Spongy Terrain - Suggestions and ideas needed!

Hiya devs!

I’m currently working on a vehicle system and since terrain is the quickest way to build a track, that is what I have been using.

There is one problem with this however - whatever material I use (sand, mud, grass, etc) all terrain floors are as hard as a rock!

As you would imagine, this causes quite a bumpy ride with plastic cylindrical wheels.

My first solution (see below) was to simulate tire pressure using constraints, which when properly set up is really awesome to drive with.

The issue with this solution though is that the constraints can lag tremendously upon setup, and is not very scaleable, especially on low-end devices.


A possible solution

The only other way I can think of working around this (besides making terrain surfaces flat) is to create the opposite of what the physical property 'elasticity' provides - spongeyness.

A sponge deforms as another object collides with it, which is essentially what a tire does. It is also what mud and sand does to some extend when a tire runs through it.

The problem is, I have no idea how to do this. I feel it should be a feature request but can’t see it being pushed any time.

Any suggestions or ideas as to a work around or simulation of this would be immensely appreciated!

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I would just not worry about the tires at all and use dampened SpringConstraints as shock absorbers. I’m not a car expert, but I do know that good tires aren’t a replacement for your shocks.

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