The latest update for Wreckfest is now out, containing new content and a number of improvements. This one is more or less a maintenance update while we continue to work on major additions scheduled to be released at a later date, but nevertheless it contains some new cool content such as the short route variant for Tarmac 1 (yes, finally!) and more customization parts for cars as well as important usability and gameplay improvements. The technically-inclined among you can find the full changelist below but please take a look at the game yourself and enjoy!
In other news – and this is very important – we're launching a new survey to gauge feedback before locking down everything for the final release of the game. These past years we've been working with you to shape the game into what it is now, and seeing as the game is nearing completion we want to use this opportunity to let us hear what you think of the game, how you play it and whether there's anything we can do to make it the absolutely best possible banger racing and demolition derby experience to date. To do that, it's crucial that we get YOUR feedback, so if you have five minutes to spare please do click on the shiny new main menu button to take you to the survey site and let us hear what you think of the game!
CONTENT
AI now uses El Matador in Class B too.
Added more customization parts for KillerBee, Tristar, Rammer, Gremlin.
Added a new paintjob for the lawnmower, improved paintjobs for El Matador and Roadcutter.
Added reverse routes for Mixed 5 Outer Loop and Mixed 5 Inner Loop.
Added a short route for Tarmac 1, both forward and reverse layouts.
Added and adjusted the start/finish lines for a number of tracks.
Improved environment art on a number of tracks.
Improved static cubemap locations on a number of tracks.
Balanced texture luminance ranges on a number of assets.
TECHNICAL
Fixed a particle system related crash.
Implemented shaded particles (particles are now darker when in the shade).
Implemented free camera smoothing.
Added sharpening and vignette post-processing effects.
In Dirt Speedway Figure 8 (possibly affecting other tracks as well), a wrong way indicator is no longer incorrectly displayed right after start.
In Custom Event and MP, the game now tries to pick a unique paint job for the AI player if available.
Grid start points are now created dynamically (work-in-progress, minor glitches possible especially in MP).
MP: It's now possible to disallow the use of special vehicles (lawnmower) on a server.
GAMEPLAY
Folk racing style start is now used on a number of tracks that support it (i.e. they have a dedicated start area).
Improved lawnmower handling and gameplay.
Adjusted reverse gear ratios so that they match between different vehicles.
Contact timer is no longer used in deathmatch.
Improved AI aggression: AI now employs increased situational awareness to decide when to ram another car. On Novice AI Difficulty, the AI is more aggressive towards each other and less towards the player, while on Expert AI Difficulty the AI is more aggressive towards the player and less against other AI players.
In demolition derby, the AI is now less inclined to use reverse whenever the front of the car is damaged.
In demolition derby, if only one or two AI players are left they no longer only circle around the player like idiots.
AI now takes the loop in Crash Canyon only in one direction to prevent the traffic from piling up.
Automatic reversing camera is now enabled by default in derby game modes.
In HUD, reset prompt is now displayed automatically when driving into a wrong direction or out of track.
In race game modes, reset is now only allowed when vehicle speed is 10 km/h or less to discourage exploiting.
In Grass Arena, hay bales no longer appear weightless when hit.
CAREER
Adjusted a number of career series, especially in championships 3–5.
The post-race rewards screen is now only shown if the player actually receives a reward, instead of every time.
The post-race experience screen is no longer displayed if the player abandons the event.
Weather no longer changes every time when restarting the event.
A series is now considered (and marked) completed only if player receives points from it.
Championship progress bar now only goes up until the unlock points for the new championship have been reached.
In vehicle selection, ineligible vehicles are now grayed out so it's easier to pick out an eligible vehicle.
Vehicle stats (and therefore eligibility in a series) are now updated correctly after upgrading the vehicle.
Relevant bonus targets (like spin, crash out, wreck a number of cars) now accumulate during multi-heat events.
USER INTERFACE
MP: In server browser it's now shown whether the server is configured for normal or realistic damage.
