[mod] Vehicles [vehicles]

[D00Med]

Thanks, I've added the yellow lambogoni

[Wuzzy]

Interesting mod, but it needs much work to become actually useful.

The driving physics are pretty simple. IMO they are too primitive for my taste. It seems there are only 3 speeds: Stop, normal speed and turbo speed. There's a slight accelleration mechanic, but it happens so quickly that this effect is barely noticable. You usually go from 0 to turbo very quickly. Especially the accellation behaviour needs improvement IMO, otherwise the vehicles are just fancy tools to increase your walking speed. :D
Backwards is exactly as fast as forwards. IMO would be better if backwards is always a bit slower.
Also, I dislike how backwards driving works. You can go from turbo to backwards almost instantly. It would be better if the backwards key first acts as a brake before it actually goes backwards.
It is interesting that the looking direction determines the driving direction. Obviously this is not realistic at all but I think this is intentional and a core mechanic of this mod, so I don't criticize it here.
The controls of the vehicles don't make sense. It is just all over the place and completely inconsistent with conventions.
The models are pretty neat!
The collision boxes of the vehicles need some love as well. For some vehicles they are so small you can easily walk “into” the vehicle. IMO collision boxes do not need to be perfect, but it should at least make sense.

Placement/removal of vehicles is awkward. IMO placement should happen with right mouse button, it's more consistent.

Suggestions:

- Separate nodes from vehicles (I've posted a PR on your GitHub page)
- Add sounds
- Move “turbo” action to the “Use” (E) key instead of sneak
- Use space bar for special actions, if available (shooting missile, etc.)
- Add brakes, and use the sneak key to activate it
- Place vehicles with right mouse button instead of left

[D00Med]

Thankyou for your advice, it's very useful.
There are a few things I think should stay the same though.
The physics is definitely WIP, I hope to improve it later.
The reason I used looking as the control method is because it appears to be faster than using buttons to turn the vehicles. When I can improve the physics this might change. As far as I'm concerned the controls are fine, but I agree that 'e' is much better than 'shift', I was going to save that for when I made brakes. Collision boxes are a problem. Ideally they should be square and match the length of the vehicle, but that would make them very awkward to move around, or is there some way to rotate the collision box? Also the placement of vehicles is dependent on my ability to program, I haven't been able to get pointed_thing to work with right-click.

[DS-minetest]

I agree that 'e' is much better than 'shift'

better call it "aux1" and "sneak" for players, who dont use the standard key configuration

is there some way to rotate the collision box?

you cant really turn it, you can only change the size with set_properties(object property table) (api) and the collision box is defined in the object property table, maybe it works

[D00Med]

oh yes sorry.
hmm, I could at least set it to be longer if it rotated 90degrees with the vehicles.

[Wuzzy]

Please don't say “aux1” (unless developing) for the [E] key either. This is a very obscure and arcane name and will likely not be understood by players.
The key is officially called “Use”, according to the key configuration menu. We should speak the language the players speak. :-)
Yes, the name is stupid, as this has very little to do with using stuff. But it's the official name. I proposed to change the official key name to “Turbo”: https://github.com/minetest/minetest/pull/4703

[azekill_DIABLO]

Why does the running key is called "use"?

[Wuzzy]

I don't know. Paramat agrees it is a terrible name, and we are discussing to change the name.

[LazerRay]

I think the reason why the "E" is named "use" is because of other games that have it assigned to that function such as games made by Valve and Bethesda, plus quite a few small developers, so it might just have that name since that is what a lot of players are used to.

[Andrey01]

DOOMed, will you add more vehicles(police, ambulance, fire car, larry, bus and tram)?

[D00Med]

I will, but first I want to improve the physics and add brakes.
I am working on a model for an ambulance.

[AnxiousInfusion]

The minimum functionality is great as is so the only thing that really struck me as "off" when driving a vehicle is the ominous silence. The sounds do not need to be anything fancy, just something to suggest that the player is moving... quickly. Bonus points for embarking/disembarking sounds as simple engine startup and shutdown noises.

Edit: Almost forgot why I commented in the first place: Do you plan to add crafting recipes eventually? I think it would not make sense to map a single recipe to something as sophisticated as a vehicle. I would recommend a cascading recipe where players must craft, for example, an engine, a frame, wheels, etc and then assemble those into a final recipe.

[azekill_DIABLO]

i agree that the vehicules could do noises!
but i love the plane system!!!!

[DS-minetest]

the most mod makers are happy if some others give them media to work with, especially sounds, because they are difficult to make self

[D00Med]

I agree, and thankyou for the suggestion.

[AnxiousInfusion]

Bug: Breaking a vehicle from within while in third person perspective causes player model to disappear. Only in-game fix I have found has been to get back in a vehicle and break it while in first person perspective.

On that note, third person perspective feels really natural for cars. Maybe there is a way to make 3rd person default view for entering vehicles?

Other oddities:
1. Cars drive underwater uninhibited.
2. Planes can fly backward.
3. Boat immediately breaks on placement.

[D00Med]

That has been really annoying me, I can't seem to fix it.
That'd be great, but so far I've had trouble with that. I can make it seem like 3rd person from 1st person, but the hand/weilded item is still visible and the view gets stuck (just like the invisible player).

regarding the other problems:
1. will be fixed
2. *facepalm* will DEFINITELY be fixed
3. will be fixed.

There is a big update coming.
edit: I've fixed the player dissappearing(not updated yet).

[D00Med]

Udated!:
>added driving sound for cars
>added accelleration for cars
>vehicles require ammo for weapons
>planes can no longer fly backwards
>vehicles slow down in water
>fixed an error in the parachute
>vehicles explode when destroyed
>stairs dependancy is now optional
>vehicles can be removed and picked up if there is no driver
>fixed the jet flying away after exiting
>added crafting recipes and materials

changes thanks to Wuzzy:
>added setting vehicles_nodes = true/false
>added sound to basic nodes
>made tyres fall
>changed tunnel lights texture

[DS-minetest]

nice

[Andrey01]

Good changes, but i thought that you have added new vehicles

[DS-minetest]

see the missile from the jet as own vehicle, you can get on it

[D00Med]

I don't really understand what you're saying.
Only the missiles fired with the remote control can be ridden.

[DS-minetest]

in init.lua line 30
also, i tested it in game, the missiles by the jet can be ridden

[D00Med]

Yes, they only look like those the jet fires though, the ones used by the jet and tank have no collision-boxes, and also no attach function(line 90). The other missile is just for fun. If you launch it with the rc, you can control where it goes by looking around.

[XtremeHacker]

Fianlly, a vehicle mod that doesn't just add cars, or boats, I want stuff like construction trucks, tractors, etc, and this is editable to those of you who have your own idea(s) on what should(n't) be in this mod.

[D00Med]

construction trucks? O.o for digging?
I'm going to try that.

[AnxiousInfusion]

So last wrinkles:
- Right now, acceleration feels linear. It seems to behave like this:

when it should probably really behave more like this:

- Driver nametag sent to coordinate 0,0,0 ... probably intentional. Only multiplayer affected
- Some vehicles have "health", making breakdown to item difficult. This make sense for the tank though.

Feature ideas:
- Inflicting damage on pedestrian collisions.
- Vehicle ownership. Person who places the vehicle should own it, would be very helpful for servers.
- Passengers (Perhaps they can ride along as metadata?)
- Consumable fuel. This could give incentive to not use vehicles as simply a fast-walk-everywhere-mode.

[D00Med]

^my maths skills aren't particularly great, but this is what the acceleration should look like.
I have no idea what is causing the nametag thing.
The health should only work whilst they are being driven, otherwise they should just drop a spawner.
the utes can carry passengers.
Thanks for the ideas!

[AnxiousInfusion]

Okay I didn't know the Ute already had a passanger example. I know I'm probably being really overbearing here but I really like your mod and just want help polish it.

I've made an adjustment that makes cars feel more natural and also provides a GTA/Saint's Row style orbit cam effect i.e. cars only turn when there is input on the throttle:

Your phone or window isn't wide enough to display the code box. If it's a phone, try rotating it to landscape mode.

Code: Select all

local yaw = entity.driver:get_look_yaw();
      if ctrl.up or ctrl.down then
         entity.object:setyaw(yaw+math.pi+math.pi/2)
      end

Of course, planes would not need or ctrl.down.

EDIT: Oh, so that's why they seem to start off so slow... an acceleration graph for an actual Lamborghini is shaped like this:

[D00Med]

That's a really nice suggestion. I've been trying to come up with a better way to make the vehicles turn, so I'll add that when I'm finished. Ok thanks, I'll try and fix that.

Edit: try it now, using one of the cars.