FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

[Radiangames]

Just trying to cover some of the questions I've been seeing a lot of. No particular order. Let me know if there's something not on here that should be and I'll get it added

Q: What game engine is it?
A: Unity 2019. It uses PhysX for physics, and the built-in renderer, along with lots of custom rendering via compute shaders/buffers.

Q: How does the destruction work?
A: Take a look at this announcement post, which covers that subject in severe detail:
https://steamcommunity.com/app/1428100/eventcomments/3190241086269819869/

Q: Do I have to build my vehicle? Can't I just destroy stuff?
You can skip the building of vehicles if you want. There are 30 mode+island specific vehicles, in addition to 24 others available. Most Showcase Vehicles will need to be unlocked, but you'll never need to build a vehicle to finish any of the campaign. More Showcase Vehicles will be coming soon.

Q: Is it coming to platform X or other stores?
A: It's PC-only until version 1.0. I expect console versions (XSX + PS5) for 1.0, and other stores, but beyond that I don't know.

Q: How big is the dev team?
A: It's just me (Luke Schneider) on the game, but Auvic provides all the music, including all the trailers. I've been making games since 1997, including 5 years as a lead tech designer on Red Faction Guerrilla, and have been doing indie game development since 2010.

Q: Multiplayer?
A: Not anytime soon. There's unofficial same-system support already, and I'll make the camera work better with that (and plan to add two more remappable control axes), but no online MP while it's just me working on the game. Maybe it'll work well with Steam's Remote Play?

Q: Steam Workshop support? What about structure and level editor?
A: Steam Workshop for vehicles is coming soon. It may already be in and I forgot to update this FAQ. Trust me, everyone is telling me to get it in. Working on it already.

Structure/island editors are high on the priority list after that. Structures are first (pretty simple), and I need to have a way to place them, so layout editing will be next after structures, with the initial version probably being quite simple and improving in a future update. Islands/ground editing is last of these editors but definitely planned.

Q: Custom parts, missions/campaigns, or mods?
A: Eventually I hope to have some kinds of custom parts, and maybe custom campaigns (missions + linking them together). Those are far off though, probably a year or more away. Editing or adding new objects (containers/barrels/trees/etc) is a possibility as well, but also far off.

Mods are the lowest priority, because they are the most complex to do, and the other editors above will cover a lot of what people will want to do. We'll see how the rest of the editors/etc go, and maybe just some global parameter editing will be enough.

Q: How long will you support the game?
A: I expect to work on it 'til mid-2023 at the minimum, and possibly much longer. I do want to work on other games eventually, but there's a ton to do with this game before I'm done with it.

Q: What is Distract Mode?
A: Just a fun little inclusion to let you play with the destruction in a different way. When enabled, you can click on the background of any grayed-out menu and destroy stuff, or fling objects around, or make splashes. You can charge up the explosion by holding down the LMB instead of just clicking. It's easy to be distracted by it, hence the name. Also a play on the old arcade "attract mode" that games had.

[phugedaboudet]

can I change or link controls? the use case Im trying is having two sets of swivels, 4 go clockwise when e is pressed, there are 8 others I want to go counter clockwise at the same time. It's a levelling system for treads (since they dont work upside down). as it is I need to reach for arrows (on an 80% keyboard, no such thing anyway), and there isnt a current reason for them to rotate independently. I'm using the "MegaClimber" as the template, and want the opposing swivels where the current power wheels are to rotate two medium treads simultaneously. But I can't seem to change which buttons drive a given part, each group "decides" on its own. Same for other models too so far. Is there a way to change which controls a part responds to? (not remapping keyboard controls to the game BTW)

[Radiangames]

I'm a little unclear on what you're asking, but I just want to make sure you know... You can have the same key drive multiple axes/inputs. Go to Advanced mode, then choose "Remap Inputs". You could assign W to do multiple keys/slots, for instance.

Each column (pair of keys) has all it's controls linked, so a swivel that gets stuck will stop other swivels with the same control. So if you want two independent swivels using the same key, assign them to different columns and then remap the inputs so W/S are controlling both columns.

If you just want them to move opposite directions, use the Direction toggle as appropriate.

[phugedaboudet]

Originally posted by Radiangames:

I'm a little unclear on what you're asking, but I just want to make sure you know... You can have the same key drive multiple axes/inputs. Go to Advanced mode, then choose "Remap Inputs". You could assign W to do multiple keys/slots, for instance.

