Arcade game gravity

sorry if i'm not the first with this question but...
is this normal practice to change gravity constant in arcade games?
my case is connected with arcade race game where car get max speed in about 2sec (in real world we get it in 10-20 sec, right? but its too boring for game) and while car overcomes a hill and jumps with g=9,81 it seems like a swimming in jelly
so, is any advices to calculate right forces, wheels friction curve and stiffness, suspension, etc? or just estimate on eye?

thanks!

 

There is obviously a difference between making an arcade game and making a simulator. For a simulator, you want to compute all of the physics very accurately. For an arcade game, you want to computer those things quickly and you want to prioritize fun over realism. With an arcade game, you will probably ignore a lot of the forces and come up with simple equations to approximate the experience you are trying to deliver.

 

so, answer on question about gravity is "yes" and other forces just estimate on eye?

thank you! i just thought that i missing something with my model, but changing gravity solves a lot.

 

I almost never leave gravity at the "realistic" default of 9.81. It feels too floaty to me. I normally kick it up closer to 20.

 

I always leave gravity alone and change the mass of the object. Would this be considered bad practice?


Edit: Wouldn't the size of your world effect the way the physics play out? Maybe scale your world to the real world size?

 

Lots of games don't use "real" gravity constants. Tweak it to suit the feel you're looking for.

You may also want to look at the Rigidbody properties like Drag.

 

It's normal to do whatever it takes to get the results that feel right to you. But making a point of starting out with dimensions and masses that approximate those in the real world could save you a lot of trouble later on and help you get to the desired results faster.

No, but I don't think changing the mass will compensate for the effects of gravity. v = v0 - a * dt. No m in there.

 

In my opinion it MUST be in arcade games. Arcade is not simulator or something like this, it has right to be funny

 

Counterintuitively, mass has no effect on gravity in this scenario. An object of mass 1000 falls at precisely the same rate as an object of mass 0.001. Only relative masses matter (that 1000-mass object will of course kick the 0.001-mass object all over the place and never even feel it).

It is indeed world scale that matters. If you build your world with the scale of 1 unit = 1 meter, then gravity will be "correct" and things won't feel "floaty". If you use 1 unit = 1 foot, then naturally you should set gravity to the value of G in feet/sec/sec (which is around 32 IIRC).

 

If I'm going to need to change the physics lots, generally I'd take it as a sign that perhaps physics are not the right answer to the problem at all.