Circuit Superstars News

Ah, there is the sweet smell of spring again,
fresh blossoms, a tinge of rain and…burned rubber?!
*screeching wheel sounds*

Hello, drivers!

We made it! Spring is here and with it our latest and most impactful patch yet! Below you will find all the details of what we have in store for you for patch 1.3.1. Plus, Circuit Superstars is on sale! Now is the time to join the paddock and bring your friends with you!



[h2]Improved Physics Model[/h2]

We made significant improvements to how cars react to external forces, which enhances close racing, helps with online racing synchronization, and improves the experience of racing against AI.

We want you to know how excited we are about this change. It's by far the most exciting and impactful change we have made on Circuit Superstars, and it’s the result of thorough analysis, hours of scribbling physics dynamics on papers and discussing as a team how to approach our key problems. We are very happy with the solution, and we can’t wait to see how this impacts the experience of existing racers as well as new drivers entering the world of Circuit Superstars.



[h2]Custom Private Lobbies[/h2]
One of the clearest goals in the vision for the future of Circuit Superstars is that we want to empower competitive communities. A pillar towards achieving that vision is Custom Lobbies, and we are so glad to be introducing this feature with update 1.3.1.

Under the Online options, you’ll see a new button called “Create Online Lobby”. This space will allow you to organize your own events just as you would on Free Play. Your friends or competitors that you want to race with can join your event via a lobby code/invite.

We are so excited to see what kinds of competitions you will organize! Discord is a great place to share your organized streams and events.



[h2]UI Refinement[/h2]
We made notable improvements across the front end UI.

[h2]Reverse track cameras[/h2]
We added reverse cameras to tracks that previously didn’t have them.



[h2]NEW CAR: Road Rebel[/h2]
The name of the car describes the attitude of the new category: Touring cars are here to set a new driving benchmark on every track in Circuit Superstars.



[h2]NEW OVAL: Speedopolis[/h2]
Who would not love to golf peacefully while a pack of single seaters drives by at full speed? Well, actually, the real question is who would not want to be ON a single seater driving at full speed by calm golfers? NO ONE!

Join the pack on our new track: Speedopolis! An entirely new challenge on Circuit Superstars.



[h2]NEW ROAD COURSE: Thunder Point[/h2]
A fast paced track that will challenge your skills with any car, Thunder Point is our latest thrilling destination.



[h2]NEW GRAND PRIX[/h2]
We added 2 new Grand Prix Tournaments: Stock CarGP and Touring GP.



[h3]Bug Fixes[/h3]

• Fixed some issues with disconnecting / reconnecting to lobbies.
  
• Penalties now appear correctly online.
  
• Added specific reverse cameras to all tracks as in some cases cameras behaved weirdly on reverse layouts.
  
• Various UI bugs in the Front End.
  
• Some modal dialogues had "-" instead of appropriate text.
  
• Removed large black borders in split screen.
  
• Addressed an issue where the game would stutter while saving a new Time Trial time.
  
• Loading screens are now black instead of white
  
• Fix an issue where music volume setting was not respected
  

Thank you to all the players that participated in our public betas leading to this patch. Your feedback and testing helped us so much! With this update on your hands, we now turn our attention to the Q2 Patch, and we will be sharing an updated roadmap soon.

Some closing words from the team:

It’s now been a year since Circuit Superstars came out on Early Access in March of 2021. Then we released it on Xbox and PC on October 12th, followed by a PlayStation release on January 27th. These are dates that we put on our press kits as facts. We also talk about them in the context of how big of an achievement it has been for our team to have accomplished those goals. But, as we reflect back on the last year, the gaps between all of those dates are the most meaningful, because they are packed with days, weeks, months of doing the hardest, most exhausting and rewarding work of our lives.

During those in-between days, we’ve read your feedback, tested with you, we’ve discussed and made new features, prototyped, evaluated and implemented improvements that you’ve seen come out in increments in between all of those big milestones. We know that you, like us, see a great future for Circuit Superstars, and we wanted to reassure you that during these periods of quietness, of seeming stillness, a lot is moving within the game and the studio. Our vision has been a beacon we keep moving closer to, and we want you to know you’ve been essential company on the journey there. Thank you, drivers!

SO! What are you waiting for? A brand new Road Rebel awaits in your garage, will you meet us at Thunder Point? LET’S GO!

Love,
OFG Team

Links:
Twitter Discord Website

Hello, drivers!

We have been working on our upcoming Spring Patch, which will include the long awaited Custom Lobbies! Though there are still some tweaks to be done, we feel the system is ready for you to help us test it! This is a pre-QA test, our goal is to stress-test the system and learn about as many bugs as you can help us find so we can get this out the door to you on our Spring Patch! 🌸

So - We would like to invite you to playtest this new feature this weekend, from Friday 18th to Sunday 20th. The playtest will run from the 18th at 10AM PST to the 20th at 3PM PST (18th at 6PM GMT to the 20th at 11 PM GMT).

What to expect:

• This build will be a branch on Steam that only has Online and Practice modes available.
  
• All the Physics Patch improvements tested on the previous playtest will be present.
  
