Exo Rally Championship News

Welcome to the first update of the year for 2025! Here's what we've been working on since the demo released at the end of last year (plus some other stuff given the demo update was a bit short!):


You'll be able to run a multi-planet series (Rally class only), individual rally events using one of 4 classes, daily online leaderboards using all classes, training and free-roam. All coming for Exo Rally Early Access.



These two planets are now fully playable within individual events and the series, with any of the below classes and have setups to cater for the different gravity levels and atmospheres.




Early access will feature 4 classes. Here's some thumbnails for now, and we'll share full 3d renders and descriptions in the next update:


Rally Class (the existing demo vehicle): the most powerful 6-wheel drive, a custom designed racing rover.

Rover Class: a heavy but powerful 4WD rover.


UTV Class: a very small and lightweight front wheel drive vehicle.


Mining Class: an extremely heavy, 6WD, large mining rover.

Each class challenges your driving skills in different ways and requires unique skills to master.


We're almost finished replacing all the AI art and voice with human created. Here's the engineer Bennet and the Mechanic Lisa by Vladimir Matyukhin.



Given what we learned from Dhool (dust build-up isn't super fun), we've mostly removed the salt/rust aspect from Tensei. The rework now presents Tensei as an abandoned salt mining planet, with strip mined terraces used as roads, and the poor over-mined planet suffering constant earthquakes that cause temporary loss of traction. We'll likely also prototype some rock falls caused by the quakes that you'll have to dodge.

The lighting has been changed up a bit too, with pockets of light scattering across the planet, caused by extensive stellar dust and rock in the system.

Here's some making-of shots using Gaea 2.0 for height-stamp creation and Microverse/Microsplat within Unity:




Jimmy announces, in real-time, the current daily stage leaders and who's beaten who by how much:

• Various supporting features/UI/art added for multi-class/setups/events
  
• Weight-based, slip-angle based drag for 'deep' or sinking ground materials like sand
  
• Slow motion replays
  
• DLSS support (WIP): We've now got DLSS and FXR(?) in which can help boost frame rates at 4k res quite substantially.
  
• Multiple systems failure alerts instead of potentially 5-10 individual damage alerts
  
• Daily Stages - Choose other player's times to race against, receive splits vs their times
  
• Added a gyro stabilizer part - helps keep the rover level over bumps but also makes it less nimble, harder to change directions
  
• Steering wheel improvements
  
• Endless demo patches, balancing and tweaks!
  

"Redbull's racing game highlights 2025: The top 10 racers"

Check it:
https://www.redbull.com/au-en/best-racing-games-2025

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Here’s what we’ve included!

• Dhool: a dusty, meteor-wracked moon orbiting a gas giant
  
• A 6WD Racing Rover with RCS thrusters for air control
  
• Realistic physics and damage simulation
  
• Full 10 Stage Rally. Locked stages for demo, random in full game
  
• 3 ever-changing Daily Stages with online Steam leaderboards
  
• In-depth rover tuning, servicing/repairs
  

In the full game you can look forward to:

• Climbing the ranks in career mode to win the ultimate off-road event
  
• Explore Diverse Planets, from moons to volcanic worlds to dark frozen rogues
  
• Multiple rover classes, advanced tuning options, specialized tires and RCS fuel types
  
• Compete in daily and multi-stage rallies on global leaderboards.
  
• Enhanced Physics, Realism and Soft-Surface Tire Models.
  

We’ve loved crafting this game over the last 2 years and are really looking forward to your feedback on our Discord or the Steam Discussion Boards!

Hope to see you on the leaderboards! And please don’t forget to Wishlist if you like the demo!

We're excited to welcome the first 1,000 playtesters. We'd love to hear your thoughts, so please share your feedback and join our community on Discord here: https://discord.gg/AMaMCdMb2E

If you're still not part of playtesting, you can apply on the main store page.

[h2]What's Included:[/h2]

• 1 Rover + 1 Planet only
  
• Planet Dhool, a desert world wracked with meteors and fine dust
  
• A 6WD 2000HP, RCS thruster-powered racing rover (likely one of, if not the fastest class in the game)
  
• Play a full 10 stage Rally or...
  
• A variety of Daily Stages and challenges + online leaderboards
  
• Learn how to play with a wide array of tutorials
  

Exo Rally is designed for controllers, but we’ve added basic support for wheels and force feedback. If you try your wheel setup, let us know how it went!

Your feedback is crucial in helping us refine the game, hope you'll come join the Discord! See you on the track!

