Dear Junkers! 🔧😄
This update brings a major overhaul to one of the core gameplay systems in Junkyard Simulator vehicle restoration.
Based on player feedback and our own observations, we decided to completely rethink how vehicle restoration works. The previous system relied on temporary visual hints and invisible restoration spheres that did not always accurately represent the actual condition of the vehicle's bodywork. This could make the restoration process feel confusing, inconsistent, and sometimes frustrating.
With this update, we are bringing vehicle restoration much closer to the newer restoration system already used for other items in the game. The goal is to make restoration more intuitive, visually understandable, and satisfying, while also giving players more control over how much assistance they want during the process.
Alongside the restoration overhaul, this update also includes a large number of bug fixes, UI improvements, quality-of-life changes, and gameplay adjustments.
⚙️ VEHICLE RESTORATION OVERHAUL
Completely redesigned the uncomfortable temporary hint system that displayed spheres representing the areas that needed to be completed to finish a particular restoration stage.
Reworked the sphere-based restoration completion system, which previously did not always accurately reflect the actual visual state of the vehicle body being restored.
Redesigned the restoration mechanics for all restorable vehicles, bringing them in line with the newer restoration system used for items.
The restoration process should now feel more consistent across different vehicles and restoration stages.
Improved the overall visual feedback during vehicle restoration, making it easier to understand which areas still require attention.
Added visual highlighting to the vehicle restoration process while:
Cleaning the vehicle
Removing rust
Painting the vehicle
The new highlighting system provides clearer feedback about the current restoration progress and helps players identify areas that still need to be worked on.
Added an option to disable restoration highlighting for players who prefer a more realistic experience and a higher level of difficulty.
Players can now choose whether they want additional visual assistance or prefer to restore vehicles by carefully examining the vehicle surface themselves.
Adjusted individual restoration materials on the Blue Car, bringing them in line with the materials used by other vehicles for a more consistent restoration experience.
⚙️ Lighting System Improvements
Improved the game's lighting system to provide a more consistent and natural appearance of the environment during changing weather conditions and different times of day.
Finalized and refined the settings responsible for the appearance of dark areas and shadows under different atmospheric conditions.
Improved lighting behavior during transitions between day and night, as well as during weather changes.
Improved the way light interacts with the environment, allowing individual elements of the world to look more natural under different conditions.
Refined shadow rendering at greater distances from the player.
Optimized shadow distance rendering so that visual quality improvements have as little impact on gameplay performance as possible.
⚙️ Sky and Cloud Optimization
Optimized sky lighting to work better with the other elements of the lighting system.
Improved the way sky lighting affects the appearance of the game world during different times of day and weather conditions.
Improved the performance of volumetric clouds.
Refined the behavior and appearance of volumetric clouds, aiming for a better balance between visual quality and performance.
Introduced optimizations aimed at reducing the rendering cost of the atmosphere and clouds without significantly reducing their quality.
Optimized the interaction between sky lighting, clouds, and other atmospheric elements.
⚙️ Sun Effect Improvements
Reduced the intensity of the sun's glare effect.
Refined the way sunlight is scattered throughout the game world to maintain a natural lighting appearance.
Improved the balance between the intensity of sunlight and the visibility of the surrounding environment.
The sun effect should now be less aggressive, especially when looking directly toward the light source.
At the same time, the characteristic scattering of sunlight has been preserved, allowing the world to continue
⚙️ GAMEPLAY & QUALITY-OF-LIFE IMPROVEMENTS
Increased the player's running speed by 15%.
Increased the font size of the resource collection widget to improve readability.
Increased the font size of the parcel area completion indicator, making progress information easier to read.
Added a UI arrow during the cart reset quest, clearly indicating which key or button should be used to reset vehicles.
Added a new quest marker during the task requiring the player to complete all processes. The marker now informs the player that they need to continue restoring items from the stand after completing the searching and dismantling stages.
Improved the visibility of problematic objects located at delivery locations. Some delivery objects were previously difficult to spot or did not stand out clearly enough in their surroundings.
⚙️ CONTROLLER & INPUT FIXES
Fixed an issue that could cause the character to perform an unintended jump when placing an item into the backpack while playing with a controller.
Fixed an issue related to hand animations that could stop playing and cause the character to become stuck in place.
Fixed a situation where the character could become unresponsive and fail to react to the unlock button available in the menu after the hand animation became stuck.
Fixed an issue where the character's hands could disappear after exiting certain machines and vehicles.
Improved the overall reliability of character animations when transitioning between gameplay activities and interactive objects.
⚙️ OBJECTS & WORLD INTERACTION FIXES
Fixed the collision of the Metal Container, preventing it from falling through the terrain.
Fixed an incorrect object name displayed for the Metal Container on the level. Instead of the generic "Item Name" placeholder, the correct item name is now displayed.
