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Apr 30, 2021

Switchcars 1.1 - Now out of Early Access!

Switchcars - Altfuture

More than eight years after work on it began, Switchcars just graduated to a full release alongside its biggest update so far!

Switchcars was rather polished at the time of its initial launch in 2016. I kept it in Early Access all this time, however, because I wanted to add more to it. An amount of 15 hefty updates were made in the meantime, and today’s one is the biggest so far:

It adds almost 200 new vehicles (totalling to 1305), an editor for players to create their own vehicles and props, a new “Rally” game mode and many smaller improvements and bug fixes. The game is filled with lots of content, polish and replayability. Full changelog of the 1.1 update is available here.

The biggest addition is the new editor. I hope to inspire you all to create your own vehicles and props and share them with other players! Switchcars is already in IGCD top 10 for its amount of road vehicles, so seeing it grow further would be awesome.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ROOP8Yx2rc

With this update, I’m also ending further development of Switchcars. It’s been more than eight years and the time has come for me to let it go. A game can always be further improved -- I hear you say. I agree, but we must also consider this:

Switchcars was the first game I ever programmed. It was the first game I ever released. Not many such products typically see the light of day. Yet, Switchcars did a lot more than purely exist. It’s a fun, polished game with brutal replayability. It left a footprint in the local game development scene, as one of the first games to be released on Steam from Serbia.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TmZrg6Eqtas

Switchcars also helped slingshot Altfuture into a more serious, impactful and self-sustainable business that it is today. It helped us create Derail Valley. Jumping from Switchcars to a genre-disrupting train simulator was quite a massive step forward! It was exactly the thrust I was hoping Switchcars would produce back when it all started. With reviews at more than 92% positive each, our games are the two highest ranked Serbian games on Steam, and we’re only getting started.

It was a very ambitious vision back in 2012 when my work on Switchcars began, but here we are! I do wish I was able to do more on Switchcars, but for a small indie game that it is, it made a huge impact and it's time to let it go with pride. I look forward to focusing my energy on other prospective goals at Altfuture. If an opportunity arises, I’d gladly do more with this title. If not, the game features the editor now, so that the community can keep adding vehicles and props for years to come.

Last but not least, I’d like to thank everyone for your patience, understanding and support over the years. There were some rather challenging times in Switchcars’ history, both personal and development-wise, and I’m glad all that is behind us now. I’m happy to have the game finally see the light of a full release -- and I hope you enjoy it for many years to come!

-Slobodan

Apr 30, 2021

Switchcars 1.1 Changelog Preview

Switchcars - Altfuture

In about 7 hours from now, Switchcars will be released out of Early Access! With that you'll get a massive update 1.1, a new trailer, store page overhaul and some extra videos! Stay tuned for the second news post later today!

In the meantime, I thought you'd like a tease with the update changelog below. Enjoy!

