Update Speculation thread

I think they will add a new SUV because in the automation test track remaster they showed a minivan mod and an SUV mod, and we got a minivan so there is a chance they add a modern SUV maybe a Japanese one.

 

When they say "several major improvements and new features", I'd assume they're talking about such things like tire thermals, paint scratches, dirt accumulation, and stuff like that, rather than new content like cars or maps. With that statement in mind, I expect 0.30 to be more focused on developing the game, rather than just adding on to it.

 

It could be American too. Some early versions of Bruckell's 2.2/2.5 I4s and 3.3/3.8 V6s, plus the new 309ci V8 could very well be up to the task of powering this car. Imagine a 70s RWD Bruckell econoshitbox with the early version of the 2.2 I4 putting out 65hp and being coupled with the 3-Speed Automatic!

 

I'm becoming more and more convinced the next update is going to be heavy machinery focused.
TDev said that tire thermals are still a long way off, so any sort of motorsport-themed update is unlikely, possibly including the leaked COTA map.

Looking at the evidence for heavy machinery:
-0.26 added hydraulic PTO simulation (currently used on the T75 dump truck).
-0.26 also added two large tire props, one named "Wheel Loader", and the other "Haul Truck".
-TDev responded to a suggestion for an excavator and terrain deformation with a ""
-I'm not sure how long these have been present, but the flatbed.dae file contains a mesh called "logwalls", which are a set of side stakes for logging transport:

-0.27 also added the quarry site to WCUSA, a place where earthmoving equipment could be used or delivered
-like the tire props, 0.29 also added a tractor wheel/tire and various bits of PTO hardware for the "unstable" covet, which also could be used for a tractor.
-and finally, the new porta potty prop has a "crane attachment" part on it.

 

Good analysis. I wasnt sure if 0.30 was gonna be about that but Im shifting now

 

actually i thought about something

now that we got a minivan, where do we go? do the devs just focus on remastering existing cars, will they add more cars of the same body type (aka more hatchbacks), or is there something im forgetting?

 

Time for the look back:

Spoiler: Release Date

Release date: 0.28 released on 2023/04/04. If the team can stick to that 3 month update schedule they want going forward then we are looking at early July.

Update 2023/05/24: @Safthof pointed out that the Gambler 500 event lines up with the approx. expected release date for this update. With that in mind it's safe to expect the update around the time of the Gambler 500, which is weekend of July 16th.

I was certainly surprised at the update releasing so early. I really expected this to come out closer to the Gambler 500. I feel like the holiday release might have muted the reception a bit as it certainly felt quiet. Even the AMA on the 0.29 Discussion Thread never really picked up.

Spoiler: Minivan

• Mystery Minivan Soliad Lansdale
  • First teased on 2023/05/16, update speculation thread discussion starts here
    
