January Update - Progress Report: Improved Exploration, Storm and More

[p]We're hard at work on the first major update for Long Drive North, and we wanted to take a moment to keep you all in the loop and speak about some of our progress so far![/p][p]As previously announced, our first major update will now launch in late January and will focus on improving the world and loot balancing. Please take a read of this previous announcement if you haven't already, as today's post will just be speaking about some of the improvements and additions rather than the entire update.[/p][p]Please note that all content shown and discussed here is work in progress and may be subject to change.[/p][h3]Improved Exploration[/h3][p]One element of the update which we've been focused on is improving visibility of important POIs, as we are finding that lots of people are driving past some of the more hidden points of interest, adding to the feeling of the world being empty.[/p][p]We are working on a number of improvements in this area:[/p]

• [p]Adding a visual indicator on the compass to indicate nearby medium and large points of interest (POIs)[/p]
• [p]Changing dog companion behaviour, so that they will bark when passing medium and large points of interest (POIs)[/p]
• [p]Adding a new tire track texture to better highlight off-road shortcuts and hidden areas.[/p]

[p][/p][h3]Improved Storm Gameplay[/h3][p]Another aspect we're keen to improve on in this update is the storm. We're working hard on a number of improvements to ensure a more consistent and logical gameplay experience and to offer more player choice:[/p]

• [p]Adding a storm indicator in the bottom right-hand corner of the HUD, to tell you how many in-game hours away the storm is, rather than distance, allowing you to understand how much time you have before the storm gets too close.[/p]
• [p]Tweaking the storm so that it will now move at a constant speed, rather than jumping unpredictably.[/p]
• [p]Adding a ‘Storm Slider’, allowing you to select the speed of the storm, essentially controlling how easy or challenging you wish the storm speed to be. This should help allow for a calmer experience for those of you who find the current storm overbearing or a more intense survival experience for those of you finding the current storm not threatening enough.[/p]

[p][/p][h3]Quality of Life Improvements[/h3][p]Alongside bug fixes, another area we have been working on for this upcoming January update is quality of life. Here's just some of the additions in development aimed at making the game a better overall experience:[/p]

• [p]Adding keybindings for keyboard and mouse[/p]
• [p]Adding button remapping for controller[/p]
• [p]Adding the ability to pause the game in singleplayer[/p]

[p][/p][p]Thanks for checking in and we hope you enjoyed this sneak peak at some of the improvements we're working on to be released in the January update![/p]