v1.1 - April 30, 2021 Customization: - Added Vehicle Editor - Used to create sets of vehicles, animals and props, in-game - Accessible as a game mode - Features simple icon-selection interface for most object parameters - Features colorized input fields for easy behavior overview - Features sprite browser - Features object operators (copy, delete...), with keyboard shortcuts - Features previewing of sounds (e.g. horns) - Features automatic paint-area and collider settings - Features simple descriptions for every setting - Made vehicle features into pre-installed passive powerups (e.g. Neon Light) - Added mod manager - Used to enable/disable mods, in-game - Accessible as a database category - Human readable data files, easy to edit directly - Created a color palette for modders - Menu controls can now be mapped too - This makes DirectInput controllers usable now Gameplay: - Added Rally game mode - Reach stage 5 in The Run to unlock - Player has 3 minutes in 3 rounds, to outrun previous record distance - Features no aliens and no grappling hook - Offers 4 categories, each set in a certain year - Doesn't spawn alien-related powerups (Spikes, etc.) - Added button to remove powerups (default Q) - Fuel is no longer being consumed in Safe Zones - Changes to draft - Increased intensity - Now only happens on racetracks - Prevented drafting if pushing object ahead - No longer works at low speeds - Added sound to draft effect - Has its own tutorial tip - Only happens after seeing the tutorial tip - Changes to wind - Increased intensity - Installing Helium Balloon makes you affected by wind on ground-level too - Storms affect wind power - In extreme weather (e.g. sandstorm), wind affects even vehicles on ground-level - Added two wind sounds, depending on direction - Has its own tutorial tip now - Only happens after seeing the tutorial tip - Increased powerup deck to 4 in Hardcore mode - Reduced chance to fuel leak by 25% - Reduced hitpoint loss induced by powerup installing - Drogue Parachute now activates when braking, no longer an active powerup - Removed Grapple Hook from most offroad vehicles, might find one inside instead - Merged Hull and Ballast Tank int oa single powerup - Added ability to hide in objects (e.g. entering a tree) - Hiding objects will remain in place when you leave them - Hiding objects don't replace vehicles in your inventory - Improved quality of powerups in Hardcore game mode - Removed Nuclear Reactor speed penalty and beefed up power - Removed Offroad Wheels speed penalty - Reduced top speed of Helicopter Rotor powerup - Nerfed acceleration of supersonic airliners - Doubled rate of alien soup health regeneration - Added Chauffeur powerup (same behavior Road AI, different art) - Added rare chance of naval battle area type to appear on sea free roam theme - Improved case of accidentally entering a vehicle behind player - EBS no longer works when diving/drilling or using Siren - Horn no longer uses stamina Content: - Added 195 new vehicles - Remade how props work, now having procedural paintjobs and production years like vehicles - Added 4 new engine sounds (old truck, old car, medium electric, old prop) - Added "vtolplane" air lift type, for winged VTOL vehicles - Added complex tags to all vehicles - Reduced pitch of SUV revving sound - Updated various vehicles' behavior and sounds - Renamed various vehicles - Improved future lane graphics (constrast) - Older vehicles now have yellowish headlights - Redesigned a few vehicles for size/style consistency - Renamed Alien Pollen to Alien Decoy - Renamed Laser to Ion Cannon Cosmetic: - Traffic no longer honks at player when using Siren powerup - Alien Decoy and smashing through Alien Cyst now paint player vehicle cyan Interface: - Updated main menu GUI - Current stage is now written in "Stage n/10" format when exiting Safe Zone - Added speedometer to HUD - Includes meter of wind and draft strength - Includes odometer (per vehicle) - Shows speed yellow when going over the top speed - Shows speed orange when below stall speed, if plane - When leaving Safe Zone, a notification stating current Stage pops up - Free Roam mode now allows choosing theme with Z/X keys both - Renamed "vehicle suggestion" option to "UI hints", with more descriptive choices - Some alerts no longer show, depending on the UI hints setting - End-screen vehicle history now spaces out based on amount of vehicles used - Unlocked vehicle is now listed at the bottom end-screen text - Prevented tutorial tips from showing during segment transition - Added to Rail Wheels powerup description that it increases speed - Lowered "warning: low framerate" threshold - Added limits to camera scroll option - Removed option for lane age variants - Fixed "press enter to remap" on unmappable buttons (autorun, back...) - Instead of "Enter", menu now shows the Menu Confirm key - No longer suggesting how to unlock database entries if all are unlocked - No longer writing "Stage progress will be lost" if on game over screen - Tweaked wording of win ending messages - Renamed Thruster powerup to Rocket Thruster - Changed Tutorial description to "Learn the basics in 2 minutes." - Removed black dither from logo on preloader posters - Fixed missing error sound when trying to change resolution in windowed mode Major Bugs: - Fixed going left in tutorial with a vehicle in slot 2 crashing the game - Fixed super-rare crash caused by alien jumping on player - Fixed rare crash caused by being a human character when slot lock tutorial activates Minor Bugs: - Fixed first segment in stage able to have unfitting weather - Fixed falling through abyss or underground passage buggy-ing player position - Fixed mine-resistant vehicles not being mine resistant - Fixed shield not lifting vehicles when out of fuel - Fixed animal EBS alert having no background - Fixed beating the game twice in a row unlocking the same vehicle - Fixed Rocket Thruster powerup not refueling pre-existing Rocket Thruster - Fixed Disposable Power Bank fuel being minimal when installed on fuelless vehicles - Fixed installing Helicopter Rotor removing Rocket propulsion - Fixed hover and flying vehicles unable to use Drill - Fixed glitching sound when holding left and right with Autorun turned on - Fixed vehicle not getting destroyed if exited during mine strike - Fixed parked vehicles sometimes spawning damaged - Fixed showing recharging glow when braking airborne with electric vehicles - Prevented alerts from showing on game over screen Code: - Converted all vehicle/prop data to a new format - Converter for old savegame to new format (for vehicles/props) - Overhauled data parsing and handling, for Vehicle Editor support - Overhauled how scenery props are handled, to be editable - Various code cleanups Other: - Optimized clouds to not render twice - Other minor tweaks

