It’s been quite a while since any new content from ECC Games, but a big free Drift21 update adds the new Haruna track, which is longer than all the other routes in the drifting title, combined.
Mount Haruna is a famous name in drifting, having featured in Initial D under the name Akina, the Kaido game series and others. And while it’s not clear if Haruna track in Drift21 is an exact copy, it certainly captures the feel of the route reasonably well.
It’s a pretty sizeable addition to be provided for free, which is great. And it comes with a new set of challenges for solo runs, time attack and gymkhana modes. So if you’re trying to max out everything, it should keep you busy for a while. Looking at the track list for the console version of the title, which was released in May under the name DriftCE, it appears to have appeared first for PlayStation and XBox owners, before being added to the older PC title.
The update also adds automatic reverse for keyboard and gamepads, which should reduce the frustration when you’ve slid into a barrier, along with a lot of changes to hopefully improve frame rates and graphical performance. And there are also some fixes for various bugs.
Drift21 Update Release Notes:
Additions
• Added a new, largest track in the game – Haruna
• Added a set of challenges (Solo Run, Time Attack, Gymkhana) for the Haruna track
• Added automatic reverse for keyboard and gamepad
Changes
• Greatly optimized all car and engine parts
• Optimized and fixed multiple graphical issues on each race track
• Optimized performance and improved the appearance of the garage
• Reduced the amount of memory allocation by the game
• Reduced game start time
• Greatly improved car loading times in Car Shop, Quick Race car selection, Multiplayer car selection
• Greatly improved car loading times during multiplayer sessions
• Improved decals loading times
• Improved the way the game save is performed
• Improved car snapshot generation
• Improved navigation on the game interface
• Greatly reduced the amount of data sent when playing in a multiplayer session
• Gear shift improvements on automatic transmission
Fixes
• Fixes to the operation of commands in the multiplayer session
• Fixed several bugs that occurred when connecting to a multiplayer session
• Fixed bugs that occured during multiplayer events
• Fixed errors with memory management that could cause game stability problems
• Fixed errors related to the application of decals
You can keep up with all of the latest Drift21 news, updates and more, here. Or check out all the Drift21 car list to see which vehicles you can take to the Japanese Eibsu circuit for lots of sideways, wheel-spinning action. You can buy Drift21 for the PC via Steam. A console version, DriftCE was released for consoles on May 11th, 2023, and you can find it via the Microsoft store and PlayStation Store.
Leave a Reply