Better Driver Engagement

Currently, when driving in this game, it is a bit tame in its engagement. I propose the gear selector from Snowrunner to be added, or at least be an option, so that when driving, you can manually shift gears somehow, or can let it be automatic (perhaps making manual shifting in a more difficult gamemode?) 


Can't Turn on Lights

I noticed that there are no controls for the lights of your vehicle. This can be challenging in-game, and seemingly just because of the game's lack of such a feature. The dynamic weather is an amazing feature, but without being able to interact with your lights, and it being super dark, it's a bit confusing we aren't able to use them. 


Engine Sounds

The engine sounds in this game are good as is, however I think they can be improved. They don't vary as much as I believe they should, as the engines for vehicles will commit to the same tone and won't vary as a vehicle might. For example, a vehicle may be struggling with its engine to get up an incline or something like that due to not having enough power. I think making the engine sounds more dynamic in this way would be greatly appreciated!!


Stationary Steering Visual + Auditory Effect Missing

Another sound + visual effect I noticed missing, was the interaction with wheels on the surface, when steering, stationary. When a vehicle steers its wheels stationary, there is no indication of it happening in accordance to the environment. There's no noise to accompany it as the tires are being forced to move on the surface. I think sounds for each surface that each of the wheels can interact with, would be an incredibly nice detail.


Adding to this, with tracked vehicles, steering on the spot seems to be a bit unrealistically fast, and doesn't seem to leave the marks it should on the ground. As many tracked vehicles are very heavy the ground beneath it would shift more than it does in game. I and many others I'm sure would greatly appreciate sparks or damage to a road (perhaps only visual in easier modes, and punishing in a hard mode?) when a tracked vehicle turns on the spot. 


Missing Feature W/ Traction

I've noticed that when running over sand or dirt, the sand or dirt doesn't act "packed" like it should. It should provide increased traction to vehicles when it is packed, but it doesn't. Trucks taking the same route will go at the same pace, despite one truck creating a clear path without as much sand in the way, and a (in theory) better surface with tiremarks for the tires of the next truck. I'm no expert so this may be wrong on my end, but I feel as if it makes sense! 


Missing Asphalt Skidding Effects & Tire Marks

With the introduction of this game and its emphasis on road building, I expected it to have skidding effects when any vehicle would lose traction. There's a distinct noise that tires and tracks make when skidding, and I have not seen the smoke or heard the sounds when skidding on roads with vehicles, leaving tire marks. It would make this game immensely more immersive, and I think these details missing is very strange!! 


Tracked Vehicles Missing Sounds

Many tracked vehicles in this game seem to be based upon Russian chassis' which is nice, but I noticed a lack of squeaks from these vehicles, as a lot of them look to be worn (and Russian tracked vehicles were not the most precisely built) but these vehicles will function perfectly without making the squeaks that I believe they should, if accompanied with the worn visuals. The sounds of tracks on different terrains, and the general noise of tracked vehicles is distinct, however I miss it, in any game with very good visuals, and tracked vehicles, I look for these details, and am sad that they're missing. I just know it'd make many happy if these were executed in this game.


Static Objects

There've been many cases in the demo so far, where I have run into fences thinking I could knock them over like the other fences. I don't understand why some fences are able to be knocked down but others aren't. I think if there are assets reused for the game, they should be consistent in their function!! 


Missing Stump Grinding Visual

Another visual effect missing is the progression of stump grinding. Currently, grinding a stump will involve the tractor moving closer to the stump, and the grinder will clip into the tree, and eventually, the stump will simply vanish. I think improving the hitbox of the grinder with the stump would be great. Varied stages to these stumps being grinded to show the progression, would make stump grinding so much more enjoyable and immersive.  


Missing Road Building Visual Effects

Currently, when building roads, the sand from the tipper truck, the sand when being pushed by the dozer, etc, all seem to be missing some realism. The sand in the tipper doesn't change in volume, the terrain is seemingly teleported into place continuously, instead of actually coming from the truck, and it's the same with the dozer, as it doesn't pile up on the dozer blade and it's pushed quite further ahead than where the dozer actually is. The steamroller will also smooth out a bit more in width than how wide the wheels(?) are. 


Minor note, I have noticed that when the terrain is deforming, it does so slowly. In increments, and it's noticeable, same with when the roads are being built. I'm not sure if this can be improved however, as I imagine it could be bad for performance, but it'd be nice to see it as an option or improvement at least, for high-end devices. 


Missing Punishment/Visual/Auditory Effects for Collisions

When colliding with other vehicles or debris, there isn't any damage on the vehicles or sound produced, which I've found to be strange. I don't miss the actual damage where the vehicle will become crippled (perhaps can be added to a hard mode) but I do miss the visual effects. I think having scratches from collisions at the very least could make the game so much more engaging and interesting when it comes to raw gameplay and immersion.

