Thank you very much!
I've been thinking the same about skipping the menus and go straight to the next race. So I went ahead and made it possible.
About the skyboxes: you're right. But sprite/art work is my least favourite thing. 😆 But I'll do my best!
Next update will be in a couple of days. Lightning struck somewhere and now we don't have internet. Just 4G on our phone.
Hello Bizarre Creative,
Thank you very much! I really appreciate the gesture.
I'll email you tomorrow with all the answers. It has been a busy day and I finally tackled an issue that no one seemed to care about, except you, me and my 10-years old nephew: the other cars doing wheelies.
I'm from Tremelo, Vlaams-Brabant, Belgium by the way.
Hello Robert,
My name is Yves by the way, but you probably knew already.
To answer your questions:
- I actually wanted to prove myself that I could make a racing game inspired by (Turbo) Outrun and Super Hang-On. But because I'm not an artist, I simply wanted to use those games' sprites as placeholders, until someone would make custom sprites for me. Oh, and I wanted to create a game that I would enjoy. Something with an in-depth damage system and a realistic handling model, without the grinding of Super Hang-On's original mode on the Genesis.
Once finished, I indeed wanted to sell it on Steam, but with a different name. However, if I could pitch it to Sega, why not. As long as it's still my little project. I'm just a one man's team with hardly any programming skills and I have to keep my guards so the project wouldn't become too big.
- About the pixel size: I like the esthetics of 80's Overdrive. Perhaps we can use that game as a reference?
- The large checkpoint banners are certainly possible.
- I'm working on the branching road already. At this stage it's possible to split the road in 2, but both sides still follow the same corners. That's the next challenge, after I can change the height of both sides independently.
- Career and arcade modes: I like the idea of having these two modes, although it will be quite a bit of work to separate these two modes. Perhaps the arcade mode can have the branching paths? For the career mode: instead of using currency, I prefer the idea of doing the repairs/upgrades within a time limit. I would also like to give the player the choice between a male and a female driver.
I'm looking forward to seeing some images of a pixelated 3d model!
Best regards.
Hello Robert,
It took a while to respond. It's been a busy week and I needed some time to think about answers, while working late on the branching road.
- Unity vs Unreal: I've chosen Unity for its accessability/low learning curve. It takes some time for me to get familiar with a new platform. It even took me years to get to the point where I am now, and it's probably going to take me quite some time (months?) to just refactor everything to Unreal. If I know myself, I'm probably going to abandon the project if I try this, like I did with my other projects that grew over my head in the past.
- I'm a really big fan of the esthetics of 80's Overdrive. Bright and colorful, all sprite based, looks like Outrun, ... There's another game on Itch.io (Max Downforce) that uses 3d car models. It works for a still image, but in motion it doesn't click with me. I like the choppy animation of the sprites when you see an AI car going around a corner, although it's a lot more cumbersome to program. (But I already did the programming, so meh.) But I like the idea of using 3d models and make images in different angles of them.
Police and radar: yes, I've been thinking about that for quite some time. The police shouldn't be too annoying, but annoying enough to motivate you to get the radar stuff. Perhaps the radar stuff can be upgrades in my current parts system.
Then, what should be the speed limit? It shouldn't be too low, because that's the speed traffic should drive. The lower, the more difficult the game will be. I've been experimenting with a speed limit and a limit between 220 and 260 kph works well (which is absurd in reality ofcourse.) This speed limit will probably stay in my next update.
I also want the police to chase your opponent if he's ahead of you, to make things fair, giving the winning driver a disadvantage, just like in Test Drive 2: the Duel.
- Railway crossings: cool idea!
- Countries, landmarks and seasons: sounds great! It sounds a bit like Outrunners.
- About the gray boxes/placeholders: it depends on the objects. Perhaps some combinations and patterns work better than other's, but my system is pretty modular. It's always possible to move objects.
