Customization and Upgrades

•Before you start

Start with a working RCCP vehicle and the current UI Canvas. Use your own vehicle prefab copy, and stop Play Mode before configuring it.

A manager groups one category of customization, such as paint or wheels. The vehicle's loadout is the saved set of colors, fitted parts and upgrade levels.

1. Add the Customizer

1. Select the vehicle root in the Hierarchy.
2. In its module grid, add Customizer from Features. Vehicle Setup explains the module grid.
3. Open the Customizer's Inspector and enter a stable, unique Save slot name.
4. For this first test, enable Set up automatically, Load the saved set and Save changes automatically. Leave Apply when at Start.

Check: the Customizer shows its list of category managers. Adding Customizer alone provides saving and initialization; you still need managers for the features you want.

Give cars different save slot names when they should remember different choices. An empty name receives a random runtime key, which cannot reliably find the same loadout next session. Renaming the vehicle object does not update an existing save slot name.

Figure 01Open full size ↗

Open the screenshot at full size. Use your own stable name at 1, enable the three options at 2 for this tutorial, then open Paint Manager with 3 Select. This example already has its managers; a missing manager shows Create instead.

2. Set up body paint

1. In the Customizer Inspector, find Paint Manager. Click Create if missing, then Select to open it.
2. Select an existing painter beneath the manager, or click Create New Painter.
3. Assign Paint Material to the exact material used by the car's paintable body panels. Select a body mesh and inspect its renderer's Materials list to find that asset.
4. Set Shader Keyword to the shader's color property. RCCP's car paint shader uses _BaseColor; a shader using another property needs that name instead.
5. If other panels use a different material, add another painter for that material. On Paint Manager, click Get All Painters after editing the painters.
6. Save the scene and your vehicle prefab changes.

Check: each paintable material has a painter. The painter matches materials used by MeshRenderers on this vehicle and colors runtime instances, leaving the shared material asset unchanged.

Figure 02Open full size ↗

Open the screenshot at full size. 1 must match your vehicle's material; the example uses Skyline_Body. 2 is _BaseColor for the included car paint shader. Despite its Inspector label, this field expects a color-property name, not a shader feature switch.

3. Test painting and saving

1. Press Play with this car registered as the player.
2. Open the canvas's customization panel and choose a paint color.
3. Stop Play Mode, then start again.

Check: the intended panels change color, and the saved color returns on the next run.

This choice can persist: automatic customization saves use PlayerPrefs, Unity's local settings store. Unlike ordinary scene edits in Play Mode, these choices can survive stopping the game.

If your own game requires payment or an Apply button, turn off Save changes automatically and save from your game flow after confirming the choice. RCCP's core customization settings do not implement your shop's purchase rules.

•If paint or saving does not work

•Optional: wheels, spoilers and sirens

Create the relevant managers from the Customizer Inspector first.

The accessory components are under Add Component > BoneCracker Games > Realistic Car Controller Pro > Customization. Only the selected spoiler or siren option remains active. An index of -1 means original wheels, or no spoiler/siren fitted.

Turn off Paint Spoilers on the Spoiler Manager if those models should retain their own finish. Hide All and Show All on the Customizer are editing aids for inspecting accessory models.

•Optional: decals and neons

These use projected materials and need URP or HDRP. Follow Render Pipelines before setting them up. On Built-in, the selection can be saved but no projector effect is displayed.

Create a Decal Manager or Neon Manager. Decals provides materials shared by the front, back, left and right slots, each with its own selected index. Neons provides the underglow materials and one selected index. Test the projection placement on your model after assigning options.

•Optional: performance upgrades

Create the Upgrade Manager to offer four upgrade categories. Each runs from level 0 (stock) to 5. Efficiency on each upgrade object sets the multiplier reached at level 5; intermediate levels divide the increase evenly.

For example, an Efficiency of 1.2 makes level 5 target 120% of the captured stock value. This is a setting multiplier, not a promise of a measured lap-time or top-speed gain. Engine and speed upgrades need an Engine module.

The upgrades capture their baseline when first initialized. Test them after finalizing the vehicle's basic tuning, and check Assists and Presets if other systems overwrite a setting.

•Optional: suspension and colors

The Customization Manager exposes front and rear spring force, damping, travel, ride height and camber, plus headlight and tire-smoke colors. It remembers the initial values for restoring the car.

Some tuning data fields store choices without applying them: ABS, ESP, TCS, steering helper, nitrous, rev limiter, automatic transmission, shift/clutch thresholds and the counter-steering/steering-limiter switches. Configure those through the vehicle's own modules; do not rely on stored tuning data to enable them.

•Optional: control when a loadout is applied

For a reset button, call Delete() on the vehicle's Customizer to clear its saved choice and restore defaults. The same component exposes Save(), Load() and Initialize() for a custom save/apply flow. For multiplayer, follow Multiplayer so local saves and network state do not compete.

•Next step

• Demo Content — try the customization scene.
• UI and HUD — restyle the customization interface.
• Field Reference — detailed category settings.

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