Morph
The body of the car can be forced on the movements of another object. So you can, for example, use a simple cube to apply animated sequences to the simulated car to create spectacular, physically perhaps impossible moves or simply force a car onto a driving line.
Tyre Temperature
From the friction of the wheels with the ground, the simulation calculates the heat on the surface of the tyres. The friction is caused by slippage when accelerating or slipping when braking. The values ​​can be mapped to a vertex map of a tyre polygon object, e.g. to dynamically change the texture of the tyre using a vertex map shader or to control an emitter for tyre smoke.
Collision Check with Underbody
So far, only the upper sides of the body have been checked for collision with the ground in order to realize a rollover of the car. Now, the underbody is also tested for ground contact. An adjustable vertical offset allows to take extending vehicle parts in the center (e.g., driveline or exhaust pipes) into account. With this feature, e.g. an off-roader can sit on a hilltop or a race car gets stuck in the gravel.
Lane Changes
Vehicles can now change the the driving line, i.e. the route object. The command to change is transmitted to the car via a new command object. Thus, e.g. branches or overtaking maneuvers can be realized. This new feature entails that cars no longer drive the assigned routes in the order of the object hierachy, but always chooses the nearest starting point of all existing route splines.
Support of Command Instance Objects
Instead of the original, also an instance of a command object can now be located in the command objects group. Thus, the original can be placed anywhere on the object hierarchy. A typical application example would be a command to change lanes, which is placed in the body of a slow-moving vehicle. A faster car approaching from behind passes over this movable command object and changes the lane to overtake.
New Execution Condition for Commands
The previous condition “Stationary” for the execution of a command has been changed to the more flexible condition “Speed”. Only if the car moves over the command object with the speed within the specified range, the command is executed. The previous “Stationary” behavior can be achieved with the value range from 0 to 1 km/h.
Improvements of the Gearbox
The gearbox has been stabilized and optimized for high engine performance. It should no longer come to simulation errors when using high gear ratios.
Size of Speed Points Adjustable
The drawing size of the speed points in the view port can now be edited.
Update DRIVE! 2.01
Improvements in Working with Speed Points
Speed ​​points can now be positioned either percentual (as before) or metric. In the percentual positioning mode, the speed points retain their relative position when the spline object e.g. is scaled. When editing route splines in point mode, e.g. to extend the length, the metric positioning mode causes the speed points to remain in their absolute position.
Cruise Control
Normally, the car has to drive a route with different speed points a few times to learn the driving commands necessary for the different speed data. This usually creates a natural-looking driving behavior. Alternatively, there is now the Cruise Control. With this option, the car drives right away with the right speed (as physically possible), which is interpolated very accurately between different speed points. The disadvantage is that a lot of small corrective interventions on the throttle and brake must be performed.