MP: In server browser, the list of servers is now only displayed after the data files have been verified.
MP: In lobby, the maximum number of players is now displayed correctly.
Added descriptions for all performance upgrades.
Implemented a new pre-race screen.
Implemented a new championship selection screen.
A number of user-interface fixes and improvements.
AUDIO
Added new engine audio for the lawnmower.
Added new engine audio for Gremlin.
Improved Speedeamon audio.
Contact audio no longer keeps repeating when the vehicle is resting on its top or side.
KNOWN ISSUES
MP, while in lobby cars may occasionally appear falling under the scene when the track changes.
MP,while in lobby spectating is glitched (no cars visible) if the race is not in progress.
MP, after returning to the lobby the car may appear to be in flames if it was wrecked in the event before.
Thanks for all your support and have a great weekend (playing Wreckfest, we hope)!
Hotfix for March Update 3
Hey Wreckers,
We’re happy to let you know that a hefty hotfix for the previous update is now available, tying up a few loose ends we didn’t have the time to take care of before the update as well as addressing a number of issues we’ve become aware since the update:
GENERAL
AI players now use all cars in all classes.
Career events now make use of the new weathers.
Rammer RS is now received correctly as a reward from “Ramming It Down” career event.
Removed bogus “None” parts from cars that now have proper unique customization parts.
RoadSlayer GT roll cage can now be removed.
Sunrise Super’s Sport Exhaust Manifold no longer results in a massive power hit.
Fixed a number of material bugs in the new rims.
The cute car icons now have an equally cute ambient shadow.
Added new improved default paintjobs for Rammer and Starbeast.
MP: Dedicated Server console no longer intermittently crashes when someone joins while typing a server message.
MP: Fixed a number of weather setting bugs in Dedicated Server: Setting up an incorrect weather in the event parameters no longer results in clients being unable to connect to the server. Command “weathers” now displays correct event specific weathers. If no weather is specified in the event parameters, a random event specific weather is used.
Mixed 5 no longer features flying cars.
Thanks for all the feedback and keep on wrecking!
March Update 3
Howdy Wreckers,
We hope everyone is doing great this fine evening! Even if your evening happens to be all doom and gloom, fret not – it's just about to take a turn for better because we're happy to let you know that the latest update for Wreckfest is now out!
This time we have quite a lot of nice surprises in store for you. First of all, there's the new weather system! Thanks to it, not only each track now has Sunrise, Noon, Afternoon and Sunset weathers but also that they are unique to each track – in other words, a sunset at, say, Mixed 5 will look different to a sunset at Speedway 2. The weathers are still being tweaked but we feel like they already yield a very welcome variation to our environments.
Secondly, and this is something that many have been looking forward, some of the cars now have more customization parts with more coming soon! These mostly include hoods, grilles, spoilers, fender flares and similar parts that you can use to make your car unique. Other than that, we have some new demolition derby and banger racing inspired paintjobs for the cars, and the AI controlled cars now know to dress appropriately for the occasion, meaning that in for example a demolition derby they will use the derby paintjob. Oh, and textured rims are also finally in.
Moving over to the gameplay side of things, as you know we've been tweaking the gameplay damage in the last couple of updates. The response so far has been a mixed bag, with some of you enjoying the thrill of wrecking other cars and possibly getting wrecked yourself, while many have voiced a concern that the relatively high punishment from light nudges ("love taps", as the community affectionately calls them) takes away the fun especially in multiplayer environment. So, in a bid to preserve what was good in the new damage system we went in and did some tweaking: now minor scuffing no longer causes any gameplay damage (the body panels will still visually get damaged, though) while major hits still cause significant one-time damage. Inconsistent damage was also a major frustration to many (the damage received from visually similar looking crashes was all over the place) so we rewrote parts of the damage tracker to make it robust.
