FS25 Vehicle Modding

Overview

Guide for creating and configuring FS25 vehicle mods via vehicle.xml and associated specializations.

When to Use

Creating a new vehicle mod
Configuring vehicle XML (wheels, joints, animations, lights, sounds)
Understanding specialization configuration
Debugging vehicle behavior

Vehicle XML Structure

<vehicle type="myVehicleType">
    <annotation />
    <base>
        <typeDesc>l10n_typeDesc_car</typeDesc>
        <speedLimit value="50" />
    </base>

    <components>
        <component node="0>" mass="2000" centerOfMass="0 0.8 0" />
        <component node="0>1" mass="500" />
        <joint component1="0" component2="1" node="jointNode"
               rotLimit="0 0 0" transLimit="0 0 0" />
    </components>

    <i3dMappings>
        <i3dMapping id="myNode" node="0>0|1" />
    </i3dMappings>

    <motorized>
        <motor torqueCurve="..." />
    </motorized>

    <wheels>
        <wheel node="wheelNode" driveNode="wheelDriveNode"
               radius="0.55" width="0.4" mass="50"
               isLeft="true" hasTireTracks="true"
               repr="wheelRepr" />
    </wheels>

    <attacherJoints>
        <attacherJoint node="attacherNode" jointType="implement"
                       upperTransLimit="0 0.1 0" lowerTransLimit="0 -0.1 0" />
    </attacherJoints>

    <attachable>
        <inputAttacherJoint node="inputNode" jointType="implement" />
    </attachable>
</vehicle>

Key Specializations

Movement & Physics

Specialization	Purpose
`Motorized`	Engine, transmission, fuel
`Drivable`	Steering, brakes, cruise control
`Wheels`	Wheel configuration, physics
`ArticulatedAxis`	Articulated steering
`CCTDrivable`	Character controller movement

Attachments

Specialization	Purpose
`AttacherJoints`	Defines where implements attach TO this vehicle
`Attachable`	Defines how this implement attaches to vehicles
`ConnectionHoses`	Hydraulic/electric hose connections
`PowerConsumer`	PTO power requirements

Animation & Visuals

Specialization	Purpose
`AnimatedVehicle`	Animation clips and sequences
`Cylindered`	movingTools (user-controlled) and movingParts (IK-driven)
`Lights`	Light configuration and states
`Dashboard`	Dashboard gauges and indicators
`Wipers`	Windshield wipers

Work Functions

Specialization	Purpose
`FillUnit`	Fill volumes (fuel, grain, etc.)
`Dischargeable`	Unloading/discharge
`Combine`	Harvesting
`Plow`	Plowing
`SowingMachine`	Seeding
`Sprayer`	Spraying/fertilizing
`FrontLoaderAttacher`	Front loader arm

Components & Joints

Components are rigid bodies connected by joints:

component1 / component2: 0-based indices into root-level <component> nodes
rotLimit: rotation limits in radians (x y z)
transLimit: translation limits in meters (x y z)
rotMinLimit / rotMaxLimit: asymmetric rotation limits

movingTools vs movingParts

	movingTool	movingPart
Control	Player-controlled (input)	Automatic (IK-driven)
Config	`rotationAxis`, `rotSpeed`, `rotMin`/`rotMax`	`referencePoint`, `limitedAxis`
Use case	Boom arm, bucket tilt	Hydraulic pistons, linkage arms

i3dMappings

Maps friendly names to I3D node paths:

<i3dMappings>
    <i3dMapping id="boom" node="0>0|2|0" />
</i3dMappings>

Path format: rootIndex>child|child|child (pipe-separated child indices)

XSD Schemas

The game ships XML Schema files (in the game's shared/xml/schema/ directory) that define every valid attribute and element. Use these as the authoritative reference:

Schema	Covers
`shared/xml/schema/vehicle.xsd`	Full vehicle XML structure
`shared/xml/schema/wheel.xsd`	Wheel configuration
`shared/xml/schema/connectionHoses.xsd`	Hose connections
`shared/xml/schema/attacherJointTopArm.xsd`	Top arm setup
`shared/xml/schema/vehicle_sounds.xsd`	Sound configuration
`shared/xml/schema/conditionalAnimation.xsd`	Conditional animations
`shared/xml/schema/crawler.xsd`	Tracked vehicle crawlers
`shared/xml/schema/powerTakeOff.xsd`	PTO connections
`shared/xml/schema/dashboardCompounds.xsd`	Dashboard elements

When unsure about valid attributes or value ranges, read the XSD — it's more reliable than guessing from examples.

Common Workflow

Check the XSD schema for valid attributes and structure
Search dataS/scripts/vehicles/specializations/ for the relevant specialization source
Check how base game vehicles configure that specialization in their XML
Base game vehicle XMLs are in dataS/data/vehicles/
Mirror the same XML structure in your mod

fs25-vehicle-mod