Why does my SRV have such terrible traction?

[FoxFire Ayderan]

For the record. OP here. I use a Hotas X, with JoyStick Curves applied (to stick and throttle) to try to improve the response characteristics, and to little avail.

In my experience, it's far too easy to begin spinning out, and once control is lost, even if I reduce my thrust (acceleration) to a small value (below 10) it's nearly impossible to get back under control unless I bring the acceleration down to zero, and then slowly turn my SRV back to the straight line path I wish to take before providing any more than very slow acceleration.

This has been the biggest pain in the my and probably Uranus when trying to do a damn data point beat-the-clock marathon. You're already under pressure from the clock and now you're trying to maintain control of your SRV while getting to the various points in time. Lose control at any point, and you're very likely to fail and have to start over. Since losing control is so damn easy (particularly if you're under that time pressure), you are in for a world of frustration.

 

[CMDR ANCALAGON]

For the record. OP here. I use a Hotas X, with JoyStick Curves applied (to stick and throttle) to try to improve the response characteristics, and to little avail.

In my experience, it's far too easy to begin spinning out, and once control is lost, even if I reduce my thrust (acceleration) to a small value (below 10) it's nearly impossible to get back under control unless I bring the acceleration down to zero, and then slowly turn my SRV back to the straight line path I wish to take before providing any more than very slow acceleration.

This has been the biggest pain in the my and probably Uranus when trying to do a damn data point beat-the-clock marathon. You're already under pressure from the clock and now you're trying to maintain control of your SRV while getting to the various points in time. Lose control at any point, and you're very likely to fail and have to start over. Since losing control is so damn easy (particularly if you're under that time pressure), you are in for a world of frustration.

I know that for rear steering vehicles, many studies have concluded that rear wheel spins are impossible to correct or pu out of.

In our case, when your front wheels are pointed to the left, your rear wheels are pointed to the right. This is great when moving slow, but when moving fast it will still want to turn in a small circle, but just...much faster. You really have to think as though you will only drive in a straight line when moving fast, and your wheels will always be pointed in the same direction you are traveling. If you want to turn, you slow down first, and if you hit a rock or something, there may not be much you can do.

I find that I have much fewer problems if I constantly remind myself and keep a mental visual that the rear wheels are turning oppisite the front.

There is really no reason that this probel won't go away if the rear wheels were adjusted to turn less as speed increases, and turn in the same direction as the front or just lock in straight at higher speeds.

 

[Jimbodiah]

Even then, it's a heavy vehicle on low gravity woth little grip (loose dirt/dust). The actual moon buggy slipped all over the place.

 

[babelfisch]

This^^
Also, if you're using a throttle stick, turn the Drive assist off, and if you're using the keyboard, keep it on.

I'd say it's the other way around...

 

[Siranui]

The one making the claim is the one in charge of proving it.

Lol, no.

You have an opportunity to improve your knowledge and learn. Instead you choose to squander it by refusing to type five words into a machine that contains the sum of human knowledge and is sat in front of your face. I can't be bothered to deal with wilful ignorance on such a scale. Live in the dark if you like; it's not my job to lift the bucket off your head.

 

[Alec Turner]

For the record. OP here. I use a Hotas X, with JoyStick Curves applied (to stick and throttle) to try to improve the response characteristics, and to little avail.

In my experience, it's far too easy to begin spinning out, and once control is lost, even if I reduce my thrust (acceleration) to a small value (below 10) it's nearly impossible to get back under control unless I bring the acceleration down to zero, and then slowly turn my SRV back to the straight line path I wish to take before providing any more than very slow acceleration.

This has been the biggest pain in the my and probably Uranus when trying to do a damn data point beat-the-clock marathon. You're already under pressure from the clock and now you're trying to maintain control of your SRV while getting to the various points in time. Lose control at any point, and you're very likely to fail and have to start over. Since losing control is so damn easy (particularly if you're under that time pressure), you are in for a world of frustration.

Same here (Hotas X + Joystick Curves). To be honest I'm not sure the joystick smoothing does much to stop spinning out when steering the SRV at speed along the ground, the trick is to stay off the ground as much as possible ..

[video=youtube_share;GhlXc2mYGgY]https://youtu.be/GhlXc2mYGgY[/video]

Where the use of Joystick Curves really pays off is with the precision of the pitch and roll controls when the SRV is in the air.

For what it's worth I wrote some notes for a Buckyball Race a while back which attempt to help new(ish) SRV drivers with the technique we like to call "fliving".

https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showt...ight-Academy?p=5499428&viewfull=1#post5499428

 

[Shinji Ikari]

Lol, no.

