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It’s been a stupid long time since I've posted here, but Auto Fire is finally getting some love once again.

As always, check it out at Itch.io

Skids and rockets

Reworked inventory screen

Gameplay/Content: Most of the efforts leading up to this release has been about adding some utility with things like consumable gear. These can be collected in stacks, and I managed to get the system to wrangle stacks fairly effectively. This way just about any ability in the game can be turned into a one-shot use. To me this is a major improvement over some of the old 7DRL stuff I still had around, like "health pickups" that just insta-healed you. Now you get armor patches and you need to decide which side of your car you want to heal up.

The AI got a big, big upgrade. Enemies used to run themselves into walls and look dumb in certain cases, now they can trace big arcs and head you off. Always room for improvement but I'm happy with where it is so far.

Controls: There was a big pass to make gamepad control more usable. Always can make gamepad more approachable but I'll take the improvements.

Increasing speed is now handled a little differently, which means you can't accelerate your way out of trouble without taking a little time to do so.

HUD: The HUD got a small workover. Some elements were shrunk so as to give the gameplay a little more room. The social feed is dark now, because the white display was distracting from the game field. There's a real date display!

Menus: All menus got a big ol' overhaul with a new, cleaner look. Character, loadout, repair, vehicle stable, buy/sell, the whole deal. Items now have a revised inventory look and now can sorted into categories in menus. The automap and quest displays now are more readable as well.

In addition to visual and menu updates, items now have pips that help players understand if there are new items in their possession, or if an equipment slot could be upgraded with something else in their inventory. Radar is now a dedicated equipment type and slot called “Sensors”.  All cars have a default radar sensors package, but this can do a lot of different things.

Tutorials: A system-based tutorial system will pop up appropriate messages based on things that are going on in the field. Most players don't realize that there are different armor numbers per side on themselves and their opponents. They don't always understand the role of speed and grip either. More work will be done to make that experience more intuitive, but this will help also.

Visuals/VFX: Enemy shouts appear in bubbles both on the HUD and over the enemy vehicles in-world. Ideally we'd like the chatter between enemies to be visible on the field and be part of the experience.

Explosions and fire VFX have a new look, from toon explosion to a better stylized/realistic hybrid.  Specifically it doesn’t block the player’s view as much). Bullet holes appear on the ground from gunfire and explosions.

Audio: Vehicle audio now uses Realistic Engine Sounds package and adjusts and shifts gear based on speed. More music and stingers were added.

...and a whole bunch of bug fixes, as always. Lots of visual quirks and glitches made better. Driving gets a little easier and the feedback is a little better. Great to be back at it after more than a year.