Algodoo

Nice job on the excavator, but I have a suggestion for you. There are no "limits" on the motion of any parts of the machine. For example, if you hold the key down which rotates the bucket, it continues to wrap around without stopping, which often breaks or destroys something. In a real machine, every hydraulic action has a limit which prevents the machine component from moving beyond its safe limits.

You, of course, do not have to make those changes just because I suggested them. The decision is totally up to you if you want to do that or not.

You know your scene is good when XRAY comments on it!

Thanks Xray And JohnG, love your suggestions!

Also Xray, do you have any idea on how not to make it rotate all the way and flip around?

It's up to you to answer or not, I ain't forcing anybody.

Forcing? Of course not.

I don't understand why you would want the bucket or any other part of the machine to "rotate all the way, and flip around". It would be more realistic for each hydraulically controlled item to simply stop moving when it is up against its forward or reverse limit. That can be done in a number of ways as follows:

1. You can place a hard stop (such as a small box) at the end of travel for each direction. Just keep in mind that doing it that way can sometimes result in erratic behavior. Things might violently shake when the item bumps up against the stop in either direction.
2. You can monitor the rotational angle of the actuator (the motor or axle) and make the script stop motion when the angle gets to or past a specific number.
3. You can place a box at each limit with script in the onCollide section that stops further rotation when the collision occurs.

Maybe try one of those ideas?

Xray I want to try the 3rd one, but I don't know scripting... How can I make that happen? Cuz I am really bad at scripting not gonna lie.

Those of us who are pretty good at scripting were at one time "really bad" at scripting, just as you stated about yourself. Just like learning a new language or learning anything else, it's a process that takes time and effort. If you are smart enough to make really good scenes without scripting (and I see that you are!) then over time you should become really good at scripting.

If you are fairly good with math and general science, then you should have no problem learning scripting. If you happen to be terrible with math and Science, then scripting will be more difficult to learn and to use.

A starting place would be the "Thyme Scripting" topic in the Algodoo Forum. At the beginning of that topic, someone took the time and effort to document the basic commands, and many people posted many suggestions for using many of the commands. Also, a good way to learn how to do certain things is to download other people's scenes that do similar actions to what you are trying to do. For example, there are quite a few scenes with excavators, and so you can look at the scripting to see how they have done it. I know that it will be like trying to learn Chinese by reading a document written in Chinese! But give it a shot, and if you have a question I might be able to help you. I won't hold your hand and write all the code for you, but I will certainly answer your questions if I know the answers. If I don't know the answers then maybe I'll point you to a place or a person who could answer your questions.

Xray thank you! You are a really good admin! Very helpful!