Before starting with the actual creation of vehicles, it is important to understand the basic structure and components that make up a vehicle in SubwaySim 2.

A vehicle in SubwaySim 2 is not a single asset, but a system consisting of multiple interconnected components. Each of these components has a specific role and must be set up correctly to ensure that the vehicle functions properly in-game.

The Skeletal Mesh represents the visual model of the vehicle. It contains the complete 3D geometry of the vehicle and is bound to a skeleton that allows individual parts (doors, pantographs, bogies, etc.) to be animated.

The Skeletal Mesh is the foundation for all further steps. Incorrect scale, wrong pivots, or a faulty bone hierarchy will cause problems throughout the entire vehicle setup.

The Animation Blueprint and Control Rig control all animated and movable parts of the vehicle. This includes doors, couplers, pantographs, bogie rotation, suspension movement, and other animated components.

The Control Rig is mainly used for precise control and authoring of animations, while the Animation Blueprint handles runtime logic and state-based animation behavior.

The Physics Asset defines all collision bodies of the vehicle. These collisions are used for physical interaction, hit detection, and correct spatial behavior in the game world.

A well-configured Physics Asset is essential to prevent issues such as incorrect collisions, clipping, or unstable behavior during gameplay.

The Vehicle Blueprint combines all Unreal Engine components into a single, functional entity. It references the Skeletal Mesh, Animation Blueprint, Physics Asset, and additional components such as lights, sounds, and interaction logic.

The Vehicle Blueprint also serves as the bridge between Unreal Engine and Lua by exposing parameters and hooks that are used by the scripting system.

Outside of Unreal Engine, each vehicle is defined by a corresponding Vehicle.lua file.

This Lua file contains all script-based definitions and logic, such as:

• Vehicle configuration values
• System behavior and states
• Input handling and interactions
• Communication with the simulation core

The Vehicle.lua file effectively defines how the vehicle behaves in SubwaySim 2 and how it is integrated into the game’s systems.

All of these components are tightly connected. An error or misconfiguration in one part can lead to issues elsewhere — from missing animations to non-functional controls or vehicles that cannot be driven.

For this reason, it is crucial that:

• All assets follow consistent naming conventions
• Scale and coordinate systems are set up correctly
• References between components are valid and complete

A clean and well-structured setup ensures that the vehicle behaves correctly, performs reliably, and can be extended or maintained easily.

With these fundamentals in mind, you are now ready to move on to the practical steps of creating your own vehicle for SubwaySim 2.