The Hover Junkers single player campaign, Junk Road, is fully available for you to download and run through. We'll be celebrating by running a free weekend to give everyone a chance to hop in and play as much as they want. After the weekend sale, we will be permanently dropping the price of the game to $19.99 USD for anyone that would like to pick it up in the future.
When we set out to create the Junk Road single player, we aimed to model the gameplay after the classic Oregon Trail and set it in the Hover Junkers world. This is a fairly major departure from the intense combat of multiplayer, providing a more relaxed experience while paying homage to the classic game that, for many of us, was our very first video game. To access the road, you must select the Junk Road option in the main menu bar and select what items to take with you across the wastes.
As we move forward towards second gen. VR, it is interesting to look back at Hover Junkers and our ideas and experiments. Since the release of Hover
Junkers, we completed our second game, Duck Season, exploring high VR visual fidelity, optimization, and narrative. The lessons learned from Hover Junkers and Duck Season have led us to now create an entirely new core VR system to use on future titles. The biggest conclusion we came to from developing Hover Junkers and Duck Season is the necessity for fully simulated, physical VR worlds. For all forthcoming VR content, we feel it is essential for experiences to be developed around physics-dependent systems.
While we are working hard towards showcasing these future concepts publicly, we want to thank everyone for adopting and supporting VR in the early days. All of us are still learning the capabilities of the medium together through experimentation and imagination. We've never been more excited about how high the bar can be raised.
Thanks,
Stress Level Zero
1.3 Junkroad Gameplay Teaser
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h34boDM4zws
We're approaching the finish line for our 1.3 Hover Junkers update, Junkroad. This update expands the game with a single-player campaign reminiscent of Oregon Trail.
Here you can get a glimpse at what we have in store for you with some gameplay from the upcoming free expansion. Look for the full trailer and release in the coming weeks!
1.3 Junk Road Coming in 6-8 Weeks
Greetings everyone!
Progress with update 1.3 Junk Road, the single player campaign, is coming along well. Our goal is to have everything ready to go within 6-8 weeks.
Our next post will contain footage of single player for the first time. In the meantime, enjoy some new screenshots below!
We are pushing an update right now mostly for internal singleplayer testing purposes but has a couple changes noted below.
Slight weapon changes across the board for more balance.
Armor on ships slightly increased against certain shotguns.
Load times should be optimized somewhat due to optimizing baked mesh, lowered texture sizes and more streamlined audio loading.
Some audio cpu optimizations by streamlining audio loading and file compression
Some rendering optimizations which should cause less frame hiccups in high geometry areas thanks to baked mesh, LODs and lowered texture resolution at distance.
We will have some updates and news very soon with footage from single player and plans moving forward to hopefully address player count and community involvement!
1.3 Junk Road Progress Update
Development of the final major content update, 1.3 Junk Road, is coming along slowly but surely. No firm release date to announce, but progress is moving along steadily.
So that everyone is on the same page: 1.3 Junk Road is a free single player update that will be extremely familiar to anyone who played the classic Oregon Trail years ago. You start each run by loading up a junker with supplies. Once ready you depart on rails as you head for another planet to start a new life for your family. You make choices about pace, rations, when to hunt for food, and many more randomly occurring choices to make along the way.
This first image is a diorama that depicts encountering a shipping container randomly. Your decision could help or hurt your families chances of surviving the journey to the new world.
The second image is a bridge crossing that you'll encounter along the way to the space elevator.
Stay tuned for more info and the release of 1.3 Junk Road!
Update 1.2 - Week 4
The fourth and final week of Update 1.2 is live! Two new weapons and a couple of bugfixes. Both these weapons come from parts found in a derelict body shop. Don't beathe their fumes!
Guns of Week 4
-Shotana- More powerful than any shotgun to date, this wepaon can shred through armor and players alike. Strike them down with the speed and precision of a samurai, because the Shotana's two shots will leave you vulnerable if you miss.
-Exhaustgun- The coveted noob-toob finally finds its way into Hover Junkers; however, t's trickier than it seems. Launch a grenade, and pull the trigger a second time to detonate. Hitting moving targets is a challenge, but nothing can kill a player behind cover (or the cover itself) better than the Exhaustgun.
These two guns mark the end of our 1.2 gun updates. Let us know what you think of these new guns in the discussion forums. Hope you spend some time in the shooting range- you're gonna need that practice!
Update 1.2 - Week 3
Week 3 of Update 1.2 is live! This week we introduce the Rhino and the Doubler.
Also, we fixed the frame drop bug that popped up with the release of 1.2! Thank you to everyone who sent in their output logs, we couldn't have fixed it as quickly without your help. For the technically curious, whenever the host would leave a match their attachments would become ownerless and stack causing exponential physics collisions. We're glad to have it fixed.
Guns of Week 3
-Doubler- The Doubler is an automatic with a slow but accurate rate of fire. After being dropped many times the sight is all but useless, but with practice can be mastered. Aka Banana Gun.
-Rhino- The Rhino is an absolute manstopper. It packs the most firepower of any revolver in the game. However, this power comes at the cost of having only 4 rounds per cylinder and a double reload action to master. See the reload below:
1.2 w3 Update Notes
Added Weapon: Rhino
Added Weapon: Doubler
Balance: Quadshot ship damage reduced
Balance: Quadshot damage slightly increased
Fixed: Bug where frame drops would occur from host leaving mid match
Fixed: Bug where player would become invincible if a single controller was plugged in
Fixed: Cargo bay ramp bug
Update 1.2 - Week 2
Here we go, Week 2 of the 1.2 update! This week our Wolf-hero weapons dealer brings us two brand new instruments of junk destruction.
