Hi Truckers,

Apologies for the one day delay but you know how sometimes it be like it do, right? Totally. Anyways it’s easy to forget to do things you’re supposed to do when you’re too invested in things you’re also supposed to do. Multitasking is hard. Those other things, though, are pretty exciting so please allow this information to be my formal apology for being an entire day late.

We’re working on travel and offline progress, as the title implies. This means we’ll be tracking progress in real-time once this is done and also allows us to calculate offline progress as a result. This is the second to final step before we do a major balance/polish pass on the game and push it into the next phase; early access! For those of you that have been getting straight up destroyed by the overuse of betas and alphas and omegas and early access and 1.0 and whatever the hell else the game industry has used to say “we’re not done yet,” let me explain…

Closed beta is essentially a limited invitation play test beyond the alpha. Things are likely broken, in the early stages of development, and hardly feature-complete.

Open beta is what happens when more players are invited to break things that are slightly less broken, further in development, and mostly feature-complete (depending on the game). This is our current state.

Early Access is feature complete, but not content complete, and there will be the occasional bugs. This is our current goal.

The last two steps in order to reach EA are quite simple; travel needs to be tracked in real time, offline progress needs to exist, and the game needs a massive sweep to make sure it feels the way we intended to feel and I think the use of italics really drive home the feel I’m going for.

This is not going to be a short, simple process but it’s a big one. Mike and I have already made quite a bit of progress but this is going to take time. I will absolutely keep ya’ll updated every week as we’ve always done unless we totally miss a day which has never happened. Regardless, hopefully by next week we can share more details or screens or whatever can keep the hype train (truck) on the rails.

Until then, thanks for playing, your support, and the other stuff I usually include which makes it awkward for everyone.

Truck On,

Dan / Mike

Hi Truckers,

Today is the day. Servers are indeed live! After logging in, you’ll see the option to select a server with one selected by default. Currently, we have a US East and US West server but we’ll be expanding on these in the future depending on demand/demographics. To switch servers from the play page, simply click the name of the server above the right panel (where active players used to be) to return to the server selection. Now that I’ve said boring things, let’s talk about what this means:

• Multiple trucks (1 per server)
• Better localization and connections
• Ability to add additional servers, including experimental/weird/preview
• Scalable architecture to handle an influx of new players
• We don’t have to eat any more f#$@ing shrimp-flavored ramen to keep up with server costs

For those of you concerned about your current progress, truck, and gear, fear not; we’ve migrated all of that into the Snack Shack server which you’ll be able to see simply by selecting Snack Shack and recognizing your familiar truck. You can now make a new truck on Taco Town (what the hell are we doing with these names) and start fresh. A few things you should know before you ask us questions but I’m not sure if anyone actually reads this so you might ask anyways and that’s cool:

• Friends are server-specific
• Chat and DMs are server-specific
• Gifting between servers is not possible
• All progress made on one server is not related to a different server
• All free daily crates (and purchased) are server specific
• All perma upgrades like auto-nitro are account specific (they carry over)
• Offline progress… ?

Yeah, about that last one. Now that servers are in place, that’s only really half of the equation. When we decided on the multiple server approach we made that decision for a variety of reasons, but one of those reasons was how serendipitously or synergistically if you prefer (you don’t; no one does) they played with offline progress. Imagine, if you will, playing a truck on one server; cracking a crate, gearing up, slapping on a paint job, buying some upgrades, then simply switching servers and playing a different truck. Hours later, you return to the original server and your truck has made a lot of progress, earned some cash and crates and you’re ready to upgrade again. The idea is, eventually, you can juggle multiple trucks while they progress offline if that’s your thing.

Regardless of my clear emphasis (see: bias) towards multiple truck play, offline progress requires us to do a few things first. In the past, we’ve had some desync issues with travel. Warehouse loops, lost progress, incorrect map placement or miles, fluctuations in coins or scrap, and so on. These issues are all related to exactly what we’re about to fix, and once those issues are fixed, offline progress is a very, very happy side effect. We’ll be tracking your progress in real time. Closed your tab really quickly because your significant other caught you playing Truck Life in the middle of the night? No worries, we know where you left off. Jokes aside, this means you can play STL at your leisure without ever worrying (in theory) about lost progress, regardless of when you log off or close your tab, and when you come back we’ll tell you how far your truck went without you! Holy $#&@!

Oh yeah, and we fixed an audio bug where the radio didn’t always load in Safari. So there’s that.

This post has been a long one but it felt kinda necessary since we’re moving on to real-time tracking and offline progress. Once those are in place, it’s all about balance, polish, and content (content, content). We couldn’t have gotten this far without all of your support, feedback, criticisms and props. So thanks ya’ll.

