Ngasal
Ngasal
x Guide
Table of contents
1. Terms of use
2. Description
3. Installation
1. Installation guide for dummies
4. How to use this mod
1. The driving styles explained
2. Fine tuning the speed
3. How to use the helicopter autopilot and autoland
1. Special helipads
4. How to use the gun/turret on the Karin Technical, the Insurgent
pickup and the Valkyrie helicopter.
5. Using VAutodrive with airplanes
1. Supported airports/airfields and runways
2. Blip map with final approach points and helipads
6. Using VAutodrive with Blimps
7. Using VAutodrive with VTOL aircrafts
8. Using VAutodrive with boats and submersibles
9. Using VAutodrive on foot
10. Special vehicles (Deluxo, Stromberg)
5. Configuration
1. The key bindings sub-menu
1. How to change a key binding
6. What car types got to do with driving behavior and route calculation
7. Nav mesh? What it is and why you should know about it
1. Known flaws in the Nav-mesh
8. FAQ
9. Troubleshooting
10. Keyboard quick reference
11. Credits
1. Terms of use
This mod is provided as is. Use it, share it among your friends but do not repost it
as your own work! Modifications to the code need my approval.
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2. Description
This mod has a long development history already as it all began with GTA IV. The
GTA V version is a migration and has undergone several improvements.
VAutodrive (say “Five Autodrive”) equips vehicles with an autopilot. No need to
press and hold keys for minutes in order to drive. Enjoy the view and your dinner
with your hands free.
Simply set a waypoint, enter a vehicle and press J. This mod does the rest
for you. You can change the waypoint at any time. VAutodrive will
recognize it immediately. Note: USING VAUTODRIVE WITH AN AIRPLANE IS
A BIT MORE COMPLEX! Please read the section “How to use VAutodrive
with airplanes” and also the sub-sections.
Set no waypoint and you will be cruising around aimlessly (does not count
towards airplanes and helicopters!)
Works with cars, motorbikes, bicycles, boats, helicopters, Blimps, airplanes,
VTOL aircrafts and on foot.
Select any of several speed presets with a simple keystroke
fine tune the speed up and down
Select from 4 different driving styles, from obeying all traffic laws to
reckless and change them anytime during the ride.
Let your character do the driving or have a driver spawned.
You can work the gun of the Insurgent, the Karin technical or the Valkyrie
helicopter while a driver gets you to a waypoint.
You can make other vehicles (with drivers in them) flee from you. That way
you can resolve traffic jams. This also works when the autopilot is off.
Automatically let VAutodrive kill enemies around you because you can’t
shoot while your character has the driving task. This feature can be turned
off and your character can shoot if he is a passenger anyway (driver
spawned).
Call vehicle movers who drive abandoned vehicles away (for example when
you drive a big vehicle through a narrow street with a lot of parked cars).
This also works if the autopilot is off.
All configurable parameters can be changed via an in-game menu (Press
Ctrl+Shift+M to open the menu. Don’t forget to install NativeUI.dll!).
All key bindings are completely customizable.
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3. Installation
This mod gets updated as soon as the game gets updated and a new
version of the Scripthook is released (if necessary).
I won't explain how to install the other components. They come along with their
own instructions, so read them.
3. Look for a folder called "scripts". Create it if it's not there (do you need help in
creating a folder? Please refer to the Windows Help).
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3.2. Note for users updating from a previous version
The configuration files get automatically updated with new parameters but your
modified settings will be reset to the default values. Please reconfigure.
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4. How to use this mod
Just set a waypoint as usual, be in any vehicle and press J. VAutodrive will now get
you to the desired destination.
Or set no waypoint and either press J. VAutodrive randomly cruises around in this
case.
In both modes you can switch between 8 different speed settings (0, 15, 25, 35,
50, 60, 95, 120 mph (150 mph in helicopters) by just pressing either the arrow
right key to accelerate or the arrow left key to decelerate. Some people asked me
why the max speed preset for ground vehicles is 120mph. The simple answer is
that this mod utilizes the AI vehicle handling and this has a limit at 120mph (for
some supercars, others go up to 95mph only) no matter if you can manually drive
even with 250mph.
NOTE: The keys mentioned here are the default keys. You can change them in the
menu (see section "Configuration" for further information).
