The tyVehicleJoint helper connects two vehicle parts together with a driven joint that either pivots (rotates) or slides (translates) along a single axis, controllable via keyboard input during interactive driving - useful for things like a forklift’s tilting fork, a dump truck’s tipping bed, or an excavator’s rotating arm.
tyVehicleJoint helpers are created from a tyVehicle helper’s “Create vehicle part…” menu, not from the Create panel.
Pivot: the joint rotates about a single axis, like a hinge.
Slide: the joint translates along a single axis, like a piston.
These settings apply when movement mode is set to “pivot”.
Min/max range: the minimum and maximum pivot angle, relative to the joint’s resting orientation.
Accel/decel response: controls how quickly the joint’s pivot speed ramps up or down toward its commanded speed, rather than changing instantly.
Speed: the joint’s pivot speed, when driven via keyboard input.
These settings apply when movement mode is set to “slide”.
Min/max range: the minimum and maximum slide distance, relative to the joint’s resting position.
Accel/decel response: controls how quickly the joint’s slide speed ramps up or down toward its commanded speed, rather than changing instantly.
Speed: the joint’s slide speed, when driven via keyboard input.
Enable collisions: when enabled, the two parts connected by this joint are allowed to collide with each other.
Bind ID: an identifying value for this joint, for reference elsewhere.
Stiffness/damping: the stiffness and damping of the spring that drives the joint toward its commanded pivot/slide value.
Restitution: the amount of bounce when the joint hits one of its hard limits.
You can click the “assign key by key press” button next to any key setting, followed by pressing the desired keyboard key, in order to quickly re-assign keys, rather than having to manually find the desired key in the associated dropdown menu.