Skip to content

Hands-on with BeamNG.drive’s v0.35 update: Rally-ho!

BeamNG’s v0.35 update is one for rally fans, as it includes audible co-drivers, flat- driveline layouts, a Hirochi Sunburst remaster and five new rally stages.

Hands-on with BeamNG.drive’s v0.35 update: Rally-ho!

Shop sim racing equipment

Following on from BeamNG.drive’s v0.34 update, which introduced the historic Bruckell Nine Vintage and more West Coast map improvements, it’s now time for v0.35.

The game’s latest update sees the expected Hirochi Sunburst Remaster come to fruition alongside a new flat-four drivetrain replete with suitably Subaru-style sounds. The rally theme continues, as several new rally cars join the game, as well as more World Editor rally props, co-driver tweaks and five new rally stages.

The West Coast USA map continues to evolve too, with a new drift track arriving in v0.35. Sneakily, the BeamNG team has also overhauled the game’s nascent career mode, with career paths completely revised.

There’s a lot to sink your teeth into, then, so let’s take a look at everything you can expect to see in BeamNG’s v0.35 update below.

The full v0.35 changelog can be found at the bottom of this article.

BeamNG.drive, v0.35 update, Rally mode
The new rally stages are genuinely pretty

Hirochi Sunburst Remaster

BeamNG’s Hirochi Sunburst is based on Subaru’s all-wheel-drive saloon, the Impreza. Thanks to the introduction of flat-four drivetrains in v0.35, the Hirochi is even more accurate, thanks to the boxer-style engine.

A boxer engine has its cylinders laid flat and opposed to each other, with the opposing cylinders ‘punching’ towards and away from each other with every turn of the crankshaft. It’s an expensive way to build a motor but it offers performance advantages in terms of better weight distribution. 

The layout can also help produce a rumbling exhaust note, something that became a trademark of the Subaru’s Legacy and Impreza in the ‘90s. Colin McRae fans will be delighted.

So, the Hirochi sounds the part in BeamNG now and there are several new engine sizes, body styles and liveries to choose from, including an estate version for when you want to do some rallying but have to visit IKEA afterwards.

The Sunburst feels great to chuck around, with its total traction helping save many an oversteer moment and it’s great to see it looking resplendent with all-new textures, physics and a new Jbeam model to improve its damage effects, something I’ve tested extensively…

BeamNG.drive, v0.35 update, Rally mode, Hirochi Sunburst
The Sunburst ready to rock at West Coast USA’s drift area

Rally

Most of v0.35’s teasers have been rally-focused and the full release doesn’t disappoint on that front. There are new rally variants for the Cherrier FCV, Hirochi SBR4, Ibishu Pessima Mk1, Ibishu Covet, Ibishu PX-Series and ETK I-Series, with new rally-based props available in the World Editor, including bales, signs and barriers.

BeamNG’s Rally mode has undergone a bit of refinement too, with audio now added to the pacenotes system. Players can choose from two voices (both British male voices, with one sounding more ‘intense’ than the other) to call out the notes, with the pacenote generator now featuring more accurate calls when a route has been selected via GPS. 

BeamNG.drive, v0.35 update, Hircohi Sunburst
There are now wagon versions of the Sunburst.

Players can change the timing of the calls and choose to turn off visual cues completely, with an initial countdown of 3s or 5s selectable. The pacenote generator hasn’t yet been implemented in Rally mode just yet, though.

A new anti-lag system has been implemented for rally vehicles too, with pops and bangs now sounding more realistic for these race-tuned off-road monsters. To add to the rally fever further, realistic mud flaps are another new feature.

BeamNG.drive, v0.35 update, Rally mode, Hirochi Sunburst
This was someone else’s fault.

New rally stages

But perhaps the biggest change to Rally mode is the addition of five new rally stages. SS Cliffside, SS Orchard Hill, SS Facility Road, SS Backroads and SS Rockwood all join the fray, offering more mixed surface, asphalt and gravel tests to the game (SS Rockwood and SS Orchard Hill are my current favourites).


For the most part, they run surprisingly well considering they’re an early beta feature, but don’t expect silky-smooth performance every time just yet.  The increased focus on rally content is a clear sign of where BeamNG is headed in future, however, and, as a rally game fan, BeamNG has always felt like it would suit the discipline. The potential shown here is clear.

BeamNG.drive, v0.35 update, Rally mode
A bit of rear-wheel-drive rally action never hurt anyone…

However, for me, BeamNG’s suspension model is currently too unforgiving. Bumps, dips and crests cause unpredictable reactions from your car’s dampers and suspension. Witness how a Rally1, Rally2 or Rally3 car soaks up road imperfections: modern rally cars are untroubled by all but the most extreme terrain.

Force feedback also felt a little on the numb side for me when using a steering wheel; I simply couldn’t feel the car’s weight shifting as I can in Richard Burns Rally (using the Rallysimfans mod) or, to a lesser extent, EA SPORTS WRC

It’s massive fun though, especially when you pendulously dance your car on the limit to hook up a perfect sequence of corners, mud flaps quivering away in the wake of that flat-four burble. 

Magic.

Drifting

The art of drifting receives some attention too, with the addition of a bespoke drift track on the West Coast USA map.

The drift map is rather small but contains multiple routes to hone those powersliding skills, with special opportunities for those satisfying wall taps. I feel like more could have been done here, though, as the area lacks variety. More elevation drops and wider sections would provide a more forgiving introduction to novice drifters, for example. It’s a solid starting point, though.

Hands-on with BeamNG.drive’s v0.35 update: Rally-ho!
Road cars still feel weighty.

BeamNG also lacks the appropriate level of tyre smoke to make drifting look cool too, but my biggest gripe with this map was its poor graphical performance. Despite never having an issue playing BeamNG at 60 fps in the past, v0.35 has run poorly for me so far (I used an early access version of the game, so this may be solved by the time the build drops publicly).

Seven new drift zones arrive with v0.35 (four in Italy, two in Utah and one at the Automation Test Track), while drift mode gets an overhauled scoring system, new sounds and two new specialised UI apps.

