The Karters 2: Turbo Charged | Announcement - Wishlist Now!
Hello everyone!
We hope this message finds you well. Recently, we released the 2023 Gameplay Reveal Trailer that was very well received - thank you! However, we noticed that there was a lot of confusion among players about the differences between the 2018 and 2023 versions of the game.
After careful consideration, we have decided that it would be best to set a clear boundary between the unsuccessful 2018 version and the completely new, rebooted version we are releasing in 2023. To that end, we have chosen to release the reboot as The Karters 2: Turbo Charged, and on a new Steam store page that you can follow and wishlist right now.
Please don't worry, though - as promised, all players who purchased the game before January 4th, 2023 will receive The Karters 2: Turbo Charged for free.
There are several advantages to releasing the game under a new name and on a new store page. These include:
We have spent over four years developing the game from scratch, resulting in a completely new product. Releasing it under a new name and store page will help to clearly distinguish it from the previous version.
It will be easier to present what players can expect from the new version and avoid any further confusion.
The game may attract more newcomers who won't be confused by the relationship between the two versions.
Currently, searching for the game on platforms like YouTube brings up a lot of old videos that don't accurately represent the current state of the game. This can be confusing and make it hard to show that a new, almost completely different game is being released in 2023.
One of the biggest advantages of The Karters 2: Turbo Charged is that it will be released as a full game, following an extended beta period before release. We are still planning to launch the beta in early 2023, and we are on track to do so.
We truly believe that this decision will be beneficial for the game and the community surrounding it, and we hope you will support us in this decision. We want to emphasize once again that anyone who purchased the old version before January 4th, 2023 will receive The Karters 2: Turbo Charged for free.
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Please check out the new Steam page for The Karters 2: Turbo Charged, where you can find out more about the many features the game will have.
Don't forget to wishlist and follow the new version, and don't forget to wishlist and register for the beta tests if you haven't already done so.
Get ready for the ultimate kart racing experience, because the brand new gameplay reveal trailer for our upcoming game is finally here!
This is your first chance to see what we've been working on, and we hope you will love it! 100% pre-beta footage means you'll get a precise idea of what you can expect in the upcoming beta, and we guarantee you won't be disappointed.
Youâve always been there for us and this time again we need your help to make this YouTube video a hit!
â Give it a thumbs up đ â Subscribe â Leave a comment â Share it with your friends â Share it on your social media channels and communities you're a part of ( CTR/MK )
So don't wait - check out the trailer now and get ready for the ride of your life :-) â¤ď¸
Beta is just around the corner!
Hey folks!
Weâve got a brief announcement regarding the current stage of development! Importantly, this is going to be our last update before publishing the beta release date! How exciting is that? :-)
As we stated in the previous update, all the gameâs main features are up and running. Thatâs why, for the past two months weâve been focused on polishing and continually enhancing the game experience and right now, weâre more than content with what weâve come up with so far.
Hereâs whatâs been on our radar lately:
Finalizing Race Game Mode with all the weapons
During development, we came up with a really unique solution for obtaining and using weapons. We honestly tried multiple solutions (one of them being a common MK/CTR approach that enables gathering weapons from the boxes) but we came to the conclusion weâd like to approach it from a different angle so the game could be more fair, strategy-driven and rewarding towards all the players. In other words, we donât want The Karters to be based on sheer luck but on skill and strategy only.
In the screen above (bottom part of the HUD), you can see the full list of weapons every player is able to use.
Every second, a new weapon is highlighted and you can switch to a new one anytime you want. You just have to make a decision when to use it and which one to choose (offensive/defensive/boosting etc.).â¨After you select and use the weapon, you will see the timer thatâll tell you how much time you need to wait before using this weapon again. Some weapons are categorized as stronger and they have higher cooldown time. Additionally, the weapons are grouped so you need to choose which one to use from particular group because all of them will get the cooldown time after using one of the weapons within a given group (e.g. if you use the Hammer, the Portal Gun and Tesla Field will get the cooldown time as well).
This system provides all the players with equal chances and promotes strategy above all. Also, it ensures that each race is going to be completely different from the next one, depending on the playersâ actions. Moreover, this system results in tons of action and intense competition on the screen!
