Figured I'd come in with an update on my progress for the next update. I found a 500cc mesh and an even closer to reality 250cc mesh. These are not high priority items to include, so I will not be holding off the update on their completion. As for the previous items. I am almost done with the retexturing of the existing items, so an update will be coming soon. I need to fix the wing shattering reality when it breaks, redo the configs, adjust some min and max variable values, and finish up the texturing first.
Update is awaiting approval! As always, feel free to message me with any feedback, positive or negative as I want to get this as close to perfect as I can.
I haven't loaded beam since the update was posted, so I did not realize I goofed on the frame textures! I will have an update in soon to fix that.
So I have been distracted for quite a while, but I am back to regularly working on the kart. I had fiddled with it here and there, so there are a ton of minor changes here and there. Most significant to performance is that I am including a non-locked center diff, which significantly improves handling for all configs. The engine meshes are coming along very slowly as I have burnt out on editing these meshes. They are not bad themselves but they are incredibly face-dense with the new 250cc mesh having over 400k faces originally. I have it down to around 37k right now and want to get it to around 12k at most before I start texturing and testing in beam. Otherwise, the stability with the next update is going to be slightly better overall with a significant bias toward the all-wheel drive variants due to the new center diffs. I will also be addressing the rusty metal texture issue I noticed today List of changes(Ones I can remember): Minor tweaks to frame and spoilers Tweaks to engine sounds They are very loud, but since they are motorcycle engines, they are supposed to be. If you would like me to lower the volume, let me know. Tweaks to widened suspension Addition of new center diffs Tweaking of some configs to better fit their intended purpose To do before the next update: Finish new center diffs Retune all-wheel drive configs Fix rusty metal texture Fix front widened coilovers I overlooked this one with the last update Try to simplify textures to reduce file size Simplifying the textures reduced file size to 295MB. I will take a look at the other files to see where else I might be able to reduce the file size I also changed the size of the preview images by half, so the file size when packed is now 195MB
Looks like the 0.27 update doesn't like the dummy's arms. The next update will also fix the arm mesh error. Also, I will be implementing the centrifugal clutch with the Predator engine since that one would use such a clutch instead of the cvt on the 250cc or the standard clutch on the 350cc variants. Since I have not seen a lot of use of the predator engine due to its similarity in performance to the 250cc engine, I hope this addition will make it more prevalent since the centrifugal clutch works very differently from the cvt
Update is up for approval! It is too late to add it now, but I also stumbled on a breakthrough for the bubble tires. They no longer lose grip in an unpredictable manner and absorb bumps much more effectively. I will be spending the next bit fine-tuning and they will be in the next update. Changes: Minor changes to the frame and spoilers Tweaks to engine sounds Fixed the widened coilovers Added new center diffs LSD Electronic LSD Kind of jank, but it works Added bypass shocks to front and rear Heavily WIP, but they work! Added centrifugal clutch to predator engine Fixed Dummy Arms Fixed broken textures Significantly reduced file size Removed a bunch of unnecessary files and images and resized those that do not need to be 2k Config Tweaks: 750cc Short Course Changed center diff to LSD Changed gear ratios Adjusted suspension 1000cc Short Course Changed center diff to LSD 1000cc Race configs Changed center diffs to LSD New Configs Predator 212 750cc Short Course Bypass Identical to the standard SC config aside from using the new bypass shocks Plans for next update: Improve bubble tires Improve bypass shocks Stretch goal(I probably will not have this ready by the time the main goals are met): Finish engine meshes
Figured I'd come in with a progress update: I am working on tuning the bypass shock configs and have gotten a new iteration of the bubble tires ready to go. I also added the separation of the rear subframe from the main frame. The engine meshes are taking forever, but progress is being made. Although there is not much suspension travel for this vehicle, there is a notable difference in how smoothly it drives with bypass shocks. I will be posting the update with the updated tires and configs as soon as I have the configs straightened out. After the next update, I will be looking more closely at instabilities when crashing and fixing the hyperextension of the front and rear suspension. The instability has been difficult to pin down because it happens super suddenly and with all configurations, but it is almost never predictable. Luckily, this only seems to occur with very high-speed crashes that cause the center frame to deform quite a lot. Since those fixes will take some time to work out, I will hopefully have time to finish the meshes by the time that release is done.
