Stormworks: Build and Rescue – Gearboxes Tuning Guide

Stormworks: Build and Rescue - Gearboxes Simplified Tuning Guide
Stormworks: Build and Rescue - Gearboxes Simplified Tuning Guide

Unlike all other gearbox guides. This one keeps it very simple. In fact, it makes it so simple that even O.B. or Camodo could understand it.

Guide to Tuning Gearboxes

What Is a Gearbox?

This… Is a gearbox. See, simple so far right?

Where to Start?

First, to start, I suggest you build a drive-train that resembles this (I am using the drive-train on my unfinished car as an example): 

Please do note how the gearboxes connect the engine to the rear wheels, not the front.

If it is a small car I recommend that you have exactly 4 gearboxes.

I Have My Gearboxes. What Next?

So, before we dive deeper I would like to point out something. This is the same exact image, except the direction arrow tool has been enabled.

Do you see how the arrows are not all going the same direction?

There is a very good reason for that. Please see the next part of the guide to learn why.

Why Does the Direction Matter?

Okay, so you want to know why it matters. There is actually a very simple answer to that.

To keep it short and simple, if the arrows are facing toward the rear wheels, it will modify the spins of the rear wheels. If they face the front, they do the exact same thing except it’s the front wheels instead.

Basically, if the arrows are facing the front of the drive-train, it will adjust the RPS:Wheel-Spin ratio of the front wheels. And the same with the arrows facing the rear except it adjusts the back instead.

Setting Up the Gearboxes

Okay, now that you understand the very basics of gearboxes, I will show you how to set them up in the most basic and easy way possible. First, you need to setup the reverse gear, this gear should be the closest gear to the back wheels. All you need to do, is using the select tool, click on the gearbox, then on the second ratio, set it to 1:-1 (this means for every 1 RPS, your wheel will spin -1, or backwards 1 spin).

First and Reverse Gear

Now that you have reverse, it is time to setup your first gear. The first gear should be the “acceleration gear”. The “acceleration gear” needs to be the gear that allows your car to accelerate the fastest. To do this, on all of the gearboxes, set a ratio like 9:5 to start. If you see any wheel-spin, see the next portion of the guide to understand how to fix that. This is what wheel-spin looks like: 

You will need to continue adjusting that gear on all the gearboxes until you find the highest accelerating speed that is not 1:1, please note that you should not try to find the highest speed if there is wheel-spin, again, in the next segment I will go over how to fix it, so if you have it skip to that section then come back here.

The Second Gear

So the second gear is actually the first gearbox, because the first gear was all gearboxes combined. So to make the second gear, you need to get to your “shifting RPS” (shifting RPS is simply the ideal RPS to shift at that does not cause your engine to freak out or stall), once at shifting rps, engage the first gearbox. You may notice a slight difference, that is because it is only 1:1, therefore the difference is barely noticeable. You will want to adjust the second ratio on this gear. To properly adjust it, you will want to find a gear that drops the RPS by at least 5 RPS, and allows a quick acceleration but a longer period of time before reaching shifting RPS again. After doing this you will want to watch for wheel-spin again and test it, if you have wheel spin or the engine is making an odd noise on shifting, you will need to do the wheel-spin removal part of the guide which is after this part.

The Third Gear

Similar to the last gear, the third gear is the second gearbox in the line instead of the third. Start off by going into the second gearbox and repeating the same process as you did for the second gear above. Following all the same steps, except this gear must have an even longer time until reaching shifting RPS again.

The Fourth Gear

This should be the final gear that you will need to do if you are creating a small car. This gear is the last gear, and the car should have a difficult time reaching shifting RPS again. This gear can be more tricky than the last gears, for this gear, you need to make the time until it reaches Shifting RPS so long, that it is nearly impossible to reach it, however, it should still be reachable, but it should be barely reachable. This gear should allow you to get to a much higher top speed, and should be setup for high speed, not high acceleration like the others were. Again, watch for wheel-spin and odd shifting noises. If you hear none and can reach a much higher speed than you are good.

Reverse Gear Again

You already did the reverse gear, but the reverse gear also needs to disable all other gears whenever it is pressed, to do, this, connect the reverse button to the reverse gear, and a not. Then the not should be connected to an and, and the and should also be connected to the gear shift button for that specific gear that needs to be disabled, and the and should be connected to the gear itself. You will need to do that for every gear. If you have an automatic gear shifting system you can skip this step. If you had wheel-spin, you will need modify your reverse on your drive-train, see how in the next step.

Wheel-Spin and How to Remove It

To start off, this is wheel-spin: 

In stormworks, if you have wheel-spin on all tires, that means the vehicle is too heavy or the wheels are too small for the car or engine type. To fix this, modify the wheel settings by using the select tool, I will not go over how to tune wheels in this guide. If that does not work, change the tire type to high grip. If that still did not work, that most likely means that your car is too big/heavy for your current wheel/wheel-size. This is common if you are using 5×5 wheels or smaller, and you will have to replace the wheels with a bigger size unfortunately.

Fixing Wheel-Spin

To fix this, find the gear that you are experiencing this on, if it is the first gear, your having the issue I discussed above, or there is too much power going to a specific part of the vehicle. If it is any other gear, identify which gear it is by counting the shifts.

Please use this key to count the shifts:

  • 1-Shift = 1st Gearbox (Second Ratio).
  • 2-Shifts = 2nd Gearbox (Second Ratio).
  • 3-Shifts = 3rd Gearbox (Second Ratio).

After identifying the gear, you will need to invert the arrow direction, by deleting it, and placing a gearbox with the arrows facing the wheels that do not have wheel-spin.

Reverse

If you had any wheel-spin at all you will need to read the following part, if not, you may skip it.

Wheel-Spin Fixing and the Reverse Gear Just Don’t Easily Mix

So, if you had any wheel-spin, read this section. If you did not, skip it. If you had any wheel-Spin whatsoever, you will need to add another clutch to your car. So, if you notice, when you spawn in your car and try to reverse. You will notice that your front and back wheels are spinning completely opposite directions.

Very Easy Fix

To fix this, all you need to do is look at the arrows on your reverse gear. Notice if they are pointing to the front or back, you will need to know this in a moment. You will need to start by separating your drive-train into 2 different “drive-shafts”(a drive shaft is just a line of pipes in stormworks). Basically, starting at the gearboxes, you will need to split them into 2 pipes, one pipe will go to the opposite wheels as the arrows on the reverse gear are facing, and the other will go to the engine directly. Then you will need to add a clutch on the pipe that does not go to the engine. Then you will need a switchbox. With this switchbox, you will need to connect 1 constant number to the off signal. Using the select tool, change the constant number to 1. Then connect the on/off on the switchbox to the reverse gear shift. Now if you try to reverse it should be all fixed.

Helena Stamatina
About Helena Stamatina 1775 Articles
My first game was Naughty Dog’s Crash Bandicoot (PlayStation) back in 1996. And since then gaming has been my main hobby. I turned my passion for gaming into a job by starting my first geek blog in 2009. When I’m not working on the site, I play mostly on my PlayStation. But I also love outdoor activities and especially skiing.

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