The cool thing about this system is also that you can get the gun weapon (that you hold in your hand) at the same time when mounted weapon is in use (e.g. Active Shield/Boost mounted and Bazooka/Shotgun in hand). Â Right now, the system is fully implemented and functional but during beta we will need to get your feedback and tweak the weapons' properties and timings to make the race as competitive and satisfying as possible.
Making a game well optimized
We spent over 3 weeks on game optimization just to make sure itâs going to run smoothly even on average laptops with integrated graphic cards. We managed to achieve stable 60fps on our laptop, which is a really good outcome in view to the fact how much action is going on on the screen during gameplay! :-)
Race Tracks â¨
We already have 10 tracks complete (and 6 more in progress to get 16 tracks total for a full release).â¨Weâre in the middle of polishing these 10 tracks right now to make them ready for Steam EA update (adding more borders, enhancing track lighting and road materials etc.).
During beta you will get access to at least 3 tracks.
Our ultimate goal for full release is at least 16 tracks and make more afterwards. All of the tracks are really high quality and our level artist is doing an amazing job! Below, you can find screens from 3 tracks from actual game. Of course these are just sneak peeks, as we want to keep some elements of surprise for the beta ;-) Keep in mind that our priority is also to integrate Steam Workshop and Custom Tracks Editor so during EA there should be many more tracks to play.
Designing and implementing Battle Arena & Road Breaker game modes
Both Battle Arena and Road Breaker game modes are designed and implemented and theyâve turned out to be really fun! Weâre going to finalize works on them in the upcoming weeks.
The Road Breaker game mode is something really fresh and unique in kart racing genre so we hope youâre gonna love it!
UI implementationâ¨
â¨In terms of UI, the implementation is there but the UI art design is not final yet so weâre going to skip showing it to you at this point ;-)â¨â¨
Game Audio & Music
â¨â¨Game audio is around 60% complete and the results are already top-notch. We assume it will be finished by the end of the next month.
Weâd like to show you a sample of our music for one of the tracks, you can listed to it by clicking a link.⨠What we like about it is that it is really dynamic and supports the gameplay really well so you feel encouraged to fight for the 1st place! :-)â¨
We realize you canât wait for the beta and neither can we! As you can see, weâre really close, hoping weâll be ready to launch the beta in October. The Karters are shaping up really well and weâre sure youâre going to be amazed how much it transformed since the original launch. Believe us - this is going to be a completely renewed and insanely awesome karting game!
2022 Development Progress
Hey there!
We want to let you know that the last couple of months were very productive to us and we managed to make a significant progress in essential aspects of the game. We stay on track and our ambition remains the same: we are trying to make a top kart racer on Steam!
Hereâs our latest accomplishments!
Physics, Camera, Game Mechanics & Vehicle Behavior
Our major focus was to make the game very skill-based and controls extremely responsive. We spent countless hours to achieve that outcome and weâre pretty confident we succeeded and you're gonna love it!
In the video below, you can see the game mechanics that is casual friendly (you can trigger boost anytime during drift) and very rewarding to hardcore players at the same time. There's an engine power-reserves system (100% +) that indicates the max speed the vehicle can reach. This value is not limited so if you make all three perfect laps you can drive even up to 150% of the original speed! Definitely not easy, but damn satisfying and challenging when you nail it during competition! :-)
We managed to achieve a pretty big milestone, as we finished the in-game UI (in terms of functionality, the visuals and the colors will be modified and adjusted in the upcoming weeks)
In the video you can see:
In-game Player List (at the top during gameplay) This will show the playerâs status, position and other important information. You can enable it during gameplay as well to check how many players are still playing or whatâs your friendâs position.
In-game Menu with Options Thereâs an option to change UI scale during gameplay. This feature may be very usable during matches in split-screen or played on TV.
HUD : Lap number, Position, Time and Lap times There are no weapon and boost indicators yet but they will be added during gameplay finalization.
Game Summary in a form of a small window In this window youâll be able to see your time, rewards and other after race information. Every player in coop has their own frame after the race.