Jun 2, 2018

Progress report - Vehicle editor screenshots, new vehicles

Switchcars - Altfuture

Hi everyone,

It’s been a long time since Switchcars was last updated, so I want to let you know the current situation.

Beta update in development:

As many of you know already, the upcoming beta update has been in the works since late 2016. Some of its features and fixes were released in updates 13, 14 and 15, and the most difficult part of it (for me at least) was the integration of Steam API to the Switchcars engine. Being made in Pygame, this actually required some work that no other Pygame game ever did. That work was done by Damir, a friend of mine, over a year ago.

One of the update’s major new features are many new vehicles, but also something that was kept a secret until recently - Switchcars will have a vehicle editor as well as Steam Workshop available from within the game! This will allow you to create and share your own Switchcars vehicles, making those original 1000 seem like a joke!

Some of the many new upcoming vehicles

Reasons for the super-delay:

While planning the beta back in 2016 it was already apparent that Switchcars was not making enough money to sustain development far in the future. In order to continue working on Switchcars I needed to look for an alternative source of income, which I wrote about in December 2016. If you haven’t, please read that news post.

Stretched between looking for a side job, or starting another project prematurely, I was pressured to make a definitive decision. The whole basis of founding Altfuture and creating Switchcars was a stepping stone to creating revolutionary games that improve the gaming industry, and I wanted to stick to that plan. With a couple of friends we went for the most difficult ambition - develop the second Altfuture game and make it the best of its kind in the world. That game, which lets you drive trains in virtual reality, has been two years in development, known as Derail Valley.

When development of Derail Valley began, for nearly a year I was able to work on both games in parallel with no downsides. Switchcars updates 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 and 15 were all made during that period. However, when our team unexpectedly shrank to two, higher involvement from my side became necessary. Then in the summer of 2017 an opportunity to get Derail Valley funded came around, but at the cost of taking literally all of my time devoted to Switchcars.

There I was, after just having invested the last bits of money into Switchcars Steam API implementation, suddenly having to decide whether one game or the other will live.

First glimpse of the new vehicle editor

It’s difficult to put into words how it felt at the time, but making the choice of which game to end was devastating. Any choice would define a different path for the rest of my (and not only my) life. The decision eventually boiled down to understanding that Derail Valley’s funding would definitely allow for the future of Switchcars, whereas Switchcars’ income wouldn’t definitely allow for the future of Derail Valley. A cut had to be made, and finally it was that Switchcars update was to be postponed, but I had no intentions of abandoning the game.

Months later, after a lot of sweating, lack of sleep and nerve-wrecking decisions, Derail Valley made it to the top 10% of applied projects to the Serbian Innovation Fund, and after pitching in front of the investor jury, we eventually won the funding. Today Altfuture is a team of 4 members (soon to be 5) working on Derail Valley, funded for almost a year of development, and we remain focused on making it a truly revolutionary train simulation.

So when will Switchcars beta update be finished then?

