@epoqx
Rain value 0.2 certainly creates puddles
You can use the '_render_drop.xml' to reduce the rain for Overcast. Mess with the fade, local light & distortion values, maybe 'textureRowsColsStartEnd' also, can't quite remember .

The 'rainstorm_emitter_ground.xml' controls the little tiny splashes of rain that happen when the rain drops hit the ground. There's a bug where they can sometimes appear floating in the air, so I have removed them from my game for that reason & a cleaner look also.

You can certainly get what you want, years ago I messed around with the rain for lots of different effects, everything from slow very light rain to full on hurricane. You'll just have to find the right balance of settings.

Extra:

Global rain settings in 'visualsettings.dat':

#Values for rain GPU particle effect
rain.NumberParticles	2048 <!-- very subtle visual effect reducing this, but can increase performance without much visual loss -->
rain.UseLitShader	1.00
# rain.gravity	0.00	0.00	-0.98
rain.gravity.x	0.00
rain.gravity.y	0.00
rain.gravity.z	-0.98
rain.fadeInScale	2.00
rain.diffuse	1.00
rain.ambient	0.40
rain.wrapScale	0.60
rain.wrapBias	0.40
# rain.defaultlight	1.00	1.00	1.00
rain.defaultlight.red	1.00 
rain.defaultlight.green	1.00
rain.defaultlight.blue	1.00
rain.defaultlight.alpha	16.00 

fxweather.ytd:
There are rain drop & distortion textures in 'fxweather.ytd' you can mess with also. I have my rain drops a lot thinner than the vanilla ones, which gives me a lot more control over the final look

@epoqx
I've edited the '#####_render_drop.xml' files in my game so yeah, maybe the change in rain intensity isn't obvious to me

@epoqx said in Puddles : Minimum rain rate for puddles to appear ?:

Do you know if it is possible to create a new emitter/render drop/ground weather files specifically for a new type of rain ?

Yeah, that should be no problem Make a copy of 'rainstorm_render_drop.xml', rename it to something like 'rainstorm_lite_render_drop.xml' & then point to it using 'weather.xml':

Example ('_render_drop.xml', same basic process for emitter/ground/mist etc as well):

Overcast (in weather.xml):

    <DropSettingName>RAINSTORM_LITE_DROP</DropSettingName>

weather.xml:
Create this at the top of 'weather.xml':

  <WeatherGpuFx>
	<Item>
	  <Name>RAINSTORM_LITE_DROP</Name> <!-- from Overcast 'DropSettingName' line -->
	  <SystemType>SYSTEM_TYPE_DROP</SystemType>
	  <diffuseName>rain</diffuseName>
	  <distortionTexture>distortion_rain_n</distortionTexture>
	  <diffuseSplashName>rain_anim</diffuseSplashName>
	  <driveType>DRIVE_TYPE_RAIN</driveType>
	  <windInfluence value="0.03"/>
	  <gravity value="-32.000000"/>
	  <emitterSettingsName>common:/data/levels/gta5/weather/rainstorm_emitter_drop</emitterSettingsName>
	  <renderSettingsName>common:/data/levels/gta5/weather/rainstorm_lite_render_drop</renderSettingsName> <!-- renamed to point to 'rainstorm_lite_render_drop.xml' -->
	</Item>

You can then edit the above (wind influence, gravity etc) & 'rainstorm_lite_render_drop.xml' (size, lighting, fade etc) to get the effect you want

@epoqx
All the ripple stuff affects the rain/wind effects on the puddles (the tiny circle wakes caused by the rain drops hitting the puddle & the ripples caused by wind etc)
If you want to change the size of the actual rain drops falling from the sky, you can use 'rainstorm_render_drop.xml' ('sizeMinMax') to do that

@epoqx
'<Rain value=' pretty much just affects the puddles (& switches on the rain sounds), it doesn't affect the rain drops falling from the sky or anything, they are controlled by 'rainstorm_render_drop.xml' etc files.

I can't remember what the wetness does, I feel like I used to know, but have forgotten lol. I think it's a pretty subtle effect from what I can remember. It's in the VisualV 'weather.xml' file. That's where I got it from.

@epoqx

weather.xml:

  <Item>
    <Name>OVERCAST</Name>
    <Sun value="0.9"/>
    <Cloud value="1.000000"/>
    <WindMin value="0.0"/>
    <WindMax value="0.0"/>
    <Rain value="0.000000"/> <!-- Increase this value for puddles (& rain sound) -->
    <Wetness value="0.000000"/>
    <Snow value="0.000000"/>
    <SnowMist value="0.000000"/>
    <Fog value="0.000000"/>

If that doesn't work, make sure overcast is setup like this (so no weather effects are disabled etc):

w_overcast.xml:

		<no_weather_fx> 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000</no_weather_fx>
		<no_gpu_fx> 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000</no_gpu_fx>
		<no_rain> 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000</no_rain>
		<no_rain_ripples> 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000</no_rain_ripples>

@QBit07 said in Police vehicles.:

So I only use POLICE_BIKE if I don't want them to use any cruisers?

