October 2023
Hi all, it’s been a few months since we announced the game, which we’re calling “The final frontier of racing - remote, unexplored, extreme exoplanetary rally!” If you didn’t catch that first post, here’s an overview of the game: https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/2262020/view/3671043467005543838?snr=1_5_9_
So here’s an update on where we’re at, approximately 1.5 years into development:
Vertical slice is in/working well - you can now run a single 6 stage rally on one planet, complete with service stages, drone recce/prerunning, surface types, damage, repairing, rover tuning, first pass AI opponents and so on. You can enter the rally, look at the upcoming stage, how long it is, what surfaces and terrain to expect, and send out a drone to survey what you’ll be driving through.
You can then choose how much fuel to take, what tires (off-road or slick for rock), and setup/tune your rover.
After driving 2 stages you’re back into your dropship where you can make repairs or alter your tuning based on the next 2 stages. You can watch all the action from each stage via Instant Replay from a variety of angles, and if you complete the next 4 stages from there, your time will be tallied against the AI to determine your final placing.
From here, the biggest thing we need to add will be multiple, quite varied planet types, so you can race a full championship across 5-6+ planets! The first planet we have is Dhool, which is special due to its unceasing meteor falls, which create an ever changing series of deadly obstacles to dodge around, and which also cause the atmosphere to be filled with an incredibly fine dust that gets everywhere, and clogs everything if you aren’t careful. It’s also home to some highly radioactive lakes you’ll need to be very careful around.
Most recently we’ve been focused on tuning and damage, and I’ve begun prototyping the next (very very different) planet, which will represent the opposite end of the spectrum for what kinds of planets you’ll encounter in Exo Rally Championship.
Tuning is available prior to starting a rally, and during service stages, and allows players to adjust everything from tire choice to suspension stiffness to toe-in and bump/rebound damper settings. If you’re used to setting up cars in existing racing sims you’ll feel right at home here. We’ve also got a streamlined, ‘easy mode’ setup system, where you can either load complete setups (for example, stiffer/low riding/responsive or softer/tall suspension setups) or provide top-level setup choices like ride height and suspension stiffness.
Damage is a huge part of Exo Rally, and we’re pouring in lots of time to make sure you feel the impact these toxic, treacherous planets have on every part of your rover. We’re modelling everything from standard engine damage all the way up to how radioactive nano dust gets in and impacts your brake strength and radiator efficiency. So make sure you wash your rover between stages! Just a small number of parts that can be damaged/break:
- Engine
- Tires and Wheels
- Suspension
- Suspension arms
- RCS Thrusters
- RCS Fuel Tank
- Brakes
- Steering
- O2 leaks and Cabin Integrity
- Headlights
- And much more!
We’ll be polishing up this current build and sharing it soon with our small group of private testers. If you’d like to be considered for the next group of testers please come join us in the Discord and we’ll let you know!
Discord: https://discord.gg/75wYhXzHP3
Would love to hear any feedback or ideas you have, or what you’d like to see in Exo Rally, so feel free to join us on Discord or leave a comment here.
You can also follow us on Twitter here:
https://twitter.com/JayWeston
https://twitter.com/biscuitsmitten
https://twitter.com/RhysLindsay