BeamNG.drive, v0.35 update, West Coast USA, Hirochi Sunburst, drift
A bit of sideways action on West Coast USA’s new drift track

Career mode

BeamNG’s Career mode has undergone a surprising change in v0.35, with each branch renamed. 

So, wave goodbye to Motorsports, Labourer, Specialized and Adventure, as these are now replaced by Belasco Motor Sports Association, Logistics, Apex Performance Metrics and Freestyle respectively.


The changes are largely ephemeral, however, with no apparent deviations from previous incarnations of Career mode in terms of mission structure.

BeamNG.drive, v0.35 update, Career mode
Not much has changed in Career mode

BeamNG.drive new career mode branches

  • Apex Performance Metrics – A test-driving career featuring driver challenges
  • Belasco Motor Sports Association – Time trials, AI racing, drag racing and drifting
  • Logistics – Delivery missions
  • Freestyle – Stunts, evasion missions and police missions
BeamNG.drive, v0.35 update, Career mode
Career mode changes are largely skin-deep

Honourable mentions 

Drag racing fans will now see more realistic performances from their AI opponents in v0.35, as their reaction times are now completely randomised, with Hirochi Raceway now featuring its own drag strip.

The new building architect tool in the game’s World Editor should now make it much easier for players to create more complicated buildings at a quicker pace, with an earlier teaser revealing how simple it is to build outlandish creations.

A new radial menu has also been implemented, which groups actions together to make it easier to navigate,

Time control

BeamNG.drive’s rally-themed v0.35 update edges the game ever closer to being a solid rally title. Having an audible co-driver is a huge step forward as is the introduction of five new rally routes.

For the most part, they work well (although default co-driver calls are a tad late for my liking) and are great fun to chuck a rally car around on, but I still feel granular detail is missing from the game’s FFB production.

Rallying is still great fun, however, and the new rally stages are a step above those already in-game, mainly thanks to genuinely interesting layouts. 

BeamNG.drive, v0.35 update
Accidents happen in BeamNG.

Although I experienced a few performance issues with the early build of v0.35 (including replays failing to load and general jankiness), the reworked Hirochi Sunburst provides a big hit of rally fever to make up for it. The new flat-four engine layout and exhaust note are peak ‘90s Group A rally nostalgia (alongside proper mud flaps!).

Bobble-hatters will love this.

BeamNG.drive v0.35 changelog

Vehicles

REMASTERED VEHICLE: Hirochi Sunburst

  • Added New Drivetrain – Flat 4
  • The drivetrain of the Sunburst has changed from a transverse inline 4 to a longitudinal flat 4
  • Features 1.6, 2.0 and 2.5 liter displacements, with options for factory and aftermarket turbocharging
  • Available in FWD, AWD, and RWD options
  • Added Wagon bodystyle
  • A widely requested wagon body with plenty of room for activities
  • Remastered model and textures
  • Increased detail and accuracy with all-new textures for body, interior and mechanicals
  • Added new configurations
  • A wide variety of new configurations, including a generous selection of factory models, and heavily modified versions for racing, drifting and rallying
  • Updated JBeam
  • Fully refreshed JBeam and physics model, with improved deformation and handling/suspension
  • Added new customization parts
  • Vastly expanded aftermarket customization options, including body kits, interior, liveries, and more
  • Added new and updated existing liveries
  • Updated Custom, Police Interceptor, Firwood Police, Gendarmerie, and Hirochi Rally liveries
  • Added Polizia, Belasco Police, Itasha, Two-Tone, and Beater liveries

Rally Additions

  • Added new and improved rally parts and configurations for:
  • Cherrier FCV
  • Hirochi SBR4
  • Ibishu Pessima MK1
  • Ibishu Covet
  • Ibishu BX-Series
  • ETK I-Series
  • Added new rally-themed props
  • Crowd Barrier
  • Rally Signs
  • Soft Track Barrier
  • Track Flag
  • New variants of the Bales prop
  • Autobello Piccolina
  • Fixed instability on front mount oilcooler and tube bumper

Autobello Stambecco

  • Retuned deformation
  • Added collision to cargo area

Bruckell LeGran

  • Fixed an issue where the trunk would occasionally fail to open when a spoiler is installed
  • Fixed emitter positions for tail light

Bruckell Moonhawk

  • Updated the grille material to make it transparent
  • Updated JBeam to better align with the standards set by other vehicles
  • Updated models and materials for lights
  • Updated Detective configuration

Burnside Special

  • Updated bigblock engine to match Barstow, Bluebuck, and Nine
  • Updated 3D model with fixes to the trim, window glass, and chopped roof
  • Updated models and materials for lights

Cherrier FCV

  • Reduced rear wheel shake when sliding using handbrake
  • Prolonged handbrake slides on rally variants of the Vivace could occasionally induce a rear-wheel vibration build up. Damping has now been added to the control arm to mitigate this effect
  • Retuned handling of rally configurations
  • The asphalt variant received several minor tweaks
  • The gravel variant was re-tuned with stiffer springs and a lower ride height for more responsive handling
  • Increased rally suspension anti-squat property
  • Added Apex Rally livery
  • Fixed race pedal box clipping with floor
  • Fixed headlight flare positions
  • Fixed names of engine long block options
  • Tweaked behavior of the 1.6 race turbocharger

Civetta Scintilla

  • Fixed an issue where doors wouldn’t open properly if the windows were rolled down
  • ETK 800-Series
  • Added Polizia livery
  • Added Police livery
  • Added Belasco Police livery
  • Added Carabinieri livery

Gavril Barstow

  • Fixed incorrect maxRPM parameter on some tuning engine blocks
  • Updated models and materials for lights

Gavril Bluebuck

  • Updated interior materials
  • Added double beacon light bar option

Gavril D-Series

  • Reduced bump steer of off-road suspension
  • Updated models and materials for lights

Gavril Grand Marshal

  • Added new PBR textures for the interior panels and carpet material
  • Updated JBeam to improve rear wheel stability

Gavril H-Series

  • Reduced bump steer of off-road suspension
  • Added Ambulance (Alternative) livery
  • Fixed incorrect rear light bar on police configuration

