Enhance Your Kerbal Experience with Car Mod Programs: Introducing Autogarage

Are you ready to take your Kerbal Space Program (KSP) experience beyond the stars and onto the terrains of Kerbin and beyond? While KSP is renowned for its rocketry and space exploration, sometimes you need to get around on the ground in style. That’s where Car Mod Programs come into play, and the Autogarage mod is a fantastic example of bringing terrestrial vehicles into your space-faring adventures.

Initially, some might jest, “Kerbal Space Program, not Kerbal Auto Program!” But imagine the possibilities: efficiently retrieving Kerbals stranded a short distance from your base, or embarking on epic cross-country rover expeditions with a touch of automotive flair. The Autogarage mod injects a dose of down-to-earth fun into KSP, offering a fleet of recognizable vehicles ready for Kerbal customization.

What is the Autogarage Car Mod Program?

The Autogarage isn’t just a collection of random parts; it’s a curated car mod program that brings meticulously converted real-world vehicles into the KSP universe. The creators have taken existing vehicle models, often from games like GTA, and, with due permission, transformed them to be fully functional within Kerbal Space Program. This means you’re getting detailed recreations of familiar cars, adapted for Kerbal handling and physics.

To get a visual taste of what Autogarage offers, check out these showcases:

Key Features of the Autogarage Mod

This car mod program is packed with features designed to enhance your in-game driving experience:

Diverse Vehicle Selection: From classic sports cars to iconic vans and trucks, Autogarage offers a wide variety of vehicles to suit different Kerbal transportation needs. The initial releases include models like Porsche 944 Turbo, VW Bus, Tesla, KITT, Crown Victoria, F-1 1949, Corvette ’59, BMW GTR, Ecto 1, and even a large Peterbilt truck.
Texture Variety: Many vehicles come with alternate textures, thanks to Firespitter’s FSTextureSwitch integration. This allows for customization and personalization of your Kerbal car fleet.
Detailed Interiors: Most vehicles boast internal models, immersing you further into the driving experience.
Functional Cockpit Instruments: Leveraging RasterPropMonitor, many cars feature working steering wheels, speedometers, fuel gauges, and even car keys to “ignite” the engine, mirroring the functionality of the Rovers’N’Roadsters mod. (Note: The Jeep Wrangler is an exception in the initial release, lacking internal props at the moment.)
Illumination: Headlights are toggleable on most vehicles, making nighttime driving on Kerbin or the Mun a visually engaging experience.
Reflective Mirrors: If you have TextureReplacer installed, the side mirrors of the vehicles will dynamically reflect the Kerbal world around you, adding a layer of realism.
Updated Tire Mechanics: All tires in the mod are categorized under the new “ground” category in KSP, ensuring compatibility and proper physics interactions.

Getting Started with Autogarage: Prerequisites and Installation

To enjoy the Autogarage car mod program, there are a couple of essential steps to ensure compatibility and proper functionality within your Kerbal Space Program (version 1.1 ONLY for the original release, check mod pages for updated compatibility):

Step 1: Adjust Wheel Clipping Settings

This is a crucial step to prevent wheel issues. Locate your settings.cfg file in your main KSP directory. Open it and find these lines:

<span>WHEEL_CLIP_OFFSET = WHEEL_CLIP_RANGE = WHEEL_CLIP_MULTIPLIER = </span>

Change the values to 0 for each parameter, like this:

<span>WHEEL_CLIP_OFFSET = 0 WHEEL_CLIP_RANGE = 0 WHEEL_CLIP_MULTIPLIER = 0</span>

This adjustment is necessary because KSP’s default collision detection for wheels can interfere with car wheels, making them appear blocked and unusable.

Step 2: Install Dependent Mods

Autogarage relies on a few other mods to unlock its full potential:

RasterPropMonitor: Download Link – Essential for functioning steering wheels, car keys, and interactive dashboards.
Firespitter: (Included with Autogarage) – Enables color switching for vehicle textures.
TextureReplacer: [Check Forum or Spacedock for Download] – Adds reflective mirror functionality.

Step 3: Download Autogarage

You can download the Autogarage car mod program from these locations:

Important Considerations When Using Car Mods in KSP

Keep these points in mind for optimal enjoyment of car mod programs like Autogarage:

Tire Rotation: Immediately after placing a tire part in the SPH/VAB, press the ‘S’ key. This ensures the tire is oriented correctly. Failure to do so will result in non-functional, incorrectly rotated wheels.
KSP Physics Limitations: Kerbal Space Program’s physics engine is primarily designed for spacecraft. Car physics, therefore, can be somewhat unpredictable in certain situations. Expect some “wonky physics” as the original author noted, especially in high-speed maneuvers or challenging terrain.
Atmospheric Requirements (Optional): If you find the idea of driving a Corvette on the Mun implausible, you can easily disable atmospheric resource requirements. Navigate to the “body.cfg” file within each vehicle’s folder and remove the // comment markers from the lines under INPUT_RESOURCE:
```
 <span> Remove these vv //INPUT_RESOURCE //{ // name = IntakeAir // rate = 0.0005 //}</span>
```
This will remove the need for intake air, allowing the vehicles to operate in airless environments.

License

The Autogarage car mod program is distributed under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license.

Conclusion

The Autogarage car mod program offers a unique and entertaining way to traverse the landscapes of Kerbal Space Program. While KSP is fundamentally about space exploration, adding terrestrial vehicles opens up new gameplay possibilities and adds a fun dimension to your Kerbal adventures. Download Autogarage today and start cruising across Kerbin in style!