Objects Don't Deform

I frequently ran over tires and other objects in the game but none of them deformed. It was kind of silly, seeing how an oil barrel supported the weight of a 15 ton truck. It'd be very nice to at least be able to put them in a state where they're smaller than what they were (tires would just become deflated things, barrels would be crushed, containers being dented even more) this would be so beautiful to see. 

On another note, the flooded/destroyed vehicles don't really change. They sort of just stay as a static model when you move them around or collide with them. If they could deform, or have any visual indication of a collision, it'd be super nice to see. The glass on these vehicles being able to shatter even more would be just the most incredible details to see. As well as the wheels on the cars, when you lift a car up, the wheels should come down, but they don't move. I'd love to see this changed!!


Pause Menu Doesn't Completely Pause the Game

I've noticed that the pause menu won't let you actually pause everything that's happening in the game. This is something that has bothered me a little bit and has made me a little worried about when the game releases. I'm someone who gets interrupted frequently, and having the vehicle not stop moving when paused, and still heading off without control, is a bit frustrating. 


Vehicle Dynamics

I think the vehicle dynamics of this game are good, but I think they could be adjusted to be even better. I believe the weight feeling of vehicles could be improved a bit. Some vehicles can still be tossed around a bit too easily in my opinion, and the interaction with the environment seems a bit lackluster with these extremely heavy vehicles, and not leaving much deeper marks in the terrain. I think it would be a minute difference, but greatly appreciated. 


Better Controls

I think the controls as they are, are quite unintuitive on PC. Using the winch is difficult and utilizes strange keybinds. The inability to bind two keys to the same function is also very inconvenient. There are many functions that are unable to be used when others are, such as the crane. You can't winch while using the crane, so why can't we just use the same key for the winch and a function for the crane? I think just allowing us to bind multiple keys together is the way to go. There's also the gear changing. Please allow us to bind gears to specific keys! 


Animation of Folding the Crane

I was disappointed to see that there isn't an animation for the crane to move back to its original position. It's sad to see that it wasn't modelled, as I really enjoy the immersion these games provide, but it's taken away when its instantly "refreshed" when you "Fold Crane". Watching it move back into place would be another satisfying and fun detail. 


Crane Controls Suggestion

On PC, using the mouse to control both axes can be very difficult, as it requires very precise movements. To make it easier (and reserve the current way of control as a hard mode option?) I think there could be additional controls to use the keyboard as a way of extending the boom (or fully use the keyboard to control the crane) could be very nice. 


With the logging crane, I propose a "claw stability" toggle, where the axis of the claw will stay oriented in the way it was, when the "claw stability" toggle was activated. This way, when you spin/adjust the crane, the log will be easier to handle. This would help immensely with the difficulty of handling logs. Another feature of the claw stability could also be, not letting the log swing like a see-saw so much. It could make using the log crane much more satisfying, or at least make it easier for normal mode, and harder (the way it is at the moment) for a potential hard mode.

​​No Usable Forklifts?

I noticed some forklifts while playing the demo, and was excited to at least drive a forklift around, in such a nice looking game, but was sad to see that we're unable to use them. I believe forklifts are useful in situations such as the ones this game provides, and not just cranes are used? This is a bit of a hypothetical suggestion I suppose. It'd just be really nice to be able to use them!


Gear Selector, Clutch, and Brake Pedal Animations

I love that the shifter in the Mule is animated! Well, sort of. Unfortunately, the actual shifting of forward gears is not animated. I see three pedals so I know it's a manual! Also, the throttle pedal is animated, but the brake pedal and clutch aren't! It'd be so nice to see those pedals move as well. So much added immersion can come from these changes. 


Hard Mode Suggestions (everything below this)

So I've brought up a potential hard mode a couple times. Many expect a challenge from this game, as you developers have created (arguably) the best offroading games in history. I think a hard mode where vehicles have less (or more realistic) traction would be greatly appreciated, as it doesn't seem like you can get stuck very easily in this game, and some people might appreciate the added difficulty.


Packing/accepting objects to fulfill tasks

What if, when packing an object, in the normal mode, its very forgiving, however, with the hard mode, more precision with the cranes is required for the game to accept it as complete. This could be a satisfying additional challenge. 


Realistic shifting (in vehicles that require it) 

Shifting manually could be very engaging in hard mode (or even normal). Some automatic vehicles could be fine as well, but I think some vehicles requiring you to shift down when going up a hill, or shift up so as not to damage the transmission, would make this game incredibly more immersive when driving, just delivering or moving objects from one place to another. It'd add to the fun. 


With all the details this game has, I worry about the final stage when it comes to immersion. I look for details like this when it comes to games that include vehicles. There are so many details that I'm so glad are in the game, such as the sounds of each object moving around, and making their own distinct sounds. 


However, I do notice every little thing that's missing, and it unfortunately takes away from what could be, in my opinion, the most immersive game focused on vehicles out there, period. This is all the suggestions I have for now. Thank you so much for reading!