Pure Rock Crawling News

Hi ! I hope you are all doing well ! This update brings you a lot of improvements ! From manual gearbox to tire deformation.



Let's start with the most important, manual gearbox is here ! This, I must admit should be in the game from day one. But developing this system was far more complicated than I would have ever thought. Now you can change gears using your mouse and the controller. Of course there is still automatic mode for you to select.



I want to thank all of you who pushed me to implement this feature in the game ! Now I cant imagine the game without it ! If you have any suggestions regarding gearbox please let me know in the forums.

Alongside gearbox being in the game, now there is a proper break. Thanks to having now reverse gear separated from brake - I know, finally :) This lead me to another improvement, vehicles now don't stop after reapplying throttle which results in a much smoother gameplay.



Another key improvement is the fix of excessive tire deformation. Rims are not deforming now and side ways deformation was reserved only for skinny tires - on the other ones it was replaced with angular deformation which is far closer to real tire deformation. This also fixed excessive side slipping. Thank you for spotting these problems !

Next is suspension simulation. I changed the way suspension is being simulated. Previously there was linear drive forced axles to stay at given height with set force. This was a problem because once the suspension was raised it became stiffer. Also it didn't quite worked as spring should. Now there is a proper spring simulation for the suspension, and raising is performed on other constraint resulting in equally soft suspension whichever height you choose.

Fixing this made me realize that part of the code responsible for better flex simulation was not working since last update. Its fixed now.

Full list of changes:

• manual gearbox
  
• excessive wheel deformation fix
  
• side to side deformation replaced with angular
  
• vehicle no longer stop after reapplying throttle
  
• new engine load calculations
  
• vehicle are less prone to side slipping
  
• new spring calculations for suspension
  
• fixed suspension getting to stiff when raised
  
• fixed bug that caused different suspension types act the same
  
• changed method of height adjustment
  
• brake and throttle separated
  
• brake work proportionally to input
  
• new textures on other two vehicles
  
• ability to map steering wheel buttons in options menu
  
• fixed challenge start bug on snow map
  
• fixed random game hitches that happened every ~60sec
  
• fixed level sometimes failed to load
  

As always, thank you all and have fun in the game !

Hi ! I hope you are all doing great ! This update brings working trailer to the game, now you can haul around second rig on the test maps.





So to be honest, last few months I had a few personal things that needed taking care of, that took its tol on my time that normally I would spend working on Pure Rock Crawling. And when finally everything settled in I had a hard time going back to work as usual...

That's when I realized that I have to make something that I always wanted to try out, something that would bring smile to my face, a trailer :)




Right now it might be out of place, but in a bigger picture it will be essential in further improvement of this game. And as its game ready right now i thought why not add it :) So you can check it out in the test maps. While selecting the map pick a secondary vehicle and you will start game with 2 cars and a trailer. Have fun with it and as always please report any encountered bugs on the forums, I will make separate thread.

As for the tires, right now the simulation was only focusing on the physical properties, the way the tire deformed under load. But there was one thing that was missing. Tire deformation to the sides - because it was not needed for the physics. Now, you can enjoy fully deformable tires !!!




To sum up, expect next update sooner than this time :) Also, I wanted to thank you all for great reception of the last update !!! You guys are great ! Thank you :)

Take care and have fun !

Hi ! I hope you are all well ! Pure Rock Crawling is celebrating 2nd birthday ! Following increased detail in wheels and suspension options there was no other way around it - visual customization needed some work.



Looking at the older vehicle models there is a clear lack of detail compared to the new suspension and wheels. Not only that made me to redo the first vehicle, but also because of how the first model was made there was no way to make it customizable on the level that I wanted.



So behold the new and improved Short Rock, now with new visual elements that can be swapped or removed. On pair with suspension and wheels it completes the vision that I had regarding customization.



Apart from all the models that you see there are many things under the hood that needed reworking for all of this to work, and having these things done now, i can shift my focus on adding new parts for all vehicles and reworking old models.

Minor updates:

• improved physics calculations
  
• new engine load model - resulting in smother ride
  
• fixed tire glitch while customizing in game
  
• improved difflock off behavior
  

For the game birthday sum up i think that this picture says it all:



And for the future plans, first lets take a look at what i wrote a year ago:

• update car models, as well as suspension, i think i can do much better now
  
• rework customization, I want to make something that would really let you feel like building dream rock crawler. Different tire sizes/types, axles that actually change something, being able to chose between spring or leaf suspension, more cosmetic items etc., so that's something that i want to work hard on.
  
• different progression system, since i find levels/credits in current form a little annoying
  
• multiplayer and mod support, so these are the tough ones. Don't get me wrong, I want both in game as soon as possible ! Both require the game to be more finished than it is right now (especially mod support) so first things first. Once i settle on how the core mechanics work, I will start working on these features. Cant say anything for sure but I will try as hard as i can :)
  

So yeah, I am quite happy with the progress! I think that besides smaller updates you have suggested, one of the important things will be adding more maps. Join me in the next 12 months of updates ! :)

Thank you for all of the support throughout the year ! Take care and stay safe !

Hi ! I hope you are all doing well ! Following the last update which brought the ability to customize the suspension, this update lets you choose different wheels !

First of all I wanted to say that I am overwhelmed by the great reception of the last updates ! I hope that Pure Rock Crawling is heading in the right direction for you. The journey of making this game is far off what I imagined it would be - it is far more better ! Thank you all !



Now for the update :) There are six different types of wheels, each with different physics properties. One is stiffer than the other, some bend sideways and of course all are much more softer. Thanks to reworking the whole wheel physic model I could finally free myself from the old system which was in use since the early days of the game. It is much lighter on the simulation side and much more capable of realistic simulation.



To make exploration of this update easier, now you can customize your truck right on the map via pause menu (only in free roam mode). This will allow for much quicker wheel and suspension changes - there is no better way to compare them.



Also, as suggested, you can now access all maps in free roam mode without the need of unlocking them. I hope this will please everybody interested only in free roaming.

Minor updates:

• driver animation fix
  
• added option to turn on V-Sync
  
• vehicles are slightly faster
  

Hope you will have fun with this update ! Stay tuned for more and take care !

Hi ! I hope you are all doing great ! This update changes how can you customize your truck suspension. Now you can choose between 6 different setups, both for front and rear - and mix them up!

Let me start with specifying what has changed. In the customization menu now you have the ability to choose different suspension types. This allows you to customize your truck in a whole new dimension. Let's say that you want 3 link in the front and leaf springs in the back - no problem ! One link setup ? Got you covered :) Each type is modeled with attention to every nut and bolt. Let me list every available option:

• One Link with Panhard bar - front/rear
  
• Two link with Panhard bar - front/rear
  
• Three link - front with Panhard rear triangulated
  
• Four link triangulated - front/rear
  
• Five link (4 with Panhard) - front/rear
  
• Leaf spring - front/rear
  

Every suspension has its own characteristic, eg. one link is very unstable but gives the most flex and on the other hand there are leaf springs, the most stable and predictable but the worst flex. Also Panhard bars push suspension to one side etc. Once I polish these values they will be exposed in the customization menu so it will be easier to compare them. Feel free to comment and give suggestions on how each type could be tweaked.

In addition to that, axles got a lifting too. Now you can see working axles shafts with exposed u-joints. New engine model etc. Whole new suspension to play with.
As for the overall look of customization, right now the UI is a mess and needs to be changed.

Suspension change don't require in-game currency, and from now on parts that affect gameplay won't require it. In the future I want to separate mechanical parts from cosmetic ones - but that will be a whole another update.



Other thing that was added is nvidia ansel. You can now use this tool to take in game screenshots having freedom to move the camera around to get the best angle possible ! Also this helped me to take pictures for today's update.

Also got a fixed a few bugs and improved some things:

• driver animation not working corectly when using controller
  
• fixed issue with car loosing power in certain situations
  
• changed acceleration curve, plus removed a bug where two methods of calculating load interfered
  
• camera center of rotation moved closer to center of car
  

So, this one took longer than expected... But I must say it was a ton of work and I have done a lot more than I had planned at the beginning of working on this update. Hope you will like it ! Can't wait to see your favorite setups ! And of course Happy Holidays !!!