Let’s Go Bois,

Mike / Dan

Hi Truckers,

We did it. After weeks of work we really did do it. Here’s some proof:

That’s not a mockup.  That’s a screenshot from the new server selection screen in action. Ta-da. I immediately regret saying “ta-da” so let me distract you with more proof:

The new truck is loaded into the preview panel and your ascension level is provided. Each server contains one “character” slot, or in this case a truck. You can jump between multiple servers to play multiple trucks. In order to facilitate rapid-fire server/truck juggling we’ve added a simple nav element in the upper right corner of the play page:

By clicking on “Taco Town” you’ll be returned to the server selection screen again so you can switch servers at any time. Hopefully this will encourage players to “level” multiple “characters.” We’ll be adding more functionality and servers down the line but we thought this was a solid start (also servers aren’t free so…) Speaking of money and unintentional segues here’s one for you; MTX.

Some of you might be wondering what that means for (MTX) quality of life based purchases like Auto-Nitro or Double Buff time. After some internal discussions that probably weren’t necessary because we were immediately on the same page, we’ve decided that any quality of life purchases will be active account-wide. Basically, that means when you purchase something like Auto-Nitro, you’ll never have to purchase it again. It’ll be applied to every single truck on every single server until the end of time.

Crates, on the other hand, are only applied to the inventory of the truck currently active at the time of purchase. In other words, daily crates can be claimed once per server/truck every 24 hours and any crate pack purchases only apply to the active server/truck inventory.

TL;DR All permanent upgrades such as Auto-Nitro are account-wide. Daily crates are server-specific and you can claim one for each truck. All quantity-based purchases such as crates are server-specific as well.

Let us know if you have questions and let only Mike know if you have complaints.

And if you’re wondering when all of this glorious server stuff is going to be live? Should be next week, but we’re currently testing and doing our best to break things.

Almost Definitely Soon™,

Dan/Mike

Hi Truckers,

It’s that time again; time to distract ya’ll with jokes and clever witticisms because we’re not quite ready to patch yet. We’re getting there though. Here’s a quick update:

• First server is up and running
• Server management tools built
• Server select is designed, built, and ready for internal testing

Allow me to (poorly) elaborate on what that means. With our shift towards having multiple servers (aka realms/regions/zones) the first big step is getting that first server up and running. Done. We also need tools to manage these servers from a control panel which is also done. Lastly, we’ve designed and built the process for logging in, selecting a server, playing, logging out, and selecting a different server. Mike estimates we’re approximately 70% of the way there. As I mentioned in the last post, we also need to implement an alert system for things like offline progress, server down warnings, and disconnects. Those are also in production. Boom.

Before I wrap this up, I’d like to dig into what having multiple servers means for the player; first, you’ll be able to choose a server by region, which means a better connection (not to mention alleviates potential language barriers). Also, you can play on multiple servers, which means multiple trucks. We can introduce experimental servers, public test servers, and whatever we come up with. Servers can go down individually which means you can bounce to another server while you wait. Lastly, it’s going to save ya bois some cash on our end, which I’m hesitant to mention but if I have to eat one more brick of shrimp-flavored ramen I’m going to burn my house down.

Once all of this is built, tested, and mother-approved we’re going to move on to other things we’ve talked about like offline progress and balance/polish.

We’ll keep you posted on progress next week, and we’ll be discussing some things regarding the Shop (MTX) that will be affected by the shift to multiple servers. Don’t worry, it’s good news.

Mother Approved,

Dan/Mike

Hi Truckers,

This week’s update is gonna be a short one, but fear not, it’s got pretty pictures. As Mike burns through the server migration and other things I barely understand because I’m not a huge nerd (got ’em) I’ve been designing the offline progress/alert screens. Basically, when you’ve returned from sleeping or eating or whatever it is people do when they’re not playing super dope browser games you’ll need to see what kind of progress you’ve made:

Great job, truck. You’ll also need to be alerted when something bad is about to happen. Let’s say, for example, we need to take the server down and you’re miles deep in fun. You’d see something like this:

We’ll have other alerts for other things, like when you get randomly disconnected from the server which is definitely not going to be our fault. Like I said earlier, Mike is still hammering away on the backend overhaul and all the server things but we’ll let you know where we’re at every week like we always do. I’ll also probably say we’ll keep you updated every week every week like I always do. It’s a vicious cycle please help me.

