The Anti-Feature That Isn't
Requiring a key to start a vehicle sounds like an anti-feature. Who wants more steps before driving? But immersive RP is often built from exactly this kind of meaningful friction. Vehicle theft becomes thievery-with-stakes. Locking your car becomes a real action. Hotwiring becomes a learnable skill.
Key States That Matter
Agency-Vehiclekeys models three key states per vehicle: owned (you have a physical key item), shared (someone gave you a copy), hotwired (temporarily accessible with police trace risk). Each state has different sound cues, startup animations, and engine behavior. Players who borrow friends' cars feel different from thieves — as they should.
Lockpicking Mini-Game
We ship a simple 3-tier lockpicking mini-game that scales with vehicle class. A Sultan RS takes longer and fails more often than a Faggio. The mini-game is skill-based but non-punishing — failure costs time and tools, not character progress. This is the right difficulty curve for a mechanic that should be a tension tool, not a gatekeeper.
Framework Integrations
QBCore vehicle ownership, ESX garages, and standalone custom registries all plug in through a single set of hooks. Keys are stored as inventory items, so they interact with drops, trading, and inventory searches naturally. Nothing is special-cased.
Economic Impact
Key-based vehicle access creates realistic economic roles. Locksmiths become a viable job. Car thieves become a real threat. Insurance companies become useful. Emergent roleplay comes from systems that respond to each other — Agency-Vehiclekeys is one piece in that puzzle.