- Speaking of modularity: each corner and each hill is created by a single line of code that's easily edited, or moved. One disadvantage: you have to restart the game each time you make a change to see the result. But perhaps I can make a track editor.
- Sprites and sprite sheets: at this point every object has its own sprite, but putting them all in a single sheet per country for example shouldn't be much of a problem. Right now the naming is like O_tree, where O stands for Outrun, TO for Turbo Outrun CSM for custom and so on...
- Publishers, Kickstarter, ...: OK, as long as the code is pretty much finished, or at least in a state that there aren't any programming challenges any more.
- Good idea about a contract and bank account!
- About the royalty free music: good idea, but I'm going to make it in a way that the music is easily replaceable by the user.
Meanwhile I'm going to continue working on the branching road!
Sorry for the delay, I saw your post and started writing and I was almost done then left it and shut down my computer.
The next day I realised I lost it all and was too busy to type it out again.
Anyhow that's ok Unity will be more than enough to do the job.
I thought you would like 80's Overdrive, Yes Max Downforce runs really smooth and has 100% the pixel look.
I have some inspirational music for you to listen to play the game and listen to the tracks.
I have set up a Dropbox send me an email and I will send you the link, so you can download and listen to them.
Yes, the sprite sheet per track sounds great this way we can ensure to apply a consistent look and again keep everything modular.
I think we should start setting goals on things to do, and meet up in 4 weeks.
For yourself, I would suggest
- Create the track editor, this enables us both to design them
- Work on the branching tracks
- Implement the large checkpoint banners for every checkpoint
- Add the large Goal banner with the crowd in the background
I will look at the following
- Develop UI wireframe
- Find more suitable fonts
- Create consistent menus
- Create in-game elements gauges, score, etc
- Obtain low poly 3D vehicles, I think we may be able to apply a pixel look or voxels.
I have also created a spreadsheet where I placed all the tasks, we can give the cell a green fill when complete.
This is in the Dropbox. robert.moyses@bizarrecreative.com
This should be enough for us to work on over the next 4 weeks, let me know what you think.
We can make it at the beginning or end of the month to make it a regular thing.
You do not have to have it complete but you are working on those things.
Best regards.
Thank you for your donation and feedback!
I'm going to try to dive into the world of Unity's new input system and I hope I can offer input customization and even wheel/pedal/h-shifter support in the future.
About the drifting: I've been thinking about if for quite some time, but there's no easy way to implement it. The drifting mechanism has to be compatible with the tire simulation, and it has to be easy to learn, but hard to master. Also, I don't want it to be mandatory to win the races, but rather a way to be slightly faster.
If I'm going to try implement it someday, it will probably something in between drifting and trailbraking.
Thank you for your reply. I feel that it could be done the way it was done in OutRun 2. Hit the brakes then gun the gas around a corner. However, you're the expert here on this one not me. I still can't stop playing it. It's so damn cool! Thank you again. OH! How many vehicles can be unlocked? I got the Countach and the Bike.
Bill
The problem is that it will become a bit too arcadey if you understand what I mean. Do you know the game Slipstream? It also have a drifting mechanism, but controlling the car is so vague that it becomes frustrating to me.
If I'm about to implement drifting, I want it to feel natural and predictable to me. I've been thinking about how I can achieve this all day, and I think I have an idea, but it's going to be a lot of work.
At this moment you've unlocked the only two vehicles, but there's a 3rd on the way: the Corvette ZR-1 that you race against with the bike.
And I guess I have to make more stages!
Oh, have you tried the manual transmission?
Thank you very much!
- Yes, the falling animation is horrible. I'm going to rewrite it in the future.
- At a certain point all Sega related images will be replaced with custom images. These images will be in a higher resolution, probably something like the game 80's Overdrive.
Thank you very much!
Yes, I'm going to work on new sceneries, although all sprites will probably replaced by custom made sprites somewhere in the future.
I'm glad you've enjoyed it!