Gavril MD-Series

  • Fixed front bumper getting stuck in front tires
  • Fixed an issue that caused the stock exhaust to become unbreakable
  • Updated models and materials for lights on pickup bed
  • Improved interior camera to use the cab’s structure for position reference
  • This allows the camera to follow the cab’s rotation when cab falls off
  • Updated suspension to make break-offs possible
  • Added the ability to make frame black rather than colorable
  • Added animated steering shaft

Gavril Roamer

  • Reduced bump steer of off-road suspension

Gavril T-Series

  • Moved clutch pedal prop to manual shifter part, in order to remove it from trucks with automatic transmission
  • Added the ability to make frame black rather than colorable
  • Added animated steering shaft for conventional cab

Hirochi SBR4

  • Added Folk livery
  • Updated the grille material to make it transparent
  • Updated JBeam to better align with the standards set by other vehicles
  • Improved engine pipes to make them more realistic
  • Fixed numerous 3D model issues
  • Added new PBR interior panels and seat textures

Ibishu BX-Series

  • Fixed issues with the rear bumper that could cause the car to get stuck on it after a crash

Ibishu Covet

  • Retuned handling of Track configuration

Ibishu Hopper

  • Updated interior materials
  • Updated materials for interior panels, seats, and rollcage

Ibishu Miramar

  • Fixed an issue with 3D model smoothing
  • Added rubber window trim
  • Improved engine textures
  • Reworked JBeam structure to better reflect the visual design of the car’s chassis
  • Updated rubber bumper guards to make them removable
  • Added Safari Rally configuration

Ibishu Pigeon

  • Retuned roof strength
  • This was done with the help of the new Roof Crusher Tester prop
  • More cars will follow with similar changes in future updates

Soliad Lansdale

  • Fixed inconsistent mirror prices

SP Dunekicker

  • Added BlastR livery

Wentward DT40L

  • Updated display materials to PBR. This also fixes the wrong display color

Common

  • Improved vehicle police parts
  • The halogen light bar has been updated with smooth fading lights which go along with the reworked flash patterns
  • It also now has a selectable color slot instead of duplicates with different colors
  • The LED flashers and beacon lights on some vehicles now also have selectable colors
  • All halogen spotlights and flashers have been updated with the smooth fading pattern (previously only present on the Bruckell Nine police car)
  • Visual improvements of vehicle suspensions
  • Previously, the majority of our vehicles used to suffer from weird suspension behavior, consisting of parts stretching and clipping with each other upon steering and articulation. This was caused by the suspension JBeam structures having received many changes and improvements through the years, while the visual geometry remained the same, and the two have become desynchronized
  • We have fixed this issue on the majority of vehicles in this update, by updating the suspension 3D models to match the JBeam structures
  • This change also affects some of the common wheels. This does not affect vehicle handling, but might cause small visual issues with mods
  • Added TorqueJointNodes to cars with front wheel drive transaxles
  • TorqueJointNodes increase the fidelity of torque reactions by simulating the effect of half-shaft joint angles
  • The feature has existed on the Ibishu Pessima for some time but has now been rolled out to other front wheel drive cars:
  • Cherrier Vivace
  • Ibishu Covet
  • Bruckell LeGran
  • Soliad Wendover
  • Soliad Lansdale
  • Hirochi Sunburst
  • The addition causes some subtle changes to torque steer which may be felt with a force feedback wheel
  • Cleaned up mixed use of Tarmac and Asphalt terms
  • Vehicle configuration and parts names now use Asphalt exclusively rather than mixing the two terms
  • Added backside to license plates with European format (52-11)
  • License plates used to have a mirror version of the front, now it looks more appropriate as the backside is gray
  • This was implemented in US format (30-15) in v0.34
  • Fixed errors with police lightbar interior triggers
  • Fixed several typos in configuration descriptions
  • Fixed several JBeam issues with the common ambulance upfit
  • Fixed literally unplayable™️ value field in several JBeam files
  • Unified part naming
  • Body Colored and Bodycolored → Body-Colored
  • Colourable → Colorable
  • Updated naming of all horns and sirens with more descriptive names (QoL improvement)
  • All vehicles now have fully collidable interiors and improved steering column deformation behavior
  • Added new generic customizable tow hitch
  • Introduced first on the Hopper and Sunburst, will be added to other cars in the future

Trailers

Container Trailer

  • Improved frame and suspension rigidity

Tiltdeck Trailer

  • Fixed trigger positions on 30ft Gooseneck

Small Box Utility Trailer

  • Improved wall edge collisions

Tanker Trailer

  • Fixed incorrect Kingpin node spacing. Nodes were spaced too far away from the plate surface, causing difficulty coupling to the trailer and excessive trailer roll

Simplified Traffic Cars

  • Updated Hirochi Sunburst to the remastered version, with new wagon configs
  • Reworked and improved roof deformation on all traffic vehicles
  • Updated traffic Gavril D-Series to use new remastered lights
  • Fixed deformation on the rear of vehicles with the Cargo Box upfit
  • Updated JBeam on Gavril H-Series roof rack for better deformation
  • Fixed ETK 800-Series XC drivetrain to match its proper counterpart
  • Made the strength of the Gavril Roamer’s body better match its proper counterpart
  • Improved deformation on the rear of the Cherrier Vivace to reduce spiking
  • Fixed an issue with some traffic vehicles using incorrect horns

Levels

West Coast, USA

  • Implemented numerous updates to roads. These roads and surrounding areas have been improved, rebuilt, or added
  • Improved areas
  • Added new drift track
  • Updated Drag strip area
  • Updated Dirt track area
  • Improved overall drivability around race tracks
  • Improved collisions
  • Major updates on collisions in the city area
  • Improved collisions on different other structures
  • Updated shrubs, pines and oak foliage libraries

Hirochi Raceway

  • Added new drag strip area

Italy

  • Improved foliage libraries
  • Added new optimized foliage material
  • Improved collision meshes
  • Improved LoDs
  • Improved imposter settings
  • Common
  • Added new rally-themed static props
  • New tents
  • Modular fences
  • Sensors
  • Furniture

