Next Car Game: Wreckfest December update

[Rupe Wilson]

The update we have all been waiting for has finally dropped in our laps, one day before our first official test race at Racedapartment.. talk about perfect timing.

Time to install and tell us what you think,
is it all you have asked for and more ?
Which bits do you like ?
Which bits can be improved?
Can this game put some of the sims to shame with its simple but majestic approach to racing..
leave your comments below.

December Update
TEAM BUGBEAR DECEMBER 15, 2017 NEWS

Dear Wreckers,

We’re excited to let you know that the highly-anticipated December Update for Wreckfest is available on Steam!

This update represents a significant step towards the final release of the game, and what that means in practice is that this update contains a plenty of new as well as polished content and features in addition to a host of other improvements, the highlights being:

EIGHT NEW CARS
That’s right – eight completely new cars, including our first ever front-wheel-drive cars, classic bangers, demolition derby heavy-hitters as well as something pretty unique! In addition to the new cars, many old cars have been refreshed.

PREVIEW OF THE CAREER
Two championships with many themed series – battle for championship points and earn experience, increase your rank and unlock new parts and cars! This preview is just a taste of things to come, with more varied series and challenges being introduced later on.

PERFORMANCE OPTIMIZATIONS
Better performance thanks to the new LOD (Level of Detail) models for all vehicles, optimized grass performance and collisions with dynamic objects, improved V-Sync for smoother framerate.

POLISHED TRACKS
Say goodbye to the old work-in-progress tracks.

PAINT CUSTOMIZATION
Customize your car with a variety of paints and liveries, also supported over multiplayer.

MECHANICAL DAMAGE
Engine, gearbox, suspension, brakes and wheels can get damaged in crashes, resulting in performance degradation. And yes, wheels now get torn off too!

VEHICLE TUNING
Adjust suspension stiffness, differential type, brake bias and gear ratio to suit your style or the track, even between every race – also in multiplayer lobby.

GAME MUSIC
Songs from the Audiodraft game music contest that you voted for are in!

AUDIO IMPROVEMENTS
Unique engine sounds for all cars, most completely new, as well as better situational audio, new spatial effects and improved countdown behaviour.

NEW, ENHANCED HUD AND USER INTERFACE IMPROVEMENTS
All-new, more modern HUD. New main menu and some cool neat functionality such as car icons that update automatically.

BETTER AI WITH ADJUSTABLE DIFFICULTY
Increased awareness and more variation in the driver profiles with some racing cleaner and some being more prone to making mistakes, as well as a difficulty setting that can be adjusted to your preference – try beating it on hard difficulty!

RIVALS
New work-in-progress feature: someone can become your rival by crashing into you, and you can earn bonus score by showing them who’s the boss.

IMPROVED CRASHES
Crashes feel more vigorous than ever, and visual damage is improved.

ENHANCED VEHICLE PHYSICS AND CONTROLLER
Improved tire model as well as suspension physics and updated controller implementation for better handling and easier playing with a gamepad or a keyboard. Don’t forget to test different assist combinations to find something you like – with no assists the game is meant to be more authentic experience especially with a steering wheel, while with full helpers you can simply pick up the pad and let it rip!

MANUAL CLUTCH
For the ultimate immersion – you asked for it, and here it is!

And those are only the highlights: the update contains plenty of other goodies, some more significant and some more minor, but we invite you to take a look yourself. These couple of last months have been hectic for us, and we hope you’ll enjoy the update. There are still many little bits and pieces missing as you’ll no doubt notice, but we were hell-bent on getting this update out so that you can already have a chance to check out what we’ve been working on and give us feedback that we can then use to fine-tune whatever you feel is wrong or off. In other words, don’t forget to let us know what you think!

 

[Rupe Wilson]

Well i had a issue with the ui but a clean install and i was back up and running with everything ive touched so far is working..
still need to go though all the menus ect but its one heck of a update.. love the new clocks and there in the correct place for tripples...
So many new things to look at and click on... its like a sweety shop
FFB feels alive again on the track i drove.

 

[Rupe Wilson]

Thank you Bugbear for my early Christmas present..its one hell of a stocking filler..

 

[Kenny Paton]

Updating now, that's a fair sized one 8gig.

 

[Rupe Wilson]

Game of the year
update of the year


its gets my vote...