I'm glad you liked it! And thank you for your feedback! Here are my thoughts about it:
other cars' shadows too wide...and extend up in the air a bit?
Yes, I've been struggling with the shadows in the past, but I'm probably going to use two shadow sprites that move when the angle of the car changes. That way it will look more natural.
- goes to car upgrade screen after you lose a race--then shows scores, then straight to title screen
You're supposed to repair your car after each race, whether you win, lose, or didn't finish. But I understand it's weird that you go to the title screen if you didn't finish. I've changed that. Now you only go to the title screen if you run out of lives.
- volume sliders don't actually lower volume
That's weird. They're supposed to work. But I'm going to throw out this option screen anyway and make a nice one that supports button control and no mouse. Maybe that will do the trick.
- 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 : )
Yes, Unity is weird. The new options screen will fix that.
- other cars drive in wheelie position for long periods (ah Bizarre Creative noted this a while back)
It used to be worse when I used flat shadows instead of the sprites now. It will look better with the new shadow system. But yes, the system that calculates the angles of the other cars need some more fine tuning. However, I'm also stuck with the sprites that I have.
- can't use controller on options screen
True. The options screen was just a quick job.
- throttle is on a face button as well as a trigger, but brake is only trigger?
On a controller, only the right trigger should do the throttle, or on my old Logitech game pad: the right joystick. On a keyboard you have the choice between the up arrow button, or ctrl. It's weird that that face button works too.
- physics of cars being knocked off track are a little odd, they just kind of move sideways:
I'll try to rework them a bit.
- game makes my laptop fan crank even when left on the title screen
Maybe because it doesn't have a frame limiter? Not sure why that happens. I'm a driving instructor that happens to know how to program a bit. 😆
And one small suggestion:
- suggestion: let player skip animation of technicians after picking gear type
Yes, I totally understand. It's possible now, but I've made it one second shorter too.
Thanks to your video I also noticed some other flaws, like a misunderstanding in the parts screen. The minus sign is supposed to mean "worse", so "heat-" means "more heat". I've written it all out now.
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.
I'm also thinking about writing a manual, because I don't like tutorials or long messages in an old school game. But I understand that the game is a little vague in some areas.
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. Manual is just harder and more spartan. 😁 Maybe I'll add an option to turn off traction control and abs with the automatic.
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! ^ _^
-- 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.
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. ]_] ; )
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
Oh wow, I was just looking at Chase HQ (in one of the JP PS2's Taito Memories collections) yesterday, now I wish I'd paid more attention to the car sprites! ^ _^So I did a couple of stuff, like the addition of the quit option. There's no confirmation request yet. (It's getting too late now.)
I've also added the "Reimagined" part to the title and I've added the version number.
In the parts menu, I haven't reworked the navigation system yet, as it will take a lot of time to redo that. I'm probably going to add some visual indication on the left of the parts description to let you know where you are in the parts order.
But I did add an extra icon that you can choose to confirm the repairs. Pressing the space button on your keyboard will immediately send you to that icon. When you've confirmed the repairs, the clock resets, and you'll hear the sound effect of an air wrench.
Instead of "Game over", you'll see what you've suggested: "x lives remaining", until you have no lives left.
Oh and instead of enabling vsync, I've added a frame limiter. At this point it is set to 120 fps.
And you may be right, perhaps I should remove the Lamborghini. Perhaps I can try to make my own sprites, using a 3D mesh of the car.
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:
Thanks!
I'll look into it and try to add a low resolution mode. What filter would you like to see?
The way the sprites zoom in are the responsibility of Unity's 3D engine. I didn't do anything about it. Changing this means I have to start over from scratch and build my own pseudo-3d engine, which I tried 14 years ago, but never finished.
Not only does it sounds difficult, it actually is difficult. I know, because I did it 14 years ago. I eventually managed to do it with the use of sin/cos, but using Unity's built-in 3d engine is so much simpler and more reliable.
