Developer snapshot 2026-07-11

Preview snapshot for players who want the newest features before the next stable release. Expect rough edges; your save files stay compatible whenever possible, but back them up first.

Changes since the previous snapshot

Changed

• Freight Fate checks for updates again when you leave a terminal. Returning to the main menu from a city terminal or pickup facility now starts a quiet background check, so an available update can be installed before you finish the session.
• Pausing now takes you off the live drivers board. The pause menu used to keep you listed as "Paused"; now it counts as going off duty, so the public board only shows drivers who are actively hauling. A quick pause and resume will not bounce you off the board, and Discord presence still shows "Paused" to your friends while the menu is open.
• Automatic direction changes can now be simple or deliberate. Simple is the casual default: keep holding the control after the truck stops to change between forward and reverse. Deliberate keeps the safer two-step behavior from the previous snapshot: stop, release the control, then press it again. Choose the style you prefer under Settings, Gameplay. Manual shifting is unchanged.

Fixed

• The truck now warns you while the engine is over-revving, instead of surprising you with damage at delivery. Holding the engine at redline -- easiest to do by backing up fast for a long stretch -- quietly ground the truck down, and the first you heard of it was a big damage number on the end screen. Now a warning sounds and the game tells you the engine is taking damage and the current total, repeating while it goes on, so you can ease off and slow down before the repair bill grows. Thanks to a player report.
• Online setup now tells you when orinks.net refuses your pasted credentials, instead of blaming your connection. If the server answered but did not accept the Driver ID and token, the game said "could not reach orinks.net, check your connection," sending you off to troubleshoot a network that was fine. It now says the credentials were not accepted and asks you to re-copy them from the setup page. The token paste item also checks that the pasted text looks like a real driver token -- they always start with the letters F F D and an underscore -- and says so when it does not, catching a wrong copy before anything is sent. Thanks to a player report.
• Music keeps playing while the game is paused. If a music track ended while you sat on the pause menu -- or in settings, help, or any other menu over a drive -- the music went silent until you resumed driving. The next track now starts on its own, so a long pause no longer means a quiet cab.