Additionally, this update contains a healthy dose of other improvements like Realistic Damage in Career, new Post-Race, Loading and Server Browser screens, improved lawnmower gameplay, more spectacular crashes, custom Demolition Derby and Banger Racing AI Sets and of course a host of bug fixes to a number of minor and major issues. You can read all about those below while the update is downloading, but once it's done, launch the game and take a look at yourself!
Enjoy the update, and don't forget to let us know your thoughts about it!
CONTENT
New weather system with environment specific weathers and expanded variation: unique Sunrise, Noon, Afternoon and Sunset TODs for each event.
Increased skybox quality.
Added a set of new visual customization parts like spoilers, hoods, grilles and fenders for a number of cars.
Added textured wheel upgrades for all cars.
Added new banger/derby style liveries for both player and AI controlled cars.
Added Demolition Derby and Banger Racing AI Sets for Custom Events.
Fixed RoadSlayer missing audio in cockpit, bumper and hood cameras.
Fixed Rocket AI car assembly so that it now appears correctly in events.
Roadcutter window bar upgrades are now named correctly.
Killerbee roll cages are now named correctly.
Improved environment art and fixed bugs on various tracks.
GAMEPLAY
AI cars now automatically use a matching banger/derby or racing style livery in appropriate game modes and career events.
AI cars now slide around somewhat more.
AI cars are now more aggressive towards each other and the player (work-in-progress).
Derby AI now favors the center more to prevent them from packing to the sides.
Tweaked collision matrix lightly to make crashes feel more rewarding.
Demolition Derby events now yield more credits as a reward.
In Last Man Standing, the contact timer is now 30 seconds (shown when 15 seconds left) to prevent sandbagging.
Improved lawnmower physics to improve the gameplay.
Ragdoll is now ejected correctly when crashing to the static environment hard enough.
It's now easier to roll over an opponent by hitting the AI piloted lawnmower to the side.
Wrecking an AI lawnmower and ejecting the pilot now works as designed when hitting the AI with higher momentum.
Takedowns now register correctly even if the victim hits a static object right after being wrecked, or in the case of lawnmowers, the ground.
Improved damage tracker for more consistent gameplay damage and prevent from being penalized from the same hit many times depending on the duration of the collision; in practice this means that for example being pushed sideways by other cars no longer results in massive damage and death. With Normal Damage, minor scuffing no longer causes any gameplay damage (the body panels will still visually get light damage though), while major hits cause significant one-time damage with hitter receiving less damage (but still some); with Realistic Damage, both visual and gameplay damage is increased, mechanical damage kicks in earlier and hitter has no artificial advantage whatsoever (note that hitter will still have a natural advantage in case of a higher mass and speed).
Tweaked front-wheel-drive cars to be less overpowering, now more or less match the lap times of RWD cars with similar performance points.
CAREER
The career starting car is now Rocket.
Embarking on a new series while another one is in progress (not completed) now resets the progress of the in-progress series instead of marking it as completed.
Rival challenge is now kept active through the whole event instead of ending with the first successful bump.
Realistic Damage is now available in the career in the new Options tab in the Next Race screen, yielding an experience bonus.
Rammer RS can now be only obtained as a reward from the career event "Ramming it Down".
In multi-heat demolition derby events, player is now disqualified properly according to the series rules.
USER INTERFACE
Implemented new Post-Race, Loading and Server Browser screens.
Quitting an event now takes the player to the results screen so that replay is available even when quitting.
In Settings/Advanced menu, Sensitivity and Speed Sensitivity help texts are no longer reversed.
TECHNICAL
MP: Fixed a fatal crash related to the effect system.
In Custom Event, AI Set now gets correctly reset after clearing user data.
A prospective fix for the car getting rocketed to sky after crossing the finish line.
A prospective fix for the car glitching when changing parts or adjusting tuning setup.
Various other bug fixes.
LOCALIZATION
Updated new and changed strings.
KNOWN ISSUES
New weather system is not yet supported by the career.
NOTES FOR CONTENT CREATORS
The weather system now uses an event specific weather list configured in the event's evse bag data file so you have can different weathers available for each event.
