0.2.6 - Track Tension (Geometrics Alpha)

Sprocket

Carefully balance mobility, firepower and armour in a dedicated tank designer. Then uncarefully put them to the test in a series of combat scenarios progressing through the ages of the tank. Here, your limit is what you can fit inside your hull and turret while still being able to move forwards.

Hi all, This update is for the 0.2 alpha branch, so you'll need to opt-in to play it: [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/40992535/d3987dbd1af5d3e89278c8b07e45bc608fb55289.png[/img] Here's track slack (surprise!). This long requested feature was at the top of the list of the biggest potential improvements to how tanks look in Sprocket. The 0.2 rewrites made it too easy, I simply couldn't restrain myself any longer. [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/40992535/805c42ed8c31fb816a0a74b5c32035c0b9e347d5.png[/img][img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/40992535/3889755829067cbce1204411a7b17deada5ea059.gif[/img] Fully adjustable in the belt's settings: [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/40992535/4f67160f4fa93ec1bbced7bf844d655ce9a4a6a2.gif[/img] Different parts of the track will sag more depending on which way the sprocket is currently pulling the belt: [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/40992535/6f606c9f468e62aa0af8dc552a90f0917e82083f.gif[/img] This has been done in a way with miniscule performance impact, but let me know if you notice a frame drop. [h2]Additions[/h2] [list] [*] Added track belt sagging and jiggle physics. [*] Added micro bumping to the tracks, to simulate driving over terrain features too small to be done via normal collisions. This is very subtle on the current purely concrete maps. [/list] [h2]Fixes[/h2] [list] [*] Fixed crewmen being spaghettified when exiting the vehicle editor while an overlay other than the exterior overlay is active. [*] Stopped flickering of track segments while the tracks are moving. This also improves their motion blur. [*] Torsion bar length and diameter now correctly affect suspension strength. [*] Stopped the camera being obstructed by the vehicle edit platform. [*] Edges of plates no longer block selection of internal parts in interior view. [*] Fixed exhaust plumes splitting at speeds. [*] Fixed suspension arms not correctly resetting when returning to the editor. [/list] [h2]Changes[/h2] [list] [*] Improved accuracy of belt wrapping algorithm. [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/40992535/dea60578589e1c177eb2c1fbdd24b4ba525bd912.png[/img] [*] Suspension spring torque and maximum range of motion now visible again. [*] Damper changed from an absolute value to a percentage. [/list] [h2]Optimization[/h2] [list] [*] Sped up detection of which part is under the cursor by roughly 500%. [/list] I'm going to spend the rest of the week on further improvements to this because I'm having a lot of fun and you can't stop me. [i]Then[/i] the promised work on combat begins. - Hamish