Off-Road Drive

Developer: 1C Avalon

Release Date: Q1, 2011

Genre: Racing

Platform: Xbox 360, PC

Publisher: 1C Company

Website: http://offroad-game.com/

ESRB: RP

We had the pleasure of getting a few questions answered by Johnny Kalinichev. He is the Head of PR at 1C-Avalon.

 

What inspired you make this game?

 

The idea was inspired by the fact that there are many low quality roads and even absence of them at several regions of Russia. Many people get used to fight against road obstacles, and drive without roads somehow. And off-road racing on the big trucks and SUVs is always accompanied with good friends who have a lot of fun together.

 

As far as you need a lot of money and time to prepare such car and organize such events we decided to perform this all in a computer game to let everybody experience real off-road. We have also found a big fan community in Russia and continue to develop the game with their support and advices.

 

Off-Road Drive will become a new installment in the 4x4 simulation series that will be a brand new level of a game using an advanced technology. The development of that project started somewhere in early 2008. During the time that our team has worked on a series of wheel-drive simulators we have accumulated many ideas and individual suggestions of our fans. But all this was impossible to implement on the old technology we used in previous games in the series. And now it is combination of world off-road and world best vehicles.

 

While developing the game, what was the hardest issue(s) that you came across?

 

Unreal Engine Technology was the biggest issue for us. It was difficult to adjust all game physics to racing since we first made a racing simulator based on this engine, we had to overcome some technical difficulties caused by Unreal Engine 3 features.

 

For example, we had to cut some features because of the engine: one of the limitations is a free roam, which was presented in previous games. But new engine brought much more advantages which were impossible to use in our previous games.

 

Of course, the financial crisis influenced the work of the company in 2009. Fortunately, our publisher, 1C Company, believed in us and the Russian release successfully took place on December 3rd 2010. And now we are working under the translating and setting the game for a worldwide release of the PC and Xbox versions. We hope to publish English demo version this spring.

 

What was your "best moment" during development?

 

Before starting the development of the Off-Road Drive we managed to attend the competitions on routes Petronas Suvium Silverstone Challenge in Thailand. We conducted a few trips to capture wide materials on the domestic Russian nature and competitions, as well as spend a few nights in the tropical jungle, having managed to enjoy all the delights of protracted Malaysian trophy-raid on the rain forest. In addition, we received a lot of materials and information from the organizers of the off-road racing in South Africa and California in the United States.

 

Were you able to incorporate all of the ideas that were proposed?

 

Probably! The main features planned were implemented in the game. Here they are:

 

* A truly realistic physics we were created by using the technology of PhysX, a built-in engine;

* A new level of modern graphics using Unreal Engine 3 - one of the best current game engines;

* Carefully reproduced construction vehicles with all the key elements that are working as they should;

* Landscape dynamically changing by car impact - rut, which remains on the surface after passage machinery and represents a real geometry, which affects the subsequent passages in this place;

* The dynamic rut was never been realized in racing games before, as well as the several new off-road accessories.

 

If the answer to the previous question is no, would you add those other ideas through DLC or make a possible sequel?

 

We will work on updates, DLC and add-on to the game.

 

First of all, we are going to issue updates that will bring a variety of improvements into game, new features make the game easier and expand its functionality and correct errors (if they will occur). All this will be available to users for free, and will be conveniently delivered using the built-in design of automatic updates.

 

Further we plan to release paid downloadable content, which may include: new tracks, new cars, additional paint for cars, as well as other elements of customization. And after a while we will start work on the add-on to the game, which will include a new region, new cars, tracks and a number of other interesting features, which was not yet been reflected in the games series.

 

We continue to get a few questions answered by Johnny Kalinichev, who is the Head of PR at 1C-Avalon.

 

Are there any plans to bring Off-Road Drive to PSN or LIVE?

 

The development of the game for Xbox 360 is currently in progress. It is hard to say something about LIVE at the moment, but I believe the multiplayer mode will be adjusted to the Xbox LIVE with no problems and gamers will enjoy racing with each other.

 

Can you provide any insight into your next title?

 

Yes, of course, we plan to maintain and develop the game series, but this time our attention is fully on the development of the Off-Road Drive and adding new features to that project

 

Any special advice for the fans playing Off-Road Drive. Something like a special gameplay tactic or a hidden gem?

 

I can say some words about the main off-road tools which you will have to use in the tracks to overcome the terrain. Here are some of the advices:

 

* The ability to switch the type of drive - rear drive to increase the speed capabilities and a four-wheel drive in order to overcome difficult ground;

* A lower gear, which allows to overcome the steep slopes;

* The ability to block differentials, which avoids slippage of one of the wheels or one of the axes;

* Advanced mode with a geometric winch rope, enveloping the obstacles with which you can overcome the most extreme off-road areas;

* Compressor to change the tire pressure to improve traction, which is required, for example, on soft ground or in the sticky mud;

* Snorkel, allowing the car to overcome the water obstacles, avoiding the ingress of water into the engine;

* Inclinometer to track the level of the slope of the vehicle relative to the surface, and thus avoid tipping off-road.

 

How do you like the PC as a platform for game development?

 

We definitely see the PC platform in future. The development of digital distribution and the emergence of such sites as Mac Store and Windows Store will possibly play a great role in that. Of course gaming consoles become more and more popular nowadays, but who knows what’s going to happen tomorrow? For example, nobody could imagine such success of iPhone as a gaming platform, especially after PSP's outstanding achievements.

 

Any advice for people starting out with game development? It does not matter what platform they are using.

 

There is only one but the most important advice that I would like to share: you have to do what you love; because your job will replace everything for you. And you will be successful only if what you do is interesting for people around you, and not just for you only :-).

na ant pc jau kaip ir isejo lyg,o kur xbox versija tai neaisku. juk turetu but pagal viska. damn konsoles neturi ne vieno tokio tipo zaidimo,nors viena turetu.

AK rusiška versija gruodį jau išejus, veikia ant unreal engine 3 variklio ir labai geria padarytas, va čia tai laisvai gali vadintis bekelės lenktynem, dangos taip pat išsiaria kaip per mx vs atv reflex, valdymas gan patogus, galima pasirinkt 2x4, 4x4, įjungt ir išjungt diferenciala plius dar paletinta pavara, yra el. gerve galima prisitraukt prie medžių ir kitų stipresnių objektų. Ilgai jo nežaidžiau dėl to, kad pas jį su kalba problemos, net ne rusų rodo o kvadratukų, tai kolkas galvoju palauksiu en versijos. Jei dar galima būtų ir per internetą su kitais varžytis tai išvis superinis žaidas būtų.

na ant pc tokiu geimu nemazai yra ir visis kie kzinau nuo ruskeliu eina, bet sis tiesiog pirmas kuri zada ir ant XBL paleist . na rimtai okdel negaletu,ne kaip retail kad neleist pinigu bet i XBL. sitiek fanu manau yra tokiu dalyku.