Welcome to the July 2024 Exo Rally update!

As we close in on the demo release, we've now opened up play testing on Steam, so go here and request access. We hope to open up access to a few hundred new people in the coming weeks!

[h3]Industrial Planet WIP[/h3]
I've returned to this planet again this month and started adding dust drifts that form dunes and build up against structures. Also added scattered debris/concrete chunks for more interest/obstacles while racing. This planet is a research base constructed around monoliths that were originally found on the surface. An accident resulted in an explosion that scattered the power plants radioactive core across the map. Drivers will need to avoid prolonged close range exposure to the core and scattered radioactive debris.

Still quite WIP:
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

[h3]Earth's Moon WIP[/h3]
We quite like the idea of having one or two planets from our solar system, and Earth's moon is one of them! This probably represents the most extreme low gravity rally you'll encounter in the game, and the low gravity makes for a very different experience.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Curious if you have any specific requests for other planets in the solar system!

[h3]Tire marks from opponents vehicles[/h3]
Now other drivers who went before you will lay tracks down in the sand/dirt, giving the rally a more populated/event-like feel, and at the same time, giving you a clue as to a nice line to take through the terrain if you haven't droned the stage.



[h3]Steering wheel support-ish?[/h3]
We've had enough requests that we're going to 'unofficially'(?) try and support them, at least to see what people think as part of a playtest and/or the demo. The reason we're a bit cagey is the potential size of the task, with so many wheels out there, and also the fact that some wheels will be better than others for controlling the rcs thrusters (requires dpads/sticks on the wheel or another separate controller). To help, we will also be including No RCS Daily Stages specifically for wheel owners (and ofc people who love the no-rcs challenge).

Here's Rhys driving:
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

[h3]New tire selection UI with full explanations[/h3]


[h3]Per axis damage scaling on tires and suspension. [/h3]
Now we take more damage when landing at 'awkward angles' on our wheels. Suspension is designed mostly to cushion vertical landings and up/down movement, and landing hard on the side of your wheels will stress them more and damage them more easily.

[h3]Tire physics now allows traction at all angles of contact[/h3]
This making for better rolling (more likely to land on wheels after a crash/roll/flip) and easier to 'catch' rolls when tilting up on 3 wheels.
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

[h3]Rallies operate now on total points, not total time. [/h3]
Now points are earned for each stage based on your time then tallied at the end. And if you skip or extract a stage, you aren't permanently out of the rally. This has its pros and cons across the board, so curious to know what people think of this rather large diversion from classic rally rules.

There's multiple reasons for this change!:

1. Stage Hazard Rating: Stages each get rated based on things like visibility/dust/time of day, meteor shower strength, length of stage, rain, etc.

2. Stage Skipping: Teams aren't required to drop for every stage in a rally, so you can pass or skip a stage, forfeiting any potential points. You'll often encounter scenarios where most of the field decides not to drop for a stage, because there might be an enduro length, raining, night + heavy meteor storm scenario. You can of course try to be a hero, but you'll risk the rest of your rally..!

3. Extraction system: Exoplanetary rally is incredibly hazardous and unpredictable. Drivers can extract using the dpad command system and live to fight another day, while also not being forced to limp home slowly (and boringly) on 1 or 2 wheels.

[h3]Characters added to radio/comms (WIP)[/h3]


We will go more into your team mates in future updates, but essentially, Team Lindsay, who we race for, has a Team Principal, Ed Carrington (like a CEO), Race Engineer, Bennet Clark (tactics) and Mechanic, Lisa Torres. They'll help you with priorities and goals for upcoming stages, suggest strategies, steer you away from hazard 5 stages, remind you when you forget to repair, and be in your ear as you race stages.

[h3]Removed obstacle and terrain scanners[/h3]
These systems allowed us to see through dust and darkness so we could see obstacles no matter what, which nullified the challenge and key feature of dusty environs and planets. It's quite a big change, and tough given the time we sunk into these, but we think braving the elements (or choosing not to!) with just your headlights is much more dangerous and exciting.


[h3]Dpad command system[/h3]
For resetting rover, dropship extract, repairing, etc. This enables us to use a common interface for a wide variety of in-stage actions/commands.


[h3]New Dhool trees[/h3]
These are based off prehistoric Earth trees, where they were much simpler, and ofc more alien looking.


