4Wheeler Ext unstable? - or is it just the new user?

[fonhorn]

Previously, I started a thread about scaling the "4Wheeler Ext" dummy to an odd shaped vehicle that I have to work with. I tried to solve that problem by using only the unform scale option and moving and scaling the CA dummy tires to match those on my scene vehicle. That left me with a strange looking CA rig (big CarBodyMesh with small tires); but, I gave it a try. I think it was at that point when I seemed to have lost my ability to work with "Autonomous mode follow strength." No matter what values I placed in the option before doing the Record, the vehicle would follow the TargetMesh for about 15 or 20 percent of the path and no more. The target mesh worked just fine. Several adjustments with new CA dummy objects did not change anything. My first thought was that I must have corrupted my max file. So..., I created a new scene with a plane, a line, and 4Wheeler Ext. The results were the same: the 4Wheeler Ext traveled a short distance and stopped (when the target stopped) without ever approaching the speed of the target mesh. I rebooted the computer and tried again with a new scene. The results were the same. Right clicking on a spinner seems to return the values to their defaults. Systematically doing this provided no help.

Making small changes in the values of some controls created wildly eratic behvior that could not be corrected by replacing the original values and doing another "Record." Example: "Current Velocity (% of max)" changing from -130 to +290 from one frame to the next.

Is this plugin unstable? I've used a lot of plugins over the years and I know that it takes time to get used to them: but, this one seemed a little unstable. I've made mistakes with new plugins that I could never reproduce after I got used to them; but something seems to have broken in this plugin under very simple conditions. I think that I'm not going to use this plugin on any of my client projects until I understand what is going on. Has anybody on this forum experienced anything similar?

The Autodesk Web site has a forum for Max plugins. I'll go over there and see if there is a thread on this plugin which might help. I hope it's just something stupid that I did.

[Carl Buhre]

Previously, I started a thread about scaling the "4Wheeler Ext" dummy to an odd shaped vehicle that I have to work with. I tried to solve that problem by using only the unform scale option and moving and scaling the CA dummy tires to match those on my scene vehicle. That left me with a strange looking CA rig (big CarBodyMesh with small tires); but, I gave it a try. I think it was at that point when I seemed to have lost my ability to work with "Autonomous mode follow strength." No matter what values I placed in the option before doing the Record, the vehicle would follow the TargetMesh for about 15 or 20 percent of the path and no more. The target mesh worked just fine. Several adjustments with new CA dummy objects did not change anything. My first thought was that I must have corrupted my max file. So..., I created a new scene with a plane, a line, and 4Wheeler Ext. The results were the same: the 4Wheeler Ext traveled a short distance and stopped (when the target stopped) without ever approaching the speed of the target mesh. I rebooted the computer and tried again with a new scene. The results were the same. Right clicking on a spinner seems to return the values to their defaults. Systematically doing this provided no help.

Making small changes in the values of some controls created wildly eratic behvior that could not be corrected by replacing the original values and doing another "Record." Example: "Current Velocity (% of max)" changing from -130 to +290 from one frame to the next.

Is this plugin unstable? I've used a lot of plugins over the years and I know that it takes time to get used to them: but, this one seemed a little unstable. I've made mistakes with new plugins that I could never reproduce after I got used to them; but something seems to have broken in this plugin under very simple conditions. I think that I'm not going to use this plugin on any of my client projects until I understand what is going on. Has anybody on this forum experienced anything similar?

The Autodesk Web site has a forum for Max plugins. I'll go over there and see if there is a thread on this plugin which might help. I hope it's just something stupid that I did.

I'm not sure I completely understand your problem. Do you want Craft 4-Wheeler Extended to follow the TargetMesh more closely or are you saying that it just stops to follow the TargetMesh after a while?

If you want Craft 4-Wheeler Extended to follow the TargetMesh more closely there are some parameters you can change in order to achieve this. First of all, Craft 4-Wheeler Extended follows its own parameters when it is Autonomous Mode. What this means is that if the vehicle is having a hard time keeping up with the TargetMesh, make sure that its top speed is fast enough (that's the "Gas Pedal (Forw/Backw) Maximum" parameter under "Input Property Parameters). After you make sure this value is great enough for the vehicle to keep up you can tweak it using the "Autonomous mode follow strength" parameter under "Autonomous Mode" in the configuration window.

If Craft 4-Wheeler Extended stops all together after a while of following the TargetMesh, then I think you don't have recorded Craft 4-Wheeler Extended fully. Maybe during some previous recording "Auto-expand timeline" wasn't checked, or that you have forgot to re-create the animation after you've set the path for the TargetMesh (use ReSimulate to easily re-create the animation).

If you have the .max scene available I can take a look at it and see if I find the problem.