I am in the midst of designing an Engine and Transmission simulation for a game mode i'm developing. Starting out i know i need to figure out how to make the vehicle accelerate, at the wheels.
By using setElementVelocity, you would get a very unrealistic outcome. Accelerating the vehicle based on the motor specs, vehicle weight, transmission ratios, throttle position, and some physics, then setting the element velocity would be a good idea. But what about when you go over a ramp? You are mid air, still accelerating, going faster, because your throttle is down. In a real life situation, once the wheels leave the ground, you stop accelerating (physically). So i need to use something other than set element velocity.
Another situation, is when you are behind another vehicle. Hitting the vehicle would cause some resistance against the acceleration, but using setElementVelocity would act as if the sports car was a AM General with a 14 liter motor, pushing through anything it pleases. As the vehicle would hit that velocity, no matter what.
I need a procedure that allows me to accelerate the vehicle to a speed i want, but slow from outside forces, and not get any faster once the wheels have left the ground.
It seems to me, if i use the setElementVelocity route, ill need to check for much more and do much more calculations per frame to simulate collision response, and distance from the ground. Any ideas?
