Dear Players and Taxi Drivers Who Have Already Played the Demo!
First of all, thank you to everyone who tested the demo of CyberTaxi: Lunatic Nights and added the early access version to your wishlist. By releasing the demo, we wanted to showcase our vision for a game that blends taxi simulation with chaotic action gameplay. While we succeeded to some extent, we also received a lot of constructive criticism. Many players recognized the potential within the game, but at the same time, it still has quite a few technical and design issues.
This feedback convinced us that the project is worth further development, but it’s not quite ready to hit the streets just yet. We have decided to postpone the release of CyberTaxi: Lunatic Nights by three months – to the end of Q2 this year. This extra time will allow us to take another look at the game and redesign many of its elements.
CyberTaxi: Lunatic Nights is being developed by a small team—right now, just one person is responsible for the entire project. However, this dystopian taxi simulator is a labor of passion, and we are dedicating a lot of time and effort to it. We hope this delay serves as proof of our commitment – we want to deliver our vision and create a game that, above all, provides great experience.
We will keep you updated on our progress, and below, we have outlined our action plan for the coming months, focusing on key technical and design aspects.
WHAT WE PLAN TO IMPROVE IN THE GAME
Technical Issues and Controls
We aim to eliminate performance issues that, despite demo fixes, were still present on many configurations. This is a complex issue, but it looks like we are on the right track to improve smoothness and remove elements that put a strain on CPUs and GPUs.
Another crucial aspect of technical improvements is refining controller support for both gamepads and keyboard + mouse. In the demo version, there were several instances where controllers or the keyboard didn’t function correctly.
Missions and Story
We plan to redesign the structure of story missions and the game’s introduction. In the current version, players received too much information at once, making it difficult to grasp the game mechanics smoothly. We want to create a better story campaign where missions appear more naturally and gradually introduce players to different gameplay aspects.
We also intend to expand missions to make them more engaging while adding extra challenges, both behind the wheel and on foot. At the same time, we want to give more personality to the characters, events, and the city itself, which is meant to be driven by chaos and the madness of its inhabitants.
Simulation and Driving Model
We have many potentially exciting taxi mechanics, such as transporting passengers, ride ratings, and special fares, but we want to refine them. We aim to ensure that players feel their impact on how passengers experience their rides.
We are also working on improving the driving model and physics. We want taxi driving to be enjoyable and encourage fast, chaotic driving. At the same time, we will make sure that players feel more encouraged to upgrade their vehicles.
Combat – Vehicle and On Foot
While we are satisfied with many of the weapon effects we have created, we will ensure that the combat mechanics feel more satisfying. Our plan is to give players more opportunities to use special weapon types and better balance firepower.
Regarding on-foot combat, the primary thing we will enhance is enemy AI. So far, enemies have been too static and not challenging enough, but that is going to change.
Quality Improvements
We plan to enhance the visuals of many in-game elements, especially passenger models and the main character. Until now, we have used temporary voice recordings for characters, but our goal is to replace them with professional voice actors.
Among other quality improvements, we plan to refine UI readability and aesthetics, add better sound effects, and implement various quality-of-life upgrades, such as a customizable FOV.
We hope you stay with us, arm yourself with patience, and wait a little longer for your ride to Prison City.
Best regards,
Hed Media Games