NOTES:
The ride starts at 25Mph target speed in a car, bike, Blimp or boat and at 60mph in
a helicopter if the vehicle is not moving. However, the autopilot will choose the
speed preset which is closest to the current speed if the vehicle moves when you
start the autopilot. Example: You drive manually with 48mph and kick in the
autopilot. It will take the 50mph preset then. If you drive with 200mph and start
the autopilot, it will choose the 120mph (in a ground vehicle, 150mph in a
helicopter) as this is the maximum AI speed.
Once you have reached the destination in either a ground vehicle or a boat, the
driver will stop and leave and you are warped back onto the driver seat (if you
have chosen to set "always drive yourself" to false, that is). In case your character
drives himself, the ground vehicle will stop and you see a message “Autopilot
disengaged”. You have full control over the vehicle again.
The maximum speed preset of 120mph is a limit of the AI code of the game. Even
that speed can only be reached by some supercars (even though you can drive
faster with others. With most vehicles you will face an engine cut at about 95mph.
This is not a bug of VAutodrive but a limit set by the game.
A helicopter will stop mid-air and hover over the destination. You can then decide
whether
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An airplane will fly circles around the destination. Please read the section “How to
use VAutodrive with airplanes” for further instructions.
VAutodrive provides four different driving styles for ground vehicles. The default
keys for changing the driving style are Shift+Arrow left (less aggressive) and
Shift+Arrow right (more aggressive). Here is what they do.
Normal: Stops at traffic lights, peds and vehicles. Avoids dirt roads if no off-
roader.
Rushed: Ignores traffic lights, tries to avoid peds and vehicles but stops if
there is not enough space to get passed. Takes shortcuts on dirt roads.
Reckless: This is a special mode and recommended only for tanks and other
heavy vehicles because this driving style ignores everything and everyone.
You will run over peds and other vehicles with no mercy.
You are not bound to those few speed presets. You can fine tune the desired
speed up and down in steps of 5mph by either pressing the SpeedUpFine key
(default is Ctrl+Arrow right) or the SlowDownFine key (default is Ctrl+Arrow left).
You can use the fine tuning on ground vehicles and on boats.
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4.3 How to use the helicopter autopilot and auto-landing
Just sit in a helicopter, set a waypoint at a decent location and press J. That´s all!
Now you can lean back and enjoy the flight (but you can also change the speed
presets). Once you reached the target you will see a message and you can press L
to trigger the auto-landing. NOTE: The optimal approach speed preset is 60MPH.
You can now also autoland a helicopter at the current position (if appropriate)
with no waypoint set. If, however, the helicopter just hovers after you pressed the
Autoland key, it is because of an inappropriate place. Make sure the spot under
your chopper is suitable.
Special note regarding helicopters with retractable gears: Gears get retracted
automatically shortly after takeoff. You cannot work them as long as the autopilot
is active but they get automatically deployed once you trigger autoland.
New since V6.10: The helipads are now persisted in an XML file which you can
edit. This file is automatically generated in Documents\Rockstar Games\GTA
V\ModSettings when you activate the helipad blip map for the first time. On the
next page is an excerpt of this file.
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This is how the file looks like. It is far bigger than what you see here but this
should be sufficient to explain. Each helipad consists of a
BlipDecoratorPersistableData container. In order to add a new helipad, go to
the bottom of this file and copy any BlipDecoratorPersistableData container
and paste it at the bottom above the
</ArrayOfBlipDecoratorPersistableData> line. The Heading item tells autoland
in which direction to turn the helicopter before the decent onto the helipad. This
is important in narrow spaces (i.e. the Yacht). All other items are pretty self-
explanatory.
<ArrayOfBlipDecoratorPersistableData xmlns:i="http://www.w3.org/2001/XM
LSchema-
instance" xmlns="http://schemas.datacontract.org/2004/07/VAutodrive">
<BlipDecoratorPersistableData>
<Heading>73</Heading>
<Name>Helipad Yacht</Name>
<X>-2043.92627</X>
<Y>-1031.57312</Y>
<Z>11.9807119</Z>
</BlipDecoratorPersistableData>
<BlipDecoratorPersistableData>
<Heading>103</Heading>
<Name>Helipad Aircraft carrier</Name>
<X>3057.335</X>
<Y>-4647.868</Y>
<Z>15.2614336</Z>
</BlipDecoratorPersistableData>
...