Gameplay

Rally Mode

  • Rally Mode is currently work in progress and not yet feature-complete.
  • Your feedback is welcome. Help us improve and shape the future of Rally Mode, by reporting issues and leaving your feedback in the official Rally Mode thread of our forums.
  • Audio Pacenotes
  • Added co-driver voice with initial choice of 2 different voices, both available in English
  • Improved on-screen visual pacenotes
  • Added 5 new rally stages
  • SS Cliffside – A long twisty asphalt route around the mountains of Italy
  • SS Orchard Hill – A short asphalt hill climb stage in the hills of Italy
  • SS Facility Road – A complex road through the majority of the Automation Test facility, with a few short gravel roads
  • SS Backroads – A reimagined classic time trial from the origin of East Coast USA, mixed surface and a real test of skill
  • SS Rockwood – A technical and twisty route across Small Island USA
  • Added customizable options under Options → Gameplay → Rally Mode
  • Voice selection
  • Co-driver timing (with keybindings available)
  • Three or Five second countdown options
  • Enable or disable visual and audio pacenotes
  • Improved the stage selector
  • Fixed broken ordering By difficulty
  • The stage selector menu now sorts stages by difficulty by default

Drag Race System

  • Added randomness to the AI reaction time
  • Bracket racing lights now are delayed based on the selected dial time
  • Staging detection now uses all wheels of the vehicle
  • Added new winning lights at the end of the drag race
  • Updated the lane naming system. Now it’s numerical instead of left/right based. This allows creating drag races of more than 2 lanes
  • Added new Drag Tree Lights App

General Fixes

  • AI will now use 100% throttle. This was preventing AI from activating the NO2
  • Fixed disqualification lights not showing when jumping the start
  • Added 12 new drag missions to career mode
  • Added new Drag Race on Hirochi Raceway

Freeroam Mode

  • 3 New missions
  • Sportsman Tree Drag Race
  • Pro Tree Drag Race
  • Heads Up Drag Race
  • Added 7 freeroam drift zones
  • Added 4 new zones in Italy
  • Added 2 new zones in Utah
  • Added 1 new zone in Automation

Drift System

  • Added 2 New Drift UI Apps
  • One to show the total score
  • One to show information about the current drift
  • Added new drift sounds: they directly reflect the scoring system
  • Updated the scoring system
  • There is now a Tier system. The more points accumulated – the higher the tier
  • Combo has been changed. There is now a soft cap at 10x, and a hard cap at 25x
  • There are a few more drift events to achieve “precision drifting” and “reverse drift” in
  • Tweaked the back-end multipliers such as how much drifting close to a wall accounts for the score earned. Same for drift angle and drift speed
  • Implemented new drift statistics in the drift challenges end screen
  • Improved the crash detection logic. Now it accounts for G forces on top of vehicle damages
  • Reworked orbit camera dynamic pitching
  • Added new dynamic camera pitch for orbit cam based on speed
  • If you prefer the old behavior, go to Options → Camera → Orbit and set Camera pitch at speed to 0

AI Race Challenges

  • Improved start position logic for AI race challenges
  • Enabled unlimited opponent vehicle amount when editing AI race challenges. This removes the old limit of 9 AI racers
  • Added 2 new missions
  • Strut Brace Loop
  • A fast asphalt loop through East Coast USA that will put your suspension to the test
  • Garage Gauntlet
  • This time trial sets you on a complicated route around the Shuffleboard Logistics compound
  • The route tracks back over itself, so there are no arrow signs
  • You will need to learn the route before being able to push for a fast time
  • Look out for checkpoints behind you if you can’t see the next
  • Fixed bus display sign for bus mode
  • User Interface
  • Added new radial menu (replaces the old one)
  • New visual appearance and full gamepad support
  • Now opens by default with E key or Xbox-Dpad-Up, instead of Esc
  • Actions are split between vehicle-related actions and gamemode-related actions
  • Actions are further grouped into categories, which can be navigated using the shoulder triggers on gamepad
  • Remembers recently used actions for quicker access
  • Improved Vehicle Configuration Menu (replaces the old one)
  • Part selector tab updates
  • New search remade from scratch
  • State saving for the game session. Now previously expanded slots will expand automatically when you open part selector or switch between cars
  • Further performance improvements
  • Updated Tuning tab usability
  • Added Debug tab
  • Shared visual styling across all tabs
  • Various small improvements
  • Improved UI Navigation System
  • UINav is a system to control how UI reacts to bindings such as gamepad or wheel buttons
  • This system now tracks what bindings are in use in the current screen to display them on the bottom bar with an appropriate contextual label
  • Various improvements to existing system, such as better scope tracking in some cases
  • Added shortcuts to level selector
  • Freeroam level selector now features a shortcut to your most common maps
  • Up to 4 entries are now included at the top: most recently used item, followed by the 3 most commonly used items
  • This is shown for freeroam levels, as well as the spawnpoint selector afterwards
  • Updated the Replay App
  • Converted the app to Vue as part of the ongoing UI components improvements
  • Updated the app styles to improve responsiveness at various dimensions, and to prevent clipping issues
  • Added a scrollbar for those cases when the app size is too small
  • Improved Challenge Start/End Screens
  • Start/End screens got another visual upgrade
  • Now using a page-system that shows relevant information one after another (can be skipped)
  • Improved animations and sounds
  • Show missiontype-relevant information (for example timeslip for drag missions)
  • Fixes and optimizations
  • Improved BngInput
  • Improved BngSlider – now it features proper scoping (for gamepad) and has built-in input field and revert button
  • Improved BngDropdown
  • Remade Tabs from scratch to be more performant and usable
  • Added new BngButton styles
  • Fixed multiple translation service bugs and optimized its performance
  • Fixed issues with popovers when popup is shown
  • Fixed BngList issues with scroll-to-index and initial state
  • Fixed crash in BngMultilineInput
  • Fixed BngScopedNav to update function names and removed unused functions
  • Fixed BngTooltip positioning
  • Fixed BngSelect usage in some cases
  • Implemented deprecated DOMSubtreeModified event emulation for AngularJS compatibility
  • Other various fixes and improvements
  • Fixed the mod repository menu claiming that repository issues exist when they don’t

