Early Experimental Preview of Career Concept

I didn't know they bumped the minimum up to 16, you have no idea how much that makes me happy if it's true!

Regarding loading vehicles in the showrooms, absolutely, not a big deal to load the jbeam, it's more a big deal to actually have it running. Over the past few weeks the senior developers have been working very hard at improving the loading time across all models in the game, and this might just lead to something like this down the line, but right now it's too early to plan for it. However some cases have shown extremely promising results already, that's all I'll talk about for now regarding that as it's not specifically career related.

What I was referring to wasn't so much the vehicles themselves, but the improved art, so that you're not just in an empty box with some wooden looking floor and some basic tables or chairs scattered around, It's the extra models, the extra collision, the extra materials and textures and shadows, those are the problems I'm referring to specifically and it's why career mode doesn't currently have it

 

The issue isn't loading a small map; it's about loading back to your previous map. Additionally, due to damage-saving issues, the logic of "your car is broken and smashed up, drive it into the garage, but wait, load the new map, and presto, your car is magically fixed" creates a terrible experience. For now, a separate garage map isn't in the plans for these two specific reasons.

I'd love to have a proper garage area that players can explore. For some context, five years ago now, we initially experimented with a "garage in the sky" concept, where players would be teleported when they pulled up to the doors of a specific garage. However, the separation of vehicles outside the door versus inside became messy in both execution and experience. (I pull one car in, then leave and teleport to grab the other, drive it in, and oops it teleported into the rear end of the other car dammit!! "I wish I could see where I was going instead of teleporting!!) So, we decided to create a new garage area that fits the WCUSA vibe and really pushed the extremes of memory limits. At the same time, other teams were working on a replacement "garage mode," resulting in both the new Belasco City Garage for in-game experiences and the separate Garage Mode map for that specific experience.

Personally, I rarely load the Garage Mode thing as I hate loading times in general, but I'm thrilled to hear how much use it's getting and the support for adding a more interactive garage. It's really inspiring—keep it up! Maybe the others will join in and prioritize making the foundational systems (memory, loading, UX, etc.) a priority!

Regarding the minimum specs, that's great to see. I clearly missed the memo, haha. Thanks for the references!

 

I'm really excited to see this feature coming back. We had damage saving at one point years ago and it seemed to work great, but for various technical reasons it was removed. This could be the right push to get the right eyes on it again, thanks for all of the hard work, it's great to see!

Yup a larger WCUSA would be lovely! The steel plant and entire Spearleaf island do go out of the bounds of the 2k map borders, but it's still lacking that 4k overall feel for sure. As mentioned, countless times, there are other factors at play here and the lack of a larger map isn't due to lack of ideas or desires that's been made clear.

 

Unfortunately we've missed our mark on the amount of gameplay we wanted to release for the next update, I would like to add a "WIP" flag to much of the access to it, since it's either not there, or not up to par just yet. There was a massive rework in how the player accesses gameplay, and the addition of "Career Paths" to allow specialization in specific gameplay has really splintered forward momentum on the gameplay front. In short, there will be four Career Paths in the next update, but they will be light on gameplay.

Career paths will be:

APM - Apex Performance Metrics:
The primary career mode, you are a test driver and access all sorts of gameplay from time trials, ai races, drag racing, drifting, chases, evasions, crash analysis, deliveries, and more.

BMRA - Belasco Motorsports Racing Association:
A more free style approach to general racing gameplay, enter ai races, drag racing, drifting, time trials, but outside of APM and more of an individual pursuing your own motorsports-specific career path. You can wager money on races, and more.

Logistics - Shuffleboard Logistics
Basically a direct copy of the existing delivery gameplay, we didn't get a chance to improve systems here just yet.

Freestyle - Anything Goes/Catch All
The crazier more free-roam style gameplay, but with a progression system and way to still earn money within your career to buy and upgrade your vehicles.


Each career path has a chain of series, Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced. My goal was to have 10 challenges for each series, for a total of 30 per skill. So, BMRA AI races would have 10 beginner, 10 intermediate, and 10 advanced. Freestyle Police Chases, 10 Beginner, 10 Intermediate, 10 Advanced. And so on.

We lowered it to, "lets at least get 3 per series per skill" and then even that has been cut. There are so many moving parts - So.. many.. - and so this next release will be very light on career content, but very big on career structure improvements and tweaks. We've basically laid the path for us to buckle down and start pumping out great gameplay in the coming springtime months.

Personally I'm most excited for APM, to help share some of this, here's a blurb I put together just before Christmas and I've been using it to motivate and inspire the team to follow the right direction - this direction isn't made clear yet, so this is only being released here on the forum as a sneak peak!

