data into the file.

GTA III GTA Vice City Identifier Type Description
A vehicle identifier string The identifier must be from the list of hardcoded names (see below).
B fMass float Mass of the vehicle in kilograms.
C Dimensions.x float Width of the vehicle in metres, used for aerodynamic and motion effects.
D Dimensions.y float Length of the vehicle in metres, used for aerodynamic and motion effects.
E Dimensions.z float Height of the vehicle in metres, used for aerodynamic and motion effects.
F CentreOfMass.x float Distance from the centre of the car in metres to the right for the centre of mass.
G CentreOfMass.y float Distance from the centre of the car in metres forward for the centre of mass.
H CentreOfMass.z float Distance from the centre of the car in metres upward for the centre of mass.
I nPercentSubmerged integer Percentage of the vehicle height required to be submerged for the car to float.
J fTractionMultiplier float Cornering grip of the vehicle as a multiplier of the tyre surface friction.
K fTractionLoss float Accelerating/braking grip of the vehicle as a multiplier of the tyre surface friction.
L fTractionBias float Ratio of front axle grip to rear axle grip; higher value shifts grip forwards.
M TransmissionData.nNumberOfGears integer Number of gearchange animations and sound effects to use.
N TransmissionData.fMaxVelocity float Limits the top speed.
O TransmissionData.fEngineAcceleration float Basic rate of acceleration.
P TransmissionData.nDriveType character Assigns Front, Rear or 4 wheel drive.
Q TransmissionData.nEngineType character Assigns Petrol, Diesel or Electric engine characteristics.
R fBrakeDeceleration float Overall decelerative force, set so keyboard controls do not quite lock up the wheels.
S fBrakeBias float Ratio of braking force of front compared to rear; higher values move bias forward.
T bABS integer Seems to have no effect.
U fSteeringLock float Maximum rotation of steering arc in degrees; use negatives for rear wheel steered vehicles.
V fSuspensionForceLevel float Explained in my suspension tutorial.
W fSuspensionDampingLevel float Explained in my suspension tutorial.
X fSeatOffsetDistance float Distance from door position to seat position.
Y fCollisionDamageMultiplier float How much damage vehicle engine gets from collisions. Higher value means more damage.
Z nMonetaryValue integer Used to determine monetary award for crusher, collisions, and explosions in GTA III and the Property Destroyed statistic in GTA Vice City.
AA suspension upper limit float Uppermost movement of wheels in metres.
AB suspension lower limit float Ride height of vehicle in metres.
AC suspension bias float Ratio of suspension force to apply at the rear compared to the front.
- AD suspension anti-dive multiplier float Changes the amount of body pitching under braking and acceleration.
AD AE Flags hex Special features which can be enabled or disabled (see below).
AE AF front lights integer Defines the size of the head lights of the vehicle. Using numbers out of range has unusual effects.
AF AG rear lights integer Same as above but for the tail lights.

List of vehicle identifiers

The games contain a hardcoded list of vehicle identifiers. This is used to assign a vehicle's handling name to a handling index (LANDSTAL is at index 0, IDAHO is at index 1, etc.).