Making Offline Progress Online,

Danny/Mikey

Hi Truckers,

Last week we pushed a patch that included badge rewards. Shortly after (a solid 10 minutes because downtime is bullshit) we started discussing zones in more detail. Zones, as you may recall, are our completely unnecessarily confusing word for Servers. We’re sorry about that. The artist formerly known as “Zone” will now be referred to as “Server” henceforth… damnit I just did it again. The artist formerly known as “Henceforth” will now be referred to as “From Now On” from now on. Sometimes we get too clever for our own good and name things poorly. Anyways, let’s talk about Servers.

While Mike has a mountain of work ahead on the backend, I’ll be designing multiple layouts which will guide the user from login, to server selection, and back again. Here’s an unfinished mockup of the server selection once a returning player has logged in and selected a server:

Once a server is selected, a preview of their truck on that server is shown with some minor details (name, ascension). Once the play button is pressed, the user will arrive back on the play page we all know and hopefully love. You’ll be able to return to the server selection at any time to switch servers and reload the play experience. In case you’re wondering, when selecting a server that doesn’t contain an existing truck, they can create a new truck that comes with it’s own starter paint and topper.

All done! I mean except for several more designs Mike will need while he’s rebuilding the entire architecture but other than that totally definitely done.

Yeah, it’s a big undertaking, but it’s worth it. We’re also discussing how offline progress works, polish/balance needs, and additional content. Thanks, as always, for your patience and for playing. We know it’s been a really, really long trip but we can’t wait for this bad Larry to go live and for ya’ll to play the hell out of it.

The Artists Currently Known As,

Dan & Mike

Hi Truckers,

You read that right. If you haven’t been following our weekly updates how dare you but also we’ve been talking about these bad bois for a while. You can now earn rewards for hitting badge point milestones. Basically, you won’t spend any of your hard-earned badge points, but once you hit a certain amount of them, we’ll hook you up with a reward. There are currently 15 milestone rewards which include exclusive paints, crates, and probably the highlight of the badge rewards — 4 new part recipes that introduce new effects to the game!

These new effects include:

• +10% slots win chance
• +2,000 track payout
• +25% collectible value
• Better crate loot

If badge rewards weren’t enough we took it a step further and cleaned a few things up and by a step further I mean mainlining coffee and by cleaned a few things up I mean Mike and I are currently not on speaking terms. Thanks for all your hard work, Mike:

• Endless Parts drop rates have been drastically increased
• Coins per mile bug fixed
• Base collectible spawn rate reduced; clovers are now more effective
• Ascension-specific pieces now drop appropriately when smashing
• Springs (piece) now have a much higher drop rate when smashing totems

We hope you dig this update and as always, let us know what you think. I’m pretty sure it’s just getting redundant at this point, but if you’re not reading these updates (again how dare you though) we’ve mentioned the next steps now that we’re feature-complete:

• Zones/Servers
• Backend overhaul
• Offline progress
• Polish/balance pass

That last one is ongoing, but our next steps are pretty clear and not at all intimidating I’m not crying you’re crying.

Let’s Gooo,

Mike / Dan

Hi Truckers,

Hope ya’ll are good. I’ll get right into it; Badge Rewards are coming soon. Sooner than I thought, if I’m being honest. Mike and I do this thing where we follow other indie studios and then look at their release schedule and history and then take all of that information and set it on fire and throw it in a dumpster and give ourselves approximately 1/5th of that time. Unlike that sentence, we like to keep our release schedule short and sweet (and sassy) but it’s very important to allow for a small handful of “goofs” aka “aw hell no” which almost always happens in the production cycle. And sometimes, things go silky smooth and we don’t need that much time. This is one of those times.

Maybe you read all of that and thought very sarcastically thank you for explaining timelines to us in the longest way possible, and you’re welcome, but I get excited when Mike starts ninja patching over the weekend (Note to Mike: I can see the Slack alerts, you sneaky slut) and this happens:

That’s a screenshot from our staging server. Do you see it? At the top? How ’bout now:

That’s right. We’re already testing the Badge Rewards system. We’re still working on ideas and functionality for the additional recipes (like the slot machine luck increase) but seriously though you guys:

Just look at it. That’s my rewards screen, page 3, after claiming the 7th and 8th rank rewards. The first version will have a total of 15 rewards.

I wonder what the next set of rewards are. I mean, I know what they are, but I bet you’re wondering what they are. Fine, I’ll give you a hint:

Got ’em. Don’t worry, they’ll be revealed soon! Speaking of which, I should probably get back to it. As always, we’ll keep you posted as we make progress and provide more info on things to come after the next patch.

