Next Car Game new update

Driftwood
Friday, February 21, 2014 | 11:57 PM
13 comments

Images PC

Next Car Game just got updated with a certain number of improvements, but also reverse tracks and a new Figure 8 race. Details and images inside.
Update: Added two homemade videos on this Figure of 8 race track.

Update content

Tracks:
* New Figure 8 derby race event.
* All race tracks now have a reverse layout as well.
* Lap and AI counts are now fully customizable for each event.
* Tarmac track: start area rehauled, tarmac textures reworked, last sector redecorated.
* Gravel track: textures reworked, track surface visuals updated.
* New birches for both tarmac and gravel track.
* General polishing and bug fixing.

Weathers:

* Three new weathers: bright day, cold morning and warm sunset.
* A random weather is selected to an event at startup.

Dynamic environment objects:

* Tire stacks now have more weight to them for added realism.
* Reduced concrete barrier friction to prevent the car from spinning.

Vehicles & Upgrading:

* New car: American Sedan (no high detail dashboard yet).
* Steering wheels now rotate in cockpit camera.
* Texture/model improvements and bug fixes.
* Increased European hatchback engine power.
* Reworked European hatchback handling.
* New engine backfire effect.
* Improved differential simulation.
* New gearbox, drivetrain, suspension and brake upgrade parts.
* New paint jobs for cars to choose from.
* Driving model improvements.

Driving assists:

* Assists now have three levels of strength: ‘Off’, ‘Half’ and ‘Full’, with ‘Off’ and ‘Half’ being the same as earlier ‘Off’ and ‘On’ and ‘Full’ offering an even more assisted driving experience.

Cameras:

* New screenshot camera mode with zoom factor and yaw, pitch and roll parameters, designed for taking screenshots with free camera and hidden HUD. In the screenshot mode, it’s possible to rotate the camera as well as adjust the field-of-view, and by accessing Effect Mode, you can adjust the Depth-of-Field (DOF) parameters to your liking. There’s no dedicated button for taking a screenshot yet, so you need to use an external application or PrintScreen button.
* Brought back spherical camera from the technology demo, it’s available only in camera mode at least for now.
* Implemented another chase camera further back according to the feedback.
* Tweaked European hatchback chase camera.

Damage:

* Fixed engine component damage calculation in HUD so that the engine icon will better represent the actual damage.
* Removed red damage direction indicators from HUD based on a general request.
* Fixed an issue with gameplay damage not being calculated correctly when near death.
* Further balancing of gameplay damage and visual damage – a completely reworked system will be introduced in the future.

Garage:

* Reworked many textures.
* Added some nice decorative elements.
* Tweaked interior and yard decoration.
* Tweaked lighting.

Gameplay:

* Derby AI: tactical reverse mode now considers engine location more efficiently.
* Removed speed sensitive steering when using a steering wheel.
* Implemented further balancing tweaks to AI profiles and handling.
* Implemented start position randomization (for player as well).

User interface:

* Binding the Logitech G27 button 7 etc. will no longer result in exiting the settings menu.
* Loading screen will now show a background based on the event you’re playing instead of a generic one.
* Game is now paused and input suspended while Steam overlay is active.

Input:

* DirectInput gamepads should now work and are also remappable.
* Improved controller settings to reduce steering lag.

Render:

* Fixed a bug where VSync was not able to recover back to 60 fps when temporarily dipping to 30 fps.

Audio:

* Engine damage sound effect is now linked to actual engine damage instead of car health.

Commented on 2014-02-21 18:24:01

So wait...has this been confirmed for next gen? I thought it was PC only

In reply to

Driftwood

Commented on 2014-02-21 21:48:27 In reply to KORNdog

I think I heard they were willing to port the game on next gen consoles, but maybe that's only wishful thinking for now. I don't know.

GunsnSwords

Commented on 2014-02-21 22:29:29

lowrez 2D sprite based characters eh.
http://www.gamersyde.com/pop_images_next_car_game-...
http://www.gamersyde.com/pop_images_next_car_game-...

cma112087

Commented on 2014-02-21 23:54:29 In reply to GunsnSwords

Posted by GunsnSwords

Pretty dumb comment considering its a mixture of 2d/3d crowd models and its only in ALPHA stage... You're aware of what ''placeholder'' means right? I see some 3d crowd models in the distance, and some 2d ones closer up, which makes no sense really. Why would they have 3d in the back, and 2d towards the front? Unless they only have a certain amount of 3d models made so far, and they dont want to spam the entire crowd with 2-3 models, which would mean the 2d ones are PLACE HOLDER.

Lol, if youve played the game (like i have) you wouldnt even think of looking at the crowd. The hundreds of flying debris and 24 cars colliding simultaneously is enough to keep me from giving a shit about a mixture of 3d and 2d crowd models, especially for how good this game is graphically, for being in alpha stage.

Oh, and the game is very, very fun. Reminds me of the old days of Destruction Derby on the original Playstation, which was classic.

[quote=GunsnSwords]lowrez 2D sprite based characters eh.
http://www.gamersyde.com/pop_images_next_car_game-24283-2.html
http://www.gamersyde.com/pop_images_next_car_game-24283-3.html[/quote]

Lol, if youve played the game (like i have) you wouldnt even think of looking at the crowd.  The hundreds of flying debris and 24 cars colliding simultaneously is enough to keep me from giving a shit about a mixture of 3d and 2d crowd models, especially for how good this game is graphically, for being in alpha stage.

Oh, and the game is very, very fun.  Reminds me of the old days of Destruction Derby on the original Playstation, which was classic.

michaelob

Commented on 2014-02-22 03:19:37 In reply to cma112087

Posted by cma112087

Completely agree. I didn't even realize there was a crowd to be honest. Although this game looks gorgeous imo, this is all about the physics, and it has that down perfectly. The only game I have ever played that rivals these physics is Rigs of Rods and that is a free to play simulator.

[quote=cma112087]

Oh, and the game is very, very fun.  Reminds me of the old days of Destruction Derby on the original Playstation, which was classic.[/quote]

asdfg

Commented on 2014-02-22 03:32:21

This is just getting more and more promising. That's why I backed because I knew Bugbear would deliver.

Commented on 2014-02-22 10:07:19

If you guys say so. It's meant to be a destruction based game and it's still in alpha stage, i get it. If it's in alpha then it's still got a long ways to go, just saying.

MrWhite

Commented on 2014-02-22 13:39:08 In reply to GunsnSwords

Well, Alpha normally means that it does have a wee bit to go by default regardless of the game anyway. For me, they've nailed the most important aspect, and that is that the gameplay is fun. I'd take the full game in it's current state with a few gameplay modes and a career mode over most racers I've played in the past few years or so. It's not going for sim; it's not going for arcade. It's just got geared towards pure fun. And it is.

marklola

Commented on 2014-02-22 14:04:00

looks ok but like most car games will get boring pretty fast i think

Trebby

Commented on 2014-02-22 14:39:35

Looks good if you ask me.

AnthonM2

Commented on 2014-02-22 15:27:19

I liked Ridge Racer Unbounded and the music was great, I hope they hire the same music composers.

jeenyus

Commented on 2014-02-22 18:15:57 In reply to GunsnSwords

Because that's the most important part of a racing game with nice car destruction physics that doesn't even have 25% of the budget of a MS/Activision/Ubisoft/EA big franchise.