Bugbear doing what they do best: Making a brand new Flatout-style offroad racing game

[Dankk]

And they need your help.

http://nextcargame.com/

Flatout/offroad-racing fans have been constantly nagging Bugbear to release a new game, true to the roots of Flatout. Unfortunately, publisher demands have prevented them from making the kind of games they want to make (see: Sega Rally and Ridge Racer Unbounded). Now they've decided to forgo publishers completely and opt for community funding instead. They now have complete freedom to create the offroad driving game that people want.

For as little as $25, you can pre-order the game and also have access to an early build when it becomes available. People who pay more money will get some other goodies as well. The working title for the game is currently "Next Car Game"; it sounds a bit silly, but I suspect it might change sometime later on.

If you enjoy Flatout, then you should absolutely look into this. If you're not convinced, watch the video on their page for a small taste of what it will be like. Look at those glorious vehicle physics and destruction. It puts Burnout to shame.

Edit: Here's the Steam Greenlight page - http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=176123360

 

[polypterus]

How about another Rally Trophy????

 

[Via]

How about another Rally Trophy????

I came into this thread to post this.

That was such a great game. I still have the disc, but it doesn't work in Windows 7. I even e-mailed them for any tips on how to get it to run properly but they never responded.

Man, do I miss the days of scraping through those stages by the skin of my teeth and sweating what repairs to make during the breaks. I'm so tempted to buy a Windows XP gaming laptop for a few $100 bucks to play this (and some other XP-centric games) again.

 

[Soundmanred]

I'd much rather play this kind of "silly" racing game than most of the "ultra realistic" racing games (or "sims" as they call them since they're so real ) out these days.
I want another fun racing game, I've played WAY too many hours of Burnout Paradise.

 

[PrincessFrosty]

Love Flatout 1 and 2, we still play Flatout 2 at our LAN parties.

I'll likely support this as I'm sure they can make something very enjoyable. And screw publishers who don't think there's a demand for it, they've been the gatekeeps for forcing mediocrity on us for too long.

 

[Stringjam]

Looks good, especially the physics and in-car views. All the more impressive as it seems they're dev'ing it on their own in-house engine.

I'm much more likely to help fund something like this where they've actually invested in the development long enough to show some gameplay, as opposed to so many Kickstarters where the only thing they've come up with is "concept art."

 

[Dankk]

Looks good, especially the physics and in-car views. All the more impressive as it seems they're dev'ing it on their own in-house engine.

I'm much more likely to help fund something like this where they've actually invested in the development long enough to show some gameplay, as opposed to so many Kickstarters where the only thing they've come up with is "concept art."

They've supposedly already invested a year's worth of effort and a million dollars into it so far. I'd say it's a safe bet. They know what they're doing.

 

[Dankk]

Steam Greenlight page. Go vote: http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=176123360

 

[Soundmanred]

New video from Bugbear:

Behind the scenes of "Next Car Game": Car damage fun!


From Bugbear twitter yesterday:

Lion ‏@Lion_BC304 12 Sep

@bugbeargames Any news on Payment Options or Greenlight?
Expand
BugbearEntertainmen t ‏@bugbeargames 12 Sep

@Lion_BC304 Greenlight is currently #26 out of 1388 games, so "pretty good"... Still working on payment options. Hopefully this week.

 

[Purple44]

In less than 2 weeks Bugbear "Next Car Game" has been Greenlighted by Steam!!

This game has been Greenlit by the Community!

The community has shown their interest in this game. Valve has reached out to this developer to start moving things toward release on Steam.


http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=176123360

From Bugbear twitter page today:

BugbearEntertainment ?@bugbeargames 2h

We have been approved for a Steam release after a very nice and fast ride through Greenlight. Thanks everyone!

 

[Purple44]

Here some new info about NCG pre-oders:

website pre-order vs steam??

i also posted this on steam but

will there be any difference between those who purchased on steam and those who purchased on your website?? i got the wrecker edition which gives me a bonus car

We're not sure yet how we're going to structure the Steam Early Access. Likely it's a one size fits all deal (low price and just the game); if you want the good stuff, you need to pre-order from us. We really prefer pre-orders from us as that leaves us with considerably more of the money.

