GeneRally 2 News

This update fixes a few small issues with Online Multiplayer.

• Status light in the player list is now orange when the player is syncing, and shows the number of tracks left to sync.
  
• Added a notice about checking the client version when connected - user will be disconnected if game versions mismatch.
  
• FIXED: Follow camera no longer flies off the screen at low frame rates.
  
• FIXED: Cones no longer get launched quite as quickly in certain circumstances.
  
• FIXED: Server browser drop-down sort now works correctly again.
  
• FIXED: The pitcrew are now behaving themselves a bit better again.
  
• FIXED: Changing between track folders no longer leaks memory.
  
• FIXED: Fuel warning icon no longer appears prematurely before race start.
  
• FIXED: Apply button in Options menu now closes the menu correctly.
  

Online Multiplayer is now available to everyone on Steam. 🎉

We are really pleased to announce that everyone can now play the Online Multiplayer public beta!

If you find any issues, or simply want to match-make with other players, you can join us on Discord!

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]


To celebrate the launch of Online Multiplayer (and to make it easier for you to get your friends to join you), GeneRally 2 is 35% off for one week.

We will not be running an equivalent discount again during the Early Access period, though the game may now start to appear in regular Steam sales, with a smaller discount percentage. All this to say, if you've been waiting for a discount on GeneRally 2, now's the time to act 😊


[h2]Gameplay & Performance[/h2]

• Online Multiplayer has been added (feature still in beta).
  
• Added a new car: GT.
  
• Made significant handling improvements to the Formula, General and Monster Truck.
  
• Improved the implementation of differentials.
  
• Improved tyre behaviour when at a high angle to the road surface.
  
• Keyboard keys can now be rebound (see Options menu).
  
• Most of the default tracks have been updated to make use of new game objects.
  
• The ghost car has been improved, and can now also be completely disabled, if desired.
  
• Adjusted the force of the car slowdown, when crossing the finish line at the end of the race.
  
• Made a variety of improvements that may reduce stuttering on some systems.
  

[h2]User Interface[/h2]

• Updated the in-game driver UI blocks to be more clear.
  
• Added Car Labels that display player names, and a low-fuel warning over the car.
  
• Added support for Steam Game Recording/Timeline.
  
• New in-game console is available (accessible with the "tilde" key on US-EN keyboards).
  
• New default controller configuration for Steam Deck users, to improve usability.
  
• Improved the display of the options menu, and the settings "Apply" button.
  
• FIXED: Several localisation strings, in several languages, have been updated to be more correct.
  
• FIXED: Game can (hopefully) no longer end up at an impossible-low screen resolution.
  
• FIXED: Various small user-interface bugs.
  
• FIXED: Several missing localisation strings.
  

[h2]Track Editor[/h2]

• FIXED: Some small UI bugs.
  

[h2]Known Issues[/h2]

• Some users may experience stuttering after long play sessions involving many race restarts.
  
• Some users may experience problems with the follow cam "resetting" at very low FPS.
  
• In online multiplayer, some users may experience occasional stutters, not related to latency.
  
• In online multiplayer, games may occasionally be duplicated in the server browser list - and the duplicated games are un-joinable.
  

Welcome to the April 2025 Community Update! We have our regular update for you on the state of development - primarily what we've been working on recently; and what you can expect to see in the near future.

To join the discussion, as well as get more info direct from the development team, you can join us on Discord!


That's right, Online Multiplayer launches this week and you'll be able to play GeneRally 2 with your friends, your enemies, and random strangers online! Our testers have been doing an excellent job of helping us find the bugs and make sure everything is running smoothly and now we're happy to launch this feature into public beta!



Of course, as with every beta release, there are some small bugs that affect a small subset of players, but we're aiming to fix those over the coming days and weeks!


To celebrate the launch of Online Multiplayer (and to make it easier for you to get your friends to join you), we'll be running the first ever discount of GeneRally 2. We'll be discounting the game on Steam by 35% and that deal will run from the 9th of May for a week!

We will not be running an equivalent discount again during the Early Access period, though the game may now start to appear in regular Steam sales, with a smaller discount percentage. All this to say, if you've been waiting for a discount on GeneRally 2, now's the time to act 😊


Now that we've finished the major features relating to Online Multiplayer, there are a few things on our agenda going forward:

• Patches for Online Multiplayer - We will be aiming to fix bugs as we learn about them, and add the last few missing features to Online Multiplayer that we are aiming to include (e.g. password-protected servers).
  
• Performance Improvements - We have a significant improvement to overall gameplay performance that's been in progress for a while, and we hope to complete in the coming couple of months.
  
• Smaller Features - We will be focusing now on some of the smaller, remaining features in our Early Access roadmap, with a view to getting us closer-and-closer to the v1.0 release.
  

Welcome to our Online Multiplayer Update Preview! As there's a lot of updates and changes coming with the launch of Online Multiplayer, we thought we'd start by giving you a bit of a look at what you can expect to see.


