Hi everyone! If you're wondering what Refract has been up to lately here's a quick update. I talk about the current state of Refract projects, Distance on PS4, and more:

• https://refract.com/post/728127724861931520/september-2023-update
  

• Nominate: https://forms.gle/GtPYBu2AGM8BEBUU9
  

Hey all, this is a quick update to say that Steam Cloud is now enabled for Distance!

Your personal leaderboards, medal progress, editor levels, etc. will now be backed up after closing the game. Since it's a change in Steam's backend there is no new build to download, and it works cross-platform with Windows, Mac, and Linux. Thanks for your patience while sorting this one out!

DAC 2020 Submissions



With December right around the corner that means Distance Advent Calendar (DAC) is starting up soon! If you're into level making it's an excellent opportunity to get your own creations in front of players. To quote Californ1a from our mod team on Discord:

[quote=Californ1a]It's that time of year again, DAC 2020 is open for submissions!
Hit that follow button and turn on notifications for this channel to be notified when DAC maps start releasing in December!

If you're new around here, DAC is the Distance Advent Calendar.
Every year a whole bunch of map authors get together to release (at least) one new map each day of December leading up to the 25th.
Occasionally we also have additional submissions alongside the maps like videos, wallpapers, and more.

Anyone is free to join in and make a map regardless of your editor skills - There are plenty of people around to help out if you want to try your hand at learning the editor!
Let us know if there is a map you want to release during December so we can get you added to the calendar.[/quote]
Join our Discord community to get in on the action: http://discord.gg/distance

Other Refract Stuff

For those out of the loop with Refract this year I posted a devlog a little while back:

• The Next Chapter of Refract
  

The sixth annual Distance Advent Calendar (DAC) has started! For those new to Distance this year, DAC is a community-run event where each day in December leading up to the 25th level creators coordinate to release Workshop levels!

Follow DAC level releases by joining the Distance Discord and checking out the #dac channel. Discuss each day's level with other players, and see early previews of upcoming levels!

[h3]Distance on macOS Catalina[/h3]
Today we're also releasing a 64-bit version of Distance on macOS to support Catalina. It's basically the exact build as before except it's now 64-bit instead of 32-bit. Right now we only plan to support 64-bit on macOS but if that changes I'll post about it here.

[h3]DAC Dev Stream[/h3]
We'll be doing another dev stream this week to play and discuss the latest additions to Distance. We hope to see you live on Twitch tomorrow at 1pm PT!

• Where: http://twitch.tv/refractstudios
  
• When: Thursday December 19th, 1pm PT
  

Hey all! This is a bit different from my usual posts but I want to share a fun bonus thing with you:

STATIC MIX // Fall 2019:
https://soundcloud.com/torcht/sets/static-mix

While working on Distance I frequently listen to instrumental music via mixes and live sets, so I thought it would be fun to give back by creating one of my own. It's filled with artists who have inspired me over the past few years, so I figured fans of Distance's soundtrack would enjoy it. Also, many of the tracks work well with Boombox mode IMO (tracklist is in the description). Hope you enjoy!

Other Stuff Coming Soon
While I'm at it, thought I could give a brief update on other stuff in the works. Unfortunately I've been a bit under the weather since my last post but I'm still working on that longer devlog talking about Refract's future in general. Hope to have that up soon.

We're also planning to do another dev stream in October so stay tuned for the day/time. We'll be playing a ton of community levels so if you have a level you want to see us play let us know via Twitter or in the comments below. Bonus points if it's extra spooky. Hope to see you there!

- Jordan (with everyone at Refract)

Hey all! Today the official soundtrack is getting a long overdue update to include remastered music from the Nexus update! If you already own the Soundtrack & Art Book DLC it'll update automatically via Steam. The OST now includes these extended / remastered tracks:

• Observatory
  
• Mobilization
  
• Resonance
  
• Deterrence
  
• Terminus
  
• Collapse
  

• Spotify
  
• Apple Music / iTunes
  
• Google Play
  
• 
  
• Deezer
  
• Bandcamp
  
• SoundCloud
  

[previewyoutube=u9M5m4pchCQ;full][/previewyoutube]

Has it really been a year since v1.0 launched? Seems like a good time for an update! The Horizon Update (v1.4) features new levels from Refract and community creators, a new Quick Join multiplayer feature, performance improvements, new editor tools, and more!

v1.4 Changelog (Build 6895):
General Improvements

• Added new Refract levels:
  
  
  
  • Liminal (Sprint)
    
  • Serenity (Sprint)
    
  • Zenith (Sprint)
    
  
  
• Added new Community levels:
  
  
  
  • Affect (Sprint)
    
  • Beta Echoes (Sprint)
    
  • Biotec 4 (Challenge)
    
  • Canopy (Reverse Tag, Main Menu)
    
  • Fiber (Sprint)
    
  • Fleeting Images (Reverse Tag, Stunt)
    
  • Gravity (Sprint)
    
  • Hardline (Sprint)
    
  • Mentality (Sprint)
    
  • Noir (Sprint)
    
  • Overdrive (Sprint)
    
  • Sender (Sprint)
    
  • Shallow (Sprint)
    
  • Shrine (Sprint)
    
  • Sugar Rush (Sprint)
    
  • Tetreal (Sprint)
    
  • Turbines (Sprint)
    
  • Wired (Sprint)
    
  
  
• Online menu improvements:
  
  
  • Clicking "Online" now gives you the option to Quick Join, Browse, or Host
    
  • Quick Join feature automatically joins an open game, and if none are available it creates a new lobby
    
  • Improved how the loading UI handles various situations (connecting to server, refreshing server list, etc.)
    
  • Changed all instances of "Server" to "Game" or "Lobby" depending on the context
    
  • Max Players is now adjustable without having to type in a number
    
  • When unclicking Private on "Host a Game" the password field is now cleared
    
  • Removed "... has loaded!" chat message for all platforms
    
  • It now says "... has joined the lobby" or "... has joined the game" depending on the context
    
  • Host a Game: Pressing Enter while selecting the password input field now starts the server
    
  • Host a Game: All numbers 1 to 12 are options again (instead of multiples of 2)
    
  • Replaced "Back to Lobby" button in pause menu for online hosts with "Main Menu" (with added help text to clarify we're returning to the lobby)
    
  • Server Connection, Lobby Refresh, and Quick Join timeouts shortened to 15 seconds instead of 30 seconds
    
  • Changed default server name to just the name of current player so it's consistent across all platforms
    
  • Minor clean up to game lobby visuals
    
  • Now going back to the main menu as a non-host takes you back to the Online menu options
    
  
  
• Main menu improvements:
  
  
  • Removed Workshop highlight section (since the Workshop area in Steam already does a fine job of this)
    
  • Removed Reddit button and gave more prominence to Discord button
    
  • The Garage button is now re-highlighted when returning from the garage in the main menu
    
  
  
• White Lightning Returns: Improved building placement and decorations with minor track alterations in the second half
  
• Improved graphics performance in many levels (especially in Lost to Echoes)
  
• Re-ordered Sprint and Challenge sets to more closely match difficulty progression
  
• Replay_Music_Playback_Speed RTPC is now reset after unloading each level
  

• Added new foliage particles (textures 106 - 111)
  
• Improved music track selection window (used in Level Settings, MusicZone, MusicTrigger, CutsceneManager, and AudioEventTrigger)
  
• Improved Particles "Seed" tooltip text
  
• Groups are no longer dissolved if "Ignore Culling" is on them
  
• CinematicCamera: Setting "Trigger Time" to -1 now enables this component to not ever return to the chase camera
  
• Added new level editor objects: HalcyonTri, HalcyonTriSingle, HalcyonTriCollision, and HalcyonTriSingleCollision
  

• Fixed bug where going from the level grid to the level set buttons could result in nothing being selected (e.g. after returning from Adventure)
  
• Fixed bug where the diamond flare would appear with the "finished" medal image in the split-screen pause menu
  
• Fixed bug where menu camera rotation/zoom could be affected while hovering over an input field
  
• Fixed bug where the Visit Workshop button was visible on non-host game lobbies
  
• Fixed bug where "No Servers Found" wouldn't appear if using server browser checkboxes
  
• Restored missing texture links for HalcyonCoilgunInternal material
  
• When in Steam offline mode it no longer tries to auto-search for replays upon level load
  
• Fixed bug where entering a seed into Trackmogrify and pressing Enter wouldn't close the menu in the lobby
  
• Fixed bug where you could access locked levels using the advanced level select menu (both Solo and Online)
  
• Fixed bug where animation timing in Instantiation was off by a few seconds and the power poster wasn't counting down
  
• Fixed bugs with button selection in the lobby after returning from Customize Car, Trackmogrify input, or level selection
  
• Fixed bug where Legacy levels were locked even if you had the Gold Collector achievement
  
• Fixed bug where replays using cinematic cameras (e.g. Variant Blue) wouldn't work with level triggers due to culling issues
  
• Fixed bug where two cars were visible during the Collapse (Nexus campaign) cutscene
  
• Fixed bug where deleting a profile wouldn't reload the main menu (and progress bars would be incorrect)
  
• Fixed bug where having a checkpoint in a group could result in the entire group changing color
  

Today we're releasing v1.31 which is a minor update to fix a few bugs! Thanks for all of the positive comments on v1.3 so far! In case you missed it you can check out the official v1.3 trailer here.

v1.31 Changelog (Build 6842):

Level Changes

• Improved skip route for Vibe
  
• Patched minor skip issue in Sector 0
  

• Fixed bug with Discord Rich Presence where it could break upon going online
  
• Fixed lighting issue with normal maps for two of the new simples textures
  

• Where: http://twitch.tv/refractstudios
  
• When: Tuesday June 18th, 6pm PT
  

Today's Deal: Save 50% on Distance!*

Look for the deals each day on the front page of Steam. Or follow us on twitter or Facebook for instant notifications wherever you are!

*Offer ends Saturday at 10AM Pacific Time

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVZ2lE3xasI
Hey everyone, today we've got another free content update for you! v1.3 features six new playable levels, a new speedrun timer, level editor improvements, and more! To celebrate, Distance and the soundtrack DLC are 50% off for one week starting at 10am PT! As usual look below for the full changelog and some fancy screenshots.

v1.3 Changelog (Build 6838):

General Improvements

• 6 new levels!
  
  
  
  • Luminescence (Sprint level)
    
  • Vibe (Sprint level)
    
  • White Lightning Returns (Sprint level)
    
  • Micro (Sprint level)
    
  • Sector 0 (Sprint level)
    
  • Electric (Challenge level)
    
  
  
• New Main Menu level: Ambient
  
• New music from The Quiggles: 2HOT2PANTS (used in White Lightning Returns)
  
• Remastered versions of Nexus music (Resonance, Deterrance, and Terminus)
  
• [b]General Options: Added "Show Speedrun Timer" (for level set speedruns)
  
  
  
  • Starts upon playing the first level in a time-based mode (e.g. Adventure, Sprint, etc.)
    
  • Timer turns red (marked as an invalid run) if level is skipped or you return to the main menu early
    
  
  
• General Options: Added "Enable Speedrun Output Log" (for synchronizing with external timer programs)
  
  
  
  • Exports events to speedrun_timer.txt in Distance install directory
    
  
  
• Controls Options: Added "Flight Stabilization" option
  
• Controls Options: Added "Invert Boost Toggle" option (accesiblity option)
  
• Holding the reset button in-game for 1.5 seconds will now restart the level
  
• Reworked Garage color preset selection so that it uses a scroll bar and supports way more entries (up to 100)
  
  
  
  • Added visual color preview to each item in the color preset list
    
  
  
• Modified Profile Stats so that entire time in level is counted towards playtime (instead of just race time)
  

• Added 17 new textures to Simples textures
  
• CarScreenTextTrigger now works in Arcade modes (added "Ignore in Arcade" checkbox)
  
• CinematicCameras now persist through death and are not affected by the "death cam"
  
• New additions to SetAbilitiesTrigger
  
  
  
  • "One Shot" (Whether not this trigger can be triggered more than once)
    
  • "Restore Abilities On Exit" (Restore abilities to previous settings after exiting the trigger volume)
    
  • "Restore Abilities On Death" (Restore abilities to previous settings after car explodes)
    
  • "Delay Before Restore" (Delay duration before restoring abilities from exiting trigger or car explosion)
    
  
  
• Added Rain SFX for use with AmbientAudioObject (both 2D and 3D)
  
  
  
  • RainLoop01_2D, RainLoop02_2D, ..., RainLoop11_2D
    
  • RainLoop01_3D, RainLoop02_3D, ..., RainLoop11_3D
    
  
  
• CinematicCameras now support EventListeners
  
  
  
  • Upon EventTrigger the CinematicCamera will take over for a custom duration
    
  • You can also set transition times to/from this camera
    
  
  
• "Ignore Culling" addable component now also affects logic culling (e.g. Pulse component)
  

• Fixed issue where SectorFunctionPoster would always override custom text (now only overrides in Adventure mode)
  
• Garage color presets no longer display over car name text
  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXi3g7d8RHo
Distance v1.23 Changelog (Build 6801):

General Improvements

• Added the Preservational Booster Sloth (Toggle in Options > Cheats)
  
• Upgraded the main menu
  

Hey everyone! Today we're launching Distance v1.2: The Other Side! This update features the return of custom music, two new levels (Divide and Syncopation), an added shortcut to the Nexus track Terminus, several bug fixes, and a couple secrets. We also revamped our music visualizer tech so that Boombox mode looks better than ever. Check out the trailer for an overview!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qiTAfwDqDKc
v1.2 Changelog (Build 6787):

General Improvements

• New levels
  
  
  
  • Syncopation (Stunt, Reverse Tag, Main Menu)
    
  • Divide (Challenge)
    
  
  
• Custom music is now available on Windows again!
  
  
  
  • Now supports MP3, WAV, and AIFF files
    
  • Improved how folders are scanned for music files
    
  • Updated Audio options menu
    
  • Added customizable hotkeys for Pause/Play, Previous, Next (i.e. F5, F6, F7)
    
  
  
• New Audio options
  
  
  
  • Announcer: Toggle which announcer phrases you want to hear (Tricks, Death, Checkpoints, Mode)
    
  • Custom Music: Search Subdirectories
    
  
  
• Simplified menu breadcrumb (orange dot) functionality
  
  
  
  • Dots now clear immediately after clicking a level set containing an "unseen" level (or car)
    
  • No longer saved between sessions
    
  
  
• Improved music visualizer algorithm used for in-game visuals and Boombox mode
  
• Updated Observatory music track
  
• Enable Menu Animations in General settings now affects level select progress bar animations
  
• "Boom Box" has been renamed to "Boombox" to match the traditional spelling
  
• Optimized the advanced level select a bit
  
• Improved font size for Trackmogrify input menu
  
• Added overflow ellipsis to level select description
  
• Improved server name text in Game Lobby
  
• Improved default mode and level selection in the Game Lobby
  

• Terminus: Added new secret shortcut
  
• Compression: Fixed issue with angled holograms at start
  
• Cataclysm: Small update to fix gaps
  

• Added "ResetZone" which, if car is inside, resets all Animators and TurnLightOnNearCars within its bounds upon death
  
• Added Decorations/TempleButton
  
• Added Decorations/TempleButton_Empty
  
• Added Decorations/TempleButton_Top
  

• Fixed fish not showing up in replays and made Stompers actually stomp in Observatory
  
• Fixed various issues with level set progress bar numbers being incorrect
  
• The car screen music visualizer no longer can get covered by the overheat warning
  
• Fixed bug where going into the Audio options, leaving, then returning could result in a broken menu if you had "General > Enable Menu Animations" disabled
  
• Fixed several bugs with Nexus tracks not being counted towards overall completion
  
• Fixed bug where the author "Refract" was shown for Nexus levels
  
• Fixed bug with holding Skip before the cutscene has fully loaded
  
• Fixed several issues with the "new!" orange dots not working properly
  
• Fixed bug where selecting your existing main menu level in the Garage would break the menu
  
• Fixed bug where WaterAudioZone would play splash SFX when spawning underwater
  
• Fixed bug with checkpoints and WaterAudioZone
  
• Fixed bug with upper category tabs in Garage
  
• Fixed issues where last selected level in menus wasn't being preserved between races
  
• Fixed a few situations where it would say "Earn 0 medals to unlock this level"
  
• Fixed bug where returning from Next Level in the Pause menu could close the host's server
  
• Fixed bugs with Trick menu in pause menu
  
• Fixed bug where EmpirePipeEntrance was missing its visual mesh
  
• Fixed visual bug with speedometer and circle car screen visualizer
  

• What: Distance v1.2 Dev Steam + DAC Part 2
  
• When: Saturday Mar. 16th, 3pm PT
  
• Where: http://twitch.tv/refractstudios
  

Today we're releasing v1.11 which is a minor update to remove holiday features, improve a couple community levels, and fix some bugs. Right off the bat I'll mention that this does not include the custom music feature as I'm still working on it. I've made some progress but as I'm also juggling the PS4 build and Kickstarter wrap up it's been quite a hectic month.

v1.11 Changelog (Build 6714):

General Improvements

• Reverted Christmas features
  
• When starting Distance for the first time the Arcade, Multiplayer, Level Editor, etc. buttons are no longer greyed out
  
• Added version number in main menu
  
• Changed "Build" to "Version" in server browser
  
• Extended server names length to 35 characters
  

• Sea: Update from Dominique Grieshofer
  
• 44 Second Theory: Improved dropper drone lights and lens flares
  
• Paradise Lost: Re-added glitch and audio effects when teleporting
  
• Iris: Added level description
  

• Added ability to add event string to CutsceneManager that triggers on level start (since the car's physics are disabled in cutscenes)
  
• Added new object folders to Level Editor
  
  
  
  • Buildings/Nexus
    
  • Decorations/Nexus
    
  • Obstacles/Nexus
    
  • Roads/Nexus
    
  • Decorations/Foliage
    
  • Decorations/Halcyon
    
  
  

• Fixed issue where medal image shown in multiplayer might not match actual earned medal
  
• Fixed issue where clicking Previous or Next Level in multiplayer could close the server
  
• Fixed bug in Mobilization where sparks weren't showing
  
• Fixed bug where certain levels were missing the Sprint advanced level select menu
  
• Fixed bug in Collapse where the sky beam wouldn't fade out
  
• Fixed bug where objects using FadeOut component might not fully fade out
  

Hey all! Today we've got a special holiday treat for you. As our contribution to Distance Advent Calendar (DAC) we're going all out and releasing Distance v1.1: The Nexus Update! This is one of our biggest content releases yet with 12 new levels featuring 6 new music tracks and a new mini-campaign.