Credits menu

  • Added External Contributors section
  • Improved visuals and text alignment
  • Updated the list with the new names and titles
  • Improved official translations
  • Updated all translations
  • Fixed an issue with incorrect labeling of official translations. Locale identifiers are now mapped to correct language display names

Early Preview: Career Mode

Career Progression Overhaul

  • Overhauled the Progress Screen in the Career Pause Menu. Introduced a new Career Path structure that replaces the old “Branches” system with a more intuitive Career Paths format
  • Accessible through the new progress screen, which is now called Career Paths, to view your advancement across all Career Mode gameplay
  • Four Core Career Paths Introduced
  • Apex Performance Metrics (APM): The premier test-driving career path — structured, professional vehicle evaluations
  • Belasco Motorsports Racing Association (BMRA): All things racing: Time Trials, AI Races, Drag Racing, and the new Drift Series
  • Logistics: Formerly delivery gameplay — now a dedicated path for commercial driving and cargo hauling
  • Freestyle: The sandbox of skills — includes stunts, Barrel Knocker, police chases, evasions, and more
  • Progression & UI Improvements
  • Updated Scoring and Rewards screens for better clarity and feedback
  • Progress is easier to track, even if gameplay content is still in early development stages
  • Career gameplay systems are still under active development. Balancing, progression speed, and challenge content are subject to frequent updates
  • Added new Part Customization menu
  • The new menu merges Part Shopping and Part Inventory
  • The old Part Shopping menu in the computer is now called Part Customization
  • You still use it for buying new parts, but it can now also add parts from your inventory and remove parts from your vehicle by selecting Empty
  • Added new system for evaluating and classifying vehicle performance
  • Introducing our new Performance Index (PI) system that automatically rates your vehicle based on acceleration, speed, power, and basic handling factors
  • Enables class-based AI opponents and race entry requirements
  • Greatly improves race balancing compared to the previous “fixed car vs fixed opponents” system
  • The test will be enhanced in the future to include a handling test
  • Currently career-mode exclusive (not available in freeroam)
  • Enjoy upgrading!
  • Implemented procedural vehicle groups
  • Added procedural vehicle groups by performance class for AI races (work in progress)
  • Opponent vehicles will be matched to the player vehicle according to performance class
  • Updated Dollies to not use up inventory space anymore
  • Fixed an issue where parts could be broken after restarting a mission
  • Fixed an issue where the vehicle could still show as “damaged” after a repair
  • Input and Force Feedback
  • Tweaked force feedback strength and smoothing for many steering wheels
  • This affects mostly Logitech and Moza configuration presets, making them more consistent with each other across the board
  • If you have already customized FFB to your liking in the past, then these changes don’t affect you and you don’t need to do anything. However, if you want to discard your changes and give these new settings a try, you can reset your controls back to our defaults at any time, and redo any possible customizations you had (such as max lock angles and others)
  • Added input mapping for Madcatz M.2.X pro
  • The force feedback Strengh slider range has been halved (from 1000 to 500)
  • All official vehicles are consistently tuned to avoid ‘clipping’ under normal driving conditions with values of around 300-500. Using higher strength values means you’ll suffer clipping, losing detail, and being more prone to suffer unwanted oscillations and vibrations
  • If any mod vehicle you use has too low force feedback with the new values, please use vehicle-specific force feedback coefficients to compensate and bringing it back to reasonable levels: you can either use the vehicle-specific modifier in Tuning menu, or you can contact the mod author for a global fix that will benefit all users
  • Extremely minor improvement in input latency. Will be unnoticeable in most cases, but every bit counts
  • Fixed directional-pad buttons not registering their first button press after the gamepad/wheel/joystick was connected (this bug affected all devices except Xbox-compatible controllers)
  • Better handling of excessive input events coming from a connected controller. Should not affect normal operation, only loading screens and alike
  • Fix for input devices with a trailing number

Vehicle Systems

  • Implemented new Anti-Lag system
  • Bypass type Anti-Lag inspired by rally vehicles
  • Novel approach for sounds, anti-lag pops and bangs are part of the FMOD event for better integration
  • Automatic arm/disarm based on userinputs
  • Added completely new CVT logic
  • Now based on a throttle to target RPM mapping
  • Torque converter locking is now automatic based on user inputs
  • Implemented CVT S mode with fixed gear ratio emulation
  • Usually outperforms other multi-gear transmission types at the cost of driving joy

Driving Dynamics

  • Added support for actively locking center differential with driving dynamics setup
  • Fixed some driving dynamics data points not resetting correctly after a vehicle instability
  • Increased allowed roll/pitch values in driving dynamics before trust falloff starts
  • Fixed incorrect roll/pitch values in driving dynamics math

Custom Electrics

  • Implemented custom electrics default values and reset ability
  • Enabled the use of custom electrics across multiple parts
  • Implemented support for custom electrics values that do not update on their own, but have a default value and reset

Powertrain

  • Improved support for roughly idling vehicles
  • Added viscousExponent to viscous differential simulation, it allows a non linear increase in torque in relation to rotational speed difference
  • Implemented rally inspired active center differential controls
  • Added API to retrieve powered wheels from powertrain
  • Improved manual and sequential transmission clutch behavior in neutral gear

Controller

  • Added ability to use a custom input electric for the lightbar controller
  • Fixed post-crash-brake not resetting correctly when continuing to drive after an event
  • Implemented functionality to disable cruise control after a post-crash-brake event
  • Fixed dual axis lever shifter animation not working correctly with no transmission installed
  • Fixed handling of explicitly defined colors when applying aged colors
  • Fixed gradient lights color override not working from JBeam
  • Made radial menu entries content support dependent
  • Implemented support for torsionbars to break breakgroups
  • Recalibrated caster measurement to be relative to the ground plane rather than the chassis plane

