This update is a major improvement to the leaderboard system. Along with an interface update, you can now race other players around the globe through their Ghost Replay data! Heres how it works:
Beating your own high score and placing yourself on the leaderboard will now additionally upload your ghost data to Steam through the Cloud Services. You click a contender, and if they happen to have their data uploaded, you can challenge them to a race on a particular track for a particular tier of skimmer. For the moment, beating them will upload your score over theirs on the leaderboard, and you get Mars street cred, however future updates will give you the opportunity to buy their skimmer and even race multiple replays.
That all being good news and all, please expect some quirks in the new code. There are a couple instances where uploads don't make it, or textures don't get downloaded properly, but I am hoping to address these soon.
I cannot express how excited I am about this update, because it finally brings some PVP action to the game, which is what it needed. In many ways, this system is superior to a dedicated multiplayer. You can play offline, theres 0 lag, ghosts cannot grieve you, and theres no hassle of servers and such.
You can also have a look through the workshop panel in Steam, where you can see all the replay sets, vote on them, complain about Moocow's stupid fast Carbon Viking, etc.
Other features include:
- Revised Physics characteristics
- Revised default ECU settings
- Noctis Chasma terrain update
- New Garage improvements and optimizations
I would also like to mention we are getting closer to final release, which is looking like around the end of the year if all works out. Final release will showcase some new tracks and skimmers, optimized engine, and terrain improvements. The price will be increasing as it leaves Early Access so pick up a copy now if you are on the fence.
Give it a whirl and I will continue to improve it. Leave the game some good feedback if you like where it's going.
Thanks!
-Ryan
EDIT: Sorry, forgot to mention that this build is PC only at the moment. Mac and Linux love coming very shortly!