itch.io

0.3.6c

Floating upside-down along the edge of the road was kind of a nice break. ^ _^ It happened after I flipped and then immediately hit another sign and flipped again, dunno if that had something to do with it.

Some silly suggestions I had:

- Option to swap triggers (gas / brake)

- Xbox controller puts gas on X--but there's no corresponding brake face button, which seems strange

- An option to let the game hold the gas button for you (only letting off when you brake) might be a handy ergonomic option ^ _^

- Would be handy to be able to move around the menus with the left analog stick--currently only the d-pad can navigate most of the menus (left analog works in main menu but not in car select, gear select, upgrade screen, maybe others I'm forgetting--well and neither work in the placeholder Options screen, which I thus tend to avoid = o)

Slightly out of date feedback here--was 0.3.5, not the new 0.3.6:

Suggestions:

- Have controller Start button and keyboard ESC key bring up a pause menu

- Allow end-of-race name entry or at least confirmation with controller, so I don't have to keep reaching for the keyboard ^ _^

- Have d-pad do steering during a race (currently does nothing)

I had a funny-looking wipeout where I was close to the cliff edge as the road narrowed to the cliffside in the jungle setting--51:27 in this video; the car sunk to the right across and down into the road:

Hm although I'm less sure how cool Taito is with fan games, so maybe I won't use the Lamborghini anymore.

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.

I hadn't wanted to suggest the pit crew animation because I'd been afraid it would have been too much work to add in or something. ^ _^ Although it just occurred to me that even a sound effect, like a repeated quick whirring sound (as in a mechanical bolt fastener), or a glug glug sound for an oil change, would go a long way in telling the player that the upgrade work they'd ordered was being carried out. : )

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

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.

Oh hm. Well, for what it's worth, the up/down selection for upgrades as it is now is kinda confusing. You can't tell where you are in the parts order, really. Like, if it would fit, something like a row of descending upgrade icons on the left side with your current version of the part highlighted could really help clear things up.

But maybe it could also instead be a left-right row of upgrade icons, becoming active once you've picked the part type--so then you're still browsing with the left/right button keys.

I'll enable vsync in the next update.

Ooh--well, I hope there will be an option to disable vsync as well. ^ _^

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.

Oh man I hope the repeating sun stays, it's so cool. ^ _^_^

(It's indicated by the left green bar, although I've hardly ever experienced brake fade. Maybe I should crank it up a notch.)

Oh, so that's what that is. I had no idea. = o It seemed sort of pointless, in that regard. ; D Good to know about the sparks though, I had a feeling those were showing SOMETHING was wearing out. I'm never gonna remember those other parts tips, so I'll just hope they're more or less covered by the descriptions of the parts in the upgrade screen. ]_] ; )

v0.3.5 Alpha feedback

- Now that I'm using keyboard input on DS4 through Joy2Key, rather than Xbox controls on DS4 through Steam (although I realized afterwards I could get and remap Xbox controls by using DS4Windows--so I'll do that next time instead of Joy2Key : D), I got really confused by the Upgrades screen:

-- 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?)

-- 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

-- 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

-- 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

- 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

- 35:27 - punched car through tunnel 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

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

- No CPU-driven Lamborghinis?

- 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)

- "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

- 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)

- (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)

- 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

- 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

- 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

- 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

And I'd like to point out why you can't always choose a branch in Outrun mode. The leader chooses the branch, so if your opponent leads, you have to follow. There is supposed to be an arrow to point that out, but I haven't implemented that yet.

Oh! Getting sucked over to the other branch is pretty weird, also pretty jarring and makes it tough to stay on the road. In OutRun 2006, when you can only take one of the branches, the other is blocked off with big red arrow signs--that works pretty well. : )

Maybe because it doesn't have a frame limiter?

Yeah, that seems to be it. I set the frame limit to 60 using RivaTuner Statistics Server and that fixes it (and the weird shrill little shrieking sound my laptop was making when running it, too...that was probably bad ; D). Can't use RTSS when running it through Steam but I guess it still controls okay even without the Xbox analog input--and now I can have it as a taskbar shortcut and use the little icon I made for it. ^ _^

Oh yeah and now that I'm not running it through Steam Input--I'm using keyboard controls through Joy2Key--I'm reminded that without that Steam Input, the Throttle key doesn't work on the Car or Transmission select screens (or for skipping the pit crew animation after Transmission select in 0.3.5)--have to hit Enter instead, which is a unintuitive/inconvenient.