You have an opportunity to improve your knowledge and learn. Instead you choose to squander it by refusing to type five words into a machine that contains the sum of human knowledge and is sat in front of your face. I can't be bothered to deal with wilful ignorance on such a scale. Live in the dark if you like; it's not my job to lift the bucket off your head.

I actually did do my quick research and it seems you are right but with this kind of replies, you are off putting, BTW, it is still your responsibility to prove your points.

 

[babelfisch]

I actually did do my quick research and it seems you are right but with this kind of replies, you are off putting, BTW, it is still your responsibility to prove your points.

Wasn't there something about an American who built a rocket to prove that earth is flat?

 

[Shinji Ikari]

Wasn't there something about an American who built a rocket to prove that earth is flat?

Yeah, that’s a good example of man who (tries to) proves his point by himself.

 

[CMDR ANCALAGON]

I did some driving today on a 1.09G planet, and made some observations.

I was able to drive at full speed on a flat surface for a full five minutes without spinning out once. The gravity helped, but I also did not hit any rocks, and I did not touch the steering at all. Slight turns to avoid rocks did not result in a spin out, but any full turn did (as expected since the rear wheels turn oppisite the front).

I dropped into a shallow crater and switched to the external camera to watch the back wheels during spin outs. On bummpy terrain spinouts are more likely, and in most cases it happens when a bump causes the vehicle to face a different direction that trave direction, which causes the steering to turn a bit when landing, causing a spin out (again, because wheels turned).

The other scenario is similar, but also completely different. This occurs when landing or driving, and one front wheel hits the ground first or a rock, which causes a spin out. I say it is different, because it is due to only one front corner hitting resistence, which causes the rest of the vehicle to pivot around it, rater than turning in a circle due to the steering turning.

Regardless of terrain, keeping the wheels straight or facing the direction of travel and avoiding rocks resulted in no spin outs.

In every spin out, the wheels were turned too much for the vehicle's speed, or one wheel hit a rock or hit the ground first while landing. I never observed a non-collision induced spinout that did not initiate with a sharp or excessive turn of the wheels.

As an added bonus, I picked up 14 Arsenic mats and eclipsed 2mm traveled in the SRV!

 

[Kilostream]

The rear wheels turn opposite the front wheels, so is prone to spin outs if not careful. However, if you spend some time with it and get the feel down, these spinouts will become fairly infrequent.

If you want to stay "full throttle", learn to use your boosters, don't accerate while landing, and keep the wheels as staight as possible at all times (while at speed).

The actual traction is actually pretty solid considering the thing can climb near vertical surfaces.

This guy gets it - it's the rear-wheel steering what does it - if you wana go full-bore, you have to only give the steering the lightest of touches.
If you need to make a large course adjustment whilst you're going flat-out, you can either slow right down, make the adjustment and then peg it again, or you can remain at full speed if you take your time over the manoeuvre - if you want to turn 45 degrees, break it down into four or five smaller adjustments, each as you touch down from successive boosts and you'll greatly reduce the amount of times you'll spin out.

About the only other thing I can think of is that, for some reason, the SRV seems to prefer touching down front wheels-first, and if you can manage your booster control on the descent so that touchdown is on a downward slope, so much the better.

 

[CMDR ANCALAGON]

This guy gets it - it's the rear-wheel steering what does it - if you wana go full-bore, you have to only give the steering the lightest of touches.
If you need to make a large course adjustment whilst you're going flat-out, you can either slow right down, make the adjustment and then peg it again, or you can remain at full speed if you take your time over the manoeuvre - if you want to turn 45 degrees, break it down into four or five smaller adjustments, each as you touch down from successive boosts and you'll greatly reduce the amount of times you'll spin out.

About the only other thing I can think of is that, for some reason, the SRV seems to prefer touching down front wheels-first, and if you can manage your booster control on the descent so that touchdown is on a downward slope, so much the better.

Actually, had you bothered to read the enitre thread, you would know that my lack of experience driving a RWD biased AWD car in real life here on earth disqualifies me from making observations on the handling of a six wheeled, 4WS, virtual moon buggy on a procedurally generated, non-atmospheric planet.

Also, you would know that I'm wrong, because the problem is that FDEV created an all wheel drive vehicle and then deliberately sabatoged it so as to make it more challenging to drive. (I still can't find a way to say that without it sounding like I'm talking about the Lunar Lander and how this is just abother hole in the "moon landing" propaganda).

Don't feel bad though, I also am incapable of reading, so maybe we should start a support group or something...