Since their update earlier this spring, the Nitro Nation team has been busily working on a veritable wishlist of improvements to the game. When players open up Nitro Nation, they will be greeted with a notably overhauled UI with a more streamlined navigation Lobby interface.
“The new lobby is fast, the flat design gives quick and simple access to the main game options. We designed the new framework to be agile, so that we can continue adding new UI features in the future” says Lead Game Designer Ilia Mikailov.
The lobby is the heart of Nitro Nation, with a new menu at the bottom of the lobby screen, players can easily navigate and access all aspects of the game with minimal hassle and load time.
Mikailov goes on to say, “we created the HOME section dynamically, so that it gives quick access to the player’s last played events. We wanted players to be able to see all existing game events in one menu, now they have the whole game world in one place.”
The next exciting new addition to make it’s debut in 5.0 is a new racing environment: The Salt Flats.
“When I think about Drag Racing, the Salt Flats is a perfect location. It’s a big flat surface with a long horizon” said 3D artist Aleksei Shulga, “We wanted an environment that would be perfect to try out a new camera angle. This is more of a traditional racing angle with the camera to the rear corner of the car.”
Inspired by the Bonneville Salt Flats and the historic Bonneville Speedway, this track sets a rumbling mood with windy conditions and dark thunder clouds on the horizon. Shulga explains, “In the first iteration, the Salt Flats was a nice sunny day, but this was kind of boring. So we decided to go with this epic storm on the horizon, then I could animate the clouds moving and the dust storm coming.”
Nitro Nation Online version 5.0 is slated for release in early Q4
