I've been in contact with one of the people behind DRAG, a fantastic looking racing game which will come to Linux soon. The fun fact is that the game engine is custom built under Linux too. The developer I spoke to, Thorsten Folkers, wanted us to announce it early to gather a bit of interest. They certainly have my full attention, that's for sure.
I have to say, I'm really excited about this one. Not just because we don't have enough good racing games, but because of all the detail that's going into making it. They're simulating 4-suspension physics to make the car really feel realistic, just take a look at this:
The crazy thing is—this is built by two people, two brothers in fact.
As for the game engine, it's built to use OpenGL 4.5 with Vulkan possibly coming at a later date. They've been working on this for a while, with the game engine being a private side-project since 2001. They said the game engine really started to come together sometime in 2011, when they decided to really take it further. It's been a long road for them, but with a release coming soon they will finally be able to see what people really think of it.
It will feature:
- Singleplayer
- Online Multiplayer
- Splitscreen Online Multiplayer
- Realistic physics, suspension and driving mechanics
- Support for all common Gamepads
- Windows / Linux (Steam OS) support from day one
- Available on Steam early access in 2018
- Price 29.99$
Here's some more gifs they sent me, I've converted them to small video files to save your bandwith:
And another one to show off the damage model:
If you want to read more on it, they've been keeping a development log here. They also did some more background info here in a post here.
I've been told we will get a Steam key to check it out next month and the current plan for release is around March/April, this is one to firmly mark on your calendar. Looks like it could be a serious amount of fun and good racing games is something Linux certainly needs a lot more of. If it really is anything like the shots they're showing off, it really could be a big hit with gamers.
Note: Article updated to be clear that the release is expected in March/April.
thanks for the feedback!
DRAG is not in development since 15 years. We were working regular jobs back then and the engine was a private side project. We are working fulltime on this game since 12 and 20 months.
The release date will be March to April depending on what we will have to polish further.
February was probably miscommunication!
There will be a release discount for the first week!
Looking forward racing you guys soon! :)
Thorsten
Quoting: KohriasWow, nice. I am definitely interested. 15+ years of development is really something.As mentioned (in the article and now by the developer too) the game has not been in development for 15 years. The game engine was a side-project back then :)
Glad it turned into something though, very exciting.
Last edited by Liam Dawe on 19 January 2018 at 12:21 pm UTC
Quoting: ThorstenFolkersHi guys,Hi!
Looking forward racing you guys soon! :)
Thorsten
And what about distribution platforms?
Steam-exclusive? Or will there be DRM-free versions?
Last edited by Alm888 on 19 January 2018 at 12:17 pm UTC
Last edited by fenevadkan on 22 January 2018 at 7:19 pm UTC
Quoting: Alm888Quoting: ThorstenFolkersHi guys,Hi!
Looking forward racing you guys soon! :)
Thorsten
And what about distribution platforms?
Steam-exclusive? Or will there be DRM-free versions?
Hi!
We rely on some Steam matchmaking features for the online Multiplayer and also copy-protection. So a DRM-free version is possible in the future but is not something we are working towards at the moment.
Thanks!
Thorsten
Thank's devs !
But I am looking forward to this one anyhow. Looks good. Very good actually.
Quoting: catskinsoxThat must be Liam driving on that last gif. ;)Don't worry, I will show plenty of crashing into everything when we're able to get a look.
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