To celebrate, Distance is 35% off for one week! Check out the changelog for more details and see below for some fancy screenshots.

v1.1 Changelog (Build 6669):

General Improvements

• Added holiday features (Options > General > Christmas Features)
  
  • Reindeer car decorations, snow on car screen, winter-themed main menu
    
  
  
• Added "Nexus" mini-campaign (Campaign > Nexus)
  
  • Includes five levels with all new music
    
  • Unlocked after completing Lost to Echoes
    
  
  
• Added new levels to Sprint
  
  
  
  • Station
    
  • Iris
    
  • Observatory (featuring new music from The Quiggles)
    
  • Precept
    
  • Projection
    
  • Eclipse
    
  
  
• Added unique new level to Challenge
  
  
  
  • Variant Blue
    
  
  
• Minor updates to community level "Past"
  

• Fixed bug with incorrect position/rotation of Archive audio visualizer
  
• Fixed bug where Encryptor was always unlocked
  
• Fixed bug with not being able to reset in Eye of the Storm
  
• Fixed bug where levels' unlock statuses weren't being updated on game launch
  
• Fixed bug where CarScreenImageTrigger would use a random delay before showing on car screen
  

.

This Saturday we'll be doing a special dev stream to play through the first two weeks of levels and (most likely) talk about the v1.1 update.

• What: DAC + v1.1 Dev Steam
  
• Where: http://twitch.tv/refractstudios
  
• When: Saturday Dec. 15th, 2pm PST
  

Let us know what you think of v1.1 below and we hope to see you this weekend!

- Jordan (with everyone at Refract)

The fifth annual Distance Advent Calendar (DAC) has begun! DAC is a community-run event where each day in December leading up to the 25th level creators coordinate to release a new Workshop level!

In previous years DAC has resulted in some absolutely mind-blowing levels being released, so we can't wait to see what's coming. There also might be a very special DAC contribution from Refract this month, so definitely stay tuned.

KEEP UP WITH DISTANCE ADVENT CALENDAR

Follow DAC level releases by joining our official Distance Discord and checking out the #dac channel. Discuss each day's level with other players, and see early previews of upcoming levels. If you would like to join in by releasing a level yourself, get in touch with the organizers by messaging Skirmisher#0172 or Backgrounds'#7604.



You can also check out the via our Workshop home page. We also hope to do at least one DAC live stream this month, so more information to come soon regarding that. Happy December everyone!

- Jordan (with everyone at Refract)

Happy Halloween! For the next 24 hours we're releasing a special Halloween build of Distance! The Encryptor (skeleton vehicle) will be available to everyone during this time, and we've dialed its spookiness up to 11.

I've also re-added Boombox Mode and car visualizers on Windows OSes (restoring the previous functionality). Custom MP3 support and other OSes are still in the works. Check out the changelog below for the full details:

v1.02 Changelog (Build 6669):

General Improvements

• Added various Halloween features!
  
  
  
  • The Manor has temporarily replaced the default main menu
    
  • Made the Encryptor even spookier
    
  • Encryptor is temporarily unlocked for all by default
    
  • Smashable pumpkins are back (disable in General options)
    
  • Added spooky laughter when landing tricks (disable in General options)
    
  • Spectrum car screen is infested with cobwebs (disable in General options)
    
  
  
• Re-added Boombox Mode in General options
  
• Made medal times on Approach more reasonable
  

• Added Decorations/EmpireNozzle
  
• Added Decorations/EmpirePuck
  
• Added Decorations/EmpireTechDish
  

The Distance soundtrack is finally here! It features over 2.5 hours of original music from myself and The Quiggles, including extended tracks and a few bonus tracks, all remastered exclusively for this release!

If you already backed Distance at the soundtrack tier or higher you can access your soundtrack and art book via your Humble Bundle library. Otherwise you can pick up the full soundtrack below. All 54 tracks are available in both MP3 and FLAC formats!

• Bandcamp: https://refract.bandcamp.com/
  
• SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/torcht/sets/distance
  
• Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/947820/
  
• YouTube: https://youtu.be/Usk_5_-0faE
  

• The Manor is now available as a Main Menu
  
• Added Machine 17 and Machine 17 (The Quiggles remix) to music list
  
• Updated various music tracks to match the improved soundtrack versions
  
• Updates to Entanglement, Research, Embers, Enemy, Forgotten Utopia, and It Was Supposed to be Perfect to fix minor issues
  
• Updated default CameraShakeZone values
  

• Fixed issues with several achievement descriptions
  
• Fixed bug where unclicking Primary on a WarpAnchor would remove the option entirely
  
• Fixed bug with FOV adjusting in the main menu
  
• Removed version text from upper right in level editor
  

It's finally here. 12 team members, 6.5 years of development, 4,174 Kickstarter backers, many many Steam Early Access players, dozens of patches, 2,500 workshop levels, 12 conventions, and probably around 10,000 cups of coffee have resulted in Distance v1.0!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7dp5mwhcl8
Plenty of mixed emotions at Refract today as we say goodbye to Distance Beta and hello to v1.0. Something definitely feels strange about not seeing that beta watermark in the upper right corner.

Distance was our first project outside the safety net of academia and I think it's safe to say that for most of us at Refract it was an incredible (and intense) learning experience. While we did our best to stay true to what we outlined in our Kickstarter, this project has continually evolved due to our skills improving, our tastes expanding, and our players' continually fantastic feedback.

We have the most patient and supportive backers, and the coolest player community on Earth. Thank you for believing in us to create something new and interesting in the racing genre! Your continued energy, excitement, support, and thoughtful feedback have kept this project going strong.

Speaking of which, remember that community press release we mentioned? It's going out to reviewers and content creators today! Thank you to anyone who took time to contribute. Out of the hundreds of responses here are a few of the quotes we included in the release:

What Players Had to Say about the Distance Experience

• “Distance is practically the only game to tell a mysterious story with a very deep plot through racing, adrenaline-filled survival racing that can actually induce emotions totally outside the genre.” -Mad Max
  
• “No other game captures to feeling of high speed driving quite the way Distance does. Turning a game about driving into, essentially, a puzzle game is maddeningly brilliant” -Jacob Odom
  
• “The atmosphere makes this game more than just about racing. Some of the environments can bring out a range of emotions from sadness to joyfulness.” -Deumfides
  

• “Burnout-boosting down a glass and neon highway that flips upside down while you ceiling-ride past hell's own road works equipment through an impossible cyberpunk nightmare city to a pounding electronic soundtrack.” -Jonas Emmett
  
• “It's a game where your car can jump onto walls after getting cut in half by a laser, but actually keep going. Like yeah find me another game that has that and I'll eat my jorts.” -Chris
  
• “The racing game where the map itself is trying to kill you with saws and lasers.” -Aida
  

• “If the vision of the creators of Distance is the heart of this game, the community certainly is its blood.” -João Felipe Brandão Jatobá
  
• “It's not just a game anymore, it's something personal. The community is genuine, and all very active. It's got this kind of vibrancy and life to it, that never quite goes away. It's been going on long before the game ever officially reached Alpha, with the creation of the gem Nitronic Rush. Even then people knew there was something going on. It's not just the sum of its' mechanics, but something more. This game is alive.” -Nicholas
  
• “The game is packed with kinetic excitement that makes it an exhilarating game to watch or play, with hours of replayability due to one of the most in-depth mapmakers I've ever seen and oodles of fan-made racetracks at your fingertips.” -Lukas P-Stylianides
  

Hey all,

Just a super quick heads up that we're planning to wipe our Steam leaderboards in conjunction with the v1.0 release. This is done to clear out any unachievable times, remove broken times due to bugs or other issues, and make way for our newly optimized replay files which are considerably smaller in v1.0.

Your old local replays will still work, we just figured that it would be nice to start fresh with the v1.0 release. If you happen to have a favorite replay uploaded to Steam, today's your last chance to capture it via video.

Anyways, that's all. See you tomorrow for the v1.0 release!

- Jordan ([i]@torcht)

Today marks the epic conclusion to Survive the Editor 2: Month of Madness! At 12pm PST we'll be hosting Round 4 of STE2, a Reverse Tag tournament using three levels entered into last week's editor competition. It's also your last chance to win one of our participation raffles. As a competitor or a viewer we hope to see you there!

• Watch: https://twitch.tv/refractstudios
  
• Learn More: http://survivethedistance.com/survivetheeditor
  

We have another big announcement to share leading up to v1.0! The Adventure campaign isn't the only campaign coming to Distance v1.0...

LOST TO ECHOES: RETURN TO NITRONIC CITY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEkBfMXA1Ek
Distance v1.0 will also feature the Lost to Echoes mini-campaign! Return to Nitronic City following the events of Nitronic Rush (our spiritual predecessor). Quite a bit has changed since destroying the CORE back in 2011. Check out the teaser above!



Lost to Echoes is unlocked after completing the Adventure campaign. It's a huge step up in challenge, so don't worry if Adventure mode isn't brutal enough for you. We've got you covered.



We're also excited to announce that M.J. "The Quiggles" Quigley has joined Refract to help create the soundtrack for this campaign! You might remember him from the original soundtrack for Nitronic Rush as well as projects like Mekazoo and Four Sided Fantasy.



I can barely believe we succeeded in keeping this a secret for so long. Can't wait to see what you think after playing it next week!

- Jordan ([i]@torcht)

Hey everyone! We're going all out over here preparing for the launch of v1.0. In just one week you'll be able to access all of the secret new content and features we've been developing this year!

BACK TO BASICS (BUILD 1760)

For fun we've decided to re-release the very first alpha build we uploaded to Steam on August 31st, 2013 (build 1760). You can play it by simply switching over to the new ancient Steam branch.

• In your Steam library, right click on Distance and click on "Properties"
  
• Click on the BETAS tab
  
• Change the drop down to "ancient"
  

• Windows: "C:/Users//Documents/My Games/Distance"
  
• OS X: "~/Library/Application Support/Refract/Distance"
  
• Linux: "~/.config/refract/Distance"
  

On Saturday we held our final editor competition for Survive the Editor 2! This week level creators were challenged to create Reverse Tag levels using the theme of "dreams." As usual some incredible levels bubbled to the top, and our top five were awarded live on stream!

Congrats to this week's Grand Prize Winner Sperzieb00n for their level Canopy!

Grand Prize: Canopy (by Sperzieb00n)
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1505665392
Second Place: Plateau (by Backgrounds')
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1500041165
Third Place: distant dreams (by fzeroman)

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1498529570
Fourth Place: Uncertainty (by pinesolofchaos)
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1499573180
Fifth Place: Built Among the Clouds (by Qubic (SolarisJT))
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1506291821
Like every week, each finalist will receive a poster and pin, with the top three also receiving a Distance t-shirt, and Grand Prize winner also earning our custom trophy!

Watch the full stream recording here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHr-P-REEJg

ROUND 4: REVERSE TAG TOURNAMENT



This Saturday at 12pm PST we'll be hosting the epic conclusion to the month of madness, a Reverse Tag tournament using three levels submitted in the editor competition! These levels are:

• Impact
  
• Canopy
  
• Built Among the Clouds
  

• Sign Up: https://discord.gg/distance
  
• Watch: https://twitch.tv/refractstudios
  
• Learn More: http://survivethedistance.com/survivetheeditor
  

Happy Friday! Can you believe Distance v1.0 launches in less than 11 days? Seems like an excellent time to release a bunch of new wallpapers and profile overlays!

PROFILE OVERLAYS



Spice up your Steam, Discord, Twitter, Facebook, whatever profile image by adding a profile overlay! Simply download the pack below and add the layer on top of your existing profile image.

• Distance Profile Overlay Pack (4 images)

• Distance v1.0 Wallpapers (12 images)

This past Saturday we had our first tournament for Survive the Editor 2! Using levels submitted for the level editor competition in Round 1, several of the best Distance players in the world raced for the grand prize.

Congrats to Seekr our Grand Prize Winner! Amazing skills on display by all of our competitors. It was incredibly close between all five of our finalists.

Grand Prize: Seekr
Second Place: KnightBane (Noah)
Third Place: OMANEYE
Fourth Place: Ferreus
Fifth Place: pigpenguin

Like every week, each finalist will receive a poster and pin, with the top three also receiving a Distance t-shirt, and Grand Prize winner also earning our custom trophy!

Watch the full stream recording here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12WvypaZeVg

ROUND 3: LEVEL EDITOR COMPETITION



With two weeks left before the v1.0 launch there are two rounds remaining in Survive the Editor 2. This weekend we'll be playing submissions for our second level editor competition, and the following week we'll be hosting another tournament. If you're interested in submitting a level there's still time!

Create a Reverse Tag level using the theme "Dreams" and submit it by 11:59pm PT to enter! We hope to see you and your level during the stream on Saturday!

Learn more: http://survivethedistance.com/survivetheeditor

- Jordan ([i]@torcht)

SURVIVE THE EDITOR 2: SPRINT TOURNAMENT

Today at 12pm PT we'll be using levels from the previous round of Survive the Editor in a Sprint tournament! Just like every week you have the chance to win physical rewards, either as a competitor or as a viewer on Twitch!

• WATCH: https://twitch.tv/refractstudios

Congrats to our first round of winners for Survive the Editor 2! We gave community creators two weeks to create a Sprint level using the theme celebration, and after much deliberation we awarded five winners live on Twitch!

Grand Prize:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1490487850
Second Place:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1490693698
Third Place:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1491963072
Fourth Place:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1489566735
Fifth Place:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1488389902
Each winner will receive a poster and pin, with the top three also receiving a Distance t-shirt, and Grand Prize winner also earning our custom trophy! Also congrats to spaceburger0 and echance01, our two participation raffle winners who will receive a poster, pin, and copy of Distance.

You can watch the full stream recording here, and check out all of this week's submissions .

ROUND 2: SPRINT TOURNAMENT THIS SATURDAY



This Saturday at 12pm PT we'll be using some of the levels submitted in Round 1 in a Sprint tournament! To keep things interesting we won't be announcing exactly which levels will be used until the day of the tournament.

Just like with the level editor competition we'll be awarding tons of physical rewards to the top slots, so there are plenty of chances to win something cool. To sign up simply join our Discord and let us know you'd like to enter via the #tournament_signup channel:

• SIGN UP HERE: https://discord.gg/distance

For those curious about our various backer rewards (e.g. shirts, posters, arcade cabinets) here's a quick update I posted to Kickstarter:

Read: https://kickstarter.com/projects/refract/distance-a-next-generation-arcade-racer/posts/2271601

Survive the Editor 2: Saturday at 12pm PT



As a quick reminder, tomorrow at 12pm PT we'll be awarding the first round winners of Survive the Editor 2! You still have until 11:59pm PT tonight to submit your level.

Can't wait to finally play these levels. Hope to see you there!

Watch: http://twitch.tv/refractstudios
Learn more: http://survivethedistance.com/survivetheeditor

As you may have noticed we’re incredibly excited about the upcoming v1.0 launch! One of the best things to come from this experience has been seeing how players have made Distance their own. From user-created levels, to community-run tournaments, to charity streams, it’s been amazing for us to see such great support!

Since the community is such a driving force for us, we wanted to give you an opportunity to be part of the release. Our PR team is going to put out an announcement for us when the game launches, and we’d love to use some of your thoughts to tell the world about Distance. Please help us out by answering these questions:

FILL OUT: Distance Community Press Release

Thanks for being a part of this amazing journey with us!

- Jordan ([i]@torcht)

Survive The Editor 2 is a multi-stage Distance competition leading up to the launch of Distance v1.0 on September 18th!

STE2 fuses two level editor competitions with two tournaments over 5 weeks. We’ll be taking the top submissions from each level editor competition and utilizing them in each tournament! Every Saturday from 12pm to 2pm PT we’ll be running a special live stream on Twitch for each stage of the competition!

Watch STE2 live: http://twitch.tv/refractstudios

• August 18th: Devs play Distance
  
• August 25th: Level submission judging #1
  
• September 1st: Tournament #1
  
• September 8th: Level submission judging #2
  
• September 15th: Tournament #2
  

Distance v1.0 is coming to PC on September 18th! This massive update features tons of new content including Adventure v1.0, our mysterious narrative experience. Check out the new trailer!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Z4G47P5vd8
Month of Madness (Distance v1.0 edition)

Distance v1.0 comes with much more than just Adventure v1.0. Take a look at our previous blog post for an overview of what’s coming on Sept. 18th. Over the next month leading up to the launch we’ll be unveiling more content and hosting several events. Watch out for the upcoming rules for an elaborate level editor competition x tournament fusion!



Speaking of events, we’ll be starting up a weekly stream this weekend! Join us this Saturday August 11th at 12pm PT to watch the team play Distance and answer questions about v1.0!

• Refract Twitch Stream:
  
• Aug. 11th @ 12pm PT / 3pm ET / 7pm GMT
  
• http://twitch.tv/refractstudios
  

Hey everyone! At long last we have another meaty devlog for you to check out. It covers what to expect from the impending v1.0 release as well as some personal notes on the development process so far.

• DEVLOG: Your First Look at Distance v1.0

Hey everyone! Today we're releasing a small patch to remove the Winter theme from Distance and fix a few bugs.

I know this patch isn't exactly breathtaking, but that's because almost all of our time right now is being spent finishing Adventure mode and all other content to be released at 1.0. The ninety-ninety rule seems to be in full effect, but overall it's going well and we're still making good progress every day.

