Hi everyone! We’re back with another development update, and it’s one we’ve been looking forward to. It’s about multiplayer in Trailmakers.
When we set out to make Trailmakers, a game where you build your own vehicle in a big world with multiplayer, we stumbled on a big technical challenge. Every time a dune buggy crashes into a drag racer at high speed, hundreds of vehicle parts go flying in every direction. Each of these parts have a trajectory that needs to be calculated and shared between players which leads to enormous amounts of calculations to simulate real physics. This takes a real toll on computers. Our programmers have spent many months making this work smoothly, and we are getting there.
This is what a multiplayer collision looks like from both sides
So what will Multiplayer be like when Early Access launches?
When we launch Trailmakers on the Steam Early Access program, the most groundbreaking multiplayer feature will be the real-time physics over network - a feature that lets you and your friends experience some very cool vehicle destruction. To set the scene for crashes, we have created a multiplayer mini game - the first of many to come. The game mode will support up to 4 players and is a ton of fun! What kind of mini game mode is it? More on that when we get closer to launch 😉
Now with dust trails
Anyone can host a multiplayer game and play with their friends, but we do recommend that the person with the fastest computer and internet connection is the host. The game’s physics calculations are done by the host’s PC, and then sent to the other players so everything is completely in sync. The more blocks are in the game, the more physics calculations are needed, and the slower the game will run. If every player decides to build something extremely elaborate, you might experience some performance issues.
During Early Access, we will optimize the open-world Sandbox and Expedition modes to be multiplayer compatible. We also plan on taking full advantage of your feedback during Early Access, so a lot of future multiplayer competitions will depend on your suggestions.
If you have a great idea for a multiplayer game mode, let us know in the comments!
PS. If you want to see the current state of the game or have a burning question you want answered, tune in to our first Dev Stream this Friday (September 29th) at 2PM UTC+1 on www.twitch.tv/PlayTrailmakers - Follow the channel if you want a notification when we go live.