I'm making a compilation video of all my iterations of my game. In the first fragment you'll see how it used to look like when I did it the hard way.
By the way: take a look at Outrunners, because in that game sprites are scaled like they appear in real life. It looks much more like my game.
Sorry for the delay. Leaderboard is ready at that page: Turbo OutRun Reimagined - Speedrun.com
I'll be streaming the game this week at MasterSystemMarceau - Twitch
Small tiny detail, I'd suggest "Turbo OutRun Reimagined" (with a capital R) 'cause that's usually how we write "OutRun".
Thank you very much!
You're not the only one with this suggestion. I'll look into it tonight. This might be a simple fix of simply putting the camera higher, but this may also mess up the sprite system where the cars may look like they go up.
If it works, I'll add the option. Maybe I'll map a camera button where you can switch between both options while you're driving. Perhaps even a bumper cam.
I figured out why I didn't move the car further down. It messes up the turbo flame. It's not directly behind the car, but about a meter behind it, so it wouldn't clip through the floor. If I move the car, I have to reposition the flame(s) for each car.
I'll probably update the code in the future so it dynamically repositions itself, depending on the position of the car.
Thank you very much!
Oh I never thought about that. I still have lots of stuff to discover about Unity, so perhaps I can try to figure out how the resolution stuff works.
I'm glad that you like the low-resolution mode! The bad part is that it loses the bloom effect around the light poles and the little lights in the tunnels. Also, it makes your car look a bit of a pixel-mess. For that reason I still prefer the high resolution mode, until I figure out how to overcome those flaws.
A career mode with sponsors... Like in Super Hang-On?
I'll have to try the regular resolution mode again - which looked great, but I'm so used to the original look, it's very difficult for me to go away from that. For career mode, I was thinking about something more like Super Monaco GP for the Genesis - it has a fairly simple career mode where you earned money from sponsors, which let you then buy upgrades. By career mode standards, it's pretty basic, but for replay value it's great - although you already have a really good leveling up system as it is. It was just a pure wish-list type suggestion, but if you get a chance, maybe checkout that example and see what you think, if it makes any sense or not.
Also, again, the Test Drive flashback was awesome, and completely unexpected. I played that game so much as a kid, to come out of the tunnel and have the mountains there - that was just amazing to me. Just a fantastic job - I love it!
It was a well thought out decision not to use money for this game.
- I think money is slightly more difficult to balance out than time management, although there are some other difficulties with my system.
- Lots of games have money, while I really like the idea of World Rally Championchip's time system.
- You're supposed to be filthy rich, so money shouldn't be a factor, just like in the real Cannonball/Gumball Rally.
But I do understand the appeal of your suggestion. Super Hang-On had a similar system.
I'm glad you like it anyway!
Thanks! Drifting/powersliding probably isn't going to make it into the game. It would make things a bit too complicated for me to program.
Color selection is going to be added if I figure out how you can replace the color in the UI. At this moment the cars turn completely black if I try to change the color in the menu.
I didnt knew about this project, amazing work.
One suggestion is that, the car is centered too high on the screen. i feel off while playing it, as if having too much road under the car its annoiyng me a little. More than anything with the red car. It even makes the ilussion that the car obstructs the road view a little.
Look this image comparisson with the original:
Would be better if you put the two playable cars centered a little lower, but not as low as in the original
Not because of being a purist, is just that it feels better for me at least.
You can add the FM towns soundtrack of the game, it sounds great
Thanks!
Yes, I've heard that before. I'm going to add the option to lower the car's position in the future, or perhaps a button so you can cycle between camera positions. But then I have to redo the positioning of the exhaust flames since they are not placed directly behind the car, but a meter from it.
And yes, perhaps I can add that soundtrack.
Speaking of camera. May I ask in some future to give an option un-tie camera from cars back Y axis wise to give it more float a-la road rash (md), road rash 1995 (3do, ps1, pc, sat; best example), outrunners (arcade).
