Hi storm chasers!
This is the first devlog about the game after its announcement. I have been working hard for the last weeks and I would like to share with you what have been done. Let's begin.
Supercell formation and rain shafts
The first thing I have been working was to make supercells more realistic and impressive. In the trailer, there was only a tornado with a small cloud above it, but now there are supercell forming and moving on the map that can ending up creating tornadoes.
I have also added rain shafts below supercells when there is heavy rain or hail precipitations.
You can have a better look of those rain shafts in this screenshot of a tornado that touched the ground pretty far away from my position:
Better GPS radar
There are also a lot of changes in the GPS radar. The supercell's formation are now appearing more realistically and I have added more useful information about roads, buildings, points of interest... etc. Of course it is far to be perfect but I think that I will let it unchanged for the early access launch.
Rain on windows and winshield wipers
Another graphical point that I was wishing to modify was the rain visual effects inside the car. I think that it is very important that the player feels safe and protected inside his vehicle and, for me, the windshield wipers are one element that can gives you this feeling.
It is really great to watch heavy rain falling on the window and listen the wipers cleaning the windshield. Of course, you can't expect a realistic effect like in the Drive Club game but I think it is enough... for the moment ;-).
As you can see in the screenshot above, I have also changed the hands of the driver to match the skin tone that you have selected for your avatar and I have added more info icons (car lights, engine gears... etc.)
Fill up the gas tank
It was something that was already working in the past version of the game, but, to add more realistic interactions, I have added the need to exit your car to fill up the gas tank and not only to have to drive to the gas station and to wait inside the car.
Online
Those was the changes made on the visual part of the game but the main work I have done in the past weeks has been in the online mode. I have fixed a lot of gameplay mechanics and I need to also add more features as "Invite your friends" and "Inactivity disconnection" for example.
That's all for now. Thank you very much for your interest about the game. I will try to respond every question that you could have about it, as I have done for now.
Stay tuned!