The reweighted frame actually went really smoothly, so it will definitely be in the next update. I have only one more obstacle I need to tackle with the tires before I will be ready to upload the update. I may not have said this recently, but the performance changes in this update will be centered on the welded front configurations. This is due to them being the only ones that can potentially use the kart tires. I also decided to take a look at stability under braking and acceleration. In the current version, if you slam on the brakes the front and rear will skip slightly and you will see inconsistent skid marks because of this. I tweaked the torque reactions on the front and rear and as of now, the front has absolutely no skipping under braking and the rear has just a tiny bit. The rear wheels appear to be unstable due to weird oscillations in the drivetrain, which I was able to reduce, but not remove. I also added a big block V8 because, well, it fits. Given the current status, I hope to get this update completed this weekend to be available on Monday!
Sorry for the delay on the upload. The packer took another dive on me for some reason, but this time I had a backup. I finally got it fixed and uploaded just now. The file size is much larger than before, due to some texture file duplicates, which for some reason caused the packer to corrupt the files when they were deleted. It also created files that indicated custom file explorer views (general, pictures, music, etc...), which I had to manually delete to allow the packed file to be read. Anyways, I hope you all enjoy the update when it hits the repository! It is probably the most impactful racing-oriented update to this kart to date. Due to the packer issues, I was not able to include the configuration corrections in this update, so I will be working on configurations for the welded front race configurations and posting those sometime soon. Edit: The wheels will still twist and fold on themselves when using the v8 or v10 configs and slamming on the throttle from a stop. You'll need to gently roll on the throttle from a stop, but it'll be fine once you start moving. I plan on making some ultra heavy (12-18 lbs) wheels for these two configs, but I want to finish getting the spring and damp ratios perfect on the current ones before I move on. Edit Edit: While working on the configs, I noticed a few more things I can change to further improve the stability. These changes will cause slight differences in handling with the welded front configs, but it will be slight (better grip while turning, better steering response, slightly less weight shifting, slightly less shaking under hard braking).
While working on the new configs, I figured I'd reweight the rest of the realistic frames. The next update has been a bit delayed as I got a bit sidetracked working on that and adding a new bodykit. I also made further changes to the tires, which I hope will be the last changes I will make to the kart tires until an update changes the tire physics. The bodykit is for the dark owl scintilla! The i4 engine and the exhaust fit with very little modification to the model and the rest needed zero change aside from scaling. Changes so far for the next update: Frame: Independent rear Reweighted the frame to be more realistic This one was actually much closer than the standard frame with only about 30 lbs of weight savings Standard Further tweaked beam spring and damp values Suspension: Independent Rear Changed torque reactions to align with the standard frame's axles Changed some beam values Wheels: Slightly modified the kart wheels Added even smaller dark owl wheels Tires: Significantly modified the kart tires This does not change the handling a whole lot, but it does improve stability at higher speeds Engines: 500cc Changed engine sound to the i4_4 sound 600cc Changed engine sound to the i4_4 sound 900cc Changed engine sound to the i4_4 sound various tweaks to engine sounds across the board aside from the 250 and 350cc engines Increased friction values and reduced engine braking torque Transmissions: reduced the gear whine for the 6-speed race transmission Misc: Added the dark owl bodykit This one adds significantly more downforce to the front and even further lowers the center of gravity compared to the sbr bodykit
I have finally added something that actually makes sense! A racing kart body kit! It is lighter than the others at 30lbs vs. 50lbs for the car-based ones and it has a little bit of downforce on the front end. Both the main color and the striping are colorable and it is the only bodykit with a weathered skin so far. Testing out the 250cc config after the tire changes and frame stiffness changes made me realize how much better at handling it is than the rear engine variants. There is a bit of weirdness when at a stop with the brakes applied, but otherwise, it is a pretty solid competitor for the 350cc configuration despite the lower top speed, especially on tighter courses. The standard frame configs are super close to irl weights now, so I do not think I need to revisit the weight unless I discover something else while researching other materials. I am still working on a few more tweaks to the frames and configs, but I hope to get it all together this weekend.
