Fri Aug 21, 2015 11:08 pm by Infiltrator
I wasn't meaning to avoid your questions, I just didn't think I would be the best person to comment on it. But I'll give it a go.
Yes, it would be a design challenge to figure out the best way to put in more that about 6 gears. Maybe 2 columns with 5 text boxes in each for the gear ratios and one below that for the diff ratio would solve that. That would remove another column however but that could be resolved by combining the 2 sliders for top speed and spacing into one column or reducing some of the extra space in the differentials and gearbox selectors. Maybe there is another - better solution. Either way, I don't think its too hard to get space for them on the current page. I'll have a go at mocking something up to see how it could fit together.
The time to implement should not be that much at all as the ratios should be there already. Looking in the car trim files there is
-- Table: {8}
{
["TargetTopSpeedFraction"]=0.83,
["DiffRatio"]=3.36,
["Option"]={42},
["TargetTopSpeed"]=210.93550674103,
["PowerDistribution"]=0,
["Ratios"]={43},
["RatioSpacing"]=0.5,
["DriveType"]={44},
["Type"]={45},
["Differential"]={46},
},
It would seem that this car would have the diff ratio as 3.36 so this number could be displayed in the diff ratio text box. As for the other gears, they may need to be calculated. I'm not sure what ["Ratios"]={43} actually means to know what the easiest way of converting that into real world values would be. They seem to be evenly divided by the number of gears selected so the starting slider values should not be that hard to populate form the already calculated values either. Maybe multiplying them or dividing them by a factor to take them from game numbers to real world numbers but still not months of coding. So the space issues and coding time issues don't seem to be that big.
So I guess it comes down to the why. Why do it?
Looking back to nialloftara's point about the camshaft system is pretty spot on. Most car enthusiasts wouldn't know what the real differences is between camshaft grinds so a slider on that is perfectly fine. It removes that complexity but still keeps the essence in the game.
However gear ratios are known about by the vast majority of the car community - it is even a standard specification shown by most car manufacturers in their basic specification charts.
Attached is the specifications of the MB 350SL from the 1970's. tire sizes, compression ratio, number of gears, fuel tank size (something else that we don't have - yet) - all are standard advertised specifications for the vehicle.
And that's kind of the point. The absence of such a basic thing as gear ratios is obvious in it's absence. Its not really that adding them will add to the game, more that not adding them subtracts from a game that is otherwise the most accurate automotive simulator ever attempted. Its like making a luxury car and then only giving it three wheels. The fourth wheel might not be necessary, but its absence is noticed
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