Thanks as usual to everyone who reported these bugs and shared output logs with us! Check out the full changelog below:

MINOR UPDATE: Build 6009

GENERAL IMPROVEMENTS

• Reverted Christmas/Winter features back to their previous state
  

• Added "double pivot distance" to Animator, to help longer objects travel more smoothly along tracks
  
• Improved error message when you're blocked from adding an EventListener to an object
  

• Fixed bug where restarting in some levels could result in returning to a broken main menu (like this)
  
• Fixed bug with Dev marker in leaderboards resulting in dev marker on incorrect results, broken Spectate functionality, duplicate names, etc.
  
• Fixed bug where returning to the main menu from an online game or after switching profiles would result in broken submenus
  
• Fixed bug where Shuffle affected Adventure mode
  
• Fixed bug where DetailedLight would sometimes not save out
  

Happy holidays! Today we've got a minor update that adds a bit of holiday flare while sneaking in a few improvements. Check out the full changelog below!



In checking out the new build I recommend playing through the incredible Distance Advent Calendar releases from this year:

• (over 30 levels)

If you missed last week's live stream you can also check that out where a few of the devs play through 21 of the levels in a mini marathon:

• https://twitch.tv/videos/211537322

THE CHRISTMAS UPDATE: Build 5930

GENERAL IMPROVEMENTS

• Updated loading screens and main menu with a winter holiday theme
  
• Improved load times and memory use
  
• Added snow on the car screen (toggle in General settings)
  
• Improved default replay download behavior for Near My Ranking so if you've never played the map before it grabs a wide variety of replays
  
• Restored trick text in Adventure mode and simplified it further
  
• Level authors and devs are now tagged in leaderboard listings
  
• Upgraded splash/idle screen functionality in the main menu
  
• Improved error checking and handling of edge cases where connection to Steam Workshop is poor
  
• Warning messages in the Graphics options now pulse to grab your attention
  
• Changed level select behavior so that it auto selects the last played level instead of the last selected
  
• Press Back to Reset is now hidden if All Abilities in Adventure Mode is enabled
  
• Improved level preview texture settings so it looks better in VR
  
• "Regenerating" text now matches color of checkpoint
  
• Loading the main menu is now asynchronous
  

LEVEL EDITOR

• Objects in frozen layers are now hidden in the Level Objects Tab
  
• Added default cubemaps for levels which don't use LevelCubeMapRenderers
  
• Added delay on EventListeners
  
• Changed object preview for Biodome and LevelCubeMapRenderer
  

BUG FIXES

• Fixed issues with rendering of background layers on HTV Vive
  
• Fixed bug with replays going through teleporters and seeing a weird camera angle
  
• Fixed issue where if All Abilities in Adventure Mode is enabled text near the car wouldn't appear in Arcade
  
• Fixed bug where when using Trigger Distance on TurnLightOnNearCar and exploding within that distance the lights are not turned off
  
• Fixed bug where components like PulseAll would be culled in the background layers
  
• Fixed bug where loading bar was indicated incorrectly sometimes
  
• Fixed bug where popup blocker would sometimes not popup when it should
  
• Fixed bug with lens flare multiple always disabling lens brightness
  
• Fixed bug with Detailed Lights option in Graphics menu not linking properly with other buttons
  
• Fixed bug where popup-blockers are stuck below the road after restarting the level
  
• Fixed bug where menus were broken when viewing a replay on a Trackmogrify Level
  
• Fixed bug where objects would sometimes use the wrong cubemap
  
• Fixed issues with news box in main menu when offline
  

- Jordan ([i]

Hey everyone! Distance Advent Calendar (DAC) is going strong for its fourth year and I want to give it a shout out. DAC is a yearly event where the community bands together to release new levels every day in December! Some of our most popular Workshop levels were released during previous DACs. The creativity and craftsmanship demonstrated is always inspiring.

HOW TO FOLLOW DISTANCE ADVENT CALENDAR

To keep up to date with DAC levels, I recommend checking out the I've been updating (accessible via our Workshop home page). You can also check out the #d4c channel on our (now official!) Distance Discord. While you're at it come discuss each day's level with other players, and see early previews of upcoming community levels.



Finally, we'll be retweeting the organizers of DAC who announce each day's level, so check out @refractstudios on Twitter if you're into that sort of thing.

DEV STREAM: DECEMBER 21ST (12PM PT)



On Thursday, December 21st at 12pm PT / 8pm GMT we'll be hosting a Twitch stream where we play through released DAC levels! We'll also likely talk about some of the new tools released in the skybox update, answer questions, and talk about development in general. Hope to see you there!

• What: Refract Dev Stream
  
• When: December 21st at 12pm PT / 8pm GMT ()
  
• Where: twitch.tv/refractstudios
  

Hey everyone! While we continue to crank away at the final pieces of content we intend to ship at 1.0 (Adventure mode and a few other surprises) we want to share some of the latest tools being used to create that content. The biggest feature we've added is a completely revamped skybox system! Now you have an incredible amount of power when creating your own universe, either in tweaking the default planet look or in creating something new.

While the update is heavily focused on exposing new editor tools, there are general improvements across the board. Check out the full changelog below!



THE SKYBOX UPDATE: Build 5821

GENERAL IMPROVEMENTS

• Updated skybox in all levels to use new dynamic skybox system
  
• Optimized CPU performance and memory usage throughout the game
  
• Trick text and "Regenerating" text are now disabled in Adventure mode
  
• Removed 3, 2, 1 countdown on car screen at start of Adventure levels
  
• Car is now frozen at the start until "GO!", also preventing teleports and other triggers
  
• Improved car explosion visual effect
  
• Arcade level select is now organized by Collections
  
• Updated Sprint level set unlocking requirements
  
• Added a main menu notification prompt when levels are unlocked
  
• Added on-screen visuals when gaining/losing boost, jump, and jets
  
• Added Rich Presence support for Discord on Windows (OS X and Linux in the works)
  
• Added Ground Zero to Sprint and updated medal times
  
• Improved several situations where objects would pop in and out (related to static batching)
  
• Improved handling of bad collisions in several rare scenarios
  
• The Manor has been removed from split-screen play due to tricky level design
  

• Completely revamped skybox system (via Level Settings and Biodomes)
  
  
  
  • Background layers can now be assigned
    
  • Any object within a background layer will be rendered from (0,0,0) directly in the skybox
    
  • The Sun, Stars, Storm, and Background Layer can all be toggled on/off individually
    
  • By default the UltraPlanet (highly customizable earth) exists in the background layer
    
  • Any levels created previous to this update will be auto-upgraded to the new system
    
  • Added star tweakables such as colors, variation, brightness, and glow
    
  • Added Background Scroll value which allows the background to move slightly based on player position
    
  
  
• [Animator] Added ability to have separate delay and duration when playing an Animator in reverse
  
• [Animator] Added option for following a track by percent rather than distance
  
• [Animator] Added "Wrap Around" option when following a track. Disable this to prevent popping at start or end of the track.
  
• Added Roads/InvisibleStartZone which allows you to spawn into a Sprint level from anywhere
  
• Added several new Golden Simples presets such as Sand, Ice, Snow, Water, Glass, etc.
  
• Added level description field in the Level Settings
  
• Added ability to collapse all components in the Properties window (hold Ctrl when clicking a collapse triangle)
  
• Added a "Silent" toggle on Checkpoints which mutes sounds and hides text printing
  
• Added feature in TurnLightOnNearCar where you can turn off the light on trigger exit (works with both Trigger Distance and the EventListener)
  
• "Generate Unique Event Name" on Event Trigger now affects selected Event Listeners which have matching Event Names
  
• Library Tab search now supports searching with multiple words and includes matching folders (e.g. "spli HD" finds "SplinesHD" folder)
  
• Reduced minimum value of Fog Near to -1000
  
• The first letter of each component property is now capitalized
  
• Removed DisableAnnouncer checkbox in the editor Level Settings
  
• Cleaned up the golden simples presets (deleted and renamed a few)
  
• Swapped several of the presets used on default Golden Simples objects
  
• Changed TurnLightOnNearCar so that it only affects itself and children
  
• TurnLightOnNearCar doesn't affect any child objects with their own TurnLightOnNearCar
  

• Fixed bug where the mysterious orb's rotation in Ground Zero was erratic at high framerates
  
• Fixed bug where "B for Back" wasn't shown in the split-screen player selection menu
  
• Fixed bug where some halloween features were enabled by default
  
• Fixed potential memory leak caused by resetting your car
  
• Fixed bug where TurnLightOnNearCar would still have a collider when an eventListener was being utilized
  
• Fixed issues with Wrong Way in Corruption
  
• Fixed EmpireCube not rendering properly
  
• Fixed bug where strange announcer phrases could be heard on non-Windows platforms
  
• Fixed several specific stability issues
  
• Fixed bug where wheel visuals could flicker black
  
• Fixed bug when using TurnLightOnNearCar in conjunction with GoldenSimples
  

Happy Halloween! Today we're taking a short break from Adventure mode development to give Distance a Halloween-themed makeover! Alongside various visual tweaks, this patch also features a brand new (super spooky) Sprint level called The Manor.

Build 5464 - Halloween Update

• Added new Sprint level: The Manor (with new music)
  
• Added toggle in General settings for Halloween Features
  
• Random smashable pumpkins are back
  
• Updated the main menu to something a bit creepier
  
• Added spider web on the car's screen, jack-o-latern image on rims, and flickery headlights
  
• Added heavier film grain and vignetting effect
  
• Landing tricks triggers a mysterious laugh
  

Hi everyone! We've got something really cool going on this weekend. We'll be hosting our first ever Sprint tournament this Saturday, August 12th! Sign up to race on Discord, and watch the fierce competition in action on Twitch!

• Where: http://twitch.tv/refractstudios
  
• When: 11am PT / 2pm ET / 7pm BST ()
  
• Sign Up: https://discord.gg/0SlqqvzfIbgXSBub
  

One big reason why we haven't yet hosted a Sprint tournament is that we wanted to ensure it would be as fair as possible for all players. In that effort we've invited three talented level creators from our community to each create a brand new level. The levels will be officially unveiled on Saturday during each round of the tournament. In the meantime, here’s a teaser:



Learn more about prizes, event rules, and more on

Hey everyone! Today we uploaded a small patch to address issues found in The Radical Update.

The biggest issue addressed in this patch was that several SteamVR devices (e.g. HTC Vive, Oculus DK2, etc.) would either not work at all or cause Distance to crash. This should now be fixed. This was an oversight on my part and I apologize for the inconvenience to VR players since the release.

I've also added an Announcer Settings section to the Audio options. This allows you to enable/disable the Announcer in certain modes based on preference. By default "Stunt Only" is chosen, though if you like it in Sprint or Adventure you can choose "Arcade Only" or "All Modes" respectively.

Thanks to those who reported these bugs and supported output logs on the forums and Uservoice! Check out the full changelog below:

MINOR UPDATE: Build 5462

GENERAL IMPROVEMENTS

• Added "Announcer Settings" drop down which allows you to enable the announcer in All Modes, Arcade Only, Stunt Only, or fully Disabled. By default Stunt Only is chosen
  
• eV in the level select leaderboards is now formatted properly with commas
  
• By default Replays are now set to "Global Near"
  
• By default VSync is now disabled in the Graphics settings
  

• Added Red Heat and Disassembly Line to the viewable levels in the Level Editor
  
• The Announcer can now be heard in the level editor
  
• Added "Disable Announcer" option in the level editor's Level Settings which disables the announcer for that specific track
  
• "Press ... to Reset" text has been disabled in the level editor
  
• Golden SplinesHD are now included in track generation by default
  
• Improved default values for golden animator
  
• Moved some objects into the Zones folder
  

• Fixed crashes and various bugs due to loading the game with the HTC Vive or another SteamVR device attached
  
• Fixed bug where the "Checkpoint" phrase would play in Challenge, Stunt, and Reverse Tag
  
• Fixed bug where clicking Next in the Pause menu would do nothing
  
• Fixed bug where after completing a playlist, clicking Next would do nothing
  
• Fixed issue where an orange dot would confusingly appear next to Adventure in the main
  

Hey everyone! Today's the day. The Radical Update is now live on Steam!

We've decided to release our latest batch of experiments on the default branch for everyone to check out! In short, The Radical Update (build 5450) includes:

• Fully implemented v1 of the trick announcer (like in Nitronic Rush)
  
• Completely reworked Stunt mode
  
• One new Stunt level (Neon Park)
  
• Two new Challenge levels (Red Heat, Disassembly Line)
  
• 22 Steam Achievements
  
• New editor features like an animator component, force zones, etc.
  
• Workshop level data is now cached (no more long update on startup)
  
• Main menu improvements
  
• And tons more...
  

Hey everyone! This Saturday during Speedy Saturday (11am PT / 2pm ET / 8pm CEST) we're doing a special Twitch stream to celebrate Distance's Workshop hitting 2,000 published levels! We'll play/discuss some of the Workshop's oldest levels, then take on some of the most recent uploads. See you on Saturday!

Special Twitch Stream: 2,000 Workshop Levels!

• Time: Sat. June 10th, 2017 (11am PT / 2pm ET / 8pm CEST)
  
• Place: http://twitch.tv/refractstudios
  

• http://steamcommunity.com/app/233610/discussions/4/1354868867713034626/
  

In light of recent feedback from the community, we've decided to take Adventure mode in a radically new direction. We're calling it The Travels of Distance, and it's a completely fresh and original way to experience survival racing. With your sword and shield equipped, explore the world in any way you see fit. You can climb anything, go anywhere, and smash all the pots you like!





Today we're enabling you to preview The Travels of Distance in our latest experimental release (build 5250). Check out these GIFs for a closer look, and let us know what you think of experimental build 5250 after reading the changelog on the Steam forums!

Hey everyone! It's been a wild month balancing Adventure mode, Arcade mode, PAX East, and everything in between. Today I can finally unveil what we've been creating in the Arcade mode branch of development via Experimental Build 5221!

STUNT MODE REVAMP

Stunt mode has needed some serious love since the initial release on early access. We figured that we either needed to improve the mode dramatically, or cut it entirely. This experimental build features a wide variety of changes to the mode and trick detection in general. Instead of describing the changes we made in great detail, we figured it was better to see how much of it comes through if we don't explain anything. If you're not picking up on the changes then one way or another we probably need to make things more clear or intuitive.

Kristian and Brent (a.k.a. Krispy and Ashamael) took a short break from Adventure mode work to design and decorate an entirely new level for Stunt called Neon Park! I highly recommend checking it out for the best experience when playing the new mode.



I've also thrown in an early version of the Distance stunt announcer. To be honest I'm not entirely satisfied with the direction thus far, though I figured it was better to have some version in rather than nothing for this first experimental build. I'm very curious what others think of this version and I do hope to continue iterating on the feel and implementation of the new voice.

THE ANIMATOR COMPONENT

The other major feature we're including in this update is the Animator component! Just how Golden Simples and Particles dramatically changed how level creators decorate their levels, the Animator is another level of power, enabling motion in your levels. It allows most objects in the game to moved, rotated, or scaled through a variety of animation settings.



On top of that we've connected the Animator to a new trigger system to allow for things like doors or whatever you can imagine. Check out ExampleLevels/animator examples.bytes in the level editor to see a few examples.



For the full changelog and to share feedback, check out the latest experimental branch Steam forum thread:

• http://steamcommunity.com/app/233610/discussions/4/135512931347292871/
  

• Distance PAX East 2017 Hands-On Preview [wccftech]
  
• Distance – Pax East 2017 [IAmThink]
  
• The Cyberpunk Arcade Racer Makes a Strong Showing with Distance [Arcade Sushi]
  
• Interview with Distance at PAXEast 2017 [Split Infinity Radio]
  
• Distance Interview - PAX East 2017 [1 Rule Be Cool]
  
• PAX East 2017 – Day 2 Wrap-up Show [Gamers in Beta]
  
• Going the Distance in a light car, man [SideQuesting]
  
• EA at PAX East 2017: Day 1 [Everything Action]
  
• PAX East 2017 #2: Transformers, Distance, Battlesloths 2025, Tumbleseed [The Young Folks]
  
• The Best of PAX East – Day 2 [Dork Shelf]
  
• PAX East Highlights – Dipped in Neon and Bleeding Synth [The Lifecast]
  

DISTANCE AT PAX EAST

Ellie and I will be heading out to Boston for PAX East next week! We’ll be showcasing a preview of our upcoming beta update at Booth #23131. This update features big changes/additions to Arcade gameplay including improvements to Stunt mode, a first version of the announcer, Steam achievements, and a few other surprises!

Of course it wouldn’t be a Refract booth without some ridiculous over-the-top booth lighting. See above for a mockup of the booth I created using Distance’s level editor. I’ll also be posting previews of the lighting tech on Twitter leading up to PAX.

It’ll just be me and Ellie at this year’s expo, so if possible we’re looking for volunteers to help run the booth. If you’re passionate about Distance and are interested in volunteering some time in exchange for expo access, please contact us at ellie@refract.com.

NEW TEAM MEMBERS

Today I’m excited to announce that Refract has added three new developers to our team! Please join me in welcoming Brent Potter, Galen Heninger, and Kristian Larsen to Distance’s development!

If you’ve been keeping up to date with the Distance community you might know them better as Ashamael, snowstate, and Krispy. They’ve contributed greatly to Distance’s community over the years (on top of creating some incredible level content). We’re excited to now bring them behind the curtain to help complete Distance’s Adventure mode.


(check out Forsaken Shrine for a collaboration between all three creators)

While I can’t yet show the content they’ve been creating for Adventure mode, I recommend checking out their previous works on Steam Workshop. Trust me when I say that the new stuff they’re creating for Adventure mode will be worth the wait.

• Ashamael’s Workshop
  
• snowstate’s Workshop
  
• Krispy’s Workshop
  

• View Updated EULA (March 3rd, 2017)
  

Hey everyone! Want to put your Distance skills to the ultimate test? Tomorrow (Saturday Feb. 18th) the community is holding another tag tournament! Starts 11am PT during the normal Speedy Saturday timeslot.

