Ahoy There, Skipper!
I am very pleased to announce that the new 900km2 (30km x 30km) island map is now ready for you to test.
I have launched it as an opt-in beta test so for those who don't know how to opt-in to these things please follow the instructions below...
1. Go to your Steam library and find Powerboat VR
2. Right Click on it and go to properties
3. A window will pop up, click "BETAS"
4. From the drop down you will be able to select "betatest - Map Beta Test"
5. Close the window and Steam should schedule an update for Powerboat VR which should be 2.2Gb in size.
6. Once it has downloaded you can run the game and enjoy the new map.
7. If you want to revert back to the old version just repeat these instructions but select "None" from the BETA drop down.
BAD POINTS (Hence the beta release)
Loading time is quite slow - it can take a while before everything loads ok so please be patient. I've already fixed this but haven't had time to rebuild everything for release. Expect an update tomorrow.
First of all there is definitely a performance hit on the new map - not huge but it may be enough to cause reprojection on some machines. As a guide my test system (i9-9900k / RTX2080ti) I get around 7.5ms - 8ms when driving around the map. in a race this increases to around 11ms - 12ms, enough to cause some reprojection. However, there is plenty of optimisation to be done on the new map so I am quite sure this will come down in future updates.
The new map contains the same number of races and delivery points but they are now spread out a bit more because of the map size change. This makes the MFD map somewhat difficult to use as the icons and names get too small to read and the map doesn't zoom out far enough to see much more than the 1st island. I will try to fix this tomorrow.
GOOD POINTS
It's a new map - and it's huge. You start off in the roughly in the middle of the map so you have 15km in any direction to explore. I'd estimate that even using the Typhoon and hitting its maximum speed of 100kts it will still take about an hour to circumnavigate the edge of the map let alone visit the interior islands!
The whole area has been covered with new high resolution textures both on land and beneath the sea. While the terrain itself has been modelled more realistically with lovely smooth beaches sloping gently into the sea. The fish also react to the new terrain better as the depth is more constant so they know where to swim. They can still clip through the ocean floor though (another thing to fix!).
The race tracks length have been increased so they are more suitable for powerboating. The races now last longer and, trust me, you'll need the extra length if you are going to beat the new race AI which has had a bit of an upgrade. They're still a bit dumb in situational awareness (I'll be fixing that shortly) so they do tend to collide but they now haul ass and are just as fast as you. Please remember that the AI uses an identical copy of the boat you are in, physics and all, so if they beat you it's not because they cheated! ;o)
I have modified the ocean waves so they are slightly smoother and they also flow a bit slower mimicking the swell of an ocean a bit better. This also gives you a little more time to react to large waves and have at least an attempt at steering round them which will be important shortly because...
The new engine/boat management system will hopefully be coming next week. This update will mean the end of just holding the throttle open and hoping for the best. You'll need to manage your engines by reducing revs when props come out of the water as well as choosing the gentlest racing line where possible to reduce damage to the boat and yourself! Expect things like water ingress, mechanical failures, electrical failures and also a simulation of the physical punishment you are experiencing. These will all be togglable with varying levels so you'll be able to configure the game to your preferences.