Cool. Will check it out when I get a breather.
I think the main thing to make the game fun is the difficulty in keeping on the track.. and the funny and cool wrecks that result after.. as well as the adrenalin rush from constant near misses.
I think Outrun was a little too lax on the difficulty.. so they made it so that the time was very tight. The extra difficulty came from a lot of traffic, and surprise hairpin turns.
The main issue I believe, is that the game allows you to put the pedal to the floor most of the time... and that many of the turns just are not enough to challenge your handling & driving abilities.
By adding a higher top speed, and making it so that you can rarely ever attain it.. let alone survive tight turns without drastic reflexes at even mild speeds.. it would create a more dynamic and adrenal experience.
A few ideas to add:
- Skidding: Even with good brakes.. your speed reduction should be limited. You shouldnt be able to stop on a dime, if your going +200 MPH. As such, you might slide off the road even with full brakes depressed. In Outrun, merely letting off the gas worked most of the time... because skidding / mass didnt seem to be weighty enough. A visual of tire tracks might be cool too. (only for slamming & holding at high speed, rather than merely tapping or mild braking)
- Sway: If you ever get near the highest of the top end of the speedometer.. maybe it would be interesting to make the car get a little squirly. Where as theres a momentum effect delay to your steering. Easier to get out of control.. and harder to recover.
Squirly - vs - tire slip
Squirly = a little leaning (shocks bending) and rotational turning. Weighted action, making it tough to counter steer due to delay.
Tire Slip = General outrun style slip.. where the car stays vertical, but slides via loss of grip.
I would make it so that getting to the very top end of speed, isnt that easy. Maybe Kamikazi points for "Suicide-Speed" runs. (consecutive hold of top speed for x-amount of time)
Enhanced High-Speed difficulty - By scaling the car a little further into the screen at higher speeds, gives the player less reaction time. Seen in Turbo, and Spy Hunter in High Gear. High gear + gas pedal value = distance into screen.
If getting a higher speed isnt easy.. might want to reduce the scaling count a little. It may look a little choppier, but the speed is much more valueable than a super smooth but slow moving road. Thats usually the problem with typical 3d modeled games. Real life racing just doesnt look & feel fast unless your physically in the car. Experiment with exaggerations, such as possibly adding greater distance between the scaling steps as they get closer to the car.
- Some simple solutions to difficulty ramps:
1) Reduce road width.. as well as possibly the shoulder width (if any at all).
2) Add more traffic. More densely packed traffic moving at various speeds.. can create a rush trying to navigate thru.
3) Two way traffic. Anything head-on will make things really crazy, when trying to pass cars.
4) Erratic drivers. Shift lanes. Driving way too slow. Slams on brakes. Cutting several lanes. Wrecks.
5) Road Stuff - More stuff closer to the road edges.
6) Greater speed
7) Less view - as in, less road distance shown.. and or a perspective, such as a hill.. that you cant see over.
8 ) Add Long Trucks - As they can really block out a lot of visibility, and create a tougher challenge on curves when they are around.
Other visual & play stuff:
In Outrun.. when your car runs on certain kinds of terrain.. theres usually some sort of effect & penalty. On grass..the tires kick up grass as they drive + car is slowed drastically. Similar for beach sand. Would be good effect for road gravel on shoulders - on the mountain areas. As well as snow kicked up..
- High Wind sections - Where a loud blowing howling wind sweeps through.. pushes your car (possibly into another), can makes it harder to navigate corners, can slow your speeds .. tied into force feedback as well.
- bumpy terrain - Where the road could be rough & bumpy, or smooth as glass. Icy, slushy, wet, gravely, rock, pavement, sand...etc.
- Road Cone Challenge: Stay within the cones while driving on roads. Less cones knocked over / crushed = more points.
- Random course levels: Design a few sections of road / scenery.. and computer randomly selects the parts, assembles and merges them to form a completely different and thus non-memorizable stage.
- Sabotage Mode - Like the movie "Speed" ... theres a bomb rigged under your car. If you go too slow or stop.. it will blow. For additional challenge... add a rule that you also cant go above a certain speed. Explosions-a-plenty = Fun / Funny
- Hill Speed Effect - Give the option to slow the cars acceleration on steep hills, as well as speed it up on downgrades.
- Murphys Law - A race where you must survive various catastrophes.. such as sudden falling boulders, fallen trees, animals & people darting out, downed bridges, Railroad crossing gates w/ live trains..etc
- RoadKill - Avoid critters that walk, fly, and or dart out. Maybe a Safari style course? Maybe an abstract course.. where instead of cliffs and bushes.. there are Giraffes, Rhinos, etc. Maybe a road filled with kittens, with a narrow path you must stay in. (least amount of Kitten Car-nage + Time Remaining = more points)
- Damage Control - Keep car within a certain spec of damage, or it doesnt make it to the end of the race...
Ok.. I know, Ive went off the deep end heheh