• WHERE: twitch.tv/splaysh
  
• WHEN: Saturday Feb. 18th, 11am PT / 2pm ET / 7pm GMT
  

• SIGN UP: https://discord.gg/aGXYCBB
  

• Back into the void
  
• Segments
  
• Redline:Volcanic Rush
  
• beyond the horizons
  
• Perfect Storm
  
• ARLTR Four
  
• Vista park
  
• Precognition
  
• Netrento
  
• Impulse
  
• Sector 13 - The Flaw
  
• Crash Cove
  

Hey everyone! At long last I've completed and posted the massive devlog I mentioned previously. If you weren't notified by email, you can still read the entire thing on our website.

• READ: Booting Up 2017 (Devlog)

Merry Christmas to all celebrating today! I couldn't let this year pass without putting together another holiday-themed patch. Nothing too wild, just a main menu update, reindeer antlers and a red nose decoration for the car, plus a couple requested additions.

Check out the changelog below. We hope you're having a enjoyable and fun filled holiday season!

- Jordan (@torcht for more frequent dev updates)
___________________________________________________________________________

THE CHRISTMAS UPDATE: BUILD 5073

Christmas Features

• Added a couple small Christmas decorations on the car (reindeer antlers, red nose, and snow on the screen)
  
• Loading screens once again have been reskinned in a Christmas theme
  
• The default main menu has been changed to the Christmas main menu
  
• Added General settings option to enable/disable Christmas decorations
  

• Added "Shuffle Levels" option in the General options
  
  
  
  • Shuffles both playlists and regular level selection
    
  • Playlist shuffle picks random levels from a set as expected, regular level selection loads the selected level first and subsequent levels will be randomized
    
  • Checkbox is in a temporary location, will likely be moved to level select menu
    
  
  
• Added Main Menu level tag in the Level Editor and modified Garage level selection to only show main menu levels
  
• Slightly improved the visuals of "Main Menu (Christmas)" and "Main Menu (Horror)"
  
• Added "Main Menu (Traditional)" in case you want to move back to the old main menu
  

(a small taste of fzeroman's Radical Highway)

As 2016 draws to a close, the Distance community is celebrating the completion of another successful Distance Advent Calendar! The third iteration of this annual Distance tradition is inarguably the most impressive one yet, and I think all the participants will agree it's been a blast. We hope you've enjoyed the festivities as much as we have!

BY THE NUMBERS

This year's event has featured, to date:

• 26
  
• 1 super-awesome tag tournament
  
• 2 sweet teasers
  
• 1 festive mashup
  
• 1 bad meme
  

(check out Backgrounds' 'making of' timelapse video for the level Join)

Hi all! I hope everyone has been enjoying The Ghost Update. If you're joining us after a bit of a hiatus, welcome back! Obviously the update was a long time coming (and a bit overly ambitious), but seeing the positive reaction to all of the new stuff has been exciting.

After shipping the update, getting the word out, and putting out a couple tiny fires I had to take a couple days to catch my breath. My next project has been to wrap up (and trim down) the stupidly long devlog/newsletter I've been writing. It discusses our thoughts on Distance's release timeline, Adventure mode experimentation, PS4 development, and more. It'll be out as soon as it's ready, but I'm trying to get it out ASAP.

Newsletter sign-up: http://survivethedistance.com/

DISTANCE ADVENT CALENDAR - WEEK 3

Of course the update is not the only fun thing happening this month. Distance Advent Calendar (DAC) is entering its final few days! Thanks to Krispy, Skirmisher, and Ashamael for writing the last three DAC posts. Now it's my turn to give some thoughts on the latest DAC releases.

Don't know what Distance Advent Calendar is? Check out the announcement post!

#15: Join - Backgrounds'

Another classic Backgrounds level, employing an incredibly imaginative use of in-game assets to create a hostile, alien environment. A bit brutal gameplay-wise which forces you to slow down quite a bit, but as a side effect it's easier to take in the detailed visuals. I'll be excited to examine of the various sculptures up close in the editor at some point.

#16: White Land GX - Phimeek

A really cool concept and great execution from Phimeek. Instead of remaking a level from F-Zero GX, this level is an attempt to create a snowy environment as the GX designers might have created. Great high-speed gameplay with an intense sense of speed, solid consistent visuals, and the snowy feel is icing on the cake.

#17: STABLE UPDATE GLORY

To focus on the Ghost Update launch, no level was released on day #17. Quite a magical day for me seeing 7 months of work finally released an official package. Thanks again to everyone that has been cheering us along all year as we took on the ridiculously most ambitious projects in this project yet. It was great to finally celebrate a proper release with everyone.

#18: Challenge Pack #2!

• Impossibility by Jay2a -
  
• Super Super by Backgrounds' -
  

At long last, we're excited to bring The Ghost Update to the default branch! For a quick summary check out the trailer below (and sure to watch all the way through for a surprise!). It features ghost racing, a replay viewer, official HTC Vive support, an increased online player limit, a new stats system, and tons of other improvements!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFv2rA-y4DA
It's been quite an adventure reaching this build. The Ghost Update is easily our most ambitious update so far. Only took 17 experimental builds and 579 revisions to reach it! Thanks to those who braved the experimental branch and gave feedback over the past few months.


(race against your friends' ghosts, times near you, or the global best)


(the replay viewer allows for HUD-less viewing of any leaderboard time)

I'm keeping this post short but sweet for today, but soon I'll be emailing out a much longer devlog discussing The Ghost Update, Adventure mode, and future plans. If you'd like make sure you're not missing out, sign up on our website near the top left:

Newsletter sign-up: http://survivethedistance.com/

Although this is a major release, we don't expect everything to work perfectly and we still hope to hear your thoughts! Scroll down for the full changelog. We hope you enjoy all of the latest additions and changes!

- Jordan (@torcht for more frequent dev updates)
____________________________________________________________________________

THE GHOST UPDATE: BUILD 5070

New Replay/Ghost System

• Added ghost racing
  
  
  
  • Added option to race against Local, Friends, Global, or Near Me ghosts by default when playing a level in Arcade mode
    
  • When using the "Near Me" option, ghosts are now re-downloaded if a new leaderboard place is obtained
    
  • Ghosts now fade in after the race start to hide outline during intro
    
  • When racing against selected ghosts, your current playthrough won't be added on restart
    
  
  
• Added replay viewer
  
  
  
  • After completing a map in a solo mode, click View Replay to view your run
    
  • Switch to any camera view including a free camera (use +, -, 0 to adjust FOV)
    
  • Adjust replay speed from 1/16x to 16x
    
  • Toggle HUD to show / hide / hide and hide names
    
  • Pause, seek forward, or seek backward a few seconds
    
  • Click on speed slider to change speed of replays
    
  • Click or scrub along the time slider to jump to a point in the replay
    
  • Added blink effect when skipping time
    
  • SFX and music are affected by replay speed
    
  • Time and replay progress meter correspond to the replay in focus
    
  
  
• Added a system to be able to upload and download replays for Steam global leaderboards
  
• Added ability to view multiple replays or race against multiple ghosts from the leaderboard menu within level select
  
• Changed wording in the level select menu to indicate where Ghosts and Replays can be found, as well as indicate that only your top 20 results are now stored locally
  
• Added listing for ghosts in match results screen (so you can see how you directly compare)
  
• Names of close cars now fade out in spectate and replays, to prevent name overlapping, especially at the start of a replay with multiple cars
  
• Added "Replay" options menus which allows for choosing which ghosts are auto-downloaded, name visibility, whether or not playback speed impacts music, etc.
  

• Added Arcade level progression system
  
  
  
  • In Arcade, levels must now be unlocked by earning medals
    
  • If you improved your time/score after completing a map a special screen will appear showing how well you did
    
  • If you already earned the necessary medals before this update, levels will be auto-unlocked
    
  
  
• Added statistics system
  
  
  
  • We added a system behind the scenes to collect a wide number of stats about your play style
    
  • Added a Stats tab in the results screen so you can see the stats from that match
    
  • Global accumulated stats are visible in the main menu from the Garage button
    
  
  
• Wheels can now be sliced like the rest of the car
  
• Added "Grind" trick which calculates based on scraping without wheels contacting a surface
  
• Updated the way points are displayed on the car in stunt mode, now it is more minimalistic and just displays the number
  
• Updated the way points are displayed everywhere so that commas are displayed in the numbers (1,000 vs 1000) to unify the way they are displayed in the game
  
• When failing a Challenge level, restart is now highlighted by default
  
• Updated StartZone/EndZone Mesh to fix a few holes, and make the physics more closely match the visuals
  
• FOV is now smoothed when changing between camera views
  

• Upgraded the stars in the skybox using real world data from 170,000+ stars
  
• Rewrote Anti-Aliasing. Now there are three options: Off, Fast, and Quality
  
• Anti-aliasing no longer affects stars or the car screen
  
• Enabled fancy noise effect on car death
  
• Removed distortion effect from lightning spawner, since it was causing graphical glitches
  

• Added initial HTC Vive support
  
• Added a VR options menu, with ability to disable VR, and tweak many parameters for comfort versus immersion
  
• Tweaked third-person camera modes in VR to be more usable. World appears smaller when in 3rd person
  
• Added VR camera reset when the headset is put on
  
• Modified camera shake in VR to be less intense; it can also be disabled
  
• Greatly reduced camera movement on explode when in VR
  
• Greatly reduced brightness of windshield effects when in VR
  
• Camera resetting now persists between levels
  
• Added various VR improvements under the hood
  
• Disabled dirty lens effect when in VR
  
• Disabled realtime-reflections when in VR
  
• Removed Chaperone for SteamVR/Vive
  

• Added Garage button in the main menu
  
  
  
  • Move the setting of car colors from Profile options to here
    
  • Added the ability to view Global stats here
    
  • Added the ability to set a main menu level per profile
    
  
  
• Added Next Level button to the pause menu
  
• Added a Units value to General Options so players can choose between Imperial and Metric units
  
• Improved loading time of main menu
  
• Dramatically improved Level Select Menu load times by rewriting underlying systems
  
• Added ability to toggle Results Screen visibility
  
• Added scrolling to match results
  
• Now the standings text will update itself dynamically while it is displayed instead of it just updating when it first pops up
  
• Made it so when viewing leaderboards in the level select it doesn't place your entry at the top of the list unless you are #1
  
• Improved error text when a Steam Workshop file fails to download
  
• Improved scrolling through global entries in Level Select leaderboard
  
• Page up/down buttons are now disabled when not usable in the Level Select menu
  
• Added input action in Controls menu for toggling results and replay menu visibility
  
• Inverted black colors of Start and Select button prompt text
  
• Refactored level loading so that Distance can still animate when loading a level
  
• Updated the loading screen with a circular progress bar
  
• Moved options menu so the bottom option isn't so close to the bottom of the screen
  
• Added support for time to be displayed as days (e.g. the stats screen)
  

• Improved performance of the editor (may see better framerate when editing large levels)
  
• Improved the display names in drop down enum lists for the Level Editor
  
• Improved the algorithm for generating medal times in Level Settings of levels being created in the Level Editor
  
• Added the ability for WorldText to set the font that the text uses
  
• Object centerpoints and names are now displayed correctly in orthographic mode
  
• Updated centerpoints, names, and light icons to improve performance
  
• EmpireBuilding3 now has a correct reflection map
  

• Max player count for online matches is now 12 players
  
• Cars now all spawn in the same location in online play
  
• Dramatically optimized cars so that many can be shown on screen without a performance drop
  
• Added fade in to network car outlines
  
• KillGrid now supports Net Cars for Online play
  

• Improved medal times on Official Sprint and Challenge levels
  
• The last used spectator camera type is now saved
  
• Slightly optimized level loading times
  
• Added a new system for caching level information to improve initial startup time a bit
  
• Changed min FOV on spectate/replay free cam to 30°
  
• Spectate and track cams no longer have radial blur or chromatic aberation based on car speed
  
• Improved awkward camera when failing a challenge level
  
• Improved awkwardness when there is no player to spectate after finishing
  
• Car colors are now clamped for multiplayer and replays
  
• Added cap for global car sound effects to reduce clutter (i.e. only 6 of any car sound effect like boost, jump, jets, etc. can be heard at once)
  
• Reduced memory leak in Logitech code for input
  
• Reduced both CPU and GPU memory footprint
  
• Updated Steam backend API to Steamworks.NET
  
• Updated to Unity 5.4. This adds a possible optimization on the CPU side, so you might see better framerates
  

• Fixed Gravity Toggle issues in Aftermath
  
• Fixed situation where car would sometimes get stuck halfway through the road
  
• Fixed bug where particles could disable anti-aliasing on pixels they touch
  
• Fixed bug where Linux wouldn't have working pulsing lights in level Negative Space
  
• Fixed bug where cubemap on some golden simples were incorrectly set
  
• Fixed bugs where splitscreen didn't work with Trackmogrify
  
• Fixed bug where Distance was broken in Steam offline mode
  
• Potentially fixed issues with Workshop level Update/Publish
  
• Fixed zFighting on various objects (e.g. EmpireBuildingBlock003)
  
• Fixed capitalization issue with Seed/Level text in Game Lobby
  
• Fixed being able to switch between cars in spectate
  
• Fixed bug where death messages were not being sent to all online players properly
  
• Fixed bugs with trick text fading when doing tricks
  
• Fixed bug where bloom was intense after leaving quarantine zone
  
• Fixed bug where enabling motion blur disabled anti-aliasing
  
• Fixed bug where Reverse Tag bubble collision wouldn't trigger when far away from the host player
  
• Fixed many resource leaks that potentially caused crashes
  
• Fixed bug with lens flares not being visible
  
• Improved the way in which Cubemaps were rendered, which was causing a substantial memory leak
  
• Fixed bug where particles preview didn't work in the level editor
  
• Fixed bug where selecting all/no replays in the leaderboard makes the selected entry unreadable
  
• Fixed bug where real-time reflections on the car looked too bright in many scenarios
  
• Fixed quality issues on NoiseStorm skybox
  
• Fixed bug when toggling the level editor with '~' in the pause menu
  
• Fixed bug where TurnLightOnNearCar component was being affected by scale
  
• Fixed bug where backing out of split-screen options could break the level select menu
  
• Fixed bug where the Community Highlight section of the main menu wouldn't update after subscribing to a level in game
  
• Fixed bug where extruding from a spline node attached to a group within the level editor would corrupt levels by not allowing that functionality
  
• Fixed bug where after scrolling through several levels in the level select menu the Friends leaderboard would seem to lag behind the current selection
  
• Fixed bug where global low pass was enabled after mode finish
  
• Fixed bug where you couldn't hold Esc when connecting to Steam Workshop
  
• Fixed bug where invisible network cars still had visible wheels
  
• Fixed bug where a near network car could glow really bright when going through a checkpoint
  
• Fixed issues with changing tabs in Garage (weird color changes were happening)
  
• Fixed bug where the Steam Workshop update would fail to fully update all levels after a single file had failed
  
• Fixed bug where deleting unsubscribed files after a Steam Workshop update would fail to properly clear all unsubscribed files
  
• Fixed bug where the car's overheat sound could continue playing after exiting a replay
  
• Fixed bug where reflections on car wheels were incorrect
  
• Fixed bug where car reflections broke if shadow settings were changed during gameplay
  
• Fixed bug where the game would cause SFX to low pass when the car screen is glitching out
  
• Fixed bug where various music tracks would have broken MIDI sequencing (lights flashing at wrong time or not at all)
  
• Fixed specific issues with MIDI lighting being incorrect on Mac and Linux for certain songs
  
• Fixed bug where pause menu wouldn't open sometimes after an online match
  
• Fixed bug where restarting a replay from the pause menu would soft lock the game
  
• Fixed bug where anti-aliasing didn't work when motion blur was enabled
  
• Fixed bug where EmpireEndZone wasn't being rendered properly in the Level Editor Library Tab
  

(the arena used for the tag tournament, revamped)

Another seven levels have been released for the Distance Advent Calendar, which means it's time for another roundup! I've made a few maps for Distance myself, and I'm happy to share my thoughts on the latest tracks released this week. But first, the 2016 Distance Tag Tournament has recently concluded. For those of you who missed it, the vod is here: https://www.twitch.tv/splaysh/v/106611462

If you don't want to spoil the results, go watch the tournament before you keep reading!

Several of the players in the tournament recorded a first-person perspective of them playing, and I've compiled those videos into a handy playlist.

This year's tag tournament had upped production quality, including a new studio and intro scene that made everything flow together really well (when Krispy pressed start at the right time, at least). Thanks to Krispy, Splaysh, Skirmisher, and everyone else who helped organize and upgrade it. Also, special thanks to Refract for pushing out a special emergency build of the game, mid-tournament, to fix the spectator camera for the stream.

Twenty players showed up to compete, and over a hundred watched on the Twitch stream, making the tournament a great success. And after all that competition, only one player was left standing...

JaLK, your new Tag King and Tag Tournament 2016 champion!

After showing off his skill throughout the first two matches, an intense and highly competitive final match left PPPaul in possession of the bubble with only two seconds left on his clock. But JaLK's epic, last-minute steal won what was probably one of the closest games of reverse tag of all time.


(full clip)

Thanks to everyone who participated, and we hope to see you soon for more competitions--there's a rumor that tag tournaments might soon become more than just a yearly thing!

DISTANCE ADVENT CALENDAR - WEEK 2

Don't know what Distance Advent Calendar is? Check out the announcement post!

#8: Particular Journey - PPPaul

I don't want to give spoilers, but what PPPaul's done with this level is nothing short of magical. PPPaul's mastery of the level editor is obvious, and he's made some things in here that even the developers didn't think were possible. Particular Journey takes you through a variety of environments, including a glowing rainbow-neon forest, a lava lake, a forested hillside, and several others. Each is totally different than the last, offering new challenges and new decorations to be amazed by.