Split-Screen and HUD layouts (up to 6 players)
Spectator mode ⨠This mode should make the rooms always full during online matches. â¨In CTR, if a room has 2-3 players the match will start and you wonât be able to join it - you will create a new room where youâll have to wait for other players to start a match. â¨This means there will be 2 rooms with 2 or 3 players each, instead of one full room with 6-8 players. Thanks to the spectator mode in The Karters, if a room has any free slots, you'll be free to join it and it doesnât matter that the race is running - you will just need to wait until it ends to play the next one.
You can also see split-screen online support in action (P1, P2 texts on the player list)
Main Menu - UI features complete
â¨Yet another pretty big milestone achieved - we completed full Main Menu UI implementation!
Main Menu includes: - Arcade Match - Challenges (it's like sp campaign mode) - Online - Tournaments - Stake Quick Race - Friends match - Settings with key rebinding option - Shop - Presets Customization - Profile coins & exp gathering
In near future, we're going to work on the UI art redesign as well.
You can see all the features in this video:
Main Menu Online Features : Tournaments, Friends and Stake Racesâ¨â¨
Weâve spent a considerable amount of time developing online systems that you will find in The Karters. Most importantly, we tried to make it really fun and include as many features into online UI as possible.
In the video below you can see 3 major online sections:
Tournaments
You will be able to join a tournament and race against other players daily (tournament can be joined by an unlimited number of players). Each Friday there will be a 'Weekly Tournament'. On last Friday of the month, there will be a "Monthly Tournament" - the most prestigious tournament of all. Every day, there will be 3 tournaments, one for each region. Youâll be able to join multiple tournaments if you wish to do so. After registration, rooms will be created and auto-joined. The best 4 players from each room will advance to the next round, others will get eliminated. The final round will consist of 8 players, and the player that wins will be visible in the "Winners" window (up to 4 months for Monthly Tournament). It is not yet decided if the tournament has a fixed reward (regardless of player count) or the price is going to be an accumulated entrance from the players.
Stake Race
The idea behind the stake race is to create natural skill matchmaking. Fresh players won't be able to join higher-stake rooms, but if they have enough coins from their play-time, theyâll be able to try to compete against the best players. 0 points stake room is free-entry with the reward of X coins - these coins will allow to enter higher stake rooms (with higher-ranked players) and to buy items in the shop. This system will add an extra layer of adrenaline during playing high stake room with players, when you have a lot to win but you're risking a lot at the same time.
Friend Match
Friend List will show your friends, their rooms and their level. Weâre thinking about making some sort of guilds that will be integrated directly into the game (and created via Discord). It hasnât been implemented yet but we believe itâs an interesting direction. Youâll be able to create friend room and race against each other. Youâll be able to find friends via 6-Digits ID. It will make it easier to find friends from other platforms.
In online races, you can play solo, but you can also join the online races in the coop (up to 6 players).
The online UI logic is almost complete so please share your thoughts about these systems and tell us what we can improve! :-)
Character Skins & Materialsâ¨â¨
During development, weâve managed to come up with a plethora of various character skins. New ones are in constant development ;-) Here's a few examples:â¨
The Karters - Track Editor
Below you can see The Karters Track Editor - a very special tool weâve been working on for quite some time.
Using the tool will speed up track creation process at least 10x, not to mention the fact that we can test the track and do some changes realtime during gameplay.
Right now the tool is used in game engine but thereâs a chance weâll update it to grant the possibility of creating tracks in the normal game build. Weâll need to see about that :-)
As you can see, lots has been happening recently and the development is shaping up really well. At present, we're carrying on with AI, weapon polish and on-line. Weâll do our best to post more regular updates on Steam but to follow the real-time progress, we advise you to join our forums or Discord channel.
Last but not least, if you haven't registered to our upcoming beta tests yet, there's still time to do so! :-)
The Karters Reboot progress and The Karters OpenDev!
Hello! :-)
Weâre reaching out to provide you with some info regarding The Karters Reboot progress, PLUS weâd like to share a certain solution weâd been testing in-house for quite some time.
First and foremost, you should know that the pre-beta works are going fairly smoothly. Thereâs lots of polishing right now (main menu, first set of NEW tracks, polishing weapons and the overall gameplay-related things) as our ultimate goal is to release something not mediocre but truly exceptional during beta. Honestly, we want you to get an âOMG!â first impression!
