Hey, I’ve been playing around with making a tank in Unreal using PhysX. I have suspension working really well with some physics constraints, but I’m having a few issues with both the turning and the propulsion. I am aware that there’s already an open source plugin that does this, but I’ve played around with it and it seems to be very performance intensive, so I’ve decided to roll my own solution.
The main problem I’ve had is turning the tank realistically, while the tank is in gear (neutral is no problem, as neutral steering is quite easy). From my understanding tanks use several methods to turn themselves. One is to brake on one side of the tank, while the other remains at full throttle. The other way is by using a gear differential, such that the tread on the inside of the turn is turning at a slower rate than the one on the outside. I’m not quite sure how to model the differential method using PhysX, and I’ve had issues with getting the braking method to work, ie. the tank spins out and the brakes don’y apply hard enough to keep the turning radius reasonable.
I was wondering if anyone could offer some tips or advice. My thought to fake it would be to apply some kind of radial force based off of an imaginary turning circle, but I’m not quite sure what the magnitude of that force should be, such that turns slow down the tank.