#9: Wither - Jay2a

Wither is Jay2a's second addition to DAC, and it's quite a challenging one. Killgrids-as-obstacles is an idea that hasn't been explored before this track, and while it's an interesting one, they are certainly not easy to avoid. Some trial and error may be required, since the killgrids only appear when you get fairly close to them. Wither's visuals are within the standard Distance style, but the eyecatching red-and-white aesthetic gives this level its own unique feel.

#10: scrap brain zone - fzeroman

Fzeroman has a penchant for remaking levels of other racing games in Distance, and this time he's made a tribute to Scrap Brain Zone, a level from the 1991 game Sonic the Hedgehog. Scrap Brain Zone is an industrial world, filled with unique moving obstacles, lightning towers, and many other dangers and decorations that mirror the original. But first and foremost, it's a great Distance track, with solid, challenging gameplay and a retro aesthetic.

#11: The Factory - Plasmawario

I'm not sure what this factory is making, but it's certainly hazardous for cars. Plasmawario's level is an interesting fusion of Tron and industrial themes--bright lines contrast with dark walls, covered by wires and scaffolding. Look out for a few shortcuts to get the best time here.

#12: The Arrival (remake) - Spzi

This level could have been taken straight out of adventure mode, as it perfectly recreates the visuals and style of it. Although somewhat familiar at this point, the execution is so well done that this level is more than worth your time. My one quibble is the unexciting final stretch, but the rest of the level is intense enough to make up for it.

#13: Disorientation - KnightBane

Disorientation is KnightBane's first offering, and although I might be a little biased here, since I helped him make it, I really love the map. It offers tight, transfer-focused gameplay, and a gravity-shifting mechanic borrowed from Xaiier's Directionality. Decorated with blizzards and icy roads, and all surrounded by an abstract, Tron-like mindscape, Disorientation is a treat for the eyes.

#14: Hard Light Transfer - snowstate

Snowstate's maps are always a joy, and Hard Light Transfer is no exception. Set in a starkly beautiful blue-grey world, Hard Light Transfer takes you through the decaying remnants of an advanced city. The namesake hard light bridges are extremely well done, and perfectly complement the transfer-focused gameplay of the map. Hard Light Transfer may be fairly challenging, especially to newer plays, but it's pure quality.

Keep up with the latest DAC releases ! At least one new level daily!

BONUS GOODIES: TOURNAMENT LEVEL UPDATED

I updated and upgraded the map that was used for the tag tournament! It features sick new particles, an entirely custom skybox with stars, nebulae, and the moon, an ocean surrounding the arena, a redone color scheme, and a bunch of other minor changes to the visuals of the level. The gameplay remains almost entirely unchanged however, as what Krispy made was pretty much perfect. Check it out here, and enjoy!
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=817970966
Grab some friends and chase them around, hop online and join a server there, and coordinate with other members of the community on our Discord!

-Ashamael

DEV NOTE: Thanks to Ashamael for putting together this great update. I highly recommend watching the whole tournament if you can. It's a real heart-pounder and was a blast to watch live. -Jordan

(some over-the-top action from last year's DAC tag tournament)

The sun has set on the seventh day of December, and a whopping nine levels have been released as part of this year's Distance Advent Calendar! Lots of talented community members have contributed to the event, and as a longtime player myself, I'd like to recap this week's releases, for those who may have missed them. You'll be hearing from a couple others in the next two weeks writing similar posts.

But, before we get to that:

DISTANCE TAG TOURNAMENT: THE FOURTH ONE
It's been a while.

After a lengthy hiatus, the community-driven Tag Tournament is back for another few rounds of competition! Players will be pitted against each other in an original level to be revealed at the event, eliminating each other until one is crowned Tag (King|Queen|Emperor). The whole thing will be streamed live on Saturday, December 10, beginning at 11 AM PST! Krispy and Splaysh are sure to crank out some extra-juicy production for this one.

WATCH HERE: https://www.twitch.tv/splaysh
SIGN UP TO COMPETE HERE: Inquire on the Distance Discord server.

Hope to see you there, one way or the other!

Did you know? Normally at this time on Saturdays, the community hosts a multiplayer event where everyone can join and play! It's called Speedy Saturday, and you can find out about it and link up with other players on the Distance Discord above.

DISTANCE ADVENT CALENDAR - WEEK 1

Don't know what Distance Advent Calendar is? Check out the announcement post!

#1: Distance Galaxy - Platoonsgt1


The opener of this year's DAC is of a scale nothing short of stellar. Distance Galaxy is a massive level, spanning five unique environments across individual "planets". While the level is incredibly long (an average run is 20 to 40 minutes depending on skill level), it's very well-paced and definitely worth your time in my opinion. The interplanetary cannons are a bit fiddly, though.

#2: Today - Backgrounds'


As per usual with Backgrounds' levels, Today is quite thematic, with a backstory to match. It puts its gimmick to good use, combining it with an overall elegant track design and a detailed environment (including some sweet weather effects). It's a smooth ride, though it's possible to miss the checkpoints, so keep an eye out for them.

#3: Tomorrow - Jay2a


Though it hews closer to a traditional Distance track, Tomorrow retains its own aesthetic flavor. The wide, sweeping curves complement the buildings set against the cloudy sky, and the obstacles and occasional road transfers keep you busy...or, dare I say, engaged.

#4: The Day After Tomorrow - Siddey10


The Day After Tomorrow is centered around escaping a superstorm, and as such, it's chock-full of those gorgeous weather effects. The track neatly introduces the car's abilities and has you weaving around barriers, even throwing a couple oddball road transfers in there. Fortunately, this is the final track with the joke naming scheme devised on a whim in the ol' DAC planning chat.

#5: Natural Gift - Phimeek


Natural Gift is very much a nice present from Phimeek, letting you barrel through beautiful forests and caves at what feels like an alarming rate of speed. The track flows exceedingly well; there are several road transfers that feel amazing when you nail 'em just right. Plus it's got more rain and water. It's so pretty, I love it.

#6: Challenge Pack #1!


This year, DAC includes a couple of Challenge Packs, where multiple creators push out Challenge levels on the same day to breathe new life into the neglected game mode. Here's our first set:

• Widening Transfers by MCrekna1 - A simple track executed elegantly. You're presented with many wall-to-wall road transfers, but the tracks keep getting farther apart! Use of the grip ability in midair is advised.
  
• Cyberspace by Mafn - A very tight track focused on numerous transfers in quick succession. There are many paths, but all of them require being very dextrous with the car. Not for the faint of heart.
  
• Trapped Under Ice by fzeroman - A lengthy endurance level, in the classic fzeroman style. The titular ice-trapping comes across well through the environment design. Consists of many, many pop-up blockers, sometimes unfair ones; you'll crash several times attempting this one.
  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rt3_Une0z-U
What is this madness?

The Distance Advent Calendar (DAC) is a community driven event that started 3 years ago, back when the game wasn't yet publicly available on Steam. For the event, the Distance community has come together to make lots of awesome user created levels, which will be released during the 24 days before Christmas!

[/img]
The Factory By Plasmawario, Neo Seoul 2144 By Ashamael, Radical Highway By Fzeroman

In addition to all the levels, the calendar also brings the annual tag tournament, where all the carkour masters will be able to duke it out for the title of Tag King, live on Twitch!

How can I keep up with all these DAC levels,
and how do I sign up for the totally rad tag tournament?

You can keep in the loop about all the awesome stuff we're doing for DAC, as well as sign up for the tournament, by joining the highly passionate Distance community on our Discord server!

Besides making it easy to keep up with DAC, the Discord server is also great for meeting other players, asking questions and setting up multiplayer games!
The DAC levels will also appear in a special section on the Distance Steam Workshop page!

[/img]
Tomorrow and Wither by Jay2a, ????? by Krispy & Ashamael

Feel free to ask me anything regarding the event here on Steam or on Twitter. (@KrispyVG)
We look forward to see you all on Discord and in-game, and happy holidays from everyone behind this years DAC!

- Krispy (not a developer)

(ridiculously epic replay showing the top times on Inferno)

Hi everyone, and Happy Thanksgiving to those celebrating! Today we released build 5007 on the experimental branch. It's essentially a release candidate for the major release (minus a few minor tweaks). Throughout November we powered through some exceptionally tricky bugs that forced us to rewrite a few areas of the game, but we're feeling optimistic about the stability finally being acceptable for a major release.

After this weekend we'll look at the experimental build feedback and determine if any last minute things need to be addressed. If you'd like to try this build early simply check out this thread for more info. See the changelog down below for everything that changed since our last Steam Announcement.

COMMUNITY QUESTION: LEVEL VERSIONING


(top replays for official level 'Dodge' with HUD toggled off)

The replay system is probably the most new complicated system we've added since entering early access. It touches most of the other systems in the game, and we have to ensure it's as complete as possible before launch so that we don't get into a scenario where some detail needs to change and we have to invalidate existing replays. Obviously this still could happen, but we doing our absolute best to avoid that scenario.

Along those lines, we've wanted to support level creators if they want to manually "clear" their leaderboards and invalidate replays for that track. Steam doesn't give us the power to delete or clear leaderboards from within the game, so we have to come up with something different. We're currently debating between two options, and before we commit to one or the other we'd love to hear what the community thinks. Please read both and see if you feel strongly either way:

Option #1: Leave everything it as is. If creators want to "clear" their leaderboards they'll need to upload a new version of their level. Upside is that no leaderboard entries and replays are lost (i.e. players won't be confused when they check the global leaderboards and see that their incredible sub-2:00.00 run was invalidated). Downside is that creators will have a harder time getting old subscribers to check out the latest version of their level (which is apparently quite a bit different).

Option #2: Add the ability on the creator's end to invalidate all previous leaderboard entries and replays. Upside is that creators will maintain subscribers if they change their level dramatically. The downside is that players will lose access to both the old level and any old replays associated with that track. We'd also need to add something in the leaderboard menus that makes it clear when your scores are no longer available (to reduce confusion). It's also quite a bit of work on our part, so technically that's a downside as well.

If you have an opinion either way, let us know what you think in the comments!

EXPERIMENTAL BUILD 5007

General Improvements

• Added listing for ghosts in match results screen (so you can see how you directly compare)
  
• Made it so when viewing leaderboards in the level select it doesn't place your entry at the top of the list unless you are number 1
  
• Reduced memory leak in input code when a controller is connected
  
• Improved error text when a Steam Workshop file fails to download
  
• Added a new system for caching level information to improve initial startup time of Distance a bit
  
• Levels will now be unlocked if you have achieved a local Bronze medal or better on them
  
• Updated loading animation so second half of loading bar represents rendering of cubemaps
  
• Disabled realtime-reflections when in VR
  
• Improved awkward camera when failing a challenge level
  
• Improved awkwardness when there is no player to spectate after finishing
  
• Death camera fades to static slower now
  
• When failing a Challenge level, restart is now highlighted by default
  
• Made it so time display in the stats page supports days
  
• Removed all Halloween features added to the previous build
  
• Creator Version was removed from the Level Settings (it wasn't doing anything helpful at the moment)
  
• Car colors are now clamped for multiplayer and replays
  

• Improved accuracy of replay playback
  
• SFX and music are now affected by replay speed when viewing replays
  
• Added "Playback Speed Affects Music" toggle in Replay options
  
• Dropper drones are now supported in replays (Applies only to replays recorded after this update)
  
• Can click on speed slider to change speed in replays now
  
• Replay menu now shows the time within the replay
  
• Opening/closing the pause menu now doesn't override replay speed when viewing replays
  
• Ghosts are now re-downloaded if a new leaderboard place is obtained
  
• Clicking the "Change Camera" button now changes the camera
  
• Changed "Toggle Menu" to "Toggle HUD" when viewing replays
  
• Fixed bug where replays would finish a little early
  
• Flames and wing trails on ghosts are now affected by the ghost brightness option
  
• Added Seek Forward/Backward buttons in the replay menu
  
• Heat is now reduced any time you seek within a replay (fixes bugs with the overheat sound playing and too much camera shake)
  

• Fixed bug where the Steam Workshop update would fail to fully update all levels after a single file had failed
  
• Fixed bug where deleting unsubscribed files after a Steam Workshop update would fail to properly clear all unsubscribed files
  
• Fixed bug where the car's overheat sound could continue playing after exiting a replay
  
• Fixed bug where reflections on car wheels were incorrect
  
• Fixed bug when toggling the level editor with '~' in the pause menu
  
• Fixed bug where TurnLightOnNearCar component was being affected by scale
  
• Fixed bug where backing out of split-screen options could break the level select menu
  
• Fixed bug where Restart and Next Level were available to non-host players in online matches
  
• Fixed bug where replay count in General settings wasn't working
  
• Fixed bug where the Community Highlight section of the main menu wouldn't update after subscribing to a level in game
  
• Fixed bug where extruding from a spline node attached to a group within the level editor would corrupt levels by not allowing that functionality
  
• Fixed bug where after scrolling through several levels in the level select menu the Friends leaderboard would seem to lag behind the current selection
  
• Fixed bug where global low pass was enabled after mode finish
  
• Fixed bug where you couldn't hold Esc when connecting to Steam Workshop
  
• Fixed bug where invisible network cars still had visible wheels
  
• Fixed bug where a near network car could glow really bright when going through a checkpoint
  
• Fixed issues with changing tabs in Garage (weird color changes were happening)
  

Today we released another build on the experimental branch as we inch closer to our major release. While the meat of the update is focused on bug fixes, we couldn't help but keep up the tradition of including some special Halloween features!



On top of the fixes, this build includes randomly spawned smashable pumpkins, an updated main menu, some small tweaks to the car's visuals, and a new experiment with the car's visuals. When driving into an area where your car's wings are disabled, your car's skin burns away to reveal a spooky secret... a skeleton lives within.



I also updated the main menu with some of our favorite dark, spooky, and/or creepy community-created levels. Check them out!



Check out the changelog below for more details. Hope you have a fun and safe holiday weekend!

EXPERIMENTAL BUILD 4920

Halloween Special Features

• When the car enters a wing corruption zone, a skeleton emerges from within
  
• Changed default main menu level to showcase Spooky Town (arena level)
  
• Randomly generated pumpkins are dynamically placed on the tracks (can be disabled in General Options)
  
• Replays and Leaderboards are not updated when pumpkins are in the levels
  
• Added ghostly laughter sound effects when doing tricks
  
• Added animated spider web to car's top screen
  
• Changed car wheel rim image to feature a jack-o-lantern face
  
• Car headlights now use spider flashlight "cookies"
  

• The online match waiting screen now supports 12 players
  
• The game can now be paused during the results screen or before an online match has started
  
• Improved player/chat colors for 12 online players
  
• Updated level unlock requirements to only require Bronze medal of the previous level
  
• Toggling UI while viewing a replay is now done with "Back" on a 360 controller or "T" on keyboard
  
• Improved multiplayer chat box position/depth in the menus
  
• Multiplayer chat is now hidden when the game is paused
  
• "1ST PLACE" text in results screen is now hidden when only one player is playing
  
• Disabled non-working post-process effects when in VR (DoF, Motion Blur, Radial Blur)
  
• Started work to improve support for 5.1/7.1 surround sound
  
• Trimmed high end frequencies of boost sound effect
  

• Disabled Ambient Change Trigger, use Biodomes instead
  
• Removed brightness limits on lights in the Level Editor
  

• Fixed bug where an error in the Steam download could cancel the rest of queued Steam downloads
  
• Fixed bug where restarting a Trackmogrify level would return to the main menu
  
• Fixed bug where tag bubble would sometimes not follow the player with the bubble
  
• Fixed bug in the Level Editor where restarting from the pause menu would not work
  
• Fixed bug where the Main Menu level couldn't be set in several cases
  
• Fixed bug where outlines didn't display correctly in VR
  
• Fixed bug where objects pop in was more noticeable in levels with lots of fog (e.g. Friction)
  
• Fixed bugs with cubemaps not working in the level editor, and after losing window focus
  
• Fixed bug where "GhostLaughEmitter" wouldn't stop playing between levels
  
• Fixed bug in level select menu where viewing an empty menu (e.g. My Levels) would cause an internal error
  

Hey all! While I've been doing my best to post stuff on Twitter, I've been pushing off this devlog since I figured our next stable release was around the corner. I was off by a bit... but it's because this update is shaping up to be our most ambitious yet.

We've released eight experimental builds since my last devlog, and we're now tracking down the final bugs. When the stable release does eventually happen, I hope to dive deeper into some behind-the-scenes stuff. For now, here's a quick overview for anyone curious.

The Breakdown

For most of 2016 I've been consumed by Adventure mode. I'll go deeper in the next devlog, but let's just say it's been intense. Endless learning, iterating, re-designing, etc. I've having fun though. It just eats up almost all of my time. If you're dying for a preview, here's something I posted recently.

Jason is in a similar situation, except that he's been focused on Arcade mode. After revamping Distance's controls in the previous update he set out to create a fully featured ghost/replay system. It's been a monstrous endeavor. After months of work we now support uploading/downloading ghost replays from the Steam leaderboards that you can race against or just spectate.



To pull this off he needed to significantly modify several underlying systems, and while this resulted in some nice improvements across the game it's also been the source of many bugs. Balancing the system redesigns alongside the continual addition of new features is one of the reasons this stable release ended up being such a massive project.



Watch: Downloading others' replays

Kyle has been bouncing around a bit. After wrapping up the stats system mentioned in the previous devlog, he helped Jason with several features (e.g. replay storage, ghost uploading to Steam leaderboards). For the past couple months I've pulled him onto Team Adventure to help create new level content.

Andrew has also been moving around. His focus is typically split between VR and the PS4 port, though (as always) he's finding clever ways to optimize the game. It's been especially helpful as our new Adventure mode levels are much more detailed than the publicly available versions. On the side he's done a couple cool projects. For example, he upgraded the skybox using data from 170,000 real stars. Looks amazing in VR.



Eddie and Laura had also been largely focused on Adventure mode, though recently they've shifted onto their own secret project. One way or another they're continuing to add content either in the form of new levels or level editor assets.

