The team has been hard at work on our July update. As part of launching into Early Access, we said we'd be making one major update per month and this post is to tell you a bit about what you can expect from July.
Please keep in mind that everything in this post is subject to change - we may find a bug or problem that prevents us from including certain features - but this is the broad set of things we're hoping to include.

In-Game UI

The in-game UI has been completely overhauled to provide a solid base for in-game UI updates going forward. There is now a live-updated leaderboard, as well as laptime and car condition information for each player in the race. Oh, and you can change between "dark mode" (default) and "light mode" in the options menu!
We'll be making further improvements and additions to the in-game UI as we go forward.

GR1 Track Importing

You read right - GR1 track importing is coming to GeneRally 2 with the July Update. Here you can see a couple of examples of GR1 tracks being played directly (with no modifications) in GeneRally 2.
Thanks to Crowella and TuomoH for providing these tracks! Obviously, importing tracks is far from perfect - and there will be some tracks that don't import as well as others - but this should give users the basis for updating and upgrading tracks from GR1 to GR2!

The "Object Variant" System

One of the features we're excited to introduce is the "Object Variant" system. This is, to put it simply, a quick way for you to change the appearance of an object. We'll be adding variants to many of the current in-game objects - and we'll start by adding some in the July update already! Typically, an "object variant" is a version of an object that differs mostly only visually. In the most basic case, this could be different colour versions of an object (for example the soft wall) - or it could be something more comprehensive, like a different building style.
Just some of the upcoming object variants.

AI Pit-Lane Improvements

It's not news to current players that the AI drivers have some gaps in their skill-set. At the moment they are most obviously challenged by the concept of the pit area, including both entering the pitlane and navigating around pit area without crashing into the other cars. The July update will include some improvements to the way AI drivers route to the pitlane and to individual pitboxes, to help with these issues.

Localisation Support

Along with the update, we'll be implementing localisation support. At launch, this will be limited to only one or two additional languages (as translating all the game's text to other languages takes time) - but more will be added in smaller patches over the coming weeks and months. We hope that this will allow more people to enjoy GeneRally 2. If you want to help us in translating GeneRally 2 into your native language, please get in touch with us!

Other Fixes and Changes

Of course, as with any update, we'll be fixing some bugs and implementing some small new features as we go along - expect to find out more about them when the update goes live.

What about Tracks and Cars?

At the start of Early Access, we said that our intention was to bring new tracks and cars with each major update. Due to the huge amount of feedback we've been receiving about the AI and car physics, we've chosen to focus on getting the current cars and AI to a stable state before adding more into the mix. The planned cars and tracks will arrive in a future update instead.

When is the July Update?

We're planning to get the July Update into your hands in the first couple of weeks of July. Stay tuned for a more specific release date! --- If you want to support us and the game's ongoing development, and purchase GeneRally 2 in Early Access, you can find our Steam Store page here. If you've already purchased and would like to help us out, please consider leaving a review for GeneRally 2 on Steam!

[ 2023-06-28 17:43:00 CET ] [ Original post ]

GeneRally 2 is a friendly top-down arcade racing game - with an easy-to-use, built-in track editor. GeneRally 2 is the sequel to the 2002 classic, GeneRally - one of the most played arcade racing games of all time! Have fun racing alone against the AI; with your friends in "no split-screen necessary" couch PvP; or try your hand at creating tracks and sharing them with the world.


GeneRally 2 now in Early Access! If you want to find out more about the Early Access process, please read our developer blog post on the subject!

• Experience a wide variety of fun and interesting tracks created by us, by the GeneRally 2 community - or make the perfect track for you in our track editor. With 60+ objects (and more being added all the time); 12 different surface types (from dirt and gravel, to snow and ice); and a feature-packed terrain-editing tool - the only limit is your imagination! Upload your creations to Steam Workshop and share them with the world. You can even import tracks from GeneRally 1 directly into the game!
  
  
• Race against the clock (and the ghost car) in time-trial; against the AI; or with friends in couch PvP (online multiplayer coming during Early Access). There's no need for split screen - the whole track is visible at once - so grab your friends and family, and get racing! Compete in single races, or see who's victorious over multiple races in championship mode. Up to 8 players can play together on the same computer.
  
  
• Customise your car and stand out from the crowd - adjust the colours and paint scheme for you and every car in the race.
  
  
• Detailed car physics take account of many different real-world parameters like drive-train type (FWD/RWD/AWD), suspension travel/rebound, weight distribution and more! The cars are easy-to-learn but hard-to-master, based on a realistic physics simulation.
  
  
• Plan your pitstops and manage your fuel, tyre wear and damage over the course of the race - or turn all of those off and enjoy unlimited ability to run your friends off the road!
  
  
• With a variety of different cars (5 at launch, more coming later), each with their own unique performance and handling characteristics, there's never a dull moment.
  
  
• Tweak the AI opponents for closer racing - choose between multiple driving style "profiles" and adjust their skill level to battle for victory.