Customer releases
The current customer package is Metropolitan 0.3.0-rc14 ($1).
Metropolitan provides the map, route guidance, compact animated light strip and assistant connection. Pit Crew is included as Metropolitan’s offline repair and refuel tab. Assistant Settings has its own top-level tab.
Download Metropolitan and read the installation guides. Verify package file sizes and checksums.
Tokyo Nightshift is temporarily unavailable while I redesign it. Earlier Metropolitan notes below describe the integrations available at the time.
Metropolitan 0.3.0-rc14
- Choose among 83 visible destinations with geographic waypoint names and eight captured Shibuya/Shinjuku stops. Existing numeric IDs remain addressable, including retired road points.
- Select a destination in the dropdown or click a marker, then NAVIGATE. Expand the map, zoom, and pan with the left mouse button or the optional right mouse button.
- GPS can route in either direction along connected roads and provide turnaround guidance. Existing road geometry, elevations and explicit connections are retained. This is game navigation; traffic driving rules are unchanged.
- PIT CREW adds SET FUEL: choose the total litres in the tank, up to the car’s capacity. Offline only, disabled in replays; changing fuel invalidates the current lap.
- Consistent tab styling and Assistant Settings are included. The bundled assistant location catalog matches the app’s stable IDs.
- Traffic behavior and the free compatibility checker retain rc13’s exact bytes. Supported original and rc9 through rc13 traffic installs remain compatible. Unknown traffic edits are rejected.
- Tokyo Nightshift remains a separate optional download. Its files and saved career are preserved. Local automatic Home spawning and newer traffic experiments are excluded.
Existing buyers use the same Gumroad key at https://dustinlanders.com/ac-mods/download/. Automated package, routing, UI and installer checks cover this release. In-game visual and driving validation remains pending.
September 13: Nightshift long-haul companion update
The setup, traffic and complete guides now describe Tokyo Nightshift 0.5.0-rc6: three connected legs, no delivery deadline, fixed yen fees and parked confirmations. The officer’s roadside decision countdown still applies. Older notes below describe the credit economy and timed jobs available at their release dates. Metropolitan’s rc13 ZIP and compatibility checker are unchanged.
September 13: feature comparison and release boundaries
The categorized comparison explains what Metropolitan adds to Shutoko and 2REAL, credits existing upstream features, and separates rc13 from newer local development. Setup and traffic guides now summarize the included features and correct stale version references. This is a documentation update; the rc13 customer ZIP and compatibility checker are unchanged.
Metropolitan 0.3.0-rc13
Pull over for a roadside decision: take or pay a 1,500-credit ticket at pursuit peaks up to 100 mph; above 100 mph, only a bribe is offered. Fleeing escalates the pursuit. Released patrols switch off their emergency lights. Install Metropolitan 0.3.0-rc13 with its traffic patch, then Tokyo Nightshift 0.5.0-rc4. Stop below 5 km/h; a slowing officer must be within 20 metres on your road level. Open Dispatch to decide. Bribes cost 10,000 credits with 20% acceptance. Hot cargo, fleeing a roadside stop, and a refused bribe block both payment options. Refused bribes return the reserved credits. Surrender or decision timeout fails an active assignment. Delivery timers and later Hot cargo waves continue. Automated checks pass; real driving validation of the customer build is pending. Existing prices, purchase keys and protected download links remain unchanged.
Metropolitan 0.3.0-rc12
Eligible expressway merges now plan gaps earlier and adjust approaching traffic speeds to make room. Entry ordering is stable, forward clearance is checked without assuming a lead car will keep moving, and rear traffic, players and pedestrians retain protection. Blocked or unreachable gaps still require stopping.
This release preserves rc11’s Pit Crew and existing traffic improvements. Only the rolling-merge change was ported from the local trial; newer headlight-yield and other local avoidance experiments are excluded. Automated source and installer checks passed. Real driving validation is pending, and the reported junction has not yet been confirmed in-game.
Existing buyers use the same Gumroad key at the protected download page. Close Assetto Corsa, extract the complete rc12 ZIP, and run the combined installer. Exact supported original and rc9/rc10/rc11 files are accepted; unknown edits are rejected. The backup restores the actual pre-upgrade files.
Metropolitan 0.3.0-rc11
Pit Crew is now included in the PIT CREW tab. Repair and refuel in offline sessions, with a dedicated quick-repair binding. Repairs invalidate the current lap and are disabled online and during replays.
ASSISTANT SETTINGS is now a top-level tab, with settings always visible there. Existing assistant preferences and bindings are retained. Tokyo Nightshift remains a separate optional download. Traffic behavior is unchanged from rc10. Automated checks cover tab routing and repair restrictions; in-game layout and repair validation remains pending.
September 10: rc10 disappearing-car fix
Rc10 adds a focused fix to rc9’s traffic patch. Cleanup timers now retain nearby or visible cars. Oncoming cars no longer lose that protection just after passing the player when a lane is full. A car still braking is not counted as stationary, and physical wrecks remain under their crash cleanup rules.
The change passed 105 mocked logic regressions. Actual in-game disappearance, driving feel and performance still need validation. Normal distance and route-end removal remain, so this does not establish that every possible disappearance is fixed.
Fresh installs require the exact supported TrafficTool source; upgrades accept the approved rc9 files. Other source edits are rejected. Use the rc9 upgrade instructions. The newer evasive-skid, rear-approach and headlight-yield trials are not included in rc10.
Existing buyers use their same Gumroad key at the protected download page. The approved ZIP is delivered privately from Netlify; the rc9 ZIP retained in Gumroad is a fallback. No new purchase or key is required.
September 8: four new behavior controls
Metropolitan rc9 now includes Fair police pursuits, Smoother heading updates, Civilian collision avoidance and Evasive steering under TRAFFIC > TRAFFIC IMPROVEMENTS.
