Bumpy Roads

[Optional Features]

So that begs another question: obviously simulators are a popular genre of game, and people play them with intensity. So a. is there no hardcore audience for trucksims and SCS's arcade approach makes the most sense based on the community or b. have hardcore players tried ATS, gotten bored, and left behind a group of casual players that are frustrated by things like a truck slowing down on hills?

I think the latter, but it would be interesting to see a hardcore sim come out and the community reaction to it.

[plykkegaard]

I doubt enyone wouldn't like bumpy roads, but we also need to realistic as it comes with a price (performance)

One way to do is to use bump mapping to change the polygons based on the texture thus simulate the reqquested uneveness and bumps on the road surface
I do not knowif current version of Prism3D support this feature or if it is possible in the future - anything is indeed possible it is merely the work needed to implement the feature (cost vs benefit)

As a very crude example you goto to any logging site in ATS, most have bumpy dirt roads

[HICHAM]

Today I played a very old racing game that I had for ages.. Race 07.. omg the feeling of the road.. the force feedback when you under steer or over steer.. you can even feel the curving of the road.. I wish we can have this game's force feedback in ATS or ETS2.. I think the game is from 2007

[Optional Features]

Today I played a very old racing game that I had for ages.. Race 07.. omg the feeling of the road.. the force feedback when you under steer or over steer.. you can even feel the curving of the road.. I wish we can have this game's force feedback in ATS or ETS2.. I think the game is from 2007

I'm going to get criticism for this example, but I got my steering wheel to work in GTA once (a game that was never designed to support wheels), and the potholes actually make driving difficult in spots. That's not a simulator; it has horrible driving physics; and it wasn't made for wheels.

This is a simulator, has better although not good driving physics, and yet the roads are smoother than newly paved asphalt. Just wait till they get to the upper Midwest lol. Welcome to Chicago or St. Louis or Gary, Indiana with smooth roads: talk about unrealistic lol.

[Duke49th]

I was using convoy mode over the weekend with a friend of mine, and he made an interesting point, something like "this road feels smoother than it looks." The road we were driving on (a default part of the Colorado DLC) had a number of cracks in it, sealed with tar. Irl, each of these cracks would have resulted in some feedback from the steering wheel. American road crews are almost notorious for their inability to replace a hole or crevasse with anything other than a bump. But this is ATS, and in ATS, all paved roads are smooth as butter.

Expansion joints? Level with the roads and bridges they connect.
Manholes? Flush with the road.
Visible cracks and tar seals? Smoother than the asphalt that surrounds them.

So the question is why? It can't be that difficult to add a small collision to these objects to make the driving experience a bit more realistic. Team Reforma has done it with their expansion joints. Why can't the SCS team?

Much of the current map is on newer, more well-maintained infrastructure, but some day in the future, when we're driving on butter-smooth roads in St.Louis or Detroit or Chicago, this game's levels of realism will reach unprecedented lows. Just my two cents.

Totally agree. Roads have all the same feeling, except some unpaved roads. But that's about it. Two different roads in terms of how they feel.

I currently read your threads from your signature and think you have some good ideas.

[Optional Features]

@Duke49th I appreciate it!

I really want to see the game improve, and some of these things could greatly help. The unrealistically smooth roads make driving way more boring than it should be. As one person described, it's like flying almost, not driving.

[Calibuddy99]

I wish the spots where you drive across the concrete pavement on bridges made those bumps and noises. That would be cool.

[Optional Features]

I wish the spots where you drive across the concrete pavement on bridges made those bumps and noises. That would be cool.

Ah yeah, concrete makes all kinds of weird sounds.

[Unster]

+1. I've been asking for this too. I don't "feel" the roads in this game. It's like the trucks just hover over the surface. To get the wheels-on-road effect, you wouldn't need actual bumps in the road. The driver camera just has to move in a convincing way with some gentle random sway when the truck is moving. I'm surprised after all these years and more trivial features added, this basic feature is still missing from these two games.

[Optional Features]

+1. I've been asking for this too. I don't "feel" the roads in this game. It's like the trucks just hover over the surface. To get the wheels-on-road effect, you wouldn't need actual bumps in the road. The driver camera just has to move in a convincing way with some gentle random sway when the truck is moving. I'm surprised after all these years and more trivial features added, this basic feature is still missing from these two games.

Someone compared the driving in this game to flying. And yes, I agree: any kind of movement or vibration to show the effect of speed would be nice.

I want bumps for areas like the joint between two bridge sections, the transition from highway to overpass, a patch on the road or tar seal, obviously potholes, and even areas where two road surface types meet (like concrete to asphalt).

It would do a lot for the driving experience.