I saw one screen shot that showed the rear wheels of the truck turned in the same direction as the front wheels (crab steering) vs. the "normal" way where the rear wheels are turned opposite the fronts to get a tighter turn radius. Does this mean that the rear-wheels steering will be seperate and in-dependent of the front wheels? Would it be possible to make it that way? say (for default keyboard controls) you use the arrow keys for the front-wheel steering and, say the A and S keys to steer the rear wheels?
Or, if you use a gamepad (like me) that is set up Playstation-style, with the front R1 and L1 buttons, use the joy stick for the front wheels and the R1 and L1 buttons for rear steer.
You said you were going for realism, well, here you go. If you watch monster-truck videos, you'll notice that sometimes the drivers will use ONLY the rear wheels to navigate tight corners, making the truck turn with a near zero-radius, like a forklift, and turn QUICK!
And some people would argue about not having the sensitivity of an anlog control over the rear wheels. For them, I submit this: On the real trucks, most of the time the steering on the rear wheels is controlled merely by a two-pole toggle switch. switch left, full steer rear wheels left. Switch right, full steer rear wheels right. They merely change the sizes of the valving to control the rate of the steering, then incorporate limit switches to tell the pumps for the hydraulics where to stop. And besides, if this physics engine is as real as you say it will be, using the rear steering at anything over about 60 will end in disaster, anyway. (rollovers and scary stuff like that, i would think).
Anyway, just and idea, and I know, I know, I should stop pestering you with stuff to add to the game. But I just had to say that. I'm done now...
later,
Plazma