I have to disagree here. The gear ratio directly affects acceleration versus top speed, as I have mirrored the physics of this in Rail Racer. A higher ratio on the input gear results in less input torque, but higher overall output rotation speed, resulting in higher top rotation speed to the wheels. Alternatively, a lower gear ratio results in the ability to more easily turn that output gear, resulting in more acceleration at the expense of top rotation speed. To think of it in simple terms, consider a 10 speed bicycle. When you need to climb a steep hill, you drop your driving gear ratio, so you turn the rear wheel more slowly per crank, but those cranks allow more turning force to the wheel. Modeling all of this for a realistic game engine is no trivial task, but results in a much more satisfying and realistic simulation. In the new RR 2, if you have a lot of short sections with high grade angles, you'll get smoked by other players if you don't drop that gear ratio, because acceleration and keeping your RPM in the power curve will be more important than top speed. Its all about spreading your power out amongst your gears to get you around the track in the fastest time. On the flip side, with a lot of long sections, you need as much top speed as you can get, thus requiring you shift to a higher gear ratio. This is the cool thing about a true racing simulation with an engine modeled on reality, you have to get in there and put in the laps to see what gear ratio works best and results in the lowest lap times, exactly the reason all forms of motor sports teams spend countless hours on the various tracks testing out dozens of configurations. In RR, the gear ratio affects all gears, instead of being able to adjust each one seperately, but in general you would be adjusting the ratio across each gear evenly more or less anyhow, so tweaking each gear isn't really necessary. For those interested, the RR engine is based on the Ford GT 500 plus horsepower engine, and mirrors its stock gear ratios when your own ratio is set to 1.0. Having said all this, I am no expert, and my simulation is not perfect, but the feel of the game is close to reality, and that is what we're going for. If someone has more info on this or sees a mistake in my math or logic, please let me know, always open to input. Happy racing, Che
-----Original Message----- From: Gamers [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Thomas Ward Sent: Thursday, October 10, 2013 2:09 PM To: Gamers Discussion list Subject: Re: [Audyssey] gear shifting formula Hi Ken, Actually, the gear ratio doesn't have anything to do with the amount of acceleration of the car. That has to do with the power curve of the engine, how much horsepower is available, and how much torque is available at the moment. Once you know those things you can easily divide the available amount of horsepower and acceleration up into gear ratios like first, second, third, etc. Cheers! On 10/10/13, Ken Downey <[email protected]> wrote: > I'm looking for the formula for the coding of shifting of gears. That > is, when you're in fourth gear you don't accelerate unless already > going fast and so on. Any thoughts? > Check out my games at > www.ThePionEar.net > and my music, and that of my band, at > www.ThePionEar.net/BlindLabyrinth.html . > Also, check out, "The Believer and Skeptic Show," at iTunes! > If you want to reach me, you can call 419-744-0517, friend me on > Facebook, > (KenWDowney,) or write me at [email protected] . > --- > Gamers mailing list __ [email protected] If you want to leave the > list, send E-mail to [email protected]. > You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at > http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. > All messages are archived and can be searched and read at > http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]. > If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the > list, please send E-mail to [email protected]. > --- Gamers mailing list __ [email protected] If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to [email protected]. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to [email protected]. --- Gamers mailing list __ [email protected] If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to [email protected]. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to [email protected].