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4.4 How to use the gun/turret on the Karin Technical, the Insurgent
pickup and the Valkyrie helicopter.
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4.5 Using VAutodrive with airplanes (except VTOL aircrafts, see the
VTOL aircrafts section for further information)
First off, you can’t just sit in an airplane and press the ToggleAutopilot key. Well
you can actually but as long as you are on the ground, this mod considers you
want to taxi. Taxiing is a word from the avionics jargon and means “rolling on
ground”. Pilots taxi their aircraft from a hangar or terminal to a designated runway
and vice versa. So how does flying an airplane with VAutodrive actually work?
1. Set a waypoint to a runway start point.
2. Taxi from your current position to a runway start point. You can use
VAutodrive for this task.
3. Once arrived at the runway, toggle the approach points blip map by
pressing the ToggleBlipMap key (default is Ctrl+Shift+A).
4. Switch to map view. You will see blue crosshairs at certain points. Those are
approach points. Each approach point is for a certain runway. The blip list at
the right shows you which runway is designated for each approach point by
its name.
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5. Now comes a tricky part. It’s not recommended to set a waypoint at any of
these approach points at this point in time (you will need it later though),
because you need to approach in a decent angle. However, seeing where
your desired approach point is, helps you with the following decision. Let’s
say you want to land at Sandy Shores Rwy 08R. 08 means the heading, so
this runway points from west to east. If you come from the east though,
autoland would need several attempts to get your plane into the right
position and heading.
6. Here is what to do: First set a waypoint WEST of this approach point, so you
will end up with your airplane, the approach point and the runway in a
more or less straight line.
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And here is a little drawing because a picture tells more than 1000 words.
Keep in mind: The bigger and faster the plane is, the wider the green curve gets.
Take this into account when you plan your approach.
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4.5.1 Supported airports/airfields and runways
NOTE: V6.9.0 introduced approach point for all Runways, even the aircraft
carrier (you need the OpenAllInteriors mod for the aircraft carrier). Additionally I
have implemented one invisible extra runway.
Lake Vinewood water landing strip (the waypoint is on the final approach point
even though the approach points blip map is deactivated in this picture). Note:
You can land from the southeast only because the topography in the northwest is
not suited for a safe landing)
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4.5.2 Blip map with final approach points and helipads
As you can see, there are two different kinds of blips. The upper one is a final
approach point for aircrafts and the lower one is a suggested helicopter landing
spot. They differ visually, so you can see immediately which is a final approach
point and which is a helipad. Note, the text boxes you see in this picture have
been added for better understanding. They do not appear in the game.
You can toggle this blip map by pressing Ctrl+Shift+A (can be configured in the
mod menu).
Important note: You can activate the helipads blip map only if you are currently
sitting in any helicopter!
You can activate the approach points blip map only if you are currently sitting in
any airplane!
However, both are triggered with the same key.
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4.6. Using VAutodrive with Blimps
The autopilot for Blimps works in the very same way as for helicopters, except it
has no Autoland feature. This feature is not yet implemented simply due to the
fact that no native function for this has been found yet.
You can change the speed presets in the very same way as in cars.
NOTE: Optimal approach speed preset is 50MPH.
VTOL aircrafts are a very special kind of vehicle and no appropriate native function
for this has yet been found. So VAutodrive can provide only very basic
functionality, which is you take off manually and press J. The VTOL will fly in
terrain following mode to the target. Please disengage the autopilot shortly before
you arrive and press E to turn the exhaust nozzles to the vertical position.
You can change the speed presets in the very same way as in cars.
Simply set a waypoint, press J and off you go. You can change the speed presets in
the very same way as in cars.
New since V8.0.0: While in a submersible you can change whether to swim at
surface level or to a target depth. The maximum depth is -150 meters to prevent
hull breach.
You can either just walk around aimlessly (don’t set a waypoint), go to a waypoint
or to your last vehicle. If you don’t set a waypoint you will be asked if you want to
wander around or go to your vehicle (if you had one). You will see a textbox
popping up in the upper left corner of the screen, asking you if you want to
wander around (w-key) or go to your vehicle (c-key). Of course you will not see
this option if your vehicle doesn’t exist.
