I made an LUA controller to implement what's in the title. Very simple, simulates higher idle RPMs for cold engines. It can simulate older engines, where there is just a set high idle that goes away after you shift into gear or press the gas, or goes down once the coolant is warm, it is quite versatile and can behave various ways. Or, it can simulate a slowly lowering idle RPM related to temperature, with it still raised in gear but less. Just download it and try it out if you are curious. This does not apply to all vehicles- not a full mod! Only applies to Gavril V8 engines, and you will have to go to the parts selector and change the ECUs to ones with "smart idle" in the title. I did this on my laptop so I can't screen record it but this is basically a proof of concept I did for fun, I tried to make a mod that did the same thing years ago when I was like 14 that was way crappier and modified game files, before I discovered the goodness of LUA controllers. I have several other cool LUA proof of concepts on my desktop at home for BeamNG.drive. In order to use this, put the zip file in your mods folder. I made some ECUs for the Gavril V8 engines that implement this. Also, if you open the zip file and go to "/vehicles/common/pickup/pickup_ecu.jbeam" there is a part called "pickup_engine_v8_ecu_demo" that has comments next to the LUA controller parameters explaining the different parameters. The smart-idle "Late ECU" performs differently with cold engines than the older "Stock ECU" for example. Also, you will only notice anything if you have "start vehicle engine preheated" turned off, because otherwise the engines are already warm. If anybody wants to use this in a mod, feel free. I posted this with hopes that the game developers will see it and take this and implement something similar into the game someday Original April 6th 2023. Updated June 7th 2024 at request of a modder
So is it OK if I use this in my new engine mods? If not, thats OK, and if yes, I'll give you credit. I just wanted to double check and just be sure.
Thank you so much! I've been looking for something like this for ages, and this was exactly what I needed. Thanks so much again!
Hey! This is an incredibly cool concept. I've been playing around with it for one of my mods, and I was wondering if you'd be interested in working on it again? I have a very basic understanding of how LUA works, but I think adding factors for added engine load, time override, and adjusting the "idleRPMStartCoef" (which affects how much it revs up at idle) would significantly increase the realism. If you're interested, shoot me a message on Discord. My username is the same there as it is here. Thanks! -xps
I’m home from college and have time to work on it today, this weekend, and many other days. I just added you on Discord.
To add to this. When coolant temp is low in addition to a high idle cars with automatic transmissions often alter their behaviour by holding onto gears much longer, refraining from locking the converter and avoiding engagement of the overdrive. It's all to get the engine warmer and more efficient as quick as possible. At operating temperature after a certain time of idling some engines lower their idle speed for efficiency too. I have no idea of what can or cant be implemented but thought it was worth expanding on this idea
It would probably be best to make this a separate LUA controller since these features would only apply to some engine setups, and it would get complicated fast. But maybe I will try it within the next few weeks, and if not feel free to go ahead.
