Community

Community Update #2 - Car lights, U-turns and puddles!

Truckful Demo · published 17 Sep 2024, 09:24 UTC

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Hi everyone 👋

We're back with Truckful's new community update and to start of this announcement properly - we're very humbled and thankful for all the kind words and Truckful's reception and new ideas pouring into our pickup truck adventure. Last month was quite busy and we were cooking some exciting new game features, let's have a closer look!

Car lights

Your pickup truck, like any other car, is equiped with car lights. We've added the headlights and stop (break) lights that are both parts of the main upgrade system. You start off with low-energy headlights that barely lighten up the road ahead, to finally be able to aquire high-lumen lights that make driving at night easier. Here is the first look at the headlights 👇

U-turns and 3-Pointers

Got a bad feeling about a chosen path? Saw something dark crossing the road ahead? You can turn around as long as the road allows you to - whether its a classic u-turn on a wide main road or a more demanding 3-point turn on a narrow forest path. We implemented turning and added new hovering cam that also changes direction to follow the car. Check it out in the latest FGS trailer below and the latest X post 👇

https://youtu.be/1vS4I6k5sWI?si=8-ABq81WrF4FUmJE

'Indie Ray Tracing' and the shiny puddles reflections

We had Truckful's splashy puddles go viral on X and Reddit! This week, we shared the effects of our new, custom technique called 'indie ray tracing', used to reflect the world and lighting in puddles and other reflective surfaces. We also added stylised ripple effects to puddles and splashes - please make sure to check out the video as it depicts the effect best! (click the image below to get redirected!) 👇

💡 Here is how it works: We are using a camera-from-under technique which mimics a planar reflection by positioning a second camera below the subject to capture an inverted view. Unlike screen space shadows it allows us to capture off-screen objects like clouds and the sky and compared to planar reflection techniques, it gives us more artistic control over the effect.

And this is the effect it has on players (shoutout to the great Thumb Culture!) 😂❤️

When demo?

We see you. We hear you. Since the day Truckful was revealed, we're constantly asked about the demo and really want to thank everyone for all these questions. We know you want to play it and right now we're working on it hard. Our goal is not to just make a demo for the sake of it, we really want you to enjoy all the gameplay elements and leave you wanting more. We should have more updates around December this year, aiming for Feb/March 2025 with the public release.

Planes, Trains and Automobiles Steam Fest

Steam's newest event focusing on different tools of transportation is now up and will be featured until September 23rd. Enjoy deals, demos and discover a bunch of exciting upcoming games focused on some great driveable and flyable machines!

Check out the full event here: https://store.steampowered.com/category/plane_train_autos