This option is new since V6.14.0. I have added this feature for two reasons.
The vehicle might be too close for a waypoint. For example you are down at a
subway station and your vehicle is right above you on a parking place.
You don’t know where your vehicle is (no blip). VAutodrive finds it for you.
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4.10. Special vehicles (Deluxo, Stromberg)
The Deluxo and the Stromberg are very special vehicles and since these are not
driven by NPCs while in their special state, there seems to be no native function
for doing so. Of course you can use the autopilot while they are in the car state
but VAutodrive provide only very basic functionality while the Deluxo is in glide
mode or the Stromberg is in submersible mode.
What you can do: In either vehicle do not use a driver because in the Deluxo you
need to do the steering and pitch control by yourself.
The Stromberg auto-steers but you have no pitch control. So I would recommend
the autopilot only with lots of space beneath.
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5. Configuration
Open the configuration menu by pressing Ctrl+Shift+M and you will see this (this
screenshot is from an older version which looks slightly different):
You can scroll down with the arrow down key, scroll up with arrow up key and
change a value by hitting Return or Enter. The change will be displayed at the
bottom of the screen. In case of a boolean value (true or false) this change will
happen immediately and also being saved right away. In case you need to enter a
number or a string (like the driver model) an input line will appear where you
enter the desired value.
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The various settings explained:
AlwaysDriveYourself: You can choose to either let your character drive himself
(true) or have a driver spawned (false). Default is true.
DriverModel: This is the model that gets spawned as a driver. Default is ig_tonya
but you can change this to any valid ped model name.
NOTE: Changing the driver model is not allowed while the autopilot is engaged.
Invisible Driver: Set this to true if you want the illusion of a driverless car. You
will be placed on a passenger seat though. This option works only with a random
driver model because I think if you set a specific driver model, you want to see it.
Kill enemies automatically: Alas it´s not possible to shoot while your character
has the driving task (but you can with a driver spawned). This is simply because
the game allows only one task at a time to be executed. So your character can
either drive or shoot but not both at the same time. Default is true.
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The picture above is taken from a presentation video I made. You can watch it
here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKLLt9h0c9o
Open key bindings sub menu: This opens another menu where you can set any of
the key bindings, even the one for opening the menu. I will come back to this later
but first let´s continue with the remaining settings.
Quick release: This defines whether you are able to can disengage the autopilot
immediately by pressing any of the movement keys (W, A, S, D, Q, Space) or not.
It´s a matter of taste what´s better so I made this optional. Set this option to true
if you want quick release to be enabled. Default is false.
StopOnStreet: Determines whether the vehicle chooses the next position on street
for a stop or the exact waypoint location (if this is somewhere off the street). Be
aware that having this option on false may cause undesired behavior if the
waypoint is set on an inaccessible location. You may face driving in a straight line
or no driving at all. This indicates a bad waypoint location. Choose another
location and try again. Default is false.
Vehicle movers obey traffic laws : You can call vehicle movers by pressing
Shift+M. They spawn on the driver seat of every abandoned vehicle inside the
vehicle movers perimeter and drive them away. No worries, the last vehicle you
have been in is excluded. Default is true.
Vehicle moves perimeter: This is the radius in meter in which vehicle movers will
spawn. Default is 50.
Vehicle movers speed: This setting defines how fast the vehicle movers will drive.
Default is 30.
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Warp player back on driver seat : Usually, when you have chosen to get a driver
spawned, your character will be warped back onto the driver seta once the driver
has left. Setting this option to false keeps your character where he currently is.
This is useful if you are standing at the gun of the Karin Technical, the insurgent or
the Valkyrie helicopter. Default is true.
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5.1 The key bindings sub-menu
ChangeSubLevel: This is key is for submersibles only and lets you set whether to
swim at surface level or to a target depth. Note: The maximum depth is -150
meters to prevent hull breach.
LessAggressive: This is the key definition for a more obeying driving style. Default
is Shift+ArrowLeft.
MakeDriversFlee: This is the key definition that causes other drivers to flee from
you. Default is M.
MoreAggressive: This is the key definition for a more aggressive driving style.
Default is Shift+ArrowRight.
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SpeedUpFine: Key definition for fine tuning to a higher speed. Default is
Ctrl+ArrowRight.
