next »

[jonkk]

Mac/PC and probably Linux, eventually.

Edit: Updated the original post with the platform info. Thanks!

[GalaethGames]

Mac/PC and probably Linux, eventually.

Edit: Updated the original post with the platform info. Thanks!

awesome, looks really cute!

queue customary "throwing money at the screen, but northing’s happening" comment 

[ryansumo]

this looks lovely.  I used to play a top down racing game like this in the arcade, not rc pro am but similar.  In between stages you could upgrade your little cars.

[Dyn]

Looks very-very nice.
Hope to see it on mobiles someday. 

[jonkk]

Looks very-very nice.
Hope to see it on mobiles someday. 

Thanks! I also hope I can put it on mobile one day, but I'd have to figure out some good control scheme for it first. Not a big fan of just straight-up virtual joysticks..

[jonbro]

this is looking really good.

mobile will be tricky if you aren't developing there at the same time. Your control scheme can fill out to the point where it comfortably fits on a joystick, and then you have no way of porting it back. Probably not a huge deal for this though, if you keep it focused.

[jonkk]

Oh, no worry that the control scheme will get too complicated. It'll only be steering and accelerate and brake. It'll never become more than that.

Will still be a challenge to get right on a touch screen.

And thanks! :D

[davidp]

wow, this looks really cool, MM was an amazing game and this already looks pretty similar, so keep up the good work

[Blambo]

Hi Jon! Just wanted to post here to subscribe.

[jonkk]

So, I haven't worked on this for ages now! Last time I worked on it, I added a dynamic track mesh so I could easily tweak the track in Unity. This was back in April.

https://vine.co/v/M591qxaWMJ3

BUT! This weekend I had a crack at adding some skidmarks to it. After a LOT of trial and error they finally look quite nice!

https://vine.co/v/MVvvBx6VPWw



Since it's a top-down racer, I wanted a solution that didn't fade away too quickly (which might've been a problem with trail renderers, maybe?) so I came up with a custom solution that draws one, single dynamic mesh for all the skidmark points the various cars throw at it. Then it's capped at 40-50 skidmarks to make sure I don't end up with a huuuuuge array it cycles through when redrawing. I might try and figure out how to optimize it so it doesn't need to cycle through the older skidmarks that aren't being updated.

And between struggling with coding those skidmarks I went and modelled a new ramp to replace the placeholder one. A sweet, sick lined paper pad ramp! 

[rocket5tim]

Looks great! I've been following you on Twitter for a while but just found your devlog. I like how you don't force the player to stay on the course, it's ok to drift onto the table top if you're carrying too much speed. Watching!

[jonkk]

Thanks!

Updated the track a bit. The blueprint now curves up on the bend around the coffee mug. Had to update the dynamic mesh to throw Raycasts down and adjust to the heigh of the track.



Adjustable Track! https://vine.co/v/MY0IOiEDDAi

Driving around the new track: https://vine.co/v/MYEZL2PalUa

[jonkk]

Just a quick update! I'm still working on this, albeit slowly these days. But some stuff has been done.

• Started playing around with UI elements after Unity 4.6 beta came out. Lap time, best lap and player placement numbers:
  
• I updated the skidmark renderer so it now fades each skid out neatly over time and can handle at least 500 compared to its meager 50 before.
• Some little details in the track. LIke these sweet, sweet pencil shavings!
  

Next step is to keep working on polishing the track's visuals, add some more objects to block out the track. Then I'll make a first working version of a "Race against AI" mode, with 3 laps and a finish (right now there's no end condition) Then I'll move onto getting local same-screen multiplayer running. That'll be.. well, some sort of first alpha, I guess? Something I can hopefully start showing to some people. 


click image for hi-res

[jonkk]

Recorded some quick footage of the game, to show off where I'm at.





Current plan:

• Finish the first track
• Work on implementing local same-screen multiplayer
• Menus, etc.
• Some tiny bit of polish
• Release a public alpha/demo to get some feedback, before I go on to create more content

Wishlist for the future:

• Online multiplayer (This is waaaaaay wishful thinking right there, but man.. would be great!)
• Some sort of track editor (Again, wishful thinking because the amount of work involved in making the UI good, easy to use, is just.. Ugh..)

Track ideas, so far:

• Desktop/Blueprint (the first track, close to finished)
• Pool table
• Sci-fi Pinball Machine (Bumpers!)
• Miniature Railroad Model
• Kitchen Counter (i.e. driving over a gas stove - fire hazard - jumping over boiling pot)
• Music Track (driving on a keyboard, driving on a spinning record player)
• Backyard
• Rube Goldberg Device (The Big Finale! Complete with a rendition of Raymond Scott's Powerhouse B )

Just the other day Codemasters announced their spiritual successor to Micro Machines, called Toybox Turbos. It would've been awesome if they'd actually made the perfect sequel to the old Micro Machines, but the video seems to indicate it's more a continuation of their newer PSOne Micro Machines. So, I decided that this project would still be worth making, differentiating itself with no powerups, weapons or any of that. Just pure, arcade, miniature racing. Hopefully, in the end, these two games will be different enough and cater to different needs.

EDIT: Also, there's no Youtube embedding here? For shame..

[Rob Rule]

This looks brilliant. Like really brilliant, and I think you've made exactly the right choice with a lack of weapons. It has to be said that while I'm glad it's coming, Toybox Turbo's design looks far too 'busy' and incoherent, while yours is instantly strong even in its early days.

[addicted2Code]

This looks awesome! Loved RC Pro Am and have always enjoyed top down/toy racers. Was going to ask about power ups but saw your post that there wont' be weapons / power ups - I totally agree with focusing on the racing but I do think some power up types (not guns/missiles ) would maybe add some more variety/excitement to the races (i.e. local multiplayer) such as oil slicks and turbo boosts. Either way keep up the good work!!

[jonkk]

This looks brilliant. Like really brilliant, and I think you've made exactly the right choice with a lack of weapons. It has to be said that while I'm glad it's coming, Toybox Turbo's design looks far too 'busy' and incoherent, while yours is instantly strong even in its early days.

Thanks so much! :D

This looks awesome! Loved RC Pro Am and have always enjoyed top down/toy racers. Was going to ask about power ups but saw your post that there wont' be weapons / power ups - I totally agree with focusing on the racing but I do think some power up types (not guns/missiles ) would maybe add some more variety/excitement to the races (i.e. local multiplayer) such as oil slicks and turbo boosts. Either way keep up the good work!!

Thank you. Yeah, I've debated in my head multiple times whether or not to include just some powerups. But ultimately I feel like there's more than enough arcade racers with those bloody powerups. It's like driving games have split up into wacky, power-up arcade racers and po-faced, pure driving simulator.

So, I think it's time for a.. arcade racer that's wacky but focused on just driving? Yeah, wacky but simple. Hopefully there'll be enough depth to the driving that it'll still be exciting in multiplayer.  

[outlandishPIXEL]

This looks great, I still have micro machines on my megadrive and I'd happily play this!

[jonkk]

This looks great, I still have micro machines on my megadrive and I'd happily play this!

Thanks! You're definitely the demographic I'm making it for, so that's good! :D

[jonkk]

Did a quick test on a logo animation for the game. I guess this is my official logo now.