As weâd like to keep you up-to-date as much as possible, weâd been looking for a solution that would give you unprecedented access to the development process. The solution weâd been testing turned out to be pretty satisfactory for our team members and hopefully, it will be equally beneficial to you as well!
So, weâd like to invite you to join The Kartersâ OpenDev - a platform that aims at keeping you in the loop but also ensures the continuous integration of our amazing community. The more you involve yourselves in commenting, providing feedback and reactions - the better! We want you to become an integral part of the development process, freely sharing your likes and dislikes!
Itâs definitely going to be one hell of an interesting experiment for us and we canât wait The Karters close-knit community will help us make The Karters one of the best karting games out there!
Below, weâre sharing some 3D models and a few concepts of the new tracks. Remember, much more materials await on The Kartersâ OpenDev ! đ
Beta tests - updated timeline and a new batch of vehicles!
Hi guys!
This update is going to be short and condensed, as we just want you to be up to date with the beta progress. Most importantly, we've managed to close the beta game scope that is generally related to racing, namely:
racing against online players and against AI,
all weapons fully functional (and FUN!)
game physics (we believe we struck a perfect balance with it, hope youâre gonna love it!)
audio
VFX
HUD
Everything seems to indicate that weâll need another couple of months for polishing the game just to make sure The Karters youâll get are going to be all about fun and excitement! As soon as we set the final date for beta launch, we'll let you know instantly.
We realize the expectations are high and weâre determined to meet them by giving you an already high-quality product in beta. First impressions definitely matter! ;-)
We assume that beta will last around a month and as long as itâs live, weâre going to add new features for you to test them out.
To build up your appetite before BETA, take a look at the new kart models we've come up with. Of course, all of them will be found in the game :-)
Stay tuned! We'll get back to you soon! :-)
Preparations for BETA, expected timeline and power-ups showcase (Part II)
Hello!
For the past weeks, we've been working through the essential tasks that are going to take us into our BETA testing phase! We've put all our efforts into closing all the elements into a well-balanced, fun-to-play and solid game, and we can assure you The Karters will deliver all of that! :-)
As you may expect, we often get asked "When is the Beta due?" ;-)
We hurry with an answer: According to our best estimates, we're targeting Q3 2021. Please keep in mind the exact time of beta release may vary either way, so as soon as we set a precise date, we'll let you know about it right away. Also, we want to emphasize once more that after the beta phase the game is still going to remain in Early Access stage for a little while, as we want to keep enhancing it and build a pretty decent fan base around The Karters that will hopefully love it as much as we do! :-)
NOTE: We still accept beta applications so don't miss it out and sign-up below!
Now, we'd like to give you a little summary of what we've been up to recently:
Vehicle and character customization
As you could see in our previous updates, the characters in The Karters have multiple skins, while the vehicles have different customized parts and bodies. Over the course of the last few weeks, we finally started to implement the system that enables unlocking them in the game. We're planning on expanding the base of skins and vehicles so you can expect some cool stuff coming! :-)
Vehicle physics
This is actually the fifth iteration of the vehicle physics we came up with. Yeah, you've got this right - the FIFTH! :-D We must say each iteration turned out to be better than the previous one, and we finally came to a point we're utterly pleased with the outcomes and we can't wait you'll give the tweaked physics a try!
FYI the game will use CTR boosting mechanics and you can be sure it's going to be very competitive and skill-based.
Vehicle behavior (body and suspension animation)
We actually spent lots and lots of hours trying to make the vehicle behavior right so you could literally feel the kart reacts naturally to various incidents and obstacles on a track. We tried to take care of every little detail, focusing on kart animations while drifting/landing/boosting, but we also paid attention to the wheels and suspension animations. We believe that all these little details will make The Karters even more fun and immersive!
[previewyoutube="vfAsekfku7c;full"]
In-game visual effects (VFX)
Good news here! A very creative and talented VFX artist joined our team so you can be sure the game's going to be packed with stunning effects for boosting, drifting, weapon using - you name it!