GTA III GTA Vice City
  • LANDSTAL
  • IDAHO
  • STINGER
  • LINERUN
  • PEREN
  • SENTINEL
  • PATRIOT
  • FIRETRUK
  • TRASH
  • STRETCH
  • MANANA
  • INFERNUS
  • BLISTA
  • PONY
  • MULE
  • CHEETAH
  • AMBULAN
  • FBICAR
  • MOONBEAM
  • ESPERANT
  • TAXI
  • KURUMA
  • BOBCAT
  • MRWHOOP
  • BFINJECT
  • POLICE
  • ENFORCER
  • SECURICA
  • BANSHEE
  • PREDATOR
  • BUS
  • RHINO
  • BARRACKS
  • TRAIN
  • HELI
  • DODO
  • COACH
  • CABBIE
  • STALLION
  • RUMPO
  • RCBANDIT
  • BELLYUP
  • MRWONGS
  • MAFIA
  • YARDIE
  • YAKUZA
  • DIABLOS
  • COLUMB
  • HOODS
  • AIRTRAIN
  • DEADDODO
  • SPEEDER
  • REEFER
  • PANLANT
  • FLATBED
  • YANKEE
  • BORGNINE
  • LANDSTAL
  • IDAHO
  • STINGER
  • LINERUN
  • PEREN
  • SENTINEL
  • PATRIOT
  • FIRETRUK
  • TRASH
  • STRETCH
  • MANANA
  • INFERNUS
  • PONY
  • MULE
  • CHEETAH
  • AMBULAN
  • FBICAR
  • MOONBEAM
  • ESPERANT
  • TAXI
  • KURUMA
  • BOBCAT
  • MRWHOOP
  • BFINJECT
  • POLICE
  • ENFORCER
  • SECURICA
  • BANSHEE
  • BUS
  • RHINO
  • BARRACKS
  • TRAIN
  • HELI
  • DODO
  • COACH
  • CABBIE
  • STALLION
  • RUMPO
  • RCBANDIT
  • MAFIA
  • AIRTRAIN
  • DEADDODO
  • FLATBED
  • YANKEE
  • GOLFCART
  • VOODOO
  • WASHING
  • CUBAN
  • ROMERO
  • PACKER
  • ADMIRAL
  • GANGBUR
  • ZEBRA
  • TOPFUN
  • GLENDALE
  • OCEANIC
  • HERMES
  • SABRE1
  • SABRETUR
  • PHEONIX
  • WALTON
  • REGINA
  • COMET
  • DELUXO
  • BURRITO
  • SPAND
  • BAGGAGE
  • KAUFMAN
  • RANCHER
  • FBIRANCH
  • VIRGO
  • GREENWOO
  • HOTRING
  • SANDKING
  • BLISTAC
  • BOXVILLE
  • BENSON
  • DESPERAD
  • LOVEFIST
  • BLOODRA
  • BLOODRB
  • BIKE
  • MOPED
  • DIRTBIKE
  • ANGEL
  • FREEWAY
  • PREDATOR
  • SPEEDER
  • REEFER
  • RIO
  • SQUALO
  • TROPIC
  • COASTGRD
  • DINGHY
  • MARQUIS
  • CUPBOAT
  • SEAPLANE
  • SPARROW
  • SEASPAR
  • MAVERICK
  • COASTMAV
  • POLMAV
  • HUNTER
  • RCBARON
  • RCGOBLIN
  • RCCOPTER

Flags

The flag is a sixteen-bit integer value stored as a hexadecimal value in four bytes (characters). The number is written with the smallest value on the right, which is bit number one, with the higher value bits to the left. The below table describes what each of the sixteen bits in this setting do:

Game Byte Value Column Name Description
GTA III GTA Vice City 1 1 1G_BOOST Makes tyres spin more readily from standing starts.
2 2G_BOOST Makes tyres spin more readily at low speeds.
4 REV_BONNET Reverses the direction boot and bonnet axis operate.
8 HANGING_BOOT Affects physics of boot hinged from the top.
2 1 NO_DOORS Removes all testing for doors.
2 IS_VAN Allows double boot object.
4 IS_BUS Uses Coach version of animations over standard one and makes the driver invisible (only makes sense to use on Coach).
8 IS_LOW Uses low version of animations over standard one.
3 1 DBL_EXHAUST Creates a second exhaust by mirroring the model's exhaust over the y-axis.
2 TAILGATE_BOOT Affects physics of boot hinged from the bottom.
4 NOSWING_BOOT When damaged, boot does not swing if it normally does and falls off instead.
8 NONPLAYER_STABILISER Seems to have no effect, could be related to how the AI operates the vehicle
4 1 NEUTRALHANDLING Seems to have no effect, could be related to how the AI operates the vehicle
2 HAS_NO_ROOF Various slight effects.
4 IS_BIG Changes the way that the AI drives around corners.
8 HALOGEN_LIGHTS Bluish headlights.
GTA Vice City 5 1 IS_BIKE Makes the game engine treat this vehicle as a motorbike when used with default.ide attributes.
2 IS_HELI Makes the game engine treat this vehicle as a helicopter when used with default.ide attributes.
4 IS_PLANE Makes the game engine treat this vehicle as a plane when used with default.ide attributes.
8 IS_BOAT Makes the game engine treat this vehicle as a boat when used with default.ide attributes.
6 1 NO_EXHAUST Removes the exhaust animation particle for this vehicle.
2 REARWHEEL_1ST Seems to have no effect.
4 HANDBRAKE_TYRE Seems to have no effect.
8 SIT_IN_BOAT Makes the player sit in this boat.
7 1 FAT_REARW Wider rear wheels.
2 NARROW_FRONTW Narrower front wheels.
4 GOOD_INSAND Prevents vehicle from bogging down on sand surface.
8 Is not mentioned in the handling.cfg comments. Causes the vehicle to not render while looking behind in first person view.

