9 /10 1 Votes
Engine Torque Developer BeamNG Publisher BeamNG | 9/10 Steam Initial release date 3 August 2013 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Release date(s) WW: 29 May 2015 (Steam Early Access) Similar Wreckfest, Spintires, Rigs of Rods, Happy Wheels, Euro Truck Simulator 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Beamng drive pushed off the cliff
BeamNG.drive is a vehicle simulation video game developed and published by Bremen, Germany-based video game developer BeamNG. The game features unique soft-body physics, and was released into Steam Early Access for Microsoft Windows on 29 May 2015.
Contents
Beamng drive van bomb
Development
On 28 May 2012, BeamNG released a YouTube video titled "Revolutionary soft-body physics in CryEngine3". Originally, BeamNG.drive was to be based on CryEngine 3, but the implementation to the driving game filled it with bugs, leading development to be rolled over to Torque. BeamNG.drive relies heavily on coding in Lua, and uses packets of local data using the Lua network system while the game is operating in order to complete the complex physics equations during gameplay.
BeamNG's website, beamng.com, was opened on 8 May 2012, to begin rolling out news of their development of the simulator.
The game was placed on an open vote on Steam Greenlight on 12 February 2014, and was greenlit eight days later.
On 29 May 2015, the game was released to Steam Early Access.
Gameplay
BeamNG.drive features three modes: Scenarios, which are checkpoint-to-checkpoint-based races, Campaign Mode, which is a collection of small scenarios which are scored based on different factors such as damage, time, etc, and there is Free Roam Mode, the player can drive and crash several different vehicles on a few provided default environments. The game implements its soft-body physics to both control vehicle dynamics as well as to control the collisions between objects and vehicles.
Physics
BeamNG.drive uses a real-time, soft-body dynamics physics structure to simulate its vehicles. Algorithms have been written for the physics equations to be carried out. Vehicles in the game consist of a soft-body, node-beam structure, similar to the vehicle structure in Rigs of Rods. The physics engine simulates a network of interconnected nodes and beams which combine to form an invisible skeleton of a vehicle with realistic weights and masses. In terms of soft-body physics, vehicles realistically flex and deform as stresses to the skeleton, such as impacts from collisions are applied. The game's engine constantly calculates physics equations and problems in real-time during gameplay.
Reception
Jack Stewart of BBC mentioned that BeamNG.drive "has received interest from the film industry to model vehicle stunts, so that they can be prototyped and tested exhaustively – but cheaply – before a stunt driver smashes up a car on set."