FreeGameDev

There are too many karts, which differs from each other only by the look. I think it would be great if each kart would have it's unique attributes, like speed, weight, maneuverability, etc.

For example, the elephant car (PHP) would be heavy, and a little bit slow (but it could easily change others' karts direction when ramming them + nobody else could push the elephant out of their way).

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Screenshot from an old game called "Re-Volt":

Hello lelkoun,

lelkoun {l Wrote}:There are too many karts, which differs from each other only by the look. I think it would be great if each kart would have it's unique attributes, like speed, weight, maneuverability, etc.

For example, the elephant car (PHP) would be heavy, and a little bit slow (but it could easily change others' karts direction when ramming them + nobody else could push the elephant out of their way).

This has already been discussed:
http://forum.freegamedev.net/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=1624

Oops, sorry about that then.

Good idea. I think it would be very cool

We all want it to come true, but first general physics for all karts need to be fairly finalized, which is the goal for the upcoming 0.8 version. So for 0.8.1 and 0.8.2, getting good personalized values for all the different karts would be awesome.
This would probably need community effort and input, since balancing all the different values can be done by tweaking an XML file, and thus we should try to off-load the programmers as best as we can. But waiting for the physics to settle down a bit first is probably a good idea.

I'd like to help with said physics engine however I can, but the to-do list really only mentions improving work on skids. Are the improvements meant to be just problems found in the bug catcher, or are there other specifics that I haven't tracked down?

Silvian_Bruno {l Wrote}:I'd like to help with said physics engine however I can, but the to-do list really only mentions improving work on skids. Are the improvements meant to be just problems found in the bug catcher, or are there other specifics that I haven't tracked down?

there are also collision issues : at this time karts and too easy to turn around, kart that collide can get stuck together instead of "bouncing"; when you hit a wall, even at an angle, you can come to a dead stop instead of being deflected; after jumps the kart may come to a stop because the chassis hit the ground. etc.
if you're interesting in physics, you can talk more with Joerg (aka hiker)

Auria {l Wrote}:

Silvian_Bruno {l Wrote}:I'd like to help with said physics engine however I can, but the to-do list really only mentions improving work on skids. Are the improvements meant to be just problems found in the bug catcher, or are there other specifics that I haven't tracked down?

You better look at our trac system, I think the todo list on the wiki is outdated (I'll have a look at that).

there are also collision issues : at this time karts and too easy to turn around, kart that collide can get stuck together instead of "bouncing"; when you hit a wall, even at an angle, you can come to a dead stop instead of being deflected; after jumps the kart may come to a stop because the chassis hit the ground. etc.
if you're interesting in physics, you can talk more with Joerg (aka hiker)

I am already working on the physics, but any help would of course be appreciated. Note that the problem of the chassis hitting the ground is mostly solved ('mostly' since it's nearly impossible to fix in all cases: if the kart falls long enough, it will be very fast, and then tunneling through the ground. But it should be fixed for all reasonable falls). The missing bounce is being added atm as well

Cheers,
Joerg

Absolutely agree with the fact that it would be better if each cart had its own attributes. Just recently unlocked the new gru cart and was expecting something a little different. Only thing I notice with it is that it don't leave skid marks, due to the fact it is a flying rug. lol. Any way, how can we help to make this possible?

at this time mostly programmers can help, with the finalising of the physics. After that, though, everyone can help tweak and test kart settings

1volunteer to help test here...... Thank you