Each column (pair of keys) has all it's controls linked, so a swivel that gets stuck will stop other swivels with the same control. So if you want two independent swivels using the same key, assign them to different columns and then remap the inputs so W/S are controlling both columns.

If you just want them to move opposite directions, use the Direction toggle as appropriate.

so I just tried to build a tank turret in the sandbox mode. there's a central powered pivot with the cab and cannons mounted above it. this allows rotation independent of the treads below. so far so good. now on the turret I put 2 90 degree swivels and a bomb launcher at the end of each. what I want to do is be able to elevate the cannons, independent of turret rotation. what happens now is when I rotate left, the cannons depress. when right they elevate. so what Im trying to do is not make them move at the same time. it seems I am locked into using arrow keys for swivels, and for some reason both the base swivel and the 2 90 degrees both use arrow up and down.

Im not sure if I can record the process to demonstrate unless windows allows screen grabs of the game in progress.

[Radiangames]

You can change the controls. Push A while editing the vehicle (Advanced mode). You’ll see the control remapping open to the lower right. Select a part and pick which controls you want to use it.

[phugedaboudet]

Originally posted by Radiangames:

You can change the controls. Push A while editing the vehicle (Advanced mode). You’ll see the control remapping open to the lower right. Select a part and pick which controls you want to use it.

thanks! thats exactly what I was looking for!

[orionx79]

What is Distract mode ?

[Radiangames]

Originally posted by orionx79:

What is Distract mode ?

When enabled, you can click on the background of any grayed-out menu and destroy stuff, or fling objects around, or make splashes. It's easy to be distracted by it, hence the name. Also a play on the old arcade "attract mode" that games had. (Adding something like this as an answer)

[Masada]

What happened to the voice over stuff that was in the nextfest demo? I thought it was a nice addition to the game.

[Radiangames]

Originally posted by Masada:

What happened to the voice over stuff that was in the nextfest demo? I thought it was a nice addition to the game.

Voice over will come back eventually, but I want the campaign to be complete, and to have more time to write the dialog/etc. Too much was changing, and there were too many lines, to do a VO pass for the current stuff.

Might also try other VO people (didn't have time to try any others before).

[phugedaboudet]

okay another question that is probably obvious: is there a way to toggle constant movement on a pivot? Ive seen video where it looks like such a feature exists, a 90 degree power pivot with a blade on it, constantly swinging back and forth like a scythe. would love to be able to turn on a rotating piece ( as opposed to tools/weapons which I know how to toggle) so it spins indefinitely until I turn it off. Or the piston running constant like a jackhammer

[Ker]

Originally posted by phugedaboudet:

okay another question that is probably obvious: is there a way to toggle constant movement on a pivot? Ive seen video where it looks like such a feature exists, a 90 degree power pivot with a blade on it, constantly swinging back and forth like a scythe. would love to be able to turn on a rotating piece ( as opposed to tools/weapons which I know how to toggle) so it spins indefinitely until I turn it off. Or the piston running constant like a jackhammer

use advanced setting of the piece

[sheasby]

Great game so far. I would be happy with the game as it is, with the exception of having much larger playing environments. Having a few whole scapes of various types would be awesome. Think - urban residential, city-center with condos / high-rises, rural, sea-side & port, vacation & tourist destinations, construction sites, war / military zones, futuristic & historical settings, natural / jungle-clearing operations, industrial & environmental super-fund sites, moon / Mars bases, rail yards, shopping malls with vehicles in parking lot (no need for NPCs or moving vehicles), parking garages, palaces & gov't buildings, etc.. That kind of thing would add a 'story' vibe and enrich the game beyond simple destruction. (that being said - the simple destruction + vehicle editing are awesome!) Some these ideas could at least be partially enabled by simply using different colors & textures for the existing building panels. And of course, the island surfaces would require much larger surface areas to accommodate the above ideas.

[Robot_With_A_Hat]

How do i change the language?, the translation is very bad and i can't find any language options to put it in english.

[Robot_With_A_Hat]

Also, is there any way to join the discord server? I can't join it via the game because it says it has expired and i can't find it on your youtube channel.

[Radiangames]

Here's a permanent discord link: https://discord.gg/fh2JASCxUd (will get that in the game next update).

Language is in the options, 2nd column, near the bottom.