We hope you’ve been enjoying the V1.0 release of Drive over the past couple of months. It has been great to watch people gaining achievements and posting times to the leader boards. We’ve received plenty of feedback, so we’ve got another update for you bringing some of the community feature requests to the game.
This update focuses on input control, a long-requested feature update which includes force feedback support for wheels and input control using VR controllers.
New Features:
Added Steering Wheel Force Feedback – The community has been asking for this for a long time and now it’s here. Drive now supports force feedback for steering wheels providing really nice feedback while racing. You can adjust the strength of the feedback in the Settings menu.
Add VR Controller Support – you can now control Drive using your VR controllers rather than keyboard or gamepad. Use the thumb stick to steer, triggers to accelerate and brake and various buttons for menu interactions, handbrake and horn. Support is limited to Oculus controllers due to issues with SteamVR integrations with Unity.
Added Super Sampling – we’ve added the ability to adjust the graphics quality up to provide an even better VR racing experience. Obviously increasing the graphics quality is a heavy workload for both CPU and GPU so this feature requires a beefy PC to use on the higher settings. On lower end machines you may notice a reduction in FPS which can be offset by lowering the number of AI in a race.
Updates:
Particle Effects – we noticed that the dust effect when racing on dirt roads was a little too much when in VR so we adjusted the particle effect to make it a bit nicer. While we were they we also make a few changes to the smoke and fire effects.
Bug fixing – fixed a range of smaller bugs and quality of life issues
The Future:
As we’ve mentioned before, Drive is an ongoing game for us so we will continue to add new content and provide updates into the future. We’ve got some new content in the works so the next update will include new cars and tracks so keep an eye out for that as well as some cool new items for Drive Customs.
We hope you enjoy this release and your VR racing. As always, we welcome feedback through the Community Hub and the Drive Discord.
The DRIVE Dev Team
DRIVE V1.0 Available Now
After more than two years of development by a two-person development team we are excited to announce that Drive is now out of Early Access and the Version 1.0 release of the game is now available.
We’d like to say thank you to everyone who bought the early access versions of the game and got involved in the community. Your support, suggestions and feedback has allowed us to develop the game to its feature complete state with improved graphics, performance and a bunch of new features. We hope this game provides plenty of enjoyable VR racing for those who just want to put their headset on, jump in the car and go racing.
With this release we have completed the core features of the game. Our goal in adding these was to provide you with plenty of racing variety and some extra racing challenges and rewards. The biggest of these are the new Career Season mode and the Drive Customs workshop. Note: Don’t worry there are no micro-transactions in Drive Customs, only in game EP can be redeemed.
We’ve also added some new content in the form of a new car and track as well as Steam achievements. This release also take multiplayer out of preview, so we hope you enjoy some racing with your friends.
New Features:
Earning Points (EP) – Earn EP for each race that can be redeemed in the Drive Customs workshop
Career Mode – Season 1 featuring 32 races over 8 series (30,000+ EP rewards)
Drive Customs – Redeem EP and add a little flair to your ride
Achievements – unlock Steam achievements to show off your VR racing creds.
New car – Littleman – small and very fast (320+kph)
New track – Frozen North – Get some drifting on out on the ice.
Updates
Graphics/visual pass – refined visuals on all tracks. Updated the menu structure and appearance.
Real time mirrors – mirror views now adjust with your head position in real time
Bug fixing – fixed a range of smaller bugs and quality of life issues
The future
Drive is an active game for us, and we will continue to roll out new content over time. This will include new cars and tracks, new challenge modes, additional championships, new Drive Customs items and additional Career Seasons.
We hope you enjoy this release and your VR racing. As always, we welcome feedback through the Community Hub and the Drive Discord.
The DRIVE Dev Team
Update 8 Released - Multiplayer Beta
Update 8 is now available bringing the long-awaited multiplayer VR racing to the game. As this is the first multiplayer release, we’re doing it as a beta before the full release of the game.
