Hi everyone,
It’s been a long time since Switchcars was last updated, so I want to let you know the current situation.
Beta update in development:
As many of you know already, the upcoming beta update has been in the works since late 2016. Some of its features and fixes were released in updates 13, 14 and 15, and the most difficult part of it (for me at least) was the integration of Steam API to the Switchcars engine. Being made in Pygame, this actually required some work that no other Pygame game ever did. That work was done by Damir, a friend of mine, over a year ago.
One of the update’s major new features are many new vehicles, but also something that was kept a secret until recently - Switchcars will have a vehicle editor as well as Steam Workshop available from within the game! This will allow you to create and share your own Switchcars vehicles, making those original 1000 seem like a joke!
Some of the many new upcoming vehicles
Reasons for the super-delay:
While planning the beta back in 2016 it was already apparent that Switchcars was not making enough money to sustain development far in the future. In order to continue working on Switchcars I needed to look for an alternative source of income, which I wrote about in December 2016. If you haven’t, please read that news post.
Stretched between looking for a side job, or starting another project prematurely, I was pressured to make a definitive decision. The whole basis of founding Altfuture and creating Switchcars was a stepping stone to creating revolutionary games that improve the gaming industry, and I wanted to stick to that plan. With a couple of friends we went for the most difficult ambition - develop the second Altfuture game and make it the best of its kind in the world. That game, which lets you drive trains in virtual reality, has been two years in development, known as Derail Valley.
When development of Derail Valley began, for nearly a year I was able to work on both games in parallel with no downsides. Switchcars updates 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 and 15 were all made during that period. However, when our team unexpectedly shrank to two, higher involvement from my side became necessary. Then in the summer of 2017 an opportunity to get Derail Valley funded came around, but at the cost of taking literally all of my time devoted to Switchcars.
There I was, after just having invested the last bits of money into Switchcars Steam API implementation, suddenly having to decide whether one game or the other will live.
First glimpse of the new vehicle editor
It’s difficult to put into words how it felt at the time, but making the choice of which game to end was devastating. Any choice would define a different path for the rest of my (and not only my) life. The decision eventually boiled down to understanding that Derail Valley’s funding would definitely allow for the future of Switchcars, whereas Switchcars’ income wouldn’t definitely allow for the future of Derail Valley. A cut had to be made, and finally it was that Switchcars update was to be postponed, but I had no intentions of abandoning the game.
Months later, after a lot of sweating, lack of sleep and nerve-wrecking decisions, Derail Valley made it to the top 10% of applied projects to the Serbian Innovation Fund, and after pitching in front of the investor jury, we eventually won the funding. Today Altfuture is a team of 4 members (soon to be 5) working on Derail Valley, funded for almost a year of development, and we remain focused on making it a truly revolutionary train simulation.
So when will Switchcars beta update be finished then?
For the many past months, I’ve been working on Switchcars every moment I can spare, admittedly mostly on weekends. I basically allow myself no spare time until the beta update is done. What’s already complete are the new Distance game mode, speedometer, improved wind and draft effect, nearly two hundred new vehicles, and most importantly the vehicle editor shown above, one of the most complex features of the beta update. Apart from that there have been huge code changes in order to make the vehicle editor possible, mod management system, vehicle editor documentation, support for multiple languages (made by Damir), the Steam API implementation (also by Damir), which will allow creation of Workshop, Achievements, and Trading Cards (being some of the last remaining things to do).
I still can’t say when it will be complete, but I am working on it literally every moment I can. I hope you guys will love it when it’s finally out and that it’s going to be worth it.
With this post I just wanted to apologize for the delay, and explain the situation. I understand many games remain in Early Access forever, especially if a second project takes over, and I definitely don’t intend to keep it that way. The only reason I was ever putting so much effort in all this was to make it possible for us to create more awesome games, and continue showing that great products can be made from nearly impossible conditions. Part of that is maintaining games when it seems impossible, too. On the other hand, if Derail Valley ends up being successful as we anticipate (and its market potential is notably greater than that of Switchcars), there's a lot more good stuff to come.
This period has been super difficult, but I want to thank you all for understanding the situation and being more patient than I could ever hope for. I myself can’t wait for the day the Switchcars beta update comes out and see tons of new vehicles you made! Until then I will be working on it every moment I can!
-Slobodan