Most efficient way to do a vehicle fuel system?

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#1

Simply, I’m just trying to make a fuel system in the most optimised way possible. Since it has a chance of being hefty on memory and performance if not done efficiently.
I’ve thought of comparing two position values; current and previous to see how much fuel needs to be taken depending on the fuel consumption the vehicle may have.
Any other ideas?

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#2

I don’t see why it would be hefty on memory - it’s just a single number representing how much fuel the car has, right? In my personal experience, I wouldn’t bother optimising it intensely unless you determine it’s holding you back on doing something else or lowering performance significantly.

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#3 
local Fuel = 100

-- Returns true if there is fuel, false if there isn't
local function ReduceFuel()
    if Fuel > 0 then
        Fuel = Fuel - 1
        return true
    else
        return false
    end
end

** bare bone example **

Then just call the ReduceFuel function when the cars velocity is > ~0.5 in a loop somewhere (I’m sure the vehicle system you’re using has a loop for adjust sound pitch). You should probably have some wait between the fuel reduction too otherwise it’ll empty too quickly

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#4

Would of thought putting it in a loop would be slightly memory intensive

#5

Alright thank you

#6

It’s not something you need to worry about, especially if it’s just subtracting a number. Large, complex operations, maybe - but this is very quick stuff.

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#7

Okay makes sense, thanks

#8

This is a small example of fuel being consumed linearly over time.

local car = {}
car.__index = car

car.Capacity = 100
car.Consumption = 0.5
car.TimeSinceRefuel = 0
car.Started = 0

function car.new(capacity, consumption)
    return setmetatable({On = false, Capacity = capacity, Consumption = consumption}, car)
end

function car:Refuel()
    self:TurnOff()
    self.TimeSinceRefuel = 0
    self:TurnOn()
end

function car:TurnOn()
    self.On = true
    self.Started = tick()
end

function car:TurnOff()
    self.On = false
    self.TimeSinceRefuel = self.TimeSinceRefuel + tick() - self.Started
end

function car:GetFuel()
    local on = self.On and 1 or 0
    return math.clamp(self.Capacity - self.Consumption*(self.TimeSinceRefuel + on*(tick()-self.Started)), 0, self.Capacity)
end

return car
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#9

I typically have fancied doing a system where you need to be pressing the throttle for the fuel to be used (this way if they let off the throttle they can "coast)

I also check the velocity.magnitude of the vehicleseat, and had set “speeds” where they would lose more fuel or less fuel. Kinda as a “fuel saving” dynamic. But this was for racing, and probably more advanced than you’d need.

Then I had a brick that when hit, it would set the fuel back to 100.

3 Likes
#10

Interesting concept though

#11

Helpful, thanks