Weapon & Power-ups improvements
We're currently at the point of intensive weapon testing. We're basically putting every effort to tweak them and give them a proper balance. During the gameplay testing, we also discovered some glitches connected with the overall weapon performance, and we managed to significantly improve it. Additionally, we developed a special system allowing the character to aim directly at a target with high precision, which improves the experience even more and makes the weapon use extremely natural and intuitive.
Of course, all the weapon & power-ups testing has been carried out in multiplayer mode as well to ensure they are fully functional. As there are 14 weapons and power-ups altogether, you can imagine the whole testing thing was a quite time-consuming process ;-)
Talking about weapons and power-ups: let us present the second batch we promised to share with you!
We hope you guys are just as excited as we are for the beta and we would like to encourage you to join and hype each other up on Discord where you can meet some new kart racing friends and where we can all share the countdown together :-)
Hope you are doing well in this harsh time of global pandemic and lockdown.
We want you to know weâve been working tirelessly for the past months, making every effort to rebuild The Karters so that once the refreshed version gets released, itâs going to be unbelievably fun, competitive and absolutely enjoyable! Just remember - our major goal is to regain your trust and deliver the karting game Steam players well deserve! :-)
Beta 2021 is coming!
To make sure the gameâs going to be absolutely stunning when it gets updated on Steam, we want to invite you to take part in the beta tests that will launch in the upcoming weeks. There are no restrictions - all of you can join!
Below you can find the most vital info regarding the beta tests:
Whatâs the deal with beta tests in Early Access?
As weâve stressed many times, our major goal is to deliver the most entertaining, thrilling and fun karting game on Steam. We believe that letting you get your hands on it is key in improving it, so we really count on you guys! :-) Before we deliver an update, we want to be 100% sure The Karters are everything you guys wanted it to be - a truly gripping karting game with spot-on physics, wicked weapons, amusing characters and refined multiplayer. Hopefully, such polished update will regain your trust in this game, bringing more and more positive Steam reviews that the game needs so much. After the beta tests and before going full release, The Karters are still going to be in Early Access phase for a while. This will allow us to develop more content and gather even more feedback/suggestions/impressions to come up with the best karting experience out there!
Who can join? Thatâs oneâs easy - absolutely EVERYONE! :-)
When does it kick off? As weâre making great progress in the overall game development, we believe beta tests will start pretty soon. We strongly encourage you to sign-up now to be sure youâll be getting the info about beta on a regular basis.
Do I already need to have a copy of The Karters to join beta? Weâll do our best to provide a stand-alone version of the game so most probably, it wonât be necessary. We'll keep you in the loop about this one.
I want to join! What should I do? To be a part of beta team and join in on the fun, you need to join our Discord channel first. To sign up for beta, simply follow all the instructions youâll find there :-)
So there you have it folks - itâs as simple as that! Weâre looking forward to see you all in the game and weâre tremendously excited to see what you will uncover during The Karters beta!
Power-ups and weapons sneak peek
Now let us move on to other matters ;-)
Weâve been tipped off that even though lots of you are following our Public Trello Board, some of you would rather we posted updates here as well. To make your wish come true, weâre planning to post Steam news in around 2 or 3 weeks cycles to show you what weâve been up to lately.
To the point! ;-) Weâve been working tenaciously over the last few months to rebuild basically all the crucial aspects of The Karters. Weâre going to present the results of our efforts to you in a series of upcoming news. You can expect lots and lots of changes/upgrades - NEW physics, NEW AI, NEW weapons, NEW multiplayer and more!
Todayâs the day weâd like to present our power-ups and weapon showcase (Part One) to you. First, you can take a general look at the power-ups and weapons in âAurasâ and âMissilesâ categories. Part Two will include âArea Effectsâ and âSpecialsâ categories. FYI - There are going to be 15 amazing power-ups and weapons altogether in The Karters that will maximize fun!
Let this little presentation be a nice teaser before you see the weapons in real action! :-)
Here we go! Hope youâll like them as much as we do!
Thatâs all we got for you this time, hopefully youâre excited for Part Two :-)
Weâd still like to encourage you to follow our Trello Board that enables you to investigate the weekly progress. Click!
