Update Speculation thread

On a serious note, doesn't it look like the cop car has a proper flat tire?

 

Yes maybe...
But it also can be a fortuity, or maybe if the car as a lot of weight on this wheel after the crash, the rim goes closer to the floor and the tire height reduces (I hope you understood this because my explanations aren't very clear !).
Btw, that could be nice to see that in the game !

 

The side colision could have caused a tire puncture.

 

You can see in the upper right part of the tire that it's punctured, and the bottom becoming flat is already implemented in the game, IIRC.
Edit: as you can see here, the tire is punctured at the top.

After putting it on the ground, the bottom of the tire became flat, just like in the update picture.

 

If you notice, there is tyre smoke in the back and whole side of the police car is smashed. So it looks more like it has been hit and this caused that tyre to pop.

If you really want to know it's this forum...

 

Last year, I posted a possible rumor regarding the fate of materials.cs. You can read more about it below:

The reason I am bringing this up again is because nekitu recently announced that the demise of the old World Editor is imminent in the next major update. As far as I'm aware of, it is part of the developers' plans to remove all traces of the TorqueScript engine and its assets, which also includes materials.cs. As previously stated, this leaves main.materials.json as the only supported format for implementing materials going forward; consequently, all mods using materials.cs will no longer show up correctly when support for that format ceases to exist. However, it's possible that an official material conversion utility will be implemented at the same time in order to transition from one format to another seamlessly.

In light of the recent announcement regarding the old World Editor and anything pertaining to TorqueScript, what are your thoughts about this? As this is still the Update Speculation thread, let me know what you think...

 

where?

 

I don’t really know how the materials system works but I hope they don’t get rid of materials.cs, mostly because there are some good mods that haven’t been updated in 2-3 plus years and still work perfectly, like the Satsuma 210 (little 50s car, not the hatchback mod) by mike94 and the Ibishu Kashira by Reazia. Since those mod makers left the forums years ago either because of personal reasons or toxic forum drama, or just simple lack of time because of real life stuff.

 

Well I use “perfectly” in a practical sense, considering the mods’ ages. I mean that they are still drivable without issues and are free of game breaking bugs and visible texture issues. Obviously they don’t have all the new game features, but they are still usable. I don’t get what people seem to have against the “backwards compatibility” for older mods.

 

If backward compatibility means also hold progression for the game I'm also against it. This game is still in development so it's rather obvious that old mods that aren't updated anymore won't work at some point.

 

Time to inject some actual speculation into this thread.

As said earlier by tdev, the next update has been delayed to November at the earliest because it's a far more substantial one and they need a lot of time to prepare it. Likely, this has to do with some larger thing. My guess is some very early form of Career Mode. It's been in development for years, there are unused UI settings for it recently, in 0.22 we got a ton of new gas stations, garages, and car dealers, and it's one of the last remaining items from "something is still on the horizon". However, I would not assume that this will be the whole mode. I suspect that it would be a relatively early version, lacking many features and pieces of content in order to judge community response and will be improved upon in future updates.

The Garage mode was removed a few updates ago because they wanted to redo and improve it. If some form of career mode gets released in the near future, a revamped garage map and mode would probably come alongside it.

On the vehicle content front, we really don't know anything yet, and I'm not gonna bother speculating about this until we actually have some teasers because any speculation is likely inaccurate.

On the level front, we have a few options for remasters and other level improvements:

1. Remastered ETK Driver Experience Center or a new German map with ETK DEC elements integrated into it. ETK DEC has been untouched for years, and it obviously needs a serious improvement pass. However, given its small size and relative simplicity, one would assume that it would have been updated already. However, as seen with Industrial Site absorbing the Port map, it's very possible for maps to be merged. They may have held off on ETK DEC because they wanted to make a new, larger German map and integrate ETK DEC elements, and the ETK map would be deprecated after this new map is released. Again, this is all just speculation, nothing here is confirmed.
   
2. Japanese re-theme for Jungle Rock island. See post here for more information and possible evidence pointing towards this. With some form of career mode possibly on the horizon, JRI completely lacks any important facilities likely needed for career mode (garages, dealers, gas stations), and without these it doesn't feel ready.
3. Remastered Cliff? I'm not sure what all could be done here but it also has been untouched for ages.
   
4. "Remastered" Grid, Small Pure. Why this still uses the old ground texture as opposed to the new one is really bothering me.
   
5. Remastered Template. Okay I'm clearly out of ideas. Ignore this one.

 

maybe an improvement on frames for career mode and hinted that they maybe Tyre thermals in the future

 

It could potentially have newer textures to make it look more withered/weathered or it could be even turned into an inactive volcano somewhere in the middle of an ocean which would make more sense than just a random hill sticking out of water

 

Not to mention that the UI development went completely radio silent.