Pre-orders from us do come with Steam keys now that we're through Greenlight (once we have a Steam build available, naturally).

 

[Purple44]

Here it is, Bugbear has release video of some ingame racing on a dirt track.

Note: This is pre-alpha build of Next Car Game.

Team Bugbear -
This is the moment you’ve all been waiting for: we’re finally ready to show you some proper racing action on a dirt track! Here we are testing with a powerful rear-wheel drive car how our handling works on gravel, and we’re glad to let you know that it feels SUPERB!

Thanks to our great physics, you really get the full white-knuckle racing experience with Next Car Game, if that’s what you prefer. On the other hand, if you’re a budding race car driver, you can still enjoy the game (and remain competitive!) by enabling a selection of driving aids.

Please note that the game is still very much work-in-progress, and what you see is not representative of the final quality. For example the track has not been properly decorated yet, and there’s a lot of additional polish that’s going to be done on it. Also, the player car damage has been disabled for the demonstration purposes.

Check out the video on our Kickstarter page and let us know what you think!

As you know, we still have a plenty of distance to cover if we’re going to succeed with our Kickstarter campaign, but you can help us meet our goal. Now it’s time for the racing game fans to unite and show us that you want a game like Next Car Game! Our team is having great fun playing the game, and we feel that no other game can match the amazing racing experience offered by Next Car Game. We can’t wait to share it with you!

PLEASE SUPPORT US AND SPREAD THE WORD!

As a bonus, here’s a few new screenshots from the same track:

The Kickstarter campaign slowed down this last week, with only about 2 weeks left, Flatout fans need to get the word out and support Bugbear so they can give us the extra features they would like to add to NCG game. After watching video and you know you going want to buy Bugbear new derby/racing, go pledge $20 and pickup NCG cheap. Pledge $30 and you get to test out alpha/Early Access version later on.

 

[Purple44]

Bugbear of Flatout fame, has release new sneak peek playground demo for players that pre-ordered their new derby/racing game. Bugbear has taken their damage model from the Flatout series to a whole new level!!

You like soft body car damage, checkout the soft body damage being done in this video I did:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgrO9eMxysw


If like what you see, be sure to head on over to Bugbear pre-order page and get your pre-order in and get link to sneak peek demo and show your support for Bugbear who is trying to go without a publisher this time around. And yes the "Next Car Game" has been already Greenlighted on Steam. Will see Steam early access ( alpha version ) in the near future. Maybe full game get release in May 2014 if Bugbear stay on schedule.

http://nextcargame.com/pre-order/

 

[shortylickens]

 

[Purple44]

Here some more big news from Bugbear this Sunday:

24 cars on track - GREAT! And a quick question

Well, more cars was one thing that you guys were asking, wasn't it?

Unless something major comes up, we will keep the 24 cars for the full game at least for offline play. We have been already testing track races and derbies with the full grid of 24 cars, and thanks to our efficient tech, the performance hit is surprisingly minor. The chief problem is that, as you can imagine, the tracks get extremely crowded since most of them have been designed for a lesser amount of cars, so the going gets quickly very rough. But of course that's something that can be worked around, so it's not really going to pose a problem.

Online is something that we cannot confirm yet.

Here a good video of guy enjoying the sneak peek video:

LGR Plays : Bugbear's Next Car Game

 

[Purple44]

Here another humorous video done by Lazy Game Reviews:

Next Car Game vehicles JUST WON'T DIE


We might see alpha release by Christmas!

 

[Purple44]

New sneak peek V2.0 is out. Has a new toy to play with, an object canon that can fire spheres and rockets and can pick objects from the playground and fire them too.

This is my idea for a new derby mode for Bugbear "Next Car Game". I suggest using the sneak peek canyon in a derby.

