Lightspeed Racer! -my GameSalad/Macworld entry

ktfright

http://gamesalad.com/game/play/32237

tell me what you think about it, would have put new save features, but is useless on web games. It's my entry, and music and stuff is all made by me.

quantumsheep

Dude, that is great fun! Well done!

Like all your games, they seem to have a very unique style, which I really enjoy!

A couple of ideas, if you'll indulge me!

1. Put the fastest lap on the Main Menu screen
2. Consider putting small 'speed up' and 'slow down' areas on the track. This way players will try and run over the speed up areas to beat their times, and avoid the slow down areas. Think WipeOut

ktfright

1. I like that idea!

2. I completly forgot making speed boosters. Gonna start after a nap.

ktfright

Also, has anyone made a macworld game yet, or is tha under wraps for you guys?

Kamazar

The deadline is January 25th, right? Plenty of time to finish polishing up my game. Already a decent ways into development. I can still publish my game to the appstore if I plan on submitting it for the MacWorld contest, right?

Checking out your game now, ktfright. Right after I download the update

ktfright

Yeah, you can still publish to the app store.

Eastbound

Yeah I'm working on an entry, I really want that free pro membership, I could care less about going to macworld

Your game was pretty cool, I will say at times I lost track of which way the ship was facing- it didn't seem very clear when I would overly turn occasionally. And where the effects just the result of additive blending? I haven't played around with those yet.

quantumsheep

Might also be an idea to have a countdown before GO! appears. Builds tension before a race, don't ya know

ktfright

@Eastbound, yeah, i was using additives for the effects, and i'm gonna change the ship to make it less confusing to some. That messed me up too.

@Quantumsheep,i played with the 3,2,1,go, but it was buggy when or if someone tried to pause the game before it hit go. I just left it as a a certain time, and then go. Also, for a weird reason, on the iphone, there is a delay, so i had to do it like that. i can put a countdown sequence, but then i have to not add pause to the game because when i pause the game, the racer doesn't stop on a dime.

quantumsheep

OR

Make a variable called 'Countdown'

When you reach GO! make Countdown = False

You could then put a small rule in the Pause button so that it only spawns when countdown is FALSE (it reaches GO!).

Just a thought

ktfright

i can try that.

ktfright

You know what, I haven't even thought about damage. Should I have that in the game too? Maybe if you hit the wall a certain amount of times, change the image to a deformed version of the ship until it blows up. Or they might not have to blow up at all

I'm also having a problem of making and keeping high scores for this game, but I'm thinking of taking it out completely, until there is a better way and is less of a headache. I have it working for aSa, but not for this.

quantumsheep

I was thinking about damage too, but you'd have to balance it carefully - it might get frustrating to die all the time because you're hitting the walls.

Alternatively, put in a strip near the start of the race that recharges energy. A bit like F-Zero or, again, Wipeout!

I'm really loving it so far though mate - top stuff

ktfright

I might make it where they get damaged, but they don't die, but add a power strip that gets their damage back to zero. It only looks damaged, but its not, and their speed slows down a bit.

ktfright

@Tshirtbooth, I tried and tried, but it so cumbersome trying to make the whole saving and loading work for this game. I just took it out completelty until I fully unsterstand it. I'm gonna still work on it, but I need some help!

giacomopoppi

i would have participated to the macworld challenge but i live outside the US
i also had a fantastic game ready.
are we sure people outside the us cant participate?

JoshKahane

Very good. Im rather disappointed I can't get involved either, as Im in the UK. I have been playing around with particle effects but how did you go about getting such lovely clean ones as yours like a jet ktfright? Good luck, hope you do well, that goes for everyone ele entering as well.

ktfright

with the particles, i just constrained a particle actor to the ship actor, and the particle had an additive blending, and the size shrank to zero at the end of the trail. The particle's image is actually the ship, to give it a phantom-style look.