DriveClub delay caused by 'primarily one feature,' dynamic menu

DriveClub's delay from its "early 2014 launch" was due "primarily" to just one feature — the game's dynamic menu, game director Paul Rustchynsky recently told Game Informer.

Rustchynsky replaced Col Rodgers, who left to form an indie studio, as the game's director in February. Speaking about the dynamic menu, Rustchynsky called it "the portal into DriveClub."

"It kind of acts like a social network," Rustchynsky said. "Not on the scale of Facebook, but similar to that. We need to make sure that all the connectivity that surrounds the game, whether it be joining clubs or sending challenges, or even interacting with the iOS and Android DriveClub apps — that had to be slick. That had to be absolutely seamless, and that was the one area we needed to put extra time into."

According to the game director, Evolution Studios needed to re-examine ways to connect players socially. That meant changing the dynamic menu system to make activity feeds accessible at all times.

"We really feel like we've kind of solved all those problems now and created this racing game which is socially charged," Rustchynsky said.

On the PlayStation Blog, the game director touched on the game's features, including its visuals, audio and clubs. DriveClub's look is being constantly improved, he said, as is the audio. Additional physics are being added to the game's driving, while cars and tracks are continuing to be detailed. Clubs and tours are also being tweaked.

"We're making it easier for you to keep up to speed with what's going on in your club as part of the rework on the dynamic menus," he said. "We've also tweaked clubs to support up to six players instead of 12 (because the game is more fun with tightly-knit clubs and it paves the way for awesome 6-on-6 club races).

"The difficulty curve for the campaign mode is becoming even smoother as we continue to optimize the vehicle handling and also refine the game's AI for non-player racers."

According to Rustchynsky's post on the PlayStation Blog Europe, the PlayStation Plus edition of the game will still be available the same day as the full release.

"Offering a selection of cars and tracks from the complete version, we think it's the perfect way for those new to the genre to get an idea of what the full DriveClub experience is all about," Rustchynsky said. "Look out for more details on the PS Plus Edition very soon."

Speaking with Game Informer, Rustchynsky said that there will be no change whatsoever in its plans for the PlayStation Plus version, which will feature multiplayer, the ability to join and form clubs, play part of the single-player campaign and send challenges. The PS Plus version will limit players on the number of cars and tracks; full access is only granted with the paid edition.

DriveClub will launch for PlayStation 4 Oct. 7. Details about the game  have been scarce, with Sony saying that it had gone "back to the drawing board" last month.