A community screenshot by Taxi
Once again it was a busy week at the studio. For most of the week we were busy preparing for the update, and we were extremely proud when we eventually got it out of the door and into your hands just in time for the weekend. We’re also really happy about the way the game is progressing, and it was really great to read all the feedback during the weekend and see you all using the new screenshot mode to get the best out of our game. Speaking of screenshots, you can see the fruits of everyone’s amazing work adorning this post – to be honest, they’re much better than ours!
To see all the screenshots, visit our blog post at nextcargame.com.
The changes in handling are something that have been a popular topic for the whole weekend. It’s not so much that there have been many changes in the underlying physics, but the steering ratio has been lowered. This was done to make it easier to control the car without any assists because now it’s not possible to overreact to oversteer by turning the wheels too much, too quickly, resulting in spinning. However, as a side effect the handling now feels somewhat slower and perhaps more sluggish than it used to. We’re currently assessing the situation and figuring out the next step – one possible solution might be to make the steering ratio configurable by the user – but your feedback is invaluable to us so that we know in which direction to take the handling. When we said that we want to develop the game with you, our community, we really meant that.
A community screenshot by Blackvain
It was also great to hear how much you’ve loved the new Figure 8 derby track. Other than that the update didn’t bring too many changes in tracks apart some improvements and added polish, but there’s a good reason for that – our level team has been very busy for the last few weeks. The reason for that is that we’re currently assessing our long-term plan for the tracks, and we’ve decided to use the current tarmac track as a test case. We can hopefully soon show you some of the ideas that we have, but basically the track will have a much more efficient flow, with a nicely balanced amount of sweeping corners and straighter legs, with possibly a very tight section thrown in for good measure to act as a choke point. More about that in the coming weeks as soon as we have something remotely presentable.
While there’s a constant programming work going under the hood, next week will see us not only focusing on the tracks, but we will also be looking at what new cars to add next. The new American Sedan has very popular with you, but we’re thinking the next one needs to be something different again to keep things fresh. Maybe a sport coupé? Or another small hatch? Nothing’s written in stone yet, so be sure to visit our community forum and let us know what you think!
We think it’s more than fitting to end this post with some more amazing screenshots posted on our community forum. In future we will be also posting some community screenshots in a dedicated feature – if you want to have yours featured, be sure to post your work on the community forum thread here.
Again, we really appreciate all the support we’re getting from you. Thanks all and enjoy!