One of the checks recently added to our upload system detects if there is a LOD2 with no polygons in it, and the upload is rejected in that case. This is surprisingly common in submitted mods, although there is no point in this type of configuration.

If you want to submit a mod before you have created a proper LOD2 (for middle distance and shadow) then you should put the physics LOD (which is LOD3 in a properly finished mod) into LOD2.

That is OK for unfinished mods, and you will at least have a shadow and not drive around with a vehicle that is invisible in the middle distance.

FINISHED MOD: (GOOD)
LOD1: Many triangles
LOD2: Medium triangles (e.g. around 1000, see official cars)
LOD3: Physics

UNFINISHED MOD: {OK)
LOD1: Many triangles
LOD2: Physics

WRONG:
LOD1: Many triangles
LOD2: [empty]
LOD3: Physics

EDIT: ALSO WRONG:
LOD1: Many triangles
LOD2: Many triangles, holes, ugly mess
LOD3: Physics

Related LFS Manual page: Vehicle Mod LOD and Shadow / Physics / Collision Meshes

Thanks for that check as sometimes we ended up with races with lod issues and that breaks the immersion.

As mentioned in the first post, you don't *have* to do an intermediate LOD. Better have only two LODs than a bad intermediate LOD. Of course, that's not really a finished mod. A finished mod has 3 LODs.

For examples of what I think LOD2 should be, please look at the official LFS cars supplied with the editor. In my opinion they should be somewhere in the region of around 1000 triangles.

It's not a huge task, compared with making a mod. It's just a simple model that will create a good shadow and look reasonable in the middle distance when LFS switches to the lower LOD mesh to save CPU and GPU time, to keep a good frame rate.