Just use 'POLICE_BIKE/POLICE_MOTORCYCLE' if you want to dispatch motorbikes at all, but it can be used to dispatch cruisers & other vehicles also, just depends on what you have set in the 'POLICE_BIKE' or 'POLICE_MOTORCYCLE' (whichever you choose to use) '<VehicleSets>' section.
So 'POLICE_BIKE' or 'POLICE_MOTORCYCLE' is essential to dispatch motorbikes (from what I've read), but allows you to dispatch other vehicles (if you like) also (confirmed, I have that in my game).

Vanilla 'policeb':
Been so long since I played vanilla, I can't remember, but looking at my vanilla 'dispatch.meta', although it contains a 'POLICE_MOTORCYCLE' '<VehicleSet>', it doesn't look like 'POLICE_MOTORCYCLE' is called in the '<WantedLevel1>5>' '<DispatchServices>' section (?), so if the 'policeb' turns up as dispatch in the vanilla game, I'm not sure how it does it?! ( @epoqx perhaps like vanilla loadouts etc, vanilla files are such a mess, it just gets called by accident sometimes lol)

It certainly appears (twice) in 'vehiclemodelsets.meta' so will appear cruising around on the streets etc. Perhaps it gets involved chasing you that way? (if you do illegal stuff in the presence of that motorbike cop etc).

The other thing I noticed was the 'policeb' has 'S_M_Y_HWayCop_01' defined as it's driver in 'vehicles.meta':

      <drivers>
        <Item>
          <driverName>S_M_Y_HWayCop_01</driverName>
          <npcName />
        </Item>
      </drivers>

I would have thought that only affected it when spawning on the streets, but perhaps it affects dispatch also?! You could try changing the driver to 'S_M_Y_Cop_01' & see if it makes any difference to who can spawn riding motorbikes etc?
Had a look at 'peds.ymt/pedpersonality.ymt' looking for any bike themed flags, but didn't find any. Entirely possible certain dispatch peds (like 'S_M_Y_HWayCop_01') have hidden flags that give them the ability to dispatch on bikes. Only testing will answer, but thought I'd mention it.

I know as part of fixing ghost dispatch vehicles (dispatch vehicles appear, no driver, don't chase you etc) I tried setting the driver of any dispatch vehicle the same as the peds defined for that vehicle in 'dispatch.meta', just can't remember the results, although I've left them like that.
You know, the shotgun approach, try anything & see if it sticks... Oh, it's working, not sure what fixed it , but it's fixed, leave it alone, don't touch it ever again etc .

@epoqx @QBit07
Just to add to this (for others that may read it etc).

I think I remember reading somewhere that you can have issues (not crashing, just they don't spawn) with dispatch police motorbikes unless they are called using 'POLICE_BIKE' or 'POLICE_MOTORCYCLE' '<VehicleSets>'.

'POLICE_BIKE' can certainly be used to call other dispatch vehicles, so it's not restrictive in that way (just use it instead of 'POLICE_CAR' etc whenever you need a bike spawning).
I have it set up like this in my game & all the vehicles spawn:

'<DispatchServices>' 'POLICE_BIKE':
Example:

		<WantedLevel2>
			<DispatchServices>
				<Item>
					<DispatchType>DT_PoliceAutomobile</DispatchType>
					<NumPedsToSpawn value="8"/>
					<DispatchVehicleSets>
						<Dispatch>POLICE_BIKE</Dispatch>
						<Dispatch>POLICE_BIKE</Dispatch>
						<Dispatch>POLICE_CAR_WOMEN</Dispatch>
						<Dispatch>POLICE_CAR_WOMEN</Dispatch>
					</DispatchVehicleSets>
				</Item>

'<VehicleSets>' 'POLICE_BIKE':
Example:

		<Vehicle>
			<Name>POLICE_BIKE</Name>
			<ConditionalVehicleSets>
				<Item>
					<ZoneType>VEHICLE_RESPONSE_ARMY_BASE</ZoneType>
					<VehicleModels>
						<Vehicle>crusader</Vehicle>
						<Vehicle>mesa3</Vehicle>
						<Vehicle>barracks</Vehicle>
					</VehicleModels>
					<PedModels>
						<Ped>S_M_M_Marine_01</Ped>
						<Ped>S_M_Y_Marine_01</Ped> 
						<Ped>S_M_Y_Marine_03</Ped> 	
					</PedModels>
				</Item>
				<Item>
					<ZoneType>VEHICLE_RESPONSE_COUNTRYSIDE</ZoneType>
					<VehicleModels>
						<Vehicle>policeb</Vehicle>
						<Vehicle>SHERIFF</Vehicle>
						<Vehicle>SHERIFF</Vehicle>
						<Vehicle>SHERIFF2</Vehicle>	
					</VehicleModels>
					<PedModels>
						<Ped>S_M_Y_HwayCop_01</Ped>
					</PedModels>
				</Item>
				<Item>
					<VehicleModels>
						<Vehicle>police2</Vehicle>
						<Vehicle>police</Vehicle>
		                <Vehicle>policet</Vehicle>
					</VehicleModels>
					<PedModels>
						<Ped>S_F_Y_Cop_01</Ped> 
						<Ped>S_M_Y_Cop_01</Ped> 				
					</PedModels>
				</Item>	
			</ConditionalVehicleSets>
		</Vehicle>

