This Dev Blog will sum up the work from the last months and wrap up the year..
Summary
In February 2022 I released a prototype under the Steam Playtest program, allowing players to give the concept a try. The possibility to try the game while it's being developed was long requested by the community. Also, as a solo, indie dev, this type of game (3D simulation) was a huge endeavor and I needed to know if my work was sustainable before I work on an official version. Since then, general feedback was very positive, although the prototype was very incomplete. A few iterations came out, then, in 2023, I decided I had the tools I needed to switch frrom pre-production phase to production phase. I am now working on an alpha version, and took the opportunity to migrate the game to the latest Unity version. So right now, we're kinda in-between two major stages of production, that's why you might think not much is happening. Rest assured, I am still putting as much energy in Snow Plow as I have been since the beginning. After the initial alpha release, to which playtesters will have access, you can expect the build to be regularly updated.
As of now, I am building the first alpha version of the game, which will include open-world, vehicle interiors and 1st person driving, real-world vehicle sound effects, vehicle systems simulation, and many overhauled mechanics such as weather and snow simulation. And as always, I'm pursuing my vision of a high quality, carefully crafted simulation game in gorgeous landscapes with accurately simulated machines and realistic snow behaviour.
I am considering this project to be *mostly* solo-dev, however, honorable mention to my friends and collaborators Ian, Alex and Martin who are of a great help as sound engineer, plow operator and software engineer. Of course, they all are gamers as well and help me with gameplay design. Now let's get to the meat of this dev blog.
Where we left off
At the time of writing my last Dev Blog, I was finishing off the creation of the Intercontinental Workhorse's interior. I was also laying the foundations of the open world using heightmaps and a clever tile streaming system.
The Workhorse is now implemented in-game with its new shiny high quality interior! In a very near future, that vehicle will be upgraded with systems simulation (fuel, battery, hydraulic and electrical systems) that will work along with gameplay mechanics. You will indeed need to fuel, maintain and repair your machinery. The grader did not get that much love yet, it is still in its playtest state. I'm waiting for the proper mechanics to be written for the truck first, then the grader will be getting its full texture, interior, code and systems overhaul from the playtest. Let's not forget that we also now have our own, carefully captured real-world audio clips from real trucks, and more recording sessions are planned. So an audio overhaul will also be performed.
As for the world map, six months ago we were at a macro level of design. I was creating the world streaming mechanics, shaping the region based on real-world heightmaps. But now, we're at a micro level, designing hi-res textures, laying down the roads and modeling tons of buildings and props. Let's get in some details.
Crafting Fields
Now that most of the open world's mechanics are functional, I've been carefully building and populating the first sector, Fields. Creating a game as a solo-dev is all about finding the right techniques that will allow the best productivity for the expected results. Of course, there are no limits to where you can push a project. But when resources are limited, you've gotta make choices. For instance, I do think Snow Plow have some very very decent graphics. They are not the fanciest nor the most realistic, but they are pretty gorgeous to me. So I did my homeworks and, using everything I learned from the playtest and from the best game makers I know, I upgraded my workflows to achieve this graphical quality in the simplest possible way, using the best techniques adapted for this project. This streamlined workflow allows me to keep the same great, consistent visual quality across the game while increasing performances. I'm using texture atlases made of assembled photorealistic textures and normal maps, combined with UV overlap technique within Blender. Total control over the textures, simple to apply on a model, easy to import within the game.
Roads textures have also been completely redone. The seams that can be seen on intersections in the playtest are now gone. The road material is now made of layers: Asphalt, paint, residual snow and ice, puddle, and finally, this thin layer of animated blowing snow that travels just a few inches above the road.
New buildings are popping. Those include utility buildings: building which will have a function in-game. In this example you can see a gas station. There will also be dealerships, coffee shops, garages, etc. Besides utility buildings, everything that need to be part of a rural landscape: farms, silos, powerlines, hayballs, fences, old houses, etc.
