UPDATE 2014-02-15
While we experienced some unfortunate bumps along the way last night, we're proud to let you know that the latest update for
Next Car Game is finally online! You should receive the update automatically, but in case your game is not being updated, please log out of Steam and back in to start the update process.
The highlights of the update are the brand new
Figure 8 derby race event and the new classic
American Sedan car, but in addition to those the update also contains other major new features like new weathers and added upgrade parts. There's also a hefty amount of other improvements and fixes. Please find the complete changelog with release notes below:
Tracks:
- New Figure 8 derby race event.
- All race tracks now have a reverse layout as well.
- Lap and AI counts are now fully customizable for each event.
- Tarmac track: start area rehauled, tarmac textures reworked, last sector redecorated.
- Gravel track: textures reworked, track surface visuals updated.
- New birches for both tarmac and gravel track.
- General polishing and bug fixing.
Weathers:
- Three new weathers: bright day, cold morning and warm sunset.
- A random weather is selected to an event at startup.
Dynamic environment objects:
- Tire stacks now have more weight to them for added realism.
- Reduced concrete barrier friction to prevent the car from spinning.
Vehicles & upgrading:
- New car: American Sedan (no high detail dashboard yet).
- Steering wheels now rotate in cockpit camera.
- Texture/model improvements and bug fixes.
- Increased European hatchback engine power.
- Reworked European hatchback handling.
- New engine backfire effect.
- Improved differential simulation.
- New gearbox, drivetrain, suspension and brake upgrade parts.
- New paint jobs for cars to choose from.
- Driving model improvements.
Driving assists:
- Assists now have three levels of strength: 'Off', 'Half' and 'Full', with 'Off' and 'Half' being the same as earlier 'Off' and 'On' and 'Full' offering an even more assisted driving experience.
Cameras:
- New screenshot camera mode with zoom factor and yaw, pitch and roll parameters, designed for taking screenshots with free camera and hidden HUD. In the screenshot mode, it's possible to rotate the camera as well as adjust the field-of-view, and by accessing Effect Mode, you can adjust the Depth-of-Field (DOF) parameters to your liking. There's no dedicated button for taking a screenshot yet, so you need to use an external application or PrintScreen button.
- Brought back spherical camera from the technology demo, it's available only in camera mode at least for now.
- Implemented another chase camera further back according to the feedback.
- Tweaked European hatchback chase camera.
Damage:
- Fixed engine component damage calculation in HUD.
- Removed red damage direction indicators from HUD based on a general request.
- Fixed an issue with gameplay damage not being calculated correctly when near death.
- Further balancing of gameplay damage and visual damage - a completely reworked system will be introduced in the future.
Garage:
- Reworked many textures.
- Added some nice decorative elements.
- Tweaked interior and yard decoration.
- Tweaked lighting.
Gameplay:
- Derby AI: tactical reverse mode now considers engine location more efficiently.
- Removed speed sensitive steering when using a steering wheel.
- Implemented further balancing tweaks to AI profiles and handling.
- Implemented start position randomization (for player as well).
User interface:
- Binding the Logitech G27 button 7 etc. will no longer result in exiting the settings menu.
- Loading screen will now show a background based on the event you're playing.
- Game is now paused and input suspended while Steam overlay is active.
Input:
- DirectInput gamepads should now work and are also remappable.
- Improved controller settings to reduce steering lag.
Render:
- Fixed a bug where VSync was not able to recover back to 60 fps when temporarily dipping to 30 fps.
Audio:
- Engine damage sound effect is now linked to actual engine damage instead of car health.
