Hi ! Another smaller update this time ! Since some things still needed a little bit of tweaking before next updates. While not being content-full it provides few things that should make gameplay more enjoyable.
Added camera sensitivity slider in options menu
Fixed bug where some items were marked as equipped when in fact they weren't
Brake system is now reworked, definitely way better control over braking action on controller and wheel
For now, since there is no manual gearbox, reverse will activate moment after full vehicle stop. In the future manual gearbox is planned.
Suspension now have another level of simulation, Panhard rod, links, and leaf springs now affect whole suspension geometry !
I hope you like the changes. Take care !
UPDATE 25.04.2019
Hi ! I hope you are all having fun rock crawling ! Smaller update to address few issues.
Camera gimbal lock issue is now fixed
Compass had a gap in certain position resulting in gate number disappear too quickly
Gate numbers now stay on the side of the compass to indicate which way to go
I reworked the math behind suspension, mainly this helped to achieve more realistic flex
Engine RPM are now FPS independent, greatly improving gameplay
Snow and ice friction fix
Now suspension height have affect on suspension articulation, adding realism and preventing from unnecessary tire clipping
Interior camera had an issue when activated second time, it would loose connection with car pitch angle, now fixed
Exterior camera was reworked, now it avoids clipping by going over obstacle, not in front of it. That prevents rapid zoom ins from happening
Reduced amount of fog on winter map
Slight lighting changes on green,red and yellow desert maps
Big thanks to the community for suggestions and bug finding ! Take care !
Happy Birthday ! Anniversary Update
Hi ! Here we are, one year later :) Time to sum up past 12 months and plan the future ! But first, the actual update :)
NEW VEHICLE
Since one year ago the buggy type vehicle was added to the game, I thought it would be a right time to reveal the new buggy. Its lighter and faster than other vehicles, also features bigger tires. Have fun :)
GRAPHICS UPDATE
I took some time to rework the lighting on all maps, to better suit the overall look of the game. I hope the game now feels more toned down and much more realistic :) As I was changing this stuff I went ahead and change some vegetation on spring maps, as much as I am in new maps I think that the game really will benefit from this change and help the old maps not stand out so much.
MINOR UPDATES
car physics should be more responsive now, there was linear drag applied to car body causing it to "float" when moving faster.
improved camera, I hope it will help everyone who felt dizzy while playing
fixed bug that caused no feedback from buttons on score widget
more CPU calculations for body velocity and position, should improve smoothness
fixed bug that caused no money earned from the first ever stage
more money for clean stage completion
And now... lets sum up this year !
I have never thought that this game is going to evolve so much, that it would have customization, wheel support with force feedback, proper cockpit view and if you are here from day one then probably you remember the struggle to make proper diff lock :)
And that's all thanks to all of you. Pushing me to make new things, fix the old ones, really that means a lot. I may be not the most communicative dev, but i hope you feel that i am reading every suggestion and comment, and that i am truly committed to this as an Early Access where players have impact on the game.
That being said, Pure Rock Crawling will remain in Early Access for now. It would be wasted opportunity to leave it too soon, when the game still can benefit from players suggestions.
As for the future :) I have some ideas that I am constantly testing and also your requests. So here is the rough list of what to expect from this game in the future:
update car models, as well as suspension, i think i can do much better now
rework customization, I want to make something that would really let you feel like building dream rock crawler. Different tire sizes/types, axles that actually change something, being able to chose between spring or leaf suspension, more cosmetic items etc., so that's something that i want to work hard on.
different progression system, since i find levels/credits in current form a little annoying
multiplayer and mod support, so these are the tough ones. Don't get me wrong, I want both in game as soon as possible ! Both require the game to be more finished than it is right now (especially mod support) so first things first. Once i settle on how the core mechanics work, I will start working on these features. Cant say anything for sure but I will try as hard as i can :)
Looking back on how much Pure Rock Crawling changed in the past 12 months i am sure there is much more to come !!!
Thank you all for the support ! Cheers and have fun !
UPDATE 22.03.2019
Hi ! I hope you are all doing great ! The new desert map is here !
So, it's a test map for now (only free roam), features deformable sand and new rock placing method, as well as some technical stuff like different collisions on the rocks to provide maximum detail in the tire/rock simulation. Lighting scenario is also improved with different ambient occlusion, post processing etc. New materials, on the rocks as well as new shader for the tire marks on sand.
So by playing this map in its current state you will help me test a lot of things ! Please report any issues or suggestions in the desert test map topic on the forums !
As for the other improvements I tweaked few things in the vehicles. Its now easier to loose traction, as many suggested tires had to much grip, and I must say, you were sooo right :) Now cars behave like they should ! Thanks ! Also, I tweaked engine/gearbox so now engine will rev properly in the 1st gear resulting in more torque.
Thanks ! Have fun in the desert !
DEVBLOG
Hi ! Small devblog this time :) Just to let you know what I am working on right now.
My main focus now is to gather all the things i learned thanks to all of you who crawl in the winter test map, and put it in use to create new map, while trying to be more inspired by real life locations. To be honest, I am having a blast both making and testing it :) It will be in a new format that will combine more compact experience with the beautiful vistas, like in winter map. I hope to release it within next two weeks.
Also, I am working on some new gameplay elements, player progression and customization - to be precise I am working on making this game be more game :) But this stuff needs some polishing before being released.
Thank you all for sticking around and have a great weekend !