Guns of Week 2
-TommyGun- The TommyGun is an absolute madman's weapon of choice. More bullets than most wastelanders can count, and a crazy rate of fire. However due to the absurdity of a sawed off fully automatic one handed machine gun, the accuracy is all over the place. HINT: try using it to clean up pesky enemy cover while providing a terrifying amount of suppressing fire.
-Cutlas- Similar to the traditional revolver in most ways with some slight yet heavily requested revisions. This scrap built six shooter packs more punch, and has an over barrel firing point. With the power advantage comes a slightly increased recoil force.
1.2 w2 Update Notes
Added: TommyGun
Added: Cutlas
Fixed: New Attachments are now doublesided
Fixed: Several minor Character loadout issues
Balance: Stapler damage increased
Balance: Quadshot damage slightly increased
ADDITIONAL NOTES
-Fixing Bugs- We have heard the community feedback on new and old bugs and are working to try and solve these as quickly as possible! We know there seems to be some trouble at the moment with frame drops during matches when the host player leaves, this is our primary focus and we'll keep you updated as we work towards fixing it. Additionally we've had reports of LAN mode not working properly with windows 10, there is a work around that members of the community have found and we will be implementing their suggestions asap.
-Where is the stat reset?!- You have probably noticed by now that your stats and the leaderboard stats have not reset yet. We realized before it was too late that many people would appreciate their season 1 leaderboard stats to be saved so they had a visual display of their previous best. So we have decided to implement this into the main menu under the player info display. This scoreboard data will be collected through the final 1.2 week update, at which time the leaderboards will be properly reset (with your season 1 stats saved and on display!).
Loadout - Update 1.2
After months of development, Loadout - Update 1.2 has arrived! Play as Fang as you explore the new Loadout bunker. The loadout bunker is a personal space where you can customize your weapon selector and try out new guns before heading into combat. Once in combat you'll discover an array of new attachments to fortify your ship with!
The weapons of 1.2 Loadout will be rolling out in weekly stages. Two new guns per week for four weeks totaling eight new weapons!
Guns of Week 1
-Quadshot- A shotgun with tighter spread and four barrels for greater sustained damage then the TripleBarrel. However, the greater capacity and tighter spread comes at the cost of a bit of firepower.
-Stapler- A semi auto handgun with pinpoint accuracy. Lowest recoil in the game. Holds ten 9mm rounds per mag. As you may expect, the man stopping power is significantly less than the Redlius revolver.
1.2 Update Notes
STATS RESET
LEADERBOARDS RESET
Added: Character LoneWolf
Added: LoneWolf's Aviators
Added: LoneWolf's Gloves
Added: Lan Mode (See instructions below)
Added: Loadout Scene
Added: Loadout selection
Added: Sound for a head core-shot recieved
Added: Sound for a head core-shot dealt
Added: Weapon - Stapler
Added: Weapon - Quadshot
Added: Weapon - ????????
Added: Weapon - ????????
Added: Weapon - ????????
Added: Weapon - ????????
Added: Weapon - ????????
Added: Weapon - ????????
Added: Attachment - barricade
Added: Attachment - bottle stack
Added: Attachment - diving suit
Added: Attachment - double slates
Added: Attachment - filing cabinet
Added: Attachment - flamingos
Added: Attachment - fridge door
Added: Attachment - port door
Added: Attachment - raft door
Added: Attachment - shark trophy
Added: Attachment - skateboards
Added: Attachment - spike
Added: Attachment - ticket machine
Added: Attachment - tires
Added: Attachment - broken boat
Added: Attachment - water heater
Fixed: Server list bugged out
Fixed: Buzzbots lootbox refill on restart
Fixed: Another infinite time stuck bug
FIxed: Another possible single controller bug
Fixed: Laser pointer visibility
Changed: Ragdolls now heavily affected by forces
Hover Junkers Roadmap
We're glad that you are enjoying 1.1 Buzzbots! Along with a few hotfixes we want to share our current plan for upcoming Hover Junkers content updates. Expect 1.2 in the next month or two, we'll keep you posted.
Buzzbot sound mix adjusted (buzzbots audio less overpowering)
Buzzbot Attack! - Update 1.1
Our first free content update, 1.1 Buzzbot Attack, is ready for your gaming pleasVRe. As the hardcore PvP players continue to refine their skills we knew that it would be important to introduce a less cutthroat co-op multiplayer mode. Also, Buzzbot Attack features no ship movement, making it a gentler place to get used to the game before diving into PvP with full ship movement.
Enter the brand new coliseum solo or with up to 4 players. Choose whether you want to participate in the main event or spectate from a private box. Once the event has begun, fight co-op with friends against waves of bots or watch a friend fight while you serenade them with a keyhorn from the spectator box!
version: 1.1.0
Added Co-op Mode BuzzBots
Added Coliseum map for Buzzbot mode and potential future events :)
Added BuzzBots leaderboards
Added keyhorn
Added D20 as a lounge toy
Added release Uzi
Added release Flaregun
Updated Gunther - Gunther's core systems have been reworked so that he will no longer bug out and explode into infinity. Gunther can no longer be picked up or thrown :( but he can still be beat up with toys >:D.
Fixed permadeath bug - A bug that would create permadeath if one controller was unconnected on death has been removed.
Fixed Attachment Shader - Attachment shaders are now double-sided so they are more resistant to exploits
Fixed ship radios - doppler effect was being applied to music at unwanted times
Look forward to more free content updates throughout the year!
