The Need for Speed (and coming off the rails!)
I'm slowly bolting on new elements to the game mechanics from previous prototypes. As well as some other cosmetic bells and whistles which really seem to help the gameplay.
- Buggyz now have the additional hazard of flying off the track if they hit a bend too fast.
- Controls have been changed a bit. The players buggy now automatically moves at a constant speed, but has a 'turbo' button and a 'brake' button that helps modulate the speed.
- A new smoke/dust effect when any cars collide and/or the buggy spins off the track.
The RED zones are visual indicators that the bend is quite sharp and the player should take care (see top view below):
So I hear you ask, when would a buggy fly off the track? Well, there are 3 criteria that need to be met:
1) Speed > Some Critical Speed
2) Angle Delta (the change in curvature between frames) > Some Critical Angle (as indicated by the Red Zone)
3) Duration in Red Zone > Critical Duration
Number 3) is important, as without this the Buggy spins off as soon as it it hits the Red Zone (which is particularly unfair and gives bad gameplay JuJu!). This gives the player a chance to correct their speed before they spin off. I guess this is probably equivalent to having better tyre grip - the better your tyres the longer you can ride a sharp bend before you fly off. This is something we can use to our advantage should we incorporate 'tyre' power-ups to give better grip or cars with different attributes (i.e. handling)
All in all, these 'core game mechanics' updates have really enhanced the game. It was far too easy before to win if you got ahead of the pack, now you have to keep an eye on your speed constantly!
Also, when a Buggy spins off, it can also wipeout other Buggyz as it effectively a collision object. This then can cause all sorts of carnage and pile-ups - which is really quite fun!
The smoke/dust element also works surprisingly well. Not only giving visual feedback that a collision has occurred, but obscures temporarily the route ahead, causing the player to re-adjust their strategy. This adds a nice game-play touch without too much coding effort and processor load.
I'm going to be bolting on more of these 'successful' prototype elements over the coming weeks as the game starts coming together.
Its really satisfying to see all the hard work in trying to get a playable game starting to pay off! :-D
p.s. the framerate of the video is around 23-26 fps. In reality, its double this running in stand-alone mode on the iPad. Codeas recording mode seems to drop the frame rate by half - so the speed of the game is far less languid than it appears!
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