Launcher

  • Revamped the Manage User Folder menus
  • Making them more intuitive to navigate even if the functionality is the same
  • Added an option to free up storage space from old backups
  • Available under Manage User Folder → Manage old versions and backups
  • Here you can easily locate, check the size, and delete folders from old versions you no longer need
  • It also shows basic categories of their files (caches/replays/mods/others) and how much space they are using up
  • This menu is work in progress, and will continue being improved in future updates
  • Updated Clear Cache menus
  • Updated file locations
  • Performing a Cache Clean will now leave the old files in a different place
  • Now they will be placed in userfolder/0.35_backup_datetime/* instead of userfolder/0.35/backups/version/datetime/*
  • Cache cleaning will no longer leave empty folders behind, it will remove them instead
  • Added or replaced icons in several menus, to improve their looks as much as is technically possible given the constraints they suffer
  • Added detection of unsupported Windows versions
  • We do not prevent you from attempting to run in old unsupported versions of Windows
  • But if you do, and then the application crashes, some basic heuristics will try to determine if the crash happened due to the Windows version. It’ll then display a dedicated informational dialog
  • The goal is merely to inform unsuspecting users that might not yet be aware that support for old Windows is discontinued
  • Fixed several submenus triggering a sound that feels like an error
  • Improved logging
  • Log files are no longer deleted by cache cleanups
  • Cache cleaning (either deep or normal clean) will leave the log files untouched, since they don’t affect the stability of the application
  • Keeping the log files means they can be included as part of support reports. This way, our Support Team has more information at their disposal if you reach out for help
  • Implemented more frequent writing of the log file and improved logs, to help solve issues if the launcher itself were to crash
  • Fixed the launcher log file being left behind when you move the userfolder location (due to being in active use by the Launcher)
  • Implemented slightly better detection of failures to launch the simulator
  • Fixed several cases where the launcher would show an interactive dialog, even if the non-interactive command line argument is provided. This helps with automated testing and other use cases
  • Various Launcher operations were ignoring files if their name started with a dot; this has been fixed, so they will now be treated the same as any other file
  • Removed support for -clearSetting and -clear command line arguments. They were dangerous features and not too useful in practice
  • Fixed crashes that happened in some cases if the Launcher was unable to write to its log file
  • User folder migrations (which happen after a major update) will no longer create a shortcut file in the old folder, as part of cleanup efforts
  • Fixed launcher crashing
  • Launcher would refuse to start if it could not open its log file. Would result in beamng:// links to not work the first try

Audio

  • We are in the process of rebalancing powertrain volumes at the moment and some vehicles may sound unbalanced.
  • Added new UI sounds
  • Added new engine starter/shutoff sounds
  • Improved ambient sounds
  • Improved RAM footprint
  • Fixed traffic surface sounds cutting in and out
  • Added new powertrain audio for modified/race flat 4 engines
  • Added new powertrain audio for modified i4 BX
  • Added anti-lag audio for rally Vivace and Sunburst
  • Fixed the vehicle cockpit filtering not always working as expected, missing completely in some cases

Game Engine

  • Implemented customization for framerate limiter
  • The 30 FPS framerate limiter (applied while the main window is out of focus) can now be customized – in addition to enabling/disabling it, you can now pick custom framerates
  • Fixed a crash when opening some corrupted or empty replays
  • Fixed a rare corner-case scenario where crash reports were not correctly generated nor uploaded
  • Added informational logs when the crash detection and reporting system is unable to initialize correctly
  • Updated LuaJIT, assimp, and CEF libraries
  • Fixed a category of language-specific crashes
  • When using an incorrectly crafted translation of user interface messages, the application might crash to desktop. The translation system is now robust to these mistakes
  • For example, if a label referenced 3 numbers in English language, but some translation is referencing 4 numbers due to a human mistake, then in some rare cases, the application could crash for users of that particular language
  • Added a -nosfx command-line option to force a dummy audio output (no sound)
  • Improved profiler
  • Cleanup: deprecated core/performance, replaced by proper profiling macros
  • Fixed wrong push/pops
  • Added name to profilerPopEvent function calls
  • Added -profileVehicleLoading to generate simple profiling report for vehicle spawning. See vehicle_spawn.html
  • Added -startupProfiling, see level_loading.html
  • Improved performance in shipping builds to not jump to C all the time
  • Added lustach- lua template library – to easily work with HTML templates
  • Added command line argument -noui – skipping the loading screen and creating any HTML UI
  • Fixed a crash in websocket when only using websocket. Added guard against invalid protocol access: BNGWebWSServer.getOrCreate
  • Fixed memory leak when switching vehicles
  • Improved cache for collada files (.dae): more resilient against errors, better caching, prevents duplicate entries
  • Significantly improved vehicle loading time
  • The system now uses the new and optimized file format for the .cdae files. See documentation for further details.
  • This file format caches some of the data that was previously calculated upon loading, resulting in reduced loading times (i.e. tangents)
  • It also utilizes compression for large files, which further improves the loading speed
  • Optimized vehicle loading by properly caching the meshes. This decreases lag during parts changing
  • Optimized importing of raw collada files. It should be faster now, and large files should finish quicker
  • Implemented better catching of errors during vehicle loading
  • Improved and optimized resource management of meshes throughout the game engine
  • Improved log messages
  • No more strange names in them
  • Shorter and more precise
  • Fixed some log spam
  • Improved mesh loading
  • Replaced mesh.cs file with the new mesh.dae.asset.json file to describe the Mesh’s meta data
  • mesh.cs files are still supported for backward compatibility but should not be used anymore

Rendering

  • Vulkan stability improvements
  • Vehicle AI & Traffic
  • Improved Lane Change behavior
  • Enhanced calculation of exit point distance for lane change maneuvers during highway exits
  • Improved other vehicles awareness performances
  • Reduced false positive for other vehicles awareness
  • Awareness of other vehicles has been refined, prioritizing those that pose a higher risk from a traffic and safety perspective
  • Added vertical curvature consideration for velocity profile calculation
  • The road’s vertical curvature has been considered when planning the speed profile
  • This should help to minimize aggressive driving behavior that could cause the wheels to lose contact with the road
  • Improved the performances of velocity profile calculation
  • Improved brake and throttle control logic
  • Improved road geometry awareness
  • Improved side to side collision avoidance for competitive driving
  • Improved trajectory planning for competitive driving
  • Implemented Lane Change aborting
  • Lane change maneuvers have been improved by enabling their cancellation during highway exits and at non-T intersections if side vehicles are detected that could obstruct the intended path
  • Tweaked traffic vehicle respawning logic
  • The system now uses player vehicle position and rotation more often than the camera position and rotation
  • Tweaked police pursuit values
  • The pursuit offense Reckless Driving should be easier to trigger
  • Made slight changes for police visibility value
  • Fixed issues with the police siren at the start of pursuits
  • Changed default parking spot probability for parked cars
  • This means that parked cars get more scattered by default, opening up spaces in smaller parking lots
  • Added custom police vehicle group for Italy map