Each setting defaults on for a new session. Checkboxes report settings confirmed by the provider; opening the panel does not silently change traffic. Stale provider updates make controls unavailable rather than displaying an old setting as current. The steering status distinguishes a requested setting from availability.
Police behavior can change only when the provider confirms there is no active ground pursuit. A disabled evasion setting prevents new moves while retaining braking for a maneuver already underway. The new panel and provider were installed with the game closed, with backups and matching-file verification.
Availability: included in rc9 as an optional experimental patch. The panel needs its matching patched provider and a separately installed compatible 2REAL TrafficTool source build. Run the free checker before installing or purchasing specifically for traffic; a version label alone does not establish compatibility.
Evasive steering: space matters
Civilian avoidance now goes beyond braking when the situation permits. The prototype forecasts the car’s movement through an adjacent-lane maneuver and checks the space occupied by the player, other traffic and barriers. It considers the time available, vehicle dimensions and lateral acceleration before starting.
The current scope is deliberately narrow: a solo session, a suitable straight parallel adjacent lane, adequate room and time, ordinary lane changes enabled, and improved lane coordination enabled. If those checks cannot confirm a suitable path, the car keeps its braking response. Unknown or unavailable collision information prevents a new evasive move.
Turning off a setting does not abruptly abandon a maneuver already in progress. The car retains its completion braking. This does not guarantee collision avoidance: another vehicle can change speed or direction after the forecast, and some conflicts are already too close.
The aim is believable braking and steering. It is not a scripted spin every time the player enters oncoming traffic.
Civilian braking: notice the threat
The new helper predicts a possible collision with the player and applies a braking response as the threat develops. It is part of the civilian driver path, with steering considered when its additional checks allow it.
This is an improvement to the specific player-versus-traffic interaction we investigated. It is not a claim of complete autonomous driving, universal obstacle avoidance or crash-free traffic.
Police: remove the catch-up shortcuts
The installed lane-following pursuit code had explicit player-speed matching and catch-up assistance. The fair-pursuit prototype removes the identified player-relative speed boosts and distance-driven catch-up behavior, using authored vehicle performance and configured limits instead.
The goal is a chase whose outcome depends more on driving and the cars’ capabilities. This is not yet a complete police redesign. Perception, loss of sight, searching, response tactics and spawning are separate areas for further work.
The new session switch can select the fair behavior or restore the prior behavior. It is locked during an active ground pursuit or when pursuit state is unavailable, so the rules do not change halfway through a chase.
Truck motion: more frequent heading updates nearby
Long trucks exaggerate visible steps in rotation during turns. The local change expands the distance for full-rate heading updates from 40 meters to 200 meters, matching the existing nearby movement range. It leaves the underlying position-update schedule intact.
This addresses one plausible source of uneven-looking rotation. It does not change the truck models, add rendered frames or prove that every motion issue is resolved.
Lane coordination and everyday controls
The reservation prototype coordinates cars competing for the same road space while allowing independent lane changes in different areas. Its session switch remains separate from the provider’s ordinary lane-change setting.
The TRAFFIC tab also brings together:
- Manual traffic amount and automatic density.
- Fixed traffic speed or a speed multiplier.
- Ordinary lane changes, police, racers and pedestrians.
- Extra cars and crash settings.
- Simulation status and optional lane-coordination statistics.
Ordinary controls retain the traffic provider’s existing saving behavior. Reducing traffic amount or changing automatic mode can reset traffic and end pursuits. Existing pursuits can continue after the ordinary police-spawning switch is disabled.
Performance investigation
A short diagnostic drive recorded repeated stalls while crash-deformation data was prepared. Some sampled stalls were roughly 20 to 55 milliseconds. That is evidence for one source of occasional stutter; it does not explain all close-range traffic motion or establish an overall frame-rate improvement.
The diagnostic callback counts cannot be treated as rendered game frame rate. Further before-and-after driving measurements are needed to separate heading updates, preparation stalls and other motion issues.
What has been checked
The latest local files were backed up, installed and checked against their staged hashes. The control changes passed automated Lua compilation, request validation, feature-gating and steering/braking regression checks. Those checks include stale-request handling, pursuit locking, maneuver completion and the steering prerequisites.
Still to verify: the latest panel’s appearance and input in game, actual pursuit feel, civilian behavior around changing traffic, truck motion through real corners, and performance over repeat drives. Mocked or geometric checks are not the same as a completed road test.
Public availability and next steps
The rc10 purchase includes the TRAFFIC panel, source-delta patch, combined installer, read-only compatibility checker and restore support. A separately installed 2REAL TrafficTool 2.1.1 source build must match the supported fingerprints. The traffic engine, vehicles, sounds and textures are not redistributed in this package.
The immediate priorities are real driving validation, reproducible before-and-after checks and clear installation support. The traffic patch is an experimental component of the $1 purchase. Its included status does not mean driving validation is complete. Read the traffic setup guide for prerequisites and restore instructions.
Rc9 packaging and installation
The new installer reconstructs five modified TrafficTool files from the supported originals and adds eight patch modules. It verifies every source before writing, checks output hashes, backs up originals and supports guarded restoration. Unsupported files are rejected. A repeated installation of the same patch does not reapply changes. The core/traffic installer checks both prerequisites before beginning.
Ten automated installer scenarios cover exact reconstruction, idempotency, rollback, unexpected source files, later edits, integrity failures and the running-game guard. These are file and logic checks, not in-game validation.
Earlier release changes
Metropolitan 0.3.0-rc8: the RAVN project takes the Metropolitan name while preserving its internal compatibility identifiers. The main app combines MAP, the compact light-strip mode and assistant controls. Optional add-ons use the same window.