Would you like a public test to be held for this steering to see how it affects gameplay.
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As some of you may have noticed, the dev server brought an updated steering type known as double differential to the Elde to fix some steering issues that vehicle faced.
However this steering type has been tested on other vehicles, and benefits to driving efficiency and of handling.
Because instead of removing power from one side, this new method directs power to the outside track, meaning it is a “regenerative steering” method.
As shown in the video below, loss of power by steering is dramatically reduced with the double differential steering. And for vehicles with steering stability issues like the scimitar, drivability is improved too!
Thanks to Zenturion and Maho for doing this testing and putting the code together!
So, how do we feel about this addition? Would we like to see it added to other tanks who featured double differential or a similar steering systems?
For anyone that wishes to test it themself, here’s the WT-Live Post for the UserMission;
Notes:
You’ll have to bind “ground vehicle left brake” and “ground vehicle right brake” in order to turn as sharply as you’re probably used to - from my experience, binding & using these controls will essentially make steering identical to how it is currently. You should also be able to increase/decrease the input-sensitivity by increasing/decreasing the multiplier in the “Edit Axis” menu.
If you have reached a decent amount of speed, you can let go of the W key and just use A/D, you will not gain as much speed while turning, but you also won’t lose any (unless you spin out). This also makes your turn-radius slightly smaller.
The crews in the mission are all set to lvl 0. If you want to get a feeling of how an maxed ace crew would feel like; Edit the mission.blk files and change the line crewSkillK:r=0 to crewSkillK:r=1000 after that, just press CTRL + S and reload the mission.
One thing to note, this was not added with the newest Dev server.
The EldE 98 has had this steering since it was added to the game, 4 months ago. It’s just that much of a horrible vehicle to drive.
As to the actual performance of this mechanic in game, there is work to be done.
I tested it a bit yesterday with the modified Type 10 from the custom missions that are linked on the reply above mine, and there were noticeable issues.
To begin with, even without modifying the files further just using manual transmission, I was actively reaching 10 km/h by alternating between pressing A and D on the 1st gear. This gear has a maximum speed of 4 km/h, so this should be impossible.
I did extra testing by actually changing the “doubleDiffGearRatio” on these files. I noticed that when turning, the “outer” track seems to gain speed instantly, while the “inner” track can take some time to actually slow down.
In real life with double differential steering this would not be possible. Any speed gain observed on one track would mean speed loss on the other track. The speeds of the two tracks are completely intertwined.
This also would explain what I experienced in the clip I’ve attached.
Edit: Another thing is that, from my testing, this steering forces both tracks to move forwards when turning, even if you set a ratio that would mathematically cause the “inner” track to move backwards.
Thanks for the testing you’ve done, those issues do suggest that the implementation is somewhat flawed/not following the basic principles a douible diff uses to operate.
This is an absolute MUST for the Type-10s and Challenger 2, I would be over-the-moon to see more capable transmissions modelled well, but as a stop gap for a proper rework, this will be a great addition, especially since the code now exists and gaijin just has to do what they do best: Copy & Paste
