The 19th of October will be a huge day for BeamNG.drive and racing game fans, as the physics-sandbox driving experience launches on PlayStation 5.
Both the console and PC versions will be developed concurrently, so PS5 release day will also mark the unveiling of V0.40 on Steam, with a host of new features and improvements coming to both versions. We’ve been given early access to the new content (our thorough preview can be found here) and an early build of the PS5 port.
As a result, we’ve outlined a few major new features you can look forward to in 12 days’ time.
Players can drive on free roam maps or in specially curated multiplayer scenarios, and the good news is that it runs surprisingly smoothly. The game’s detailed damage model also appears to be unaffected, which is nothing short of a technical marvel.
The highlight of local multiplayer is undoubtedly car football, with two to four players pitching against each other in a Rocket League-style stadium, evoking Clarkson, Hammond and May’s real-world Top Gear version. It’s an absolute hoot.
The Beam team also cites this as its most interactive vehicle yet, with openable storage lockers and fascia panels joined by a slew of interactive interior lights, a sunroof, and sunshades.
The Cherrier also features a neat new feature called hydrodynamic braking, which mimics the real-world system to help prevent wear and fade on a truck’s traditional disc and pad setup.
Basically, it uses oil to create resistance in the transmission, producing up to 600 kW of braking force, with the excess heat passing into the cooling system via an oil-water heat exchanger. This means the engine temperatures can rise with excessive use, so keep an eye on that gauge when descending hills at high speed!
As ever, the truck comes in a range of chassis and cab styles, all powered by a 12.8-litre inline-six turbodiesel engine.
These systems essentially render graphics at a lower resolution, then upscale them to a higher resolution, improving visuals with less performance impact. And with a game as complicated and resource-hungry as BeamNG, this can only be a good thing.
The full patch notes for V0.40 of BeamNG will be released in due course, but expect plenty of vehicle, map, and UI improvements ahead of the game’s PS5 unveiling on 19th October.
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