Would it be possible that every time you reset your car, or at least start the game, that your car’s engine can default to off?
you can do that somewhere in the options menu but I am not exactly sure where in the options menu you can find that option.
No that's not possible and not easy to add either. I experimented with this a while ago and it turned out to be too involved for the little gain it brings.
Well you could make a config without a fuel tank or a battery pack. Engine will be off, guaranteed. Sorry for trolling, but that's the only way if you must have it.
I have done this pretty while ago and in another thread it has been discussed. Back then I offered Diamondback to look at the code I changed, it is very subtle and effective. But I understand the devs have a broader view on which code brings inconvenience and which doesn't and that they don't have the time to respond to all suggestions and requests that we have come up with. Anyway, main reason they don't want to proceed with it is because they suspect it will mess up the traffic system. Again, I tested it and everything went just fine. Indeed when traffic respawns you can hear the cars starting again and that seems a bit 'unnatural' but it works (they just keep driving), especially if you don't use the traffic app.
Unfortunally BeamNG has too much "things" that too away from REAL WORLD car using experience (realistic mirrors, this starter behavior, fuel refill, poles and signs collisions, more realistic and smart AI are SOME of thats). OK, rename the game to "BeamNG CRASHES" and keeps going along narrrow path. Really, I CAN shut up the engine and START it again in game, but it completely "impossible" to do for default. Change the logic algorithms and you got new possibilities to move forward far the horizon.
I'm sorry you feel that way. BeamNG is not a crash simulator and we strive for the biggest realism where possible, but you'll have to understand that resources are limited and this is too complicated in the bigger picture for the little gain. While this seems like an important topic to you, currently there are other things that have higher priorities. Please also note that I never said it's impossible to add.
I saw somewhere that the problem was with AI/trafic who spawned with their engine off, which is indeed pretty problematic and I understand that it's not in beamng's quality standards to make an option with written on it "impossible to use with AI and traffic", but the repository has no (or almost) quality standards, maybe it would be possible to add this as a mod and make the people who download the mod to accept the fact you can't use AI with the option activated ?
Alright, first the link so you guys can see what I was talking about earlier : https://www.beamng.com/threads/spawned-vehicles-with-engine-off.66209/#post-1079245 Back then I just altered some code in the core files (really not much though). But indeed with what I know now (namely that lua controllers can be used in a mod only) yes, it's possible to make this as a mod and if you can patch it as a mod PLUS find a variable that only applies on the car being driven (which I think there are a few, not sure) THEN you could also apply this 'patch' as a core file. I don't have time for this right now, too much work with my CTK mod, but the question remains if the 'car being maually controlled variable' works waterproof.
I'm actually kind of curious having read through the responses: What exactly is so hard about spawning the car with the engine off? A turned-off engine is less dynamic than a running one, so intuitively it seems like it would be easier to spawn a car with the engine off than with it running.