Will it be possible to make a hovercraft and have the physics realistic? Just and random idea/question.
Or you could painstakingly do it with thrusters, or even worse, propellers. So no, with realistic physics its kinda possible.
I don't think so because buoyancy physics haven't been implemented yet, the only way I think it could be possible is with a lot of invisible wheels, or a jbeam with very low friction and possibly hidden thruster's for propulsion and directional control but still you wouldn't get the hovercraft feel of it "hovering", a rudder would be possible but it wouldn't be ideal because it would be useless for turning at slow speed Edit and by the time I finished typing this 2 more people already posted the same thing I was going to say lol...
DrowsySam is working on a Helicopter, I imagine something of a similar design but with the rotors flipped could make a decent 'hovercraft'.. With a lot of work of course, maybe something like this.
I'll make an improved version of my RoR hovercraft design as soon as it's possible. I already tried a quick proof of concept that failed due to some missing features. Pressure under the hovercraft can not be simulated directly, so it has to be faked in some way. In RoR I did it with propellers that have constant rpm but variable blade angle. They keep increasing lift until each corner of the skirt has almost no weight on the ground. If a corner does rise off the ground, blade angle is quickly reduced to simulate pressure escaping from the skirt. That's important to keep it from flying off or flipping. In RoR that was done with triggers. If a beam's length could be measured and used in lua, something similar could be done in BeamNG. Propulsion was done with the same kind of constant rpm variable angle propellers. Quick to change from forward to reverse thrust. Steering was done by turning the propellers, so it could turn almost on the spot. The skirt was soft, flexible and low friction, so it could handle some uneven ground. Buoyancy would be needed to make it work properly in water. It should still nearly hover above the surface. If we had some kind of range finders, the hovercraft could rise slightly off the ground without dragging any nodes.
That is along the lines of the design I was thinking of. Something like they experimented with in the 50's. - - - Updated - - - I hope it comes along without to many issues. It is for sure a difficult task but the outcome will be with out a doubt awesome! Thanks!
