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Making a new Top-Down Racing Game


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#1 sidewinder26

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Posted 20 October 2016 - 00:49

Hi guys,
 
My brother and I are building a top-down racing game for PC inspired in radio controlled cars, designed for competitive online gameplay. It'll feature different forms of off-road and on road racing and success will depend entirely on driving skills, there are no weapons or gimmicks. After many months of work the concept has taken shape and today we've uploaded our first gameplay videos. We also made a trailer but won't post it here since it has a message for a crowdfunding campaign that we may or may not launch next week, because I don't think this is the space for that. 
 
So here it is. First video has two-player online gameplay with our 70's GP car:  
 
 
And second video has single-player gameplay with Trophy Trucks:
 
 
Thanks a lot for taking a look guys, I'll be very happy to hear thoughts or comments. Cheers!
 


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#2 babbel

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Posted 20 October 2016 - 09:46

This looks pretty cool, could be a very nice Lanparty game :)

 

Any idea on a release date?



#3 Lights

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Posted 20 October 2016 - 09:58

That looks amazing, graphics wise.

 

As babbel says, that would be great for LAN parties.

 

Where are you aiming to release it on, Steam for example?



#4 sidewinder26

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Posted 20 October 2016 - 16:14

It works very well for LAN multiplayer! We have connected up to 8 PCs, it's good fun. We're looking into 4-player split screen as well, just need adjusting graphics to avoid any loss of framerate.

 

It will release on Steam, we'd like to build a track editor and the best way to share tracks would be through Steam Workshop. However we have a few friends over at Kerbal who suggest DRM distributing as well. Release date will depend on how the crowdfunding campaign goes but Beta testing with core features will begin around June.

 

Thanks for saying it looks good!  :up:


Edited by sidewinder26, 20 October 2016 - 16:18.


#5 babbel

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Posted 20 October 2016 - 20:17

Is the crowdfunding page up yet or when will it launch?



#6 A3

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Posted 20 October 2016 - 20:53

It looks good for sure. I'm not sure it's the video or the actual gameplay, but I notice something weird happening when slowing down for corners, it looks like it momentarily stops or something. Or maybe it's the panning of the camera that isn't smooth. Looks odd.

 

Great work though!



#7 sidewinder26

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Posted 21 October 2016 - 04:32

Will launch on Tuesday through Kickstarter. It'd be tremendous if you can join us mate  :)

 

@A3 The cars brake in short distances, a bit like karts, so as we were trying to get some footage of two cars driving closely sometimes whoever was in front braked a bit too hard. The camera is actually fixed above your car and moves in sync with it.



#8 babbel

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Posted 21 October 2016 - 11:07

Will launch on Tuesday through Kickstarter. It'd be tremendous if you can join us mate  :)

 

 

 

I'll certainly take a look and back it if there is a good pledge level for me :)



#9 mahelgel

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Posted 21 October 2016 - 22:25

looks very nice!  



#10 balage06

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Posted 22 October 2016 - 08:13

Woah, i certainly get that 'GeneRally' vibe from the videos, that was my favourite top-down racing game of all time, we spent a lot of time racing against each other with my brother, ah, fun times. :p  But judging from the videos your game takes the whole experience to another level! Looks very good!



#11 sidewinder26

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Posted 23 October 2016 - 13:38

Thanks for the comments!  :up:  GeneRally was very good, it looked deceivingly simple. You can expect a similar feel in Apex, but there's more feedback coming from the suspension so interaction with kerbs and jumps is a lot better.

 

Have you tried VRC Pro? High quality RC simulation, with detailed physics and setups. It's not very accessible however since you need a transmitter to play with precision. So with Apex we aimed at something that sits exactly between VRC Pro and GeneRally.



#12 Mark8539

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Posted 24 October 2016 - 12:23

Looks great!  :clap:



#13 Rediscoveryx

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Posted 24 October 2016 - 13:21

So, the first track's Laguna Seca, correct?  :smoking:

 

Will there be any sort of career mode-ish feature or AI involved, or is it a multiplayer-only type thing?

 

Either way, it looks really neat!



#14 sidewinder26

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Posted 24 October 2016 - 15:04

Thanks mates! 

 

Yep, first track is a depiction of Laguna. I look forward to build some Can-Ams and put them on an older version of the same track, with sunk tyres instead of kerbs. 

 

It will have AI from the beginning, with various race events for every car class. A career mode is definitely the aim for single player, but needs some time to cook so it will be an update after the first version is up and running.



#15 sidewinder26

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Posted 25 October 2016 - 16:50

The campaign has just gone live! It's here: https://www.kickstar... ... nav_search Tell us what you think!
 
It would mean a lot if you can help us Kickstart the game, but even sharing it would be great help.

Edited by sidewinder26, 25 October 2016 - 17:09.


#16 babbel

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Posted 25 October 2016 - 17:29

I've just backed it! Good luck with the kickstarter!



#17 sidewinder26

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Posted 25 October 2016 - 17:49

Thank you very much babbel! Warm hugs mate.



#18 Tenmantaylor

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Posted 25 October 2016 - 17:53

Looks fantastic  :up:  Well done!

 

I was (and still am!) a huge fan of Generally, probably the best MVP (minimal viable product) racing game ever made.

 

Supersprint, Supercars, Super Off Road, Micro Machines, Generally, I hope you guys can become the next legend on my list! 

 

I used to race 1:10 off road buggies, the trophy trucks clip really took me back - timing your throttle on the jumps so you land in the right place is a key part of racing, looks like you've recreated this experience really well  :smoking:

 

Can't wait to try it  :up:



#19 sidewinder26

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Posted 25 October 2016 - 19:23

@Tenmantaylor Thanks man, appreciate it. I feel the tabletop-racer concept still has potential, especially for online multiplayer.

 

I got into off-road RC racing way too late, but as soon as I discovered it I was hooked. And it helps your on-road racing too.



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#20 Gretsch

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Posted 26 October 2016 - 12:08

I like! 



#21 Jejking

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Posted 19 November 2016 - 12:43

Looks great guys! :)

#22 PLAYLIFE

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Posted 23 November 2016 - 03:05

Reminds me of a few games, Nitro and Skidmarks on Amiga, and more recently Micro Machines and GeneRally - all of which I loved and had a great time playing with mates.

 

Looks great and can't wait to give it a shot!



#23 balage06

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Posted 04 January 2017 - 11:56

Any news? I'm aware that the kickstarter campaign was cancelled, but was that the only plan?



#24 mmmcurry

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Posted 04 January 2017 - 14:31

Skidmarks on Amiga


Still got that at home, great game.

Not really radio controlled car racing due to the circuits, but looks great and miss that sort of game.

Steve.