This must be unexpected news, right? We’ve just started our very own Discord server for American Motorcycle. I’d like to invite you to join us there! Just click the image below or use this link:
“Why now? What’s going on?”
As Road Studio, we’ve been working on two games - American Motorcycle Simulator and Alaskan Road Truckers. Some time ago we put AMS on pause in order to focus on ART.
Alaskan is coming out on PC on October 18, and the plan is to resume work on AMS soon. That’s we we’ll need all the early feedback, all the ideas, all the energy you can provide us, just like you did on the Alaskan Discord server.
“What can I expect from the server?”
We’re starting from what we’ve learned on our ART, so we have channels for discussing the game and the motorcycle world. You’ll also have announcements, but not that many at the start - we need some time to get things going.
And later? Who knows! We’re open for ideas and we want the server to grow organically. We don’t have a ready-made template. Let’s create our space together. Like a biker club should!
See you, bikers! Michal from Road Studio
Routastic event is here! 🔥
Hey, everyone! 👋
We’re happy to announce that the Routastic Event has officially started! Huge discounts, great bundles, a showcase of upcoming titles, and much, much more awaits you there! Go and check it for yourself ⬇️
We’re going to be featured in a Rouastic event! This is an event organized with all the adventure seekers in mind, so we think our game is a perfect addition there!
Pre-sale Giveaways
We can't wait to see all of you in action during the Routastic Event.
You can also check the highly anticipated Gas Station Simulator - Airstrip DLC will launch on the same day as the event.
Hello, Bikers! This week we’re diving right back into the inside look at the development of our game. In the last post (you can find it HERE), we wrote about the making of the Hoover Dam. This time we’re talking with Janek Laskowski about the single most important thing in the game: our motorcycle!
We also have a pretty cool announcement to make: we’re changing our logo! We think the new logo suits our game much more and we’re pretty stoked with it. Hope you like it as much as we do!
And now, let’s learn how the team made the bike.
So, Janek, what do you do in Road Studio?
In Road Studio I'm the Lead Programmer. So what does this mean? I make sure that the game runs stable (i.e. no crashes) and that it works just as we designed it to work. I also coordinate the work of other programmers.
As a lead programmer, I also have to somehow "filter" all the features that people try to put into our game. Every team member has their own unique ideas, most of them really good, but in terms of doability I'm the one to say "yes, let's do it" or "no, we can't do it". The latter means precisely "yes, of course, we are super smart and we CAN do it, but it will take us X weeks to prepare so let's try something else". *laughs* If the idea is really good, together with Tomek (Head of Production) we discuss what resources are needed (mostly it's time) and which features should be dropped/pushed back to make "space" for the new one.
Tell us some more about the bike. Is there a particular model you were basing it on?
Yes! We’ve chosen Indian Chief as our inspiration. We considered several more but in the end, we wanted a motorcycle that would fit the theme of the journey. We didn’t want a racer bike or a low rider, like the Harleys, we wanted a bike that you can ride long distances on. We picked a comfortable cruiser and made our own bike.
Cruisers are perfect for long journeys. They’re comfortable, they have a designated space to attach pouches and bags, and it looks nice! I don’t know, the red with chrome-plated elements just seemed like a classic to us. We also wanted our bike to have a classic dashboard. You know, the one with physical arrows and stuff.
Do you want to make other models available later on?
That’d be great. I mean, we will certainly have the one for the journey, and it will be our main bike. But we are considering the idea of introducing some challenges into the game and here a racing or cross motorbike would be awesome to have. You know, to feel the change. A racing bike would be obviously faster, the cross one would be better offroad. But for now, it’s just a loose idea. We want to perfect our primary motorcycle first.
How about customising your bike, then?
Customising your motorcycle is very important for the bikers community so it’s also important for us. We want to allow the player to make this bike your own. We will have different paints available, some stickers and decals, you’ll be able to change the fork, put in a different silencer, and more. We won’t have it in the demo but customisation is something that we seriously consider to be available in the full game
How long does it take to make a motorcycle in the game?
A few months. There are two things, there’s physics, so how the bike works, and there’s the design, so how it looks. There is also the sound it makes but that is always the last thing to apply. When we started working on the motorcycle there was only me and one graphic designer. Within 15 minutes he made me a quick sketch, basically a moveable box with two wheels and a steering bar, on which I could test the physics.
That was what we wanted to do first: driving logic. We designed the acceleration, gears, and how much the motorcycle leans on the turns. Then obviously we had to make it work on different terrains, not just on flat surfaces. We also worked on collisions and falling down the bike, we needed to make it look realistic. I mean, if you drive into a wall you’re not going to get catapulted into space, there is such a thing as gravity. All this took us months and we keep working on it still. For example, we want to add sliding and it will take yet more time to do, as different kinds of grounds have different frictions.