I'm thinking online we could use the spheres or the rockets to wreck the other player's cars. This mode could be last man standing or do a deathmatch with respawns. Deathmatch would have a time limit, say 4 mins, who ever gets the most kills, win the match. I'm not a fan of respawns in a derby, but in a deathmatch mode I be OK with it. Cars would need to ghost for a few seconds after respawn so players could not camp respawn spots for easy kills.

I also think canon derby mode would work good for Team derbys.

Not sure if this mode would work offline with the AI. So I suggest in an offline canon derby, you use a free camera mode and are give a time limit to wreck all 23 AI with the canon.

One problem I see with this mode that would need some tweaking, is how fast you can fire spheres or rockets. I don't think it be good for this mode it you can rapid fire the spheres/rockets. Should only be able to fire 1 object per second. and if that too fast, make it 1 object fire every 2 seconds.

Bugbear could use existing derby pits, no need for new derby pits, unless Bugbear put this mode into the sneak peek playground.

So what you guys think?

New derby mode with the sneak peek canon? video

I started new thread over at Bugbear forum: New derby mode with the sneak peek canon?


Stress test, how many balls can your computer juggle ( 58 FPS )?

i5 2500 and a nvidia 660 ( 10 FPS )

 

[Purple44]

Want another way to test out the soft body car damage in the v2.0 Sneak Peek playground demo? If so, checkout my video I uploaded to youtube today. ( suggest set video quality to 720p )

This video is of custom "junk" yard track I did using the object cannon. I did disable the recording of sound because of Fraps black screening the sneak peek when I first started recording trying go through Junk yard. I did add some comments to video using youtube.

The making of v2 0 Sneak Peek custom Junk Yard track.

****

For the details, visit my track thread over at Bugbear forum:
Easy to make your own "custom" track in Sneak Peek demo v2.0.

*********************************************

St. Jimmy did a figure 8 track:

 

[Purple44]

NCG alpha out on Steam by Christmas?

Dec 13, 2013
Indeed, the next release will be Early Access, and it's not too far away anymore.

Beware of the monster within!!

If you wreck your car too much in the sneak peak, it becomes a giant

 

[Purple44]

OK this weekend I tried my hand at derby pit making. Here repost of my posts I did over at Bugbear forum:


Easy to make your own "custom" track or derby pit in Sneak Peek demo v2.0.

Tried my hand at making a derby pit with the v2.0 Sneak Peek using object cannon.

First try I use the big red part of the car crusher to outline the derby pit. I started the playground and let the AI come in a little closer, then hit Esc and disable the AI cars. then I circle the cars. This derby pit felt to big.

Second try I let the AI cars come closer, then disable them, then use my car to push AI into a tighter circle. This time I tried using the car crusher long roller to outline derby pit, but rollers sometimes rolled into the cars. I tried 3 times to make derby pit with rollers, after screwing up the third time, I went with a shorter car crusher roller.

Problem with this derby pit, AI cars were getting stuck in the holes some the rollers made. And most the AI ending up resetting outside derby pit eventually.

Third try I did not push the AI cars as far in as In did on second derby pit. This time I use the end of a spinner for object cannon. This object gave me better control in dropping them. But had to put a lot more objects to encircle the pit. AI cars not getting stuck as much with the spinner object, but AI still resetting out side of derby arena. Lot of work to do a short live derby and "repair all" option only repairs your car, not the AI.

Maybe have some video uploaded later today.

Sneak peek not design to do derbys, but had to give it a try and see if it was possible to have a good derby with the AI in close quarters.

Got my derby pit video uploaded today:

v2.0 Sneak Peek derby pits using object cannon.

I decide to do one more derby pit. This time I just push about a 1/3 the AI cars towards middle of derby pit. The other 2/3 AI cars I left alone. These cars should reset inside of derby pit this time.

Here video of new derby pit:

v2.0 Sneak Peek derby pit, part 2.

For a close up of car damage, you can jump ahead to 21:55.

******************************

If Sneak Peek playground is release with final release version of NCG , I hope Bugbear will also include a Sneak Peek derby pit with all 24 cars inside it, with the physics of the playground demo. And include the object cannon with rockets.

