Welcome to the world of local multiplayer! Yes, you heard it right, split-screen multiplayer has now become available for up to 2 players for Tournament and Single Race mode.

How to access the local multiplayer:
1: In the settings menu go to the Player Input sub-menu.
2: If you have any controllers plugged in you should be able to assign then to whatever player wants to use them (note: The Keyboard is always assigned to Player 1)
3: In single race or tournament mode, in the Vehicle Selection Screen, simply press any button on a controller assigned to Player 2 and split-screen will be turned on.
4: First Player 1 selects their vehicle and then Player 2.

INPORTANT: For newer players this is best experienced in single race mode instead of tournament mode, as your vehicle takes less damage and is able to re-spawn from out of bounds. It is also necessary to unlock said content in the single player mode before being able to play it.

Patch notes:
> You can now look back by using the left analog stick button.
> Hyper Effects was fixed in multiplayer.
> Vehicle lore has been added.
> Wall collision damage on tournament mode has been reduced.
> You no longer disqualify from out of bounds in Single Race mode, instead you respawn like in previous versions, making this mode ideal for multiplayer.
> The overdrive has been tweaked
> It will not turn off on its own anymore, you have to turn it off manually before you run out of fuel.
> It has an initial burst of speed upon being triggered and is slightly stronger than before.

This is a bit of a tough update for me, I lack anyone to properly test it with so with my limited internal testing there’s only so much I can do so, in general, expect major bugs in this build.

How to access the local multiplayer:
1: In the settings menu go to the Player Input sub-menu.
2: If you have any controllers plugged in you should be able to assign then to whatever player wants to use them (note: The Keyboard is always assigned to Player 1)
3: In single race or tournament mode, in the Vehicle Selection Screen, simply press any button on a controller assigned to Player 2 and split-screen will be turned on.
4: First Player 1 selects their vehicle and then Player 2.

Further notes:
> Lots of internal code was changed to make this mode work which means a few things might break, please feel free to report those but make sure to tell people this is about the beta build so they don’t think it is a problem with the live version.
> Technically the Split-Screen in this game should be considered co-op, it is playable in tournament mode and it’s programmed so that as long as one of the players wins, it counts as a win for both.
> Only player 1 is able to pause, and at the moment, if Player 1 dies or completes a race, pause will become unavailable until Player 2 also dies or finishes the race, I’m not sure how to fix this issue due to how the game is set up, if this ends up being a major issue I will look into making workaround.
> Your save file from the previous versions will carry over, nothing on that end has been changed.
> However If you haven’t played the game yet, unlocking the Mercury Cup, that is, completing the basics of the Proving Grounds is necessary to access the multiplayer.

• Mobinaria and The Kasei City tracks have new songs.
  
• All stages have preview animations now.
  
• There’s now a jingle for getting disqualified, don’t run out of fuel!
  
• A new mechanic has been added, the OVERDRIVE
  
• It works by holding the Y button on a controller, while engaging it your vehicle cannot accelerate for a brief moment and then it starts. The longer you stay in it the stronger it will be. This mode consumes a lot of fuel and some of your hull, using it is dangerous. Note that this mechanic is subject to change in the future.
  
• New combat option: Omni Directional Swipe Attack.
  
• Now pressing the analog stick + RB will do a swipe attack.
  
• To do a spin attack, simply let go of the analog stick.
  
• Note that the swipe attack has a longer cooldown then the spin and consumes a tad bit of O2.
  
• The white kestrel has 4 new variants, using parts from the story mode, they are balanced around the other vehicles and with that the cheat kestrel has been removed.
  
• Note that the ATK variant might be a little weak at the moment and might be reworked in the future.
  
• Fixed an issue with windowed mode, you can now play in windowed mode with little to no issue.
  
• The Forgery has been “replaced” by the Forgery LB, a slightly weaker vehicle that lacks the sliding of the regular version. The old version can still be selected as a variant.
  
• Most vehicles now have decals.
  
• Sonic booms are quieter.

Hope you guys look forward to the next update, won’t spoil what it will be but this one might take some time.

Thank you to everyone who has helped test the beta, I know the beta builds haven’t been betas for very long but due to IRL circumstances I wanted to get a real Early Access update as soon as it was absolutely possible.

