BeamNG.drive

BeamNG.Drive is an open-world vehicle simulation video game developed and published by BeamNG GmbH. The core feature of this ambitious driving game is its reliance on soft-body physics which can realistically calculate and visually showcase effects of the road surface and collisions on the bodies of the virtual cars.

While the vast majority of the arcade and simulation driving games are relying on rigid body physics, where individual elements inside the car cannot be bent or twisted or in any other way reshaped, this game allows individual car elements to be affected by external forces and dramatically impact their shape during large collisions.



The origin of this title comes from the earlier exploits of the development team who worked on the 2011 title Rigs of Rods. This work led to the creation of two games, BeamNG.Drive and CryEngine 3-powered “Torque”. Originally released in its early access form in the summer of 2013, the first public version of the BeamNG Drive game arrived at PC game distribution platform Steam in May of 2015.

Since then, the game has received numerous upgrades and expansions that provided gamers with a wide array of additional driving challenges and online mods. One of the latest addons is the support for importing cars from “Automation”, a highly competent car company tycoon game developed by Camshaft Software.

The physics engine of BeamNG.Drive allows users to experience an unprecedented level of detail in regard to car damage. Vehicles realistically flex and react to the surface, metal and plastic parts can bend and shatter, become dislodged from their positions, and fly away, tires can be bent and completely dislodged, windows shatter, and in the most violent crashes, even fuel tanks can rupture and explode. The powerful physics engine can be used not only for gaming but also for real-world car physics simulations, such as rehearsing vehicle stunts for movie productions.

Gameplay modes present inside BeamNG.Drive covers all aspects of the sim-racing genre. The game features comprehensive campaigns (collection of smaller scenarios), time trial mode, and free roam mode where users are free to create fun by racing or colliding their cars with objects in the environment.

The simulator game supports both offline single-player play, and several online MP modes with built-in matchmaking with friends. In addition to that, The game also gives players access to advanced editing tools that can not tweak vehicle physics, but also be used for the creation of new maps, environments, and more.

It is important to note that BeamNG Drive is mostly focused on lighter cars that can be raced on tracks and off-road environments. The simulation or trucks or other big rigs is not supported and can instead be experienced in some other titles that feature soft-body physics, such as Rigs of Rods.

While BeamNG.Drive can be played on more modest PC configurations, the full potential of its soft-body physics engine can only be experienced on more modern gaming PCs that have above-average gaming hardware. For the ultimate full experience, developers recommend PC configuration with a modern 8-core CPU, 16 GB of RAM, and GeForce GTX 970 GPU.