The update has been uploaded! This update definitely expanded in scope beyond what I had intended. There was so much I discovered while working on the configurations that I figured I'd push this update back a bit. The changes in this update make the 250cc and Predator configs feel like I am driving the rental karts at my local track. Especially in vr. The axle hop is very predictable now and the tire bounciness is only really present at speeds below 15mph or on very bumpy roads like those made of meshes. I bring this up because no matter how smooth the mesh appears, the transitions of the faces are sharp. This really isn't an issue on roads made from the terrain block, but those made from meshes, such as the new area in West Coast USA, are very bumpy to this kart. Due to this, and with the changes to the Standard frame configs altogether, I am feeling like I am finally getting close to something I could consider a 1.0 release. I still need to work on the independent rear frame since it likes to explode and completely redo the rear coilovers since they do not act as I would expect. Below is the list of changes for this update: Frame: Independent rear Reweighted the frame to be more realistic This one was actually much closer than the standard frame with only about 30 lbs of weight savings Applied the same rigidity changes as seen on the standard frame Standard Further tweaked beam spring and damp values Suspension: Independent Rear Changed torque reactions to align with the standard frame's axles Changed some beam values Front (Standard and Welded) Added meshes for the front brakes Wheels: Slightly modified the kart wheels Added even smaller dark owl wheels Tires: Significantly modified the kart tires This does not change the handling a whole lot, but it does improve stability at higher speeds Engines: Predator 212cc Changed sounds to be less harsh 500cc Changed engine sound to the i4_4 sound 600cc Changed engine sound to the i4_4 sound 900cc Changed engine sound to the i4_4 sound various tweaks to engine sounds across the board aside from the 250 and 350cc engines Increased friction values and reduced engine braking torque Transmissions: Reduced the gear whine for the 6-speed race transmission Made the race cvt and centrifugal clutch transmissions more stable Transfer cases: Introduced One Way Viscous Coupling to all of the transfer cases This significantly reduces the strange oscillations in the powertrain that result from the relatively low gearing. Misc: Added the dark owl bodykit This one adds significantly more downforce to the front and even further lowers the center of gravity compared to the sbr bodykit Added the race kart bodykit It's lighter than the others at 30 lbs vs 50 It protects the tires Has a slight downforce effect on the front end. Retuned almost all of the welded front configs excluding the V8, Vivace, and Autobello configs
Here is a quick video I threw together to showcase the new handling of the welded front configurations and a slight update to Kartland.
I have an idiotic question: If the dummy has a helmet, but no clothes, is he naked? (Not trying to be rude, I love the mod, I just couldn't get the thought out of my head.)
Something I forgot to add to the changelog. I finally added new cameras! There is one above the handlebars, one by the front right wheel, and one by the rear left wheel (IRS configs only). I originally added these for debug purposes, but I found it a lot easier to drive the race configs from the handlebar view. I apparently lied when I said I was done with the tires. I was doing research for a new project and found out that the tires I based the kart tires on have extremely similar friction properties to the vanilla drag tires. So the next update will include the for realsies this time final kart tire changes. I am also adding in head and tail lights for the race kart bodykit and looking into adding them to the others.
The next update will also have the config names clarified. For all of the race configurations, I will be putting their purpose first, then their engine size. For instance, "250cc Welded Front Race" will now be "Indoor Race (250cc)". I want to do this to help clarify the different configurations' intended purposes. For example, the 250cc welded front race is incredibly touchy, but that is just fine for indoor courses since they are very tight anyway and the 350cc welded front race config is tuned for better overall stability due to the more open and more dynamic nature of outdoor courses, but if you take it indoors, you will struggle to keep up with even the 150cc config. I am also in the midst of making a skin and uv map for the race kart bodykit. This was a lot more time-intensive than I thought it would be to make something that looks smooth, but so far it looks good enough to be worth it.
I found a way to increase the stability of the welded front steering so that it is almost perfect. The front wheels now properly lift and lower their respective sides and properly lever the rear wheels. What this does is significantly improve the turning circle of the indoor configurations and further stabilizes the front end. This does come at the cost of around 6kg of weight, but the benefits have outweighed the cost so far. The way the steering is set up now is that the hubs are still connected together with front and rear tierods, but each hub has its own torsion hydro, which will twist the hubs around their individual center points. The nodes created for the torsion hydro also have the benefit of adding further structural stability to the front end without sacrificing flexibility. The front arms are still 100% independent and are only linked through the tie rods. I also have nearly finished with the kart tires for real this time™. They have grip up until around 2-2.2 Gs at which point they slide instead of skip (unless you overload the chassis by cornering too quickly or accelerating too much while turning) and they feel just about right on the weaker configs as well as the higher-end ones. I also changed the Hard tires to have about the handling characteristics you would expect from rental karts with lateral Gs at around 1.5 peak. I also finished the skin for the race kart bodykit! Right now, I am at the stage where I am testing configs and tweaking the jbeam as needed for the welded front configs, and am still in the early stages of improving the standard front suspension. I finally got around to combining the front suspensions intended for the independent rear and standard frames, so now you can use the alternate front suspension with the standard rear axle suspension or the welded front suspension with the independent rear. Also tweaked the electric motor sounds to actually be audible now and sound kind of similar to actual kart motors. Overall, this next update will be fairly big in terms of improvements with a significant emphasis placed on the front suspensions.
