Русская версия: README.ru.md
Nuclear Option has hundreds of vehicles fighting on the ground, yet you only ever see them from a cockpit. This mod puts you behind the wheel: tanks, IFVs, SAM launchers, artillery, supply trucks and tractors. Buy a vehicle at one of your faction's depots or airbases and drive it straight into the fight, in single player or online.
The goal is for the mod to feel like part of the game. The HUD is assembled from the game's own HUD pieces, prices come from the game, and kills, base captures and resupply are rewarded by the same rules that apply to pilots.
This is an unofficial mod. It is not affiliated with the developers of Nuclear Option.
- Buy vehicles at your faction's depots and airbases for the in-game price, and sell them back when you're done. Order one from the tactical map without leaving your aircraft, or pick GROUND on the spawn screen and start the match on the ground.
- Drive in third person. Every vehicle rides on its own running gear: wheels or tracks with suspension, tyre grip by surface, Ackermann steering, pivot turns for tracked vehicles, and an engine and gearbox matched to the real prototypes. Cannon fire kicks the hull back for real. More speed on roads than off them.
- Fight with every weapon the vehicle has: cannons, machine guns, ATGMs, SAMs. Lock targets, and the reticle with its reload ring shows where your shot will land. The turret holds the sight line while you drive (stabilizer-style), and the barrel marker warns when a hill blocks the shot (BLOCKED) or the shell won't reach (OUT OF REACH).
- Weapon wheel and radial menu, the game's own: hold Weapon Wheel to pick a weapon station, hold Radial Menu for vehicle actions — exit, deploy / stow, fire control computer, night vision. The aircraft radial menu gets a Drive Vehicle entry. Gamepads work everywhere, including the purchase menu.
- Artillery and missile launchers. A fire control computer works out direct or indirect fire, and you pick the target on the map. Ballistic and anti-air missiles are both supported.
- Capture bases: drive onto an enemy or neutral airfield and watch the capture progress.
- Resupply: take a supply truck to vehicles that asked for ammo and get paid for it, just like a transport pilot.
- Towing and cargo: a tractor can tow wheeled launchers, a flatbed truck can carry containers.
- Missile warnings, hit direction indicators, friend/foe markers and a minimap.
Hits on vehicles are resolved with a zone-based armour model instead of a single hull pool:
- Zones. Front, side, rear, roof and belly each have their own thickness multiplier on top of the part's base armour, so facing matters — a tank's front plate shrugs off what its rear cannot.
- Slopes and ricochets. Armour is effectively thicker on sloped surfaces (divided by the cosine of the impact angle); shots arriving at a shallow angle ricochet off, unless the shell's calibre overmatches the plate. Grazing hits always bounce.
- Internals. If the round penetrates, the leftover penetrator continues on a ray inside the hull: crew, ammo rack, engine, fuel and optics on its path absorb it. Spall sprays a cone behind the entry point — the more energy is left, the wider the cone.
- Consequences. Two crew members knocked out, or a destroyed ammo rack (50% chance of a catastrophic detonation), kills the vehicle. A survivable ammo hit instead halves the ready rack. Tracks, sights and external modules take damage from hits that don't penetrate.
Server-side only: damage is computed by the host, clients get the vanilla damage RPCs.
- Install BepInEx 5. The easiest way is the ready-made pack for Nuclear Option on Thunderstore, just follow the steps on its page. Regular BepInEx 5 for Windows x64 works too.
- Launch the game once and close it, so BepInEx can create its folders.
- Download
PlayableVehicles.dllfrom the Releases page. - Put it into the
BepInEx\pluginsfolder inside your game folder. The quickest way to open the game folder is through Steam: right-click the game in your library, then Manage → Browse local files. - Start the game. If everything worked, vehicle depots get a marker on the map and the spawn screen shows an AIR / GROUND switch.
