Oval Racer Series – Sandbox Beta Release

First off, a big thank you to everyone for your patience and support. I know I've missed deadlines and haven't been super active on Discord, but I've been hard at work, and I'm excited to share the first major update for the game! There’s plenty more to come in future updates, with the goal of releasing new features every month (fingers crossed!).
The game has undergone a complete overhaul, shifting into a "Sandbox" style experience. This means a lot more work on my end, but for you, there will be so much more to do beyond just racing! Here’s what you can expect in this update:
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Open Track Experience
You’ve heard of “Open World” games, but with this release, we’re introducing an "Open Track" experience! Feel free to explore the track and discover any bugs or areas that need fixing. Your feedback is essential as we refine the game.
This update marks the new starting point for all future updates!
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Key Features in This Beta
1. Move to Unreal Engine 5
• The entire game has been rewritten from scratch, with the exception of a few plugins.
2. New, More Detailed Models
• Improved visual fidelity with highly detailed models.
3. Interactive Menu
• You can now walk around in the main menu, making the experience more immersive from the get-go.
4. Weather & Time of Day System
• A dynamic weather system and real-time day/night are now in place. Lights will automatically turn on at night, adding more realism.
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Track Update: Standlake Arena
I’m testing out a new track: Standlake Arena. It’s a very high-poly, highly detailed track, which may be overkill, but I wanted to stress-test it with your help! Don’t worry, you can adjust graphic settings in the menu if it’s too demanding on your system. You can also open and close the gate on the track for a more authentic oval racing experience.
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Skins
I've temporarily removed custom skins from the game, leaving only blank colors and a "novice" skin for now. More updates are coming soon!
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Modding Support
Good news: modding is coming! The first step is allowing custom skins, so you’ll be able to create your own skins and share them on the Steam Workshop. The tool for this is almost ready—just need to fix a small issue (rain runs up the car on one side and down on the other—whoops!). Once that’s sorted in the next few weeks, I’ll release the app so you can start uploading your custom skins.
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Let’s Get Racing!
Now it's your turn to dive in and explore the update. I can’t wait to hear your thoughts! Time for me to get back to work on the next big update.