Jalopy

Jalopy, the "haunting piece of Eastern Bloc nostalgia" about a road trip from Berlin to Turkey in breakdown-prone Laika 601 Deluxe, is free for the taking for the next couple of days on the Humble Store. The latest Humble giveaway marks the beginning of the store's Spring Sale Encore, which features hundreds of games back on sale for the next four days. 

The Jalopy roadtrip isn't about just driving a car: You'll have to assemble it first, and keep it running, repaired, and fueled as you trudge through a bleak, procedurally generated landscape. Our 2017 hands-on paints a grim portrait of crumbling infrastructure, loneliness, and stoic introspection:   

"When I finally reach Yugoslavia, the game shows off the coastal area—something I’ve never seen before. But the roads still feel familiar. They bend in weird and dangerous ways, while stone hills loom over them. It’s nowhere in Yugoslavia; it’s everywhere in Yugoslavia. I gaze at the sea and reflect upon my journey. Have I changed like my Laika has? Different on the inside, with only the shell still the same? The car breaks down again and I’m reminded that no, it’s still the piece of garbage it has always been." 

Not exactly the new Grid, in other words, but at the price I think we can all afford a little bit of experimentation. Jalopy is free until 10 am PT/1 pm ET on May 25, while the Humble Store Spring Sale Encore will run until the same time on May 27. 

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Jalopy

Developer Minskworks' Jalopy is a weird, drab, dull, wonderful experience, and if you're in the mood for a bit of an Eastern European adventure in a clapped-out old banger, you'd do well to snap it up right now, while it's free on the Humble Store.

It should be a simple enough task, really; transport your uncle from one side of the former Eastern Bloc to the other, trundling happily and uneventfully through Germany, Hungary, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, and Turkey. Unfortunately, rather complicating the adventure is the fact that your only vehicle of choice is your beloved, but barely functional, Laika 601 Deluxe - inspired by the legendary East German Trabant.

That makes for an interesting dichotomy; on the one hand, there's the endless monotony of Jalopy's wilfully drab (usually damp) landscape, trundling leisurely by outside the window. On the other, there's the constant tension that comes from the knowledge that your trusty Laika 601 is liable to jettison important bits and collapse into a pile of rust at any moment.

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Jalopy - contact@rockpapershotgun.com (Dominic Tarason)

A barely-functional car, a weird uncle in a bad jacket, a quest of self-discovery and seemingly endless machine-exhausting roads between you and your destination. Jalopy is free today, and a messy, unpredictable road-trip worth taking, although you might want to get a move on. Humble are giving away MinskWork’s eastern european driving adventure free for the next two days, with the offer vanishing on Saturday, 6pm BST, or “while supplies last”, which means it could end earlier. Curiously, no Steam key is given by default, but you can claim one for a single US dollar.

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Jalopy - James Clements
Hi everyone,

We have noticed a handful of reports from players saying they are experiencing what appears to be a stuttering effect in game. This looks visually like a low frame rate, however the game itself it running at a much higher frame rate.



This issue is caused by a change in how often the physics system updates in the game - this was changed to help optimise the game further on lower end machines, but created a stuttering effect on higher end machines because of the difference between the physics update and the frame rate on screen.

To address this, the physics will now update much quicker in game and should remove stuttering effect.



We have also given the player the ability to further adjust how often this happens with launch options.

However this will make the mouse sensitivity much greater so this may need to be adjusted by the player in game.

Setting Launch Options

- Open your library and locate Jalopy
- Right Click on Jalopy and select "Properties"
- In the general tab, click on "Set Launch Options"
- type in -fixedTime 0.01
- This will trigger the physics at 100 times a second (100fps)

We have also adjusted the default launch options for the game.

The game no longer support opengl and DX11 also will be dropped from the default launch options as this was no longer being utilised.

In place of this you will find alternative launch options which are the following:

Play on low spec PC
Play on high spec PC

These options adjust the physics updates to optimise the game for different types of PCs.

If you have any issues or require further support.
Please email our team at support@excalibur-games.com

Thanks,
The Jalopy Team
Jalopy - James Clements


Hello all,

We've just launched a new patch for Jalopy, which continues to enhance and polish the game. A new opening splash screen and a new language select screen have been introduced, while plenty of bugs have also been tackled.

