Hello again!
This week’s blog is an unconventional one, as we’re not as much talking about what we’re up to as much as we are inviting you to be a part of our decision making process.
To be more specific, we’re unsure what to do with the demolition derby aspect of the game. We feel it’s not getting the love that Wreckfest’s racing is getting. The physics modeling and the detail we’re putting into the various upgrade parts are top notch, and with that kind of depth, we could pave way for a more simulationistic approach – realistic car handling, terrain behavior and physics modeling would definitely all allow us to create a demolition racing where the emphasis is on the word “racing”. In effect, that would mean that trading paint would not be as important as driving clean would be, even if dangerous driving and the inevitable crashes would clearly be a big part of the game.
However, we don’t want to make a pure simulator. We do want Wreckfest to have that depth that realistic physics will give us, there’s no question of that, but we don’t want to wade too deep into those waters. This leaves us kind of in a lurch – we’re making a game where crashes look and feel good, but they inevitably cause you to fall further from the lead, which is not always the desired effect. We see this becoming a problem when we’re designing and creating content: tracks and routes are invariably more fun when we’re focusing on full on racing and not full contact banger racing. Plain demolition derby arenas, on the other hand, get boring after a while, because there’s not enough to see and do.
So, we’re currently hunting for ways to perk up the ”banger” part of the races. So far we’ve come up with a score modeling system where you gain points from collisions as well as being a fast driver, but we’re unsure if that would be enough. We’re wondering if we should broaden the “demolition racing” section of the game towards becoming a category of its own, which would, in effect, create two main branches of hitting the road: the other branch is aimed for clean racing and the other is for dirty driving.
However, we are not yet set on this, as it is a problematic road, even if it could be fruitful in the end. Do we create tracks that work on one branch but not the other, like straight stretches of road where you have to gun for the other end, quickly turn around, and head back, and weave amidst your rivals that are behind you? These would be pretty boring, if not downright annoying when playing clean – tracks that aim for maximum chaos become painful to drive if you’re trying to avoid damage. On the other hand, tracks that are designed to be all about speed are simply frustrating when driving a slower moving vehicle designed for ramming. This would leave us with tracks that take a lot of work to complete that would be fun with only one of the main two play styles, if not outright restricted to just that one branch.
Nonetheless, we want to pose a question to you all: what would you like to see? Would you like to see a game where we have both clean racing and dirty racing treated equally? How would you create a new track? To suit both styles of play, or just the other? What style of track would your dream track be, and what kind of game modes would you like to see on that track? (Provided they’re realistic – we’re not making CTF on top of a skyscraper with exploding bomb cars no matter how much you want that to happen 
)
Feel free to give us references, if e.g. you have fond memories of a game where a certain map worked especially well with one specific game mode.
As a disclaimer: this kind of blog doesn’t mean we’re deadlocked with the game! It means we’re giving you an opportunity to tell us what you would like to see in the game, and let that influence what we’re doing. Help us design Wreckfest to be all it can be 
That’s it for today!
And, as always, stay safe all y’all.
-Team Bugbear