A world that's alive
Obviously, we will want the world to feel alive, we don't want to plow a post-apocalyptic city (or do we? This could be a DLC... Snow Plow: Zombies, 69,99$). This involves people and vehicles, both static and moving. A first implementation has been performed as NPC citizens have been implemented. They are static and have basic animations: chatting, sipping coffee, etc. The character models are not final, they are more generic placeholders and are there to give it a first try. But eventually, they will be replaced by our own models and they will walk around the city and perform various tasks and animations. Same will happend with vehicles, we'll soon be implementing static traffic (aka: parked cars) and eventually AI traffic.
Coming up
So until now, the alpha build has been ported to Unity 2022. Most assets have been re-imported within the engine. The Workhorse's interior has been modeled and integrated and the first person view has been developped. Most of the visuals and shaders have been upgraded for better looking, better performance. The basic playtest map is gone, and we now have a functional open world with a first draft of the new sector: Fields. This world is coming to life with more and more assets including buildings, props, street signs, utilities, and more. The road system had been completely redone, as well as the world generator (vegetation, terraforming, environment, etc.). This allows for a much more efficient development workflow. Finally, we have a ton of real-world sound effects that have been carefully captured on a real truck and that has yet to be implemented. So, to recap...
Done:
- Unity 2022 porting
- Open world mechanics
- Roads/Environment/Vegetation generation system
- Shaders upgrade
- Truck interior
- 1st person view
- Truck sound recording session
In the making as of December 2024:
- Fields sector expansion
- Snow system overhaul
Still ahead of us for the release of a first alpha version:
- Field sector completion
- Snow system overhaul completion
- Road conditions
- Static cars and people
- Sound design overhaul
- Systems simulation (Fuel, hydraulics, electrical, failures, etc.)
- Grader upgrade and interior view
- Grader sound recording session
- Both vehicles audio upgrade
- New vehicle
- Vehicle customization
- Minimap
- Network information system
- First game mode implementation
- Utilities
Obviously, after the initial alpha release, developement and updates will continue and much more content, including sectors, vehicles and game modes will be added during the game's lifespan.
The development roadmap is available here to follow the progress.
Future of Snow Plow
I'm seeing this project as a game that will be long lived, long updated after its release. I realize it's a big endeavour for one solo dev, but the playtest spoke for itself. I'd rather have a slow development but consistantly update the game for 10 years than a rushed development and abandon it after release. When the idea initially came out, there were no game at all that would simulate snow plows. Since then, a few options came out; some are mods, some are DLC's, some are standalone games, but nothing that represents what Snow Plow Project aims for.
Snow Plow will be a realistic, carefully crafted simulation game made with passion. Trucks will be carefully modeled and simulated, driving will be immersive and landscapes will be magnificient. Snow will behave realistically, will have physics and will be visually accurate. It will be THE game snow plow enthusiasts and winter lovers have always wanted.
This passion shows in our first sound effect recording session, the kind of session that will happen for every truck integrated in the game. For this first one, last April we went out for a full audio capture on a real truck, and got clips for every single sound, from every system on the vehicle. Those sounds will be used to overhaul the audio on our in-game Intercontinental Workhorse.
Flag
We talked about creating a believable world that feels alive. This starts with giving the world its own identity so we don't play in an anonymous city. Snow Plow's world has been carefully thought of, including its name, topography, layout, and now, its official flag:
In closing
There is still a lot to do, but I hope you're liking the way the project is going. The feedback is great, the community support amazing. On my side, I'm making sure to allow enough time and resources so that things keep moving. Some jobs are being outsourced as needed to help with development. I would like to share a first alpha draft with playtesters by the end of the winter, but we'll see how it goes. Priority is to get a solid, bug-free, polished core game. Then, we'll be talking about expanding, and also more time consuming features.
As always, thanks for reading. If you'd like to follow development on a month-to-month basis, make sure to join our Discord (free) or subscribe to our Patreon (paid) or our website's subscriber's feed (paid) where you'll get monthly news, sneak peeks, screenshots, and dev chat.
Enjoy the holidays, enjoy the winter, and all the best for the new year. We'll be in touch in 2025 for more snow pushing!
Eric