Oh and one last thing: the full manual mode doesn't actually make you faster. The automatic mode is actually the fastest because it shifts really quick and at a good rpm, and you don't have to manage your throttle and brake because of the traction control and abs.

Oh good, I really like automatic. : ^D I drove stick in real life but I don't seem to get along with it in OutRun, like even the 2-gear toggle shifting in the original OutRun just does my head in somehow, I suppose because the games are so fast and there's other stuff that seems a lot more critical to be thinking about! ^ _^

Thanks for making this really cool game! I made a video of my clumsy playthrough attempt ^ _^

I noticed a few things that seemed like they might be bugs, or just alpha stuff--probably already known, but just in case:

- other cars' shadows too wide...and extend up in the air a bit?

- goes to car upgrade screen after you lose a race--then shows scores, then straight to title screen

- volume sliders don't actually lower volume

- sometimes can't adjust "AI cars volume" slider - "Skid volume" moves instead (oh I think you have that covered in your list in the OP : )

- other cars drive in wheelie position for long periods (ah Bizarre Creative noted this a while back)

- can't use controller on options screen

- throttle is on a face button as well as a trigger, but brake is only trigger?

- physics of cars being knocked off track are a little odd, they just kind of move sideways:

- game makes my laptop fan crank even when left on the title screen

And one small suggestion:

- suggestion: let player skip animation of technicians after picking gear type

I was very impressed by how smoothly it drives. : ) And the colors are really fantastic! ^ _^

Thanks for the fun demo! Really smooth! = D

Z! : )

Love this! Made a video of me flailing through it eventually. ^ _^

Oh dang hm well anyway, it's really fun. = D

Thank you! It's a lovely game. : ) I played it for a little while and made a video. : )

Ultimately you just gotta make stuff for yourself.

Hehe that's good to know too! = D

Megaten noob here but I've been looking for a solo character RPG that wasn't filled with flashing VFX and this is about the only one I've found in eight months of looking so I'm giving it a shot! Love the aesthetic, too. : ) My first incursion was doomed once a Shock reduced me to ¥-39 and then Fountain Lady started charging for Healing. ; )

The horizontal format is a great change! No more scrolling into guards, and the more compact level layouts (and time limit! = o) make the whole thing a lot more frenetic. : )

Since nobody else has posted a video I guess I'll post mine (I don't want to spam your games too much with my silly videos ^ _^) because this game rules!

Yeah, it would probably be too easy if you could permanently block off the elevator or something. ; D

I read about the wheelbarrow thing in the readme or somewhere and finally managed to do it in Strikes Back last night : D--thought at first it meant leaving the wheelbarrow over the ladder/elevator shaft but found you can't drop it there, so instead you just hold it there while they come up. : ) And yep after recording I watched your demo video all the way through and saw you slide a bag down a slope and was like ohhhh ^ _^

Interesting! Perhaps it's just that the Arcade Archives emulator plays it back slightly differently.

I like the rotating languages for the title on the title screen. I don't think I ever saw the original Bagman and found Comes Back quite interesting! The various physics interactions (dropping bags on heads, falling guards can KO you, etc) give the gameplay a surprising amount of depth. Setting the number of guards to 3 gets immediately insane! : D Plus, there's Turkey in the Straw. ^_ ^

An excellent idea that I heartily applaud; a great touch. : ) Also I noticed the little musical piece that plays when the player character enters round 1 in your game is slightly different and more jingly than the original arcade version (or at least, the version of that one on PS4)--very subtle but again a nice difference. : )

Great game! Nice to have the difficulty option, and the more monsters option is INSANE! = DD Randomization is exactly what Dig Dug needed to avoid feeling oppressive, now you go into each round looking forward to what new challenges it will bring. I've already seen plus-shaped caves, and caves stacked one on top of of the other. : D And so far it hasn't done that mean thing regular Dig Dug does of spawning monsters exactly on top of each other so you go to inflate what you think is a lone monster and a second pops out from right on top of it and kills you--hasn't happened here. : )

Great game! I love the maze generation in this one, with big wall sections really changing the feel of each new stage, and the ghost house able to change its vertical position to a great extent, mixing things up. : ) Also: multiple bonus stages! = D

Thank you, thank you! I love this game, it's pretty much a Pac-dream come true. The colors! The mazes! The options! = D I made a little "let's play"

I also bought five more of your games so I have to go start working on videos
of them now.

Thanks for these great games, I can hardly believe someone actually made such great twists on these classic games!!! ^ D^^

A C64 version of LucasArts' Outlaws. = oo Got my eye on this. ^ _^