ToggleBlipMap: Key definition for toggling the blip map with final approach points
and helipads. Default is Ctrl+Shift+A.
Close key bindings menu: This closes the key bindings sub-menu and gets you
back to the main menu. You can also press the BACKSPACE key. It has the very
same effect.
NOTE: In case you accidentally assign a key which is already used for a different
function, you will get a notification telling you which function it conflicts with and
the change gets rejected.
This feature is new since V6.8.0, so it is possible you have conflicting key bindings
from prior versions. VAutodrive checks for the key bindings integrity with each
start of the game or restart of ScriptHookVDotNet. You will be notified in case of a
key bindings conflict.
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6. What car types got to do with driving behavior
and route calculation
So you have set a waypoint and start the autopilot but your car follows a route
different from the drawn one. This is no bug but a feature which the developers at
Rockstar Games implemented. Have you ever seen a truck or a bus driving
through the steep and narrow roads of Vinewood? At least in an unmodded (is
that a valid word?) game you wouldn´t. The same goes for off-road tracks. Only
off-road vehicles will take that way. All others will prefer asphalt streets if
possible. So this happens by design.
Another remarkable fact to know is that motorbike is not equals motorbike. With
some of them you will find the AvoidTrafficExtremely driving style is unbearable
because the driver will mostly bump into other cars in front of you. Not so with
the Police bike. Maybe there are other motorbikes with the same behavior as well.
I haven’t tested them all.
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In the picture below the route cannot be calculated because the waypoint is inside
a building.
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Here I made just a small change (moved the waypoint to the opposite side of the
street) but it gets you to the target.
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East entry of Franklin’s road
No problem if you arrive from the south but if you come downhill, the autopilot
will most likely not turn into Franklin’s road. Again, make the turn manually and
then switch the autopilot back on again.
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This whole area west of Sandy shores
A whole bunch of intersections seems to be the issue here.
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8. FAQ
Q: What’s the difference between driving and cruising?
A: Driving means you drive to a waypoint. Cruising means you drive around with
no destination.
Q: why is the max speed preset for ground vehicles 120mph? I have a modded
handling.meta and I can drive the Adder up to 250mph!
A: The simple answer is that this mod utilizes the AI vehicle handling and this has a
limit at 120mph no matter if you can manually drive much faster.
Q: The driver almost always crashes into something when he drives on high speed!
A: Of course he does! This is no magic spell. VAutodrive follows the laws of physics
and uses the game’s AI. You can´t expect to race through the rush hour with
100mph without a single scratch.
Q: My player character will be warped onto a free passenger seat when the driver
gets spawned but what if there is no free passenger seat?
A: Your character gets the driving task.
Q: How can I get rid of the driver in the middle of the ride?
A: Just press the ToggleAutopilot key and you will immediately get back the
control over the vehicle if a waypoint is set. In case no waypoint is set the driver
will immediately stop the vehicle and leave. Your player character will be
teleported back onto the driver seat (if warp player back is set to true).
Q: I am in a helicopter and press the TriggerLanding key but the chopper doesn’t
land. It just hovers for a while and then I get the message “Autopilot disengaged”.
A: The place you try to land at is unsuitable. The autoland feature tries its best but
gives up after a while.
Q: I found a bug! When I fly with an airplane and I reach the final approach point,
the plane does not land and circles around the waypoint instead.
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A: That’s not a bug! You need to press the Autoland key to trigger autoland!
Q: Can I use VAutodrive with a 1-seater like the police bike or with a vehicle which
has no seats free?
A: VAutodrive recognizes this special case and causes your player character to
take the driving task all by himself regardless of the "Always drive yourself"
setting.
Q: You released a new version and suddenly all my settings are lost and I am back
at the default settings!
A: This happens with so called “breaking changes”. You recognize them at the
major build number. That’s the most left number of the version. So an update
from 6.2.x to 6.3.x will not have that effect but an update from 6.x.y to 7.0.0 will.
This is because the old configuration file is not compatible with the new version
anymore and gets automatically replaced by a new compatible configuration file
with default values.
Q: The driver suddenly leaves the vehicle while the autopilot is engaged.
A: This issue is caused by other mods which change the relationship to the player
(for example any riot mod). There is no safe way to lock a relationship. The only
thing I could do is to refresh the relationship every few milliseconds and
additionally check whether the driver still has its task and if not, renew it.