Any custom content modifying gameplay damage is thrown out of whack due to the new damage tracker.
WRECKFEST screenshot contest!
Hey Wreckers, we are so thirsty, we want more, more stuff from you!
After receiving all your amazing racing clips recently, we thought to ourselves "Why stop here?".
This time around we would love to get your top-notch screenshots (from the March Update) and decided to combine it with pretty engine-powered prizes, if we dare say so ourselves!
Requirements of the screenshots to be eligible for the contest:
At least 1920 x 1080 resolution (higher resolutions will not give you any advantage)
Absolutely no Mods allowed
Screenshots need to be taken with the March 2018 version of the game
No HUD or player names visible
Try to play with quality settings as high as possible. Low frame rate doesn’t matter for this quest
We don't wanna waste any more of your time - If you want to give it a shot (quite literally) and for a chance to win 1x Steam Digital Gift Card (worth EUR 100) + Steam activation codes for MX vs ATV All Out and Wreckfest, check out the rules below:
How to participate:
Play Wreckfest and Press F12 to create a screenshot with steam
Press F12 to create a screenshot with steam Once you captured a great screen, exit Wreckfest. Steam will show you a dialog:
In the next window, make sure to upload the screenshot as ‘Public’
Then click on the button: VIEW ONLINE LIBRARY or navigate to your steam profile and click on screenshots
Click on the screenshot you just uploaded to enlarge it
Click on the settings icon and select: SHARE
Copy the URL to your screenshot
Head over to Facebook via this link http://n.thq.com/r4Kq30iUScn and paste the URL to your screenshot.
(It would be great if you also upload the screenshot itself to your comment below the post.)
Make sure you read the Terms and Conditions here: https://tc.thqnordic.com/wreckfest-screenshot-contest
Submission closes at March 20, 23:59 UTC, screenshots commented after this time will not be considered
Our Jury will select the winners of the 4 price packages within the next week and announce them in a separate post
Prizes:
First prize: 1x Steam Gift Card EUR 100 + 1x Steam Code for MX vs ATV All Out + 1x Steam Code for Wreckfest as a gift for a friend
Plus 3 winners: 3x Steam Code for MX vs ATV All Out + 3x Steam Code for Wreckfest as a gift for a friend
Tips and tricks:
Photo Mode or Replay give you a lot of freedom
Try to create something epic, very original or really funny
Get some inspiration here: http://steamcommunity.com/app/228380/screenshots/
March Update 2
Hello Wreckers,
Hot on the heels of last week's update we're back with a new one, focusing on gameplay and damage.
The thing is that Wreckfest was always envisioned as a game where racing is as important as wrecking, and so far, we've been doing pretty great on the racing department but not so much in wrecking – the crashes themselves are great and unlike in any other game but while racing, it's simply too risky to try to wreck others because more often than not any plan to race recklessly will backfire and just mean a premature end to your race.
As you know, last week's update already brought some changes to the damage mechanism by increasing gameplay damage in a bid to make crashes more rewarding. Obviously that alone didn't do the trick since while it did make crashes more meaningful it also made them more punishing, and as a result, something that you as a player want to avoid. So, early this week we took a long and hard look at the feedback we received and how we could make crashing more rewarding, and this update is a result of our efforts.
To get to the point: the main change in this update is that by hitting another car you will cause significantly more damage while suffering less yourself. It doesn't mean that you'd be invincible as long as you crash into others, though, since you will always receive some damage yourself too. In effect, this means that during a race, you might actually wreck someone in a few laps time and still make it to the finish, given that you avoid getting hit yourself. In our opinion this alone does make racing more exhilarating and inject some more WRECKFEST into the game but of course you, the players, are the ones to make the final judgment so please do continue to give us your feedback.
We've also used the opportunity to improve the damage otherwise, so now for example the armor sector representation in the HUD matches visual damage better, and a car about to get wrecked can no longer be wrecked by a light nudge (that was frustrating as hell). Also, to keep it within the theme of crash physics we've adjusted the collision matrix to prevent the cars from rolling over at too slow impact speeds, something that's been bothering us (and apparently you) for some time now.
