Why BeamNG Should Add Airbags — Featuring the Inflated Mat 1. Realism and Immersion BeamNG.drive is celebrated for its soft-body physics and crash realism, but it lacks one major safety feature: airbags. These devices save lives in real-world crashes, and their absence in BeamNG leaves a gap in: - Crash test accuracy - Roleplay realism - Interior safety simulation Adding airbags would elevate BeamNG’s reputation as the most realistic driving simulator. 2. Gameplay Expansion Airbags could unlock: - Crash test missions with scoring based on deployment - Emergency response roleplay with realistic vehicle damage - Occupant simulation (future feature) with injury modeling Players already simulate seatbelts, dashcams, and collisions—airbags would complete the safety suite. 3. Modding Foundation: The Inflated Mat The Inflated Mat is a built-in BeamNG item that: - Has soft-body physics - Can even lift vehicles when airborne This makes it a perfect proof-of-concept for airbag development: - It could be scaled down and embedded in steering wheels or dashboards. - Triggered on impact, it could simulate airbag deployment using existing physics systems. - It’s already part of the game — no external mod required. ️ 4. Educational Value BeamNG is used by engineers and educators to simulate: - Crash dynamics - Vehicle design - Safety systems Airbags would help demonstrate proper seating, impact zones, and injury prevention, making BeamNG even more valuable as a teaching tool. 5. Future-Proofing BeamNG As BeamNG evolves toward: - Interior damage modeling - Occupant physics - Advanced vehicle systems Airbags will become essential for maintaining its reputation as the most realistic driving simulator.
Y'know, I don't generally consider myself astute. So when I say that I'm overwhelmingly sure that a post has been completely written by an AI, I should hope it speaks volumes. Needless to say that I have some trouble picturing a brand-spanking-new user drafting this monster of a needlessly-itemized boardroom pitch for what is—generally—a banal and perhaps slightly ill-considered idea. With that out of the way, I'd like to actually address the arguments at hand. First of all, yes, airbags being set off in a collision is technically more realistic than what we have now. This is true. And present or future occupants/crash test dummies might benefit from the simulation of secondary or tertiary collisions. However, it seems like there is a bit of a misunderstanding as to what BeamNG is going for here: BeamNG.drive is trying to be a satisfying and performant simulation of driving, and BeamNG.tech (the industry/educational build), is trying to be a realistic simulation of vehicle dynamics. But industry-level crash testing was never on the docket, and in my opinion, probably never should be. Also, performance is an issue, especially in this game. Now, in a vacuum, the structural needs of an airbag might not actually be all that demanding. You'd still have to figure out how to make a structure expand abruptly while being very light and maintaining tensile rigidity (two things that BeamNG is not particularly good at doing at the same time), though it's hardly a complex structure. But, most modern airbags deploy from the steering wheel, and IIRC, all BeamNG's steering wheels are props, which means that they don't have any physical structure to start with, and can't serve as the base for other structures. And, yes, I can totally picture the airbag deploying into the driver camera to be a huge distraction to gameplay. Like, this isn't just a case of "oh, but it'll wreck the performance" or "it's too hard for the devs," it just plum does not sound fun to me.