GTA Vice City-specific

The following sections contain information specific to GTA Vice City.

Boat Data

Some of the Standard Data settings have a different effect for floating vehicles than they would for land vehicles.

Column Letter Column Name Description
J Bank Force Mult Amount of lean when turning.
K Rudder Turn Force Effect of the steering.
L Speed Steer Falloff Amount to reduce steering effect by as speed increases.
R Vertical Wave Hit Limit
S Forward Wave Hit Brake
V WaterResistance Volume Mult
W Water Damping Mult
ab Handbrake Drag Mult
ac Sideslip Force Strength that the boat will be pushed sideways by waves.

Data specific to boats have lines that begin with % (percentage sign) character.

% Identifier Type Description
A ID string The identifier must be from the list of hardcoded names (see above).
B ThrustY float
C ThrustZ float
D ThrustAppZ float
E AqPlaneForce float
F AqPlaneLimit float
G AqPlaneOffset float
H WaveAudioMult float
I MoveResX float
J MoveResY float
K MoveResZ float
L TurnResX float
M TurnResY float
N TurnResZ float
O Look_L_R_BehindCamHeight float

Bike Data

Data specific to bikes have lines that begin with ! (exclamation mark) character.

! Identifier Type Description
A ID string The identifier must be from the list of hardcoded names (see above).
B LeanFwdCOM float
C LeanFwdForce float
D LeanBakCOM float
E LeanBackForce float
F MaxLean float
G FullAnimLean float
H DesLean float
I SpeedSteer float
J SlipSteer float
K NoPlayerCOMz float
L WheelieAng float
M StoppieAng float
N WheelieSteer float
O WheelieStabMult float
P StoppieStabMult float

Flying Data

Data specific to flying vehicles have lines that begin with $ (dollar sign) character.

$ Identifier Type Description
A ID string The identifier must be from the list of hardcoded names (see above).
B Thrust float
C ThrustFallOff float
D Yaw float
E YawStab float
F SideSlip float
G Roll float
H RollStab float
I Pitch float
J PitchStab float
K FormLift float
L AttackLift float
M MoveRes float
N TurnRes.x float
O TurnRes.y float
P TurnRes.z float
Q SpeedRes.x float
R SpeedRes.y float
S SpeedRes.z float

GTA San Andreas

Standard Data

This section contains all the performance settings for land vehicles and provides the base settings for boats, bikes and flying vehicles. The below table provides the column letter, column name and a brief description for each setting available in this section.