For the many past months, I’ve been working on Switchcars every moment I can spare, admittedly mostly on weekends. I basically allow myself no spare time until the beta update is done. What’s already complete are the new Distance game mode, speedometer, improved wind and draft effect, nearly two hundred new vehicles, and most importantly the vehicle editor shown above, one of the most complex features of the beta update. Apart from that there have been huge code changes in order to make the vehicle editor possible, mod management system, vehicle editor documentation, support for multiple languages (made by Damir), the Steam API implementation (also by Damir), which will allow creation of Workshop, Achievements, and Trading Cards (being some of the last remaining things to do).

I still can’t say when it will be complete, but I am working on it literally every moment I can. I hope you guys will love it when it’s finally out and that it’s going to be worth it.

With this post I just wanted to apologize for the delay, and explain the situation. I understand many games remain in Early Access forever, especially if a second project takes over, and I definitely don’t intend to keep it that way. The only reason I was ever putting so much effort in all this was to make it possible for us to create more awesome games, and continue showing that great products can be made from nearly impossible conditions. Part of that is maintaining games when it seems impossible, too. On the other hand, if Derail Valley ends up being successful as we anticipate (and its market potential is notably greater than that of Switchcars), there's a lot more good stuff to come.

This period has been super difficult, but I want to thank you all for understanding the situation and being more patient than I could ever hope for. I myself can’t wait for the day the Switchcars beta update comes out and see tons of new vehicles you made! Until then I will be working on it every moment I can!

-Slobodan

Apr 8, 2017

Update 15 - Drafting, 2 new car sounds, EBS, win-based unlocks and much more!

Switchcars - Altfuture

Hey guys!

A new update is here - this time primarily focused on your suggestions from the forum, mainly the Random ideas thread! Thank you everyone for the awesome suggestions - keep them coming! The update includes some not yet visible work too, but more on that in a later update.

Drafting effect:

Switchcars now features a relatively advanced simulation of drafting! It's an aerodynamics thing: if you tail a vehicle that is clearing air in front of you, you will reach a higher top speed due to reduced resistance. However, when you steer to the side to overtake a vehicle, hitting the air wave will slow you down again.

This feature is very analog and varies from situation to situation, as it is calculated using both player's and traffic vehicle's speed, mass and height, as well as their mutual distance at every moment, so understanding it is mainly based on a feeling. Bicycles can take great advantage of drafting, but you'll see it most useful on racetracks due to high traffic speeds. Living beings are not affected by it.

Drafting system deliberately doesn't include any accented special effects (apart from the strength of whoosh sound when you steer into the air wall), but the effect will be clearer once the speedometer is implemented in the next build.

New car sounds:

Two new engine sounds were added to the game:

Sports Car - fast, aggressive
SUV - powerful, expensive

In addition to that, vehicles equipped with ABS (2004+) got characteristic new tire-screeching sounds.

EBS (Emergency Braking System):

All road and rail vehicles introduced in 2018 and later come equipped with EBS. EBS will automatically apply brakes after having detected an imminent crash. It will not prevent high speed crashes, but at least their force will be reduced. When activated, EBS is accompanied by a beep sound and a speed limit icon. There are rare situations when this safety system can be irritating, deliberately giving older vehicles an advantage.

Fuel leaking:

Crashing a fuel-powered vehicle will now pose another potential threat - fuel leaking. The leak will, of course, quickly deplete fuel reserves, but can also set the car on fire if the exhaust backfires!

Wind force:

Each segment now comes with a wind parameter of varying intensity and direction. Like Drafting, the wind force is calculated with vehicle's mass and height taken into account.

The wind has no effect in most situations, however if you are flying in the sky lanes or operating a sail-propelled vehicle (such as a Sailboat, or a Hot Air Balloon), it will affect your speed (and speed of traffic).

The wind can be so strong, especially in storms, that it will keep an unpowered plane flying indefinitely. However, the wind is unpredictable - in the very next segment it might be blowing in the opposite direction.