We will continue to listen to all of your feedback, so please do let us know if you encounter any issues!



v1.102 Full Patch Notes
  • New splash screen
  • New Language select screen
  • Dubrovnik building spawning fixed
  • Placing decals in the boot will now correctly remove the preview which blocked access to the car
  • Applying decals should no longer block entering the car
  • Letenya Hub roads towards shops are no longer grass
  • Mirrors field of view adjusted to help with clipping and rendering issues
  • A popped tire will no longer ground your vehicle preventing it from moving
  • Cursor no longer disappears when talking to Uncle Lufti
  • Decal remover now works
  • Roundabout near Hungary adjusted to prevent AI pileups
  • Duplicate road at home garage removed
  • Mirrors should properly render ground (might affect performance, change quality settings if it does)
  • Braking power increased
  • All engine top speeds and acceleration modified
  • The moon is now visible
  • CSFR border fixed for returning journeys
  • Click back when adjusting key bindings in main menu will no longer soft lock the game
  • Item conditions no longer artificially increased when placed in trunk and hitting restart/return home
  • Waking up in Yugoslavia no longer has a 100% chance to rain
  • Fixed an issue with drop downs in menus not working correctly in all languages except English
  • New transitions between scenes

Thanks,
The Jalopy Team
Apr 18, 2019
Jalopy - James Clements


Hello all,

Jalopy version 1.1 is now live! This brand new update, which has been in various stages of beta testing thanks to the Jalopy community, sees Jalopy upgraded to a more recent version of Unity, car physics reworked, loading times improved and various bugs fixed.

To mark the occasion, Jalopy is now on a 50% off sale until 28th April!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/446020/Jalopy__The_Road_Trip_Driving_Indie_Car_Game/

Jalopy Version 1.1 Highlights

  • Updated the game engine to a newer version of unity
  • Reworked vehicle physics
  • Fixed a host of older issues
  • Optimised route loading times
  • Optimised mirrors to reduce performance issues associated with these
  • Uncle should enter hotels better
  • Fixed issues with key remapping
  • Save backup feature

If you come across any issues, bugs, or save issues please contact the support team at support@excalibur-games.com and provide save data where possible.

Save data can be found by doing the following:

- Press the windows key + R on your keyboard to open the run console
- Type %appdata%\..\locallow\MinskWorks\Jalopy
- You should then see your save folder here



Thanks,
The Jalopy Team
Jalopy - James Clements
Hello all,

We've been listening carefully to your feedback on the latest update and have made some further changes ahead of the update's full launch.



If you are yet to try out the new updates on the Public Beta Branch, you can jump into today's update by following these instructions:

- Load up Steam and head to your library
- Right click on Jalopy and then select "Properties"
- Head to the Beta tab and in the drop down select "public_beta" (no password needed)
- This will then download the new update for you


11th April 2019 Patch Notes
  • Adjusted stiffness of car suspension
  • Adjusted braking distances
  • Fixed an issue with storage area not opening during tutorial
  • Able to correctly pick up items when dropped in garage
  • Car correctly shows dirt level of the car in the main menu
  • Items no longer disappear on restart/return home with the home garage
  • Fixed an issue with menu navigation with a controller
  • Car no longer uses fuel when engine is not running
  • Reticle and keybindings correctly save

On 18 April, Jalopy will be updated to the latest version for everybody.



Thanks,
The Jalopy Team
Jalopy - James Clements
Hello everyone,

I'm excited to announce that Jalopy's March update is now live on the public beta branch! We're glad to be able to get the update out to you all today, and we are listening for feedback on further improvements.



Today's update sees Jalopy upgraded to a new version of Unity and introduces countless bug fixes. To access the new update, please follow these instructions:

- Load up Steam and head to your library
- Right click on Jalopy and then select "Properties"
- Head to the Beta tab and in the drop down select "public_beta" (no password needed)
- This will then download the new update for you


With Jalopy being rewritten for a new version of Unity, there will no doubt be a few teething issues (which is why we want to offer the update in beta before it goes to final).

As the save system has been rewritten, we recommend backing up your save before trying out the update beta, just incase.

To back up your saves...

- Press the windows key + R on your keyboard to open the run console
- Type in “%appdata%\..\locallow\MinskWorks\Jalopy” and click “ok”
- Highlight all current files, right click and select “send to” and then “compressed (zip) folder”
- Name this folder Save Backup



Please do make sure to offer your feedback on the Steam forums and to let us know if you run into any issues by emailing support@excalibur-games.com.

Thanks,
The Jalopy Team
Jalopy - James Clements


Hello all,

Thank you all for your patience regarding Jalopy's upcoming update, which will polish the game with further bug fixes. I'm excited to announce that this update will launch in March.

Watch out for more news in the coming weeks, as we'll be announcing full patch notes, and of course the patch date.

Thanks,
The Jalopy Team

Jalopy - James Clements


Hello all,

We are excited to announce that Jalopy will soon be receiving new patches to fix bugs and polish the game further. Watch out for more news on these updates in the coming weeks! We are excited to push Jalopy to an even higher quality in the coming months and give players the smoothest experience we possibly can.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/446020/Jalopy__The_Road_Trip_Driving_Indie_Game/



Thanks,
The Jalopy Team
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