The update also contains a healthy dose of other goodies and bug fixes, with the full list below:
FIXED
Fixed missing Gatecrasher LOD2 model.
Fixed player unable to reset in Deatchmatch after respawning.
Fixed a case in which cars could occasionally receive visual damage on the starting grid after restarting.
Bogus "You have already completed this series and you have another series in progress." message is no longer displayed when attempting to continue a series in progress.
Disabled mouse axis input as a controller to prevent users with specific hardware from being unable to remap keyboard controls.
In pre-race, pressing ESC while being on any of the other tabs than the first now takes back to the first tab.
BullDog upgrade parts received as rewards now use the correct car name instead of European 11.
Lawnmower is now correctly received after beating the lawnmower challenge.
MudDigger and Rocket no longer have duplicate "None" customization parts.
NEW AND ADJUSTED
Added more banger racing and demolition derby liveries for select vehicles.
Added a new giant can prop to various tracks.
Improved environment art for various tracks.
Improved various effects.
Novice AI now makes more mistakes and is slightly slower.
Amateur AI now makes slightly more mistakes and is slightly slower.
In derby game modes, the AI now favors the player slightly more.
Adjusted collision matrix to prevent the cars from rolling over at too slow impact speeds.
Gameplay damage: car vs. car crashes now cause more gameplay damage.
Hitting other cars now causes significantly more damage to the victim, less to the attacker.
Armor sector representation in the HUD matches visual damage better.
A car about to get wrecked can no longer be wrecked by a light nudge.
Environment now causes even less gameplay damage.
Mechanical damage occurs more logically when compared to the car health.
Engine and transmission mechanical damage is reduced to make sure the player can still keep going.
Improved lawnmower gameplay.
MP: Added chat back to respawn state and spectate view.
Improved player stats visuals at the top right corner of the screen.
Thanks for all your support and keep wrecking!
March Update
Howdy Wreckers,
We're pleased to let you know that a new rocking update for Wreckfest is out!
CONTENT
Added two new spanking rides, MudDigger and Rocket.
Added a number of new banger racing and demolition derby inspired paint jobs (more coming).
CAREER
Reworked championships 1–2 to offer more variety and reduce grinding.
Added support for challenge events (for now, only one is available for playing in the first championship but more will be added).
Added reward pool functionality to ensure player always received parts that are a) suitable for a vehicle they own and b) not already owned c) appropriate for the current series.
It’s now possible to view the bonus objectives in the pause menu, and making progress towards the target or completing it results in an on-screen notification.
In multi-heat events, the player start position is now randomized to the second (latter) half of the grid.
In multi-heat events, the start order in the Semi-Final and Final is now based on the finishing position of the qualifying heats.
Round placement history is now viewable in the series standings view.
Finishing position is now correctly taken into an account in the career rewards calculation.
Player final standing is now correct in the series completion screen.
Added support for reward-only vehicles that cannot be purchased from the car dealer.
Added AI players using cars upgraded to the next class, for example Class C > Class B.
ART
Added more dynamic objects to a number of tracks (Tarmac 1, Tarmac 2, Tarmac 3, Mixed 3, Mixed 7, Sandpit 1, Sandpit 2, Sandpit 3, Gravel 1, Mixed 1, Mixed 2, Mixed 4, Mixed 5).
Added ramps and dynamic objects to Speedway 2 Demolition Arena to make the gameplay more interesting, confined the arena to the middle area.
Fixed a number of minor and major bugs and glitches on many tracks (including proxy objects, clipping objects, terrain tears, missing collisions, etc.)
Improved environment art and added more dynamic objects to Speedway 2.
Improved environment art, added new assets and dynamic objects to Tarmac 3.
Tarmac 2, added new background buildings and replaced old proxy objects.
