After many conversations where my wife patiently explained that owning a full wheel/pedals setup mounted to a steel rig is very silly when you live in a tiny NYC brownstone, I chose to abandon my quest for sim racing glory. Maybe if I hadn’t spent most of my money on pretend cars, we could have afforded a larger apartment :)
Thankfully, there are many games designed for sim racing enthusiasts constrained to a controller. I’ve played them all, and love them. I do, however, suffer from a specific personal defect: I am terrible at steering with a joystick. I’ve tried dozens of games, sending one poorly fated vehicle into the nearest barrier after another. I’m helplessly bad.
How will I get my sim racing fix if I’m constantly wrecking into turn 1? How can I experience the satisfaction of a perfectly devised race strategy if I’m in the gravel every lap? Why must my skill-bereft thumbs deprive me of these essential joys?!
So I decided to build the best racing game with no steering that I could.
The first step was to find a steeringless control model that maintained a high skill ceiling. Dancing on the edge of grip should be a rewarding challenge. The player should be able to go over the limit, at least a little, for a price. The decision to push or to manage should change every corner of every lap, depending on tire temps/wear, running in traffic or clean air, track evolution, weather, etc.
I want players to make the same kinds of strategic and tactical choices a real driver would.
Throttle Trace within the first few days of development
The earliest playable prototype of Throttle Trace already gestured in this direction. The player controls their car’s speed using the trigger inputs on their controller, which vibrates as the player approaches the limits of grip. If the player goes over the limit, they begin to lose control. If they lose control completely, they abruptly halt on track for a few seconds.
It was simple, but already a fun foundation to build on!
A few months of casual tinkering later, the physics started to take shape. Cars compute their longitudinal weight distribution, which in turn affects the amount of front/rear grip available for turning and acceleration. There is an early tire model that tracks tire heat and wear. Each car’s inputs add load to the tires and reduce available grip (i.e. you cannot floor the throttle in the middle of a corner without immediately losing control).
At this stage, I’m not sure how to evolve the game visually. As a placeholder, I borrow the visual design from my previous mobile game, Vroomies.
Career mode: The foundation for career mode is added. The player can run qualifying and race sessions across multiple events and seasons, with driver’s/constructor’s points tracked and persisted. This becomes the central mode of the game for future development!
AI drivers: I also add a simple AI “skill” attribute, just to create some performance differentiation between the cars. I can run complete races against the AI, which turn out to be quite easy to tune to run at a pace similar to my own.
This was a significant turning point in Throttle Trace’s development - it’s now 3D! It was a surprisingly smooth transition, and the correct choice for a game with this mechanical depth.
Autolane system: The switch to 3D also brings the early iteration of the Autolane system. Cars navigate side by side, and lane position + relative positioning of the cars are factored into the physics. I will have more information about how this system works in a future devlog!
Box, and pit confirm!
Reputation system: Career mode continues to progress. Players now compete in the free agent market for a seat with a top team (and also to avoid losing their seat altogether). If the player loses their seat, they can continue with a new driver in the same universe, allowing them to preserve the history of their save.
AI drivers, but better: AI drivers now have separate attributes for Pace, Aggression, Mistake Avoidance, Racecraft, and Tire Management. There is a clear distinction between the consistently strong vs quick but mistake-prone drivers. The reputation system does a good job of assessing overly aggressive drivers for the risk they pose to their teams.
Finally, the game resembles what you see today!
It commits to an isometric perspective. Since there is no steering, the game avoids the main pitfall of similar top-down racing titles where steering direction can be difficult! I feel this perspective offers a more satisfying view of the racing action (although I could be convinced to re-introduce the chase cam if anyone felt strongly enough).
That's how you get ants flatspots
Vroomula 2: The career mode introduces Vroomula 2 as a feeder series to Vroomula 1. All sessions in Vroomula 2 are fully simulated. Career saves persist every lap across every session and every series. There are stats everywhere.
Relationships: There is now an Inbox, that will be populated with messages from your Team Principle (keeping you up to date on car development and your standing within the team), your Agent (about your standing in the free agent market), and other drivers (who may demand apologies if you crash into them, or apologize for their own mistakes). Your responses to these messages will have impacts on your Reputation, and your relationships with teams and drivers. Choose wisely!
Spectating: The game allows players to spectate sessions, either completely passively or in “Engineering Mode” where they can control the player’s target pace, pit strategy, and battery management. This allows a for more of a manager experience, if doing the racing yourself isn’t your cup of tea. It could also be a precursor for a full manager/team principle mode someday…
There’s so much that has been added in recent months, it’s hard to keep track!
Cars follows the natural racing line of tracks rather than the center line
Racing line has rubbered in surface texture
Time Attack mode with Steam leaderboards
Multiple layouts on the same track
Custom car setups
Career Legacy scores
Career technical regulation resets to shake up the order
Career “Hardcore” mode (longer races, locked difficulty, no restarts)
In-game Database editor with Steam Workshop support
Many assist options (color coded racing line, traction control, ABS, automatic battery management, etc) allowing for as casual or hardcore of an experience as you want
Major updates to tire model, weight distribution, aero physics etc
The two big features I want to explore are Multiplayer (including co-op careers) and Track Editor. These were originally slated to be added post-launch, however I've made good progress against my roadmap so far and may be able to take a look at them sooner. I will share more about these in the coming months.
The immediate roadmap is:
Weather
Even more Career Mode goodness
Contract Negotiations
Rivals
Sponsors
Media and Fan Opinion
More views to explore the history of your career universe
Deeper team economy simulation
Updated UI to prepare for Deck Verified status
Visual polish around pit stops and safety cars
and more!
Thank you so much for checking out the steam page! I have several more devlogs planned to dive into the Career mode, the Autolane system, and the hand-rolled physics. I can’t wait to share more, and to get the game into your hands for you to try yourself!