Physics

  • Fixed physics core’s rotation API orthonormalization to be the same as game engine’s one
  • Changed collision recording to only record lastCollisionIds for the main vehicle node clusters
  • Fixed nodegrabber applying excessive forces when in extreme slow motion
  • Reduced deformation trigger Lua call overhead
  • Added guards in obj:getAirflowSpeed and obj:getGroundSpeed APIs to avoid numerical NaN proliferation
  • Fixed intervehicle couplers blowing up when passing through soft materials (e.g. shrubs, mud)
  • Improved vehicle spawning: ability to spawn the vehicle without physics

World Editor

Flowgraph Editor

  • Moved the Clear button from the menu bar to the state properties window. This can prevent accidentally clearing the active graph in the editor
  • Improved Examples
  • Fixed typos and logic issues in the existing examples
  • Added new example scenario: Simple Race
  • Fixed issues from Set Variable and Get Variable nodes
  • In some cases, these nodes would get stuck with errors while using the editor
  • Cleaned up names, descriptions, and data for various nodes
  • Removed the requirement to have vehicle spawned to play a path cam
  • Fixed trajectory id clash in the Script AI Editor
  • This issue was occasionally causing Script AI trajectories to get overwritten by newly recorded ones
  • Fixed a rare bug where the initial vehicle rotation was wrong in the Script AI Editor
  • This would occasionally cause the vehicle to start out backwards or under the terrain

Traffic Manager

  • Reordered the vehicles options as ‘standard’, ‘simple’, then ‘parked’
  • Updated the wording on the (non-drivable) props to: The object is currently undrivable
  • Fixed an issue with loading script AI .json file: On Vehicle Manager – Script AI mode – Parameters

Race Editor

  • Added Simple Drag mode for easy moving of Pathnodes with terrain snap
  • Added tools for recalculating Segments, cleanly renaming Pathnodes and Segments, and calculating distance

Rally Editor

  • Improved pacenote editing and stability
  • Supports the following types of Audio Mode:
  • Voicepack – Audio files of possible pacenotes, shared across missions
  • Mission-specific (audio files must be provided by user)
  • Structured – Pacenote text generated automatically
  • Freeform – Write any text for pacenotes
  • Custom – Associate any audio file with the pacenote
  • Allows per-pacenote overriding of Audio Mode
  • Added AI-route based Driveline Mode
  • Improved co-driver management
  • Added Slow Corner designation that causes pacenote playback to delay until the slow corner is passed
  • Fixed the ‘ALL’ button of Asset Browser searching in the current level’s folder, rather than searching all folders

Modding

Building Architect tool

  • A new procedural tool to generate and modify buildings working directly in World Editor
  • The Building Architect tool is now available to the community for initial testing and feedback. Please be aware of the following limitations in this release:
  • Save the work: Buildings created using BAT are not saved using the World Editor save action. Users need to use the Save button in the tool window to retain their work and Load button to call back the project. Alternatively user can use the export button to save the mesh as a Collada (.dae) file. (More info can be found in the public documentation)
  • External Optimization Required: For modders that wants to use the buildings created with Building Architect exported buildings need to be optimized outside the game using 3D modeling software (e.g., Blender).
  • Your feedback is invaluable in helping us enhance the tool for future releases!
  • Biome tool has been updated with new features
  • Introducing the live lasso update that give user the chance to move the lasso area points and see the placed forest object updated live
  • Place Field: user can create a very specific forest objects arrangement mimicking a field with proper setup values
  • Place Edges: a mask/lasso area driven by procedural method for automatic edges placement
  • Added New Roof Crusher Tester prop – for modders
  • This prop is used to replicate the IIHS vehicle roof strength test in order to achieve realistic roof deformation on vehicles
  • Usage tutorial is available in the documentation
  • Added a new collision density visualizer
  • The ground model debug tools now include a way to easily view the geometry density of static collision triangles. This is related to physics collisions, and not to the graphics detail of visuals
  • Using excessive triangle detail in the physics engine, together with vehicles that are moving in the general surrounding areas, can lead to a massive loss of framerate
  • This tool helps modders who want to work on optimizing their maps: you can more easily locate areas where you might be exceeding reasonable amounts of coltris, and then act accordingly (switch from visual mesh to dedicated physics mesh, disable collision entirely if unneeded, etc)
  • JBeam workflow change: Support beam breakGroups
  • We have implemented a change to support beams on official vehicles and we encourage modders to do the same on their mods. The change is not visible to casual players, but it’s important for correct cluster behavior, which will be vital for future gameplay
  • Support beams on vehicle body panels now use their own breakGroups, in order to break at the same time. This only affects parts that can commonly fall off without immobilizing the vehicle – wheels, engines and other driveline parts are not affected
  • This change requires retuning the longBound parameter of the support beams. The value needs to be big enough for the beams to not break while the part is still attached, but small enough for the beams to be broken as soon as it has fallen off to the ground. To help with the tuning, we have added a new beam debug mode: “Support Only”, which will only show support beams, and only if they are not broken. This way you can precisely see the point when they break
  • The image below demonstrates the degree of extension the support beams should survive before breaking. This also applies to connections between multiple parts, you might have to set different breakGroups for their support beams. Beams of hinged parts should survive for as long as the part can physically rotate
  • Improved vehicle detail viewer usability. F11 > Experimental > Vehicle Detail Viewer

