Hey Racers!
Update 0.4.0 has officially splashed down – and it’s a big one. This update lays major foundations for Tidal Rush’s future, introduces our first stunt system prototype, upgrades the entire project to Unity 6, and brings hundreds (yes, hundreds) of gameplay, visual, audio, and performance improvements.
Let’s dive in:
NEW: Stunt System Prototype
Show off mid-air!
Our first pass at the stunt system is now live, including:
A one-button stunt system feature – press the drift button midair to perform a stunt and get an extra boost when being successful
Ability to chain stunts in order to get an improved boost reward
Early crash-landing penalties & animations
Multiple flip directions (early placeholders, but way more variety!)
This is just the beginning – we’ll be refining the system heavily with your feedback.
🚀 Major Gameplay Polishing
We’ve shipped a wave of improvements across racing, drifting, bots, weapons, and powerups:
Racing & Vehicle Handling
Tweaked drifting (easier initiation & more natural camera roll)
More responsive Hydrospeeder rotation + small wobble during boosts
Better autopilot logic & more reliable exit direction
Improved buoyancy and flow physics
Bots
More stable autopilot
Reduced bot hopping when drifting
Fairer rubberbanding behavior
Weapons & Items
Weapon impact animations rebuilt with new curves & rotation handling
Torpedo, missile, mine, and shield updates across visuals, logic & polish
Mines now respect flow direction and don’t slide on sandbanks
Blue missile now collides properly with the environment
Item randomization logic fixed & tuned
Boost tweaks (nerfed some item boosts, added a single-boost pickup)
Audio
Multiple engine sound updates, including basic flywheel simulation
Fixes for powerup randomization audio
Better rumble logic per platform (PlayStation controllers included)
🌈 HUGE Visual & VFX Overhaul
A massive focus of this update has been visual clarity, effects quality, and world detail.
Water & VFX
Implemented loads of new visual water effects (bow wave, wake, explosion ripple, geyser hints & more)
Water flowmaps regenerated for Unity 6
New soft-particle depth fade tech for all water interactions
Updated drift spray, drafting VFX, and transonic cones
Localised fog, improved explosions, glowing shields, rapid lightning effects, updated thrusters — lots of juicy chaos in the water
Tracks & Lighting
Full remade lighting for Shatterstone Caverns, Mangrove Marsh and Timberfall Peak
Various collision fixes and added rumble strips
Billboards and navigational sign posts now hover and move thanks to shaders
Updated Grand Prix trophies
Many missing texture fixes
UI
New How to Play tutorial containing video instructions
Style adjustments to buttons on title screen and UI blur
Fixed mode titles, pickup messages, and several menu bugs
🔧 Unity 6 Upgrade
We’ve fully transitioned Tidal Rush to Unity 6.2 including:
Various Shader fixes across the board
Updated materials and scripts
Big Performance improvements (thanks to our new culling system) and data cleanup
Bug fixes related to new engine behavior
This upgrade was a huge technical step forward, and it unlocks a ton of future possibilities.
⚙️ Backend, Networking & Stability
Major Leaderboards code refactoring
Improved server config & save handling
Better network collision, stunt, and item reliability
Fixes for race mode titles, shuffling logic, and item mode selection
Unity warnings & build errors cleaned up
Additional safety checks
🛠️ And… Everything Else
This update was full of small but meaningful touches – hundreds of little fixes from shader cleanup to collision polish, animation adjustments, sound fatigue tweaks and more.
If Tidal Rush now feels smoother, more responsive, more readable, or more vibrant – that’s because it is. 💙
🏁 Thank You
Update 0.4.0 lays the groundwork for some of the biggest features still to come.
Your feedback helps us shape Tidal Rush every day – keep sharing your thoughts, clips, and bug reports!
Let us know what you think of the new stunt system, Unity 6 upgrade, and all the juicy VFX upgrades. 🌊
See you out there – and remember: land your stunts, hit your boosts, and ride the waves.
– Your Tidal Rush Team 💙