I own 2 different cars, a 2009 Ford Mustang GT, and a 2015 Subaru WRX. Well, I run dedicated winter tires for both cars during the winter and for the summer the Mustang runs all seasons, and the Subaru gets Bridgestone RE-71R's (Pretty much a slick with tread). Both cars have vastly different steering feel even when they both run the same winter tire (Bridgestone Blizzacks). Now you might be asking your self, "What does that have to do with Beamng and FFB?" My suggestion is for different cars to have different FFB settings (user adjustable) and when you run different tires to have more or less slop in that setting to simulate the difference between like a race tire, and a eco tire.
beamng is all about doing everything as realistic and physically accurate as possible. they will surely not implement a "fake" feature like this. tires with different grip levels should naturally feel different when simulated correctly - there is no need to fake it.
There is no "faking" anything, right now with my G920 the T series and a Sunburst Race have the same FFB feel. What I am trying to suggest is that different cars have their own base setting, like for instance, a Sunburst Race would have really tight steering inputs and a 98 Pessima would feel loose. Tires would also have an effect on the FFB settings as well, a sticky race tire would tighten the wheel and add more FFB where an eco tire would loosen up the wheel and give less FFB. When I run winter tires on my WRX the steering feels light and I don't get a whole lot of input from the steering wheel when I push my car. When I put on my summer tires, the wheel is a lot tighter with more steering input that I can feel in the wheel. And when I drive my Mustang even with the same tires on it it feels nothing like my WRX.
I can agree with this... but only marginally. I agree that all the cars should feel different... but I don't agree in having the user define how it feels... you can't (well, you can... but that's besides the point) change how a car feels just off the cuff, so why in a simulation should you be able to do so? The cars should feel like themselves and nothing should be able to change that. That being said, the vehicles do feel slightly similar... Is power steering supported in Beam for force feedback? If not, it should be, and each individual car should have its own force feedback strength. I own quite a few cars and I think that this may be where you're coming from. My Corvette has a heavy engine and has low force power steering, so you really have to muscle it around to get it turned. The Mustang also has a low force power steering, but it is light up front (four cylinder) so the steering feel is only slightly stiff. The Subaru is light and has a mild force power steering, so you don't have to try very hard to turn it. Lastly, my Chevy K10 is very heavy, but has a VERY strong power steering system... you could practically lick the steering wheel to turn it (no I haven't actually tried that) as the force required to turn the wheel is so low. This in turn means that in the Corvette you can feel even the smallest imperfections in the road (I can feel the difference in fresh road paint and worn road paint... not kidding) and my K10 I wouldn't be able to know that I just ran over a foot diameter tree laying down. This I think should be implemented.
Tires, suspension, and steering rack also play a huge part in how a car feels. I think you are also right about not having user adjustable ffb per car.
The force you feel in a real cars' steering wheel is coming from the stiffness and aligning torque of the tire, the suspension and steering geometry, compliances, etc. We simulate all of that and it all varies totally between our different vehicles, tires, and steering setups. The force sent to the FFB wheel is a direct measurement of the forces at the steering rack, scaled using the FFB settings to hopefully make full use of the wheels force range. If you don't feel the difference between vehicles then it could be because your FFB settings are causing the wheel to "clip" the forces. Most wheels, like the G920, are only capable of a few Nm of torque, far less than a real car. It's important to scale the forces correctly, otherwise there will be no more feeling after the wheel's torque has maxed out. If you haven't done so, open the "FFB Graph" app, and make sure the force is not constantly being capped by the force limit. If it is, you can scale up the "Max Strength" or reduce the "Strength" in the FFB settings until it doesn't exceed the force range in typical driving. If you want stronger "power steering" so that you can drive over a log without feeling it, just reduce the force settings. Most FFB wheels are basically like forced power steering because they don't have nearly enough torque to replicate a real car. To me, the point of having FFB in a wheel is to help the driver by informing what the tires are doing. Putting in a feature to make the steering feel dead and slow, and harder to feel what's going on, is totally counterproductive. Instead, in the future we aim to make sure all the cars make use of the full dynamic range of the wheel.
No no no... that's not what I mean... I don't want it to be user adjustable... I want it to be hard coded into each car by the devs. This would also then give them the ability to simulate a loss of power steering. Some cars it wouldn't be that big of a deal, but in trucks, you would hardly be able to steer. And while Tires, suspension, and steering rack all do make a big difference in how a car feels, all of that is already in the game. There is nothing left to be done on that part. It's just all the cars drive as if there is no power steering in them. Edit: Got Ninjaed by Goosah That makes sense, I happen to be playing on a G920, so since you bring it up, I am going to go check that out right now.