I managed to get the 150cc engine mesh finished last night. It just needs a new sprocket/chain mesh to finish it off. I am also getting close to being satisfied with the bypass shock tuning. I hope to get the new sprocket and chain mesh completed today so I can upload the update tonight. Below is a picture of the engine mesh in-game: Edit: I looked further into fixing the deformation of the coilover meshes and found that in order to make it look right, I will have to add 6 or more nodes to each coilover. Unfortunately, I do not feel confident enough that I could do so without sacrificing the stability of the suspension, so I most likely will not be making this a high priority until the rest of the stability issues are addressed.
Coming in to provide a quick update. I will be releasing one more update (Date pending progress) and then I will be taking a bit of a break from Beamng modding for a while. Do not worry about the progress of this mod as I will be checking the forums and discord for messages about bugs and will put in fixes for those ASAP. If there are any suggestions that pique my interest, I may also come back to tinker with those. It's been roughly 5-6 months of almost constant work, so I just want to take a little break to avoid burnout and actually play the game instead of spending all of my time with the kart.
I forgot to mention what the focus of the update will be. It will be focused on the one rear wheel setup. I have neglected it as I focused on other bits and couldn't quite figure out the suspension articulation. Planned changes: One Wheel config specific: Revamp of the rear suspension articulation The general positioning of the rear wheel was a rough guess, but now that I have a reference, I can fix the positioning Changing the engine mesh I will be changing the engine mesh to the new 150cc engine Creating unique parts This includes both visible and invisible parts Fixing missing textures Fixing the speedometer This will include removing all transfercases and diffs from the list since it doesn't have anything but the cvt and the chain drive. General: Attempt to fix the left-side drift. This could just be due to an imbalance when only one fuel tank is selected The suspension is fairly weak, so any imbalance will have a huge effect on handling I will be tightening up the front end (both steering and subframe) Strengthening the front and rear subframe connections Redo front subframe caster resistance This is in the form of precompression applied to the front subframe to counteract the deformation caused by the caster settings. What this does is allows for extreme caster to be set without causing the front subframe to bend a whole lot, which keeps the weight balance and handling of the kart at expected levels.
Coming in with a pre-weekend progress update. I have the one-wheel rear setup worked out and am now finishing up a few bugs here and there that have been causing instability issues. Since I wasn't able to get it done before the weekend, expect an update next week that will address the following: Frames: Adjusted some values to reduce the occurrence of instabilities Front Suspension: Adjusted standard front coilovers to be a little bit stronger Adjusted limiters so the front arms should not hyper-extend anymore Strenghtened the subframe connection Rear Suspension: Changed the geometry of the one wheel rear suspension Changed coilover rates of one wheel rear Wings: Stopped front wings from breaking the game Allowed rear wing to finally break off Configurations: Adjusted the bypass coilovers for the configs that use them Removed the dummy from the configs that have the 1000cc engine Bug I hope to have worked out: The dummy will break the game after intense crashes Here is a picture of the one wheel setup as it is now:
Update has been uploaded. Expect it to be available as soon as the review is done. As usual, any missing meshes and textures can be resolved by deleting the files "0.27/temp/vehicles/bigkart" and "0.27/temp/vehicles/common/tires/(big, kart, tiny)_tires", and "0.27/temp/vehicles/common/wheels/("kart, big, moto)_wheel". These are all of the temp files created by this mod, so deleting those will resolve any mesh issues without affecting the rest of the cache. Also, any suggestions and feedback are always welcome, but I will work on/implement them much more slowly due to taking a bit of a modding break for a while.
It seems that about a week is as long as I can go without thinking about this thing. I used the time off to participate in Automotiveflux's offroad showcase, which gave me time to think about ways to improve the off road capabilities of the kart. Unfortunately, the canon configs are about as good as they can get. However, I came up with a way to significantly improve the independent rear suspension. I decided to add a new rear subframe with new suspension mounts to allow the coilovers to be much more vertical, which should allow me to use more sane values for spring rates and damping while also allowing for increasing suspension travel in both directions and significantly reducing the occurences of the suspension getting stuck from hyperextension. This is achieved due to the coilover beams no longer being able to be near parallel to the suspension arms. I cannot promise I will take my time with this addition, but I will be using everything I learned over the past half year to make this part as stable as possible with the first release. The only negative I can see from this setup is that the engine will now sit much higher, which could result in a higher tendency to tip over, but the engine was always a small portion of the overall weight at 90-ish lbs for the heaviest non-car engine. Below is the first draft of the new rear end. The entire subframe is also lifted so it will not catch on rocks and whatnot and will also cause the kart to sit more level since the front and rear arms are now at the same level. Those bars near the coilovers are the cv axles.
