Class GroundDetection

Detects surface type under each wheel using tags (priority), terrain splatmaps, or fallback. Applies per-surface friction presets, rolling resistance, and visual/audio effects. Runs via coroutine at groundDetectionInterval. Tracks dominantSurfacePreset across all wheels.

Inheritance
object
VehicleComponent
GroundDetection
Inherited Members
Namespace: NWH.VehiclePhysics2.GroundDetection
Assembly: NWH.VehiclePhysics2.dll
Syntax
[Serializable]
public class GroundDetection : VehicleComponent

Fields

dominantSurfacePreset

Surface preset with the most wheels in contact - for vehicle-wide effects. Null if no wheels grounded or no matches found.

Declaration
[NonSerialized]
public SurfacePreset dominantSurfacePreset
Field Value
Type Description
SurfacePreset

groundDetectionInterval

Seconds between detection updates. 0.05s: responsive (player), 0.1s: balanced (default), 0.2s: low CPU (AI). Randomized ±20% at init to prevent sync between vehicles.

Declaration
[Tooltip("Interval in seconds between ground detection updates. Lower values = more responsive, higher CPU usage.")]
public float groundDetectionInterval
Field Value
Type Description
float

groundDetectionPreset

Preset containing SurfaceMaps (tags/textures to surfaces), fallback preset, and particle prefabs. Multiple vehicles can share one preset. Required for ground detection.

Declaration
[Tooltip("Ground detection preset containing surface maps and fallback settings.")]
public GroundDetectionPreset groundDetectionPreset
Field Value
Type Description
GroundDetectionPreset

Methods

GetCurrentSurfaceMap(WheelController, ref int, ref SurfacePreset)

Gets surface for a wheel: checks tags first, then terrain splatmap, then fallback. Called by the detection coroutine for each wheel.

Declaration
public void GetCurrentSurfaceMap(WheelController wheelController, ref int surfaceIndex, ref SurfacePreset outSurfacePreset)
Parameters
Type Name Description
WheelController wheelController

Wheel to check
int surfaceIndex

Matched surface map index, or -1 for fallback
SurfacePreset outSurfacePreset

Matched or fallback surface preset

GetDominantTerrainTexture(Vector3, Terrain)

Returns the terrain layer index with highest weight at the given world position. Samples splatmap to find which painted texture is dominant at the wheel contact point.

Declaration
public int GetDominantTerrainTexture(Vector3 worldPos, Terrain terrain)
Parameters
Type Name Description
Vector3 worldPos

World position to sample
Terrain terrain

Terrain to sample from
Returns
Type Description
int

Dominant texture index, or -1 if sampling fails

GetTerrainTextureComposition(Vector3, Terrain, ref float[])

Gets the texture composition (splatmap values) at the specified world position on a terrain. Returns an array where each element represents the alpha value of the corresponding terrain texture. Used internally by GetDominantTerrainTexture to determine surface type.

The splatmap is a texture that Unity uses to blend multiple terrain textures together. Each pixel in the splatmap contains weights for different textures. This method:

  1. Converts world position to terrain-relative coordinates
  2. Maps coordinates to splatmap UV space
  3. Samples the splatmap at that location
  4. Returns the texture weights as a 1D array

Array indices correspond to terrain texture order (0 = first texture, 1 = second texture, etc.). Values range from 0 to 1, with all values summing to 1.0.

Declaration
public void GetTerrainTextureComposition(Vector3 worldPos, Terrain terrain, ref float[] cellMix)
Parameters
Type Name Description
Vector3 worldPos

World position to sample
Terrain terrain

Terrain to sample from
float[] cellMix

Output array receiving texture alpha values for each terrain texture

VC_Disable(bool)

Disables the component and stops updates. Override to add component-specific disable logic.

Declaration
public override bool VC_Disable(bool calledByParent)
Parameters
Type Name Description
bool calledByParent

True if called by parent component or LOD system
Returns
Type Description
bool

True if successfully disabled, false otherwise
Overrides
Remarks

Component must be initialized before it can be disabled. Tracks whether disable was called by parent to manage LOD system interaction.

VC_DrawGizmos()

Draws debug gizmos in the Scene view when the vehicle is selected. Override to visualize component-specific debug information.

Declaration
public override void VC_DrawGizmos()
Overrides
Remarks

Only called in Editor when the component is enabled. Use Gizmos and Handles API to draw debug visualizations.

VC_Enable(bool)

Enables the component and starts updates. Override to add component-specific enable logic.

Declaration
public override bool VC_Enable(bool calledByParent)
Parameters
Type Name Description
bool calledByParent

True if called by parent component or LOD system
Returns
Type Description
bool

True if successfully enabled, false otherwise
Overrides
Remarks

Will initialize the component if not already initialized. Components disabled by LOD system will track the parent caller to prevent manual enabling while LOD is controlling state.

VC_Initialize()

Initializes the component's internal systems and resources. Called once during vehicle startup after the VehicleController reference is set.

Declaration
protected override void VC_Initialize()
Overrides
Remarks

Override this to set up component-specific resources, cache references, or perform one-time initialization. Sets state.initialized to true on completion.

VC_SetDefaults()

Resets the component to default configuration. Override to provide component-specific default values.

Declaration
public override void VC_SetDefaults()
Overrides
Remarks

Called when the vehicle is reset or when first added to a GameObject. Should set all serialized fields to sensible default values. May load default assets from Resources folder.

VC_Validate(VehicleController)

Validates the component configuration and reports any setup issues. Override to implement component-specific validation rules.

Declaration
public override void VC_Validate(VehicleController vc)
Parameters
Type Name Description
VehicleController vc

Parent VehicleController to validate against
Overrides
Remarks

Called in Editor when validation is triggered manually or automatically. Should use Debug.LogWarning/Error to report configuration problems. Check for null references, invalid values, missing dependencies, etc.