Currently there is no wind indicator, but it will come with the speedometer in flying vehicles, in the next update.

Win-based vehicle unlock:

Many of you had trouble finding the last few remaining vehicles to unlock. There is now an additional way to unlock them - beating The Run or Hardcore!

Winning those game modes will always unlock one vehicle as long as there are any remaining, listing it the last on the end screen, indicated by a special medal icon.

More highlights:

Added "City Dusk" background and lighting (shown above)
Improved heavy rain (now with thunder!)
Added EMP mine (damages all batteries, spawns 2029+)
No more background noise spam while browsing database

Of course, there are many more small improvements and bug fixes, so be sure to check out the full changelog for more details:

Full changelog:

As always, all changes are listed below, but also can be read from within Switchcars and its changelog viewer!

Gameplay:

- Added Draft Effect

- Subtly increases top speed when tailing a vehicle
- Calculated using player's and other vehicle's speeds, mass, heights and mutual distance
- Changing lane while tailing will induce a slowdown as vehicle strikes air again
- Doesn't apply to living beings

- Added EBS (Emergency Braking System)

- Available on road and rail vehicles introduced from 2018
- Slows down vehicle when a crash with another object is imminent
- Shows a speed limit icon above vehicle and beeps when activated
- Can be disabled with Manual Control powerup
- Animals too will try to stop before crashing

- Added fuel leaking

- Induced by crashing a fuel powered vehicle
- Causes fuel loss
- Exhaust backfire can set the leaking vehicle on fire

- Added wind force

- Affects player speed in sky lanes
- Calculated using vehicle's mass and height
- Propels vehicles with sail propulsion (sailboats, aerostats...)
- Varying direction and intensity per segment

- Win-based vehicle unlock:

- Beating The Run or Hardcore will unlock one remaining locked vehicle
- The vehicle is indicated at the end screen with a special sound and medal icon

- Added EMP mine

- If activated by player, degrades batteries on all electric vehicles in inventory
- If activated by aliens, degrades battery of player's current electric vehicle
- Inflicts minor damage
- Appears on Minefield starting in 2029

- Shield now lifts vehicle above ground while active
- Drill and Ballast now work on flying vehicles
- Internal combustion engines no longer work in vacuum
- Rockets and Thruster powerup now have Disposable fuel
- Rail Wheels increases top speed by 20%
- Armor decreases mine damage (though no vehicle is immune to it anymore)
- Doubled magnet vehicles' hit points for better upgrading usability
- Junkyards can now spawn any vehicle
- Slightly increased spawn rate of Gas and Repair station when needed
- Slightly increased powerup spawn rate in Free Roam
- Removed Grappling Hook from sail-powered vehicles
- There can no longer be only Ice Forest or only Lava lanes
- Slightly increased Manual Control spawn rate in later stages
- Moved Graveyard from default to level 2 unlock lanes

Content:

- Added Sports Car engine sound
- Added SUV engine sound
- Added "City Dusk" background and lighting
- Added new tire screech sounds for vehicles with ABS (introduced 2004+)
- Reduced volume of diesel engine sound
- Redesigned some powerup icons
- Updated all lane images with current vehicle designs
- Updated tutorial vehicles with current vehicle designs

Cosmetic:

- Improved heavy rain weather

- New sound (distinct from light rain)
- Features thunder

- Plasma vehicles no longer glow when parked, damaged or out of fuel
- Tailpipe backfire is now possible only on vehicles with rear exhaust
- Quitting game with alt+f4 is followed by a fadeout effect (damir)
- Renamed Ski Track to Piste

Interface:

- Gameover in Free Roam now changes year selection button to "Retry"
- No more background noise spam while browsing sub-menus (e.g. Database)
- Added animated arrow above Underground Passage when pursued by aliens
- Vehicle suggestion option is grayed out until having passed tutorial
- Main Menu button now informs that stage progress will be lost

Major Bugs:

