Hello!

Welcome to a new diary for Zoomies Cat Racing! 

I've been super busy lately so I'm currently catching up on finishing the next Zoomies update, and the details of what will be included can be found below!

Japanese Localization

The next update will bring new language support to Zoomies. We will be starting off with the Japanese language as a large portion of Zoomies players are based in the land of the rising sun! 

Players can choose their preferred language in a new startup screen, as well as in the settings menu.

The main work was implementing a localization framework. It took a lot of effort to get Japanese implemented, but since the framework is finished and active, it will be much easier to add languages in the future. I am using a combination of Google Sheets and Simple Localization. All I need to do now to add more languages is populate a Google Sheet with the translated values.

As for the accuracy of the translations, it will not be 100%. I am using ChatGPT for translations so there is a chance some strings may not be accurate. If you find some incorrect localization, please let me know. There is also the chance I may open up the sheet to the public in the future so players can submit changes to the localization.

New Main Menu

Another big change is a new look for the new main menu. Right now the UI is the same, but the main menu scenery is completely different. Instead of a cat sitting on a kitchen counter and a bit of camera work depending on button clicks, there is now a demo race scene playing in the background while you browse the main menu! 

Here an example... there's no audio right now, but just imagine some cool DnB music while you watch!

Of course it still needs a little more work... see below:

The jankiness is caused by the anti-roll script, which obviously wasn't written with extra-slow motion in mind lol

In the future I hope to add support for more tracks featuring in the main menu, but that's not the biggest priority right now. I'm just glad I'm finally happy with the main menu!

Where Are We Now? 

A few months ago I posted a sort of "estimated" roadmap for Zoomies, with loose release dates for each update. I've fallen behind quite a bit, so I've decided to merge two updates into one. So the next update will include some localization as well as a UI improvement (hence the new main menu!).

I've written an updated roadmap below:

April 2025 - 0.9.7 - UI improvement and Initial localization

• Japanese localization
• New main menu
• Redesign/Improve most game UI

May - June 2025 - 0.9.8 - Optimization

• Add LODs
• New graphics settings
• Code optimization
• Art optimization

June - August 2025 - 0.9.9 - Multiplayer test

• Multiplayer will be enabled for this build
• More game content to be added...

Q3-ish 2025 (I hope!!) - 1.0.0 - Release!!!

• Final bug fixes
• Final optimization
• Final content update

As always, this isn't concrete! I don't have much time to develop these days.

Hope you're doing great! See you soon!