We are back with another Dev Diary, this time focusing on Quality of Life changes - and there are some big ones this time around! Let’s dive into it all.
New sensor block toggle allows you to turn off a specific sensor with one input.
Was previously a possibility for the braniacs who could program it themselves but now there is an easier way for us mere mortals.
From the creators of Block Banning, we humbly present: Block Limiting.
Set a limit for specific blocks and how many of that block are allowed on blueprints.
A number will be displayed next to a limited block, showing how many uses you are allowed.
We have had a major technological breakthrough that will send ripples throughout the global gaming industry. You can now make blueprint folders on consoles!
The blueprint tab has been fitted with a new folder system across all platforms. Console players will finally be able to group their blueprints and Steam users are free of the hassle of creating the folders manually in the Windows File Explorer. Rejoice!
As an added bonus, we have done some heavy optimization on the blueprint menu in general, giving it 2x faster loading speed and loads fast no matter how many blueprints you have.
Okay it’s time for the really spicy one.
This is one greasy burger so let’s devour it in small bites:
We got rid of a ton of bugs and issues with wheels with our new Jobified Wheels. It was something we developed to overcome the challenge of making tank tracks and it’s just a much better system overall, so we are rolling it out on all the wheels.
Should provide much better stability, and way less jitter.
Static friction (park on slopes).
Moving ground relation, both on dynamic and animated stuff (driving on moving things).
Multiple hits, creating better interaction and stability in complex collision situations (like rock climbing, wink wink ScrapMan - we are a climbing game now, you can stop playing Cairn).
High fidelity gearbox/torque calculations, which allows similar gearbox responses on all wheels independent of wheel inertia (i.e. give the possibility to streamline gearbox induced topspeeds for all wheels).
Give all wheels the possibility to interact nicely with snow and mud, instead of just ignoring it and driving on the terrain collider.
Structure on Structure, now with 99% less spasms.
These are not really required from a technical point of view, but since we are changing wheel behavior anyways, we have a window of opportunity to change some old design choices.
All wheels output similar torque values, instead of limiting certain wheels (truck, monstertruck) to low speeds.
Set the gearing to accelerate slower, but reach higher top speeds to make motor-based cars more feasible, instead of rocket-based.
Make larger, wider wheels behave better than thin and small wheels in soft surfaces (mud, snow, grass, sand) so they get a clearer use case and play a role in the campaign progression
Allow the users to tweak tire pressure and friction (highly requested and useful, AND should make it easier to fix old vehicles that now misbehave because of the technical changes)
The new Tire Pressure- and Traction configurator.
This was the last blogpost of this Dev Diary campaign. Next week we’ll be switching to the classic livestream format where we will dive into the new, free blocks.
Full Schedule: