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Impressive racing game DRAG gets a big driving-physics update

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DRAG is easily one of the most impressive Early Access games from 2020 and they ended 2020 in style with a big upgrade to the game and it's looking great.

Since DRAG has a next generation 4CPT vehicle physics (4-way contact point traction technology), there's going to be plenty of tweaks over its Early Access stay. The latest update adds in limited-slip differentials to the front and rear axles as well as a center diff, plus they did a big balancing pass to the handling system.

I've put quite a few hours into it with all these changes, and it feels overall like a big improvement. There's less spinning-out and random slipping where it feels like you should have some grip. If you found it too difficult before, this is a good time to check it out again.

The controls for gamepads and keyboard were also adjusted as they "focused the damping and sensitivity more on the center", along with Steering Wheel force feedback being reworked but still very much a work in progress.

For a bit more fun they also added tire walls to the game, which you can smash through.

For drivers who like a little more customization, DRAG will also now let you switch up the colours of Vehicle 1 so you can make the game feel that little bit more personal. That might actually be my favourite feature, as silly as it is, having your personal colours on your car while racing around makes it feel that little bit sweeter.

More fixes also came along including:

  • updated SDL2 for PS5 and Xbox Series X controller support
  • fixed camera collisions in online qualifications
  • fixed respawn orientation in hairpin track A-4
  • lowered guardrail friction in Zone-B to make them less deadly
  • increased guardrail friction on Demo track to avoid wall riding
  • fixed shortcut on Demo track

They also updated the demo to include Special Event track 1 permanently so you have more content to try before you buy.

What else is planned? More tracks, a better online system with lobbies, split screen support for the online races, new vehicles, more languages, a photo mode, a track editor and they've been teasing a large open-world style area in their Discord. Safe to say 2021 is going to be a fun year to follow DRAG. You can find DRAG on Steam.

Never seen DRAG in action? Check out their original trailer:

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Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Tags: Indie Game, Racing, Steam, Update | Apps: DRAG
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About the author -
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I am the owner of GamingOnLinux. After discovering Linux back in the days of Mandrake in 2003, I constantly came back to check on the progress of Linux until Ubuntu appeared on the scene and it helped me to really love it. You can reach me easily by emailing GamingOnLinux directly. Find me on Mastodon.
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rustybroomhandle Jan 4, 2021
If this had modding I would try to remake Stunt Car Racer's tracks in this.
slaapliedje Jan 4, 2021
Quoting: rustybroomhandleIf this had modding I would try to remake Stunt Car Racer's tracks in this.
Hell yeah, that'd be bad ass! I still need to try out the Atari 8bit port, but playing this head to head on the Amiga / ST was a blast back in the day.
Mountain Man Jan 4, 2021
Will definitely give this a look. I love the graphics, but the driving physics in previous versions was terrible with the cars having no grip and bouncing out of control after hitting the slightest bump.

Edit: The developers are getting there, but they still have some work to do. Cars seem to stick to the road a little better, so at least you can properly power slide, but they're still too light and prone to bouncing wildly out of control. They also have an absurdly wide turn radius making it nearly impossible to take tight corners without slowing to a crawl.


Last edited by Mountain Man on 4 January 2021 at 5:06 pm UTC
slaapliedje Jan 5, 2021
Quoting: AkonadyI wanna know something not related specifically to this game but with games in general.

What do you feel like playing on Linux (not native games), losing lots of fps, basically wasting the full potential of your hardware?
Not sure if troll... but I was playing Destroy All Humans just fine at 3840x1200 the other night. Fun game!
Cybolic Jan 5, 2021
Quoting: slaapliedje
Quoting: AkonadyI wanna know something not related specifically to this game but with games in general.

What do you feel like playing on Linux (not native games), losing lots of fps, basically wasting the full potential of your hardware?
Not sure if troll... but I was playing Destroy All Humans just fine at 3840x1200 the other night. Fun game!

Sounds like trolling... but I'll bite as well. Last time I tried dual booting, I was actually getting better FPS through Wine under Linux than I was Windows and I know from benchmarks that this still happens with various games (especially slightly older titles). These days, most games will run about the same on either platform, some a bit better here, others a bit better there. Of course, your mileage may vary, but in general I don't recall ever having FPS issues due to Linux and not due to the hardware (or buggy games of course).

In any case, DRAG is a native title, so nothing to worry about here :)
Tuxee Jan 5, 2021
Quoting: AkonadyI wanna know something not related specifically to this game but with games in general.

What do you feel like playing on Linux (not native games), losing lots of fps, basically wasting the full potential of your hardware?

My Doom, Wolfenstein: The New Colossus, F1 2019, Project Cars 2, Inside, Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice, Prey run - allegedly - just as fast with Proton as natively. That said: They all reach with High or Ultra Settings frame rates way beyond what my 60Hz WQHD displays can deliver.

BTW: You are aware that quite a few Proton games run faster on Linux than on Windows, are you? Or are you just trolling?
Tuxee Jan 5, 2021
Quoting: AkonadyThanks for the response. Yeah seems like there's not so much difference between Windows or Linux on some games.

Not some. If a game works with Proton pretty much all of them are in the 90%+ Windows-speed category.
Bogomips Jan 5, 2021
Quoting: AkonadyI wanna know something not related specifically to this game but with games in general.

What do you feel like playing on Linux (not native games), losing lots of fps, basically wasting the full potential of your hardware?

In a sense you are right, I use way less RAM on Linux than on Win 7.
slaapliedje Jan 5, 2021
Quoting: Bogomips
Quoting: AkonadyI wanna know something not related specifically to this game but with games in general.

What do you feel like playing on Linux (not native games), losing lots of fps, basically wasting the full potential of your hardware?

In a sense you are right, I use way less RAM on Linux than on Win 7.
Ha, you triple told him!

Let's not forget the lack of resource eating software that likes to sit in the background on Windows, a driver / software model that doesn't ask for a reboot every time, etc.

I had to uninstall and reinstall with several reboots in between, my Thurstmaster Warthog last night just so I could play some Elite: Dangerous in VR... I should try to tear apart their scripting engine and try to port it to Linux...
Bogomips Jan 5, 2021
Quoting: slaapliedjeHa, you triple told him!

Let's not forget the lack of resource eating software that likes to sit in the background on Windows, a driver / software model that doesn't ask for a reboot every time, etc.

I had to uninstall and reinstall with several reboots in between, my Thurstmaster Warthog last night just so I could play some Elite: Dangerous in VR... I should try to tear apart their scripting engine and try to port it to Linux...

Hmm, when I posted it, the UI was unresponsive and nothing happened (or so I thought).

That is one of the most irritating pain for me, the lack of support for some peripherals. (Logitech if you can hear me…).

Mice are ok now with piper or solaar but my G13 is a pain in the ass even if now it is somewhat working (and I love it because it is an ortholinear keyboard).
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