Vehicle State Settings

ScriptableObject defining vehicle behavior profiles, primarily for LOD system configuration.

Purpose

  • LOD configuration (which components active at each distance)
  • Performance profiles (Desktop/Mobile/Console)
  • Quality presets (High/Medium/Low)

Creation

Right-click > Create > NWH > Vehicle Physics 2 > State Settings

Name appropriately: DesktopStateSettings, MobileStateSettings, etc.

Assignment

  • Per vehicle: VehicleController inspector > State Settings field
  • Default: Loads from Resources if not assigned
  • Runtime: Can swap via code

Configuration

LOD Levels

Each LOD defines:

  • Distance: Max distance in meters for this LOD
  • Name: Descriptive label ("Close", "Medium", "Far")
  • Component States: Which components enabled at this LOD

Example:

LOD 0 (0-40m): All enabled
LOD 1 (40-120m): Powertrain + Engine sound + Skidmarks
LOD 2 (120m+): Powertrain only

Component States

For each component:

  • Enabled: VC_Update() and VC_FixedUpdate() called, active processing
  • Disabled: No updates, no resource usage

Component lodIndex:

  • -1: Always active (ignores StateSettings)
  • 0+: Follows StateSettings

Platform Profiles

Create separate StateSettings per platform:



#if UNITY_STANDALONE
    vc.stateSettings = desktopSettings;


#elif UNITY_MOBILE
    vc.stateSettings = mobileSettings;


#endif

Desktop Example

LOD 0 (0-40m): Full LOD 1 (40-120m): Skidmarks + core sounds LOD 2 (120m+): Minimal

Mobile Example

LOD 0 (0-25m): Reduced effects LOD 1 (25-75m): Core only LOD 2 (75m+): Minimal

Runtime Management

Swap settings:

vc.stateSettings = lowQualitySettings;
vc.StateSettingsChanged();

Dynamic quality adjustment:

if (averageFPS < 30) {
    foreach (var vehicle in vehicles) {
        vehicle.stateSettings = lowQualitySettings;
        vehicle.StateSettingsChanged();
    }
}

Best Practices

  • Test each LOD level
  • Platform-specific profiles
  • Start conservative, optimize based on profiling
  • Keep critical components (Input, core physics) at lodIndex = -1
  • Disable effects before physics at higher LODs
  • Version control StateSettings assets
  • Share common settings across vehicles

Troubleshooting

Components not disabling: Check lodIndex ≥ 0, verify StateSettings assigned, confirm component in StateSettings list

No performance gain: Profile to verify disabling actually happens, check LOD distances

Unexpected behavior: Verify correct StateSettings for platform, check component states for active LOD

Integration

StateSettings is the backbone of the LOD system. See LOD System.

Flow:

  1. VehicleController measures distance to camera
  2. Active LOD determined by distance vs StateSettings thresholds
  3. Component states read from StateSettings
  4. Components enabled/disabled per configuration