[i]Hello all, we are back again with more data. The info flying between these "developers" is shaded toward the future and we think that might be important to share .. so here we are. Below is everything we collected for your mental consumption. We are light on visual collection as much of the discussion was abstract - but we did what we could. You ((and we) together) shall absorb what is here regardless.[/i] -- START OF DATA -- [h3]{ Status }[/h3] Our overall goal currently remains getting the game ready to release into early access. But with something new now (that you can play) before that! We're going to apply to participate in the next Next Fest which takes place in June -- so a playable demo must be made! This means several things: - We'll be releasing a free playable demo sometime before June. :D - We'll be streaming a few times leading up to NextFest to essentially smooth things out technically, get feedback on the demo and get some practice talking about the game. - Instead of aiming for a Q2 release into early access, we're going to move it back to Q3 (probably approx August instead of May) Essentially we're going to release a free demo with what would have been in our early access release, then the early access release will contain the demo content plus some more. After that, we'll continue adding content to early access as one would expect until we hit full release. Having a free demo, which we'll keep up along side all releases (even after next fest), is exciting to us. As players, we love demos. Letting people try things out, test performance on their machine and get a taste before they do (or even can) buy the game only leads to good things for everyone. I also have fond memories of demo CDs from video game magazines when I was a kid. :] We're very excited - some deadlines to hit and a lot of work still left to get things where they need to be. I am also definitely looking forward to doing some live streams and talking with some of you. It's been thousands of hours of development with very limited sharing and a tiny team. We don't really do social media aside from discord, so other people seeing the game live and then eventually you all getting to actually play it is going to be VERY fun for me and I hope fun for you. [h3]{ Water Waves And White Smoke }[/h3] [i]2R8K02R0K!F5R3ZN!SY5T2S[/i] Early on in the game world, you'll be mostly on islands. These are surrounded by water and this water is very dangerous for both the player on foot as well as the vehicles you drive (mostly). [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/41618350/6bbd903b8498b3ea30756b43750bf8fd833c5dc9.gif[/img] Driving through the water is also dangerous. It will cause both temporary and possibly permanent damage to your vehicle, filling the engine and the cylinders themselves with water increasing with depth and time spent in the water. Fording through a shallow area will be possible with relative safety but crossing deeper waters will prove tricky. The push and pull of the waves also create forces on your vehicle including drag, buoyancy and push/pull from water flow direction. So waves will rock you around and rivers will push you. It should be really fun exploring this in levels as well as exploring ways of making some vehicles better or worse when it comes to water. [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/41618350/66a0483a4ff19672d421ab657432b4c479d76c3d.gif[/img] Falling into the water will likely result in the main character, Maya, drowning. She can't swim and the air filter used will become flooded. If this happens, no new oxygen can be extracted from any air sources nearby (like certain plants or the vehicle). This means you'll suffocate relatively quickly and sink below the surface. [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/41618350/1599bddd1e98fda091eb28982900586a4cc4f26a.gif[/img] As a side note, there are also time based tides for areas with ocean. So water levels will rise and fall based on the time of day - this means it's possible some areas may be harder or easier to access at different times in the day/night cycle... [h3]{ Inner Workings Of Engines }[/h3] [i]N52K0266Q1SX7UXJ5UO6J0[/i] Engine simulation! And probably other parts later. I've shared some of this information in the discord as I've been working on it, but I wanted to explain it here as well. Plus add a little more detail. I wanted to try creating relatively simple simulations of the inner workings of the vehicle engine that would create emergent behavior - a bunch of small systems and cycles that work together to give the engine its outputs (ex: torque, exhaust, etc). This way, if those little systems get whacked around, damaged or tuned, the emergent behaviors coming out of them would feel relatively realistic. [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/41618350/13cddc8c258a0f0bf57d17d21ae489a3e96993ae.gif[/img] [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/41618350/c58c3c2e985720014d61c6a5d9810317de89d72a.gif[/img] this is the current small interface of some aspects of the simulation. to the lower left you can see two little sets of bars, each set represents a cylinder with the bars displaying levels of content in them green horizontal bar - how much the vehicle throttle is being opened/pedal pressed down