If you recently went to PAX Prime 2014, then you were in the home of the Indie Game Developers Refract Studios, and you may have gotten to experience their experimental survival racer ‘Distance’, which is the ‘spiritual successor of the indie racing game Nitronic Rush’. Refract has some good news that was announced Friday, that they are taking their game to next level and they will be heading to public beta via Steam Early Access on PC, Mac, and Linux this Fall. Distance has been in private beta for a month now, with over 6,000 backers that helped it get successfully funded on Kickstarter back in November 2012, and it has been in Development since then. Currently there is no official release date, but the team will be announcing the date in the comming weeks.
In Distance, players will experience an arcade racing feeling, but with the ability to explore the mysterious world in the ‘Distance’ universe. On every course that you take on, you will be able to boost, jump, rotate, and even make your car fly through a chaotic city. There are over 100 levels that have been created by users, get to take on levels that might even have a Gotham like feel to them, with a very long Batmobile and they even have the Batman symbol in the sky! Or try to survive through levels that have various obstacles that would stop you from completing the track like columns, or saw blades. Currently the private beta has short player campaigns, split-screen and online multiplayer modes, which includes things like Spring, Reverse Tag, Stunt, and Soccer. The level editor that helps these users create these levels for you is connected to Steam Workshop.
Here is the beta trailer that has been released for Distance:
As mentioned above, there are currently 100 user-created levels that have been published on Distance’s Steam Workshop! With hitting that 100 level milestone, Refract earlier today streamed on Twitch a live developer playthrough on the latest community-created levels.
You have two options when it comes to pre-ordering the public beta release of Distance via Steam Early Access, first is the basic level for $15, which gives you the steam key, getting updates every time they are published, and instant access to the private forums. Then there is the $25 pre-order option, which has the same as the basic level, but also will come with a digital artbook, and a soundtrack. As far as the final game cost, it is still currently in discussion on the price, so be looking for update on that when the time comes.
You can find out more information on Distance and see screenshots on their official site., plus you can check out the latest Kickstarter updates. You can like Retract Studios on Facebook and follow them on Twitter for updates related to the game, as it gets closer to the public beta via Steam Early Access.