 

[Purple44]

If you have not heard yet, Bugbear has sent out emails Saturday to those that have pre-order the Next Car Game, with a link to Steam key for NCG pre-alpha. The pre-alpha has the muscle car from Sneak Peek demo and also the small Euro car. There 1 derby pit, 1 dirt track and 1 tarmac track. Can select 12 car or 24 car race or derby.

You can remap your wheel, pad or KB now. Also you can go with all assists ON or better yet turn all assists OFF. All assists off, with a wheel on the dirt is fun drifting the car around the corners.

Here a post from a Bugbear Dev:

http://community.bugbeargames.com/index.php/topic,1659.msg17929.html#msg17929

Thanks guys, we're really happy to hear you're having such a great experience. To be honest, we didn't have too much time for testing to get the release out in time for the holidays, so we were a bit anxious about the quality of the build. Like I think I already stated elsewhere, there are quite a few issues that need to be fixed, but luckily they should not be too detrimental to the experience at this point.

We're also really happy that the first build is finally out because it means that we have pretty much nailed all the boring (to any of our coders reading this, sorry!) stuff and can finally concentrate on building the game around the base we now have. That means more tracks with more content, more cars, proper upgrading, better driving dynamics, and so on, and of course a lot of fine-tuning to everything that we already have.

Of course you guys will be first ones to enjoy all the improvements first-hand with our future Early Access releases.

Checkout this thread for some videos and pics:

Early Access Videos/Photos

 

[Purple44]

Short funny glitch video here:

http://community.bugbeargames.com/index.php/topic,1889.0.html

Having troubles getting a 1st place finish on the 2 tracks? Try swapping stock tires for tarmac tires.

 

[Purple44]

Thanks to all them youtude videos of the Sneak Peek playground demo and the pre-alpha release before Christmas, Bugbear has now reach their 10,000 pre-order goal:

Early Access through Steam.
16,885 Backers
$ 491,331

Next Car Game - Early Access Pre-Alpha Gameplay - video

Now Bugbear can take some extra time and add some extra stuff they want to do before releasing Next Car Game. And no middle man publisher to screw things up!!

Bugbear >>>
Why Do We Need Your Help?

It’s actually very simple. This is not going to be a small game, we have a lot of ambition on what Next Car Game could be. We’ve invested over one million dollars into the game already. This would normally be the time when we go looking for a publisher to take us the rest of the way. This time, however, we want to make the game that we want – the game that you want – not the game that a publisher wants. Making games costs some serious money, but if everything goes well, we’ll have a great, tight-knit community that’s going to support a lot of awesome content over the years!

We at Bugbear have a long track-record of making high-octane racing games, and we know that we can pull it through with your support. We’ve been making racing games for over 13 years, and this is our tenth (10 !) game. We’re recreating a type of experience we’ve already shipped three times on four different platforms, so we do know what we’re doing.

"Next Car Game" pre-order may go live on Steam this month and hopefully Bugbear will have pick the official new name for NCG.

 

[ImpulsE69]

LOL. I used to think you worked for them, but while doing some searching about Grid 2 Derby mode I found your posts on their forums requesting all the extra stuff missing from most racing games.

I can say I'm anxious to see how this turns out...especially the arena derby mode

 

[Dankk]

Yeah, I appreciate the updates actually. I think it's unfortunate that the Kickstarter campaign didn't take off - that would have been a good extra chunk of cash for them - but at the same time, it seems pretty common for studios who initially begin funding on their own website and then start a Kickstarter campaign as an afterthought. They missed that initial influx of fans who would've put down the cash immediately, and they hadn't generated enough buzz to actually meet the goal later on.

I'm happy to see they're still doing well. They do happen to be in a fortunate position where they're a well-established studio making money from previous games they've already released on the market, so they have a steady income anyway.

I grabbed the Steam key for the alpha tech demo and it's bloody fantastic. The graphics, the driving model, the physics, and the destruction are absolutely sublime. If they play their cards right then they have one hell of a game on their hands.