However, this would cause a remarkable performance issue. On top of this, I don't
see this as my problem. It's the duty of all mod creators to take care that such
problems don't arise.
There is a way to resolve this issue and that's where YOU come into play. Please
ask the creator of the mod which changes relationships to skip all peds which have
a player relationship of type "Respect", "Like" or "companion". Not only
VAutodrive is affected by this but also very likely any bodyguard mods.
Q: When landing with an airplane I sometimes collide with AI traffic. Can you do
something about it?
A: You can. Just press M and other AI airplanes will fly away.
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9. Troubleshooting
Note: This section is subject to change and will get expanded as necessary.
Problem: I have a vehicle handling mod installed and now the engine power of
several cars breaks down for a second and then they re-accelerate.
Cause: When you open the handling.meta (you should know how to do it, you
installed it) you see that each vehicle has an <AIHandling> tag. Killatomate
changed the AI handling of over 100 vehicles to CRAP for a reason unknown to
me. CRAP, however, means a crap motor. Other modders might have done
something similar.
Solution: Open the handling.meta with any Editor (I suggest you use one with XML
syntax highlighting, you will see better.). Now open the Replace feature and
replace all <AIHandling>CRAP</AIHandling> with
<AIHandling>AVERAGE</AIHandling>. IMPORTANT! Do NOT just replace CRAP
with AVERAGE because there is a vehicle named Scrap and you would rename it to
SAVERAGE by doing so.
Problem: I had to press the insert key to reload scripts but I was in the middle of
an autodrive ride. Now the driver keeps driving.
Cause: All scripts have been restarted and the driver got decoupled from the
mod's control.
Solution: Just press the ToggleAutopilot key again. The old driver will leave and a
new one will get spawned which you have full control over.
Problem: I get a warning message "Configuration could not be read. Please read
the troubleshooting section in the guide." and the mod does nothing.
Cause: There is something messed up with the configuration.
Solution: Go to "Documents\Rockstar Games\GTA V\Modsettings" and delete the
file VAutodriveConfig.xml.
Go back into the game and hit the INSERT key to restart the mod. This should
generate a new configuration file.
Attention: This procedure resets all options to their default values.
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Problem: I get a warning message "Helipads could not be read. Please read the
troubleshooting section in the guide.".
Cause: There is something messed up with the helipads file.
Solution: Go to "Documents\Rockstar Games\GTA V\Modsettings" and delete the
file VAutodriveHelipads.xml.
Go back into the game, enter a helicopter and press the ToggleBlipMap key. This
should generate a new helipads file.
Attention: You will lose all changes you have made to this file!
Problem: Cops don’t drive, neither as driver in my own car nor any other police
cars. The cop vehicles just stand and cannot move. Thanks to Keirona for bringing
this to my attention.
Cause: a trainer mod like TrainerV or EnhancedNativeTrainer provide a “Police
ignore Player” feature, which is turned on in your game.
Solution: Turn off this feature, so the police does NOT ignore you. Note, this issue
has nothing to do with VAutodrive, as you can see.
Problem: I changed the ped model of the driver and now the autopilot cannot be
disengaged.
Cause: Changing the ped model of the driver while the autopilot is on leads to
data corruption.
Solution: Do not change the ped model of the driver while the autopilot is
engaged!
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10. Keyboard Quick Reference
Action Default key
Start/stop static target navigation or cruising J
Switch passenger seat (when a driver is spawned) Shift+J
Switch to the next higher speed preset Arrow right
Switch to the next lower speed preset Arrow left
Fine-tune speed lower (- 5Mph) (only for ground
Ctrl + Arrow left
vehicles)
Fine-tune speed higher (+ 5Mph) (only for ground
Ctrl + Arrow right
vehicles)
Less aggressive driving style Shift + Arrow left
More aggressive driving style Shift + Arrow right
Call vehicle movers Shift + M
Make other drivers flee M
Open configuration menu Ctrl + Shift + M
Initiate automatic helicopter/aircraft landing L
Toggle final approach and helipad blip map Ctrl + Shift + A
Change sub level (submersibles only) Arrow down
11. Credits
I like to say thank you to several people who helped to make this mod real.
If you feel left out then please tell me. I have become very forgetful and it has
been a long way until here.
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