- Fixed crash caused by picking up a contextual powerup far from start in Free Roam
- Fixed alt+f4 leaving process active since 1.014 (damir)
- Fixed white letterbox on some monitors
- Attempted fix at FPS drop on certain machines

Minor Bugs:

- Fixed water battery degradation not stopping when it reaches end
- Fixed magnet vehicles unable to lift off the ground when upgraded into aircraft
- Fixed cable vehicles not working properly when having some specific powerups installed
- Fixed wheel-equipped plasma vehicles still hovering after they run out of energy
- Fixed electric boats with drill installed taking water damage
- Fixed future hybrid LCV missing petrol engine sound
- Fixed electric City Car having red brake lights
- Fixed Shield staying stuck at ending sequence
- Fixed battery degradation GUI being one pixel offset when completely degraded

Other:

- Game can be closed from OS now (e.g. via close window button) (Damir)
- Various small tweaks and improvements

Feedback:

That's it for this update, and as always if you have any questions, comments or suggestions, feel free to post on the forum!

Apr 8, 2017

Update 15 - Drafting, 2 new car sounds, EBS, win-based unlocks and much more!

Switchcars - Altfuture

Drafting effect:

New car sounds:

Two new engine sounds were added to the game:

Sports Car - fast, aggressive
SUV - powerful, expensive

In addition to that, vehicles equipped with ABS (2004+) got characteristic new tire-screeching sounds.

EBS (Emergency Braking System):

Fuel leaking:

Wind force:

Win-based vehicle unlock:

More highlights:

Added "City Dusk" background and lighting (shown above)
Improved heavy rain (now with thunder!)
Added EMP mine (damages all batteries, spawns 2029+)
No more background noise spam while browsing database

Of course, there are many more small improvements and bug fixes, so be sure to check out the full changelog for more details:

Full changelog:

Feedback:

That's it for this update, and as always if you have any questions, comments or suggestions, feel free to post on the forum!

Feb 20, 2017

Update 14 - Mech, 2 new animals, lane age variants and more!

Switchcars - Altfuture

Hey all!

The new Switchcars update is up! While it's got a lot of small fixes and a ton of work that's yet to be utilized in the coming builds, here are some of the highlights:

Note: Hardcore mode and database entries for four specific powerups will need to be unlocked again, due to changes in the savegame system.

Lane age variants:

Remember how, apart from vehicles, different eras all looked the same? Now, the year you're in affects the look of the lanes as well! Human-made lanes, such as roads, will look differently in 1950's compared to 2030's.

Free Roam now lets you change the year during gameplay, which makes it easy to explore the new lane designs.

3 new "vehicles":

Switchcars now has a Mech (a military piloted robot) and two new animals, all animated and with new sound effects! More will be coming soon!

Volume control:

At last! Thanks to Damir (and this was no trivial task, mind you), Switchcars finally has volume control, allowing you to set the volume for sounds and music independently in options. Additionally, the game is now quieter by default as it always should have been.

Major bug fixes:

Some critical bug fixes have been made, such as:

Plugging and unplugging your headphones will now work properly!
Powerup unlock indicator is no longer stuck
Fixed Space and Alien World biomes never appearing in the runs since 1.013 (!)

Various more bug fixes have been made, so please check the changelog for more details.

Autorun option:

If for any reason you'd prefer not to have to hold the right key to move all the time, now you can enable the Autorun option in the Controls Setup section. To go right just press the right key just once, and when you want to slow down, press the left key. This also comes with audio and UI cues.

Full changelog:

As always, all changes are listed below, but also can be read from within Switchcars and its changelog viewer!