Aw Hell No,

Dan & Mike

Hi Truckers,

Update time! We hope you’ve been enjoying the recent patch which introduced Goals. They seem to be working as intended with surprisingly predictably no reports of bugs or breakage so that’s pretty chill. As I mentioned in the previous post, we’re moving on to Badge Rewards which are essentially milestone rewards as you earn Badge points. After a very long discussion (as usual) we made the decision to make Badge Rewards unique. Let’s start with a breakdown on reward structure to better explain our reasoning and potentially also put everyone reading this into a coma:

Scrap

• Traveling (if buffed)
• Scrapping parts and paints
• Winning at the track
• Via the scrapyard once unlocked
• Collectibles
• Completing certain goals

Cash

• Traveling (default)
• Winning at the slots
• Completing routes/regions
• Collectibles
• Completing certain goals

Pieces

• Smashing parts and paints
• Completing certain goals

Recipes

• Ascensions

As you can see, there’s quite a bit of (intentional) overlap between Scrap and Cash. However, if too many systems deliver the same rewards, those rewards become inherently diluted. That, and most badges will be earned arbitrarily so there’s a matter of effort that needs to be taken into consideration. With that in mind, we concluded that badge rewards will include exclusive paints and recipes. In addition, the recipes introduce new functionality such as parts with increased win chances at the slots or discounts on upgrades. Paints are star-themed and look something like this:

We’ve also made a few adjustments to the top nav to accommodate the rewards section — it felt “off” buried in the badge section — and made some final tweaks to the rewards layout. Next week, I’ll share a few more details including finalized screenshots.

Before I go, and pretend you haven’t already gone, keep in mind that while we’ve been hyper-focused on working on and talking about working on finalizing the vertical slice, holy shit we cannot wait to get into content. More ascensions, events, locations, goals, badges, recipes, part/loot diversity, and so on but it’s absolutely mandatory we get that vertical slice thing locked down. I made a thing to illustrate this:

This might be overwhelming so let’s start with the blue bars. Those bars represent a particular system, and how far along we are (approximately) relative to the vertical slice and end goal.

The end goal represents the final release not including ongoing patches and maintenance. Once all systems have reached this goal, we’re ready to release the gold version of the game; that doesn’t mean we’re “done.”

Lastly, and most importantly in this context, is the vertical slice. This represents, as the description implies, a small section of the finished product. Even if you’re limited to two ascensions, for example, all systems are in place, functional, and have been given a solid polish/balance pass to ensure a high standard. The quantity (length) of the content is nowhere near as crucial as the quality. You’ll notice offline progress and badge rewards do not yet exist in the vertical slice, whereas we’re approximately halfway to our end goal with paints and badges, which is exactly why we’re working on rewards, offline progress, balance, etc before we dive into additional content.

Feel free to ask questions in chat or discord. I was too shy to ask questions in school and now I’m dumb.

That’s that, truckers. See ya’ll in a week!

Slice and Dice,

Dan & Mike

Hi Truckers,

As you may have guessed by the spoiler in the title, Goals are live! If you’re not totally familiar with this new feature we strongly recommend scrolling down to earlier posts because we’ve talked about it, like, a lot.

Basically, Goals are just that; a handful of activities to introduce new players to the game while giving existing players a daily (for now) set of Goals with rewards attached. Goals are currently available in two formats — Starter and Daily. Our existing Beta testers will only see the Daily goals since ya’ll have already done all of the things in the Starter Goals pack, but hey if you decide to invite a friend to the open beta which you totally should they can tell you all about them. Also, this is just the beginning; weeklies, events, and seasonal goals are on the roadmap. Like all of our features, we spent a significant amount of time making sure this feature could evolve and expand over time with minimal tech/design debt.

The other thing we’ve talked about like, a lot is what comes after Goals. Naps and whiskey, but after that it’s on to Badge Rewards; a secondary reward track where every milestone you hit with badge points earns you another reward. I mean it’s like we’re basically just drowning you guys in fun at this point. Something something Michael Scott. After that, it’s a whole lot of backend stuff that you don’t care about which results in a whole lot of frontend stuff you’re 100% going to care about because it comes with multiple zones (servers) you can choose, multiple trucks (characters), resolved desync, and something none of you have even asked for not even once; offline progress. And yes polish and balance and bug fixes but you can assume that’s always happening all of the time because instead of making a cute, simple little truck game we made a complex idle social truck RPG because we’re stupid.

With Goals live and badge rewards around the corner, that makes STL nearly feature-complete. I feel like that statement should be way more intense and colorful given that this is a massive milestone for us (and ya’ll), but I haven’t had my nap or my whiskey so here’s a gif to perfectly convey my emotional capacity:

Let us know what you think of Goals and we’ll keep you posted on Badge rewards as we make progress.

Feature Complete (Basically),

Dan/Mike