To uninstall, delete BepInEx\plugins\PlayableVehicles.dll.
| Key | Action |
|---|---|
| F7 | Get in the selected vehicle, or get out |
| F7 with your own depot or airbase selected on the map | Open the vehicle shop |
| W A S D | Throttle, brake and reverse, steering |
| Mouse | Look around and aim the turret |
| Fire (LMB) | Fire the selected weapon |
| RMB | Gun sight |
| Mouse wheel | Camera distance |
| Tab, 1 / 2 / 3 | Switch weapons |
| Hold Weapon Wheel / hold Radial Menu | Pick a weapon station (with ammo) / vehicle actions: exit, deploy or stow, fire control computer, night vision |
| Target Select / Target Cancel | Lock the target under the reticle / drop the lock |
| X | Deploy or stow (artillery outriggers, radar masts); on a tractor, hitch or unhitch a trailer; on a flatbed, load or unload a container |
| B | Fire control computer (deployed artillery and missile launchers) |
| V | Projectile camera: press once to arm — the next shell, bullet or missile fired from your vehicle takes the camera (the first round of a burst); press again to cancel. The camera rides right behind the projectile with the view locked to the trajectory (no free look); the vehicle HUD hides while you watch. The camera returns when the projectile's flight ends |
There are three ways to pick a vehicle to get into: press Target Select on it from your aircraft, click it on the tactical map (M), or simply point the camera at it. When you get out, the camera goes back to your aircraft, or to the spawn screen if you don't have one.
Fire, target lock, weapon switching and camera controls go through the game's own control settings, so your key bindings and mouse sensitivity carry over. Gamepads work too: bind a stick to Move Forward/Back and Move Left/Right in the game's controls menu. The mod's keys are ignored while the chat is open.
Your faction's vehicle depots are marked on the tactical map. Select one, or one of your ground airbases, and press F7. A shop opens that looks like the aircraft selection screen: vehicles are grouped by type, and each one shows its price, weapons and description. DEPLOY buys the vehicle and puts you in it right away. If you came in an aircraft, the autopilot keeps it flying meanwhile. The arrows next to the base name switch between your depots and airbases. At an airbase the vehicle appears on free ground near the control tower, away from the runways.
No aircraft? Switch the spawn screen to GROUND, pick a depot or an airbase on the map and open the shop with the button at the bottom of the screen.
To sell a vehicle you bought, park it at a friendly depot (within 200 m) or airbase (within 800 m of the tower), get out and open the shop there. SELL VEHICLE shows your vehicles at that point; pick one and press SELL. You get back the purchase price reduced by hull damage and spent ammunition. BACK returns to buying.
A few rules:
- A vehicle you buy belongs to you: you get the reward for anything its guns destroy, even while you're driving something else.
- There's a short cooldown after each purchase, between 10 and 25 seconds depending on the vehicle type.
- Nuclear missile launchers unlock under the same escalation and rank rules as nuclear weapons for aircraft.
- If the mission doesn't allow donations to your faction, vehicle depots are closed to you — but you can still buy at your own airbases, the same way the game lets you requisition aircraft there.
Deploy the vehicle with X and open the fire control computer with B. A fire control window appears on the right and the map on the left. Choose a target by clicking it on the map or by locking it, then pick direct or indirect fire. The window shows the range, elevation and time of flight. Press ENGAGE and the turret lays itself onto the target; you fire with the normal fire button. CEASE FIRE cancels the mission.
Missile launchers work the same way. Ballistic missiles need a ground target within range. Anti-air missiles need an air target, and semi-active radar missiles also need a radar nearby: either the vehicle's own or a friendly one within 300 metres.
The radar/search network itself is the base game's own mechanics, unchanged by the mod — it just becomes visible once you can drive the launchers. An anti-air launcher with semi-active missiles looks for a radar within 300 m: its own radar vehicle, or a fire control vehicle that itself has a radar within 300 m. A fire control vehicle on its own gives no link — it always needs a radar next to it.
A fire control vehicle does more than extend the link: it shares one radar with the whole battery and hands out targets between launchers (each launcher gets its own target instead of everyone shooting the same one), the way the AI batteries work. So the effective setup is: one radar vehicle + one fire control vehicle + a group of launchers.
In the base game, emplacements can only be moved by helicopter. The mod lets you move them by road:
- Trailers (HLT-CRAM, HLT-HEL). Back a tractor up to the trailer's tow bar and press X. The trailer folds its legs away and follows you on its own wheel physics with a damped hitch, like a real tow ball. Press X again to unhitch; after a couple of seconds standing still it deploys on its own.