I got it jbeamed and in game. It was not nearly as complicated as I anticipated. The next update will include offroad configurations that fill the same niches as the existing independent rear offroad configurations. This is to limit the amount of work I have to do on tuning new configs and to limit the number of variables I have to keep in mind while getting this stable. I also have been putting together other small tweaks to the powertrain and frame structure, so now you can do a burnout without skipping nearly as much. Previously, the rear subframe would spring back and forth under acceleration and the way I set up the torque arms for the wheeldata made the wheels wiggle around. The instability is still there a little bit, but it is significantly better now. My assumption about the coilovers was correct in that it needs a much smaller amount of spring rate and damping, but I was not able to reduce the weight much. The suspension is altogether smoother, especially over bumps and jumps at high speeds. The amount of travel is also significantly increased so now the arms will not get stuck unless you manage to get them to bend 90 degrees or more. Below is the old compared to the new in game. This was done before I started fine-tuning the suspension, but the overall appearance has not changed much. This update will also include some minor mesh changes to introduce new parts for the new rear end as well as major changes to existing parts to update UV maps and reduce face count further, so a cache clear of the file "0.27/temp/vehicles/bigkart" will be necessary.
I have the new rear subframe completed, so my next tasks will be finishing up texturing and tuning the suspension. I also added a visual representation for the rear swaybar, which looks a little jank when the rear arms are fully extended, but it works fairly well. The initial release of the new rear subframe will only include the 750cc shortcourse configurations for now until I can bring myself to erase the old subframe since there are already 30 some-odd configs already and I do not want to nearly double that number. I am also revisiting the weight of the IRS configuration since the difference in weight for the frames should only be something like 30-40 lbs, but it's currently over 200. This may or may not be in the next update depending on how much reworking I will have to do to make the lighter IRS frame stable. The swaybars are also getting reworked to function much better. I am focusing on the rear one for this next release since the higher end IRS configs tend to overpower the current rear swaybar. Here is the current look of the rear subframe and the new swaybar mesh
I don't mean to bump the thread so soon, but I got a lot done this week, so I figured I'd put a list of all of the changes since the last update. With the redo of the rear subframe and the reweighting of it, I discovered many areas that could be improved. I took to trying to fix them so I can include more than just an offroad configuration. This led me to increase the rigidity of the center frame and rework the steering. The center frame used to twist under torque way too much, which resulted in the front end being significantly out of alignment due to one wheel being raised. The tie rod connection was also really close to the center of the hub, which caused a lot of the force from the tierod to go into pushing and pulling the hub rather than turning it. The two of these issues combined meant that the IRS configurations would bounce and skip on the front end only when turning sharply. A neat side effect of moving the tie rod end is that now the steering is much more stable, especially under heavy g forces. So now, the IRS configuration is more prone to sliding than flipping over and should not start to skip unless you start getting into the 3.5+G territory. Before I update the kart, I need to finish up some sloppy meshwork, redo the weathered frame texture, fine-tune the new configurations, and take new pictures for the previews. I want to get this out as soon as possible, so I may not be adding configurations for the asphalt variants for the next update. Since nearly all of my work has been centered around the offroad aspect, I need to give the asphalt setup the same amount of love as I have given to the offroad setups. This could involve dedicated suspension rather than depending on the limiters of the coilovers to restrict the travel. As to when to expect the update: Real life issues might prevent me from working on the kart over the weekend, but I hope to finish this update early next week. Below is the complete list of changes since Monday: Frame New Rear Subframe This subframe is an independent rear subframe with a much more vertical suspension mount All IRS Frames Significantly increased the rigidity of the center frame This was done due to the high amount of torsion under power Reduced the weight by over 100lbs This brings it much closer to what it should be Standard Frame Slightly changed weights of various nodes This hasn't changed the overall weight distribution much since the changes were mostly in the center frame Suspension Front Updated steering box position Updated front hub node placement Fixed max steering angle being too low and causing suspension arms to spread at full steering Significantly reduced the amount of wiggle in the front wheels when turning sharply Rear Added new coilovers for the new rear subframe Added new swaybar setup Added swaybar mesh Engines Added new engines for the new subframe These are all positioned a bit higher relative to the kart, but they settle at almost the same height as the previous subframe Edited sound of Ducati Engine to take into account exhaust muffling Strengthened connection of exhaust to the frame/engine Further simplified the non-cvt engine mesh Spoilers Added new rear wing for the new frame Changed angle of front wing Tires Adjusted stiffness of bubble tires Wheels Adjusted stiffness of the 8x6 wheels Fixed missing collision on front 8x6 wheels Seats Significantly reduced bounciness of the seats As usual, any feedback or suggestions are always welcome