Physics was worked on independently from the graphics. When our design team expanded, we started working on what the bike is supposed to look like. Tomek, the same guy who made the Hoover Dam, designed the first iteration of our bike in around one month. Like I said before, designers did some research and chose the Indian Chief as our basis. We put together the physics and the design and then animated it.
So how do you make the driving feel real?
Mostly through camera movements. We did research, watched YouTube videos where bikers recorded their driving with GoPro, and tried to simulate the same kind of movements with our camera. When you accelerate you get pushed back, when you turn you lean in that direction, when you stop, you lean forward.
Of course, we had to take some creative liberties here and there. People usually strap the camera to their chests, not to their eyes, so we had to move the perspective up. And it’s rather unusual for anyone to get into accidents just to film it, so we had to get creative here as well. We saw videos and tried to imagine what it would look like from the first-person view. I can tell you, it wasn’t nice.
That’s it for today, thanks for reading! We wanted to show you more of what’s happening (because that’s a lot!) and now we’re going back to work.
See you later
Crimerunner, a criminal sim with parkour action, is coming to Steam!
Our publisher, Movie Games, just announced a new game which will come to PC in 2024.
The 1980s were a different time. No smartphones, no GPS. Dirty jobs were more… dirty.
Start your journey as a teenage criminal in a single player first-person sim with parkour action. Run simple jobs: pickpocket, act as a courier, pick locks, all under the police’s nose. Earn respect with the city gangs and don’t let the cops catch you!
Do quests and earn reputation points with all gangs
Hide in the shadows and avoid being detected by the police
Use the verticality of the terrain and parkour around the city
Play lockpicking minigames with either a lockpick or a crowbar
Gain access to and decorate your own hideout
Brewpub Simulator announced – new game coming to Steam!
Quit your day job, open a bar!
We’re celebrating International Beer Day (yes, we know it’s tomorrow) with a new game about crafting beer!
Brew lagers, stouts and IPAs, and serve patrons at your own brewpub. Decorate the place, create your own brands of beer, and expand into the best joint in town. All of this in a relaxing simulator that values creativity and passion for crafting.
Brew your dream beer! Discover new recipes, buy ingredients and unlock more advanced equipment
Unlock new furniture and decorations and customise your pub
Earn reputation, attract new customers and keep your returning patrons satisfied
Master each step of a realistic process of brewing craft beers
Play multiple minigames, including pouring beer, changing kegs, mixing ingredients, bottling beer, and more
Manage your business, hire employees and keep your pub fully stocked
Take on daily missions to earn more money and experience
Civitatem, a Medieval city-builder is out
If you have a craving to build a Medieval city, we have a game for you! Civitatem is out now at $12.99 / £10.29 / €12.99 with a 10% launch discount. We’ve also prepared a premiere stream for your enjoyment.
Civitatem is a medieval city builder where you help your villagers raise a new settlement in dangerous lands by making use of their skills and available world resources.
Tactical RTS about firefighters is out now – stream, bundles, and more
Fire Commander, a tactical RTS about firefighters, is finally here! We have prepared for you a host of attractions for this day, including a launch discount, a premiere stream, and game bundles.
See what it means to face the fire. Command a firefighting unit in an exciting tactical RTS. Save lives, manage your water supplies and care for your team in 30+ missions.
Right now, we’re offering you a 15% launch discount. You will also be able to save extra in numerous Complete the Set bundles with fantastic partner studios. The available games include:
Gas Station Simulator
The Tenants
Drug Dealer Simulator
All bundles will be available at a 15% discount. Bundle discounts do stack with individual games’ main active discounts.
Ready to become an everyday hero and lead your firefighting squad on missions? Get Fire Commander now!
Hi! This week, we wanted to give you an inside look at the development of our game. We invited Tomek Zablotny, the artist behind a large part of our digital world, to talk about one of the monuments you will see in the game: the Hoover Dam.
You will also learn that Tomek is the right person to work on this project. He spends his free time just cruising around the world as you do in American Motorcycle Simulator! But, without further ado…
What’s your role in Road Studio?
Tomek: Hah, it’s not that easy to say. I’m someone between a 3D generalist and a 3D graphic designer. I create the assets for our levels and work with the level designer to make them coherent and light enough so the game isn’t overburdened. I also make the textures for 3D objects. Many of the things that you see, from buildings to energy poles to walls or stairs are either made or touched up by yours truly.
So how did you approach a monstrous construction like the Hoover Dam?
