itch.io

-- Upgrades screen bottom bar legend shows only Xbox buttons, not keyboard equivalents--and Francky doesn't always say them; so I got a bit confused trying to work out which keys to map to my controller for Select (Enter?) and Canceli (Backspace?), and then the key for overall Confirm Repairs (Space?)

True, and I've added keyboard buttons right before you've made this post. xD Not sure if I already uploaded that update.

-- I keep thinking it would be more intuitive if at the end of the top row of repair-type icons was an overall "make repairs" button to advance, which you could activate with the same button you use to activate any menu thing, usually

That's a great idea. I'll look into that and see if I can make that possible.

-- And then if you got some confirmation, like a brief "Car repaired/upgraded!" message across the screen or something, that might be hepful; there's no confirmation right now and it just goes right to the next thing (currently "Best OutRunners," which always seems to me like a Game Over type display), so I always think I somehow hit the wrong button and skipped out on the intended upgrades/repairs

Exactly. Someone suggested another (short) pit crew animation sequence. I'd like to do that while the clock ticks down and perhaps show you a list of the repairs/upgrades that are being executed.

-- Why not let Throttle/Brake keys & buttons also do Upgrades Select/Cancel? Turbo (in effect) does Confirm Repairs; anyway for me trying to map keyboard controls to the controller through Joy2Key, it feels confusing to have a new set of keys just for the Upgrades screen

I immediately binded those keys to the select and cancel commands, but I also immediately found out why that doesn't work. When using a keyboard, down = brake and down = also 'choose upgrade part'. If I bind down to select, you also choose the next upgrade at the same time. It would mess up the controls.

- 35:09 - was passed by motorcycle going REALLY fast, then just after they disappeared over the horizon, came across two odd little ~three-pixel-high marks left in that same lane

Yes, for some reason the flame sprite of the motorcycle doesn't deactivate when it goes off screen. I've been too lazy so far to fix this. Also, there are no flame sprites when you look at the motorcycle at an angle that is different from straight from behind. This damn motorcycle has slightly less than 30 sprites and I didn't feel like adding flames to every sprite, which are 2 flames per sprite and 3 flame sprites per motorcycle sprite. (2 x 3 x 30...)

- 35:27 - punched car through tunnel wall

Track limits are dynamically calculated, but I haven't found the courage yet to fine tune that track limit when that tunnel entry starts. (All this 3D stuff is calculated in-game by code instead of creating the mesh beforehand in a visual editor like 3DS Max.) That's why you can clip right through that wall.

- Knocked car off cliff in last race (40:13); they slide straight sideways, not down, then later were driving in space down there! = DD

Yeah, it needs some fine tuning to make it more believable. But that car is not supposed to be driving down there. xD Not sure why that car didn't stop.

- Cars still have shadows under them while in the air off the cliffs

I could turn off the shadow at the moment the fall down animation starts. Turning off the shadow of the Countach is a difficult task because it's part of the sprite and the artist of Chase HQ didn't provide visible wheels, so I would have to draw them myself.

- No CPU-driven Lamborghinis?

No, it doesn't look nice, because I haven't ripped all Countach sprites yet. (The ones angled up and down.) If I rip them all, I could add it to the CPU-driven cars.

- Get "GAME OVER" when lose race but still have lives remaining (then goes straight to Upgrades screen; would be a lot less confusing if got something like "X LIVES REMAINING..." instead of "GAME OVER" there)

Great idea!

- "Best OutRunners" screen is shown AFTER upgrades screen; it should probably be shown ONLY immediately after COMPLETING a race, BEFORE the upgrades screen, and probably shouldn't be shown at all if you're continuing (ie didn't finish but still have continues left). So maybe the scenarios could go something like:

--If win a race that isn't the final race: Name entry, Best OutRunners, Upgrades, next race

-- If win the final race (I haven't got this far so may be missing something!): Name entry, Best OutRunners, "GAME OVER," title screen

--If lose race but have lives left: "X LIVES REMAINING", Upgrades, repeat race

--If lose w/ no lives left: "GAME OVER," Best OutRunners, title screen

I'll look into it. I've put the Best Outrunners screen at the end because of the music. The congratulations music is also the parts music, so for me it's obvious that you immediately go to the parts screen right after you've finished the race. But perhaps I can show the Best Outrunners screen when the game is over, but then it should show the best times for all the races that you've done.

