Road Racer [UPDATED! 2 NEW LEVELS]

[Ryan Timothy B]

Is proud to present:

ROAD RACERv1.3

Download this incredibly fun, finger mashing, arcade racing game.
It's a top down racing game similar to GTA1.  Race against the clock to complete each level (7 levels in total--with large scrolling backgrounds).
The car can rotate 360 degrees and is equipped with a parking brake. Yay!

Click to view entire 7 level course



Three game play options offering a different game play for each.

A - Race against the clock to complete the levels.

B - Race against the clock to complete the levels.  Car cannot take too much damage (ie: driving off-road or colliding with something).

C - Race against the clock to complete the levels.  Car cannot take too much damage (ie: driving off-road or colliding with something).  And to make things harder -- objects that are scattered along the roads.  Hitting them will stop your car dead.

You can also choose your difficulty setting Easy, Medium and Hard which changes the maximum time and maximum damage count.



It's the first game completed by Ryan Timothy, as you can probably imagine, I'm pretty excited about that.


(WARNING: Some keyboards have a weird glitch using a combination of the Arrow keys and the Space bar.  I am working on having two inputs for the handbrake for now, and perhaps later down the road the choice to select which keys you'd like to use instead.)

Download Here - 21MB

Visit Games Page


Screenshot:




Game was updated on Dec 31, 2008 to include 2 new levels and extra features

• Car now explodes when the time runs out, or if the bomb is damaged.
  
• Car bounces backwards or forwards when it collides into an object.
  
• An option to increase steering sharpness slightly.
  
• Better customizable difficulties menu to allow everyone of all skills to enjoy.
  

[bicilotti]

Downloading!

[Dualnames]

Updating!

[BOYD1981]

Getting angry!

[bicilotti]

I've finished it few seconds ags: this game is awesome. It made me feel the same emotions of Death Rally (and Death Rally was made using the powerful Duke Nuk'em 3d engine!)

Presentation is high, the tutorial is very user friendly, the controls (oh my) are perfect (slick, simple, realistic!), graphics captivating, music spot on. gameplay addictive-

I enjoy scripting with AGS very much and I'm simply amazed by the quality of this game.

I swallowed the 5 stages in one gulp, I demand more

[Baron]

That was a pretty sweet little racer game.  The texture of the backgrounds made it visually stimulating to look at, and I like the "rubber on the pavement" feature.  I had the hardest time making any progress -twiddle fingers isn't really my thing -but I managed on Easy mode and with the help of track 3 to beat the game.  I would have appreciated more middling levels to build up my skills.

One question: if the guy you're delivering for has planted a bomb in the package, why doesn't your car blow up if you don't make it in time?

All in all, congratulations, kudos, back pats, etc. etc.  Although not an adventure, it's a very well polished game for a first outing. 

[Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens]

Congratulations, Ryan!  I will of course download this immediately.  Hopefully the controls are smooth enough to remind me of great racing games like Nitro and that one Ironman game.

Edit:  Instead of stopping dead just by touching edges of things, it would be nice if your car just grinded against them so you could turn more gracefully and continue driving instead of having to back up.  This could of course be used to increase damage potential.

[bicilotti]

Edit:  Instead of stopping dead just by touching edges of things, it would be nice if your car just grinded against them so you could turn more gracefully and continue driving instead of having to back up.  This could of course be used to increase damage potential.

I agree: a slight "side" movement could do (expecially on the hard level some obstacles are a bit frustrating )

[BOYD1981]

yeh that was one gripe i had too (i tend to collide with stuff a LOT in driving games), either a grinding feature like suggested or just bouncing back a little bit once you hit something would be nice.
but it really is a great little game and a marvellous piece of scripting.

[Ryan Timothy B]

Instead of stopping dead just by touching edges of things, it would be nice if your car just grinded against them [..]

Yes, I had wanted to install that feature once I made the Hard difficulty, but due to the way I had scripted the collision detection and driving, I would have to delete it all and start from scratch.
I have learned quite a bit on this game.  If there is a second Road Racer, do expect that feature.

yeh that was one gripe i had too (i tend to collide with stuff a LOT in driving games)[..]

It's simple Boyd.  Stop crashing into things!
Hehe.  Jokes aside.  It can get quite annoying stopping dead in the event of a collision (even one on a slight angle).
In Easy and Hard mode I had given 'just' enough time to be able to hit an object, reverse, and carry on.  But only once.
In Medium mode, this is where I'd have to say Good-luck.  There isn't any time given allowing you to hit anything (only reason is, Hard has obstacles while Easy and Medium do not).