  • This puts the team at 3/4 for filling the top requested vehicle niches lately (Bastion and Scintilla being the other 2 top requests). All that's missing now is a modern American full sized BoF pickup.
    • @CaptainZoll has a nice writeup of the top requests on the forum threads here
  • With the team only teasing the JBeam we can only discuss so much about the particulars. The general consensus is that this is a mid 2000's Asian vehicle (it has been awhile since we got a proper Asian vehicle, sorry Wigeon...). It could also be American or European, and also could be older. Cherrier is a fair option as they only have one platform and lately the team has been giving more content to the 1-2 car brands in game. There isn't much to go off of to get a feel for the vehicle size but it seems to be on the larger size, a proper three row MPV.
  • As far as drivelines go... This seems to have a transmission tunnel, so optional AWD is a safe bet.
  • Looking at a release date... As a rule of thumb we should assume 9 month development time. I doubt the team really got much done in 2022 on this with how much work went into 0.27. Could the team be aggressive and get this out in 7 months? Maybe. Perhaps that 9 months is out of date as the team has grown and processes improved. If this ends up being a 4 month update then maybe we could see this in the next update. But I wouldn't count on it just yet...
  • This would tie in really well to the Gambler 500 content (see below) as minivans are a somewhat common base for Gambler builds
  • Update 2023/06/13: Teaser Tuesday of the new minivan in Gambler 500 attire. This is a fairly rational build by Gambler 500 standards. Side exit exhaust and a steel bumper that looks straight out of Wreckfest, another PVC snorkel like the Pigeon's new snorkel, scaffolding instead of a rear door, sheet metal fender flares (which don't even match front to rear); and an LED bar worth several times the rest of the rig. Update speculation thread discussion starts here.
    • There appears to be a steel dingy strapped to the roof... That would be a cute prop to mount on roofs in general, hopefully we can get a trailer for it too. It's been ages since we've had a new trailer and one with a boat prop could be a lot of fun
    • Update Speculation thread discussion starts here. It seems that the general consensus is that this is a Bruckell. It's worth noting that back when the Wendover was in development there was speculation it could get a Minivan cousin. If this does turn out to be a Bruckell I personally imagine it would use the Soliad's engines but not much more than that.
    • Being that this has a Gambler config it's safe to say it'll release in this update
  • Update 2023-06-20: Teaser Tuesday Gambler 500 post featuring a Gambler 500 config for the Piccobello and Grand Marshall, with what appears to be a base model panel van version of this minivan in the background. Update speculation thread discussion starts here.
  • Update 2023-06-27: Teaser of a factory spec minivan. This is the first time we're properly seeing a factory spec! We see the badging reads "Soliad Lansdale, 3.8 AWD SE". Update Speculation thread discussion starts here.
    • Confirmed optional AWD
    • It seems safe to say this will be a Bruckell parts bin car heavily reusing at least driveline bits of the LeGran and Wendover. Both Bruckell V6 options are a safe bet, potentially with updates as this should be a good 5-10 years newer than the Wendover. Other transverse Bruckell engines may appear as a swap, not unlike the Wendover's i4 swap.
    • We could potentially see a Bruckell version as well, which would be a great first. Currently we only have 2 cars which fall under luxury marques: The '53 Special, which is nearly entirely unique from the Gavril lineup, and the Wendover, which shares a lot with the LeGran but isn't entirely the same platform. A Bruckell with a cheaper interior, i4 base model, and no access to the 3.8L V6 would make sense. Alternatively we could see a Euro spec with a manual and a small turbodiesel.
    • We can see that this has 3 rows, could we see a SWB version like the IRL counterparts from both GM and Chrysler? Ford was the only one that had a single wheelbase option (Windstar was the "LWB" whereas the Mercury Villager was the "SWB", but that was built on an unrelated platform).

This one ended up mostly as expected after we saw the second teaser of it, bar the fact that Soliad got the base models instead of them being rebranded as a Bruckell. I'm interested in how quick they got this thing developed, but I guess being the third car to share the LeGran's foundations helped a bit.

Spoiler: Gambler 500 Content

• Gambler 500 content: On 2023/05/22 the team announced a Gambler 500 themed modding contest in collaboration with the race organizers and Automation. Where this got interesting was on 2023/05/23's Teaser Tuesday post showing two mad scientist builds in collaboration with the Gambler team, including the same Bolide form the modding contest post
  • Vehicle #1 is a six wheeled Boldie (Or the "Bolidede" as as christened by @DOUGL4S1 )... As cool as a 4x6 AWS Bolide would be, I would think this would be a simple dead axle addition to keep the theme of "simple but crazy" builds that is usually seen in the Gambler 500.
  • Vehicle #2 is a Covet with the back cut off and replaced with a single giant agricultural wheel. The build is somewhat reminiscent of Adam Anderson's Chevy Steam Roller build. While it theoretically could use a chain drive to be RWD, I would think this would retain the FWD layout for simplicity
  • There was a comment from the official BeamNG twitter account suggesting Gambler content that somehow relates to the Pigeon. Too vague to place any bets on what this is just yet though.
  • Update 2023/05/30: Teaser Tuesday post with an off road Pigeon carrying a porta-loo. Update Speculation Thread discussion starts here. There isn't all that much to say about this one... Some big chonky off road tires on the Pigeon and the bed has been replaced with a porta-loo, which suggests we will be getting one as a prop. It's interesting that the back looks relatively professionally built then the front has a snorkel made from PVC... I dub thee "Porta-Pigeon".
  • Getting more into the realm of speculation here... It seems like there is some more content yet to be teased for the Gambler 500 tie in. Being that these are somewhat involved I wouldn't expect too many of them, but maybe a couple more builds. Truck frame swaps are another fairly common build; so maybe the team will drop a random passenger car body onto a D-Series frame. I doubt any would involve a vehicle yet to be remastered due to how involved these are.
  • Hopefully we will get some non-super-build content as well... Sawzalled fenders with cheap lift kits and off road tires are pretty much the standard build type so hopefully we will be seeing lots of sawzalled fenders for the roster coming up.
  • If there are any more major Gambler 500 builds coming up, I wouldn't suggest expecting any on a vehicle which needs a major remaster. That's a lot of work to put into a vehicle that will potentially be getting foundational changes (such as the Moonhawk)
  • Update 2023-06-20: Teaser Tuesday Gambler 500 post featuring a Gambler 500 config for the Piccobello and Grand Marshall. The Grand Marshall is another one that has a pretty standard Gambler build. Homebrew bash bar, roof rack, and snorkel with some generic all terrain tires, bolt on fender flares that seem to not even have cut fenders under them, and a quick and dirty paint job. The Piccobello is a little more extreme with some sawzalled body work and suspension modifications, with a really nice looking roof rack. Jury is still out on what those rear tires are. They might be new wide tires, makeshift dualies, or singles that are blending into the background. Oh yeah, and it has a bathtub where the fuel cell is supposed to be. Seems safe. Update speculation thread discussion starts here.