Multiplayer allows you to create your own rooms and race with friends or other VR players from around the world. Rooms are limited to six players for this release and allow you to race all cars and tracks, even allowing for racing different cars in the same race.
There are new Challenge modes available in multiplayer that add a little bit of spice and fun to the racing including Slalom and Magic Doors. We’ll let you explore those so as not to give too much away.
There are three new tracks (in preview) that are a bit different from the standard racing circuits to date and bring the total number of tracks to 18. We’ve got Airport, Warehouse and Volcano each of which bring something new to the racing.
The addition of multiplayer is the major new feature of this release however we also did some work rebalancing the Valtrus and adjusting the behaviour of the AI to get a bit more excitement to the racing.
As this is a beta release for multiplayer, please let us know if you have any issues or feedback.
Updates:
Added multiplayer racing (Beta)
3 new tracks (Airport, Volcano and Warehouse)
Added a car horn (the best feature added ever!)
New features:
AI look ahead behaviour update to provide more realistic behaviour when near other cars.
Major rebalance to the performance and handling of the Valtrus.
Adjusted lighting on many of the tracks.
Added a 3D set to the main menu.
Updated menu UI design.
There were also a bunch of small bug fixes we did along the way which we hope will improve the performance and quality of the game.
This update is the last one before we move out of Early Access. We’ve got a bunch of new tracks and some new cars to be included in that release which will also include any updates or bug fixes from the multiplayer beta. We’ve set up a beta channel if you’d like to try the current build of the V1.0 version so hit us up in the Discord to get access.
We hope you enjoy this release and as always if there is anything you’d like to see in the game, please let us know via the Community Hub or the Discord server.
Enjoy the racing!
Update 7 - New tracks added
As Update 6 was a big one that took a long time, we didn’t want to make you wait for the next one. Update 7 is now available as a free update for all players. This update brings new content to the game in the form of two new tracks and an update to the AI behaviour.
While this is a smaller patch it is more inline with our plans to continue updating and improving the game as we move towards getting out of early access. Over the coming months you’ll see more content updates adding new cars and tracks while we finalise the online multiplayer feature.
If there is anything you’d like to see in the game please let us know via the Community Hub or the Discord server. In this patch for instance someone requested a MPH/KPH toggle via the Discord so that is now in the game.
Looking forward to seeing some new fastest lap times posted for these new tracks.
Updates:
AI steering and braking behaviour updates to provide more realistic behaviour when cornering.
Updating the internal management for position tracking and lap counting.
Updating light on the Tokyo night circuit.
Updating light on the Ephram Heights night circuit.
Updating light on the Preston night circuit.
New features:
New track: Fairgrounds – this is a dirt track set in an old fairground and features a cross over which makes for some hair-raising racing. Dirt sounds and rumble add to the experience and the sense of drifting you get is really fun.
New track: Red Deer Falls – Set in the beautiful Canadian setting at sunset this is a fast and tight track with some pretty extreme
Added MPH/KPH toggle in the settings
As always there were a few small bug fixes as we get feedback from players so thank you for that.
Enjoy the racing!
Update 6 Release Announcement
We are pleased to announce the latest update of Drive. Update 6 is available now to all players on STEAM and includes a rewrite of many of the core systems as well as graphics, sound and performance improvements.
This update has taken about a year to develop and represents a major update of the game from the underlying engine and code running the game to graphics and sound. We want Drive to provide a fun racing experience, so we have made these changes in the hope of giving you the best VR racing experience possible. Let us know what you think in the Drive Discord or Steam Community Hub. It is because of the great feedback from the community that we’ve been able to get so much into this update. Thanks for all the feedback and support and we hope you enjoy this update.