Current known issues that will be patched as soon as I can:

> Windowed mode issues (genereally there seems to be something wrong with playing the game on windowed mode, I’m not sure what is causing it but I will be getting to it in the next patch hopefully in the next following weeks)
> The soundtrack is still incomplete, some tracks are ready and not yet implemented while others are still in development.
> Pilots are gone for now, they are all getting new models so I’ll be adding them back when they are done.
> There's an issue exclusive to the Crosswinds vehicle that makes it so it will occasionally spin on collision with another vehicle, this is an oversight and will be fixed in the next patch.
> If there are any more issues, please feel free to post them on the pinned discussion thread.


Here’s a summary of the changes:

> 5 new NPC vehicles that can be unlocked.
> 3 new “Hero” vehicles, that is, vehicles that have a modeled pilot.
> This version is the same as the second beta, so if you’re upgrading from the original early access release, your save file will be deleted. This is due to a few changes in the saving system and hopefully won’t happen again in the future.
> Physics and Handling have been greatly improved, vehicles do not slide around anymore and handle very sharply. The only exception being vehicles with low stability and driving offroad.
> (Arcade mode only feature) The combat has been greatly improved, you are now able to knock out other racers with 1 to 3 spin attacks depending on the Hull Strenght of their vehicle, not only that but you take more damage yourself and might find yourself being blown up after hitting too many walls.
> General rebalancing of difficulties and A.I, Hopefully they should feel a lot more fair and engaging to play against. There are too many changes to list here but from Intense onwards, the A.I will no longer slow down near the finish line.

Hopefully I will see you guys here again soon, I will be taking a break from story mode development and focusing on the racing for a while, so expect a few more patches in the coming months.

Again just like before, I wanted to grab some feedback before committing to the live version. Here are the changes:

> Like before this will wipe your save file so be warned.
> Tons of bugs that have been in my to-do list have been ironed out.
> And more bugs found just yesterday have been squashed, hopefully we don’t get any more popping up.
> You can now blow up other racers, depending on the vehicle’s hull it now may take 1 to 3 spin attacks to completely destroy an opponent.
> With the previous statement in mind, you now take a lot more damage than before, meaning you are actually at some risk of blowing up yourself. And also, both features will be exclusive to arcade mode.
> Wall collisions now take some O2 from your vehicle.
> Normal and Intense have been rebalanced and Unfair has been renamed to Beyond.

Beta branch update!

How to access: To access the new version, right click the game in your library, go to properties and then “betas” from the drop down menu select the beta branch.

So, why are we doing this? Personally I don’t view early access itself as a beta, I consider it an unfinished version of the game which I get people consider a beta but that’s not what I’m going for here, the version released on the public branch will be ideally bug free and as seamless as an experience as possible, therefore I will be doing beta branches to sort those issues out before they make it into early access.

Currently there are a few bugs and mistakes in this beta that I will be adjusting in the next following days.

Known Bugs List:
> This beta will wipe your save data, I believe I coded it to delete everything if the version mismatches, but lap records and the proving grounds are stored in their own files so they may not get deleted, if there are any issues just delete the .gs files in “XF ExtremeFormula_Data” folder
> Engine sounds may be set to the default sound depending on the vehicle, this will get fixed and they will get their own sounds back.
> Some vehicles do not go transparent in some of the Saturn tracks, blocking your visibility of the track below.
> Pilots are gone for now, they are all getting new models so I’ll be adding them back when they are done.
> Alternative version of the White Kestrel is a test vehicle and is not balanced at all, its stats are also incorrectly displayed. For those who don’t know, pressing up and down in the vehicle select allows you to use alternate versions of them.
> Many issues from the previous version have not been fixed, I am currently focusing on adding new content instead of polish so if there is a particular issue you wish was fixed then I am sorry to report it may not have been.

What’s new:
> Vehicles are no longer “slippery”, I cannot believe I didn’t notice until now how slippery they actually were but that is no longer the case, turning is sharper and more precise in general.
> The Proving Grounds has scenery now.
> 5 new NPC vehicles that can be unlocked.
> 3 new “Hero” vehicles, that is, vehicles that have a modeled pilot.
> NPC vehicles no longer slow down near the finish line in Extreme or above.
> An issue with the A.I was fixed that gave them an advantage while boosting, this was a huge source of issues while balancing the A.I but it is now gone.
> You can now hold the boost button to boost.
> “Hero” A.I vehicles now are usually ahead of the pack in races compared to NPC “filler” vehicles.
What took you so long to update the game:
For those who don’t know, the arcade mode is more or less complete, this whole time I have been working on the basis that will allow me to make the story mode. That basis is very close to completion and I am excited(terrified) to start to work on it.

That’s it for now. I will likely be making more updates and betas as I re-focus on the racing aspect of the game for the following month, I will likely see you guys here again soon.
See ya next time!