Big Stadium, fixed multiplayer car change location + general improvements.
Added damage model for the dynamic barrel prop.
Overhauled Garage, Market, Assembly, Customization, Tune and Paint views.
Overhauled Career Series Selection and Next Race screens.
Overhauled Custom Event views.
DESIGN/PHYSICS
Visual damage is now more dynamic and gives a better impression of sheet metal being deformed.
Collisions between light and heavy vehicles are now better balanced, with light vehicles not appearing as feather-weight in collisions.
Decreased the sector protection effect of the visual customization parts and/or increased the weight of selected parts.
Removed the effect of vehicle body panels absorbing damage, so all damage goes directly to the chassis health.
Tweaked gameplay damage for Normal and Realistic Damage to match the visual damage more closely.
Dynamic objects now have slightly more mass to them.
In Custom Race, the player start position is now randomized to the second (latter) half of the grid.
In Garage, body style and size vehicle properties have been replaced with a single type property.
Novice AI is now more challenging with less obvious rubberbanding, and the jump between the Amateur and Expert difficulty is not as significant as previously.
AI players now exhibit a reduced tendency to avoid the player car.
Added a placeholder Credits item to the Main Menu Misc section.
TECHNICAL
MP: Added support for Normal/Realistic Damage in multiplayer, available in the lobby and the server settings.
MP: Fixed two separate instances of a server crash related to situations in which the player leaves the server.
MP: Player stats overlay is now disabled while spectating.
Adding heavy customization parts no longer results in the vehicle acceleration stat being reduced to 0.0.
Improved AI throttle and brake use after severe engine/brake damage when damage is set to Realistic, so that AI no longer gets stalled.
In a Custom Event, AI now correctly uses lawnmowers when the lawnmower AI Set is selected.
Increased the amount of mesh particles (the shrapnel-y bits and pieces) emitted in collisions.
Mesh particles now use custom vehicle color, matching the car color they're emitted from.
Engine block no longer gets unrealistically deformed with visual damage.
Added leaderboards for the few tracks that were previously missing them.
Integrated backtrace.io for automatic crash reporting.
AUDIO
Added in-game spectator audio, crowd cheering etc.
Updated Tristar engine audio with a new one.
Tire wobble effect audio now plays only when there is visible tire wobbling.
Fixed a number of minor audio issues.
NOTED FOR CONTENT CREATORS
Wwise was updated to version 2017.2.1 build 6524.
Thanks for the all support and have fun racing!
Dev Blog: What are we working on
Howdy Wreckers,
What’s up, everyone? We hope everyone’s doing awesome and still having a ton of fun with the previous update of the game. It’s now been some weeks since the last update, and knowing how enthusiastic everyone is about the game we thought it would be a perfect time to fill you in and let you know exactly what we’re currently working on, so let’s check it out!
NEW CARS
A racing game can never have enough cars, so yes, we’re indeed working on some new ones. We’re still keeping these ones under the wraps while we’re putting finishing touches on them but in our true-and-tried style once again there will be some much sought-after fan-favourites as well as some surprises.
BACKER CAR
Understandably, quite a few of you have been asking how the backer car is doing (featured in the Deluxe Edition of the game) and when it’s coming, and we’re happy to let you know that it’s alive and kicking! It’s currently being finalized so it won’t be long until you’ll get to take it out for a spin.
NEW PAINT JOBS
To add more variety, authenticity as well as customization possibilities we’re adding more banger racing and demolition derby inspired paint jobs for the cars. We’re also currently looking for a way to improve the way the AI uses paint jobs and liveries during the career so that for example in a banger racing themed series the AI would use banger racing themed liveries.
CAREER IMPROVEMENTS
We’re adjusting the career based on your feedback to make it seem less repetitive, and to that end, we’re adding more special one-off events and challenges to spice it up nicely. We’ve also expanded the reward functionality, so performing well in an event will be rewarded with new upgrade and customization parts for the vehicles that you own. These will be based on the series theme, so a racing series will grant racing upgrades, while a demolition derby series will get you heavy bumpers and so forth. Oh, and it’s now possible to check the bonus objectives in the pause menu, and every time you make progress towards the goal or complete it, you will receive an on-screen notification. Hurray!