- Title screen says only "Turbo Outrun," not "Turbo Outrun Reimagined" (probably just an alpha thing, but it seems like something that might be a little confusing for people seeing the game for the first time, especially just in a video or something)

I know. I've been too lazy to at that. That picture of the car was already a pain in the ass to make it look right, without the American map behind it and the text that used to be in front of the car.

- (and I'm not sure if it can be changed at this point, but the itch page address is "outrun-clone" rather than "turbo-outrun-reimagined" or whatever, and the downloads are "Turbo Outrun clone.zip" rather than "turbo_outrun_reimagined_[version number].zip" or something)

I don't want to change the page address because it will probably break all the links to it. But yes, the file name is still the old name. It's easier for me to keep things clean in my folders if I don't change that. I could add the version number though.

- Standard practice would show the version number somewhere on the title screen as well, usually in a lower corner, or just below a corner of the title

Good idea!

- Suggestion (I suppose this is probably just an alpha thing ^ _^): EXIT/QUIT option on main menu, with "Are you sure you want to quit the game?" confirmation dialog--rather than instant exit via ESC key, which is kind of easy to do accidentally

Also good idea!

- I'd meant to play for just a few minutes this time, but somehow I did much better and my one Original mode game went 45 minutes = o; I may have to start limiting myself to one life or a few races ^ _^...at least until the OutRun mode is further along : D

Hah, I'm glad you enjoy it!

- The external framerate limiter might have been helping me do better somehow? But it (RivaTuner Statistics Server) also interferes with the OBS recording software in certain games, including this one, meaning I have to record my whole desktop instead of just the game, making for a slightly clunkier recording

I'll enable vsync in the next update. Perhaps that solves the problem.

Also, I've enjoyed watching your playthrough. And I've noticed some stuff and perhaps I can give you some tips.
First of all: I have no idea why the sun repeats itself in the first stage of the last race. It doesn't do that in the 2nd stage of the first race and it's the same damn sun.
The arrows next to the road indicates how sharp a corner is. The more arrows, the sharper the corner. 1 arrow = go flatout, 2 arrows = short brake, 3 or more arrows = long brake. The arrows are shown sooner if it's a sharp corner, so it gives you an idea when you have to brake, usually when you pass those arrows.
Sparks flying from your car means you have no brake material left. It's just metal to metal and it indicates that your stopping distance will roughtly be doubled.
You can brake while holding the throttle, but there is no advantage doing that. On a contrary: your engine and brakes will wear out faster, it increases your braking distance and make your brakes hotter which might introduce brake fade. (It's indicated by the left green bar, although I've hardly ever experienced brake fade. Maybe I should crank it up a notch.) Also, releasing the throttle will cool down the engine as it's no longer burning fuel and therefore not creating heat.
Speaking of engine temperature: the faster you go, the faster the temperature drops. Air flow cools down the radiator. If you want to cool down the engine faster, manual shifting might help because high rpms create more heat. So shifting earlier cools down the engine faster. (That's probably the only advantage when choosing the manual transmission.)
About upgrades: I recommend choosing the tires first, because it will make you faster off the line and you can corner faster. For the heavier cars, like the Countach, I also recommend choosing the weight reduction as it will significantly increase your acceleration. Because the DX40 is already basically an F1 car with a body on it, there isn't much left to strip out.
When you have ABS, the brake upgrade it kind off useless, until brake fade becomes a thing.
Next up is the transmission because it limits your top speed. Adding a 6th gear makes you go faster without bouncing off the rev limiter and it also lowers your rpm and therefore lowers your engine temperature. (The DX40 doesn't have a transmission upgrade because it already has a pretty high top speed. The Vette already has a 6th gear, but it's a very long one and therefore useless for racing, so the upgrade will shorten it.)
Oil and radiator upgrades are great for lowering the engine temperature and increasing the lifespan of your engine and turbo and are essential when choosing engine and turbo upgrades.