These ended up being a lot more involved than I expected, seeing a quick and simple backstory for all the vehicles was a pleasant surprise that added a lot to the content. I would've liked to see more generic parts to Gambler-ify other cars, maybe some basic sheet metal fender flares and the like for example, but the content we did get is really interesting. I was really surprised to see the Covet trike get AWD; I expected it to either be FWD or RWD via chain drive. We had 2 surprise Gambler configs: the Wendover and the second Covet.

Spoiler: Everything Else

Physics & such:

• Ropeables: TDev mentioned that ropes/ties are WIP and winches are on his short term wish list. Not only would that be important for cargo and off road gameplay, but it would also allow for more types of vehicles (Cranes, wreckers, hook & chain tow trucks, etc....).
  • @LucasBE has a post discussing some bits related to ropeables
  • See this post for some speculation from @CaptainZoll with a pic of a winch already modelled for the Wydra
• Airbags: Airbags were tested but declared not currently feasible
• Improved Aerodynamics: TDev was going to come back to this question during his Q&A but never did
• Tire Thermals; Mud/Scratches: Things in these directions will be coming soon.
• ABS Updates: Vehicle electronics are one of those things that are pretty much always WIP and a potential to see in an update; but on 2022/10/21 Diamondback posted some big ABS improvements with the note that he is working on an overall ABS overhaul.
  • Additional post here
• Shift logic: On 2023/04/10 Diamondback showed off concept for shift logic updates.
  • Shoutout to @CaptainZoll for reminding me to put this here
  • Update 2023/05/28: Another related post on this

Gameplay:

• Walking mode; Triggers; Career Mode Sneak Peak; AI/Traffic updates; Mission System; Steam Achievements; and UI changes have all been WIP in recent updates and this will most likely continue for the foreseeable future
  • @LucasBE has a post discussing some bits related to career mode and the like

Everything Else:

• Misc: TDev's long term wish list includes deformable terrain, "huge" maps, and more. He hopes that they will finally get on that 3 month update cycle they've been mentioning but unable to stick to.
• Torquescript: Ongoing effort to remove TorqueScript
  • We did see some progress towards this in 0.27
• Driver Model: Feasibility of a driver model was being investigated
• Pedestrians: Same for pedestrians, which were deemed not currently feasible but still on the long term wish list.
  • Additional post on this topic
• Sounds: Expect a post from TDK about what they have been working on at some point. Perhaps related to audio ray tracing, which will potentially improve cabin noises and allow for some other cool stuff.
  • Additional post here.
  • Update: See this comment from @FFIVGUY.
• Unused engine sounds: 4 cylinder that kinda sounds like a rotary/wankel from @dart and i3, i6 diesel, and V8 courtesy of @LucasBE
  • Update: 0.27 did use the new V8 sound, the others remain unused

There really isn't much to say here. This was overall a content drop update with only a few quality items such as the new tire sounds. With that in mind and how much they have been suggesting at the next update so far, I'll throw in a few notable look ahead items. As usual I'll do a full look ahead after we get a proper teaser for 0.30

So, something is definitely brewing for 0.30, and it probably isn't tire thermals or aero improvements. I doubt it would be full career mode, there's still too much work for that. Maybe another big step towards it though.