MORE DYNAMIC CONTENT FOR TRACKS AND POLISH
To make the gameplay more interesting and set the stage for more spectacular crashes, we’re currently in the process of adding more dynamic content such as tire stacks and billboard to the tracks. In addition to that, we’re also doing a polishing pass to the tracks, meaning adding extra details, fixing remaining bugs and so forth.
SPECTATOR AUDIO
Speaking of tracks, we’re also adding some crowd noises, so that every time you race past a spectator stand you will hear the crowd cheering and so on. In a grand scheme of things it might be a detail, yes, but it does add some nice ambiance and make the tracks seem so much livelier.
USER INTERFACE IMPROVEMENTS
We’re currently overhauling many of the current placeholder menu screens, and for example the garage screen will be completely replaced with a new one, offering more interesting visuals and expanded functionality such as an ability to preview the vehicles with stats before making a purchase. The series selection screen has also been reworked, making it now easier to get an overview of the current championship.
DAMAGE IMPROVEMENTS
Since the last update we’ve been working on further improvements for vehicle damage, and some good stuff is coming. In the next update, the body damage will look more dynamic and the panels will deform in a way that we feel is more natural for sheet metal. Also – and hey, this is actually a big one – the engine block will no longer get horribly deformed with visual damage, yielding more realistic looking results. Check this out:
AI IMPROVEMENTS
We’ve evaluated the AI difficulty based on the feedback we’ve received and made some adjustments accordingly, so that the Novice AI is slightly more challenging with less obvious rubberbanding, and the jump between Amateur and Expert difficulty is not as significant as previously. Also, we’re adding AI players using for example a Class C car upgraded to Class B in order to add more variety to the career events.
REALISTIC DAMAGE IN MULTIPLAYER
This is something that many of you have been asking for, and we’re happy to let you know that yes, it’s been planned from the get-go and it’s coming in the next update. We’re also fine-tuning realistic damage so that the gameplay damage and mechanical damage better matches what you see on the screen.
IMPROVED STABILITY
Thanks to the community pointing us the right way, we pinpointed and fixed two critical cases which caused dedicated server instability, and we’re confident that after the next update the server software will be more stable. Also, to make sure that we can attack any current and future issues as vigorously as possible we’re integrating a handy middleware that provides an easy and powerful platform to trace errors and catch crash dumps even with the public release build. In other words, if the game crashes on you we will be the first ones to hear about it.
So with the goodies out of the bag, when’s when? Like always, before releasing the update we want to make sure we’re happy with what we have but all things considered we’re shooting for the next week. Stay tuned for more news soon!
Thanks for all the feedback and support, we love you! Godspeed everyone.
Hotfix 2 for January Update
Another hotfix for January Update is out, addressing following issues:
MP: Server browser no longer crashes in certain cases.
MP: Spectate mode no longer crashes on certain tracks.
MP: Ban list size is now 1024 entries.
Career: Championships 3–5 no longer require 100% completion of the previous championship to unlock.
Boomer Rear Bumper 1 no longer yields extra horsepower.
Lap counter now works correctly on modded tracks.
Example track no longer crashes the game.
Hotfix for January Update
A critical hotfix for January Update is now out, addressing some of the misfires with the update:
MP: Unresponsive zombie clients now get disconnected properly.
Having the example vehicle mod enabled will no longer cause the game to crash at launch.
Installing the "None" front bumper on Nexus will no longer cause the game to crash.
Fixed a number of visual glitches related to customization parts.
Decreased strength of most front and rear bumbers.
Increased mechanical damage on normal damage setting.
Added track info for Tarmac 3 Short Route Reverse.
Career: Demolition Derby series are now shorter and single heat only.
bgeometry.exe and bimage.exe are now included in the tools folder.