Updates: • Core game engine update • Replaced render pipeline for improved graphics and lighting • Implemented Wwise for realistic car engine audio • Overhaul of the physics system for better performance and more realistic results • Rewritten AI behaviour for more dynamic racing • Rebalanced car handling • Game optimisation improving performance and load times • Game optimisation for smoother frame rates in VR • New visual effects system • Rebalanced pit system and AI pit strategies • Rebalanced damage, fuel usage and tyre wear • Simplified menu options • XR integration updates • Updated Championship game flow • Updated Challenge game flow
New features: • Added animated driver to all cars • Added an animated pit crew • Added vibration support for controllers • Ability to look up and down in non-VR mode • Ability to turn mirrors off (for performance)
On top of the core updates and new features there have been a ridiculous number of small fixes across the board.
Weekly Challenge 01: Fastest Lap on Jobenville
Who can be the master of Jobenville? This week's racing challenge is to see who can post the fastest time to the global leaderboards for the new look Jobenville circuit.
The person who posts the fastest lap by Saturday 5th Sept (9pm Australian Central Time) will be crowned Master of Jobenville and be granted access to the exclusive TrackMasters channel on the Discord...plus get the usual bragging rights.
The current fastest lap (at time of posting) is 0:51.968
Drive – Update 5 Patch Notes
We’ve got a lot of new content for you this patch as well the new XP system mentioned in the last patch notes. You can now earn XP for racing, doing challenges and championships which you build up over time to increase you profile driving level. We hope you enjoy the update and let us know what you think.
First off, we’ve got a bunch of new content for you starting with another new car, and we spent hours coming up with this name, the Muscle Car. This is another older style car but unlike the Valtrus it has a bit more grunt under the hood and handles more like a rally car (think drifting).
Next up we have two new tracks for you to get your race on. Ephram Heights is fast sweeping night circuit in downtown Ephram Heights. El Ocho is a super fun figure eight loop circuit with a sweet overpass and a carnival atmosphere.
As part of the ongoing optimisation we’ve given Jobenville an optimisation pass and a facelift graphically. Again, let us know what you think of the updated look.
As usual we’ve also done a series of bug fixes, rebalancing and optimisations so once again thanks for all the community feedback, it really helps.
New Content
New Car: Muscle Car. This grunty retro style car is a lot of fun and has a musky potpourri smell. It is a heavier car but with the more powerful engine it really gets going with a top speed around 250kph. It takes a bit of effort to get it up to its top speed but once it gets going it keeps going so watch your cornering speeds. Handling wise it feels more like a rally car which means you can get some great drifting going on especially around the long sweeping corner on tracks like Dustborn and El Ocho. Take car with this one you’ll find you need to brake earlier into corners but can push hard on the exits.
New Track – El Ocho has a real carnival feel, it’s a short track that doesn’t really need much braking, but you do need to find your perfect racing line to post those top times. The figure eight shape with overpass is pretty cool.
New Track – Ephram Heights comes alive as the city streets are transformed in a fast sweeping city circuit. This is a mid-length track with bright fun city backdrop. As with Illingworth this track features a long tunnel along with back straight which dips down into the final hairpin.
Feature Updates
XP – We’ve enabled the new XP System. You can now earn experience points with each race and gain levels as you earn more racing XP. As this is a new feature, we’ll keep an eye on how the numbers play out and will most likely be revisiting and rebalancing as needed. Your feedback here would be super helpful.
Jobenville – We gave this track an overhaul which includes an update and optimisation of 3D assets and textures as well as a visual pass. We think this update really adds a lot to the track.
Graphics, Optimisation & Bug Fixes
Updated the retrieval and handling of leader board data to improve menu performance and response times.
Slowed the menu transition times to provide a smoother menu experience.
Added fastest lap times (both the local player and global track times) to the track selection area in Quick Race and Challenge modes.
Updated the in-car UI at the start of the race to make sure it is displaying the correct race type information.
Fixed texture issues with Valtrus paint job textures.
Tidied up the Burger Loop circuit inner terrain and track intersection to remove a height gap where cars could have trouble re-joining the track.
Fixed issues with Profile stats where kilometres raced stat wasn’t incrementing correctly.
Enjoy Racing!
