Report: The Importance of a Steering Column in Realistic Vehicle Models in BeamNG.drive

Introduction

BeamNG.drive is renowned as one of the most realistic vehicle simulators, thanks to its advanced soft-body physics. However, despite its many strengths, there is a crucial detail missing from most vehicles: the steering column. This mechanical component connects the steering wheel directly to the steering mechanism and plays an essential role in transmitting forces and feedback between the driver and the car.

Problem Statement

The absence of a steering column in most vehicles, both in the standard game models and mods, creates an indirect steering feel. This has several negative effects:

1. Unrealistic steering dynamics: Without a steering column, the direct interaction between the steering wheel and the front wheels is not accurately simulated, leading to a less authentic driving experience.


2. Lack of physical resistance: The forces typically transmitted through a steering column—such as resistance during turning or feedback from road surface variations—are not realistically conveyed.


3. Reduced precision: Steering feels less accurate, especially at higher speeds or during complex maneuvers like correcting oversteer.



The Importance of a Steering Column

In a real vehicle, the steering column mechanically connects the steering wheel to the steering rack, ensuring:

Steering inputs are directly transmitted to the wheels.

Feedback such as vibrations and resistance is felt by the driver.

The car responds more realistically to variables such as road surface and speed.


Incorporating a steering column into the physics of BeamNG vehicles would greatly enhance these aspects and elevate the driving experience to a new level.

Solutions and Recommendations

1. Development of a standard steering column model
BeamNG developers or experienced modders could create a standardized steering column component that can be easily integrated into existing and future vehicle mods.


2. Education within the community
Modders should be made aware of the importance of a steering column. Tutorials or guides on how to implement a physical and virtual steering column in BeamNG vehicles could be highly beneficial.


3. Integration into existing vehicles
Modding teams can retrofit their existing models with a steering column by modeling a mechanical linkage between the steering wheel and the steering system.


4. Feedback to developers
BeamNG developers can be encouraged to include a steering column as a standard feature in vehicle physics. This could be discussed through official channels such as the BeamNG forums or Discord.



Conclusion

The implementation of a steering column in vehicle mods and models is a small but significant step that would greatly improve the realistic driving experience in BeamNG.drive. It would make the simulator even more appealing to those who value the art of driving as much as the physics behind it.

Call to Action

Let’s work together as a community to address this issue and push the boundaries of realism in BeamNG.drive. By raising awareness and implementing these enhancements, we can improve the simulator for everyone who appreciates authentic pilotage.

 

If you do some digging in hydros.lua youll find how ffb is calculated today, they already take the tie rods (basicly the ends of the steering rack, and in short the steering column) into consideration afaik so other than angle of the tie rod to rack (the closer to the hub gives more steering angle but risk of banding and so on) the input should be there?

Whenever i get some free time i try to wrap my head aroundihydros.lua and see if i can sort two things i think is underpresented in the ffb feeling; tire grip limit which atleast in my hypthesis should increase ffb when close to slip, second thing is wheight of the vehicle and especially the rear end of the vehicle.

Right now i think its simulated by sensors.gx (x-axis only in current hydros.lua and for obvious reasons) and i think its the COG or just centre of the vehicle. In my mind it should be something like sensorsF.gx and sensorsR.gx meaning ofcourse Front and Rear so one sensor per wheel axle, which would give the g-forces more detail where i i think it should matter the most.

Also i increase the side forces in the ffb menu, manually, to around 0.8, in the inputmaps file, which might be a tad high for most but lets me balance the car much more easily using wheight shift around corners.

 

Tell ChatGPT to do better research next time