- Containers (Radar Container, Boltstrike RAM45 and StratoLance R9 launchers). Stop a flatbed truck next to the container and press X to load it. Press X again to drop it on the ground behind the truck.
Towing works on roads and flat ground. Trailers can still misbehave on steep slopes and bumps, and the hitch may break under abuse. If you run into trouble, please report it in Issues.
When a vehicle drops below half its ammo, it asks for resupply. Park next to a friendly supply truck or ammo depot and it will be topped up. An idle AI supply truck may also come to you.
You can drive a supply truck yourself as well. Nearby requests are listed on screen; bring ammo to a vehicle that is standing still and you get the reward.
The host and everyone who wants to drive need the mod, and all on the same version. If the versions don't match, the mod tells you who needs to update. Players without the mod can still play on the server, they just can't drive.
The host can open the mod's settings file and turn vehicle control off entirely (Enabled = false in the
[Server] section) or loosen the rules: VehicleAccess = Open lets players get into any vehicle of their
faction instead of only the ones they bought (the default).
After the first launch, the file BepInEx\config\PlayableVehicles.cfg appears in your game folder.
Every setting has a short description inside the file; here is the full list. Edit the file while the game is closed.
Keys use Unity key names: F7, X, UpArrow, Keypad5 and so on.
[Controls]
| Setting | Default | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| ToggleKey | F7 | Get in the selected vehicle or get out. With your own depot or airbase selected on the map, opens the vehicle shop |
| DeployKey | X | Deploy or stow the vehicle (only while standing still). On a tractor it hitches and unhitches a trailer, on a flatbed it loads and unloads a container |
| FireControlKey | B | Fire control computer for deployed artillery and missile launchers |
| ProjectileCamKey | V | Projectile camera while driving: press once to arm — the next shot from your vehicle takes the camera, press again to cancel |
| ForwardKey, ReverseKey, LeftKey, RightKey | W, S, A, D | Throttle, brake and reverse, steering |
| StickDeadZone | 0.15 | Gamepad stick dead zone for throttle and steering, as a fraction of the stick travel |
| GameViewControls | true | The camera uses the game's own view controls, with its sensitivity and inversion. false switches to the mod's own mouse look (sensitivity is set in [Camera]) |
[Server] (applies on the host and in single player)
| Setting | Default | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Enabled | true | Master switch. false turns the mod's vehicle features off for everyone: no getting into vehicles, no buying or selling, the GROUND spawn mode is hidden |
| VehicleAccess | OwnVehicles | Open: players can get into any vehicle of their faction. OwnVehicles: only into vehicles they bought. Vehicles a player brought in by helicopter or dropped from an aircraft stay open to the whole faction |
| HostFollowsAccess | true | The VehicleAccess rule also applies to the host. false lets the host get into anything |
| PurchaseCooldownLight | 10 | Cooldown after buying a light vehicle (trucks, light vehicles, APCs and IFVs, drones), seconds |
| PurchaseCooldownAirDefense | 15 | Cooldown after buying air defence (AA guns, SAM launchers, radars), seconds |
| PurchaseCooldownTanks | 25 | Cooldown after buying a tank, seconds |
| PurchaseCooldownArtillery | 25 | Cooldown after buying artillery, rocket artillery included, seconds |
| RequireMod | true | Players joining your game must have the mod of the same network version; others are disconnected with a message. The mod replaces the game's vehicles with its own, so a player without it would see different vehicles |
| ZonalArmor | true | Ground vehicles get armor by zone (front, side, rear, roof, belly), hit angle and ricochets, and internal modules (engine, ammo, crew, fuel...) instead of one armor value for the whole vehicle. Applies to AI vehicles too |
| ModAiDriving | true | The mod's own driving model for AI vehicles beyond the physics distance (convoys and off-screen traffic), instead of the game's simplified model |
| AiPhysicsDistance | 1000 | AI vehicles closer than this to any player use the mod's running gear, farther ones the game's cheap driving model. Metres |
[Aircraft]
| Setting | Default | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Autopilot | true | While you're in a vehicle, your aircraft circles where you left it and a helicopter hovers. false leaves the controls centred |
