As I am releasing the latest carts from Marine's Goodies, here is a big update to the existing ones, the Dogcart and the Phaeton ! This will set the version number to v1100, which is the minimum version number for the Racing System to be compatible with.
This update is meant to fix a few annoyances and to bring them a lot more features, such as the ability to boost, to react to collisions and to special surfaces and to make them naturally compatible with the Racing System from the same brand. Let me detail the main improvements contained in this update :
Bumper
A prim has been added to the carts so they can detect a collision with a wall or a border. This prim does not touch the ground so it isn't triggered continuously, but only when you collide into something, even a steep land slope (some tracks use land as borders). Here it is in red, but it is invisible normally :
When the cart collides into a wall, or to be precise, when the bumper collides with something that is static, or land, but neither a moving object nor an avatar, the speed of the cart decreases for a brief period of time. This allows for races at last !
Reacts to driving on land and on special surfaces
The special surfaces provided with the Racing System make the cart slow down or boost up, depending on their parameters. The carts also slow down a bit when driving on land, but that depends on the cart, the lighter the more sensitive to off-road driving. The Phaeton is nearly insensitive to off-road but the Dogcart will slow down more when driving on land.
Boosting
When a pony is at speed 3 (the running speed), she can still try to go faster by pressing the Page Up key a few more times. Doing so boosts her pulling power to 125%, 150%, 175% and 200% (the max) for a short period of time, during which her steering power is significantly reduced. Each boost level ends after 3 seconds, so if she is at 200% she will need 12 seconds before going back to normal speed and handling. During that time, she can neither slow down nor stop, so this is something to be careful with, otherwise it is easy to bump into a wall or a border and waste all the time gained by boosting.
Handbrake
The driver is given a "Handbrake" button, allowing them to stop the cart fully, even while moving, even on a slope with ponies and passengers. It takes a little time to go down to a stop, so it isn't a good option to use while the ponies are boosting, it wastes time.
Bondage
Yes you read that right... Remember the Mousewheel and Treadmill being able to modify their configurations according to the bondage you put the submissive in ? Well, the carts can do the same too now ! You can have their legs chained, hobbled or even tightly bound, and the cart will have totally different speeds and handlings. All you have to do is click on the cart, go to "Config..." and choose the one that looks the most like how your ponies are bound. Then select the hitching spot(s) to configure and wait a little.
Better collision volumes
Before this update, the carts would appear to hover a little above the ground... This was due to the tires being sculpted prims, which apparently come with a bigger collision volume than what they appear. This has been fixed now, the tires are mesh and part of the wheels themselves (allowing for a reduction in prim count in the process), and the carts now stay on the ground. Even better, they are now more tolerant to bumps in the road !
Better following of the slopes
Now the carts follow the slopes much better, instead of always staying level for a few seconds before raising or diving. This was due to a parameter in the vehicle itself being set wrong.
Better handling for the 2-pony Phaeton
The 2-pony Phaeton was too difficult to handle, as it was treated like a 4-pony one without the additional hitches. But it should have been lighter and now it handles well.
Imposed delay between consecutive speed changes
When changing speed twice in a row in the same direction (twice down or twice up, but not up then down nor down then up), a delay of 1 second is imposed to make it a bit longer to slow down or to speed up.
Communicates with the Racing System natively
When you get in the driver seat, the Racing System nearby (if any) is informed, no need to register yourself manually. When you stand up, you are removed from the race automatically as well. When you change the color of your cart, the nearby Racing System is informed as well, as the color is like the team you are a member of.
Phaeton has different steering powers according to the side of the hitch
Same for the Chariot. A pony hitched on the left of the cart will steer left better than right, and vice-versa. And on the 4-pony Phaeton, the rear ponies have better pulling power than the front ones, but poorer steering power.
Optimized land impact
Now the Dogcart takes 21 prims (it was 26 before this update), the 2-pony Phaeton takes 16 prims (it used to be 25) and the 4-pony one takes 18 prims (against 26 before).
To update your carts, simply click on your Dogcart and/or Phaeton carts, go to "Maintenance...", then press "New version ?". This will make your cart contact the server which will send you a new box right away.
Have fun !
Marine
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