Column Letter Column Name Description
A vehicle identifier Relates this data with vehicle.ide and other files.
B fMass Mass of the vehicle in kilograms.
C fTurnMass Used to calculate motion effects.
D fDragMult Changes resistance to movement.
F CentreOfMass.x Distance from the centre of the car in metres to the right for the centre of mass.
G CentreOfMass.y Distance from the centre of the car in metres forwards for the centre of mass.
H CentreOfMass.z Distance from the centre of the car in metres upwards for the centre of mass.
I nPercentSubmerged Percentage of the vehicle height required to be submerged for the car to float.
J fTractionMultiplier Cornering grip of the vehicle as a multiplier of the tyre surface friction.
K fTractionLoss Accelerating/braking grip of the vehicle as a multiplier of the tyre surface friction.
L fTractionBias Ratio of front axle grip to rear axle grip; higher value shifts grip forwards.
M TransmissionData.nNumberOfGears Number of gearchange animations and sound effects to use.
N TransmissionData.fMaxVelocity Limits the top speed.
O TransmissionData.fEngineAcceleration Basic rate of acceleration.
P TransmissionData.fEngineInertia Smooths or sharpens the acceleration curve.
Q TransmissionData.nDriveType Assigns Front, Rear or 4 wheel drive.
R TransmissionData.nEngineType Assigns Petrol, Diesel or Electric engine characteristics.
S fBrakeDeceleration Overall decelerative force.
T fBrakeBias Ratio of braking force of front compared to rear; higher values move bias forward.
U bABS ABS Brakes "0" = no and "1" = yes
V fSteeringLock Maximum angle of steering in degrees.
a fSuspensionForceLevel
b fSuspensionDampingLevel
c fSuspensionHighSpdComDamp Stiffens the dampening strength as speed increases.
d suspension upper limit Explained in my suspension tutorial.
e suspension lower limit Explained in my suspension tutorial.
f suspension bias between front and rear Ratio of suspension force to apply at the front compared to the rear.
g suspension anti-dive multiplier Changes the amount of body pitching under braking and acceleration.
aa fSeatOffsetDistance Distance from door position to seat postion.
ab fCollisionDamageMultiplier Amount of engine damage vehicle gets from collisions. Higher value means more damage.
ac nMonetaryValue Used to calculate the Value of property damaged statistic.
af modelFlags Special animations features of the which can be enabled or disabled.
ag handlingFlags Special performance features.
ah front lights Type of head lights of the vehicle.
ai rear lights Same as above but for the tail lights.
aj Vehicle anim group Refers to an Animation ID number.

Model Flag Data

Column "af", called "modelFlags", is a sixteen-bit integer value stored as a hexadecimal value in four bytes (characters). The number is written with the smallest value on the right, which is bit number one, with the higher value bits to the left. The below table describes what each of the sixteen bits in this setting do:

Byte Value Column Name Description
1 1 IS_VAN Allows double doors for the rear animation.
2 IS_BUS Uses Coach version of animations over standard one and makes the driver invisible (only makes sense to use on Coach).
4 IS_LOW Uses low version of animations over standard one.
8 IS_BIG Changes the way that the AI drives around corners.
2 1 REVERSE_BONNET Bonnet and boot open in opposite direction from normal.
2 HANGING_BOOT Affects physics of boot hinged from the top.
4 TAILGATE_BOOT Affects physics of boot hinged from the bottom.
8 NOSWING_BOOT When damaged, boot does not swing if it normally does and falls off instead.
3 1 NO_DOORS Removes all testing for doors.
2 TANDEM_SEATS Two people will use the front passenger seat.
4 SIT_IN_BOAT Uses seated boat animation instead of standing.
8 CONVERTIBLE Changes how hookers operate and other small effects.
4 1 NO_EXHAUST Removes all exhaust particles.
2 DBL_EXHAUST Creates a second exhaust by mirroring the model's exhaust over the y-axis.
4 NO1FPS_LOOK_BEHIND Prevents player using rear view when in first-person mode.
8 FORCE_DOOR_CHECK
5 1 AXLE_F_NOTILT Front wheels stay vertical to the car like GTA III.
2 AXLE_F_SOLID Front wheels stay parallel to each other.
4 AXLE_F_MCPHERSON Front wheels tilt like GTA Vice City.
8 AXLE_F_REVERSE Reverses the tilting of wheels when using AXLE_F_MCPHERSON suspension.
6 1 AXLE_R_NOTILT Rear wheels stay vertical to the car like GTA III.
2 AXLE_R_SOLID Rear wheels stay parallel to each other.
4 AXLE_R_MCPHERSON Rear wheels tilt like GTA Vice City.
8 AXLE_R_REVERSE Reverses the tilting of wheels when using AXLE_R_MCPHERSON suspension.
7 1 IS_BIKE Use extra handling settings in the bikes section.
2 IS_HELI Use extra handling settings in the flying section.
4 IS_PLANE Use extra handling settings in the flying section.
8 IS_BOAT Use extra handling settings in the boats section.
8 1 BOUNCE_PANELS
2 DOUBLE_RWHEELS Places a second instance of each rear wheel next to the normal one.
4 FORCE_GROUND_CLEARANCE
8 IS_HATCHBACK