Gameplay:

- Added Autorun option
- When turned on, press direction of movement to enable and brake to disable
- Comes with visual and UI feedback
- Found in Controls Setup
- Free Roam now allows changing current year ingame
- Added one mandatory electrified railway rule to Railway Free Roam theme
- Animals no longer heal while set on fire
- Reduced airport biome frequency
- Cargo Ships, Flatcars and Semi Trailers now also give random powerups
- Tweaked parameters of a few vehicles

Content:

- Added 2 new animals
- Added a Mech
- Added lane age skin system
- Human-made lanes (e.g. roads) change appearance over time, depending on era
- There can be up to 4 different skins per lane type
- Affected lanes change skins at different years, so that overall environment evolves organically
- Updated type names of a few vehicles
- Updated oldest Go-Kart design and future Cargo Plane
- Updated engine sound types on a few vehicles

Cosmetic:

- Brakelights are now visible in daylight too
- Exhaust fumes are now white on 2-stroke vehicles
- Questionmark above Powerups is now animated
- Slightly improved heavy smoke graphics
- Large NPC planes will no longer fall when stopped by Siren
- Hybrid cars now cast red brakelights only instead of both red and blue

Interface:

- Added sound and music volume control (Damir)
- The game is no longer too loud (default volume is 60%)
- Vehicle suggestion set on "full" is no longer aggressive when the timer is not ticking
- Joystick intro screen now lists number of detected devices
- Nitrous and Grapple tutorials no longer appear while being chased by an alien
- Having cursor on "auto" resolution setting now shows actual resolution at the bottom
- Renamed some powerups to match their graphical name counterpart
- Renamed some options
- Removed redundant 1360x768 resolution
- Removed redundant "Instantly save unlocks" option, off by default now
- Upcoming biome icon now raises up immediately instead of gradually
- Added Alien Ooze healing ability description to lane database
- Added description about no speed limit in Space to lane database
- Rephrased ending messages
- Renamed "Laser requires fuel" alert to "Insufficient energy for Laser"

Major Bugs:

- Fixed audio driver not updating when unplugging headphones (Damir)
- Fixed game process staying active indefinitely after unplugging headphones (Damir)
- Fixed Powerup unlocked indicator stuck since v1.013
- Fixed Space and Alien World biomes never appearing in the runs since v1.013
- Fixed Tutorial having bugged snow section object spawning
- Attempted fix at main menu dropping FPS sometimes
- Attempted fix at letterbox being white on some monitors

Minor Bugs:

- Fixed Hardcore mode being unlocked when reaching stage 10 in The Run, even without beating it
- Fixed Manual Control not working sometimes when installed, once again
- Fixed animals having more friction after being revived
- Fixed inventory color remaining red on animals after being revived
- Fixed going too far right in Tutorial allowing starting vehicles to disappear
- Fixed Low Acceleration never showing in vehicle database
- Fixed "Grapple Up" tutorial being triggered by an invisible object
- Fixed missing and miscolored pixels on some vehicles

Feedback:

That's it for this update, and as always if you have any questions, comments or suggestions, feel free to post on the forum!

Feb 20, 2017

Update 14 - Mech, 2 new animals, lane age variants and more!

Switchcars - Altfuture

Lane age variants:

3 new "vehicles":

Switchcars now has a Mech (a military piloted robot) and two new animals, all animated and with new sound effects! More will be coming soon!

Volume control:

Major bug fixes:

Some critical bug fixes have been made, such as:

Plugging and unplugging your headphones will now work properly!
Powerup unlock indicator is no longer stuck
Fixed Space and Alien World biomes never appearing in the runs since 1.013 (!)

Various more bug fixes have been made, so please check the changelog for more details.

Autorun option:

Full changelog:

Feedback:

That's it for this update, and as always if you have any questions, comments or suggestions, feel free to post on the forum!

Feb 7, 2017

Announcing a new VR game: Derail Valley!

Switchcars - Altfuture

Hey guys,

As I wrote in December, something new has been cooking for about 8 months now. Today I’m super excited to introduce you to our new upcoming VR game - Derail Valley!

Before I continue, let me just say this - Derail Valley actually already helped fund further Switchcars development! There’s a ton of interesting things to share, but I’ll try to keep it as short as possible and stick to the key points, so please bear with me:

https://youtu.be/p5PEKotBNfo

What is Derail Valley?