At this point the upcoming build is essentially feature complete, but there are some tricky issues in multiplayer that need to be addressed. We've been using the IGF submission (October 24th) as an internal deadline for our next Adventure mode candidate, so Kyle and I will be crunching like mad until then. After that it's likely we'll join in helping Jason and Andrew fix whatever issues remain in the build so we can get the stable release out the door.

If you'd like to try the upcoming stable build early, a release candidate is available now on the experimental branch. Here are some of the featured additions:

Major Upcoming Features:

• Ghost/Replay System (race friends/global top times)
  
• Arcade level progression system
  
• Statistics system
  
• HTC Vive support
  
• VR options menu
  
• Upped online player count from 6 to 12 players
  
• More performance optimizations
  

Hey everyone! We just released another build on the experimental branch. It contains previews of new systems like replays, arcade mode level unlocking, the stats system, and more!

Once again this is an experimental build, so make sure to backup personal progress before updating. For the uninitiated: How to access the "experimental" branch

As always we're still pushing forward with Adventure mode behind the scenes, but we wanted to get some of these features out as soon as possible to see how the community feels about them. We'll be building on them based on feedback. Let us know what you think in the forums!

EXPERIMENTAL BUILD 4581

New Stuff

• Added early preview of the Replay System
  
  
  
  • After completing a map in a solo mode, click View Replay to view your run
    
  • Switch to any camera view including a free camera (use +, -, 0 to adjust FOV)
    
  • Adjust replay speed from 1/16x to 16x
    
  
  
• Added Arcade level progression system
  
  
  
  • In Arcade, levels must now be unlocked by earning medals
    
  • If you improved your time/score after completing a map a special screen will appear showing how well you did
    
  • If you already earned the necessary medals before this update, levels will be auto-unlocked
    
  
  
• Added statistics system
  
  
  
  • We added a system behind the scenes to collect a wide number of stats about your play style
    
  • Added a Stats tab in the results screen so you can see the stats from that match
    
  • Coming soon: Steam Achievements based on stats
    
  • Coming soon: Global accumulated stats visible in the main menu
    
  
  
• Misc
  
  
  
  • Added "Next Level" button to the pause menu
    
  • Added the ability to set a main menu level per profile (Options > Profile > Choose Main Menu Level)
    
  • Added "Grind" trick which calculates based on scraping without wheels contacting a surface
    
  • Added a Units value to General Options so players can choose between Imperial and Metric units
    
  
  

• Improved HTC Vive support
  
  
  
  • Camera resetting now persists between levels
    
  • Added 3rd person Copter Cam mode which makes you feel like a giant (works best with a small VR World Scale)
    
  • Added various VR improvements under the hood
    
  
  
• Misc
  
  
  
  • Cars now all spawn in the same location in online play
    
  • Dramatically optimized cars so that many can be shown on screen without a performance drop
    
  • Slightly optimized level loading times
    
  • Updated the way points are displayed on the car in stunt mode, now it is more minimalistic and just displays the number
    
  • Updated the way points are displayed everywhere so that commas are displayed in the numbers (1,000 vs 1000) to unify the way they are displayed in the game
    
  • Now the standings text will update itself dynamically while it is displayed instead of it just updating when it first pops up
    
  • Changed min FOV on spectate/replay free cam to 30°
    
  • Spectate and track cams no longer have radial blur or chromatic aberration based on car speed
    
  • FOV is now smoothed when changing between camera views
    
  
  

• Fixed bug where Distance was broken in Steam offline mode
  
• Potentially fixed issues with random crashes due to Unity 5.4's Graphics Jobs feature
  
• Potentially fixed issues with Workshop level Update/Publish
  
• Fixed zFighting on various objects (e.g. EmpireBuildingBlock003)
  
• Fixed capitalization issue with Seed/Level text in Game Lobby
  

MINOR UPDATE: BUILD 4485 (now 4491)

We just put out a small patch to address some of the issues brought up by players this week. Check out the changelog below for details.

EDIT: Build 4491 is now live on the stable branch. I rolled back our Wwise implementation to a previous version which appears to have fixed audio/loading bugs for many players.

• Level Editor
  
  
  
  • Improvements to Popup Blockers
    
    
    
    • Popup blockers now use their start position for checking distance to the car instead of their position below the road
      
    • Popup distance is now the same regardless of the blocker orientation
      
    • The popup and hologram distance can also now be previewed in the level editor
      
    • This will allow level creators to easily setup close range popups
      
    • Old levels may need to be adjusted for this change
      
    • Popup blockers now have a height multiplier so level creators can offset the amount the blockers will move
      
    
    
  
  
  
  
  • Improved Mouse Click selection (should be easier to select the desired object at close and far distances)
    
  • SelectObjectTool now correctly displays the name of selected object if it is using a custom name
    
  
  
• General
  
  
  
  • Removed VSync (2x) option since it was never helpful
    
  
  
• Bugs Fixed
  
  
  
  • Fixed bug where some levels may fail to load, then the game hangs when returning to the main menu
    
  • Fixed bug where golden simples had zombie material references, causing many visual artifacts
    
  • Improved bounds calculation so spinning objects are less likely to stop spinning when in view
    
  • Subdivided visual mesh on EmpireTunnel to fix issues where you could drive through it strangely
    
  
  

Today we're unleashing The Creativity Update on the stable branch! For a quick summary check out the trailer below. It includes 3 new levels, a new ability, improved camera, Oculus Rift CV1 support, new editor tools, and more!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-OwcGtGkFk
It's been quite an adventure reaching this build, so thanks to those who braved the experimental branch and gave feedback. Though this is a major release, we still hope to hear your thoughts on everything. Scroll down for the full changelog. Also, if you make something in the editor, send it our way!

To celebrate, Distance is 33% off this week. If you'd like to download the patch simply fire up Steam and it should auto-download. We hope you enjoy!

- Jordan (@torcht for more frequent dev updates)

THE CREATIVITY UPDATE: BUILD 4474

Improvements

• New Levels
  
  
  
  • Added new level Friction which teaches the new Grip ability
    
  • Added new level Amusement which shows off the new particle system
    
  • Added new level Uncanny Valley which shows off the new primitive shapes
    
  
  
• Controls
  
  
  
  • Added Grip ability to the car. Gives a high downforce to help control jump timing and sticking to walls and ceilings. Hold the Left Bumper on a gamepad, or Q on the keyboard. Customizable in the Controls options
    
  • On gamepads the Left Stick now rotates the car while in air, or if the grip button is pressed. This allows for easier transfers, making the thrusters more accessible for less experienced players, and more convenient for all players
    
  • Improved default behavior for Steam Controller (it now acts like an XInput device)
    
  • Moved all default controls schemes to unified scheme (removed Advanced / Normal schemes)
    
  
  
• General
  
  
  
  • Updated to Oculus SDK 1.3.2 with Rift CV1 support
    
  • Self-righting now works when jets are disabled
    
  • Added small animation when a car ability fails
    
  • Upgraded menu font to something cleaner
    
  • Upgraded car trick/stats text with a new font
    
  • Upgraded EmpirePosterDetourRightHologram visuals
    
  • Upgraded ability icons with new images
    
  • Added ability icon system on the car screen which shows which ability has been enabled in Adventure mode
    
  • Updated many early levels to not have jets enabled until the jets ability is unlocked
    
  • Updated Wwise to v2015.1.6
    
  • Added a General option for "All Abilities in Adventure Mode" to turn abilities on/off in Adventure mode (temporary solution until we have a system in place to unlock all abilities after completing Adventure mode the first time)*
    
  • The car screensaver now randomly chooses between several presets when going into "screensaver" mode*
    
  • Added support for level playlist saving/loading in the level select menu*
    
  • Reorganized buttons in level select menu for starting a level playlist or removing a level from a list*
    
  • Added "+enableMIDI" launch option which enables MIDI output for Arduino (e.g. +enableMIDI "Teensy MIDI")*
    
  
  
• Graphics
  
  
  
  • Greatly reduced visual banding in the Ambient skybox and Vignetting graphics effect
    
  • Local cars now get priority on rendering the car screen (should make the car screen higher framerate in multiplayer)
    
  • Explosion colors are now tied to car glow*
    
  
  
• Physics
  
  
  
  • Changed how the air drag force on the car is calculated. non-cardinal(diagonal) directions are now higher drag. This helps with countering the wheelie super speed, and also helps ramps be a little more consistent.
    
  • The car is also fastest while driving on the road, and the new grip ability allows you to more easily get back to the road after jumps and transfers.
    
  • Simplified thruster force depletion, now depletes equally, no matter the direction of gravity.
    
  • Removed hard landings and new drag (both were more problematic than helpful)
    
  • Added small delay between wheels leaving the ground and left stick rotation enabling (helps if steering when going off a jump)
    
  • Slightly lowered wing fade in time, and wing drag
    
  • Added spline smoothing to tunnels and other shapes
    
  • Added smoothing to camera pitch / upside-down effect
    
  • Tweaked car acceleration values
    
  • Adjusted jet and drag values
    
  • Made exploding on virus ramps less common
    
  • Car will blow up if it gets wedged between or under objects at high speed
    
  • Reduced car wiggle at high speeds
    
  
  
• Camera
  
  
  
  • Changed how the 3rd person chase camera functions. It now orients slightly towards up with respect to gravity. This will hint the player which direction gravity will pull them if they leave the surface.
    
  
  

• New Features
  
  
  
  • Added LevelImageCamera, for setting where the level's preview image is taken
    
  • Added "Change Track Tool" to change spline segments to a new type (press H)
    
  • Added ability to remove track segments from track calculation
    
  • Added KillGridBox and KillGridCylinder for custom kill grid positioning
    
  • Added SetLevelImageToCurrentViewTool (under "Others")
    
  • Added visual picker for Particle Sprite
    
  • Added tool for moving a track node along the track
    
  • Added support for multi-line string inspection
    
  • Added Track Extrude tool
    
  • Added Merge Track Node tool
    
  • Added "Move Node Along Track" and "Extrude" tools to the move gizmo
    
  • When creating a road piece while selecting a road piece, it will copy the colors of the selected road piece and add it to the end of the selected road piece
    
  • Added tool to mirror objects across cardinal axes*
    
  
  
• General Improvements
  
  
  
  • The PulseAll component is now an addable component and it’s been tweaked to be a bit more user friendly
    
  • Track Manipulator Nodes are now transparent when bigger
    
  • MusicTrigger now uses the list of songs instead of an ID
    
  • Made it so the level editor now saves out the position and orientation of the cursor and camera with level files. When reloading files, users are placed right back where they left off
    
  • MoveCarSpawnerToStartZoneTool now adds a car spawner if it doesn't already exist
    
  • Inspector buttons now work with multiple object selected
    
  • Material color names are now a little more display friendly
    
  • Colors are now pickable on glass materials
    
  • Changed transform scale in the object inspector to use exponential step size*
    
  
  
• Added Simples 2.0
  
  
  
  • Highly adjustable primitive shapes
    
  • Supports material and texture customization
    
  • Collision can be toggled
    
  • Added transparency support
    
  • Added bump map support
    
  • Added world mapping support to allow easy combining of simples to make a blob simple of the same look (like rocks and cliffs for example)
    
  • Added presets to help get started on certain a look
    
  • Added Randomize" and "Randomize A Little" buttons to help achieve interesting looks
    
  • Added ability to copy and paste settings
    
  • Open up and look at the new level Uncanny Valley in the level editor to see examples of the new simples
    
  
  
• Added new particle system
  
  
  
  • Highly adjustable particle system that moves all calculations to the GPU
    
  • Example presets are in the Decorations->Particles folder (e.g. Snow, Rain, Sparks, DiscoDanceFloor, NeonTower, etc.)
    
  • Added the ability to use dynamic components TurnLightOnNearCar and PulseAll
    
  • Added Randomize" and "Randomize A Little" buttons to help achieve interesting looks
    
  • Added CustomName component so level creators can rename particle systems
    
  • Added particle acceleration
    
  • Added Solid, Alpha, and BlendAdd particles
    
  • Added a few more particle textures
    
  • Solid particles now are affected by lights
    
  • When attached to a spline, particles now scale when the road scales
    
  • Added ability to copy and paste settings
    
  • Open up and look at the new level Amusement in the level editor to see examples of the new Particles
    
  
  
• Added new placeable objects
  
  
  
  • Roads/EmpireRoadCap
    
  • Buildings/Infected/VirusBuilding007
    
  • Buildings/Infected/VirusSpire002
    
  • Decorations/EmpireGear001
    
  • Decorations/EmpireGas_Pipe03
    
  • Decorations/EmpireGas_Pipe04
    
  • Decorations/EmpireHexScaffold
    
  • Decorations/RotatingEmpireHexScaffold
    
  • Decorations/Infected/VirusTriPillar001
    
  • Decorations/Infected/VirusArch002
    
  • Obstacles/TunnelCrossBarrier
    
  • Obstacles/TunnelCrossBarrierRotating
    
  • Obstacles/TunnelQuarterBarrier
    
  • Added TrafficPlane and TrafficTube in the Decorations folder
    
  • Added new environment art: VirusBlockerRev02_Diag, EmpireRoadCap, VirusBuilding008, VirusBuilding009, VirusTriPillar001, VirusTriPillar002, VirusBlockerRev01
    
  • Added GlassSplineRoadSideless002, a glass road which can be tweaked to be fully invisible
    
  • Added CooldownTriggerNoVisual, which subtly cools down the car
    
  • Added VirusTunnel to the Roads/Infected/Tunnel folder in the level editor library
    
  • All new Simples in the Simples/ directory
    
  • All new Particles in the Particles/ directory
    
  
  

• General
  
  
  
  • Fixed bug where the car jumps further away when pausing
    
  • Fixed bug that was causing levels to not load properly sometimes if a track node was in a group
    
  • Fixed bug where the car wheel indicators on the screen could display incorrect information
    
  • Fixed bug where wheels could act strange on very large roads
    
  • Fixed bug where controls tutorial prompts wouldn't fade out properly
    
  • Fixed bug where controls indicator (buttons) weren't showing up during tutorial sections after the car reset
    
  • Fixed local leaderboards not saving/loading properly
    
  • Fixed bug where leaderboard times greater than an hour didn't show the hour count
    
  • Fixed bug where getting squished but not having a strong impact could cause the car to blow up on any impact at any time later*
    
  
  
• Level Editor
  
  
  
  • Fixed bug where the Properties tab would become invalid and unusable if it was closed and reopened
    
  • Fixed bug with the cancel button in the level editor (this caused issues when you tried to test a level without a carspawner)
    
  • Fixed bug where Move Along Track tool has issues with moving between segments
    
  • Fixed bug where ungrouping an attachment didn't work fixed bug where a grouped spline got incorrect spline sibling values
    
  • Fixed bug where multi-object inspection didn't work on objects containing multiple components of the same type
    
  • Fixed preview icon for "WorldText" prefab
    
  • Fixed bug where tracks didn't update with small rotations of the track
    
  • Fixed bug where splines might not connect when adding
    
  • Fixed bug where Biodome fogDensity would be set to zero on duplication when fog was disabled in the editor
    
  • Fixed issue where the level editor's farplane wasn't reset after disabling fog in editor
    
  • Fixed bug when duplicating a spline with particles attached
    
  • Fixed bug where Track Nodes wouldn't save their visible and frozen state when going in and out of the level editor*
    
  • Fixed bug where subdivided track node may be the wrong scale*
    
  • Fixed bug where level inspector or object inspector values could become garbled*
    
  
  
• Audio
  
  
  
  • Fixed bug where boost sounds would play even if the boost gadget was disabled but the boost input was pressed
    
  • Fixed bug where boost SFX wouldn't play after coming out of a gravity-less zone
    
  
  
• Multiplayer
  
  
  
  • Fixed bug where network car interpolation wasn't smooth
    
  • Fixed bug where network car positions could be off after going through a teleport
    
  • Fixed bug where the Halloween-themed gates could fail to open in multiplayer
    
  
  

(the new camera logic is kinda mesmerizing)

Hey all, today we released another experimental build! It includes changes to the camera, car physics, and level editor as well as the addition of a new level and Oculus 1.3 support. For the changelog and info on how to access this build, check it out here.

In today’s devlog I’d like to discuss our thoughts on gameplay as we approach the end of development, but before that I’d like to mention a cool charity event coming up.

Distathon



Distance regular / community organizer Fork is raising money for Child's Play in his second annual charity marathon Distathon. For 24 hours straight he'll be playing and streaming Distance on May 7th, starting at 8am CDT. His goal this year is to raise $1,000 and he's got some amazing rewards for donators. We'll be around to cheer him on, so join us in watching the marathon!

More info: http://www.distathon.com

Looking at Rotations

A common complaint we get from controller users is that the "Normal" controls (the default scheme) are easy to learn, but difficult to use when boosting. You can use the bumpers to boost, but it's a bit awkward. Almost all of us devs use the "Advanced" controls scheme which allows rotation to be controlled via the left stick while holding the left bumper to engage "roll mode." We would enable this as the default scheme, but in testing we noticed that it was significantly harder to comprehend car rotations with this method. In the end we enabled Normal controls by default and left Advanced controls as an option if desired. We've read several complaints saying that it was dumb of us to enable the inefficient scheme by default, but in our experience that scheme was so much better at conveying rotations since it was a one-to-one interaction.

Jason and I were talking a few weeks back and we realized that whenever you want to rotate, you're in the air. What if we auto-enabled jets when no wheels were touching the ground? That way you could control the jets without taking your thumb off the left stick, but you wouldn't have to worry about roll mode. It would also finally consolidate Normal and Advanced control schemes into one method.

We implemented it quickly to try it out, and it felt surprisingly intuitive. There were only a couple moments where we felt like we had less control. As quickly as possible we did some testing with players in-person, and the result was undeniable. New players were picking up rotation gameplay better than ever (and we've been testing this type of gameplay since 2010).