• There will be a new option under Online titled "Create Custom Lobby" - This is what we are testing!
  

How to join:

• PC (Steam) only beta.
  
• You must own the game to participate on the beta.
  
• Test will run from February, Friday 18th at 10AM PST to the 20th at 3PM PST (18th at 6PM GMT to the 20th at 11 PM GMT)
  
• The branch will be titled custom-lobbies-playtest
• To help us with bug-tracking, please join Discord . We will also have special channels for chatting and organizing.
  
• Make sure you are on the correct beta branch: If you are not on the correct beta branch and try to connect to a beta branch lobby or server you will receive an error.

We hope you enjoy this weekend of playtesting!

Love,
OFG Team

Links:
Twitter Discord Website

Mmm, hot chocolate, sweet bread, the smell of douglas fir and the sound of slot cars as they loop around a track in the living room. By the tree, gifts await, for the elves of OFG have been reading all your letters and suggestions. Let’s open your presents!





We have been working on several new features and content that we believe will have a huge positive impact on your experience of Circuit Superstars! From fuller lobbies to the depth added through the new drafting mechanic, this patch introduces an evolved version of the racing game that has brought us all together.

[h2]Gameplay & Modes[/h2]
[h3]New Feature: Drafting (Slipstream)[/h3]
We’ve added a drafting system to the gameplay of Circuit Superstars. Drafting or slipstreaming is an aerodynamic phenomenon where a car driving close behind another car will be pulled forward by a low-pressure zone created by the car in front as it pushes air out of the way.. The player behind will receive a speed boost, providing key opportunities for overtakes.



You’ll be able to find a new setting under the Advanced Settings of Free Play, where you’ll be able to customize the % rate of drafting you want in a custom scenario. Additionally, we have revised the Grand Prix tournaments and Online Events to include drafting. We are excited to hear how this changes your experience!

[h3]New Mode: Practice [/h3]
To help you get familiar with tracks and hone in your driving line, you’ll be able to quickly enter an endless practice session with your choice of car and track combination, racing vs your own session ghost.



[h3]Single player & local co-op in-race restarts.[/h3]
You can now easily restart a race from the pause menu.

[h2]Online Improvements[/h2]
[h3]Improvements to synchronization and collisions.[/h3]
We made significant improvements to the online gameplay experience of Circuit Superstars. The changes will have an impact on the experience of collisions, close contact racing, and how other cars appear on your screen. The game now has better handling of suboptimal network conditions, so overall your experience should be more reliable and, most importantly, more competitive.

We tested these changes with our amazing community (thank you, everyone!) and we saw that our improvements made an impact across the board. We can’t wait to hear what your experiences are.

[h3]Join In Progress Games[/h3]
To help find full races more quickly we have made significant changes to our matchmaking. Now when you queue to find a game if there is an ongoing race that’s nearly done you will automatically join it.

Whilst you wait for the next race to start you can do whatever you like (time trials, garage customisation, etc.). You will automatically be moved to the race when it’s ready.

Additionally you can join your friends whilst they are playing online at any time using the invite functionality. If they’re in a lobby you will join it. If they are in a race then you will automatically join them when they reach the next race. Magic!🧙


[h2]Bullseye Speedway[/h2]
Precision, persistence, endurance. These are some of the skills you will need to master to battle for the lead on our first ever oval in Circuit Superstars!



[h2]Impact & Stock Cars category[/h2]


What a better way to accompany the release of Bullseye Speedway than with the introduction of stock cars to Circuit Superstars? While the Impact is a beast that runs free on ovals, soon you will see that this new addition to our roster will challenge your skills with every existing track.



We also accompanied the Impact with plenty of new liveries for you to lead the charge in style.

Drafting, Stock Cars and a robustly competitive online experience. The only thing between you and the race track is that PLAY button. Are you ready? Join us on the race track!



Happy holidays, drivers! We hope Circuit Superstars is a source of joy in your life. Your love for what we have created is a source of major joy for us. Thank you for joining us throughout the journey of releasing our debut game in 2021, we could not have done it without you.

Love,
OFG Team

Links:
Twitter Discord Website

Hello, drivers!

Two important news today!



We have a lot of exciting updates planned for Circuit superstars in the new year. The roadmap below shows approximately when we’re planning to get these updates to you! Not everything we will do is here, these are major features that will drive our priorities, but we also have a backlog of your suggestions as well as our own ideas for the game.



As we move forward, we will keep looking at our backlog and pick the best features to work on as we develop these bigger systems. Additionally, it's important to note that these priorities might change, some things may come before others. We will continue to update this roadmap as we move forward, so you always know what to expect next!

And as always, a reminder that we take community suggestions seriously, so if you are not yet on the Discord server, consider joining us there!



We have been working on an exciting update that lands next Thursday, December 16th! Improved online systems, stock cars, our first oval and drafting are among the gifts you are getting for Christmas from us.



Are you excited? We are too! We hope to see you on the racetrack to experience all that is coming to Circuit Superstars next week.

With love,
OFG Team

Links:
Twitter Discord Website