Better rotator functionality, feature requests.

AIN_002

AIN_002

Crawler crane specialist
Invited
I don't know if this is the right forum section for feature requests, admin can move to the correct section if needed. :)

There's no surprise that I'm all-in on heavy machinery, and many large machines have special functions that are vital for their usability, but currently difficult to implement in this game due to some limitations. Rotators are mainly the part that I feel is quite limited, and I'm wondering if it would be possible to implement the following features:

  • The most important: Rotator clutch/coupling. Many machines have rotating parts that rely on being self-driven in some situations and decoupled in other cases. Example crawler cranes with wheeled ballast wagons would rotate with slewing ring force when the ballast wagon is not attached (obviously), but have the slewing ring decoupled when the ballast wagon is used, and instead driven by the wheels of the wagon. This type of crane is currently not possible to build properly in RoR, because the crawlers would just end up sliding around when trying to drag the wagon. the decoupling&recoupling of the rotator could be done by assigning e.g. Ctrl+1 etc assigned to each rotator. This would also be useful for commands in general.
  • Rotator toggle on/off. Commands have an on/off toggle function, so why not rotators? Some machines have rotating parts that are meant to rotate for a long time during operation, and having to constantly hold down the F-buttons is just annoying and cumbersome.
  • Rotator maximum rotation in each direction. Just like commands have maximum length, why not rotators? Some machines have rotating parts that can't or shouldn't rotate full 360 degress, so limiting their span of rotation makes sense. This is somewhat possible by building an "inactive" rotator and have it turn by commands that push it around, but it would be much easier to just have the feature built-in. This would be powerful together with the toggle feature - e.g rotate a machine part exactly 90 degrees with only one button push.
  • Make it possible for rotators to be driven directly by the engine! Maybe seems strange, but it would make it much easier to build any tracked vehicle. Currently it is only possible by adding wheels and then finding the node numbers of the wheels, and then add beams between the wheel and an inactive rotator. A direct feature would be helpful, and maybe implement a skid-steering feature at the same time (e.g. left arrow button disables the left track, turning vehicle left etc). A general skid-steering feature would also make it easier to build bobcats and similar machines.
  • Rotator "gears". Currently rotators only have two operation speeds, slow when the engine is idle, and faster when the engine is on full power, there is no in-between since there currently isn't any engine RPM "lock" (as opposed to cruise control that keeps vehicle speed rather than engine RPM). Could also be defined by something like: Ctrl+4 increase speed/gear of the defined rotator, Ctrl+3 to lower the speed/gear. This feature would also be helpful for commands in general.

Thanks for listening and hopefully these aren't too hard to implement, even though I understand that they won't be a priority right now. :)
 
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Rotator coupling can be accomplished with ties. See voulk's 4wd lego car (the same principle using an inactive rotator and wheels that couple/uncouple could be used with two rotators.)

Maximum rotation can be accomplished with triggers, see negs backhoes that use a rotator for the backhoe but can only rotate 180 degrees.

Skid steering is possible using brake values 2 and 3.

The other suggestions are 👍 . And even the other components could use simplifications and updates.
 
I see! :)

With ties as a way to couple rotators, do you mean the simple O-key ties? Because in that case it would interfere with the possibility to tie a load to the crane hook, and also one can't choose exactly what rotator to decouple. Unless there is some new functionality that I've missed. But I'll check out the car you mentioned! I'll also take a look at skid steering.

The easiest solution for rotator decoupling that I've found, that doesn't interfere with anything else, is to have the rotating part coupled to the main body with rope commands - so that when they're extended, they become loose and let the body rotate freely. The issue with this is that as soon as you want to re-couple it, the rotating body will be forcefully re-aligned with the rotator again. So one would have to make sure that the rotator is already properly aligned before re-coupling, to avoid messing up the position of e.g the crane. Doable but cumbersome.

I had guessed there might be some workarounds, but direct implementation of these features would indeed make everything easier :)

Edit: I can't find any info in the docs about how to define skid steering with brake values in the truck file. Possible to clarify? :)
 
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You can use triggers to activate different lock groups for the coupler also.

If you use brake value 2 on the left side of the vehicle and 3 on the right side, those sides will brake when the left and right arrows are used. You can see it used in one of negs like 5 skid steers.
 
Here is a demonstration of a crawler crane pivoting its undercarriage while keeping the superstructure and ballast wagon stationary:

Currently looking into some more advanced mechanical couplings, but yes this would be so much easier with a feature built in. :)
 
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