Change the strings “K mass” and “K dynamics” to be more understandable

[Wuzzy2]

From what I heard from the forums, most people seem to have no clue what the strings “K mass” and “K dynamics” mean. Those strings appear in the vehicle menu.

The answer to this is in vehicle.h:

// Combined coefficient of aerodynamic and wheel friction resistance of vehicle, 0-1.0.
// 1.0 means it's ideal form and have no resistance at all. 0 -- it won't move
    float k_dynamics ();

// Coefficient of mass, 0-1.0.
// 1.0 means mass won't slow vehicle at all, 0 - it won't move
    float k_mass ();

However, I doubt not many players would look into the source code to discover what those two strings mean.

I therefore suggest to change the strings “K mass” and “K dynamics” to something more meaningful, something which could be understood more intuitively.

My suggestion for “K mass”: “mass coefficient”. This should be obvious. The coefficient of mass is the mass coefficient. And for “K dynamics”: “friction coefficient”. Well, it could be understood as wheel friction on the floor and on (kinda) “friction with the air” aka aerodynamics.

Other suggestions are welcome.

[illi-kun]

I'm agree that these values don't make sense. I've raised this issue in this forum thread: http://smf.cataclysmdda.com/index.php?topic=4275.msg61528#msg61528

For me, solution proposed by you is not the best because (1) these are really long names of variables even in English and I'm not sure it will fit the screen well, and (2) these descriptions still aren't clear enough.

My suggestion is to keep variables in vehicle menu as-is, but add a description of both variables in help menu (either in 'vehicle' section or in 'FAQ' section).

[illi-kun]

I've split K_dynamics into K_aerodynamics & K_friction and I hope that makes the description of these parameters easier.

[kevingranade]

Is illi-kuns solution sufficient?

[illi-kun]

I didn't put a proper representation of these parameters in vehicle menu yet.

[Wuzzy2]

@kevingranade: I don’t know, I did not understoof illi-kun’s solution.

[Asmageddon]

I think that mass coefficient and friction coefficient are still fairly criptic. Since I enjoy quickly visible changes greatly, I might work on this issue tomorrow. I will likely change it from "coefficient" to "penalty"

[kevingranade]

Coefficient is a technical term which AFAIK is being used correctly, please don't change it.

[Wuzzy2]

I agree with kevingranade. “penalty” seems a bit far-fetched to me.

[Asmageddon]

Well, I do see the rationale of keeping the technical terms, but at the same time, I think that understandability should precede correctness. Honestly, even (brief) googling does not return useful info. It's literally something that has to be looked up on the game wiki or asked on IRC/forums/etc. I'm not huge fan of so-called "wiki games"

[narc0tiq]

To the best of my knowledge, the mass and dynamics coefficients in Cataclysm substitute for multiple real physics effects, including air drag, rolling resistance, and wheel friction (and more!). The term "coefficient" is a fairly basic math/physics term that simply means "a constant that applies in some calculation" -- it is definitely the correct term to use, as these are most emphatically not penalties.

Realistically, there's no way to "improve understandability", as the terms are Cataclysm-specific -- they have no direct real-life equivalent. And while it would technically be feasible to break out the physics effects that are being subsumed into those two quantities, it wouldn't really improve anything.

As far as I'm concerned, I'd just remove their display from the vehicle interaction window -- I imagine the quantities themselves are opaque to most players (I certainly couldn't tell you whether a higher 'K mass' is better than a lower one, though I believe the correct answer is "neither"), and they likely do not inform actual player vehicle construction.

On Fri, Dec 19, 2014 at 2:39 PM, Asmageddon notifications@github.com wrote:

Well, I do see the rationale of keeping the technical terms, but at the same time, I think that understandability should precede correctness. Honestly, even (brief) googling does not return useful info. It's literally something that has to be looked up on the game wiki or asked on IRC/forums/etc. I'm not huge fan of so-called "wiki games"

— Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub https://github.com/CleverRaven/Cataclysm-DDA/issues/6653#issuecomment-67633401 .

[KA101]

OK. If the numbers were reversed (1 = can't move), then "friction penalty" and "weight penalty" might be workable terms, since they impair the vehicle's function and name the reason for the number.

Apart from that, yeah, I don't think anyone pays much attention to 'em. Should probably ask on the forums though.

[Rivet-the-Zombie]

Even after I found out what they meant I still don't pay attention to them.

[slitherrr]

I disagree that "correctness" is the approach to take, as much as "understandability". I would advocate the same if "clean water" were described as "trace minerals dissolved in dihydrogen monoxide"--the latter is correct, arguably more correct than the former, but it is not the better user interface.

It's possible that what is being presented isn't really what needs to be presented--even if you know what the numbers mean, you only really know that you want them closer to 1.0. I would suggest presenting more interesting derivatives, like "Fuel consumed per unit distance (at a reasonable speed, or possibly at a couple of commonly used speeds)" and "Turns added when dragged".

[KA101]

Issue: there's only so much space on the screen, so prefer to keep these brief if possible.

[slitherrr]

There's probably some brainstorming there. "Fuel Efficiency" and "Drag Encumbrance"? Do you know how much space there is to work with, exactly?

I would hope that those names matter less than that they present units that are actually meaningful in a game context, like "units of gasoline to go 50 squares at 48 km/h", so there's no problem not being long-winded as long as the number has some basis in the in-game world (and the units with the number can hint at that, too).

[drbig]

Seeing that this issue is a year old - what about just removing the "K mass" and "K dynamics", given they are confusing and nobody seems to actually pay any attention to them?

[Wuzzy2]

The information can still be useful. IF the player understands it. This is the problem. I am against removing. The age of this issue is not a valid argument IMO.