How to Make Arcade Car Physics?

Hello everyone,

I was wondering how to make a car physics algorithm like NFS Most Wanted 2005? I don't want any code samples or screenshots. I just wonder how to make it, the logic behind it. I tried to make my own custom physics but I came across some problems.

- I made a suspension script and used a raycast to apply a suspension force onto the car body from the suspension location (AddForceAtPosition). The result wasn't like I wanted. The car was bouncy as if the suspension is soft (no stiffness).
- When the car goes uphill or jumps from somewhere, the car's collision hits the ground and that collision slows down the car too much (almost stops the car). In other games, the cars continue its movement.
- The car can get stuck so easily while moving on rough terrain.

This is the shortest video I found in order to demonstrate the physics I want. As it can be seen from the video, the car looks like sticks on the ground (as if there is no suspensions) and the roads' shapes don't affect the car. (The car doesn't slow down too much when it hits the ground)

EDIT: At 3:35, the car goes uphill and jumps but the car's movement doesn't change a lot; and at 3:55, the car gets air but the wheels don't extend as if there's no suspension.

 

Looks spline-based to me. Just have a bunch of splines. Road width is stored per spline point. It's very stable, and an existing technique for old consoles. Jumps are simply accounted for in code. Note the colliders for the track have infinite height, basically you do not leave the current spline, at least for that video as far as I can see.

 

I'm sorry but I couldn't understand.

The car is controlled by a player. How can it be spline-based? Also, the game has a free roam feature; so I don't think spline will work. Could you explain this idea a bit more?

"The colliders for the track", do you mean the walls that shows the direction the player should go to? The game has a free roam feature. When a race is finished, the walls disappear.

 

So you want a free roam feature too?

 

Yes, I want the players to be able to drive their cars in the map freely.

 

This is 2D but it's not that hard adding an extra dimension to it, i think he even talks about it there, but i watched this a long time ago so i don't remember.


did you try using the unity wheel system?

 

https://assetstore.unity.com/packages/tools/physics/edy-s-vehicle-physics-403 is the best I've used for arcade physics. I would just be parroting to you what that does otherwise, so I'd suggest you buy that and pick apart the code - or search for edy's posts - basically the magic sauce is in creating stabilizers, code that will load balance between your spring damp forces for each wheel.

 

I tried the demo, but I'm not looking for realistic physics. Thank you for the suggestion.

My main problems is collision. The car can easily hit the ground when I tried to jump off a ramp or go uphill and that makes the car slow down too much, even stops the car.

Another example can be GTA V. The cars in GTA don't slow down that much even though the car you use is super low and close to the ground. Even if they collide with the ground, they don't slow down too much.

I have been searching this subject for years, and I couldn't find any physics algorithms like the physics algorithm in the video but realistic ones.

 

I'll watch the video later and try it; but in 2D, the surface (terrain) is flat so the car doesn't collide with the ground. That might not be the thing I'm looking for.

I tried the wheel system but that's kind of realistic physics.

 

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... what.

 

I think, I achieved what I wanted by "faking it". (More likely improved).

I added damping to my suspension code to solve the bouncy problem. I also changed the collision mesh of the car and added capsule and box colliders in front of the car. Box colliders are placed diagonally and a capsule collider is placed in front-middle of the car. I changed the friction values of the physics materials to 0 for both the ground and the car. Now, it works like the physics in the video; but still it feels like something wrong.

I'll continue to work on the algorithm and try to find a solution.

 

fyi, the collision for the car body itself only takes up the upper half of the car's body so it doesn't get stuck on rough terrain and steep bumps such as curbs, and this can be seen in rare situations where another car (usually a cop) rams you from the bottom while you're flipped on the side