Hey, storm chasers! The tornado has been rebuilt from the ground up. It's volumetric now, so it sits in the clouds properly instead of being effects painted onto a cone — and it means we can go much, much bigger. Here's what's new.
The Short Version
- Tornadoes: a completely new volumetric shader, far more realistic, and much larger storms are now possible
- Map: 15 x 15 km — 265 km² — with three populated counties plus highway and rural roads
- World: planes and birds overhead, reflective road signs, and a new fog weather state
New Tornado Visuals
Completely reworked tornado shader for more realistic appearance
I've completely reworked the tornado shader. Previously, the tornado was rendered via effects being applied to a procedural cone geometry. Now, the tornado uses volumetric effects to create a more realistic appearance as well as fit in better with the volumetric clouds.
The new shader allows for much greater control over the tornado's appearance, enabling much larger tornados as well.
Map for Early Access
Current map details and future expansion plans
While the map is still expanding and will continue to be improved, currently there are 3 populated areas/3 counties, with the rest being highway and rural roads. The map is 15 x 15 km or 265 km². While the amount of roads may appear small, the length of each road is quite long.
Environmental Details
- Planes and birds in the sky to make the map feel more alive
- Realistic reflectivity on road signs and reflectors
- New foggy weather state
What's Next?
My focus is now on bug fixing, adding more buildings and neighborhoods to populate the map, adding the rest of the vehicles and probes, and more testing to make sure everything works as expected before release.
Wishlist Tornado Emergency on Steam if you haven't yet, and follow the page so the next update lands in your feed. Wishlists are a big part of how far Steam pushes a game at launch.
Stay safe out there.