[h3]Drop ship pickup during stage[/h3]
You can extract any time due to damage or extreme danger situations, or automatically after stage completion (for service stages) so you can be repaired on the drop ship.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

[h3]Everything else![/h3]
- Story, dialog and next trailer work
- Weather and time now progresses from stage to stage (no longer just pure random)
- Rover engine damage smoke FX
- Physics debugging and damage tuning
- Less damage taken from hard landings in snow and mud
- Zoomed out all replay cameras a bit so its easier to see
- Fixed bug where rock geo wasn't matching visuals perfectly
- Engine audio improvements
- Extreme Dust storm FX + high speed wind weather for Dhool
- adjusted o2 leak and tire puncture leak rates (makes more sense now you can extract from stages)
- Dhool meteor fall rates are now constant regardless of rover speed
- Tire blow out sound added
- RCS Heat generation now affected by planet temperature
- Wobbling Bobblers for antennae and other moving things on the rover
- Fixed 45 deg landings on wheels causing no damage
- More even spread of endurance/mid/sprint distances throughout a rally

Welcome to the May 2024 Exo Rally update, here's what's been happening!


Super excited to share we will be releasing a demo soon! Exact date is still TBD, but it'll feature the start of the ‘story campaign' on Dhool (the meteor/dust world). You’ll be able to drive one rover class on one planet, and you’ll be able to race in daily stages and rallies and compete via online leaderboards. The dailies will be generated every day, so you'll have new stages to race and compete on for a long time to come!

[h3]Dust/element accumulation work nearly finished[/h3]
Depending on Dhool's weather, this invasive nano scale dust will either clear off (rain) or build up (dust storm) and effect almost every system on your rover

The main challenge with dust is accounting for degraded steering speed, RCS thruster strength and brake strength. This makes it much harder to react to sudden threats. Frequent use of these parts can temporarily clear them out again ready for use...

Also highly dust related!:

• Repairing/cleaning progress
  
• Build up rates based on weather and surfaces driven over
  
• More dust particle visuals
  
• Rovers now visually build up dust and dirt over a stage
  

[h3]Updated waypoint visuals[/h3]
We've been slightly ho hum on the waypoint visuals for a while so we've given them an overhaul:


This makes it obvious which side to pass on, and includes a cross-filled 'plane' where you pass through it, so even if you are miles from the waypoint emitter, you'll know exactly where you need to be to clear the waypoint.


Solid ‘posts’ have been removed and replaced with orbs that are sunken into the ground. In some instances, these solid posts will be replaced by the natural environment itself - waypoints will get placed on top of rocks or bushes or stumps or monoliths or other structures.

[h3]New planet orbit visuals, for planet arrival/drop cinematics[/h3]


[h3]Obstacle scanner update[/h3]
This scanner will now see properly (illuminates rocks/structures) through any level of dust


[h3]Tutorialised drone controls [/h3]
You'll be led through a tutorial for your first time controlling the survey drone:


[h3]Large bushes[/h3]
Added large (slowing) bushes to Dhool in some areas


[h3]Rover visuals updates[/h3]
Sponsorships and numbers glow in the dark:


Rover dirt levels build up over a stage and entire rally.
Clean:

Dirty:


[h3]Rover setup options[/h3]
We've been asked about exactly what setup options you'll have to play with, so I've included everything at the end of this update.

[h3]New menu screen [/h3]
Added story ‘backdrop’ as the menu screen. The short version of the story is the protagonist was a top contender for the Exo Rally Championship title, but suffered a near fatal accident, sidelining you for years. Now you are beginning your triumphant return.


Rhys wrote some new menu music to go with as well, check this tweet:
Menu Screen Video/Music

[h2]Here's a list of everything else we've done![/h2]

• In-Stage Race Engineer First Pass - "Bennet" appears/talks to you at the start of and eventually throughout stages.
  
• UI updated
  
• Tires: Slick tire art in, tire failure art (shredded tires) and sound
  
• Performance upgrades: Dhool at 4k res was 45-60 fps now more like 70-85 on a 3080.
  
• Damage balancing
  
• Staged headlight destruction. If main headlights are destroyed, “backup” lights activate on the rover’s roof, which can also be damaged.
  
• Rover physics tuning
  
• Backstory/story/campaign work
  
• New audio for gear changes, camera changes, engine damage, tire damage, ambience, etc
  
• Camera change FX
  
• Terrain scanner changes: no longer renders behind terrain + keep scale consistent/normal instead of dynamic scaling = easier to read where challenging terrain is
  

Rover Tuning Image Dump!: