Since feedback after the inclusion of the new propulsion revamp by mugling is split between different threads and, apparently, still have some balancing/bugsquashing pending PRs to be included, apologizes in advance if the following problems/sugestions doesn’t belong here (The other 2 topics by mugling are about multiengines & fuel consumption):
- As with most pre-revamp “mobile base builds”, mine was killed by the new changes. My “deadend” is triggered by the new gear system. Stats of my Mobile Base: 7.5T, Diesel Traction Engine (6.2L) with 3 alternators attached (Truck, Car, Motorbike). While selecting forward speeds, the cruise speed options are 32->64->75->85 km/h. The stat readouts states that my speed categories are (O/S/T): 53/75/85 km/h. Over roadtiles the readout of the gear dial states the following when the cruise speed is reached: 32(4th), 64(6th), 75(6th), 85(6th).
Problem #1: “Safe Speed” isn’t safe anymore… After just travelling for 1h in-game at 64 Km/h, my engine got damaged. Reading Mugling’s PR changes I understand that finnaly he is trying to incorporate the concept of gearboxes into the game and going for long periods at max gear strains the gearbox itself and if the rpms of the engine really go too high for too long, it will damage/burn the internal combustion mechanisms.
Problem #2: I can NEVER cruise at a given gear nor select the optimum speed for a given gear with the current implementation of the UI controls. I understand that the current control paradigm is somekind of “automatic gearbox” that tries to use the optimum gear for a given total engine power vs vehicle mass vs desired speed. I also understand that final vehicle speed is subject to rounding to “tiles per turn” to provide a smooth drive experience were the user can predict how many turns needs to reach a certain obstacle at a given speed, which trigger all the typical havoc of going from continuous formulas to discrete operational values.
I understand the MONUMENTAL work Mugling is attempting so I know this situation will improve over time. I also read the interesting conversation were Coolthulhu exposed the concerns about system complexity/accesibility. I want to add a couple of suggestions because my “Mobile Base” is really a common combo: Close to 7.5T (But always less) because is the weight you can support with a bottle jack, diesel because it’s the most efficient fuel IRL, Traction 6.2L because is the most common engine “heavy” vehicles current templates come with.
Gear Control. We have the traditional Cruise Speed control now as the ONLY control paradigm. How about keeping a 2nd control paradigm were the user is just concerned about engine safety and each up/down key press is just a gearbox change followed by a “safe rpm” resulting speed? (You can go as far as to add a 3rd one were the rpms selected are the optimal one so the resulting speed on a given gear is the most efficient for long distance travel).
Gearbox as component. ATM gearboxes are integrated into the whole engine. IMO this is a waste of potential variety that will force modders to create an unnecesarily big array of engine definitions to arrange for different power/speed pairs at different operational masses which, in turn, makes a mess to try to deal with multiengine configurations. There is also a whole set of reassons (related to “intuitiveness”, realism and easyness of programming) behind specifically having exposed the component in charge of converting power into acceleration on a vehicle model, but are too long to explain in a suggestion on a general thread like this.
BOTH suggestions are specifically addressed at making the system easier to use, richer to tweak and easier to program/simulate.
