BeamNG - Mesh slap Tutorial

A quick tutorial on how quickly import a mesh into BeamNG as a new car.
I may have omitted some basic knowledge in keeping the video short.
Mesh slap is a easy way to get your mod started. As starting from scratch is a daunting task. From this point you can kit bash / make original jbeams and parts into a proper mod.
Blender and Visual Studio Code used in this Tutorial.

[@Tree-Channel]

hey, for some reason in the wentward there is no 'suspension' which implies that it has a alternate name, do you know what it could be named?

[@Xerkaw]

Taking a quick look at the files. the "body" file is the "frame" file and suspension is the "axle" files. Good to use some logic when things are not the same for the other "unique" vehicles. (look at the in-game part hierarchy, and see how it relates to the jbeam files.) There is also no "nodeOffset" string in the wheel slot, so you will need to insert that in order to move the wheels. Alternatively you can use a "nodeMove" in the body/frame hierarchy, to move the entire susp/axle (slot) assembly instead of individually moving the wheels.

[@Tree-Channel]

@@Xerkaw i already found it

[@pile_of_trash]

Good guide, but I did everything to the guide as planned but still, my mesh is not showing up on the car. I am using the 1980s Pessima as my base.

[@Xerkaw]

I would double check your "flexbodies" name matches to what you named your object in Blender. And check if your object transformations are set to zero. (Object>Apply>All Transformation). An unlikely chance is the dae export became corrupted. But can be easily checked by importing the dae file you exported back into Blender, and seeing if your model shows up.

[@pile_of_trash]

@@Xerkaw interestingly enough, i have tested all of that and done it all, but it still does not work. I might just try to build a different one than a a80 corolla on a pessima.

[@Xerkaw]

@@pile_of_trash Well troubleshooting is part of the learning process. I'm sure you already know to bring up the console with ~ which will probably say something is broken, or not found.

[@pile_of_trash]

@ Thanks for the advice though!

[@paveuu]

I did everything as in the guide, but after changing the body everything disappears, you can't see the vehicle except the steering wheel, do you know what could have happened?

[@Xerkaw]

Sounds like beamng isn't finding your model. In your body Jbeam. Make sure under "flexbodies" your "mesh" name matches with the model/object name that was exported into a dae file. As beamng is case sensitive. (This is where you tell beamng to find and load models specific to that Jbeam). The other options is that there is "transformations" left on your model, and your model has loaded but is nowhere near the car. You apply transformations by going into Object>Apply>All Transformations in Blender. Lastly you can bring up console with "~" to see if there are any errors related to the model name you've used.

[@Xerkaw]

Also if you feel you dived in too deep. You can just make a duplicate body.jbeam file from the original car, and just edit the flexbody reference first (Make sure the file name itself, and the internal name of the entry is changed to avoid conflicts). Just to ensure your model at least loads. It is very easy to get ahead of yourself and make mistakes. As I do this constantly with my own mods.

[@SBGAMESANDDRINKS-o5g]

How can i add texture

[@Xerkaw]

There are a bunch of "Material and Texture" tutorials out there. But the short version is. Assign a material in blender > Create / edit a material for beamng (usually main.materials.json file) so that BNG reconizes that material in-game. Edit that material in the json file, or ingame with the world editor to link texture to the material.

[@SBGAMESANDDRINKS-o5g]

@@Xerkaw LIFESAVER

[@SBGAMESANDDRINKS-o5g]

@@Xerkaw what confused me is the main materials json

[@SBGAMESANDDRINKS-o5g]

@@Xerkaw also you dont have to if you dont want to but can you make a short tutorial

[@Xerkaw]

@@SBGAMESANDDRINKS-o5g easiest way would to cut and paste a material entry, then rename that entry to your model material name, along with "name" (internal name to bng) and "mapto" (what bng looks for your material name). Then edit the texture links to your own. Json files use JavaScript language, so make sure you don't make any formatting errors when cut and pasting. Material.json file should be put in the same location as the beam and model files.