Hey everyone,
The day's finally here: We've finally put a bow on the vehicle focused set of updates, culminating in the cleverly named "Chapter Two". Unlike previous updates, our road to Chapter Two had instead been focused on delivering larger, more meaningful updates and content instead of saving it for one massive patch, so a lot of veteran players will be familiar with the changes, however, that doesn't mean there's not some substantial changes at hand specifically in this update.
Before we kick in, let's take a quick recap at where we've been, as well as where we are.
In Chapter Zero, we debuted the game with a huge offering of content, and spent weeks (and months) ironing out systems and overhauling them based on community feedback. From there, we were able to prioritise content based on the loudest feedback, which in turn lead to Chapter One
Chapter One came with more missions, the first strike at the Mayors inner circle via the Maude Boss fight, and systems to allow players to upgrade how much cash and items they can hold. We added new repeatable activities, as well as the ability to take your homies with you throughout the city.
One of the more clear pieces of feedback was a frustration with the wait between these massive drops of content, and we agreed. Why sit on a tangible upgrade to a system while we're finishing the rest, if we can just put them out as we're happy. So we took that tact with Chapter Two.
Throughout Chapter Two's development we've focused on improving the vehicle systems and how you engage with them, as well as dropping in content to other pre-existing mechanics. Players keeping up with IOM will have already engaged with new systems such as Fast Travel, the Two Wheeled Vehicles and even the new First Player Experience, but todays update is an exciting one we've been waiting to share. Let's tuck into the details:
Side Hustle: Courier
Our first Side Hustle: Courier is available today. Open GetAJob and find Jason (Must have completed Beggar King's sixth mission to see this). He'll introduce you to "Ship Post", a renegade postal service that steals packages from the Mayors overpriced delivery fleet, and delivers the packages to the people at a more reasonable clip. This of course, aligns with the Undercity's goals, and Jason is more than happy to have you invest in the company.
Once invested, you can do shifts for the company! You'll spawn somewhere in world on a brand new vehicle, the "Feijoa Scooter". Once your shift begins, you'll need to drive and hop around gathering up packages, and bringing them back to the Ship Post van. All the while you'll need to avoid MOVX vans trying to run you down and topple your stack of packages. The more packages you deliver, the more money you'll have after your shift is done.
Do some sweet 360s if you like
We've internally found this a great way to quickly add some cash to your reserves, and further, the more you engage with the activity, the more REP you'll build (similar to the Slimeway). As you climb rep levels you'll earn rewards such as increased base pay, clothing, vehicle skins and once you hit the esteemed level 10, Ship Post will have a vault that fills up with cash once every day. Either talk to Jason to start a shift whenever you feel like it, or quickly access it from GetAJob!
And of course, this is all playable in co-op online!
The Side Hustle system is one we're particularly excited about, as we can come up with more minigames and give players a rewarding path to grind out. It'll also help us contextualise and improve rewards for previous minigames we've come up with along the way. Let us know what you think, and as always, give us feedback here on Steam or in the Discord channel.
Vehicle Customization
Finally, the ability to make the most messed up ride in all of Rockhaven exists! If you own a garage and a vehicle (or perhaps even a fleet), make a bee-line back to one of your garages. Assign a vehicle to a podium, and interact with the new mod bench next to your park. From here, you'll be able to see a huge list of parts you can apply to the ride of your choice.
Keen eyes might notice that a lot (perhaps even all) parts are greyed out. Undercitizen, it's on you to take back to the streets and start crushing cars! As you run past cars you'll now notice a wee UI Popup illustrating what upgrades said car has applied. If you spot something you like, jack the car and take it to your nearest wheelies crusher. When you crush it, you have a chance to unlock one of the parts. The more damage the car has, the lower the chance of receiving a part, so make sure you look after the whip on the way to Wheelies.
Customisation parts include:
- Headlight Color
- Neons
- Paintjobs
- Different Radio Head Units (Including a scary bass boosted one that might ruin your hearing)
- Utilities (Such as seatbelts to stop you flying, or NOS and Hydraulics for jumps)
- Hood and rear ornaments
- Engine Upgrades
- Turbos
- Tire compounds
- Horn sounds
This is the part where we have a mathematically derived marketing point that says there's over 8 billion possible combinations between parts and vehicles, but in essence, it's just a cool system, and one we think you'll enjoy playing with. Like every other part of the game, expect there to be tons of parts and paints added over the course of updates going forward. Show us what kind of weird and cool cars you come up with!
Side Note: If you don't equip a seatbelt in the Utility slot, take care when crashing into things or you know, you'll go flying.
Overhauled Vehicle Stealing:
Previously to open up a locked vehicle and start it without earning bounty required having screwdrivers and pliers on hand, and then initiating in mini-games that a lot of our players felt weren't overly engaging. A new system makes its debut! Now, you don't need any tools to bust open a car and jack it. Just approach a car, hit E and mash your way to getting the car open and started. Doing it this way will increase your bounty and damage the car a little, so be careful if you're taking it to Wheelies to steal a modification.
However, if you have screwdrivers on hand, they'll be automatically consumed when attempting to unlock a car. This'll not only speed up the process of stealing the vehicle, but it won't damage it or cause a bounty increase.
Damage Overhaul:
New VFX, particles and visible damage that deforms the vehicles you're driving have also been touched on this update. No longer will cars bop around not showing any wear or tear, windows will break, doors will come lose, metal will crumple and grind against surfaces. This is a big one for general game feel.
New Welty Mission: Border Patrol
Welty and his gang, "NME" (No More Emus) want you to customize the lawnmower you've stolen for them and use it to spread propaganda throughout Green Island. Things take a turn when some of Welty's crazy ideas start to prove true..
Two new properties and a 4 Car Garage
Some more properties to buy up have been added to Rockhaven, including the Storeroom, an apartment located conveniently behind the Underpass Pawn. Directly opposite the Storeroom is the Underpass Garage, capable of storing up to 4 vehicles. Last but not least, the Container Compound, our first outside space you can customise and assign to a homie. We can't wait to see what kind of creations you come up with here.
There's also a whole ton of other additions and changes that've gone in this patch:
- New Powick Upgrades for wallet/carrying capacity size
- New Bank Card Tiers
- New Clothing and Chest Rewards
- A new apartment and garage
- Bug fixes
- New Vehicles around the city (All of which will become purchasable in future updates)
If you're new, or you've been out of the loop for awhile feel free to check out some of the other updates we've done along the way in Chapter Two, including:
Personal Valet, Purchasable Garages & Cars, Two Wheeled Vehicles, First Time User Experience, Fast Travel
What's next
As always, we're going to spend a week cleaning up any unforseen bugs and finishing off a few bits of content that we'll tuck into the game. After we're in the clear, the journey to Chapter Three begins.
While Chapter Two's main narrative addition touched on the opening of the game, with Three we intend to move the story forward once more.
If you've missed out on the recent news, we're now partnered with Firestoke. They're going to help us out to develop robust new content, but they're as committed as we are in acting on community feedback. We have an idea of where Chapter Three is going internally, but we'll be monitoring Steam Forums and Discord chat and working in suggestions that the community feels strongly about.
After our internal discussions, we'll start talking about our vision of Chapter Three, share it with everyone and immediately start hitting some content beats.
As always, thank you all for being on the ride of It's Only Money! In a lot of ways, we're just getting started, so buckle in for even more.