@AleisterDH
You just need a way to overlay the two textures together & then make the grid texture slightly transparent in some way (reduce it's fill or opacity etc) so you can use it as a more accurate (than using screenshots alone) guide to see exactly where the door lines start/end.
Any issues, link to the vehicle & tell me the name of the texture you are editing

@voided
Syntax Errors:
Check associated '.meta' files ('handling.meta', 'vehicles.meta', 'carcols.meta/.ymt' & 'carvariations.meta/.ymt') for syntax errors:

OpenIV > right-click file > 'Edit' > in the file, hit the '[</> XML]' button at the top > It will then tell you if any errors were detected. If you find any & have trouble fixing them, give me a shout

dispatch.meta:
If no '.meta' errors are found, use 'dispatch.meta' to remove/replace police vehicles one-by-one from the '<VehicleSets>' section, until you find the one causing it.

Extra 'dispatch.meta' Info (might be useful etc):
The game has three dispatch 'zones' (Zancudo, Countryside & City), depending on your setup, it may be useful to know, once you get 5 stars, if the crash happens when you stay in the main city, countryside, zancudo or what combination of those.
That may help you figure out what vehicle in 'dispatch.meta' is causing it a bit quicker.

If it doesn't ever happen at a lower star rating then it must be a vehicle that only appears at 5 Stars.
Use 'dispatch.meta's '</WantedLevel5>' section to ascertain what that vehicle might be.

Note: The '<DispatchVehicleSets>' in '</WantedLevel5>' refer to sets of vehicles in the '<VehicleSets>' section of 'dispatch.meta':

'<WantedLevel5>' 'DT_PoliceAutomobile' Example:

		<WantedLevel5> 
			<DispatchServices>
				<Item>
					<DispatchType>DT_PoliceAutomobile</DispatchType>
					<NumPedsToSpawn value="8"/>
					<DispatchVehicleSets>
						<Dispatch>POLICE_CAR</Dispatch>
						<Dispatch>SWAT_RIOT</Dispatch> <!-- References '<Name>SWAT_RIOT</Name>' in '<VehicleSets>' -->
						<Dispatch>ARMY_CAR</Dispatch>	
						<Dispatch>ARMY_MESA</Dispatch>	
					</DispatchVehicleSets>
				</Item>

'<VehicleSets>' 'SWAT_RIOT' Example:

        <Vehicle>
			<Name>SWAT_RIOT</Name> <!-- 'SWAT_RIOT' referenced from 5 star '<DispatchVehicleSets>' above -->
			<ConditionalVehicleSets>
				<Item>
					<ZoneType>VEHICLE_RESPONSE_ARMY_BASE</ZoneType> <!-- vehicles that spawn when wanted in Zancudo Military Base -->
					<VehicleModels>
						<Vehicle>crusader</Vehicle> <!-- name of Zancude dispatch vehicle here -->
						<Vehicle>mesa3</Vehicle> <!-- here -->
						<Vehicle>barracks</Vehicle> <!-- & here -->
					</VehicleModels>
					<PedModels>
						<Ped>S_M_M_Marine_01</Ped>
						<Ped>S_M_Y_Marine_01</Ped> 
						<Ped>S_M_Y_Marine_03</Ped> 		
					</PedModels>
				</Item>
				<Item>
					<ZoneType>VEHICLE_RESPONSE_COUNTRYSIDE</ZoneType> <!-- vehicles that spawn when wanted in countryside -->
					<VehicleModels>
						<Vehicle>riot</Vehicle> <!-- name of countryside dispatch vehicle here -->
					</VehicleModels>
					<PedModels>
						<Ped>S_M_Y_Swat_01</Ped> 
					</PedModels>
				</Item>
				<Item>
					<VehicleModels>  <!-- No '<ZoneType>', vehicles that spawn when wanted in city -->
						<Vehicle>riot</Vehicle> <!-- name of city dispatch vehicle here -->
					</VehicleModels>
					<PedModels>
						<Ped>S_M_Y_Swat_01</Ped> 
					</PedModels>
				</Item>
			</ConditionalVehicleSets>
		</Vehicle>

@AleisterDH
If the vehicle come with a template texture you can use that to tell you. Sometimes you can use another texture in the '.ytd' if, with a bit of luck, it has the same mapping layout as a template would.

If there is no template etc, your best bet is to create a numbered & multi-coloured etc grid texture of the same size as the original vehicle texture, something like this:

Apply it to the vehicle as it's main texture, load it up ingame & then use screen shots & the grid texture (applied over the vehicle texture (in Photoshop etc), but in a new layer etc just for reference) to figure out where each part goes.