Hello drivers!

I have been quiet with posts for a while, but I have kept working on Shakedown Rally and I have been updating it regularly. So, this is first of all: a reminder that there are updates! I just usually decide to spend time working on the game rather than making a post... But then I realize I haven't made one in a long time and people might not be aware of updates! 😅 So here we go..

First of..

Did you hear the game is moving to Unity?? And HDRP?

Haha, ok, no, not really.. That was actually an April's fools joke!

So I spent around 2 hours downloading Unity, getting HDRP, and setting it up.. Then, trying to import my assets to Unity was rough! My engine uses gltf with embedded textures that I export from blender, and it works like a charm! But in Unity, first, gltf is not officially support, so I tried to get an import plugin.. That didn't work, it doesn't have any options.. That went nowhere, so I had to resort to fbx. But blender can't embed assets into with fbx. So, eventually, I had to manually attach all textures to materials. Finally, I had some big artifacts that I couldn't solve. It took me a while to find out how to enable screen space reflections, and yes they still aren't great. I actually didn't want to be sarcastic, but the whole experience made me bitter. So, nothing has changed much since the last time I used HDRP a few years ago..

So just to be clear: that was a joke. I'm still doing Shakedown Rally in my own engine 😊

Ok, now for the REAL updates:

Destructible objects

There are now destructible objects (internally, I actually call them "moveables"). You can collide with signs, chairs, tables, and they will fly away!

Even though it seemed like a simple thing to implement, it actually took me much longer because well, first, as the signs became rigidbodies they also started validating checkpoints! So, I had to figure out how to use Bullet's collision groups and filters to make sure how to only collide the car with the checkpoints. Then, I couldn't make signs be static at the beginning before you hit them so I had to figure out how to make sure they "sleep" and get activated on collisions too.. But I'm happy it now works!

To find out how to add moveable objects to your own track mods, check the modding page.

Collisions fix

Previously, collisions between the car "sliding" along the world mesh colliders was really unpredictable. A lot of players experienced car suddenly flying away when it was bottoming out and hitting the road. Honestly, I didn't realize the scale of this issue until I worked on Sweden track, because the car is very often bottoming out after big jumps.

It turned out that Bullet physics by default has issues with collisions that cross "inner" edges of a static mesh. However, after hours of searching, I found out that Bullet also provided a very obscure and undocumented utility for fixing that issue. I managed to finally implement that utility and now collisions are buttery smooth!

Particles

A new addition are particles! While they only appear in Monty when going over grass and dirt, in the upcoming Sweden track they will be more "in your face".. Quite literally.

Lighting improvements

Headlights, brakes now emit light in a more correct conical shape (rather than a sphere blob) and they light up particles as well!

There are many other minor improvements and fixes that you can find out about in the changelog!

New tracks in development!

Meanwhile, I have been working on two new tracks, one snowy based on Rally Sweden

And another on the streets and tunnels of Guanajuato, based on Rally Mexico..

More on those in a later post.

Future

I did originally plan to publish a track for each real-life WRC rally, but now I realize I cannot accomplish that goal as each of them takes a long time to make, and then working on the core of the game gets neglected. Therefore, I will publish Sweden and Guanajuato tracks, and then take a break from making tracks, as I need to implement and improve a lot of other things.

Replay system

The next big feature that I'll be implementing is the replay system. This will allow players to record their runs and play them back, and watch how good they powerslid around corners from track-side views.

All screenshots and videos I have made so far has been made during gameplay, so I had to drive a car and take screenshots/videos at the same time. So not only will a replay system be a cool feature for the players, but it'll also help me make better screenshots and videos.. Especially when I need some cool material for the Steam page :) Talking of...

Upcoming paid version

In a few weeks, I will stop updating the currently available free version of Shakedown Rally that is currently available and any new updates and features added to the game will be in the new, paid version. But don't worry, the free version will stay as a sort of a "demo".

The most important distinctive feature of the paid version is going to be in-game car and track switching, as well as decoupling of cars and tracks from the main config file, allowing for very easy modding. This has been one of the main complaints from both users and modders alike.

At that point I will also have made a Steam page, once I do, you're welcome to wishlist it. :)

Modding corner

Slothy made a beautiful RX7! Inspired by Rod Millen's one. You can get it here.

Another mod that came to my attention is the Polonez made by Kyzo. You can find it on my discord channel:

Final notes

Don't forget that I keep streaming development on twitch! Almost everything I've done since the last post I've made live on stream.

And from now on, I will post more regularly. I will try to make this a weekly, even if I don't necessarily update the game.

Meanwhile you can also follow me on twitter for any latest updates.

Keep on driving!