We want to translate real places to our game as true to life as possible, so we did a lot of research. We went through countless photos and maps. We didn’t create traditional concept art, meaning digital paintings. We used real-world photography as concept art.
But at the same time, you must know that video game vistas, in any game, are often smoke and mirrors. Our dam is more detailed at the top than at the bottom because you don’t go down there to see the transformers. They’re there, you can see them, and they are fairly detailed, but just enough to look good from the places you’ll see them from.
Is this the philosophy behind all of the game’s assets?
Behind all of the assets in any game. There is no point in making them more complex if you won’t get a chance to approach them from up close. Adding these details would choke your PC, and you wouldn’t notice the extra work anyway. So the foreground objects have more detailed models, high-resolution textures, ambient occlusion, better reflections etc., while things farther from the camera are simplified.
How long did the dam take to make?
I worked on it for about 3 weeks. I started with a terrain created by the level designer. I had to model the dam and make it fit. It all started with a simple, rough model. Then I added more geometry and detail to the top part, adjusted the height, added textures, doors etc.
What gets made first: the world or the gameplay?
We work on both simultaneously, but only after we have the concept for the entire thing. So the designers tell us what kind of points of interest they want to visit, and how this ties with the game’s story and gameplay. And then we, the visual guys, start to sculpt the area, first with a simple layout that will be enriched with detail. Meanwhile, another part of the team is perfecting the story, and creating the interactions and mechanics. We don’t take turns. Instead, we communicate all the time and make progress together.
When do you know that an object or a level is done?
As someone said before, art is never done, it’s abandoned. This does apply to game graphics. I could keep adding details endlessly. Another bush here, another rock there, maybe some trash to make it feel lived in. But we are limited by two things. The first is deadlines. We have to move on to other maps in the game. The second limit is performance. We can’t make the game too heavy for an average PC. So, having a set time period and performance in mind, I try to make the best-looking level possible.
Did you discover anything interesting about the Hoover Dam while working on it?
I learned a lot of things about it. One that really struck me was the energy poles near the dam. You’ll notice that they don’t go up. Instead, they lean towards the bottom of the canyon. It’s exactly how they look in real life. They’re made like that because the energy cables lead to the turbines below, so it’s a more efficient and safe setting than poles that face straight up. This was particularly interesting to me because my dad used to work in the energy industry and I heard a lot about energy poles in my youth. But I never heard about ones like these.
That’s not the only coincidence that makes you the right person in the right place.
I guess! Before I joined Road Studio, I was making training simulators for public services such as the military and police. It was different technology, but still, I consider this a useful experience. But the thing that makes American resonate with me is my hobby. You could call me a petrolhead. I’m into motorsport, F1, WRC, offroad and stuff.
Whenever I have an opportunity, I jump into my 4x4 and together with my partner, we travel the world. We sleep in the car too, no hotels. This is not just fun, but also it saves a ton of money. We traveled to so many countries this way. Central Asia, Kirgistan, Uzbekistan, Romania, Slovenia. So the entire idea behind American Motorcycle Simulator is close to my heart and I’m happy to be a part of the team.
Thanks for reading! If you like our work, consider adding the game to your wishlist. It’s the best way to support any indie studio. See you next time!
New screenshots and dev story for the 4th of July!
Hi, Bikers!
It’s the 4th of July! Since our game is all about free-roaming in different parts of the United States, we decided to celebrate this day with a pack of never-before-seen screenshots.
And a story.
But first, let’s take a look at our rendition of the vast, hot Arizona. All screenshots were taken in-game.
The story is about a journey that we’ve taken with our game. We started with an idea, then we developed it, changed it, and tweaked it until we got something that we feel is just right. So where’s the game at and how did it get here?
A lot of things have changed from the concept trailer that we announced the game with. AMS started as a booze-fueled romp through places you wouldn’t like to visit in real life. At some point, we decided that wasn’t the way to go.
We are motorcycle fans, not biker gang fans. When we go for a ride, it’s not to end up in some forsaken hole where beer is cheaper than tap water. The real beauty of bike rides is taking in the world around you, nature, and the people you meet along the way who share your passion. And so, we redesigned a large portion of the game.
You will still visit interesting places and meet people along the way. Some of these people won’t be saints. They will have their own goals and motivations, and you will decide whether you want to get involved or not. But the gist of the journey will be the journey itself. We want to pull you into this world and amaze you, not excite you with a B-movie plot.
Hence the new look and the upgraded feel of the game. It’s about you, your motorcycle, and the vast distances you have to travel for very personal reasons.
Get side quests or not. Take shortcuts or go the scenic route. Fix your bike or upgrade it. And most of all, take your time. It’s a journey, not a race.
See you soon, bikers. And we wish you a happy 4th of July!
