Far Frontier

SnowRunner Research — Terrain, Vehicle Choice and Off-Road Exploration

SnowRunner is one of the main gameplay references for my project. I focused on how it combines terrain, vehicle choice and transport tasks to make driving itself a challenge. This closely relates to Far Frontier: players need to observe the environment, choose a route and use their vehicle’s capabilities to complete exploration and delivery tasks.

In SnowRunner, mud, snow, water and slopes affect vehicle movement. The relationship between vehicle weight, cargo and ground conditions means that the same road can present different levels of difficulty. Terrain becomes a system for players to judge and respond to, rather than simply a backdrop.

This influenced Far Frontier’s early development. I gave hard ground, grass and mud different sinking depths and traversal behaviour, then added fuel consumption so that difficult terrain also involves decisions about time and resources. Ground resistance needs careful balancing: if a vehicle cannot move for too long without clear feedback or a way out, challenge can become frustration. I find SnowRunner more demanding in this respect, as recovering from a rollover or becoming stuck can sharply increase the complexity of the player’s next actions.

Giving Different Vehicles Different Jobs

I also drew on SnowRunner’s use of trucks with different capabilities for different tasks. In Far Frontier, I began with an exploration vehicle and a cargo truck, aiming to give each a clear purpose. The off-road vehicle helps players become familiar with the map and find routes, while the truck handles cargo transport.

For me, these differences need to become meaningful through the tasks players actually complete.

The Winch as a Problem-Solving Tool

SnowRunner’s winch lets players use nearby anchor points to recover a vehicle. Getting stuck can also lead to a new rescue operation, giving players another problem to solve.

This informed Far Frontier’s winch interaction. I added anchor-point connections, reeling and release controls, and fixed connection failures that appeared during development. The system now helps players recover from difficult situations. However, testing showed that players rarely used it, partly because of the learning curve and insufficient guidance.

Reflection on Far Frontier

This research helped me understand that off-road gameplay becomes engaging through the connections between its systems:

Observe the terrain → choose a vehicle and route → drive and transport cargo → overcome difficulties → complete tasks and open new routes.

Far Frontier now has vehicle control, terrain feedback, fuel consumption, a winch and basic missions. My next priority is to organise these features into clear, complete tasks and introduce them gradually. Vehicle and base upgrades remain part of the future direction. For the current prototype, I want to focus on the pacing of existing missions, clearer objectives and stronger completion feedback.

Sources: SnowRunner developer interview, Epic Games Store; SnowRunner, Focus Entertainment.