Derail Valley is a next-gen train simulation made for VR. You drive a train using your own hands in a virtual cab, tasked to reposition rolling stock between trainyards on time. Derailment is a big part of it and it also brings some advancements to the realistic train sim genre, such as decayed railway simulation. More info on its Steam page and announcement.

If you have an HTC Vive, you can try the free demo!

Who’s making it?

Derail Valley is made by a team of three developers: Nenad, Ivan and myself. As of now, we are all part of Altfuture! You’ll find a bit more info about our history and roles on the website. I remain working on Switchcars in parallel of course, as I did in the previous 8 months, with Damir who’s done work on the upcoming beta features. More on that soon!

What’s the plan?

Derail Valley is still in development, and planned to release in Early Access in Q2 2017. While still in early phase, the game is already playable and offers hours of playtime.

Initial released version will introduce some new features compared to the free demo, such as procedural shunting missions, NPC trains and more car variety. We plan to regularly make news posts about all additions to the game, with a lot more to come. You can see more info about this in the Early Access section of Derail Valley Steam page.

How come you’ve made this?

It’s a long topic, but basically all three of us are passionate about vehicles, game development and technology. Having experienced train sims and VR games, we simply saw room for improvement on both markets and wanted to do something about it. I wrote more about this in my new blog post.

Couldn’t you have made Switchcars 2 instead?

Probably not at this point. As we are all working on this unpaid, we were brought together by passion and a collective idea around making a project that we saw ourselves the most efficient at making, which also had the highest chance of success. Based on what we’ve achieved so far I’d say Derail Valley was a great choice. As I wrote in the past, the idea is that the potential success of Derail Valley will pave the way to more future projects.

How will this affect Switchcars?

Here comes the amazing news: Those of you who read my last blog post might know that Switchcars development days were limited due to finances. Thanks to Derail Valley, that is no longer the case!

What happened, which is also the reason we’re announcing Derail Valley a bit earlier than we originally expected, is that among more than 600 participants on an international MSI VR Jam, our game won 3rd place! We were awarded with $15.000 and some extra prizes, which will be spent ensuring stable development of Derail Valley for months to come. Obviously, since I’m working on both games simultaneously, this applies to Switchcars as well. The goal is to bring it to full release by the end of this year.

If you’re wondering if I can pull off working on both games at once, have no worries. In fact, updates 1.010 and onwards have all been made this way, and they were quite large. Lately I’ve been slowed down by the contest and preparing for this announcement, but Damir has been putting a lot of work into Switchcars in the meantime. I am back working regularly on the upcoming 1.014 update now, which I expect to come out in a few weeks.

-

Finally I’d like to express huge thanks to all of you for the support so far - revealing our second game is a big moment for us, and it absolutely wouldn’t have been possible without you!

If Derail Valley is your cup of tea, for all future updates and news you can follow it on these links:

Facebook | Twitter | YouTube | Website

You can also find @nothke, @_bgr_ and me individually on Twitter.

If you have any questions, comments or suggestions about Derail Valley, feel free to post on its Steam forum!

See you all soon with another (Switchcars) update!

edit: fixed mysteriously expired image link

Feb 7, 2017

Announcing a new VR game: Derail Valley!

Switchcars - Altfuture

https://youtu.be/p5PEKotBNfo

What is Derail Valley?

Who’s making it?

What’s the plan?

How come you’ve made this?

Couldn’t you have made Switchcars 2 instead?

How will this affect Switchcars?

Dec 20, 2016

Switchcars and Altfuture: a look at 2016 and future plans

Switchcars - Altfuture

Hey everyone!

Only a news update this time - but a rather important one:

I made a blog post detailing some key information related to Switchcars, which was never posted so far. It's related to the game's success since release, how it almost never got made, as well as future plans for both the game and the company!

Switchcars and Altfuture: a look at 2016 and future plans

Just keeping you guys up to date - soon there will be more concrete news on the new features, can't wait to share those! Now heading back to work, and see you next time with another game update.

As always if you have any questions, comments or suggestions, feel free to post on the forum!

Happy holidays and have a great New Year guys!

...

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