 

[Grumps82]

Fantastic news. Its almost as if you guys at RD knew about it .

Im hoping this build is more stable than the last one for me personally. Just installing it now and a perfect day for it. Im off work (apart from being on call) and the missus is at work. Result


[EDIT]

Not good news so far, crashed three times just after starting a race. Going to delete everything to do with Wreckfest and then reinstall & verify.. I hope this works.

 

[natedogg1867]

POLISHED TRACKS
Say goodbye to the old work-in-progress tracks.

This was sorely needed, as just about half the tracks in the game previously were WIP. Bit weird though, that many tracks still show a WIP image in the menu...

Im not sure 'every' track though is finished. Many venues only have 1 layout. It just feels unfinished here still. There is a specific tarmac venue that has a fairly high speed layout, yet there are a handful of chicanes and other cut off roads that are clearly meant for alternate layouts... yet we dont have them. Not to mention on this specific track that some of the 3d models on the side of the track are completely untextured and are the white 3d render look you so often see for mods on RD. Easter egg, or just more unfinished shenanigans?

PERFORMANCE OPTIMIZATIONS
Better performance thanks to the new LOD (Level of Detail) models for all vehicles, optimized grass performance and collisions with dynamic objects, improved V-Sync for smoother framerate.

Performance is still awful for me. Although this game has never had good optimization. With 1 car on track (me), my fps jumps from 50 - 250. WTF?

AUDIO IMPROVEMENTS

This may be the best part of the update. The cars sound fantastic. Not much else to say here. They have a nice grunt to them and sound as you would hope.

------------

As fun as this game can be at times, I cant help but feel incredibly let down. The game released on Steam 4 yrs ago. And 4 yrs ago is how I preferred the game. The physics, crash physics, and overall driving was just better imo back then. When they did that massive overhaul in 2015, things took a massive step back, and even now being updated further, the cars still just dont do it for me. Few will agree here, but the game was just better imo before they switched to the physically based renderer. Performance was also a bit better as I recall, as was the destruction and debris from crashes.

All that said, it's still the best game out there for banger racing. And the AI is competent enough to get some good races in if you have the itch to step away from all of our normal track based sims.

 

[Paul Bennett]

Overall very impressed BB
just had to re-config pedals showed working in controls but not in car, a rebind sorted that. Think it's the best update for car physics so far, an a big improvement in the FFB although could be a little looser on dirt.
Tracks are looking nice now full of life an loving the new cars which are real banger legends any minor glitches an bugs I can over look for now, just good to see the package coming together after such a long wait.

OMG, I've gone all fanboy

 

[Gasper Zupan]

Does anyone know how do I bring up the launcher, so I can re-adjust graphics settings? I need to disable grass, but can't find the launcher/configuration tool. For somewhat reasons the game is unplayable ATM for me. Massive FPS drops, especially on figure 8 tracks. And it's happening only when going trough corners - on the straights the game runs super smooth. Go figure..

 

[Paul Bennett]

Did you try Settings > graphics ?

 

[Grumps82]

Ok finally managed to get the game working and have been playing for the last 2 hours online.

I have to say i am very very impressed with the new update. To me it feels like the game is back to its best. The damage, physics and impressive car selection is superb. With tonight in mind this has come at just the right time and i think we'll have a lot of fun with it.

 

[jannesBB]

Thanks for all the feedback, great to hear you're liking the update for the most part.

To evoke the launcher after the first time please add "-setup" launch parameter (or launch from the command line with the same command line switch).

 

[Rupe Wilson]

When racing online are the grid formations random or based on the previous race ect..
lap time, finishing position..
Iv'e not paid enough attention to worked it out ,

or is there a way to set it to random ect..

 

[ears]

So I don't know if I'm being dumb here but I don't seem to be able to enter the career.

I can go into the first career entry but all of the possible series appear to be grey. They have some numbers on them, all of which seem to be 0 and a red car with a red 0.

But as I navigate left and right through them, none seem to get highlighted and if I hit 'enter' on the gamepad nothing happens.

Am I doing something wrong or is that literally it - a preview?!

 

[Rupe Wilson]

I think you need to buy a C class car, it was not very visible in the rules of the career to start with.

 

[ears]

I think you need to buy a C class car, it was not very visible in the rules of the career to start with.

Yeah, thanks. That's done it.