light blue - air in cylinder pink - fuel in cylinder gray - exhaust fume in cylinder dark blue - water in cylinder dark blue larger vertical bar - water in engine Despite making an offroad game, I was previously never very interested in the inner mechanics of vehicles. I've always liked the higher levels of enjoying vehicles. But as I learned more about the history and details of the inner systems, they became increasingly fun to me. I'm no expert but it has been incredibly rewarding learning the details of how things work and implementing them - starting with the engine. The mower engine used to use a torque curve that approximated an rpm/torque relationship utilizing the rotational wheel velocities (more torque when your tires are spinning slowly - so more power when they need it basically). Each gear had a different curve. We are now simulating the cylinders along with how other parts influence the entire engine system. What is in the cylinders and if those levels allow for combustion and how 'perfect' that combustion is is what determines the amount of torque to output. The transmission is now responsible for the torque curve to deliver out of the available torque the engine can offer. It feels way more interesting to drive and, especially with damage, engine starts and variable weight being towed, much more dynamic. I realize an important part of this is the feedback to the player. How it feels while driving is important but it's also important for a player to be able to take a look into what these inner systems are doing and understand them to a degree. I don't want to require a player to understand them fully but I want to allow and support players who want to. So including a good toggleable interface into it will be important. You just went over a brutal jump and landed hard - now you're feeling hiccups in your driving and there's a bit of smoke coming out now and then, you can open your diagnostics view and see what's happening. Maybe you are about to drive through some water that's a bit too deep - you can open your diagnostics while you do it to keep an eye on water levels in your engine and in your individual cylinders. You find an old vehicle that's all beat up and damaged. It needs to be brought to a telepad (spawn point) to unlock the schematics so you can print one brand new - but you have to figure out how to start the engine on this damaged one first. You open the diagnostics and watch as your various efforts on the throttle and starter influence the levels of air, fuel and exhaust in the cylinders until you manage to guide it to rev up. Below are the parts we are simulating and some notes about how they influence the vehicle: Crank Shaft - responsible for translating the torque from the cylinders to the transmission and then to the wheels Fuel Injector - inject fuel into all the cylinders to balance each against air levels and more so during acceleration for extra torque Exhaust Manifold - get rid of exhaust fumes from the combustion in the cylinders or extra air Intake Manifold - intake air sent to each cylinder to balance against fuel levels, with additional during acceleration for extra power Cylinders - attempt to balance appropriate levels of air and fuel in them to maintain the fuel's perfect ratio for combustion while exhausting excess, managing pressure and sending torque to the crank shaft. we don't simulate the cylinder strokes but rather an approximation of each cylinder's contents over time and the cylinder's ability to combust to generate torque Each cylinder is made up of: Volume - total volume in the cylinder, contributes to total torque output and requirements of content amounts to be effective Piston - moves up and down in the cylinder upon each combustion, affects maintaining the desired air-fuel ratio and outputting torque to the crankshaft Intake Valve - the valve that opens and closes to bring air into the cylinder from the intake manifold, affects maintaining the air-fuel ratio and bringing extra air in when needed for more torque Exhaust Valve - the valve that opens and closes to get rid of excess air and exhaust from combustion into the exhaust manifold, affects cylinder's ability to lower air and exhaust levels Spark Plug - the device that ignites the air-fuel mixture in the cylinder, contributes to the efficiency of combustion in the cylinder. air, fuel and water level reduction and exhaust level addition are affected by combustion along with directly output of torque to crankshaft. currently if there's too much fuel or too much water, combustion also will not occur. Connecting Rod - connects the piston to the crankshaft, directly responsible for bringing toque from successful combustion to crankshaft (and eventually to your wheels) Lining - the surrounding sealing of the cylinder. with lower efficiency or damage, air will leak into the cylinder, liquids (water, fuel) will leak out, and exhaust will also leak out -- END OF DATA -- [i]We hope this new data has been abstractly enlightening and of utility. We will continue our observance of the human "developers" and report to each of you. . . Until a different point in the timeline.[/i] [url=https://discord.gg/zcSpuk4B3S][img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/41618350/edd62b1a6d7d65972bd42190771d1c39fb211796.png[/img][/url]