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Master Overpass with these expert developer tips
We chat to the producer of the exciting new off-road racer, Overpass, to give you the lowdown on how to master the uncompromising challenges the game offers.
It’s not often that a new racing game hits the scene and changes things up with a unique way to play. But that’s what Overpass is. It’s a new take – something different. Instead of racing round a track and trying to be the quickest, Overpass throws you into an All-Terrain Vehicle (ATV) and gets you rampaging up hills and mountains that wouldn’t be out of place in an Uncharted game. You’ve got to master realistic handling across difficult ground to meet the demanding level of difficulty, taming the courses as you go.
Bryce Menzies' livery and suit looks great in Overpass
© Bigben Interactive
With Red Bull’s livery on the Polaris RZR Turbo S, and with champion off-roader Bryce Menzies’ suit and helmet available in-game, it seemed only right that we sat down with Joakim Eriksson, producer at creators Zordix Racing to talk about Overpass. He gave us the lowdown on how to master the courses, the vehicles and even understanding how and when to use some of the more technical aspects of the game. Strap in, because this is the definitive guide to being the best at Overpass. These are the tips you need to master Overpass: over to you, Joakim…
Practice in the sandbox area and get to know your vehicle
Joakim Eriksson: Try pushing the limits in a controlled manner to learn each vehicle’s qualities. Play with the throttle to find the point where the vehicle starts to understeer, get a sense of balance, centre of mass and so on for the particular vehicle. Play around with the different drive modes, maybe find a reasonably flat area and switch to 2WD [two wheel drive] to try out some full throttle powersliding.
Just play with it and have fun and you’ll get to know the vehicle better eventually. In time you’ll find the pros and cons of each vehicle and which ones are best suited for your driving style.
Understand that Overpass is all about subtlety and precision
As most of today’s racing games are built to drive as fast as possible, players will most likely drive too fast and too recklessly at first. Overpass is about subtle and precise control, this will make the vehicle hit the ground hard as the suspension overloads. With time though the player will learn to adapt the throttle and handling to the tough environments that reside in the game.
As you get better you’ll start thinking more about the finer details, how you place your front wheels, how to find the optimal speed for each passage in the game.
Throttle management is key: slower can be faster
Speed control is really the core of the gameplay and one of the hardest things to learn. Players are used to going full throttle in racing games traditionally, but in Overpass you’ll need to fight that instinct. It’s all about interacting with the ground beneath you and quite often you’ll find that slower is actually faster.
Search for the optimal throttle by slowly increasing it until you achieve maximum traction. Slow down right before mounting an obstacle to prevent overloading the suspension. Once the front wheels are up on the obstacle you can accelerate again as necessary. In steep uphill passages you’ll need to find just the right amount of throttle to move the vehicle forward, too much and you’ll just send the wheels into spin and not getting anywhere.
Find your balance, take it slower
When driving through passages leaning sideways you have to be careful. Off-road vehicles generally have a centre of mass positioned high above the ground making them more prone to tipping over. Find the balance and drive slower across these passages as tipping over might be just a small bump away. If you’re driving an ATV you can also improve the balance ratio by counterbalancing with your body.
Learn how to climb with expert precision
© Bigben Interactive
The differential lock, explained
With an open differential you need grip on all driving wheels to move forward. The power is transferred to the wheel that's spinning fastest. If one wheel slips you get stuck, basically.
The differential lock is a life saver in these situations. When the drivetrain operates in locked differential mode it links all wheels together, turning them simultaneously. This means you only need traction on one of the wheels to be able to push forward.
The downside of locking the differential is that the wheels don’t cooperate well in this mode. Most noticeable is the turning ability. By principle, the inner wheels have a shorter travel distance than the outer wheels in a turn. Locking the differential prevents this, as it forces the inner wheels to move at the same speed as the outer wheels. This results in a really poor turning ability.
When to use four-wheel drive: pick the right vehicle
4WD was basically invented for off-road driving and is generally more efficient to use in rough terrain. In special situations though, or just for the fun of it, you might choose to switch to 2WD in order to more easily initiate power slides when turning. In fact, there are a few 2WD-only ATV machines in the game where you'll experience this.
You’ll have to explore the vehicles yourself in order to find your favourites in the line-up. For the hill climb events in the game I’d go for a 4WD vehicle with a differential lock.
Learn how to get through the mud in Overpass
© Bigben Interactive
Maintain grip, but choose your speed through mud
Wet mud and dirt has a severe impact on the available traction and grip. You’ll find it difficult to change direction or accelerate when deep in mud.
Depending on the situation you sometimes want to stay close to the edge of a muddy area to maintain some grip, or plow through it with just enough throttle to keep crawling forward. Another strategy could be to aim for a target spot on the other side and build up some speed before entering the mud and just cross over in a straight line.
Read the road and study the terrain
The surfaces of the terrain and obstacles provides a lot of information on what to expect in terms of traction and damper response. It’s a vital part of the core gameplay to consistently keep scanning the terrain and ground surface in front of you in order to find the best way forward.
Never give up, keep trying to overcome the mountains
© Bigben Interactive
Above all, practice makes perfect
You will need to practice a lot. The first couple of times you try a new track, you’ll spend time exploring the possible ways of conquering the terrain. It’s not always the obvious path that’s the fastest one.
Once you learn the track and find a good strategy you can start perfecting your technique and push the record times. The number of ways to take on each track is virtually limitless and I’m pretty sure that we will see new smarter ways through from the community that we didn’t even think of once Overpass is released. I’m excited to see what the players will come up with.
Overpass is out on PS4, Xbox One, PC, and Nintendo Switch on March 17 in North America, and on February 27 in Europe.