Handling Flag Data

Column "ag", called "handlingFlags", is a sixteen-bit integer value stored as a hexadecimal value in four bytes (characters). The number is written with the smallest value on the right, which is bit number one, with the higher value bits to the left. The below table describes what each of the sixteen bits in this setting do:

Byte Value Column Name Description
1 1 1G_BOOST Gives more engine power for standing starts; better hill climbing.
2 2G_BOOST Gives more engine power at slightly higher speeds.
4 NPC_ANTI_ROLL No body roll when driven by AI characters.
8 NPC_NEUTRAL_HANDL Less likely to spin out when driven by AI characters.
2 1 NO_HANDBRAKE Disables the handbrake effect.
2 STEER_REARWHEELS Rear wheels steer instead of front, like a forklift truck.
4 HB_REARWHEEL_STEER Handbrake makes the rear wheels steer as well as front, like the monster truck.
8 ALT_STEER_OPT
3 1 WHEEL_F_NARROW2 Very narrow front wheels.
2 WHEEL_F_NARROW Narrow front wheels.
4 WHEEL_F_WIDE Wide front wheels.
8 WHEEL_F_WIDE2 Very wide front wheels.
4 1 WHEEL_R_NARROW2 Very narrow rear wheels.
2 WHEEL_R_NARROW Narrow rear wheels.
4 WHEEL_R_WIDE Wide rear wheels.
8 WHEEL_R_WIDE2 Very wide rear wheels.
5 1 HYDRAULIC_GEOM Lowrider hydraulics
2 HYDRAULIC_INST Will spawn with hydraulics installed.
4 NOS_INST Vehicle automatically gets NOS installed when it spawns.
8 HYDRAULIC_NONE Hydraulics cannot be installed.
6 1 OFFROAD_ABILITY Vehicle will perform better on loose surfaces like dirt.
2 OFFROAD_ABILITY2 Vehicle will perform better on soft surfaces like sand.
4 HALOGEN_LIGHTS Bluish headlights.
8 PROC_REARWHEEL_1ST
7 1 USE_MAXSP_LIMIT Prevents vehicle going faster than column N value for maximum speed.
2 LOW_RIDER Allows vehicle to be modified at Loco Low Co shops.
4 STREET_RACER When set, vehicle can only be modified at Wheel Arch Angels.
8 UNDEFINED No effect.
8 1 SWINGING_CHASSIS Lets the car body move from side to side on the suspension.
2 UNDEFINED No effect.
4 UNDEFINED No effect.
8 UNDEFINED No effect.

Boat Data

This section contains all the performance settings from the section for floating vehicles, such as boats and flying vehicles which can land on water. The below table provides the column letter, column name and a brief description for each setting available in this section.

Column Letter Column Name Description
J Bank Force Mult Amount of lean when turning.
K Rudder Turn Force Effect of the steering.
L Speed Steer Falloff Amount to reduce steering effect by as speed increases.
S Vertical Wave Hit Limit
T Forward Wave Hit Brake
a WaterResistance Volume Mult
b Water Damping Mult
d Handbrake Drag Mult
e Sideslip Force Strength that the boat will be pushed sideways by waves.

Tools

  • GTA III GTA Vice City GTA San Andreas CFG Studio, a comprehensive handling editor by Cerbera.

See also

External links

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