Linux

  • Added the beamng:// URL scheme support
  • To use, you will need to install the desktop entry by running the BinLinux/BeamNG_install_desktop_file.sh script
  • Run Physics Benchmark is now functional on Linux
  • Added BeamNG application icon
  • Should work out of the box on Ubuntu, for other distributions you may install the desktop entry first
  • Added a workaround to deal with AppArmor limitations and CEF on Ubuntu 23.10 and higher
  • If BeamNG crashes for you at startup, you may run BinLinux/BeamNG_add_apparmor_profile.sh to install the profile
  • Updated SDL2
  • Improved presentation of SDL2 initialization errors (more information is shown)
  • Fixed free-standing imgui windows input when the main simulator windows was out of focus
  • Fixed a crash while running as root (strongly recommended not to do that). The CEF sandbox has to be disabled in this case
  • Fixed Engine.Platform.exploreFolder in Lua
  • Fixed a security issue in LuaJIT
  • Fixed CEF crash on Johnson Valley (and possibly other large maps)

JBeam

  • Added more JBeam node transformation features
  • Added nodeRotate##, allowing you to rotate a node position around a defined point, and even flexmeshes and props
  • Parameters:
  • ## – Number (0-99) that specifies the order of application (optional)
  • x – Rotation around X axis in degrees
  • y – Rotation around Y axis in degrees
  • z – Rotation around Z axis in degrees
  • px – X-coordinate of pivot point (optional)
  • py – Y-coordinate of pivot point (optional)
  • pz – Z-coordinate of pivot point (optional)
  • If no pivot point is defined, the rotation is done around the origin
  • e.g. “nodeRotate1”:{“x”:-45, “y”:0, “z”:0},
  • e.g. “nodeRotate2”:{“x”:-45, “y”:0, “z”:0, “px”:0, “py”:0, “pz”:0.7},
  • Added the ability to specify the order of node transformations of nodeRotate##, nodeOffset##, and nodeMove## by specifying a numeric suffix
  • Number from 0-99
  • Order of node transformations with the same suffix is: nodeRotate##, nodeOffset##, nodeMove##
  • No number specified has the same order as 0
  • e.g. “nodeRotate1”: {“x”: 0, “y”: 0, “z”: 45}
  • e.g. “nodeMove2”: {“x”: 0, “y”: 0, “z”: 0.2},
  • e.g. “nodeOffset3”: {“x”: 0.1, “y”: 0, “z”:0},
  • e.g. “nodeRotate4”: {“x”: 5, “y”: 0, “z”: 0}
  • Node transformations are intrinsic, meaning that translations and rotations apply around the axes of the previously transformed frame. For example:
  • a “nodeRotate1”: {“x”: 0, “y”: 0, “z”: 45} would rotate the frame around it’s Z axis by 45 degrees
  • a subsequent “nodeRotate2”: {“x”: 15, “y”: 0, “z”: 0} would rotate the newly oriented frame around it’s X axis by 15 degrees
  • Wheel Debug Info improvements
  • Camber and caster measurements are now done relative to the surface the vehicle is on, instead of in the past being relative to the vehicle’s ref nodes
  • JBeam debug visualization fixes
  • Fixed an error when visualizing vehicles w/o rails/slidenodes
  • Prevent calling nil function bdebug.recieveViewportSize() when bdebugImpl.lua module is not loaded in that was producing errors
  • Fixed most visualizations being 1 frame behind
  • Major rework of the ability to spawn, save and load the same part into different slots
  • This will allow us to clean the wheels chaos in the future
  • The parts are now saved with the path in the tree structure for the .pc files if we detect an overlap
  • Vehicle construction now happens in two steps: this allows us to not spawn the physics for a while when the user is doing quick changes on the parts. See core_vehicle_manager.autoSpawnPhysics
  • Fixed vehicle flying to infinity when a spawning error occurred

Lua API

  • Added cached getObjectByID
  • Added a cached version of getObjectByID, similar to getPlayerVehicle
  • Prefer to use this over be:getObjectByID – this will reduce the workload that your mod creates for the LUA garbage collector, which means your mods will generate less stutter in framerate
  • Added crashDetection Lua API, and related Flowgraph nodes
  • crashDetection.lua enables user to track multiple vehicle for crash detection
  • Using this new extension, 5 new Flowgraph nodes have been added, search for crash when looking for a new node in Flowgraph
  • Fixed an issue with “Relative” camera where it could ignore the first setOffset and setRotation calls
  • Renamed vehiclePoolingManagermodule to vehicleActivePooling
  • Breaking changes related to JBeam
  • JBeam field partOrigin is now deprecated and will be removed in a future update, please use partPath instead
  • partPath format: “/slot/slot/…/part”
  • e.g. node.partOrigin → node.partPath
  • core_vehicle_manager.getVehicleData(vid).vdata.activeParts has been renamed to core_vehicle_manager.getVehicleData(vid).vdata.activePartsData
  • Key: partOrigin (format: “part”)
  • Value: Part data structure
  • core_vehicle_manager.getVehicleData(vid).vdata.activeParts now is a table of:
  • Key: partPath (format: “/slot/slot/…/part”)
  • Value: partOrigin (format: “part”)
  • core_vehicle_manager.getVehicleData(vid).chosenParts and core_vehicle_manager.getVehicleData(vid).config.parts has been replaced with core_vehicle_manager.getVehicleData(vid).config.partsTree
  • Each node in the tree contains:
  • id (slot id)
  • path (format: “/slot/slot/slot/”)
  • suitablePartNames (array of part names allowed to be inserted)
  • unsuitablePartNames (array of part names that are in the slot’s allowTypes but also in the denyTypes
  • chosenPartName (if part equipped)
  • children (table of the equipped part’s slots, nil if it has no slots)
  • partPath (format: “/slot/slot/…/part”)
  • Added obj:getAbsNodePosition(nodeId) to vehicle lua. It returns the absolute position of a node
  • Added onSetClusterPosRelRot vehicle main.lua hook. It can be used to take actions whenever a vehicle is moved or rotated
  • Added Lua functions median3, median4, median5 which calculate medians of 3,4,5 in a branchless way
  • Added Lua functions pointBB2d and lineBB2d. They return an axis aligned bounding box of a point and line
  • Fixed Lua encoding of negative infinity of function jsonEncode
  • Added Lua function triangleClosestPointUV which returns the barycentric coordinates of the closest point on a triangle of a given point