[Aiming]
| Setting | Default | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| BallisticComputer | true | The turret allows for shell drop, so the shot lands where the crosshair points. false: the barrel points straight at the crosshair and you correct for range yourself using the barrel marker |
| LockAutoTrack | true | The turret tracks a locked target by itself, with lead. false: the turret follows the crosshair and the lead point is shown on screen |
| LockScreenRadius | 0.08 | How far from the screen centre Target Select looks for a target, as a fraction of the screen height |
[Driving]
| Setting | Default | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| VanillaPhysics | true | Realistic driving: the mod's own chassis — suspension, tyre grip by surface, each vehicle's own acceleration and top speed (vehicles without a custom spec fall back to the game's AI physics). false switches to simplified arcade driving |
| TurnRate | 38 | Hull turn rate at full steering, degrees per second. Capped at 57 with realistic physics |
| Acceleration | 14 | Arcade driving only: acceleration and braking, m/s per second |
| ThrottleDeadzone | 0.1 | Gamepad throttle below this fraction counts as zero and the vehicle brakes |
| FullSteeringSpeed | 4 | Wheeled vehicles: speed (m/s) at which steering reaches full strength. Wheeled vehicles can't turn on the spot |
| ReverseSpeedFactor | 0.45 | Reverse speed as a fraction of the vehicle's top speed |
[Camera]
| Setting | Default | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| MouseSensitivityX, MouseSensitivityY | 2.2, 1.4 | Horizontal and vertical mouse sensitivity. Only used with GameViewControls = false |
| Distance | 11.5 | Camera distance from the vehicle when you get in, metres |
| MaxDistance | 25 | How far the mouse wheel can pull the camera back, metres |
| ZoomFov | 6 | Field of view in the gun sight, degrees. Lower means more zoom |
| ShakeScale | 1 | Camera shake from shots, hits and nearby explosions. 0 turns it off, 2 is the maximum |
| MaxLookUp | 80 | How high you can look above the horizon, degrees. The barrel still can't go past the turret's own limit |
[Overlay]
| Setting | Default | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| ShowOverlay | true | Show the vehicle HUD. Only worth turning off when troubleshooting |
| MinimapLookAhead | 2000 | How many metres ahead of the vehicle the minimap is centred. 0 keeps the vehicle in the middle |
| UnitMarkerScale | 1 | Size of friend/foe markers compared to the aircraft HUD |
| FriendlyIconRange | 500 | Friendly units closer than this get a full icon, further ones a dot, metres |
| EnemyIconRange | 3000 | Enemy units closer than this get a full icon, further ones a small marker, metres |
- Multiplayer has had limited testing. It was tested in a PvE co-op session with a couple of clients. It hasn't been tested on dedicated servers or with more players, so desync and other network problems can't be ruled out.
- Towing is the roughest part left (see above), especially in multiplayer: for a client, the trailer lags behind the tractor by the ping.
- Cannon shots are drawn instantly on the client; machine-gun bursts and missiles are handled by the host, so with high ping they go off with a delay.
- Lead on moving targets is only calculated for a locked target.
- Static emplacements don't drive on their own, same as in the base game. You can only control their turret; move them by helicopter, tractor or truck.
Found a bug or have an idea? Open an issue. If
something went wrong in game, attach BepInEx\LogOutput.log from your game folder, it helps a lot.
- Missile icons (R9 Stratolance, RAM-45) - thanks EW-25 Medusa!
- Compatibility with Aryx's mods (Weapons Pack, MC-260 Chimera) - thanks Aryx!
This mod was developed with AI assistance. A significant part of its codebase was written or refactored by an AI coding agent under the author's direction and review. No AI-generated assets are used: all models, textures, audio and other content come from the game itself or were made by the author.
This project is an unofficial community modification and is not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by Shockfront Studios Pty Ltd. Original Nuclear Option assets, vehicle designs, audio, and code are Copyright (c) 2026 Shockfront Studios Pty Ltd. All rights reserved. Nuclear Option and Shockfront Studios are trademarks or registered trademarks of Shockfront Studios Pty Ltd. Original mod content and all other trademarks belong to their respective owners.
MIT. Nuclear Option and all its content belong to their respective owners; the mod contains no game files.