Wheel Suspension

To build a wheeled vehicle with WASD controls, add Wheel Suspension blocks. This block comes with functional wheels (do not use decorative Wheel blocks).

Types of wheel suspensions:

• Wheel Suspension 1x1 / Short Wheel Suspension 1x1
• Wheel Suspension 2x2 / Short Wheel Suspension 2x2
• Wheel Suspension 3x3 / Short Wheel Suspension 3x3
• Wheel Suspension 5x5 / Short Wheel Suspension 5x5

All wheels also exist in an Offroad Wheels style variant that is part of the paid Wasteland Pack.

Usage

Add Wheel Suspension blocks to be able to manoeuvre the grid across a planetary surface in gravity using the WASD keys and SPACE key. Wheeled vehicles use less power than thrusters, but are more hindered by uneven ground. Make sure to enable the checkbox saying Control Wheels in the Cockpit's Control Panel Screen.

The Wheel Suspension control panel also has a button to add a functional (unwelded) wheel. In emergencies, an unwelded wheel on its suspension can still roll, it just cannot be steered and has no grip (no friction). A welded suspension wheel can be configured and is almost invulnerable against collision damage, which also makes it a prime choice as Mech foot.

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Wheel Suspension Controls

The following controls work consistently only if you've built all suspensions right-side-up.

• Use the WASD keys to drive forwards/backwards and turn left/right.

• Press and hold X key to jump. Holding the key makes the suspensions temporarily compress, which can be useful to connect to a low connector or to get through a low entrance. When you then release X key, the suspensions relax which makes the vehicle jump up vertically, which can sometimes be useful to get unstuck from uneven ground.

Tip: Group your wheels on the Control Panel Screen so you can adjust their settings together. You can make several groups, for example, some of the following options apply only to front/back/left/right wheels, while others apply to all of them.

• Add Wheel -- Quickly reattach a missing (unwelded) wheel. Only works if there is enough space next to the suspension!
• Steering -- Whether this wheel should turn left and right when the driver presses A key and D key. Typically for fast vehicles, enable this only for front wheels, disable it for all other wheels ("front steering"). For long and slow vehicles, enable it on the front and back wheels. The turning intensity is controlled by the Steering Angle setting.
• Propulsion -- Whether this wheel should accelerate and decelerate when the driver presses W key and S key. Can be enabled on all wheels. The intensity is controlled by the Power setting.
• Brake -- Whether holding SPACE key engages the handbrake. Disable this for front wheels to prevent flipping!
• Allow Parking Brake -- Whether pressing P key engages the handbrake and other docking actions (see Cockpit Controls). Disable this for front wheels to avoid flipping!
• AirShock -- In case this vehicle catches air, whether it should automatically extend and strengthen its suspensions in mid air to better absorb the shock impact upon landing and prevent damage of the chassis.
• Invert Steering -- Only used if you enable Steer Override, then you must also invert the steering direction of all wheels on the right side.
• Invert Propulsion -- Only used if you enable Propulsion Override, then you must also invert the forward direction of all wheels on the right side.

Wheel setup examples

The following configuration examples mention different extremes: Slow all-terrain vehicles (ATV), heavy cargo haulers, small utility vehicles, and fast racecars:

• Steering Angle in degrees -- When the driver presses A key and D key, how much the wheels should turn. Depends on Steering setting.
  • Angle values from 8 to 16 degrees are typical.
  • Higher values turn slow utility vehicles more sharply, and will outright flip fast or lightweight vehicles.
  • Lower values are safer but result in wider turning circles.
• Power in percent -- When the driver presses the W key or S key keys, how much the vehicle accelerates/decelerates. Depends on Propulsion setting.
  • Higher power values make vehicles faster on flat ground, able to haul heavier loads, and able to drive uphill, but use up the batteries faster.
  • Lower power values are used for small slow vehicles which would otherwise flip.
  • When going uphill, be ready to crank up wheel power temporarily.
• Strength in percent -- How much the suspension resists compressing vertically. You typically want this to be soft, that is, start with 5-10%.
  • For a slow all-terrain vehicle, use low values, so that the suspension travels more easily, adjusts smoothly, and keeps traction on uneven terrain.
  • For a utility vehicle or race car on flat ground, use a higher value so the suspension remains stiff and prevents the vehicle from bottoming out.
  • For a heavy cargo vehicle, dynamically adjust this value to not sag when loaded: Increase strength a bit when full, and lower it again when empty!
  • For vehicles with more than four wheels, give all middle suspensions a lower strength, so they don't lift the outer wheels off the ground!
• Height offset in centimetres -- The absolute vertical position of the wheel relative to the suspension.
  • For an all-terrain vehicle, you want high clearance, so use a low wheel position from 0 to -32cm.
  • For racecars or small utility vehicles, you want to be close to the ground, so you choose a high wheel position from 0 to +32cm.
• Friction in percent -- How much traction (grip) the wheels have on the ground.
  • Increase this value temporarily while going straight uphill or downhill to get grip, at the cost of turnability.
  • Decrease this value slightly to be able to turn more smoothly.
  • For "race drifting" on flat ground, or when using Overrides, or when you want to use (gyroscopic) mouse steering, lower wheel friction to have less turning resistance against the ground.
• Speed Limit in km/h -- Helps you to not actively accelerate above the chosen value.
  • For slow all-terrain and small utility vehicles, impose a low speed to prevent them from flipping.
  • For race cars on flat ground, allow higher speeds.
  • The vehicle can still exceed this speed when racing downhill, it's not a hard limit.
• Propulsion Override in +/- percent -- Used for Autopiloted vehicles or for cruise control. Use a Timer Block to enable the Autopilot and its Overrides together.
• Steer Override in +/- percent -- Used for Autopiloted vehicles or for cruise control. Use a Timer Block to enable the Autopilot and its Overrides together.

Toolbar Actions for players

When you sit in the cockpit and press G key, then select your custom Wheel Suspensions groups, you have the option to assign the following helpful actions to your quick toolbar slots. Tip: Assign "Set/Reset/Increase/Decrease" actions next to each other to smartly adjust settings on the fly while driving!

• Increase/Decrease Steering Angle -- Lets you change the absolute steering angle on the fly.
  • Reset Steering Angle -- Lets you reset the absolute steering angle on the fly.
• Increase/Decrease Power -- Lets you adjust on the fly how fast you'll accelerate, for example, while going uphill.
• Increase/Decrease Strength -- Lets you adjust on the fly how much the suspension travels, for example, when transitioning from flat to uneven terrain.
• Increase/Decrease Height Offset -- Lets you adjust on the fly the wheel clearance, for example, to be able to reach a connector, to fit through a low door, or when transitioning from flat to uneven terrain.
  • Reset Height Offset -- Lets you reset wheel clearance on the fly.
• Increase/Decrease Friction -- Lets you adjust the traction on the fly, for example, while going uphill or while racing.
• Increase/Decrease Speed Limit -- Lets you adjust the speed limit on the fly, for example, when transitioning from flat to uneven terrain.
• Increase/Decrease/Set Propulsion Override -- Lets you set up accelerating/decelerating cruise control on the fly.
  • Reset Propulsion Override -- Lets you switch off accelerating/decelerating cruise control on the fly.
• Increase/Decrease/Set Steer Override -- Lets you set up the turning cruise control on the fly.
  • Reset Steer Override -- Lets you switch off turning cruise control on the fly.

Toolbar Actions for autopilot

You can add the following options to your toolbar, but typically you use them only in Event Controllers, Sensors, and Timer Blocks, in context with Remote Controls.

When you set up an Autopilot sequence, you will enable and disable combinations of the following suspension options using Timer blocks:

• Steering On/Off -- Whether the driver can steer left and right with A key and D key. Deactivate when autopilot takes over.
• Propulsion On/Off -- Whether the driver can accelerate and decelerate with W key and S key. Deactivate when autopilot takes over.
• Can Brake On/Off -- Whether holding SPACEBAR key engages the handbrake. Deactivate if you need the Autopilot to overrule the pilot.
• Allow Parking Brake On/Off -- Whether pressing P key engages the handbrake and other docking actions (see Cockpit Controls).
• AirShock On/Off -- Whether to enable automatic shock absorbers when catching air.
• Invert Steering on/off -- Enable this only on the wheels on the right side while activating Steer Override.
• Invert Propulsion on/off -- Enable this on the wheels on the right side while activating Propulsion Override.

Can the Autopilot drive cars?

Wheeled vehicles cannot properly use the Autopilot function as spaceships do, because the Autopilot doesn't turn or propel the wheels. As a workaround, you will have to set up Propulsion Overrides to force the vehicle into a sort of waypoint-guided cruise control.

For details, see How to use autopilot with wheeled vehicles.

The Remote Control's Autopilot may not be able to control wheels -- but a player can still remote-control a wheeled vehicle manually.

Construction

The two variants of suspension blocks labeled "right" or "left" only matter for cosmetic purposes. Any wheels will correctly move in the direction of the Remote Control block / Main Cockpit of a vehicle.

Suspensions only attach to grids on the flat side that's opposite the shoe (the place where the wheel meets the suspension). Choose a well spaced attachment point on the grid. The wheel tyre will need clearance to the grid and the ground to fit unobstructed.

When attaching wheel suspensions, it is essential to know which side is up. Rotate the suspension block ghost until the shoe faces outwards and the "J" shaped frame is on the bottom side, and the elbow piston-looking "shock absorber" is the top of the suspension.

After placing a suspension on a grid, if there is enough space, the wheel tyre is automatically added at its end. Both Wheel and Suspension must be welded separately to construct a functional wheel.

If no wheel tyre appears, make sure there is enough space, then click Add Wheel in the control panel to restore the missing tyre.

Tips:

• Additionally adding Gyroscopes to a vehicle enables intuitive turning and levelling (Yaw and Pitch) by moving the mouse.
• Multiple double-layered small wheels have more gripping strength than one big 5x5 wheel suspension; but smaller wheels are slower and their suspensions bottom out much more easily.
• Wheeled constructions that work well in singleplayer need to be tested and tuned again for (laggy) multiplayer.

Gallery

• 

  A vanilla wheel suspension: For orientation, note the "shock absorber" pushing down.
• 

  Proper orientation of a wheel suspension. Note the tread placement and J-shaped support on the bottom side of the vehicle.
• 

  Wasteland DLC Offroad Wheel Suspension: The yellow contraption in the suspension shoe is at the top of the device. Yellow hazard triangles point toward the top of the suspension.

Related Articles

• Wheel Configuration For Planets and Other Shenanigans by lateasusual_
• Skid Steering Script - tank-like driving behaviour for wheel suspensions
• Bug report: Wheel override turns left and right wheels in opposite directions