A First Look at the World

This one comes with a big disclaimer: the world of Project Tourge is in a very early stage. Nothing in this post is final. I wanted to show it anyway, because it is the next big piece of the game and it has started to take shape.

Up to now most of the work has gone into the car: physics, engines, audio, tuning and the interface. A car needs somewhere to drive, though, and that is what I have been building lately. All the screenshots below were taken in-game on October 24 and 27.

What this is, and what it is not

What you are looking at is a mountain road through forest, with a few stretches of highway and a fuel station. It is a test of the look, the scale and the feel of the roads, not a finished map.

Expect rough edges. Trees and plants are placeholders in places, some areas are bare, the lighting changes from one screenshot to the next, and there are no finished details such as props, signs and buildings along most of the route. Plenty of it will be redone before anyone drives it for real.

Night on the highway

The first set was taken at night and dusk. I wanted to see how the roads read when headlights, street lamps and the sky are the only light you have.

The lamps, signs and the glow of the station are still simple, but they already give the road a sense of place.

An autumn mountain road

The second set was captured the same week in warm afternoon light. This is the part of the world I have spent the most time on so far: a winding road with red asphalt, white edge lines, a double yellow centre line and trees in autumn colours.

I like how a road like this works with drifting and grip driving. The corners flow into each other, and there are walls, rails and trees close to the track, which gives a good sense of speed.

Walking the route

The October 27 screenshots were taken without the car, to look at the world itself. They are less polished, but they show more of how the route is built.

The road surface is not final. You can see both red and grey asphalt in these pictures, and the lines and edges are still being worked on.

From above

I also flew a camera over the area to check the layout from the air.

From up here you can see how the road folds back on itself up the slope. Elevation and flow matter a lot for a game about driving, so getting this layout right is important before I add more detail.

What comes next

There is a lot left to do: the road surface and markings, vegetation, terrain, lighting at different times of day, and tying the world in with the rest of the game. I also need to test how the roads feel to drive, since a road that looks good can still be a bad one to drive.

As with the rest of the project, I will share it as it develops. Project Tourge is still in private testing, and only people I personally invite can play the current builds. There is no public purchase or download available.

If you have thoughts on what a driving world should have, you can share them in the Discord.