KNOWN ISSUES:
<*>MP: Spectating will occassionally crash the game, please avoid until a fix is out.
January Update
Howdy Wreckers,
It's been a month or so after our previous, hard-hitting update was unleashed, and in case your battle wagon has been parked around the shed for a while, get ready to slip on your racing boots, prime the carb and jump behind the wheel once again! The latest update is here, unfurling over us like the exhilarating smell of petrol and exhaust fumes on that fateful summer day at a track, and it's time for the masters of breakneck demolition racing to get back on track to spread terror and chaos.
We're all business so let's cut the verbal dilly-dally and check out the highlights of the update:
EXPANDED CAREER
Three completely new championships with more series, more races and more crashes! That, and a host of important usability enhancements based on the feedback we've received, such as the ability to see the series restrictions, expanded vehicle classification, improved scoring and more. Scoring, unlocks and experience accumulation are still being worked on, so any feedback you care to share with us in regards to these elements would be super.
FOUR NEW CARS
This time nomen est omen for real since we're pleased to introduce you true tools of destruction: Bulldog, Hotshot, Speedemon and Warwagon. This newest set has something for everyone – a heavy-hitting demolition derby inspired American station wagon, another American with classic sleek lines straight from the 60s, a more exotic 80s sports car, and finally, a bad-to-the-bone Scandinavian folk-racing style 60s rod. Check them all out!
MORE CUSTOMIZATION PARTS
Every car now has a number of Front Bumper, Rear Bumper, Window Bar, Side Protector and Roll Cage customization parts that you can use to deck out your ride in a proper demolition racing style, and not only that: customization parts now have a weight and protection properties, so for an instance, a heavy demolition derby style front bumper will make the car withstand more damage to the business end but also make it slower due to the added weight. Rock!
NEW ENGINE UPGRADES
This too is something that we've gotten a plenty of requests for: all cars now also have a number of class-based engine upgrades that can be used to increase or decrease the class of the vehicle, so from now there's nothing stopping you from taking that awesome Class C front-wheel-drive Firefly to Class A events! (Don't forget to put on some serious metal as well, though, otherwise you won't last long.)
NEW ROUTES AND IMPROVED TRACK ART
Tarmac 3 now has a reverse layout, and both Sandpit 1 and Tarmac 3 have new shorter routes complete with reverse layouts. In addition to that we've added a new wicked suicide racing style Speedway 2 route with tight loops at both ends and a high-speed oval section that's going to guarantee spectacular head-on crashes! We've also replaced many of the old legacy assets around the tracks with shiny new ones (yes, including that pesky fire truck), yielding a welcomed visual improvement.
NEW AND IMPROVED EFFECTS
We've enhanced old effects and added a number of completely new ones related to mechanical damage, and for example driving without a wheel will now cause sparks to fly off from the hub. There are also a bunch of brand new audio effects to add to immersion.
REALISTIC DAMAGE SETTING
There's now a setting in the custom race event options to choose between Normal and Realistic Damage, Normal being the same as in the previous build while Realistic offers more visceral gameplay with intensified visual damage and increased mechanical damage gameplay effects.
EXPANDED TUNING
The tuning feature has been expanded based on your feedback, and instead of just three, most parts now have five setups to choose from, allowing for more in-depth tuning of your ride for specific tracks.
As you can see, this update again introduces quite a few new features with some of them still being heavily worked on, the new realistic damage setting being the most obvious one. Even so, we thought it would be great to get feedback on them already so please give them a try and share us your thoughts.
That's it for the main stuff – in addition, this update contains a number of other improvements and bug fixes, like for example it's no longer possible to pick up more speed by wall riding. We also isolated at least one case which caused server instability and addressed that, but we'll of course keep on monitoring the situation. In case you're interested in tidbits the full changelog can be found on our blog HERE
Thanks for your continuous support and feedback to make Wreckfest even better. Keep wrecking!