[..] or just bouncing back a little bit once you hit something would be nice.

Now this is a feature I could install into the current code without lots of work.
If anyone else would find this really nice, please do speak up.  Otherwise I may just leave it as is.



I wonder if anyone has found the secret coins yet.  One in each level.  All hidden from view.  Some of the coins are blocked off by a 'wall' or 'object' and in those areas the car can pass through the obstacles.  I wouldn't recommend trying to find them while on Medium or Hard difficulties.  Just makes things more difficult than it has to be.  Completing the level doesn't matter, once you collect it, it stays collected (until you turn off the game, that is).


Oh and thanks to everyone who has played my game, and especially to those who enjoyed it! 
I made the game just because I felt scripting it would have been a fun challenge.  Although, seeing it being played is now a double bonus.

[Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens]

I found one of these coins but I had no idea what it was until just now.  Also, if the code just bounces you back 2 pixels each time you collide that will work roughly the same as grinding against the surface as long as the car doesn't just stop .

[Rocco]

Hi tim,

great game with great graphics and music (the brake could be more loose and a little car exploding animation would be nice)
I made also a top down racing game, -> http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/yabb/index.php?topic=35278.0
so i had a technical question to your game.

what was your maximum map-size?
and
have you tried to integrate moving objects?

[Ryan Timothy B]

what was your maximum map-size?
and

The largest horizontal width of a map was on map 5 with 2560x960.
The largest vertical width of a map was on map 2, 3 + 4, with 1920x1440.

have you tried to integrate moving objects?

Nope.  I was originally thinking of having slow moving cars on the road that you must pass.
But when it got down to it.. I dropped the idea and never even attempted the programming part.
Like I said in the previous message about sliding during a collision, if I make a Road Racer 2, expect to see computer controlled vehicles/civilians.

One question: if the guy you're delivering for has planted a bomb in the package, why doesn't your car blow up if you don't make it in time?

a little car exploding animation would be nice

This one mainly came down to release time.  I really wanted to release the game before Christmas, so I decided to part with an exploding car instead of a late game.  Perhaps a Road Racer v1.1 with a lovely explosion seems fitting.

[Ryan Timothy B]

I have fulfilled my requests:

• Car will now explode with a fancy explosion animation (compliments of Google and a couple hours of some fine tuned animation adjustments by me).
  
• Car now bounces once it hits an object.
  
• Game now has an Options menu where you can select Sharper turning--It's very very hard to make a car turn smoothly when the car only rotates on incremented angles of 11.25 degrees.  This won't be an extreme change between the two, with sharp driving selected or not, but there is a difference.
  

Perhaps with Road Racer 2 I'll dive into AGS's sprite rotation and see if I can get real time rotation on any angle possible.

And hopefully I can get this installment done before the New Years:

• Two (possibly 3) more maps will be included.  Perhaps I can fulfill Baron's request of having more 'middling' levels, and Bicilotti's request of having more advanced levels.
  

Expect a new release to be uploaded Very late tonight the 31st, or New Years day. 
I will let you know when the new update is available.

[Ryan Timothy B]

One last Bump.

I've updated Road Racer.  It now includes an extra 2 levels, now a total amount of 7 levels now.

I've made a few modifications.  Added an options menu:



And I've added a better difficulty setting.  Where you can still play the three variations depending on your skill (unless you're really really bad! Sorry.. ).




I hope this version is much better.  Have a happy new year (I now have 22 minutes until it's 2009 to relax).

[bicilotti]

I hope this version is much better.  Have a happy new year (I now have 22 minutes until it's 2009 to relax).

Sharp steering and collision bouncing are a definite plus: now the game is less frustrating without being less challenging.

I'm currently struggling at C/Hard, grrrrrrrr...............

[Cpt Ezz]

hi Ryan
i was wondering if you could send me a copy of the game script
i have been trying to make a game like it but having many problems.

[bicilotti]

hi Ryan
i was wondering if you could send me a copy of the game script
i have been trying to make a game like it but having many problems.

Try this.
Quite a different feeling from Road Racer / I don't have a clue whether the script is commented or not, but still it will provide you with somthing to study.

[Anian]

This game is kinda hard, and that's on easy, many times it was like in the last second. The going off road slowing down is a bit too unforgiving, you really need to get every level to perfection if you wanna beat it. I like the design, idea and execution though. 

[poc301]

if (playerskill) == 0) SetGodMode = 1

  Heheh.

I love arcade games with cheatcodes.  Maybe inserting some kind of cheat options in there would make it more fun.  Of course, I always beat the game normally before using any cheats.  It's more enjoyable that way.

-Bill