Oh, and as a reminder:
Stay safe and cheers!
Buckle up! This year The Karters are getting back on track!
Hello Kart Fans!
We're coming back in 2020 with some great news! In a nutshell, The Karters have been completely rewritten and a basically new game is just around the corner!
As I put forward after the rushed and unfortunate launch, I had to sort things out in a company and I needed some time to get back on my feet. However, it never even crossed my mind to give up, as I'm confident The Karters is exactly the game that Steam players are craving for!
I'm excited to tell you that we're getting really close to the MAJOR Steam Update that will bring a basically new game! In general, prepare yourself for a challenging, highly polished, skill-based and pure fun karting game that you've always wished for!
We don't want to rush the update this time but according to our best estimates, it should arrive in around 2 or 3 months from now. In the meantime, we're going to be active on Discord, Steam discussions and we promise to post at least one update a month on Steam. :)
As for now, we're eager to show you some sneak peeks from the game:
Refined Menu Design
We decided to give the Menu a fresh look. It's also designed in a way to be simple, intuitive and easy to navigate.
Variety of Outfits
You'll be able to customize the characters' appearance with a variety of alternate costumes. Below a couple of examples ;-)
New Online Room & Quick Chat
Interact with other Karters while waiting for a race to begin!
Unique weapons animations
We're going to show you a full preview of the weapons in the near future but the animations below may give you the idea of how much fun our weapons may add to the game. Just look at these beauties! ;-)
You can be sure we will continue presenting more materials in the upcoming updates including new AI, weapons, new multiplayer and of course new kart physics and mechanics!
Those of you who follow The Karters Discord channel may know that weâve been carrying out closed beta tests to make sure you will ultimately get an amazing experience. It needs to be stressed that after the update, the game is going to be still in Early Access phase for some time. It will allow me to gather your feedback/suggestions/impressions to come up with the best karting experience out there! :-) I strongly hope that my commitment to meeting your expectations will let me regain your trust both in The Karters and in the company.
Last but not least, I want to share with you that 3 fantastic coworkers are joining the core team. Iâm really excited that Mortus (responsible for animations), Maciek (programming) and Piotrek (graphics) have recently started working on The Karters full-time, which will undoubtedly enhance the quality and speed up the development process.
From now on, all hands on board! :-)
Cheers, Sebastian
Early Acess - Dev Blog #1
Welcome everyone to the first Early Access Devblog! :-)
In the upcoming monthly posts, I will do my best to sum up what has been done through the past month and present the roadmap for the following weeks.
Trello - EA Development
First and foremost, Iâd like to say BIG thanks to everyone whoâs shared their suggestions and helpful advice on Trello. Although itâs been just a month, I can already see some great effects from opening a public Trello so you could join it.
What has been done? Marcin (Animator) is currently creating and modifying all the character animations and the accompanying weapons in The Karters. Heâs done some awesome job during this month and you can see the outcomes below. Please, let us know how you like them or which your favourite one is ;-)
What next? Our focus is now on creating more animations, as weâre aware that thereâs still lots of work in this area. Next month, youâll surely see another bunch of weapon-related animations :-)
3D
What has been done?
Mariusz (3D graphic designer) started to work on creating the brand new kart types, with the possibility of customization. Heâs already managed to create as many as 5 new karts so far.
As you can see, one of them already has replaceable parts and textures with several variations.
What next? The other 4 karts - I am excited to see them finished, are you?
Programming
What has been done? When it comes to my work, the past month was unfortunately not so successful. I had to handle some urgent things that came up after big changes taking place in the company.
All in all, Iâve left this bureaucratic stuff behind me and from now on, I can fully devote myself to The Karters! Yeay! :-D
What next? My most important concern will be to improve AI and rewrite the multiplayer core - actually to fix all the multiplayer issues along with support for cross-platform multiplayer.
The properly working AI and Multiplayer are required to add the polished weapons (one by one). Itâs going to be some exciting time! ;-)
Thanks!
I hope that the actions weâre going to take in the nearest future will restore your faith in The Karters and that every update that will come will make you believe in this game once again.
Thank you so much for your support and talk to you soon!