After working on the existing geometry of the independent rear suspension, I decided to simplify it. Previously, there were 13 nodes per side (4 frame connections, 4 in the hubs, 3 for the coilovers, and 2 for the anti-roll bar) and going forward there will only be 9 (4 frame connections, 4 hub, and 1 coilover). My hope is that this will allow me to make the suspension stronger and less prone to oscillation under heavy loads like you see when turning with the high rev race configuration. So far, it is significantly improved and the handling of the off road configurations is significantly more manageable. I still need to finalize the jbeam tweaks, tweak the variants, fix the asphalt variants, then finish tweaks to the general steering before I consider the next update completed.
Why do I fell like this is gonna be used in a Youtube video soon. Also this looks fun to drive down the crash hard hill.
There are a few already. If you search "Beamng kart", there will be a few that show up. Muye did one when this mod was very new. Edit: if you try to take it down the crash hard hill, you'll want to change the diff ratios. Most of them are set to have sub-100 mph top speed.
So the next update is taking quite a while longer than I expected. There was a lot more to fix with the independent rear than I expected, which led me down a rabbit hole of issues. Changes since last post: Wheels Made major changes to wheel beam structure for the kart wheels Tires Added collision to the kart tires and the bubble tires Bubble tires are now stable up to 80 mph. No more spinning out in a straight line at sane speeds. Kart tires now handle braking and turning much better Suspension Welded Front Reverted the welded front steering to the standard hydros Added an additional hydro to the rear tie rod on the welded front steering Changed the caster to be adjusted by selecting a part The parts have 0, 5, 10, and 15 degrees of caster The stiffness of the front arms can now be adjusted This kind of works like anti-roll stiffness, but the arms are still independent. Independent Rear Adjusted Torque reactions Now the brakes no longer make the front end lift up and you can somewhat control the pitch with the gas and brake in the air This is still slightly unstable, so it's still being tweaked Front General Corrected torque reactions Rear General Corrected torque reactions Engines 350cc Fixed the fuel consumption to be closer to real-life Lowered the volume 1000cc Redid sound I4 engines Started working on a much better model The current model is very messy and it will take way too much effort to fix it with very little payoff Started working on a new engine sound General Updated new engine materials They look much closer to new-ish metal than dough Bodykits Race Kart Added the digi gauge
I am actually pleased with how the handling is coming along, so I thought I'd put together a quick video of a lap on Suzuka with the V10 Config: The tires are finally mostly stable when accelerating from a dead stop aside from on the drag strip and dumping the clutch There is still a lot I need to tweak before I will be 100% happy with it and the independent rear suspension still needs a bit of work at this time.
Something I forgot to mention is that I now have an I3 engine model! Right now it only applies to the 750cc engine which is only found on the independent rear suspension. The I3 engines will only be on the independent rear due to how the exhaust is routed. This will also be the first engine that I made that will have an animated intake. This is due to the intake being fully open, so you can see the butterfly valves. I am also working on making some I3 engine sounds since the vanilla sounds don't quite fit. Here are some pics of the engine:
I got the engine sounds recorded, so I threw together a quick video showcasing the new models and sound. The map is Lucas Oil Speedway made by me.
While working on the independent rear suspension, I started thinking about how much it handles like an ATV, so I thought I'd put in a swing arm rear suspension to better simulate atv handling. It's still pretty early at this point, but it is functional in game and just needs the meshes to be tweaked, which will be a pain as I still haven't thought of how I would have the chain deform properly yet, for each engine that will fit to be modified, and to have different coilover options. My idea for the drivetrain would be to have a set of nodes that go from the axle to the engine in kind of a diamond shape. It's still a long way away from jbeamed chains, but if it looks good, I'll apply it to all of the solid axle drivetrains. The independent rear is getting better, but it still causes explosions when sliding sideways into a wall. All in all, it's mostly been a bunch of tweaking of beam values to get it to be sturdy and also stable this past week. Here is the swing arm in game currently.
For some reason, the 0.31 update broke the orbit camera on the kart. I have a fix, but I am still in the process of tweaking the suspension. However, I expect to have the update in place fairly soon.
