Spintires: MudRunner churns up new map, new mode
Get stuck in!
The world's muckiest puzzle game gets trickier today with the addition of a mode that'll send drivers scrambling over hills and getting stuck in mud while trying to collect logs placed randomly around the map. The latest Spintires: MudRunner "free DLC"/content update arrives today, adding two new vehicles, that new 'Scavenge' mode, and one new map to scavenge on. Beyond this, work continues on new mud in the game temporarily titled MudRunner USA.
The two new vehicles are the B-6A tractor and the D-538 thingamyjig with a built-in log-grabbing arm, which I assume both make splendid grunting noises Tim Allen would be proud of. I'm told the D-538 is designed specifically with the new map, The Ridge, in mind.
The Ridge is a showcase for Scavenge mode, a coastal map with a big spine of rock running across the middle. Scavenge sends players to find logs around the map, which spawn in random locations each time, and pick them up using a crane attachment.
If I were feeling churlish I'd say "It's basically a battle royale mode but with no violence, competition, safe zone, or any other trappings of the genre beyond random spawns" but even I'm not that cheeky, not today.
The Ridge is the only map which supports Scavenge mode, though players will be able to make their own maps for Scavenge and share them with everyone through the Steam Workshop.
The update, due to launch at 4pm today, also brings a few tweaks and fixes. Supposedly wheel physics and automatic gearboxes are improved, and a problem with mods crashing due to memory limitations has been fixed. See the patch notes for more on everything.
As for MudRunner USA, it sounds like development is starting to ramp up, but it's still early enough that it doesn't have a proper name. They do say they're still working on Spintires: MudRunner, mind.