In Nitronic Rush, rotational gameplay was actually relegated to a separate mode from Story mode since it was confusing to so many players. If you did figure it out though, there's a good chance that you really enjoyed it. I know it might be hard to comprehend for many people, but the average player has always struggled with rotations. Part of that is due to a non-optimal control scheme and part of it is non-optimal level design and teaching of those mechanics. Up until the release of Nitronic Rush we had similar issues with the flying mechanic. We even had professors telling us to cut it right up until the end. I'm glad we ended up pressing through and found something workable.

In Distance we've been doing our best to strike that balance between intuition and functionality, and I think this new control scheme is our best effort yet. Of course, it did bring up some interesting issues for advanced players. That's when we came up with the Grip ability.

The “Grip” Button

One of the ways I've explained rotational gameplay to new players is that your wheels are magnetic and get more magnetic when moving faster. Of course it's not true at all. Instead, a downward force is applied when you're moving, and it increases with speed. It all happens automatically with the goal of making wall and ceiling rides possible, as well as rotational transitions smoother.

We had contemplated giving some control over this force to the player, and with the new default control scheme we revisited this idea since it could further help players feel a sense of satisfaction by actively "snapping" to a desired surface. We were also somewhat inspired by some of the thruster techniques created by the community.

Grip mode essentially replaces the roll mode from the previous advanced controls scheme. You can either hold LB on the controller or Q on the keyboard and you'll be pushed downward. Not only does this make snapping to surfaces cleaner, it also offers some interesting new level design options available. Here are a couple examples:




The reaction from fresh players in playtesting has been incredibly positive. It helps them feel safer in clinging to walls, and they found the new gameplay ideas interesting. The grip button also solves a problem we noticed with our new control scheme. If you want to use jets while sitting on a road (e.g. tight turns or road hugging), gripping allows the same functionality.



At the same time we wanted to make it sure it couldn't be abused easily, so it's effectiveness is quickly reduced after initially holding the button. You'll be able to use it to do a quick adjustment, but you can't float infinitely with it. It's all a massive balancing act, and Jason is doing his best to balance functionality with fun factor.

In today’s exp. build we included a new level called Friction. It demonstrates the new techniques as shown above. Try it out and see what you think!

Improved Camera

Following the theme of improving things for new players, Jason also took some time to make the camera much more dynamic. It now gives you a much better sense of where gravity is by factoring in the global up vector into the rotation. In other words, it gives you a better subconscious understanding of when you're doing wall or ceiling ride. It also just looks way cooler. It's a bit hard to explain, so here it is in action:





Our Thoughts on Thrusterboosting

There are a lot of changes in today’s build, but one of the biggest changes is that thrusterboosting's effectiveness has been greatly reduced. I’d like to take a minute to express our team’s thoughts on this. If you’re one of many who don’t know what I’m talking about, feel free to skip ahead.

Thrusterboosting has pretty much always been (in the team's opinion) an exploit of the car physics. If you want to close a big gap in Distance, you need to do a long jump or deploy the wings. The "carve your own path" and "create your own shortcut" gameplay is exciting to us from the perspective that you're usually driving on the road. While thrusterboosting is an interesting physics manipulation, it was never in our design that a player could easily float across levels. Also interesting: after many hours of practice no one on our team can reliably perform the thrusterboosting technique (and that's after thousands of hours of playing Distance).

Watching someone thrusterboost also looks glitchy and non-intuitive to us. Since it's usually the fastest technique to finish a level, most of the top leaderboard times will be filled with thrusterboosting ghost replays in our new replay system. Even if we were to somehow teach the technique, we foresee an incredible amount of frustration from new players who view those replays in confusion.

We do understand that thrusterboosting brings a sense of satisfaction to some players, but we can't in good conscious support such a powerful exploit that only a few are able to possess. We know that it might be a disappointing stance to some, after months of internal discussions it is how we feel about this issue. Balancing high level gameplay has easily been one of the greatest challenges of this development, and we appreciate those who have kept a cool head throughout this ongoing discussion.

Simples 2.0

Following the success of the particle system, Andrew has been hard at work further enabling level creators. Based on community feedback we added something called "simples" last year which were simple primitive shapes that can be used to create, well basically anything.


(the old Simples 1.0 options)

Going along with the "simple" mentality, they were optionless objects. Over time we would hear specific requests for more simples with collision enabled, or a different visual style. Instead of continually adding to a massive list of objects, Andrew thought up the idea to create simple shapes with highly adjustable materials. Thus, the "Golden Simples" were born.


(Simples 2.0, with tons of shapes and presets to choose from)



(and here are couple examples of the new Simples in action)

They're magical. I'm starting to use them in Adventure mode and it's a bit overwhelming how many possibilities have been opened up. As usual I expect the community to put them through the ringer, and you know I can't wait to play those levels.

Quick Note on Bug Reports

I know this devlog is getting a bit long, but I also wanted to mention a couple things regarding bug reports. If you read our changelogs you'll see that we've been fixing bugs as best we can, though we've been a bit behind on marking bugs as fixed in the Uservoice system. Our thought process is that while in early access, experimentation comes first, stability comes second. We will do our best to fix game breaking issues as they arise, but our priority while in early access is to experiment with gameplay, content, and features, especially when releasing experimental builds.

If you haven't received a response to your bug on Uservoice, know that we do our best to read every output log and crash report. It just might take some time to respond with a fix. I've updated our Uservoice page to reflect our intentions. Special thanks to Skirmisher for recently helping us catch up on old bugs. Once the stable build is launched we plan to update Uservoice with the latest fixes.

The Replay System (Preview)

Finally, if you made it this far, I have a bit of a treat for you. Jason has graciously allowed me to post some early screenshots of the replay system. Once we feel satisfied with the new gameplay and camera changes he'll be finishing it up. I'm just excited as many of you are to see this come to light.


(here I am racing against ghosts from my local profile and others’)


(you’ll be able to view replays for this track from the result screen)


(when watching replays you have access to all spectator cameras, as well as the ability to fast forward, rewind, etc.)

Adventure Mode

On top of the aforementioned madness, we have been making fantastic progress with Adventure mode. The playtesting I mentioned existed for both testing of the new controls as well as story content. At this point it's 18 levels, and takes a bit under 1.5 hours to complete. The reaction to the current story is better than I guessed despite how clumsy it gets at moments. I was super jazzed to hear that the ending (finally) felt climatic, and we noticed engagement during story-centric moments was reasonably high. What's actually going on in the story is still muddled for many, so we have a ways to go there, but it feels like we're on a good path. We have some new techniques in place for gaining your attention, so now it's all about capitalizing on those moments. For those that claim to not care so much for story and just want gameplay, the story didn't seem get in the way of their enjoyment.

I've been going light on marketing efforts lately, largely because I'd prefer to focus my efforts closer to launch. To kick things off I'm hoping to release a strong story mode teaser that will be everyone's first look at the new content. We still have a ways to go before I think the major story beats are locked in, but I think we're not far off.

Anyways, we've been hitting things hard and it's been paying off. I'm incredibly proud of what's been accomplished by the team in these past couple months. Once we feel satisfied with the new physics changes a rather large stable build release will be on the horizon!

- Jordan (@torcht for more frequent dev updates)

(random particle generation, it's fun)

Hi all! Just wanted to do a quick post covering our new experimental build. This build is essentially a release candidate for a major release at the end of this month (assuming that no major issues arise from feedback).

Feature-wise we're still pretty focused on the level editor as we add new tools to create Adventure mode. We also added a ton of really clever tools suggested by the community.

Experimental Build 4259 - Mar. 12th

• Improvements
  
  
  
  • [Physics] Car will blow up if it gets wedged between or under objects at high speed
    
  • [Physics] Reduced car wiggle at high speeds
    
  • Local cars now get priority on rendering the car screen (should make the car screen higher framerate in multiplayer)
    
  
  New Assets
  
  
  
  • Added TrafficPlane and TrafficTube in the Decorations folder
    
  • Added new environment art: VirusBlockerRev02_Diag, EmpireRoadCap, VirusBuilding008, VirusBuilding009, VirusTriPillar001, VirusTriPillar002, VirusBlockerRev01
    
  • Added GlassSplineRoadSideless002, a glass road which can be tweaked to be fully invisible
    
  • Added CooldownTriggerNoVisual, which subtly cools down the car
    
  
  
• Level Editor
  
  
  
  • Added "Change Track Tool" to change spline segments to a new type (press H)
    
  • Added traffic track types to ChangeTrackTypeTool
    
  • Added ability to remove track segments from track calculation
    
  • Added KillGridBox and KillGridCylinder for custom kill grid positioning
    
  • Added SetLevelImageToCurrentViewTool (under "Others")
    
  • Added visual picker for Particle Sprite
    
  • Added tool for moving a track node along the track
    
  • Added support for multi-line string inspection
    
  • Added Track Extrude tool
    
  • Added Merge Track Node tool
    
  • Added "Move Node Along Track" and "Extrude" tools to the move gizmo
    
  • Added CooldownTriggerNoVisual object
    
  • Added LevelImageCamera, for setting where the level's preview image is taken
    
  • Track Manipulator Nodes are now transparent when bigger
    
  • MusicTrigger now uses the list of songs instead of an ID
    
  • Made it so the level editor now saves out the position and orientation of the cursor and camera with level files. When reloading files, users are placed right back where they left off
    
  • MoveCarSpawnerToStartZoneTool now adds a car spawner if it doesn't already exist
    
  • Improved the particle system
    
    
    
    • Added Randomize" and "Randomize A Little" button on particles
      
    • Added new particle prefabs (Cloud, DeathSpiral, Disease, Dreamwave, Dust, Leaves, RedFeathers, SimpleSpiral, VortexTunnel)
      
    • Added CustomName component to Particle objects in the level editor so level creators can rename custom particle systems
      
    • Added new particle images
      
    • Added particle acceleration
      
    • Added Solid, Alpha, and BlendAdd particles
      
    
    
  
  
• Bug Fixes
  
  
  
  • Fixed bug where network car interpolation wasn't smooth
    
  • Fixed bug where network car positions could be off after going through a teleport
    
  • Fixed bug that was causing levels to not load properly sometimes if a track node was in a group
    
  • Fixed bug where Move Along Track tool has issues with moving between segments
    
  • Fixed bug where the Halloween-themed gates could fail to open in multiplayer
    
  • Fixed bug where ungrouping an attachment didn't work fixed bug where a grouped spline got incorrect spline sibling values
    
  • Fixed bug where the car wheel indicators on the screen could display incorrect information
    
  • Fixed bug where multi-object inspection didn't work on objects containing multiple components of the same type
    
  • Fixed preview icon for "WorldText" prefab
    
  • Fixed bug where tracks didn't update with small rotations of the track
    
  
  

Hi everyone! Before I dive into some of my thoughts on this past month of development, I want to highlight some of the latest and greatest community levels! The main menu has been updated to feature the following amazing tracks:

• Abandoned City (by ~HarrisoN~)
  
• Assimilation (by Deadlock)
  
• BIOPUMP (by benhall8800)
  
• Core (by Deadlock)
  
• Hemoglobin (by Otze)
  
• I'm a box (by TenTo)
  
• Lava_Whatever (by Fork)
  
• Lion's Sandbox (by FREDDY)
  
• Mario Raceway (by NekreS)
  
• #Meme Monday Basic Version (by fzeroman)
  
• Panic Paroxysm (by CyclopsDragon)
  
• Parallax (by snowstate)
  
• Sector 77 (by Falcon)
  
• Trackmania Trials (by PPPaul)
  
• Zer0 bin0pse - Hapax (by Sperzieb00n)
  

GOTO 1

The particles are great example of this. Andrew originally worked on the particle system as a solution to poor performance from Unity's particles, while simultaneously giving us new options for level designs. As his system grew, I got super inspired and created a new Adventure mode level that goes insane with particles. Based on feedback from the team and the community (many thanks btw!) he's continued to improve the system and it's dramatically expanded our design possibilities. See the GIF above for a look at some new options.

We're getting darker and more mysterious with every iteration. I'd love to talk about the specifics of what we're creating, but with a short campaign it's really easy to spoil the coolest moments. I've been developing a couple levels, but my primary focus has been on crafting memorable story moments and audio design. For example, here's a short preview of new music:

Forge (music preview): https://soundcloud.com/torcht/forge-preview/s-oqkxs

While our options are limited in terms of developing characters, I think we're finally finding some clever ways to generate a satisfying sense of mystery through minor exposition. At the end of the day (with the path we've chosen) it would be tough to get across a deep narrative, but that's never really been our goal. Instead we're aiming to take you on a minimalist adventure that prompts some interesting questions.

Kyle, Eddie, and Laura have been tackling new level content and pushing our editor to its limits. Here's a taste of the new content created this year:







We've also been a doing a great job of distracting Jason from his work on the replay system with our editor feature requests. Here's a few of his new features:


(add a preview camera marking position/rotation)


(swap road types of selected roads)


(added extrude tool to the move gizmo)


(added tool for moving a track node along the track)

We're getting close to releasing a stable build with these editor features and some bug fixes. There are just a few more things we want to finalize in the particle system and track system before then.

As we creep toward our launch window there's so much stuff we want to pack into the final version. It's rapidly approaching the point where we have to make some hard calls as to what makes the cut. Until GDC (mid-March) I believe our primary focus will remain on creating level content, and afterward we'll take a break to finalize arcade/multiplayer modes and features. It's always been our goal to prioritize quality over quantity, and that will remain our mentality as we approach the intense final months.

Check out all of the highlighted Workshop levels and let us know what you want to see highlighted next. Stay tuned for news about another experimental build leading up to the next major stable release!

- Jordan (@torcht for more frequent dev updates)

Hi everyone! Today we released a new build on the experimental branch. It includes new editor features, several new decoration objects, and best of all our new dynamic particle system.

Before we launch the particle system officially we wanted to give the level creation community a chance to give feedback. It's opened up some amazing possibilities for Adventure mode content, but I'm even more excited to see what some of you can do with it.

Warning: For those new to Distance, experimental builds are unstable builds with the latest features for early testing. Read about accessing it here.

Experimental Build 4183 - Jan. 30th

(community level "Striker" by Phimeek)

Happy 2016! As you may have noticed we've removed the Christmas decorations this week with a new patch. While this update is relatively small, we did toss in a few improvements.

Build 4139 - Jan. 7th

Merry Christmas! We have a special surprise for you today... We decided to join in on Distance Advent Calendar and release three new levels from the dev team! You can download them in the Refract Stocking Stuffer collection!

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=583632095
Le Teleputo (by Jason Nollan)
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=583570283
California Cruise (by Kyle Holdwick)
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=583529731
Cursed Mountain by (Andrew Nollan)
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=581815492
2015 has been endlessly inspiring as the community level creators continually raise the bar. We had a lot of fun tackling some ambitious ideas in these tracks, and we can't wait to hear what you think of them.

DISTANCE ADVENT CALENDAR FINALE

As a final reminder, Distance Advent Calendar ends today! Over the holidays go play through all 25 Distance Advent Calendar levels as soon as you have a chance. You won't regret it.

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=581860592
SEE YOU NEXT YEAR!

Time for us to take a break to recharge. Thanks for being a part of this wild year. Bring on 2016.

- Jordan (@torcht for more frequent dev updates)

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! Today we released the Christmas update (build 4122) which features some fun little touches, new editor tools, and several optimizations!

Build 4122 - Dec. 23rd

Bug Fixes

• Fixed bug where some objects would have a flickering outline on them, caused by fog (DX9)
  
• Made it so the ScaleTool won't allow scaling down to 0 anymore fixing potential bugs
  
• Fixed bug where motion blur made bloom dimmer
  
• Fixed bug with directional lights shutting off on restart in older levels
  
• Fixed bug where the text in the Game Lobby level field would pop up and down when a long name was in the field
  
• Fixed bug where player outlines in multiplayer were dim
  
• Fixed shader so ancient Battery Building doesn't have draw order issues
  
• Fixed car reflection bug on restart in Linux and OS X
  

See more images of the Distance reindeer car in action here: http://imgur.com/a/sZSRa

REMINDER: DISTANCE ADVENT CALENDAR



This year's community-run Distance Advent calendar is quickly coming to a close! We highly recommend playing through the unbelivably amazing levels submitted so far. The final few levels will be released leading up to Christmas Day. Keep up the fantastic work creators!

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=581860592
NEXT UP

We had some lofty plans for this update which didn't quite make in time, but fortunately a lot of the hard work for these systems is out of the way. I've been attempting to upgrade our Steam backend which allows us to finally implement stuff like proper Steam Controller and Steam Cloud support. I hope to ship upgraded Steam support early next year.

Jason also made some great progress on the replay system but it also wasn't quite ready. We hope to finalize some of the replay interface next year and get out a version as soon as possible for feedback.

We also recently streamed a bit of our updated Adventure mode running on PS4. If you'd like a taste of the new content (or just want to see the game run on PS4) I've decided to share Icebound's re-host of the stream. It only shows a few upgraded levels from the start of Adventure mode, but it should give a feel for what we've been developing. Obviously this video is a SPOILER if you're wanting to remain pure before the final version is released.

POTENTIAL ADVENTURE MODE SPOILERS! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2EajtGadBjE
Keep being awesome and we'll see you next year!

- Jordan (@torcht for more frequent dev updates)

DISTANCE ADVENT CALENDAR

Hi all. Before I jump into devlog mode I want to make a couple notes. It's finally December which means it's time for Distance Advent Calendar! In this community-run event, level creators have banded together to share a new level each day during December. We can't wait to see what debuts this year. Check out the trailer by Splaysh and get the levels here.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=x_znu8n7_EA
On top of creating the art for each Distance Advent Calendar level (like the one above), Jam~ created some brilliant Distance-themed gift tags! Seriously, so good.

Distance-themed gift tags:

• http://imgur.com/Ruw2WYD (scroll for pdf link)
  

(updated main menu, are you watching closely?)

Happy Halloween! As has become an annual Distance tradition, a small Halloween-themed patch has been released. Aside from some minor improvements and bug fixes, we brought back randomly generated smashable pumpkins, decorated the car with some spooky decals, and while we're at it... added a new prototype car!




