My plan for 2023 was to definitely release a new update for Downtown Drift... so now here we are one day before the year ends. Just in time!
I had been quite bothered with the state of the game from the previous update. I made some pretty hard changes to the map design and overall flow of the game. Looking back at it now I have now idea how I just published those changes without reflecting further on the consequences. The game lacked intensity and was overall just really bland. I deeply apologize for the ruining the game... I hope to bring back the exciting and thrilling Downtown Drift we used to know!
There are a few changes here I could talk about, but the most important one to me is the redesign of the map generation system. The city still has that uncanny, empty feel that I very much like. But with the last update there was way too much open space that was not filled with anything that made sense or had structure to it. The new design allows for smoother and more guided drifting routes. In addition, the police is now better at navigating these spaces, which brings me to the next important point: the police AI. With the update 2.0 I completely butchered the action and thrill that came with police chases. That was mostly due to the map increasing by a huge factor, which meant the same amount of police units were not able to apply the same pressure on the player. On top of that, the police were extremely bad at maneuvering these off-road spaces. This would lead to them getting lost or stuck. Long story short: police finally are a threat again and it is much more thrilling to drive around now!
Talking about threats, there is a new one: the police helicopter! Every other minute a police helicopter will fly in to hunt down the player. The helicopter will start shooting at your car and if you stay inside the light cone for too long it might hit you and inflict damage. This will add an additional challenge, since the damage also scales up with your multiplier.
At last, but certainly not least: the #1 achievement. It seems like the number one complaint about the game was either that its too dark, or that this shitty achievement is still a thing. I never quite understood the problem at first, but after giving it some thought it did make sense to finally get rid of it. So instead, there now is a new highscore achievement that is set quite high, but can atleast be unlocked by everyone. Lesson learned!
Here are all the changes for this update:
- redesigned map generation system
- reworked police AI
- added new achievements (removed #1 achievement!!!)
- added police helicopter
- fixed performance
- fixed lighting
- fixed controller/steering wheel input
- added loading screen to start up
- fixed tire screeching
- fixed camera render issue
- reworked icon
Feel free to leave any feedback for this update in the comment section below or over on the discord server.
A happy new year to everyone and I wish you all the best for 2024! To hopefully yet another update in the year to come. Thank you to each and everyone that still is playing Downtown Drift and following the process, very much appreciated!
Best,
ThatMadProgrammer