Career Mode

WARNING: Long post ahead! Proceed with caution!

I think Mudrunner could use a better gameplay structure... as much as I love driving big trucks trough thick mud, I would like to have better/more reasons to do so other than just completing a limited number of maps. Would Euro/American Truck Simulator have become so successful if it was just about completing a map then moving on to the next and repeat until all the maps are over? I don't know, but it seems to me that the light business management elements (and even a touch of RPG) in ETS2 is what makes that game so satisfying and ultimately what made it a success.

That got me thinking about how a career mode for Mudrunner should be and so here's some ideas I had about said mode. These are kinda random and not fully tough-out, but I don't think there's any harm in sharing, so... here it goes:

  • First, the basic thing is that the player would have to work for and earn everything. Vehicles, add-ons, parts (more on this later), workers (also more later) and more... all would have to be bought with money made from completing jobs

  • We would start with a small amount of money to buy our first vehicle and maybe one or two add-ons. The "main screen" in the game would be our garage (like a "base of operations"). On that screen we make all of our business decisions in-between jobs like buying, repairing (also costs money), hiring (more later) and others, then press a button to "pass the time". When we do so, job offers will start to appear. For those who play X-Com, think of it like pressing the "scan for activity" button in that game. PS: Yes, I brainstormed this career thing while I was playing X-Com :face_with_stuck-out_tongue_closed_eyes:

  • Jobs would be somewhat random. Meaning that, there would be a range of different possible jobs (rescuing, logging, transporting...) and they could take place across any of the existing maps. Each map would have different "spawn" points for each objective(s) and multiple possible starting points as well.

  • Different jobs would have different difficulty ratings, depending on various factors, like the objective in question, the spawn points of the objectives (some would be easier than others), the distance between the objective and the starting point, and so on... the more difficult a job is, the more money you'd be paid, but the possibility of damaging your vehicles (even beyond repair) is also bigger so there should be a nice risk/reward balance going on

  • You cannot take more than one vehicle to a job unless you hire workers, each worker you hire is one more vehicle you can take with you, up to a limit of 3 or 4 (this is a small local business). Workers would cost a salary each month. This should add challenge to the "business" part of the sim and make it difficult for the player to just hoard money.

  • As you use each vehicle in more and more jobs they'll start developing some wear and tear (things become loose, rust starts to show up...) and eventually this will make your vehicles more fragile and the possibility of mechanical failure starts to increase. This is different from regular damage that you suffer by hitting things and stuff... it's more of an attrition "aging" process. To avoid this, you'll have to perform regular maintenance checks on your more used vehicles when you are in the garage. This will also cost money and time, meaning that, a vehicle under maintenance might be unavailable for a number of days, so you won't be able to take it with you for any job during that period. Another idea stolen... from X-Com :face_with_stuck-out_tongue_closed_eyes:

  • Vehicles would have different mechanical parts, like engines, gear boxes, etc, that can be damaged individually. It's possible that one part might be damaged beyond repair and in that case you would need to buy another part to replace it

  • Maybe during your jobs you would sometimes randomly find abandoned/junk vehicles. If you tow them to your garage these might have one or two parts to salvage and keep as possible replacements if necessary. Once these found vehicles are salvaged for parts you can sell them as junk for a small amount of money.

  • Jobs will be offered to you by different businesses that might need the services of a company who owns large industrial vehicles. Each of this companies will have a name, logo and "personality". For example the company "Big Wood Co." cares a great deal about experience and rapport, therefore, they'll start paying you more for each successful job you do for them, on the other hand if you "abort" one of their jobs (aborting in the middle of a job would be a possibility) or screw things up (for example, by damaging the cargo) then you'll start receiving less offers from them, and for a smaller pay. Some companies would be more forgiving than others, among other possible differences of "personality".

  • There would be both a "game over" possibility, as well as a victory scenario. Gameover would happen if the player goes bankrupt. "Victory" would happen if the player manages to make their company reach a fixed net-worth value. If the player manages to achieve that the player can then sell the company and retire (or he can keep playing... would be optional), which would be the "victory" scenario. Besides an achievement this might unlock some kind of stuff for the next career play trough.

So... i think I should stop writing now. I had more ideas but this post is turning into a novel already...

Would anyone like something like this? Would it work? If not then how do you guys imagine a career mode for Mudrunner should be?

last edited by David Peres

Hey David,

I must say I'm not entirely convinced I would have been all that keen on this were the game to start that way, I'm generally very impatient and hate this "management" aspect in games like forza, or wrc, of fifa etc. I'm more of a 'hammer the start button and go go go" type XD

Saying that, you have some really nice, well thought out ideas there and now that I HAVE played the game through a fair amount, I would actually be more in to the idea of having new challenges that extend the gameplay out beyond the basic 'deliver logs' task, so would probably welcome your career mode option 🙂

One feature I think would hugely benefit the game as is, and I mentioned before, was to adapt the current maps to allow for a few more spawn point options for log, lumber, fuel and garage and then have the option to randomise on game start. This would mean you don't fall into "autopilot map completion" mode but actually are forced to problem solve for each situation a bit more.

Still, I guess this game is still young compared to many of the big game franchises so who know what may or may not come over the months/years. All I can say is that for sure, I have a new game I hope to be following for a while to come 🙂

Hi there!

We really appreciate the thought you've put into this, and I've let the team know about this post.

That said, I doubt we'll be implementing something of this scale in the near future, at the very least, due to the scale of the suggestions you've made.

@zoglet said in Career Mode:

One feature I think would hugely benefit the game as is, and I mentioned before, was to adapt the current maps to allow for a few more spawn point options for log, lumber, fuel and garage and then have the option to randomise on game start.

@iyagovos said in Spintires: MudRunner - April Community Update:

Scavenge mode, unique to The Ridge, is a mode where there are no log stations. This means that you won't be able to just collect logs and transport them. Instead, there are now random "scavenge locations". These locations are two or three locations that are randomly selected each time you start the map, and spawn static logs which must be collected with a crane!

I think things are moving this way at least a bit 🙂

@zoglet said in Career Mode:

Hey David,

I must say I'm not entirely convinced I would have been all that keen on this were the game to start that way, I'm generally very impatient and hate this "management" aspect in games like forza, or wrc, of fifa etc. I'm more of a 'hammer the start button and go go go" type XD

The way I envisioned it the time you would spend outside of a job would be almost negligible. Just like in Euro Truck 2 you are somewhat managing your private trucking business, and yet 99% of the time you spend in that game is driving 🙂

Alternatively, if my idea for a career mode is too complex, the whole thing could be scrapped and reduced down to two main features which are the most important and necessary for the game to have more replayability:

  • Randomization of jobs (objectives, locations, starting points...). I guess some of this is coming in the next DLC map, but I hope it's just a beginning 🙂 A nice game play mode that I would LOVE too see added is a mode where the objective is not shown on the map and you have to use a scout vehicle to look for it.

Example 1: A mode like the announced Scavenge Mode, but the location of the logs is not shown on the map, so you have to scout for them using a small vehicle before you can go and collect them.

Example 2: You have to transport some kind of cargo to a randomly spawning location (like a mobile garage or something) which is not shown on the map so you have to scout for it before you can take the cargo there, instead of wasting fuel with the cargo transport running circles around the map.

Replayability right there, and less need for mods to keep the interest up 😛

And the second thing would be:

  • A simple "token" system to buy vehicles, instead of the more complex system I proposed in the first post. You would make 1 to 3 tokens per job, depending on its difficulty. Vehicles would cost between 3 and 5 tokens and add-ons would cost 1 or 2. In hardcore mode there might be a system where you would lose tokens if you fail certain criteria.

@iyagovos said in Career Mode:

Hi there!

We really appreciate the thought you've put into this, and I've let the team know about this post.

