We promised our Point of Impact tier members and above more exclusive access. This is exactly the kind of thing most developers simply don’t share — and something we certainly never have before.
Ben who creates all the vehicle handling in Wreckreation shares his thoughts and plans based on the feedback we have received ......
After some rest and reflection over the Christmas/New Year break, I’ve identified several areas that can, and should, be improved in the drifting handling.
Before going through them, there’s one important point to make: a lot of this is quite subjective. As an aid to development and testing - and to give players more control - one of my immediate priorities is to put many of these drift changes behind Settings.
This means we as the development team (and you as players) will be able to turn individual drifting features on and off via “Customise My Car” on the DJ Menu. We will of course offer a recommended set for those who have no interest in tweaking at this level.
We’ve been inspired throughout development by Alex’s desire to put players in charge and give them as much control over their game as possible. This is another step towards that vision.
Right, on to the proposed changes:
Proposed Drifting Changes
Counter-steer to widenSteering in the opposite direction to the drift will increase the drift radius. This would replace the current system where counter-steering cancels the drift entirely.
BrakingPressing the brake while drifting will slow the car down, proportional to both how long the brake is held and how much brake is applied (trigger travel).
HandbrakeThe handbrake should have a tangible effect on drifting. I will explore this in more depth later but possible effects include:
A tighter drift radius
Increased drift angle
Reduced speed
Ending the drift if speed is reduced too much
BoostingBoosting while drifting should increase the car’s speed during the drift.
Variable drift angleI propose to replace the current fixed rotation angle (25 degrees) with a more responsive system:
Steering into the drift would increase rotation
No steering would maintain the current angle
Counter-steering would reduce rotation
SmoothnessTransitions between steering-in, neutral steering, and counter-steering can sometimes cause sudden direction changes - for example when switching from tightening to loosening a drift, or when chaining multiple drifts together. This shouldn’t happen, and I intend to address it.
Boost-chain bugThere’s currently a bug where drifting during a boost-chain cancels the chain. This will be fixed. Further investigation suggests this is linked to releasing the throttle while boosting - not directly a drift bug, but one that most often shows up during drifting.
I’m planning to tackle the Braking changes first, as they’re relatively straightforward, followed by Counter-steer, which has been the most requested change. I have deliberately not put dates against any of this just yet but we promise to update you on progress regularly and let you know as soon as we can when you can expect to be playing these changes.
I am very happy to hear your feedback either in the comments below or feel free to send us a DM.
When sharing feedback, please focus on how the car feels to you in play, ideally with specific examples (car type, speed, situation, controller input, etc.). There are no right or wrong opinions here — drifting feel is subjective — but clear, experience-based feedback will help me iterate more effectively and make better-informed changes.
Thanks, Ben