Hey everybody! Tristan Cole's Pro Driver is still in active development, so I wanted to start posting regular updates here to give more visibility into the development process and the latest changes happening in the background!
The latest development build includes a ridiculous amount of changes. It's been over a year since the last build so I figured it was time to package and publish what I have for you all to test out. There are huge level design changes, revamps to gameplay systems, updated UI mockups, and more!
Read the patch notes for the latest build below and check out the latest gameplay video!
- Last things, be sure to follow TCPD on Steam to get the latest updates and wishlist to get notified when it finally releases! New trailer coming soon!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1cV-PqSHcM
🔳 Latest Changes (3/30/25 build)
- Gameplay updates!
- Reworked all game systems to fit new open world design. Most modes are now started from the garage in a given district.
- Implemented a money system where the player can earn cash to spend in the garage on various upgrades.
- Added initial upgrades/unlocks including rims, spoilers, and vehicles.
- Added upgrades that unlock after certain missions are completed.
- Revamped UI screens with stereo mockup.
- Taxi mode:
- Able to be started from any garage.
- Two modes: unlimited and timed (25% bonus).
- Rating system tweaked and new bonus tip trick system added.
- Introduced multiple passenger types (WIP).
- Updated arrow system to rely on dynamic paths (WIP).
- Race mode:
- Races in a district are now available at that garage.
- Races can now be single or multiple laps.
- Random street racers can be found driving around to challenge and bet against.
- Objective mode:
- Objective lists for a district are now available at that garage.
- Random citizens are placed throughout districts offering more objectives to complete in free roam.
- These jobs can be completed 2+ times in timed runs after the first run.
- Various vehicle handling and quality of life improvements.
- Updated camera.
- Couple new tricks (Cario).
- Much more stable grind attach/detach.
- More customization including license plate text.
- LATC has been expanded and split up!
- There have been a bunch of changes to the city, way too many to list! Drive around to check out all the new and updated areas - high and low!
- The most notable change is that the city is now split into 4 different districts:
- The Campus District
- The Tourist District
- The Waterfront District
- The Downtown District
- Each district contains a 'Stunt Service' garage where you can customize your vehicle and work to earn cash.
- Each district contains various encounters the player may experience during free roam to earn cash including:
- Street races with betting
- Characters with objectives to complete
- Added test night mode.
- Prop system now respawns most props to original state/location after being hit.
- General fixes/updates
- Simplified main menu for single 'mode', temporarily disabled multiplayer.
- Updated music playlist.
- Fixed/updated tips & tricks pause menu to show all basic trick combo buttons in plain text.
- Added a stats system and stats pause menu to track various in game metrics.
- Temporarily removed tutorial (small popup at start to replace for now).
This is not a full list of changes, it's been well over a year so there's far too many to list even if I had kept track of them all. Compared to the old build, outside of the familiar city it almost feels like a new game. I encourage you to explore the city, have fun, and try to break things!
🔳 What's Next?!
First off, sorry I waited this long for an update. Hopefully all the included changes make it worth it and at least give a better idea of what I envision the final state of the game to be! I promise I'll be working more steadily on the game and will not wait as long between versions.
So what is next? Well there's a lot of level design left: all the big pieces of the districts are there, but there are roads to be connected and foliage to place and jumps to add. That all takes a lot of iteration and play time! It's an ongoing process on top of the other things I have to do. Now that the gameplay systems are mostly in place, I'm going to work on adding more 'content' so I can build a good base of things available to do in every district. More races, more objectives, more character encounters, more more more!
The taxi mode also needs further work. I've got some exciting updates planned that hopefully add more depth and make things more fun! There's also a lot of ironing out to do of the tips system, the delivery arrow, passenger placement, and all the little details like camera and animations and such of course. The race modes could also use some immediate help on the AI front; street racers get stuck very easily on obstacles.
Plus as usual whatever else comes up that I feel like working on. Have any suggestions or ideas of what you'd like to see in TCPD? Let me know!
I welcome and encourage all constructive feedback, positive or negative. I need your help to continue making "TCPD" into the best possible game it can be, so please share any and all comments or questions you may have.