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[marshmonkey]

updated the first post with 3 new screenshots and some wallpapers

[Mr Peckerston]

well, it's going to be very centered on personalization and multiplayer. There is still a long way to go in development and I am sure on the way we will run into some features that set it further apart from other kart games - but we are not going out of our way to to try and seem innovative for innovation's sake. We are big mario kart fans, and we want that same pace of fun and graphical appeal in an online PC game, with more emphasis on personalization and customization. We would also like to have map formats and scripted game rules as well as karts and characters that are open to customization and modding, so that people can come up with new content.

I haven't played a kart game on the PC that I thought was good yet, so we are gonna give it a shot.

KartRider is a hugely popular Korean free-to-play mario kart-like online PC game with emphasis on personalization and customization. The worldwide version is in open beta and I'm kinda shocked that no one's mentioned it yet

http://kart.nexon.net/

[Massena]

but we are not going out of our way to to try and seem innovative for innovation's sake.

I like the fact that you're focusing on the game being fun and polished instead of being focused on making something new. As long as your game is fun it'll be great!

KartRider is a hugely popular Korean free-to-play mario kart-like online PC game with emphasis on personalization and customization. The worldwide version is in open beta and I'm kinda shocked that no one's mentioned it yet

They don't seem too similar, at least graphics-wise.

Anyways, I love what you have so far and I can't wait to put my hands on it!
You should make a dedicated page for it soon!

[marshmonkey]

yep, I have played a lot of hours of Kart Rider. I even played the Chinese version before there was a US release!

My impression of Kart Rider is that it has the most jarring and fun-destroying battle items I have ever experienced in a kart racing game. They are practically binary in their ability to control whether you are having fun or not. Also most of them are fire and forget which leaves me with no satisfaction of firing them other than knowing how annoyed the other person will be when it magically hits them out of nowhere. The ones that do try and require some sort of skill to fire, like locking onto other riders for the missiles, are horribly broken and the 50% of the time you screw up targeting someone it just completely throws away your item which only serves to double your frustration. 

Thanks for the reminder about putting up some dedicated game page Mass, thats on my to do list which is shockingly large for one person :/  at least I bought the url already, http://myzerogear.com  ( zerogear.com was taken  )

[Radnom]

I'm very glad to hear you're against all-powerful powerups :D I think that's one area Nintendo fails... they always put in these crazy powerups to make whoever wins and loses more random. Not good when you want to prove you're better at something than someone... haha.


you should have bought zero-gear.com though  

[marshmonkey]

I'm very glad to hear you're against all-powerful powerups :D I think that's one area Nintendo fails... they always put in these crazy powerups to make whoever wins and loses more random. Not good when you want to prove you're better at something than someone... haha.


you should have bought zero-gear.com though  

I actually think that those big items that really shake things up are part of what makes the whole kart racing thing damn fun and leads to a lot of crazy events. I just really hate when items with powerful effects are really easy to get and are incredibly easy to hit people with (75% of kart rider items.) (and thanks for the tip)

[marshmonkey]

I put up a stand alone site for the game, you can view it here:

http://myzerogear.com

[Massena]

I put up a stand alone site for the game, you can view it here:

http://myzerogear.com

That's looking jolly good! :D myzerogear.com's a nice enough URL, being that the game appears to revolve around customization. 

[Akhel]

Looking very, very good. I'd love to see selectable car parts that actually affect the gameplay - say, wheel scythes, more powerful engines, etc. Any chance something like that will be in the game?

Either way, I'm definitely looking forward to playing it.

[PHeMoX]

Very cool and awesome looking from when I first only saw a few models you were making. The logo of the game does resemble a lot what a lego racer logo might look like. Apart from that which is a bit of nitpicking anyways, it looks really original in my opinion. I'm looking forward to seeing the game in action. 

[marshmonkey]

We have considered whether or not the customizations should have gameplay effects, and we are kind of on the fence either way. Having them just be cosmetic would simplify things a lot, and free us up (and the community) to make whatever they might desire without having to factor in how it fits into gameplay.

I also have bought zero-gear.com as suggested by Radnom, I haven't had the time to re-direct it yet though.

[marshmonkey]

so I have been really busy lately moving to a new place and dealing with all that fun stuff, but I recently started working on the "garage" environment, which will be a little room that your kart sits in where you can customize your looks, your kart tuning, etc. Hopefully we will end up supporting custom garages too so people can download new garage environments.

Here is the lift that you and your kart will be sitting ontop of:


and here is a toolbox prop that will be sitting close by, I still need to texture it.

[marshmonkey]

finished texturing the toolbox

[Akhel]

Awesome as always.

[marshmonkey]

finished another garage prop, an exciting air compressor!

[marshmonkey]

another small prop I just finished, and a very WIP shot of what the garage layout might look like with everything thrown in there.





There is still 3 or 4 more props I need to make, since the camera will be close in on the kart they will be close so I want them to look nice. Once I finish the props I will texture and do some simple details to the background of the garage and then light the whole thing. I am thinking it would be cool to have the garage door in the background rolled up and be able to see outside through that and the windows, would be a good light source too.

[Hideous]

I want this game, badly.

I don't suppose you need testers? :D

[marshmonkey]

not yet, but eventually we will for sure.

[marshmonkey]

quick oil barrel

[Corpus]

This is all awesome stuff.

How do you know where to put the different bits of the texture, especially when they're that complex?