Drive – Update 4 Patch Notes
Holy Moly, what a patch! We know it’s been a while, so we appreciate your patience, but we’ve taken our time with this update and jammed a whole new suite of features for you to enjoy. This update includes the all new arcade style Challenge racing modes, a new car, profile stats and global leader boards along with a redesigned menu to run it all.
We've also spent a lot of time optimising and bug fixing a bunch of stuff, so thanks for all the feedback.
There are some extra features which weren’t quite ready for this patch such as an XP points system, new cars and tracks and these will be released in a smaller patch in a couple of weeks.
Also in the coming weeks we’ll be releasing some more challenge modes as we expand out this feature as well as extending the stats and leader boards features.
New Content
New Car: The Valtrus 2200. This is an older style open top two-seater car allowing you to feel the wind in your hair as you race. The Valtrus is quite heavy (at around 2,000kg) and although it has a powerful engine it is a bit slower than the other cars currently in the game. To counter the weight the suspension is soft and bouncy providing a dynamic drive.
Feature Updates
New Front Menu – To incorporate the new features in this patch we’ve completely redesigned the main menu screens providing access to new information and racing features, and to provide easier and faster race setup.
Challenge Modes –You can now race a variety of challenge races such as Jumps and classic Checkpoint racing. This is an exciting new racing mode that brings more of the arcade style of racing that Drive is all about.
Profile Stats – Your racing stats are now saved against your profile so you can track your progress over time. Stats include things like races complete/won, kilometres raced and as with challenges this feature will expand over future updates.
Global Leader boards - Your fastest laps are now stored and ranked on a global leader board for each track so you can see how you compare against other racers.
Tool tips - Addition of tool tips and game play hints during the loading screen
Graphics, Optimisation & Bug Fixes
Updated layout for 3rd person camera mode
Fixes for in car UI bugs
Fixes for in game End Race menu flow
Fixed bug in Championship related to AI finish times being captured incorrectly
Updated the Car respawn mechanic for instances where cars flip or get stuck with wheels off the ground.
Fixes to Championship file validation
Fixes to persistent player data
Drive – Update 3 Patch Notes
We’re very pleased to announce that Update 3 is now live. This is an exciting update as it introduces the first of a batch of new vehicles starting with the kart like Tracer Mk2.
The Tracer is a bit slower than the Monster F35 with a top speed around 220kph but it has faster acceleration and better handling. The larger tires provide more grip so you can push it a bit harder into the corners however take care not to push too hard on the exit. Being a single seater open cockpit puts you low down on the track giving a super quick feeling. We hope you enjoy ripping up the tracks in this new beast.
Further work on the implementation of the new Challenge race modes has been completed ready for an upcoming release.
New Content
A new vehicle called ‘Tracer Mk2’, a kart style single seater with an open cockpit.
Feature Updates
AI update - added a 'cow catcher' to prevent cars from pushing each other when they crash perpendicularly reducing congestion around crashes and increasing recovery time for AI.
AI update – Improved the AI vision to ensure cleaning driving performance.
Updated the respawn method for when cars gets stuck in geometry or upside down.
Fixed bug with wrong loading graphics showing on some tracks.
Fixed bug with launch options through Steam. This should attempt to load the correct device as defined by steam launch options first and then fallback to previous user settings and should prevent a black screen when loading in Non VR mode.
Increased the sound levels on the skidding and crashing sound effects.
Graphics & Optimisation
Continued optimisation of meshes, textures and materials.
Drive – Update 2 Patch Notes
Update 2 has now been released.
This update continues with optimisation and adds some new content and feature updates including a new track “Dustborn”.
In preparation for larger feature releases in the coming weeks the update also includes significant plumbing work in preparation for features such as challenges, achievements, additional cars and multiplayer.
New Content • A new track has been added named “Dustborn”. This is a long circuit located in a desert setting with long fast sections combined with tight winding curves and switchbacks.
Feature Updates • Added new user interface elements during the pitting process to let the user know what is going on.
• Car engine updated to include starting the engine and handling engine cut off situations such as running out of fuel.
Graphics & Optimisation • Continued optimisation of meshes, textures and materials.
