Hey everyone! The second Steam Playtest for Stampede: Racing Royale begins August 21, including changes and improvements across all areas of the game, built around feedback and suggestions from our community. Here are some notable fixes and additions... [h2][b]Features [/b][/h2] [list] [*] Friends and Party systems added. Players can connect with Steam friends in-game and create parties of up to five players, using invites and friend codes to connect [*] Nitro force curve effect added. When a player uses the Nitro power-up, nearby players can be pushed aside [/list] [h2][b]Gameplay [/b][/h2] [list] [*] Updated default control schemes for controller and keyboard. Players can manually assign inputs to different keys/buttons of their choice in the Settings menu [*] Changes made to kart collision effects and physics, making kart behaviour more predictable when making contact with other drivers [*] Fixed intangibility delay when striking opponents with a power-up. Drivers will now be immediately intangible when struck, meaning players can drive through them as intended [*] Fixed issue causing rolling blockades to teleport, creating invisible collisions for players [*] Removed the possibility of the same map featuring twice in a match. Each map selected over the three rounds of a match will always be different to each other [*] Additional VFX for multiple areas of the game, including power-ups and slipstream [*] XP rewards and Player Level progression has been rebalanced, to be better paced across a longer playtest [*] Kart handling tweaks made, and minor kart performance changes made for Battle events [*] Improved AI kart behaviour on Battle event map (Royale Island) [*] Updated audio and logic for countdown timer at the end of races [*] Further balance changes to deployment of power-ups [/list] [h2][b]Performance [/b][/h2] [list] [*] Resolved instances of CPU spikes when navigating the main menus, causing crashes or frame rate drops [*] Resolved performance issues caused by user changing the display resolution [*] Resolved some issues causing players to be unable to connect to a lobby. It’s still possible for this to occur, but multiple fixes have improved this area [*] Default game volume has been decreased. It shouldn’t be so loud when you first boot the game! [*] Players can be placed in more populous server regions, to ensure they enter lobbies with as many human players as possible. Players will see the server region they are in via on-screen text, and can select their ‘Preferred Region’ in the Settings [/list] [h2][b]Visual[/b][/h2] [list] [*] Fixed issue causing the player’s character to be blurred on main menu screens [*] Achievements screen removed, as we continue to finalise ways for players to earn additional rewards [*] Further improvements to the profanity filter for display names [*] Visual updates to multiple areas of the game, including maps [*] Fixed instances of erratic camera motion while boosting [*] Pop-up text for when you strike an opponent with a power-up, or have been struck by a power-up, is now larger [*] UI changes for the homing projectile power-up [*] Fixed instances of reward item images appearing on top of each other on screen [*] Images for the three kart archetypes on the Garage menu are now correct [/list] As always, you can use our [url=https://forms.office.com/pages/responsepage.aspx?id=yQ77h3sSS066TarLNc0p8oIdTAJnfP5OqYXDlMxZ_BlUQVFTVjY0SVk5VDkzOVM1WjdUSFZJN1BEUS4u]official reporting form[/url] if you come across something you want our team to investigate, or drop a message in Steam Discussions, if you have any feedback. Our [url=https://trello.com/b/araUgO5r/stampede-racing-royale-community-hot-topics]Trello board[/url] will also be updated with known topics and their status. Thank youuuu!