4 ms·

Instead of watching a professional driver smoothly going around a switchback, you sit in first person POV in a car that feels, handles, and accelerates better a

Instead of watching a professional driver smoothly going around a switchback, you sit in first person POV in a car that feels, handles, and accelerates better and faster than the real thing. It even cheats to make you feel like you're a better driver—that the car makes you a better driver. You probably won't buy it on the spot, but you could; the car as an impulse buy right at the peak of your high. Even if you don't, now when you see that car on the road, you associate those good memories with the car. Maybe you even go in for a test drive of the real thing. Why would anyone want to do that rather than fly? Why would I rather play Gran Turismo when I can be Iron Man in LEGO Marvel Superheroes?

Animats 5y ago
I hate to tell you this, but in most driving games, the center of gravity is so low that it's below the ground. That keeps you from rolling the simulated car.
- snovv_crash 5y ago
  If it was below the ground, the car would roll in the other direction.
  - meheleventyone 5y ago
    Gravity acts downwards so having a low center of gravity resists rolling forces. This works in reality as well with vehicles with a high center of gravity being at increased risk of rolling over those with a low center. Games often take this a step further as physics engines let you manually specify where the center of gravity is so you can make it artificially low compared with the actual mass distribution.
    - dTal 5y ago
      You haven't addressed the point. Rolling moment is proportional to the distance of the center of gravity from the ground, in either direction. If the center of gravity is exactly at ground level, the car cannot be rolled. Moving it lower, into the ground, increases the rolling tendency again - in the "wrong" direction.
      - meheleventyone 5y ago
        This is not correct because gravity only acts downwards. This means a lower center of gravity will always be more stabilizing for a vehicle the right way up. As the car rolls the center of gravity is pushed outward. When it’s too high it quickly passes over the pivot point of the wheels and the car will roll as gravity is applying additional moment about the wheel. When it’s lower than the pivot point which is not usually physically possible it’s always resisting the roll until the vehicle is basically nearly upside down. Draw it on a piece of paper if you need to convince yourself. This is an incredibly common trick to stabilise rigidbody physics simulated vehicles in games. Edit: I took some time to setup OBS on my non-work machine and make a little video explaining what's going on (apologies for kids in the background and that for some reason my voice only comes out of the left channel): https://youtu.be/qvMbdzbaAMQ https://youtu.be/qvMbdzbaAMQ
        snovv_crash 5y ago
        In your video you show the force in red being applied somewhere up top. What is this force? What applies it? Your force sideways is actually from the ground, on the tyres. This acts on the CoG (or better to call it Center of Mass), so if this CoM is above the tyres you get a torque, because the mass doesn't instantly accelerate, but resists the force. This torque then needs to be countered by having more force on the tires on one side than on the other, which when you take into account things like suspension, causes body roll, or in the extreme case the car lifting wheels on one side completely off the ground. If you put the center of mass below the car then think what happens not during turning, but during braking. The center of mass will swing forward underneath like a pendulum (think of what happens to something hanging from the rearview mirror during braking) and if you took it really far down you could even get the car to do a wheelie while braking, which is of course ridiculous. If you want the car to be completely flat during turns, acceleration and braking then you need to put the center of mass at the ground level. This way when you turn and the ground puts a horizontal force on the car at the contact points with the road (ie. the tyres), it goes through the center of mass and there is no torque generated. No torque = no body roll.
        5y ago
Jasper_ 5y ago
If everybody is making cars that handle much better than they do in the real world, wouldn't this result in an arms race of upping the "cheese" of the mechanics to heighten the intensity? And this only works until people recognize the grift -- once they know the actual car experience and the demo experience aren't related, suddenly it won't be a useful ad anymore.
- cgriswald 5y ago
  That's not a likely scenario. They aren't trying to create a Camry that handles like a Porsche. They're trying to sell Camrys. The effects will be subtle and plausible. To the extent that it's discovered, there will be excuses. And even after it's discovered, it will continue, just like everyone today knows TV car ads aren't real, but they're still effective, because they tap into the right parts of our brains.

Animats 5y ago

I hate to tell you this, but in most driving games, the center of gravity is so low that it's below the ground. That keeps you from rolling the simulated car.

snovv_crash 5y ago
If it was below the ground, the car would roll in the other direction.
- meheleventyone 5y ago
  Gravity acts downwards so having a low center of gravity resists rolling forces. This works in reality as well with vehicles with a high center of gravity being at increased risk of rolling over those with a low center. Games often take this a step further as physics engines let you manually specify where the center of gravity is so you can make it artificially low compared with the actual mass distribution.
  - dTal 5y ago
    You haven't addressed the point. Rolling moment is proportional to the distance of the center of gravity from the ground, in either direction. If the center of gravity is exactly at ground level, the car cannot be rolled. Moving it lower, into the ground, increases the rolling tendency again - in the "wrong" direction.
    - meheleventyone 5y ago
      This is not correct because gravity only acts downwards. This means a lower center of gravity will always be more stabilizing for a vehicle the right way up. As the car rolls the center of gravity is pushed outward. When it’s too high it quickly passes over the pivot point of the wheels and the car will roll as gravity is applying additional moment about the wheel. When it’s lower than the pivot point which is not usually physically possible it’s always resisting the roll until the vehicle is basically nearly upside down. Draw it on a piece of paper if you need to convince yourself. This is an incredibly common trick to stabilise rigidbody physics simulated vehicles in games. Edit: I took some time to setup OBS on my non-work machine and make a little video explaining what's going on (apologies for kids in the background and that for some reason my voice only comes out of the left channel): https://youtu.be/qvMbdzbaAMQ https://youtu.be/qvMbdzbaAMQ
      - snovv_crash 5y ago
        In your video you show the force in red being applied somewhere up top. What is this force? What applies it? Your force sideways is actually from the ground, on the tyres. This acts on the CoG (or better to call it Center of Mass), so if this CoM is above the tyres you get a torque, because the mass doesn't instantly accelerate, but resists the force. This torque then needs to be countered by having more force on the tires on one side than on the other, which when you take into account things like suspension, causes body roll, or in the extreme case the car lifting wheels on one side completely off the ground. If you put the center of mass below the car then think what happens not during turning, but during braking. The center of mass will swing forward underneath like a pendulum (think of what happens to something hanging from the rearview mirror during braking) and if you took it really far down you could even get the car to do a wheelie while braking, which is of course ridiculous. If you want the car to be completely flat during turns, acceleration and braking then you need to put the center of mass at the ground level. This way when you turn and the ground puts a horizontal force on the car at the contact points with the road (ie. the tyres), it goes through the center of mass and there is no torque generated. No torque = no body roll.
        5y ago

Jasper_ 5y ago

If everybody is making cars that handle much better than they do in the real world, wouldn't this result in an arms race of upping the "cheese" of the mechanics to heighten the intensity? And this only works until people recognize the grift -- once they know the actual car experience and the demo experience aren't related, suddenly it won't be a useful ad anymore.

cgriswald 5y ago
That's not a likely scenario. They aren't trying to create a Camry that handles like a Porsche. They're trying to sell Camrys. The effects will be subtle and plausible. To the extent that it's discovered, there will be excuses. And even after it's discovered, it will continue, just like everyone today knows TV car ads aren't real, but they're still effective, because they tap into the right parts of our brains.