UPDATE 22.02.2019
Hi ! In the ongoing pursuit of adding new stuff to the game I sometimes overlook important things, or postpone suggestions from the forums. So after exciting stuff like new map and car, its time for some bug fixing and testing new things :)
Volume slider didn't affect certain sounds, now its fixed
Due to how the vehicle is gathering information about load for the engine, there was a bug that caused engine to loose power when cornering hard
I worked some more on the suspension, and i am very happy with the result, it feels much more realistic than before.
I am trying new cone placing method that should eliminate the problems with gates like on Spring II map
Slight camera lag adjustment
Added more wheel offset
Camera invert didn't work, now its fixed and I added inverse switch for x axis
Added short road on the Winter map to test road placing methods
As always, i hope you are having great time with the game :) Take care !
UPDATE - NEW VEHICLE !
Hi ! I hope you are all having great time ! This update finally adds new car to the game ! And new parts along with it!
So this update is really much more than just a car. This is more like "i finally know how to make proper 3d model" :) I am really pleased with how this turned out, and how much more possibilities for customization it opened. For eg. previously bumpers were modeled with the whole body so it is impossible with the older cars to make customizable bumpers. That's the reason why i will redo previous cars in the future to make them step up to the new level of detail.
I hope you will have fun with this rig :)
MINOR UPDATES
few tweaks to 3rd person camera
fixed suspension animation lag
physics adjustments (cars were too wobbly :) )
new stuff for new car
That's all for this Update ! Take care !
UPDATE 25.01.2019
Hi ! Just finished working on newest update, which was meant to be a lot smaller but i just got carried away :) To be honest, working on this game is getting better and better with each update. Overcoming problems that I felt were impossible to solve at the beginning of this journey, feels just awesome and makes me wanna do more and more ! :)
Ok so, in today's update :
KEY BINDINGS
Sorry to keep you waiting so long ;)
CAR DAMAGE SYSTEM
This is just early test so don't expect to much :) I hope it will make you be more careful drivers, for now it is just cosmetic.
REWORKED CAR ENGINE PHYSICS
So, before this update, differential lock was jumping between two systems. One made for locked diffs which was giving the wheels a specific angle to be at the given time. Second for open ones, giving the specific angular velocity. This was very imperfect, but i just couldn't make my mind which will be better in the long run. With this update i made my mind and went for the first one. This required some tricky calculations to make the car behave naturally but gave me full control, power, load, gears. Now the system is more complete with: working automatic gearbox, exhaust smoke reacting to engine load, and low range being more powerful.
NEW CAMERA SYSTEM
The new 3rd person camera system is making looking around and keeping the eye on the track easier because of moving pivot point. Now you don't have to scroll the mouse wheel all the time. If you look from the above system is trying to put the car near border of the screen so you can see where you are going. Looking from front also makes more space in front of the car. Side effect of this system are of course killer screenshots ! :)
Alongside working on 3rd person camera, I made possible moving the head around in the 1st person view, and as community suggested (thanks all for great suggestion !), you can look out through the window !
NEW STUFF ON WINTER MAP
I keep working on this map to make it more diverse and interesting (also bigger). In the last few days i was trying to make rock positioning more procedural, but it was too performance heavy. Designing new trails, positioning rocks is really demanding, and just takes time. Also i took some time to finish up interactive foliage !
MINOR UPDATES
new automatic gearbox (so no more engine whining)
new engine sound
suspension is much more dynamic (increased suspension travel max speed)
added exhaust smoke
As always, thank you very much for keeping me motivated and helping me believe that nothing is impossible (just take some time :) ) !!!
UPDATE / DEVBLOG
Hi ! First of all, thanks to everybody who is testing the winter map ! This map is a milestone for this game helping me test new stuff in the engine, so your support and comments mean so much to me !
As time goes I think you all noticed, Pure Rock Crawling is heading in the direction of more realistic gameplay and graphics. Testing different physics approaches to make the brakes work, suspension act natural or making changes so that the trucks can both drive fast and slow just takes time. I know that there are unresolved issues like brakes, but believe me, every day I test new solutions to make them work like in real life. Even if some changes are not fixed or added in the nearest update that doesn't mean i am not working on them :)
To make updates more noticeable I started to list the changes in the main menu. I am planning to make more frequent updates and post them there. Of course bigger updates will be posted as usual here.
Today's update is mostly about changes in the map, I tweaked few spots, added more rocks, few paths, changed trees, generally improved lighting. New thing in the map are wooden structures, bridges. I have a plan on making them important element in one of the planned challenges (stay tuned). Also fixed the issue when you soften the suspension, truck height would also decrease.
So to sum up, things that I am working right now:
brakes
winter map
new challenges
trucks and parts
Thanks for the support and have fun !
WINTER UPDATE - NEW TEST MAP !!!
Hi ! I hope you are all doing well ! First of all, i want to wish you a merry Christmas, have a great time with your family and friends ! I hope you all like snow because that is the main focus of this update :)
NEW MAP
The most important thing in this update, the winter map ! Much bigger, featuring deformable snow ! Despite of being deformable it is also different physical surface, riding through it is more challenging because of increased drag and lower friction. Anyway its fun :D Also check out the new rocks ;)
Winter map is for now Free Roam only, and is WORK IN PROGRESS so please, share your thoughts about it with me in the forums :)
MINOR CHANGES
controls are relocated on gamepad
handbrake is now fully working
cars no more have "auto brake" effect and can roll on its own
diff lock states are now more pronounced
diff lock state indicator is added
vehicles are faster
new map has different post process
That's all ! Remember, winter map is a test map ! Can change in future, and will be bigger for sure.