Fixed a visual issue affecting objects destroyed with a hammer during world exploration.
Destroyed objects should no longer fall through the terrain after the destruction process is completed.
Destroyed objects now properly play their disappearance animation after the destruction process is finished.
Improved the overall behavior of interactive and destructible objects during exploration.
⚙️ SAVE SYSTEM & EXIT GAME INFORMATION
We have also improved the information provided to players when leaving the game.
Added a clear warning to the game exit confirmation window:
"Save your game! You will lose all unsaved progress if you click 'Yes' to exit the game."
Added additional information to the important information list displayed before exiting the game.
The new message explains that players should manually save their game before leaving:
"Save your game! You will lose all unsaved progress if you exit the game. Autosave is intended only as a safeguard in emergency situations and should not replace manually saving your game."
These changes are intended to make the save system clearer and help prevent players from accidentally losing progress by relying solely on autosaves.
We want to make it much more obvious when a player has unsaved progress before they leave the game.
⚙️ Fixes and Improvements
Balanced the vehicle body restoration completion system. Fixed an issue that allowed a restoration stage to be completed before the entire part was fully restored.
Fixed missing tool sounds after the automatic tool switch during vehicle body and item restoration.
Created an intelligent Junkman Orders selection system. The game now selects events based on the activities performed by the player instead of using a completely random system.
Increased the Brush cleaning area by 15% for a more comfortable restoration experience.
Added a fix that moves vehicles to the nearest garage when using fast travel. This allows players to travel to the Workshop and then find their vehicles waiting in the garage.
Added the ability to hide the 3D fast travel icon while restoring items in the Workshop, so it no longer gets in the way during restoration.
Fixed NPC Cadena getting stuck in a T-pose.
Fixed the roof texture of restoration vehicles, making the visual difference during the restoration process visible even when the hints are disabled.
Fixed the bumper material on restoration vehicles, which could change into a different object after completing the cleaning process.
⚙️ RESTORATION SYSTEM — MORE CONTROL FOR PLAYERS
One of the main goals of this update is to give players more freedom in how they approach vehicle restoration.
The new restoration highlighting system is designed to make the process clearer and more accessible, especially for players who want direct visual feedback about which areas still require work.
At the same time, players who prefer a more immersive and challenging experience can now disable these highlights and rely entirely on their own observation and attention to detail.
This means that the same restoration system can now better accommodate different playstyles — whether you prefer a more relaxed experience with clear visual guidance or a more realistic restoration process where you have to carefully inspect the vehicle yourself.
⚙️ A STEP FORWARD FOR VEHICLE RESTORATION
This update is an important step in the ongoing development of the restoration mechanics in Junkyard Simulator.
We know that restoration is one of the most important parts of the game, and we want it to feel satisfying, intuitive, and rewarding. The new system gives us a much better foundation for continuing to improve vehicle restoration in future updates.
As always, this is not the end of the changes. Junkyard Simulator is still in Early Access, and we continue to work on improving existing mechanics, refining gameplay systems, fixing bugs, and responding to feedback from the community.
Thank you for all your feedback, reports, suggestions, and patience. Your comments help us identify areas that need improvement and shape the future of the game.
More updates and improvements are already in development.
Behind the Scenes
This update includes one of the largest technical overhauls in the game's history. Major systems responsible for restoration, weather simulation, environmental rendering, world streaming, and performance management have been reworked and optimized to deliver a smoother, more immersive experience for all players.
As always, thank you for your feedback and continued support. More content, features, and improvements are already in development.
Important Development Update
I would like to share an important update regarding the future of the game. Over the coming months, update frequency will likely slow down significantly.
This is because I have started work on a major redesign of several core gameplay systems, including the game's opening experience, player progression, and a number of fundamental mechanics that have been part of the game for a long time.
As the project has grown over the years, it has become increasingly clear that some systems need more than incremental improvements. To take the game where I want it to be, I need to step back and rebuild certain foundations properly rather than continue patching and expanding old solutions.
This means that development will be focused less on frequent content updates and more on large-scale restructuring behind the scenes. As a result, there may be periods of several months without major public updates.
I know this may be disappointing for some players, and I sincerely apologize for the longer wait. However, I firmly believe that these changes are necessary for the long-term future of the game and will ultimately result in a much better experience for both new and existing players.
In many ways, parts of the game need to be rebuilt almost from scratch. It is a significant undertaking, but it is the right step forward.
Thank you for your patience, support, feedback, and trust throughout this journey. The game is not being abandoned — quite the opposite. The work happening now is aimed at building a stronger foundation for everything that comes next.
See you in the next major chapter of development.
The game is constantly being developed — I strongly recommend checking the integrity of the game files!
Massive junkyard hugs from your favorite rust whisperer —
Junkman Adrian 😎💛