Hey all!

The new update is here, and it's quite exciting not only for its content, but also because it was the last scheduled update before I can start work on the animals!

Some of the new things brought here have been suggested by you on the forums, like before, and some came from simply watching gameplay videos and streams, so I just want to express huge thanks for doing that and helping me shape up the game to be more awesome with every new version!

Here are the main changes:

Improved Tutorial:

Tutorial tips now pause the game, requiring player action in order to continue. They're still not perfect, but at least a lot easier to process. Tutorial tips can now be re-enabled in the options, if you want to redo them.

Radar can see through fog:

We all hate fog in Switchcars, and now we're gonna hate the rain too as it was made foggy as well. However, we're also gonna love the Radar powerup more, because it helps us see clearly through all that bad weather, at a cost of a greenish "monitor effect". Accordingly, most airplanes are now fitted with radar.

"Minimal" vehicle suggestion option:

Vehicle suggestion flashing tended to be annoying, but turning it off completely was not adequate either. Now you can choose a third option, "Minimal", which still shows suggested vehicles and lanes, but without the annoying effects.

Better visibility of used vehicles:

Thanks to your screenshots of used vehicles (listed after game over), I realized that environment and HUD were making the screen too cluttered. Now, when a run ends, a grey "fog of death" appears in front of the game world, making used vehicles clearly visible on any background environment.

A few new vehicles:

• Dumpster on wheels is now a vehicle, and entering it gives a random powerup just like the Shopping Cart does.
• A new tractor has been added
• Three very old vehicles that were in the game but never spawned, can now spawn (rarely)

Diesel engine sound:

Accompanying most vans and similarly sized vehicles.

Ion propulsion:

New type of propulsion used by electric future spacecraft (instead of rockets). It includes new visual and sound effects.

Better year scrolling on gamepads:

Those of you using gamepads know how difficult it was to scroll through the years, as holding left or right just didn't do anything. Well, to be fair, it still doesn't (despite working just fine on keyboard), however you can now press A and the counter will jump 10 years forward.

Starting difficulty indicator:

The way the starting year affects difficulty has been made a bit clearer, by telling the actual starting difficulty level when scrolling through the years.

Some more highlights:

• New font with better readability
• Lightning strike now recharges batteries
• Aliens now have varying friction based on terrain
• More difficulty balancing
• Better looking loading splash screens

Of course, as usual, there are even more changes! For more details make sure to check out the full changelog below.

— Full changelog: —

Gameplay:

- Tutorial tips now pause the game (easier to follow)
- Lightning strike now recharges batteries
- Won't total vehicle if battery had room to be charged
- Alien agility now varies depending on friction with terrain
- Radar replaces all bad weather with the "monitor effect"
- Increased chance to spawn alien if timer ran out and there is none
- Super old vehicles can now spawn
- All vehicles should be encounterable now
- Three vehicles that were previously never spawning can now spawn (rarely)
- Player character is less tolerable to small crash damage (note: still can't die from low speed collisions)
- Added reset tutorial tips option
- Added powerup selection tutorial tip
- Added vehicle locking tutorial tip
- Rain is now always accompanied by mist
- Reduced chance of mist-only weather
- Most advanced planes are now equipped with Radar
- Reduced maximum speed on solar-powered planes
- Increased hovercraft fuel consumption
- Hovercraft maximum speed (when installed as powerup) is now more mass dependent
- Slightly increased alien stomp damage when jumping on spikes
- Increased spawn of Cooldown powerup in later stages
- Various small Tutorial improvements

Content:

- Turned Dumpster prop into a vehicle
- Gives random powerup when entered, like the Shopping Cart
- Added a new tractor

Juiciness:

- Added ion drive propulsion
- Used by electric future spacecraft instead of rockets
- Includes new visual and sound effects
- Added diesel engine sound
- Used by vans and similar vehicles

Interface:

- New GUI font
- Added "Minimal" vehicle suggestion option
- Shows suggested vehicles/lanes, but without annoying effects
- When the run ends, background fades to a gray "death effect" for better visibility of used vehicles list
- Confirm key now cycles years by 10 on year selection button (for gamepads)
- Year change description now tells starting difficulty
- Brightened up loading splashscreens
- Added "Tutorial Complete!" notification when completing tutorial
- Added to Free Roam description that fuel consumption is reduced in it

Bugs:

- Fixed radar not working with vehicle suggestion switched off
- Fixed maglev trains being able to steer on maglev tracks
- Fixed some helicopters no longer being able to fly after being used in space
- Fixed aliens making sounds when hurt in space
- Fixed helicopter rotor not replacing solar power with fuel powersource
- Fixed radar not pointing non-collidable objects as dangerous or useful
- Fixed a recent bug with stage 2 lanes being unlocked by completing tutorial
- Fixed starting year not going up to 2040
- Fixed Helium Balloon not working on fuelless VTOLs
- Fixed vehicle lock working in main menu
- Fixed alert icon overlapping with powerup deck
- Fixed "alpha" note overlapping with vehicle info
- Fixed yellow in-range marker not working (from previous update)
- Fixed aerial radar marker not correctly positioned in 16:9
- Fixed Nitrous flame remaining stuck on player character at ending sequence
- Slight performance improvement
- A few more bugfixes and tweaks

As always, if you have any questions, comments or suggestions, feel free to make a post on the forum!