v0.117.0-rc27 Whole Worlds

Everything in rc26, plus parked vehicles and light props that fall asleep, and a plane that no longer stalls the physics as it lifts off.

Coming to rest

Something that rocked in place never fell asleep. A rover on light tyres and stiff springs moved a fraction of a millimetre one step and back the next, and a light crate on rough ground spun a little one way and then the other. Each went nowhere, but was judged one step at a time, so each kept costing physics time for as long as it stood there.

• A vehicle and everything jointed to it, and a body on its own, now fall asleep when they stay where they are for half a second, however they rock in between.
• A body that falls asleep stops dead. One that fell asleep still turning slightly was woken again on the next step.

Lifting off

On terrain, a part of a craft a few metres above the ground looked all the way down to the ground under it on every step to learn whether it was touching anything. A plane climbing out cost more the higher it rose, until it was clear of the ground: on terrain with 2 m voxels, ten times its take-off roll. It now looks no farther than it needs to, with the same answers. In our tests, a plane flying 6 m over that terrain costs a tenth of what it did.

Scripts

• node.wake and assembly.info(node).wake now keep the reason that woke a body, such as joint, contact or script, until it falls asleep, instead of reading settling as soon as it held still. settling now means it stopped on its own, and moving that its own motion started its count again.
• A joint's anchors and axis can be read: anchorX, anchorY, anchorZ, otherAnchorX, otherAnchorY, otherAnchorZ, axisX, axisY and axisZ on node:getcomponent("Joint").

Upgrading

Nothing to do. What you may notice:

• Parked vehicles and props that rocked in place now fall asleep. Until then they move exactly as before.
• A script that waited for node.wake == "settling" to see a body hold still sees the reason that woke it until the body sleeps. Read node.asleep instead.