Hey all!

The new Switchcars update is up! While it's got a lot of small fixes and a ton of work that's yet to be utilized in the coming builds, here are some of the highlights:

Note: Hardcore mode and database entries for four specific powerups will need to be unlocked again, due to changes in the savegame system.

Lane age variants:

Remember how, apart from vehicles, different eras all looked the same? Now, the year you're in affects the look of the lanes as well! Human-made lanes, such as roads, will look differently in 1950's compared to 2030's.

Free Roam now lets you change the year during gameplay, which makes it easy to explore the new lane designs.

3 new "vehicles":

Switchcars now has a Mech (a military piloted robot) and two new animals, all animated and with new sound effects! More will be coming soon!

Volume control:

At last! Thanks to Damir (and this was no trivial task, mind you), Switchcars finally has volume control, allowing you to set the volume for sounds and music independently in options. Additionally, the game is now quieter by default as it always should have been.

Major bug fixes:

Some critical bug fixes have been made, such as:

• Plugging and unplugging your headphones will now work properly!
• Powerup unlock indicator is no longer stuck
• Fixed Space and Alien World biomes never appearing in the runs since 1.013 (!)

Various more bug fixes have been made, so please check the changelog for more details.

Autorun option:

If for any reason you'd prefer not to have to hold the right key to move all the time, now you can enable the Autorun option in the Controls Setup section. To go right just press the right key just once, and when you want to slow down, press the left key. This also comes with audio and UI cues.

Full changelog:

As always, all changes are listed below, but also can be read from within Switchcars and its changelog viewer!

Gameplay:

- Added Autorun option
- When turned on, press direction of movement to enable and brake to disable
- Comes with visual and UI feedback
- Found in Controls Setup
- Free Roam now allows changing current year ingame
- Added one mandatory electrified railway rule to Railway Free Roam theme
- Animals no longer heal while set on fire
- Reduced airport biome frequency
- Cargo Ships, Flatcars and Semi Trailers now also give random powerups
- Tweaked parameters of a few vehicles

Content:

- Added 2 new animals
- Added a Mech
- Added lane age skin system
- Human-made lanes (e.g. roads) change appearance over time, depending on era
- There can be up to 4 different skins per lane type
- Affected lanes change skins at different years, so that overall environment evolves organically
- Updated type names of a few vehicles
- Updated oldest Go-Kart design and future Cargo Plane
- Updated engine sound types on a few vehicles

Cosmetic:

- Brakelights are now visible in daylight too
- Exhaust fumes are now white on 2-stroke vehicles
- Questionmark above Powerups is now animated
- Slightly improved heavy smoke graphics
- Large NPC planes will no longer fall when stopped by Siren
- Hybrid cars now cast red brakelights only instead of both red and blue

Interface:

- Added sound and music volume control (Damir)
- The game is no longer too loud (default volume is 60%)
- Vehicle suggestion set on "full" is no longer aggressive when the timer is not ticking
- Joystick intro screen now lists number of detected devices
- Nitrous and Grapple tutorials no longer appear while being chased by an alien
- Having cursor on "auto" resolution setting now shows actual resolution at the bottom
- Renamed some powerups to match their graphical name counterpart
- Renamed some options
- Removed redundant 1360x768 resolution
- Removed redundant "Instantly save unlocks" option, off by default now
- Upcoming biome icon now raises up immediately instead of gradually
- Added Alien Ooze healing ability description to lane database
- Added description about no speed limit in Space to lane database
- Rephrased ending messages
- Renamed "Laser requires fuel" alert to "Insufficient energy for Laser"

Major Bugs:

- Fixed audio driver not updating when unplugging headphones (Damir)
- Fixed game process staying active indefinitely after unplugging headphones (Damir)
- Fixed Powerup unlocked indicator stuck since v1.013
- Fixed Space and Alien World biomes never appearing in the runs since v1.013
- Fixed Tutorial having bugged snow section object spawning
- Attempted fix at main menu dropping FPS sometimes
- Attempted fix at letterbox being white on some monitors

Minor Bugs:

- Fixed Hardcore mode being unlocked when reaching stage 10 in The Run, even without beating it
- Fixed Manual Control not working sometimes when installed, once again
- Fixed animals having more friction after being revived
- Fixed inventory color remaining red on animals after being revived
- Fixed going too far right in Tutorial allowing starting vehicles to disappear
- Fixed Low Acceleration never showing in vehicle database
- Fixed "Grapple Up" tutorial being triggered by an invisible object
- Fixed missing and miscolored pixels on some vehicles

Feedback:

That's it for this update, and as always if you have any questions, comments or suggestions, feel free to post on the forum!