That said, I doubt we'll be implementing something of this scale in the near future, at the very least, due to the scale of the suggestions you've made.

Thanks 🙂

I just hope you guys can come up with ways to eliminate the "autopilot map completion"-mode (as zoglet says) that the player sets into if he already knows the map. Really curious about the Scavenge mode 🙂

The underlying tech used in Mudrunner is impressive and the base gameplay is really fun, but there's so much more that can be done with it, that would possibly turn it into something that could maybe attract a bigger audience. Just like the structure of ETS2 makes that game appealing for more than just truck "nerds" 😛

Anyway, these are just random suggestions and I write way too much...

last edited by David Peres

@sodoma said in Career Mode:

@zoglet said in Career Mode:

One feature I think would hugely benefit the game as is, and I mentioned before, was to adapt the current maps to allow for a few more spawn point options for log, lumber, fuel and garage and then have the option to randomise on game start.

@iyagovos said in Spintires: MudRunner - April Community Update:

Scavenge mode, unique to The Ridge, is a mode where there are no log stations. This means that you won't be able to just collect logs and transport them. Instead, there are now random "scavenge locations". These locations are two or three locations that are randomly selected each time you start the map, and spawn static logs which must be collected with a crane!

I think things are moving this way at least a bit 🙂

Thanks for that Sodoma 🙂

Yes I did notice this point and am definitely looking forward to it, but you will notice it also states scavenge mode is unique to the ridge map.

Don't get me wrong. I'm very happy for this and looking forward to seeing it, but my suggestion is slightly different.

I'm suggesting that all maps could be slightly adapted such that there was an option for the key 'go to' points to be randomised prior to game start. This would result in having to vary map completion strategy with each game, which would add to the challenge and game longevity for players who have been playing for some time. Obviously it would require development beyond the current model though, where the locations are likely static, only the vehicle spawn points are slightly randomised. (I speak from a point of not having developed maps, so please forgive my broad stroke assumptions or ignorance here).

Following this latest update though, I foresee (read 'hope with crossed fingers') that the dev team look to edit the existing maps to add scavenge zones and extend this mode to all maps in a later update. If this were to be done, adding more randomised vehicle spawn points and potential 'location spawn points' may not necessarily be a massive development step. More to the point it will only ever happen if the devs choose to revisit and edit the existing map set.

Which is why I bring up the suggestion again now with crossed fingers 😉

last edited by zoglet

@zoglet
I've understood and I agree. Therefore I've said that "things are moving".

Because I remember Oldtires, I can tell you this:
Random spawn points for trucks is a new feature in this game, it wasn't like this.
Now we are about to get random log spawn points.
I don't think that your idea is unreasonable, we are definitely going in that direction. Just be patient 🙂 (I know that specificaly you ARE)

I think that rework current maps to make them also "scavenge capable" shouldn't be a big problem. IDK how consoles handle (legal point of view) changes of content, but I think that with next update...why not?

From one with some mapping experience, retrofitting older maps might be as easy as adding a new locator to the existing ones the editor uses for truck/garage/fuel/lumbermill locations...?

I really hope that we will have some career mode in MR2! Devs said not now, means not in mr1, but now we all anticipate it in md2! Yes?)

David proposed great ant not too complex ideas, i totally agree! (only doubds(..) about workers).
(And i also was playing xcom before diving into mr)

And as for scavenge mode in all maps in mr1 - i've heard some kind of confirmation from devs on the last stream of md aw. Right?)

why though, i like how it is now, i really dont want this game to turn into a grind game at all,

Yes, totally agreed!! I'd like a Carrer mode for mudrunner 2. I'd tweak some thinks here and there, but this post is pretty interesting overall. Hope the devs have it on their sight.

@300six for sure- as in other mature titles its better to have several modes. One of them - career. For some players loging and loging may become boring and they will not buy next game...

last edited by Stazco

@stazco true, cant stand grind games, idk why ppl would want to turn this into one