APM - Driving Progress
"Imagine being hand-picked by the automotive industry's most prestigious testing company. Every major manufacturer trusts Apex Performance Metrics (APM) to push their vehicles to the limit — and now they're trusting you. This isn’t just about driving fast or taking corners perfectly. It’s about proving vehicles in every scenario imaginable: from precise time trials and grueling endurance hauls to chaotic high-speed pursuits and carefully controlled crash tests. Your journey begins modestly—simple tests, predictable conditions, manageable challenges. But with every task completed, every risk taken, and every skill mastered, you’ll rise through the APM ranks. The tests become sharper, the vehicles faster, the consequences higher. Yet, it’s not all structured assignments. Between tests, you’re free to carve your own path. Buy and customize your own vehicles, chase your own goals, and explore the world on your terms. Whether it’s casual drifting in an industrial yard, hauling cargo across long stretches of road, or perfecting your technique in time trials, the choice is yours. And while manufacturers might not speak directly, they notice. Maybe it’s an exclusive vehicle made available to you, or a quiet discount on parts and repairs—it’s not loud, but it’s there. A subtle nod of acknowledgment: “We see you.” Eventually, your reputation reaches its peak. The Apex Racing League (ARL)—the most prestigious proving ground in the world—extends an invitation. Here, every second counts, every corner matters, and the best drivers make their mark. But even as you ascend to this elite stage, rumors persist. Another organization is watching—silent, unseen, but undeniably interested in what you’ve become. *This isn’t just driving—it’s discovery. It’s mastery. It’s your journey with APM."

And here are some now-outdated plans due to the addition of "Career Paths" and how the Lens Flare Studios stunt driver gameplay will exist within the Freestyle or another career path in the future, but for some further insight:

"BeamNG.drive's Career Mode puts players in the role of a professional test driver at Apex Performance Metrics (APM), the industry's premier vehicle testing company. Players master their skills across multiple specialized divisions—from precise motorsports and challenging commercial transport to intense police pursuit testing. By earning certifications in at least 3 of the 4 divisions, players unlock the prestigious Apex Racing League, where their combined expertise is put to the ultimate test. Then as an epilogue, at ~60% completion of the Apex Racing League, players receive an unexpected offer from Lens Flare Studios opening up an entirely new chapter beyond APM: a career in Hollywood-style stunt driving. This lets players literally "drive off into the sunset" while still having new challenges ahead, transforming their hard-earned testing expertise into spectacular smashes-and-crashes style stunt work."

The APM structure will be familiar to people who have already played the Career Mode in that it has 4 Divisions (instead of branches) and they are: APM Motorsports Division, Special Division, Commercial Division, and Experimental Division. Here's the first concept art for APM specific skins, this one being from the Motorsports Division, it has a simple clean professional look, and during APM tests players will be provided with vehicles that the in-game manufacturers want performance metrics from.



Players will be able to use their own vehicles in all of the challenges as well, as a sort of, "We love getting more data, we'll pay you to run the same test now in your personal vehicle(s)!"

There's much more to it, and I don't want to give it all away at once in one text post, I'm really excited about it and hope this stirs some excitement up as well regarding the direction of Career Mode!

The gameplay team was focused on taking care of the background systems, but also creating new gameplay UI elements from a new drag racing apps and a radically improved drifting UI app, to an entirely new radial menu from the ground up among a multitude of other things.

I hope this helps answer whether or not there will be motorsports gameplay coming haha!

 

That's great to hear, thanks for sharing the support! It's super nice to hear the excitement from the other side of the fence as well! =)

Characters and lore and such are exciting but can make or break a game, and our focus is on the "drive" part of the game for now. I'm not dead against it, but I'm foccussing on what we're able to do with the team and tools we have access to now instead of trying to push the boundaries outside of our specific element. I've considered adding the standard mechanic, boss, marketer, etc characters, but it starts treading on the Forza Horizon lines (which are great fun!) but too far out of our current scope. We'll see what the future brings, things are always changing!

Yeah I really want a paved oval track as well! I watched this specific track from the day he bought it to now, and it's been such an inspiration/great story as well. I rebuilt the dirt track while maintaining it's original layout to prevent completely breaking mod support and maintaining backward compatibility.. here's another sneak peak shot, why not!

This one is from back in the middle of January or so:

 

Hah yeah, had to blur that out just to prevent any possible runaway chats because it's too hard to see what it was. The idea on the dirt track was to improve the dust and look of it all - as a career designer it's difficult to sneak art in some times, but I've gone all out this sprint on improving the race track area in general - I created the gravel track last release or the release before, and this time improved the dirt track, created a drift track, rebuilt the drag strip, and am working on some extra parking lots atm for general hooning around.. all getting ready to plunk down a bunch of gameplay.