PGDmC: 2-bit Racer

[Ingemar]

It is getting late, but now I think I can get far enough to believe that I will finish so this can be an entry in the challenge, and I am far enough for an early screen shot too. My game project is called "2-bit Racer", and the idea is simple: Make a racing game controlled by only 2 buttons. That is hardly a stroke of genius, but rather a simple idea along the lines of the challenge.

Here is a screen shot of the latest test version:



As you can see, the terrain is fairly nice, multitextured, and the car drives on it almost reasonably. The car texture is a placeholder. The 2-button control works fairly well. A skybox is in place. Engine sound works too, pitched according to speed.

I use no public game engine, only my own routines on top of OpenGL and OpenAL, some parts from my 2D engine, some parts of my incomplete 3D engine. The car model and the skybox are the only material from others (both from sites with free resources on the web). Uses FPC and Lightweight IDE on a MacBook with OSX.

Left to do: A lot.

- Improved physics. It is incomplete now.
- Collision detection! This is the biggest problem. I will have to make a simple solution for it.
- Put more objects into the game.
- Work on textures and tracks.
- Start/goal and checkpoints.
- Opponent cars with AI.
- Optimize for speed using VBOs etc.

Can I do that in the little time left? Well, I hope I can make some kind of decent playable demo/alpha of it before the challenge ends.

[paul_nicholls]

Sounds like a good game, but the picture hasn't shown up for me

cheers,
Paul

[Jimmy Valavanis]

The picture hasn't shown up for me too, interesting idea, only 2 button racing game. The two button keys are accelerate/brake or turn left/right?

[Ingemar]

Just after I uploaded, the server went down at my web hotel, and it still isnt up, so let's upload it as attachment instead.

Concerning controls, it is one for right (with half thrust), one for left, both to thrust forward at full power. It works pretty well, but you can't take tight turns.

[code_glitch]

Looking good. I'm seeing a lot of this 3d stuff coming out in the PGD challenge... I have to admit I always put my 3D engine research and experimentation to low priority...

Perhaps I should get back to it some time for PGD annual - still looking at file formats from which to load my 3D data

[Ingemar]

Looking good. I'm seeing a lot of this 3d stuff coming out in the PGD challenge... I have to admit I always put my 3D engine research and experimentation to low priority...

Perhaps I should get back to it some time for PGD annual - still looking at file formats from which to load my 3D data

3D is a lot harder than 2D, and there is nothing wrong with 2D games, they are just as fun as long as the gameplay works. 3D has many problems, creating and storing 3D models being one very serious issue. I use OBJ files for models, which is limited (no bones, no animation) but fairly easy to manage. At the beginning of this project, I spent some time on 3ds loaders but it would take too much time to finish. We can get back to that later.

I actually first considered making this in 2D, but since I have worked with terrain generation before I had some partial solutions that I could use, and making my own 3D game of it has been on my wishlist for a long time.

[Ingemar]

Just in case you wonder, the skybox is from here:

http://www.tutorialsforblender3d.com...Sky_Box_1.html

I have tried making my own skybox using Terragen (Mac version) but I get seams. I think I accidentally cause them when assmbling one single picture out of the separate parts.

The car - which now has its nice original texture - comes from here:

http://www.turbosquid.com/Search/Ind...119&page_num=1

[Ñuño Martínez]

Reading "2-bit Racer" I spected a very different screen shot.

I'm trying to imagine how to control the car using only two buttons, and I had some interesting ideas. I want to see which one your game uses.

[Ingemar]

Reading "2-bit Racer" I spected a very different screen shot.

I'm trying to imagine how to control the car using only two buttons, and I had some interesting ideas. I want to see which one your game uses.

And now you make me wonder what you expected.

[Traveler]

I think something in black and white? Tbh, I had a similar thought.