Post weekend update: As expected, I was not able to get work done on the kart this past weekend. So, today I wilI be discussing progress from today and the roadmap to the next update. While I was testing the suspension, I decided to start working on improving the deformation. Previously, the entire front, center, and rear subframes would deform as units rather than properly deforming with their nodes. This caused gaps to appear when crashing and made the floor deform in weird ways. To combat this, I am increasing the complexity of the node groups so that each pipe will have its own grouping and so far, it has yielded positive results. The floor no longer separates from the frame in weird ways and the rear suspension arms no longer disconnect from the frame unless they break. On top of that, I am still working on fine-tuning the rear subframe and working out some kinks with the front steering. Once I get those stable, it will be just a matter of tuning the configurations. Below is a few shots after a head on crash around 40 mph. To do before release: Finish front suspension tweaks Finish rear suspension tweaks Redo frame textures Finish node group changes. The rear subframe no longer stays a perfect square The floor now bends with the frame and the rear no longer separates from the center without a break occurring The vertical pipes now bend where appropriate rather than simply rotating with the general rear subframe
Okay, so tuning the bypass shocks has been a lot more intensive than I thought. I did manage to find a debug tool in the bypass damper lua file, which really helped me make sense of the way the jbeam was structured. It is almost ready, but I do not think I will be able to upload the update tonight due to still needing a few tweaks to the front suspension. When it is ready, I will have the 750cc SC config tuned specifically for the johnson valley short course track, which happens to need a similar suspension tuning as my Lucas Oil Speedway map does. I have decided to completely replace the existing independent rear subframe. This means that the one in place now will no longer be available after the update. The improvements to the independent rear setup with this new suspension geometry are significant enough that I do not feel that the original needs to be included anymore. What this means is that I will be putting together preliminary street configurations with the next update and will put my focus on the street configuration tuning for the following update. This update is the most extensive for quite a while with probably the biggest improvement yet, so I am excited to get it out to you all as soon as I can.
The update is almost ready. I just need to make sure that the changes I have made to the frame do not affect the standard rear configurations, and fix a few minor mesh issues. I also managed to get the front coilovers to deform 90% correctly without adding much weight at all (0.4 KG). I fully expect to get this all done today, so expect the update to come tomorrow! Below is a full list of the changes: Frame New Rear Subframe This subframe is an independent rear subframe with a much more vertical suspension mount Significantly improved deformation of all parts of the rear subframe Each bar now has its own group, so it can deform more independently Old IRS Rear Subframe Completely removed Standard Frame Slightly changed weights of various nodes This hasn't changed the overall weight distribution much since the changes were mostly in the center frame Significantly improved deformation The floor no longer detaches from the frame unexpectedly and will deform with the frame much better The frame bends much more realistically Suspension Front Updated steering box position Updated front hub node placement Slightly changed suspension mount position to more closely match coilover mesh Fixed max steering angle being too low and causing suspension arms to spread at full steering Significantly reduced the amount of wiggle in the front wheels when turning sharply Improved front coilover mesh deformation Added support beams to prevent twisting in the front arms Rear Added new coilovers for the new rear subframe Added new swaybar setup Added swaybar mesh Significantly changed rear IRS hub shape It's kind of unrealistic, but it is stable I need to add a mesh for the rear tie rods All Changed suspension sounds Engines Added new engines for the new subframe These are all positioned a bit higher relative to the kart, but they settle at almost the same height as the previous subframe Edited sound of Ducati Engine to take into account exhaust muffling Strengthened connection of exhaust to the frame/engine Further simplified the non-CVT engine mesh Simplified all exhaust meshes Updated node position of the high-end exhaust Spoilers Added a new rear wing for the new frame Changed angle of the front wing Tires Adjusted stiffness of bubble tires Wheels Adjusted stiffness of the 8x6 wheels Fixed missing collision on front 8x6 wheels Seats Significantly reduced bounciness of the seats Configurations Standard Frame Retuned tire pressure for race configurations Retuned caster on race configurations Retuned standard coilovers IRS Frame Replaced all existing configurations
With the update came one mesh issue. The exhaust on the side-mounted cvt engines for the raised axle is misaligned, which will be addressed soon. As for the next update, it will be focusing on improving the street oriented configurations for both the independent rear and standard frames. What this will involve is changes to hub shape to improve steering, changes to street and kart tires, finer tuning of the sport and race suspensions, and making the front and rear wings more stable. I am always open to suggestions or feedback, so please let me know of any issues you run into.