It wouldn't be the "Online Multiplayer Update" without the addition of Online Multiplayer, now, would it? 😊 Over the past month we've been running a number of multiplayer tests, which some of you have even been a part of! We're now at the point where we are happy that the core of the Online Multiplayer is ready for release, and now we're finishing up things like localisations; the keyboard key rebinding system; and the like.



Creating an Online Multiplayer game will be quite familiar to anyone who's already played the game. Select your tracks, set up your race (and server) settings, start a lobby and wait for your friends (or complete strangers) to join. If you don't want to start a game yourself, you can join an existing game, too.



At launch, we'll have the ability for you to host games, join games, invite your friends, set up championships, configure all of the various race settings, etc. We support admin tools for kicking and blocking users, too!


This one has been in the pipeline for a while, and has undergone a lot of testing and tweaking, but it's safe to say it's been worth the wait. The GT is fast, grippy and excellent fun racing online with your friends 🏎




Tuomo has gone through almost all of the default tracks, and has carefully upgraded them with new objects and new features that weren't available when the game originally launched! Only visual changes have been made, so your laptimes are all still valid.



Many thanks to Tuomo for his hard work on these - they look great 🙌


Recently, Steam launched Steam Game Recording, which is a great new feature that allows background recording of gameplay footage, and provides easy tools to cut, edit and share clips.



As part of this, games can support adding different features to it, to allow users to find and enjoy their favourite moments. We have added basic initial support for Steam Game Recording's Timeline feature, which means that you'll be able to easily find important race events like race starts, pitstops, and the like - and we'll expand it in upcoming patches with more events.

We look forward to seeing your various clips and interesting moments from online races, in the #pics-and-videos channel on Discord 🎥

• Added over-car names as an option for single player and multiplayer.
  
• Added driver flags to the race/championship results UI.
  
• Added an in-game console - this is currently used only for the Online Multiplayer, but will have other features further down the line.
  
• Fixed a bug with the menus on Steam Deck.
  
• A variety of under-the-hood improvements to support Online Multiplayer and future features.
  

With all that said, we're really excited to start racing online with you all soon. Stay tuned for the precise release date - and don't forget to join us on Discord to discuss more about the update, and the game's development in general!

Welcome to the February 2025 Community Update! We have our regular update for you on the state of development - primarily what we've been working on recently; and what you can expect to see in the near future.

To join the discussion, as well as get more info direct from the development team, you can join us on Discord!

Online multiplayer implementation is feature-complete! 🎉 It has been a long road, but we are now finally at the point where we can stop talking about "when it's finished" and start talking about release dates!

We have selected the players to join us for the online multiplayer private beta test - please check your email inbox for an email from us over the next few days (as we decide on specific testing periods and dates). If you've been selected, you will likely be participating in a test sometime in the next 7-10 days. As long as those tests go smoothly - and no major bugs are found - we'll be on the final road to launch! If you haven't been selected, don't worry, it won't be long now until you're able to play GeneRally 2 online 😊

Below are a few questions we assume might be on your mind...

[h2]How will the testing work?[/h2]
We'll be defining a couple of testing periods (roughly 1-2 hours each) on specific dates, where we (the developers) can try out all aspects of the online features with the selected players. We'll be looking for bugs and assessing if the network performance is acceptable.

After these initial testing periods, we'll determine whether we need to do more testing (for example, to try out any fixes we make), or if the feature is ready for release.

[h2]Why wasn't I selected for testing?[/h2]
Unfortunately, we can't select everyone - and we did receive a lot of applications 😢

Primarily, we've chosen people with a range of hardware specifications, and in groups that are located close enough to each other geographically that latency doesn't become a major issue in tests (for example, not mixing people from Oceania and Europe in a test group). We've preferred people who are regular players of the game and who are members of the GeneRally 2 Discord.

[h2]When will the Online Multiplayer be released?[/h2]
Assuming the tests go well, and we find no new show-stopping bugs, we're most likely a maximum of a few weeks away from launch 🙌 We have some other, related things to do before then (such as updating some of our Steam store page texts and images to announce the feature) but it's mostly "admin" work at that point!

[h2]Will there be a discount at the launch of Online Multiplayer?[/h2]
Yes, we will be running our first discount for GeneRally 2 to coincide with the launch of the Online Multiplayer. This should make it a lot easier to convince your friends to join you for some races 😊

[h2]What comes after Online Multiplayer?[/h2]
After the Online Multiplayer feature is released, and we're content everything is in good order, we'll move back onto the other features on the road to v1.0. This includes things like replays and save games; time trial mode; photo mode; physics and AI improvements (including AI driver profiles); and more. We also have a long list of "minor" improvements to make to the Track Editor!

As far as our set of Early Access development features, Online Multiplayer is the last major one - so we'll then definitely be heading towards the end of Early Access ✨


Alongside the Online Multiplayer, we've also had a few other things in progress:

• Control Rebinding - Work continues on this system, which we aim to have in place for the Online Multiplayer launch.
  
• Steam Deck Fixes - We've located and resolved a few issues with both the menu rendering and the default control profile.