SnowRunner has evolved considerably on all fronts since MudRunner, especially when it comes to the physics of the terrain and its behavior towards vehicles. The goal of the developers is to be at the forefront of the industry and when we know that it is always Havok who drives all this, we can only expect high end. To give you an overview, Saber Interactive shares, via the Focus forum, some details on the interaction between the terrain and the vehicles.
Driving in the mud
In SnowRunner, there are soft surfaces (grass, dirt, sand, etc.) and hard surfaces (asphalt, concrete, rock, etc.). Soft surfaces all have a different coefficient of friction, and logically you're more likely to get stuck when driving on sand than on grass, for example. This differentiation was not present in MudRunner.
The higher the viscosity of a soil, the darker the soil appears, marking the difference between dry and wet soil. In MudRunner, the tint had two colors (brown for grassy surfaces and greenish for others). In Snowrunner, the color panel is bigger, but the idea remains the same (darker = more stickiness and more chance of getting stuck).
Another thing that changes the way vehicles dig into the terrain is what is called “extrusion data”. You can't see it in the game, but card makers can paint it with a special tool. It is often used to make swamps, mud roads, or other difficult to cross routes difficult to navigate.
But what is fundamentally new in Snowrunner is the “moisture mask”. The author of the map paints it with a special brush, making the floor look wet where it should (in MudRunner the floor looked dry everywhere).
Moisture mask affects viscosity in the same way as tint, so you're more likely to get stuck on wet surfaces.
Driving on snow
Snow-covered surfaces may have different snow depth. You can't see it in the game (the depth of snow is painted in the map editor with a special brush), but vehicles behave differently depending on how deep the snow it is rolling over.
When the snow depth is zero, you will see your wheels digging in the mud. However, when you are driving in deep snow, you will see chunks of snow flying under your wheels and your vehicle will behave differently. This means that the vehicle will sink into the snow until it reaches the ground below.
All-terrain tires enhance the vehicle's off-road capabilities in snow and mud environments.
Deep snow always behaves like a high viscosity surface regardless of its thickness. Therefore, no matter how dark it is or not, the difficulty to walk through it remains the same, unlike mud. Note: There is no “wet” snow, as the moisture mask is ignored for snowy surfaces. On snow-covered terrain, surfaces hard like asphalt and covered with the moisture mask, act like ice and vehicles will naturally slide on it, unless special wheels are installed.
For both snow and mud environments, there is always a trade-off between vehicle mass and off-road handling. Loaded vehicles will sink deeper, but the wheels have better traction with the ground… but only if the mass is well distributed!
Driving in water
Water in Snowrunner, like in Mudrunner, can flow at different speeds. When crossing a river, natural rules apply - heavy vehicles are less affected by the current and lighter vehicles are more likely to float and capsize.
New to Snowrunner is that vehicles can be fitted with different air intakes that change the maximum water depth a vehicle can pass through before sustaining damage.