The new prototype car can be selected in the Options > Profile > Custom Car Colors menu. Instead of wings, a double jump is enabled. This combined with the lack of car screen HUD makes for quite a challenge. The name "Skeletron" is temporary, so if you have a better name suggestion we'd love to hear it!




We added randomly generated pumpkins for fun, which might be placed anywhere that there's a track. There's also a couple small additions to the car screen and wheel.



Finally, this update includes access to our new dynamic fog system! Check out the full changelog below for more details. We hope your Halloween is filled with just the right amount of spookiness. Have fun and stay safe!

Build 4019 - Oct. 31st

• Updated main menu for halloween (new logic and level content)
  
• Added Skeletron car, selectable in the car customization menu
  
• Added spiderwebs to car screen and spider image on wheelPOV
  
• Added info for how far you are into a playlist on the results screen
  
• Added support for using multiple controllers on menus simultaneously
  
• Improved splitscreen menu
  
• Adjusted steering on car to be more sensitive at very high speeds, and less sensitive at low speeds
  
• Added mathematically correct steer angles on front wheels (Ackermann Steering Geometry)
  
• Reduced sparks and impact noises when driving through tight loops
  
• Made skidmarks less prominent when losing traction due to insufficient downforce
  
• Improved traction slightly on cars missing wheels
  
• Car engine sounds are now 2D when close so that cockpit view / VR has stereo
  
• Decreased the IPD in VR mode, so the car and everything else appears bigger
  
• Added new Level Editor assets
  
  
  
  • Buildings/Infected/VirusWall001
    
  • Buildings/Infected/VirusWall002
    
  • Buildings/Infected/VirusWall003
    
  
  
• The following changes have been made to Level Settings editable in the Level Editor:
  
  
  
  • Ambient Color has been replaced with 3 colors: Sky, Equator, and Ground
    
  • The following have been added to Skybox settings
    
    
    
    • Added Ambient Skybox, which has the colors of the Ambient settings, and a sun corresponding to the scene's directional light
      
    • Skybox Hue - Adjusts the skybox's hue, so it isn't always tinted blue
      
    • Skybox Saturation - Adjusts how colorful the skybox is
      
    • Skybox Exposure - Adjusts how bright the skybox is
      
    • SkyFadeDistance - the distance from the far clip plane at which the level starts fading into the skybox. This helps reduce the appearance of clipping
      
    • SkyboxFogAmount - How much of an effect that fog has on the skybox
      
    
    
  • The following have been added to Fog settings
    
    
    
    • Fog Brightness - Fog can now be brighter than 1
      
    • Fog Density - An easy way to adjust how powerful the fog is
      
    • Fog Max Distance - The max distance at which fog exists
      
    • Fog Bottom - The lower Y height at which fog starts fading to nothing
      
    • Fog Bottom Penumbra - the distance past Fog Bottom where there is no fog
      
    • Fog Top - The upper Y height at which fog starts fading to nothing
      
    • Fog Top Penumbra - the distance past Fog Top where there is no fog
      
    
    
  
  
• Added Biodomes to /Decorations
  
  
  
  • These are meant to replace Ambient Change Triggers
    
  • When inside a biodome, the biodome's environment settings are used instead of the level's
    
  • When partially inside a biodome, or inside multiple, the settings are interpolated
    
  
  
• Removed camera shake in rumble zones when playing in VR
  
• Lens flares now get dimmer when further away, regardless of fog
  
• Cubemaps now have fog rendered in them
  
• Reduced chances of exploding on the EmpireRamp
  
• Motion blur no longer smears tutorial text
  
• Fixed bug where scrape sound wasn't being played
  
• Fixed bug in Level Editor where clicking the mouse to confirm a move/scale/rotate would also move the cursor
  
• Fixed odd physics on car landing
  
• Fixed bug where the confirmation menu to proceed to the next race would sometimes lose its selected button
  
• Fixed bug where trick system would make a cooloff noise after landing on a wall, even if no trick was active
  
• Fixed bug where the highlights levels section in the main menu would sometimes be incorrectly scrolled when returning to the main menu from a level
  
• Fixed bug where some spline roads may have weird collision
  
• Fixed issue where lens flares would be drawn at the origin in the level editor
  
• Fixed issue where player outlines in online VR were offset
  
• Fixed issue where CubeMapRenderers weren't displayed correctly in the level editor
  
• Fixed issue where cubemap reflections weren't displayed correctly in the level editor
  
• Fixed bug where skidmarks would lift off the ground if jumping while skidding
  

(PPPaul's winning level Limbus Puerorum)

Hey all! This weekend we saw the epic conclusion of "Survive the Editor" with some spooky Sprint maps. The final scores were down to the wire, and in the end I think we ended up with some well deserving winners. Here are your final champions along with their creations.

Grand Prize Winner: PPPaul

Judge Vote winners:

• Week 1: Firey Flow (by Platoonsgt1)
  
• Week 2: Bionic Botánica (by Jam~)
  
• Week 3: Limbus Puerorum (by PPPaul)
  

• Week 1: Furnace (by PPPaul)
  
• Week 2: Solitude (by Cubic)
  
• Week 3: Masquerade (by Arch Fluctuation)
  

• Week 1: Dot
  
• Week 2: MIKE
  
• Week 3: Kuroki Tomoko
  

Thanks once again to Fork and Krispy for designing and driving this amazing competition. We were beyond inspired by the nearly 50 levels created in such a short amount of time. Despite the fierce competition it was cool to see so much helpfulness and genuine passion from the community.


(The grand prize trophy is being shipped off to PPPaul)

Also, as of this weekend there are over 1,000 levels submitted to Steam Workshop... 1,000 levels! It's hard to overstate how amazing that is.



Finally thanks to Icebound, CyclopsDragon, JTrevail, Splaysh, Kyle, Laura, and Eddie for acting on our judging panel, and thanks to each and every one of you that came out to play and vote each Saturday. We definitely want to do something like this again in the future, so if you have suggestions for how we can improve the next contest don't hesitate to let us know!

COMMUNITY HIGHLIGHT

Alongside this week's judge finalists I included each judge vote and community vote winner in the main menu highlight. Still blows my mind that each of these took less than a week to create.

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=540666861
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=540601992
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=540547153
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=539530475
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=539551440
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=540614230
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=529718507
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=536442143
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=532344818
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=536443676

BUILD 3967 CHANGELOG

We squeaked in a minor build release last week and I kinda forgot to give it a proper mention. It was put together quickly to release some new spooky-themed assets for Survive the Editor, but it comes with a few small tweaks.

• If you perform more than one trick, the most recent trick is highlighted
  
• The points of a trick fade out with the trick's timeout
  
• Added new art assets
  
  
  
  • Decorations/Corridor002
    
  • Decorations/SpineyArch001
    
  • Decorations/Infected/VirusSpire001
  
  
• Fixed bump on side of EmpireStartZone and EmpireEndZone
  
• Fixed bug where a trick would constantly be counted while upside down with no wheels
  
• Fixed bug where some spline roads may have weird collision
  

UP NEXT...

This week we've been a bit distracted preparing and submitting a build to the Independent Games Festival (IGF), which we finished just in time last night. Tomorrow we'll be showing Distance VR at the

Once again we streamed the judging for Survive the Editor this weekend. The variety and quality of the nature-themed Reverse Tag maps was remarkable, and the final scores were incredibly close. Congrats to this week's winners!

Survive the Editor: Week 2 Winners:

• Judge Vote: Bionic Botánica (by Jam~)
  
  • Winner gets: t-shirt, 18x24" poster, glow-in-the-dark pin
  
  
• Community Vote: Solitude (by Qubic)
  
  • Winner gets: 18x24" poster, glow-in-the-dark pin
  
  
• Participation Raffle: MIKE
  
  • Winner gets: 18x24" poster, glow-in-the-dark pin
  
  

• Week 3 Deadline: Submit by October 23rd, 11:59pm PST
  
• Mode: Sprint
  
• Theme: Spooky
  

• Added VirusPilar003 to the Level Editor (Obstacles/Infected)
  
• Added special server commands (e.g. /startvote, /kick, etc.)
  
  
  
  • The host can type these into the chat window
    
  • /startvote starts a voting session where players can vote "+" or "-"
    
  • /endvote tallies the results and displays them
    
  • /timelimit is used to set Reverse Tag time limit in seconds (e.g. /timelimit 300)
    
  • /list lists all players along with their user IDs
    
  • /kick kicks a player from the server by username or ID (e.g. /kick 2 or /kick torcht)
    
  • /finishall ends a Reverse Tag match for all players
    
  
  

• Reduced bumpiness when driving along curved tracks
  
• Adjusted crash speeds that cause death
  
• Added lower crash death speed for many obstacles
  
• Improved depth of field settings in car color customization menu
  
• Now the results properly display whether or not players were spectators or joined late
  

• Fixed bug where the existence of a GravityTrigger would break cause the Reverse Tag arrow to not appear
  
• Fixed width of Customize Car button in Game Lobby to make sure it doesn't clip off
  
• Fixed bug where if someone entered spectate mode in Reverse Tag while being it the bubble would stay where they finished, now the bubble goes to the last place player
  
• Fixed bug where if the host in Reverse Tag spectated the next person who got the bubble would end the match instantly
  
• Fixed bugs with how the standings text when playing online multiplayer handled players spectating, before they would still be in the list now only currently playing players are displayed
  
• Fixed bugs with how the standings text when playing online multiplayer handled players spectating, before they would still be in the list now only currently playing players are displayed
  
• Fixed skidding sounds not stopping at end of race
  
• Fixed bug where cursor in color selection was sometimes misaligned
  
• Fixed “Attempting to Join Server” message depth
  
• Fixed bug where In level select menu, if you go left or right a certain number of times the listed Friends levels will be at the bottom of the window
  
• Fixed bug in game lobby where player names flicker when changing ready status
  
• Fixed bug where background buttons in game lobby were selectable while in level selection
  
• Fixed bug where menu sound would happen twice when clicking between level categories
  
• Fixed bug where part where the spinning sphere on the start zone would slowly move out of position
  

This weekend we streamed the judging for Survive the Editor: Week 1 during Speedy Saturday. It was a blast to play the nearly 20 industrial-themed Challenge levels submissions, and after some intense deliberation the Judge and Community Vote winners were announced!

Survive the Editor: Week 1 Winners:

• Judge Vote: Firey Flow (by Platoonsgt1)
  
  • Winner gets: t-shirt, 18x24" poster, glow-in-the-dark pin
  
  
• Community Vote: Furnace (by PPPaul)
  
  • Winner gets: 18x24" poster, glow-in-the-dark pin
  
  
• Participation Raffle: Dot
  
  • Winner gets: 18x24" poster, glow-in-the-dark pin
  
  

• Week 2 Deadline: Submit by October 16th, 11:59pm PST
  
• Mode: Reverse Tag
  
• Theme: Nature
  

(Grand Prize winner earns this majestic trophy)

Now that Revamped Reality is out, we have more news... Survive the Editor starts this week!

Survive the Editor is a 3-week long Distance level creation contest. We're so excited to be working with members of the community to bring you a fun competition with amazing prizes!

Running from Oct. 3rd to Oct. 24th, weekly winners will be chosen during the "Speedy Saturday" multiplayer meetup. Each week we'll announce a mode and theme, and it's up to you to create a level that impresses both our judges and the community.

Official website (with prizes):
http://survivethedistance.com/survivetheeditor/

TL;DR:

STEP #1: CREATE A LEVEL

Each week we'll announce a new track type and theme. It’s up to you to create a track of that type, in-theme, and submit it before Saturday.

STEP #2: UPLOAD TO STEAM WORKSHOP

Once you're done, click Save & Publish to Steam Workshop from the Editor tab. Feel free to update your level as much as you like up until the 11:59pm deadline. Also make sure that your level is properly tagged by placing "[STE]" at the start of your level's name!

STEP #3: JOIN SPEEDY SATURDAY

Speedy Saturday is a community-run multiplayer meetup. Players come together to hang out and play Distance multiplayer from 11am - 1pm PST each Saturday. Simply start Distance, go to Arcade > Online, and either join a server or start one with "Speedy Saturday" in the server name. We'll be streaming, so if even if you don't feel like playing you can still join in the fun!

Watch 11am PST: http://twitch.tv/refractstudios
Community Discord server: https://discord.gg/0SlqqvzfIbi6zhbY

• Mode: Challenge
  
• Theme: Industrial
  

• Mode: TBA
  
• Theme: TBA
  

• Mode: TBA
  
• Theme: TBA
  

Hey everyone! I'll cut right to the chase... The REVAMPED REALITY update is now live on the default branch! Check out the new trailer:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=c2pdVmk0B48
Revamped Reality (build 3920) features:

• Better overall performance
  
• Faster level loading
  
• VR integration ("experimental-vr" branch, info below)
  
• Added Cockpit view
  
• UI revamp (with mouse support)
  
• Challenge and Soccer mode improvements
  
• Improved car color customization
  
• Improved player names in multplayer
  
• New physics engine
  
• New level editor assets
  
• More bug fixes
  

Hey everyone! I just updated the main menu to highlight a few more community levels that impressed our team. Instead of the usual 5 we decided to go all out and pick 20 levels. Massive variety as always, keep up the incredible work!

And oh yeah, you might want to watch for some fun news tomorrow...

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=520723082
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=505085985
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=518067263
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=515627334
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=510857956
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=504676792
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=489214389
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=470395087
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=469332554
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=518641023
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=463185471
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=446322531
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=508995893
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=500375612
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=500327233
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=490388605
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=463780269
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=482165701
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=517665908
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=523114027

And for all of Refract's picks:
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=422904216

Hey all! Last week was ridiculously busy setting up and showing at PAX Prime! Fortunately we survived the ordeal and came out the other end pumped to get back to work! It was a blast hanging out with new players, catching up with old ones, and getting feedback on the new Adventure mode.

Of course, it was a little fun constructing our PAX MEGA RAVE MACHINE. Here's a look at the final booth layout:





For a better look at the booth lit up with sound, check out all of the Vines I posted here: http://vine.co/torcht



You can also see way more pictures and videos by checking out posts on Twitter!

It was an insane rush getting back from gamescom, recovering from convention flu, and then sprinting towards the PAX deadline at 1,000 mph. Everything came together right at the last minute and I'm really proud of the display we were able to create. Seriously, I spent the entire night at the convention center before the first day opened at 9am programming patterns for the LED strips. The security guards hung out with me. It was awesome.



Distance was playable in 3 configs: a custom arcade cabinet synced with the LED strips that encased the booth, a 4K TV running a special split-screen demo, and on Oculus DK2 in VR + cockpit mode. The booth was packed for most of the convention, we gave out all 1,500 pins halfway through day 2, and we did 5 tournaments in total where we gave out shirts and posters.




On the press side of things we didn't do too bad either. Some highlights include a great review from Road to VR, IGN did an interview, and we even won a shiny "Best Racing Title" award from Curse!




Long story short, it's all about connecting with the players. We enjoyed chatting with all kinds of Distance players who brought all sort of great feedback to the table. From advanced level editor requests to feedback on the UI, the new announcer, and Unity 5 physics, engaging with players in person was the ultimate reward. Thanks to those that took time at PAX to come hang out with us! You made it all worth it.




WHEN'S THE NEXT STABLE BUILD SHIPPING?



Jason has been working his absolute tail off trying to squash physics and UI bugs, and we're down to the wire in terms of fixes. If you want to play what is essentially the build we'll be shipping very very soon, go experimental. Here's what you can expect from this crazy update:

• New physics engine
  
• Better overall performance
  
• Faster level loading
  
• UI revamp (including mouse support in all menus)
  
• Challenge and Soccer mode improvements
  
• Hundreds of bug fixes
  
• DirectX 11 support (if desired)
  
• Cockpit view
  
• Oculus Rift integration
  
• Lots of new editor assets
  

It's going down...

We're about to unveil our most ambitious physical creation yet. This weekend we're bringing every toy we have to PAX Prime in our home town of Seattle! The Distance PAX booth has been months in the making, and it features a massive lighting setup synced with our custom arcade cabinet. If we do our job right you won't be able to miss it! 

Where can I find Distance at PAX?


(our booth created inside a Distance level)

Our primary booth will be at Indie MEGABOOTH #871 (4th floor). That's where tournaments, giveaways, the arcade cabinet, VR, and our insane concert lighting setup can be found. It's the main hub.



You can also find us The Parlor Live on Friday and Saturday as a part of "Giant Bomb: Live, In Person, and Fully Clothed!". Should be a more chill place to check out some of the Indie MEGABOOTH games and meet Giant Bomb folks. More info here.

We'll also be a part of Intel's "Meet the Devs" experience at the Intel booth on the 4th floor all day Monday!

Distance VR, New Adventure Mode, Daily Tournaments!



At the booth you can choose to play new Adventure mode content on the arcade cabinet, split-screen multiplayer, or Distance VR! After seeing the ridiculous popularity of the VR at gamescom we'll be using a ticket system, so come to the booth early to claim a spot that day.

We'll also be doing DAILY TOURNAMENTS where we'll be rewarding winners with a whole batch of new swag! Simply show up as early as possible (starting at 10am) to sign up for the tournament that day. We'll announce the tournament starting time every morning as well as the mode to be played.

SWAAAAAAAAAAAAG



Of course, we can't gloss over one of the most important details... What swag are we giving away?! Due to popular demand we printed up some more PAX-exclusive Distance shirts, brand new 18 x 24" posters, and glow in the dark pins! They'll be used as tournament rewards, as well as giveaway prizes to be announced on Twitter and Facebook.





Follow for giveaways this weekend!



Even if you're not at PAX we'll be doing flash giveaways and posting fun stuff from the booth on Twitter and Facebook! It's the best way to stay up to date with spontaneous happenings. Follow and use the hashtag for your chance to win prizes from home and at PAX!

• Twitter: @refractstudios
  
• Facebook: refractstudios