Sorry to disappoint you Xiaou. I'm sticking with these sprites. The thing is, I like the way they look and it takes a lot of time to do all the graphics by hand (yes, all pixel artwork here). Oh the Lambo is actually modelled using photographs of my real scalemodel Countach so they're pretty accurate. Still some improvements are planned (more animation frames for the car for example).
So if the graphics put you off, it's not the game for you.
Ontopic of the game progress. I'm working on direct-input controls so hopefull it is testable soon on a driving cab. Below a clip of the music selection and on the automatic transmission mode.
Thanks for reading anyways.
As for the graphics, I completely understand. Its difficult to do good shading.. especially with animation. However, if your game plays great.. consider asking for a few skilled artists to redraw stuff.
I dont mind the car that much, in fact, I like certain vector style looking games. Even the odd looking trees are not that bad.. but I honestly just cant stand the actual smoke and rain effects. I hope you will accept this request, to put in an option to turn them off. It would be enough for me to enjoy it. It may seem simple, but those visual effects are really hard for an artists eye to deal with.
The music.. its nice to have a somewhat synth sound to it... but it seems a little too relaxed / ambient. It makes you want to drive slow... and or gives the feeling of a slow game. Higher BPM, and a more energetic set of musical tracks, are suggested.
Id personally love to see a real DX-7 or similar Synth, used in realtime midi, for a games music. Maybe even a custom synth machine, built from various emulated systems parts. For example.. Pole Position has this awesome Chior like harmonic tune at the start. If you have that engine... you could possibly use that to compose original tunes using a real synth engine. This would be nice in respects that game size would be vastly smaller.. and yet audio quality, would be without any compromises in quality. Recordings are almost always lossy.. and modern keyboards tend to use the same boring sounding samples, rather than lively unique synth sounds. FM synths tend to have some of the most incredible sounds Ive ever heard.
The other cool feature, if going with recorded audio samples... would be the use of Holographic sounds. Where as you mount two microphones into a human head shaped object. This creates a 3d depth and sensation of positional realism, that even the highest end surround sound system cant replicate. To experience this.. grab a nice pair of high end headphones.. such as the Sennheiser HD series.... and listen to the examples on Holographic Audio on Youtube. Some are quite incredible.
The most simple of changes I think needs to be made currently.. is a check in scale. Your 2 lane highway.. has about 4 to 5 lanes worth of space. I would also increase the length of space between the lines in the road... because they seem to look too close together at the higher level speeds of your game.
Some more of ideas...
- Spectacular crashes, ala outrun, would be great. Spin outs, but maybe unlike Outrun.. can shake out of them... and or make them worse. Full screen rolls, with parts flying all over the place, would be awesome. Even going so far as to intentionally make crashes between other cars happen often.. as seen in Continental Circuit 3D. (Stereoscopic 3d would be awesome too)
- More use of ground texture. Outrun used a lot of rows of flowers, corn fields..etc. Rather than merely a few side objects.. a full row creates a deeper motion feel experience... and a more realistic and even prettier looking experience.
- Narrow roads. Two way traffic. Heavy traffic areas. Erratic drivers & responses.
- Different surface effects.. A Lambo would slide off a curve as easily, or more easily, than a mere pickup truck, on an icy roads curve.
- Possibly one randomly generated track.. where it chooses from several pre-made coarse areas that you designed beforehand. This makes it so that the level is not able to be fully learned in memory... thus never fully master-able. You instead have to be a master of realtime reactions instead.
- 4way shifter support... for greater challenge and fun.
- Possible motion blur effect at higher speeds.
- Way to turn off engine sound... and or reduce their volume. Its nice to hear a roar every now and then.. but it can get grating after a short while. Most cars reduce this, with good insulation.. and the high power cars.. you dont care much because you are too busy feeling the effect of g-forces... tire traction feel, and the roads bumps. I believe most games fade out the engine noise after you get going. Maybe some loud revs.. and thats about it. There could be a 3rd option, to only play the engine on the startup from a dead stop... then fade away in low volume, or fade to being completely silent, until something happens to warrant its noises.
- Larger Objects. Trees can be quite tall. So are buildings, light posts, etc.
- Theme work. Tie objects into level theme looks. Use a color palette that matches all of the obj. on that level.
- Cliff Edges. Turns that dont have guard rails.. .and or you can fly off of them anyways, if you go too fast. Would be fun and great to see your Lambo hit a Rail, tumbling over it in a fast airborne spin, parts flying off randomly, while smoking and on possibly on fire! Then descending out of view of the camera. Possible "ejection' of passengers on impact or spin.
- Possible ability to Knock others around with some mild bumping.
- Optional Engine overheating / Car damage effects. Effecting performance and controls.
** No brakes / Poor brakes
** Rough Ride (bearing / tires / suspension issues)
** Stuck Accelerator
** Exploding / Popped tire
** Aerodynamic slingshot effect?
** Strong gusts of winds, making steering difficult (FFB & or less sensitivity / reaction)
** Strong rains / slippery roads.. easier to slide off the road.
** Violent reaction to running off road, and too long = visible vertical bucking & harsh damages.
** Clutch pedal option
** Airtime. Too fast = hop off road.. and landing too hard can have multiple negative effects. Realistic, not like Rush... so you really have to be careful on certain areas, with regards to your speeds.
** Random events... such as AI wrecks, sideswipes, people or animals running in the way. (deer wrecks! heh)
** Possible Railway crossings, and Intersections.. where crazy side impacts can occur.
** Torn up road areas... such as city streets with huge potholes. Road work signs. Pits. Parked cars / Construction vehicles.
** Custom LIC plate for multiplayer identity. Possible custom car colors, using pallette swaps.
**
** Custom music library MP3 jukebox Support.
A reason to play it: .. Difficulty, Fast Intensity, and good Challenge. Something severely missing from the snorefest in recent Outruns.
Driving a fast car, should Feel fast and intense. Should get your heart pumping, and adrenalin fired up.
(and IMO, a greater sensation of depth, with good shading, focus blue, color intensity changes, and lighting practices, all help to add to the sum of that sensation.. and re-playability)
Btw - Ever play Final Freeway 2R?
Its ok.. and has some of the effect Ive mentioned. It just has that cartoon look for a lot of the objects.. that kind of ruins it for me.
If memory serves me well, it was fast feeling.. but not anywhere near the challenge of Outrun.. so I never bothered to play it more than twice.
The music is ok too.. but it seems too overproduced & generic. Repetitive, too full, and not overly creative. Plus.. its on a phone.. so control is not the greatest. Its just a poor platform for good gaming... at least, with regards to controllers being a 2nd seat to generic tilting, or finger sliding. (which stink) As a result.. all Devs cater to the most common crippled controls.. and thus the games have very poor challenge levels.
I do wonder if its possible to make banked angles look good on a sprite & vector race game. I dont think Ive seen this yet.