We have begun testing the version of Trailmakers that will eventually become the Early Access game available for purchase on Steam. This is the first update we have sent out since the Alpha Demo from April, and A LOT of things have happened to the game. Check out some (most?) of the changes below.
If you want to help us test Trailmakers before it is released on Steam Early Access, head over to PlayTrailmakers.com and sign up. Have patience with us. We send out invites every week, but still at a small scale until the game is more stable. If you want to chat with the developers or the testers, head over to our Official Discord.
General
- You can now hold down right click to control the camera, and zoom in and out with the scroll wheel.
- Pressing [TAB] now opens a map. The fog of war conceals where you haven’t yet been.
- We have removed the mini map.
- Character Customization is now available. Choose name, gender and main/off colors for your character.
- Physics have been tweaked. This includes aerodynamics and water physics.
Multiplayer
We have added a separate Multiplayer game mode that is accessible from the Main Menu. The objective is to hold on to the Crown for the longest amount of time, whilst trying your best to fend off attackers. Up to 4 players can join the same game. We have a lot of plans concerning new multiplayer game modes.
We also plan on making the Expedition/Sandbox world multiplayer ready at a later stage.
Expedition
- Environment - We have completely rebuilt the Expedition world compared to the Alpha Demo. It is a lot larger, more detailed, and has a lot more areas to explore.
- Animals - Be careful around the new wildlife in Trailmakers.
- We have removed the feature where you had to drag a block into a green beam to unlock a teleport station.
- There are now two kinds of checkpoints - ones that just save your progress, and ones that save your progress and acts as fast travel points. You activate them by driving into them.
- You can teleport to fast travel points by opening the map (TAB) and clicking on the point.
Substance
We have removed the concept of ‘Substance’ from the game as we felt that it did not add to the overall enjoyment of the Expedition. Having to “farm” Substance quickly turned into a punishing grind if you were stuck on a certain hurdle. To limit the vehicle power level in Expedition we have introduced ‘Power Cores’. See “Builder Features” below for more info.
Blocks
- (Changed) Seat and engines are now explosive. If they suffer an impact, they will explode and the explosions can trigger other engines/seats.
- (NEW) Small Modular Wing - A smaller version of the regular Modular Wing.
- (NEW) Bulldawg Engine - Replaces the basic engine, and is now 2x2x1 instead of 2x2x2.
- (NEW) Raw Engine - A more powerful engine than the Bulldawg Engine, but it weighs a lot.
- (NEW) Dragon Engine - A very fast, but fragile engine.
- (NEW) Hover Block - A lift engine that generates an air cushion under your vehicle.
- (NEW) Raw Jet Engine - A new jet engine that is bulky, powerful and overheats. Good for rocket-boosted cars.
- (NEW) Dragon Jet Engine - Replaces the old jet engine. This jet does not overheat and is a good choice for flight.
- (NEW) Mini-Thruster - Provides a small amount of thrust.
- (NEW) Gimbal Jet - A jet that fires downwards.
- (NEW) Propeller - Provides propulsive power.
- (NEW) Tailfin - Provides drag and direction stability.
- (NEW) Cannon - The first weapon to be added to the game. It fires ballistic projectiles that explode on impact.
- (NEW) Small Cannon - A version of the Cannon that shoots faster with smaller projectiles.
- (NEW) Trailer Hinge - A ball hinge with two attachment points.
- (NEW) Helicopter Servo - This block is easier to use than the old spinning block when building a helicopter.
- (NEW) Large Hinge - A hinge that is two blocks wide.
- (NEW) Racing Wheel - These wheels are slick and good for drifting.
- (NEW) Monster Truck Wheel - A much bigger wheel with good traction.
- (NEW) Vanity Blocks - A few new vanity blocks were added, and many more are to come.
Builder features
- Power Cores - Having a limit on how big you can build in the Expedition is crucial to making the environment challenging. Power Cores act as the way to limit the power of your vehicles. The Power Cores you collect stay with you the entire Expedition, but every engine you put on your vehicle reserves some of the Power Cores. If you remove the engine, the Power Core is freed up again. Check the Power Core cost of the engines in the builder menu.
- Block Count - You can now view the total block count of your vehicle in the top left corner
- Total Weight - You can now view the total weight of your vehicle in the top left corner
- Tinting - You now have the option to color some blocks. Click them and click the paint bucket tool to change the color. You can select multiple blocks and color them together.
- Rotation - You can now rotate a block by holding down [ALT] and clicking the rotation bar.
- Configurations - We have added a few new configurations to mechanical blocks.
- Toggle - In the keybindings menu, you can now put a checkmark under the keybinding if you want the key to toggle the mechanical block on/off instead of holding it down.
- Delay - You can input a number of seconds delay before the mechanical block activates.
- Repeat - You can input a number of seconds after which the activation repeats.
- Speed - The speed at which the mechanical block activates can be adjusted on some blocks.
- Multi-select - You can select more than one block by clicking and dragging with the mouse or by holding down [CTRL] and clicking multiple blocks.
- Multi-select configurations - When you have more than one block selected, if they are configurable you can “bulk configure” them. For example: You can select 4 hinges and change the key binding on all 4 at the same time.
- Build bubble - We have added an invisible bubble that limits how far from your character you can build, and how big a vehicle you can build. This is mostly a measure to stop players from building into walls, scenery and other players. If you find the bubble to be too small, do let us know.
- Transformation - Experimental feature that allows you to transform your vehicle into another vehicle when you are airborne. Check out the Transformation menu for more details.
- Blueprint History - If you forgot to save your vehicle, you can find the last versions you exited the builder with in the “History” tab.
- Import Blueprint - You can share your vehicles with other players by sending them the blueprint. The blueprint is saved as a .png picture with the save data stored in the picture! The “Import” button lets you browse your computer for blueprints and import them into your game. By default, your blueprints are saved in your “Documents”.
- Vehicles will no longer break on impact with the ground when you exit the builder.
Collectibles
We have added two collectibles to the Expedition - Bolts and Secrets. They are optional collectibles meant to give you a reason to explore the world. Some of them are very tricky to collect, and will require weird vehicles or insane stunts. We are still working on a reward for players who catch... them all.