Last time we shared an update, we answered some of the most common questions about Samson. Today, we’re shifting gears.
We sat down with game designer Alex Williams, who leads the driving experience on the project, to take a closer look at how vehicles work in Samson. Drawing on his experience from Mad Max, Alex brings a strong, hands-on approach to vehicle handling and car combat. With so many of you asking how cars fit into the city and the wider gameplay, we’re diving deep into everything vehicle-related that’s on the road ahead.
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What were the core inspirations behind Samson’s driving experience?
Samson: A Tyndalston Story is set within the timeframe of the 90s, and being a team full of industry veterans growing up in the 80s and 90s, the action sequences of defining films from that era, such as Ronin & Heat is in our blood and vision too.
These inspirations come across in the attention to detail in how vehicles behave, with a sense of weight, physicality, and rawness. The player feels like a badass as they are ripping through the streets of Tyndalston.
Your team has prior experience working on vehicle combat systems. How did those past learnings influence Samson’s driving and car combat?
Members of our team worked on Mad Max’s car combat, and we applied the lessons we learned over the years to the vehicle experiences of Samson - but tailored to the organic & tight streets sprawling through Tyndalston. Whether it’s pushing a car’s handling to its limits, chasing down targets and taking them down, or fleeing from the ever present enforcement of the city, we’ve got you covered!
Vehicles seem to be more than just a form of traversal in Samson, was it important for cars to function as tools in gameplay?
Samson is a seasoned enforcer, a resourceful guy who will do whatever it takes to get the job done. Reminiscent of John McClane from Die Hard, when the stakes are against him, in the heat of the moment, he will need to improvise with the things around him. Even if that means slamming his own car into another to take them down.
You mentioned a sense of weight in the vehicle experience. Can you elaborate?
All vehicles in Samson: A Tyndalston Story are uniquely handcrafted, with their real-life inspirations helping to define how they should look and feel. We’re using the out of the box handling model and Physics from Unreal 5.7, and have applied real life data where appropriate for each vehicle’s physical setup to maintain their feel with a sense of authenticity and weight.
How did you balance accessibility with depth in the driving, especially when pushing cars to their limits?
The vehicles have been tuned so players of all abilities can have fun driving them, with each one, offering a different experience. However with depth to explore and inertia to manage when cars are being pushed to the edge of what their tires can cope with.
Having said that, we have also applied some of our own features on top of the base model to define our own handling DNA. For example, we developed a countersteer model to give the player some extra control with countering the momentum in a drift when they need it, allowing them to be able to finesse the movement of the car, without breaking the sensation of weight transfer.
Do different vehicles feel meaningfully distinct to drive?
All vehicles in Samson follow the same base handling DNA. However, within that space they will be pushed to feel the way you would expect, given their real-life counterparts. Everyday civilian cars will feel safer than their modified racing variants, which themselves will vary from highly tuned rallycross versions, to beefier variants with heavy-duty engines that require more management when drifting around corners. Then there are larger vans that may accelerate at a slower rate, but can hit harder when at speed due to their sheer heft.
How does vehicle mass, speed, and physics influence car combat and destruction?
Our approach has been applied to car combat too, with the relative speed and mass of the vehicles in an impact dictating the damage. Also, cars don’t just die. Like real cars, they are made up of parts, and each part can break down, changing how the car behaves, sometimes with deadly consequences. Tires can pop, reducing grip; wheels can be damaged, causing steering to be offset, and even come off completely, leading to barrel rolling takedowns at speed!
How about Law Enforcement? Are vehicles represented there?
The Tyndalston Police Department is a force to be reckoned with and enforce jurisdiction within South End with a response measured to the corresponding crime. It’s one of the methods the city can react to the player’s actions, forcing them to improvise and manage accordingly as Samson pursues his own goals. Naturally, vehicles play a part in their presence with Police Patrols, Roadblocks, pursuing Police vehicles, which even includes helicopters that Samson must evade to avoid getting arrested.
If you enjoyed this deep dive, there’s more to come. Wishlist the game on Steam, follow us on social media for updates, and join our Discord to connect with the community early and chat with the devs: https://discord.gg/xPHpQgKUwG.
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