Spintires: MudRunner - Go Play in the Mud!

[jztemple2]

I picked up this game on a mid-week Steam Sale (good till the 20th) and I have played about 70 minutes. It's kinda fun . I've done the tutorial and a couple of challenges. It's not an in-depth, cerebral game but it's more than just driving around in the mud, there are challenges and missions and things to do. The mud driving is fun and feels realistic. I was transporting some heavy logs and got really, really bogged down and the more I spun my tires the more the ground was dug up. I finally got out by using my winches (you have fore and aft winches) to eventually extricate my truck and use a slight detour, since the ground you chew up stays chewed up through the mission.

The cameras are OK and the controls decent. I'm using an X360 controller. I got thrown off by the steering till I realized that unlike every other driving game I've played, the steering is not self centering (which I'm sure is probably realistic to these vehicles). So if you turn the front wheels to the left, for instance, you then have to apply right stick in order to straighten them out, rather than just releasing the spring loaded stick.

In the image below you can see how badly I tore up the ground to the right, I'm now moving around on a slight side incline with rocks rather than go through that mud again.



There are two free DLCs and lots of mods in the Steam Workshop, which bodes well for the game.

[jztemple2]

So I've got seven hours in this now and it is still fun, although for a while I was getting a bit frustrated. While there is a short tutorial and several Challenges, there are a few nuances that I either didn't understand or overlooked. I checked out a couple of Steam guides and those got me through the rough spots. I did manage to roll a couple of trucks....





...but I got the satisfaction of getting both trucks upright and running again

I'd say that this game appeals to me in the same way as Euro Truck Simulator 2 (or American Truck Simulator). The driving is a lot tougher and there's no monetary aspect to it, but it's basically problem solving as you go along. And so far there are no timers for missions so you can just take your time and explore and try different things.

If any one has questions about the game please post them and if you get the game I can help there as well.

[Daehawk]

Im still installing the original SpinTires off and on. Is there any point in ever using anything other than all wheel drive and such? I dont get why it gives you everything to start with .

[jztemple2]

Im still installing the original SpinTires off and on. Is there any point in ever using anything other than all wheel drive and such? I dont get why it gives you everything to start with .

As I understand it, using AWD uses a lot more fuel, which on some maps might mean having to run out a fuel truck. As for Diff Lock, supposedly it makes steering less effective and in hardcore mode you can damage your diff lock if you use it inappropriately. I'm playing in Casual mode so it's not an issue for me.

I've completed another map, which is to say I've completed the objectives which generates a progression point so I can unlock further maps. I didn't like this at first, but I can understand it's just part of the campaign. It's not really all that hard to get the objectives (so far, getting logs from the cutting site to the lumber mill), which is to say that it requires some planning, a lot of careful driving and maybe an unplanned run with a truck having fuel or repair points. But there's nothing like a show stopper that just blocks progress. Also the two DLC maps come unlocked and each can generate a progress point, so you aren't forced to take maps in a certain order.

So I wouldn't say that the game has a lot of long term potential, it kind of depends on how much you'd get out of playing on a map you've already explored. Now you can restart a map using different vehicles so as to get a chance to try using them. And with Steam Workshop support there are several more maps available and a number of vehicles. There are (currently) eleven mods that are listed as "certified" which I'm guessing means the developer has tested and approved them.

There also was a pretty awesome challenge. I had to drive two trucks simultaneously (you do this using a winch connection, which the game uses to activate an AI driver). And each truck was pulling a trailer, so it was quite a parade. And we had to cross some pretty deep water. I got the leading truck and trailer badly stuck in the water, as well as getting the trailer of the following truck jammed. I had to detach the trailer of the following truck, drive it up on dry land and using my winch, haul out each of the two trailers and the other truck. Fun!

And one more screenshot. I've backed a truck into the water to try to attach a winch to a sunken vehicle, which is a bonus objective in one of the challenges. If you look close you can see the diesel fuel leaking on the surface of the water.

[wonderpug]

If any one has questions about the game please post them and if you get the game I can help there as well.

What control scheme are you using? I tried using an Xbox controller, which I hazily remember not being an option in the original. It mostly worked well but some of the controller-based menus seemed a bit clunky.

[hitbyambulance]

If any one has questions about the game please post them and if you get the game I can help there as well.

What control scheme are you using? I tried using an Xbox controller, which I hazily remember not being an option in the original. It mostly worked well but some of the controller-based menus seemed a bit clunky.

Xbox controller is supported in the original.

i would get this one if owners of the (now abandoned) original would get a decent discount on it.

[EDIT: whoah, it's 90% off right now - a whole $2.99. i just got it - definitely worth getting at that price!]

[jztemple2]

If any one has questions about the game please post them and if you get the game I can help there as well.

What control scheme are you using? I tried using an Xbox controller, which I hazily remember not being an option in the original. It mostly worked well but some of the controller-based menus seemed a bit clunky.

There's a default Xbox controller scheme:



I barely played the original, so I don't remember anything about the controls there. The menus work fine with the controller. There are a few places where you need a mouse in-game, or at least I do, like reconnecting a trailer you dropped. I don't know what they do on the console versions. Overall I haven't found anything in the controls that prevented me from doing something I wanted to do. I should mention I'm a glass half-full kind of guy, if something works, even if it is a bit clunky, I'm fine with it once I use it a few times and get the mental muscle memory.