@CaptainZoll already discussed a fair number of items in a post here. There has always been requests once in awhile for heavy equipment, and it seems to be picking up. At this point we've had two instances of TDev showing interest in an excavator and we now have hydraulic support, heavy wheel props, one set of tractor tires, and one set of small floater tires in game (not even counting the options the Wydra has). Add in the log carrier mesh CaptainZoll brought attention to and the lore concerning the Covet trike and it certainly seems like the team has something planned in this direction.

As for racing content, we now have a Piccolina gasser platform but with a modern engine swap. Which is weird to say the least... They could have used other suspension types for the Gambler Picco, but they went with a gasser, making it our first vintage drag car and I believe the closest to actually fitting into a class opposed to just "shove a big supercharged V8 into a stripped platform" like most drag cars in game. Off road and circuit racing has been getting some IRL classes in game lately (JTCC Pessima, (Nostalgia) Class 5 Piccolina, Group 4/5 Bolide, GT4 K-Series, etc...) but none for drag racing. Drag racing has been in a weird place in game. It isn't completely ignored as nearly every new car gets a generic drag config, yet we haven't seen any drag racing super builds or IRL classes represented, and the drag racing mode hasn't really gotten any attention since being introduced. Just imagine if the team had a Motortrend Drag Week update like the Gambler update... A/FX plus all the Drag Week classes, tube frame super builds, tubbed rear ends... Of course I'm doing a lot of speculating (and dreaming) here based on the inclusion of a single gasser suspension...

Anyway, just to cleanly recap some of the things the devs have actually said lately:

• From the devblog: "Meanwhile, the team continues pushing the pedal to the metal behind the scenes to ensure that the next update includes several major improvements and new features."
• TDev: Aero rework is still of interest but not a focus
• TDev: There will be another "Over the Horizon" someday
• TDev: Tire thermals are still WIP with no public ETA
• TDev: Alarms, scratches, and mud: Things in this area are under consideration but no guarantees
• LuisAnton: A few notes on graphics, including that Vulkan is a priority
• LuisAnton: Another note on graphics
• Diamondback: fixes for ignition system will be in 0.30

And for the sake of speculation on the next vehicle: @CaptainZoll once again has a post here of the top vehicle requests. Consider this plus the fact that the underrepresented brands have been getting attention and we could probably think of a few potential candidates for the next vehicle.

 

I don't know if this is a bug or a feature, but the upper chains are elastic, and the ones on the bumper back and front seem to be sealed, was that the intention?

 

Classified hmm? Very interesting…

 

the i series got interior pbr, which imo means its not getting a refresh

 

Guys 0.29 got a hotfix

 

Tiny potential 0.30 speculation

Now that the Covet has gotten a config with a 3rd wheel, it also got a transfercase which can split the power to rear wheel(s). What could be the chance that it will get AWD in the near future? The transfercase is already there, all it needs is a differential & halfshafts

 

I don’t know what you expect from 0.30, but I’m sure that it will be heavy equipment, the “t series” is not only not updated, we have hydraulics, we also have tractor wheels), so we are waiting for excavators, and other construction equipment, this and there will be a general new mechanics, here are the rumors about the deformation of the soil

I can't wait for a 20 ton bulldozer on caterpillars to crush “covet” and squeeze them with a bucket

 

I did try asking about heavy machinery on the Q&A, and while I don't expect to get a reply, other people seem to have liked the concept. I'd also like to point out that some of the OG devs of BeamNG were also devs in Rigs of Rods, a game with a much larger focus on heavy machinery and cranes. Also, these could easily be used in career mode to make some money without destroying your car.

 

official beamng plane like in RoR when /s

 

I'd like to see a Latin American 90s subcompact with too many facelifts, engines and body styles, similar to this Chevrolet Chevy/Corsa. Sedan, wagon, panel van, and ute versions would be very cool.

 

There's also a german version, made by Opel

 

Yes, I know. The Latin American model could be Bruckell or Gavril badged (Prism), the German model could be a Roth (Rocco), and the British and Australian model could be a Beaufort or something new.

 

I want it to be a Cherrier, with the car itself being a mix between Corsa, 206, and Punto, so that this thread implodes under all the speculation on whether it's Brazilian, German, French, Italian, or maybe even Czech.