Also would like to ask for more low-res compatible UI (gauges) and fonts (something that looks passable at 640x360 to do stuff like this image).
Thanks!
4 players split screen 😵 That's pretty ambitious. If I manage to pull off 2 player split screen, I'll be very happy.
Yes, the more frames, the better ofcourse. If I ever have custom sprites, I'll make sure that there are enough.
About the menu text and font: I know. I'll try to make it really pretty someday.
But I'm glad you enjoy it!
Force feedback is coming! By the way: does your cabinet have the original shifter? With high and low gear? How does it work? Is there some sort of button in the middle or something? If so, I can add the option to make it compatible with the shifter.
An attract mode... Yes, I've been thinking about that. Yeah, maybe I can add something like that in the future.
Thank you very much! I'm glad you appreciate my game. I've indeed put a lot of thought in it, so it would be fun and not too frustrating.
And thanks for the constructive feedback. This really helps the game forward.
The picture of the mechanic is my father who passed away in 2013. When I played the original mode of Super Hang-On on the Genesis when I was 6, I thought it would be cool if my father was the mechanic. So this picture is probably going to stay, unless someone can draw a nice 16 bit rendition of him.
buenas noches desde barcelona ciudad, España!! Primero felicidades por tu extraordinario trabajo. Una pregunta. No tengo claro para qué plataforma has echo éste Out Run. Es para Android? Windows? Ps5 o megadrive?
Y quería preguntarte si sabes hacer menús personalizados para la sega megadrive, como los juegos Mega Games, para poner tres juegos o más en un menú y grabarlo luego en una pcb,como los de aliexpress que te vienen un 196 en 1, por ejemplo.
Muchas gracias ✌️✌️😁👍
i think i read somewhere that the pic of the" repair mechanic" is a pic of the developers Father who sadly passed away...it is more of a Tribute.
Thanks! Yeah, the repair/upgrade stuff seems a bit too much for some people. That's why there is also the Outrun mode. I'm also going to add an additional mode where you can drive from A to B without branches like Super Hang-On.
The repair/upgrade stuff is going to stay though, because I really like it. It's inspired by the original mode of Super Hang-On on the Genesis with a little bit of WRC in it. (Hence the time limit instead of the use of money.)
I may add an option to reduce the damage.
Can you draw a sprite of an 959 facing forward? 😆
I've changed some input stuff and I also added some values to the log file. If it hangs again, would you mind send me the log file? You can find it here: C:\Users\<UserName>\AppData\LocalLow\TurboCompany\Turbo Outrun Reimagined\Player.log
Oh and perhaps try hitting the keyboard arrows. That probably didn't work either...?
Oh ok, we can use upgraded cars in W.I.P. mode? That's a game changer! I'd still make it a little bit less tight though, personally :-/ But I'll give it another try!
I would also add a diagram of the route and for Original Turbo OutRun Mode I would add a total time of the 5 races at the end of the race if possible. That'd be really awesome.
I'm probably going to add an option to choose a slightly less brutal time limit. ;)
I'll try to add such a diagram! I won't be able to make a nice screen like the one in the original OutRun, where you see a miniature car driving through all the stages with the scenery and stuff though. That means I have to draw. xD
Hi Yves,
yes that's my dad. I hope it's a fair price for you?
But i think the biggest thing is that you're making a lot of people happy. Me too... :-)
Thank you for including more waether conditions in the new levels. :-)
I'd like to create a new car. Can you explain me how i can do this? Or are there any good manuals for creating sprites in the net?
Greetings Sirina
Hello Sirina,
Ofcourse that's fair! It's more than enough.
Here is a screenshot of the upcoming heavy snow storm effect. ;)
Hi Magroc,
Thanks for the feedback! I probably won't be able to do all your suggestions (like switching to a boat), it certainly gives me some inspiration.
I will add police chases at one point. Not sure how far I will take it though. It will be something between a brief encountering like in the original game and a full blown chase like in Need for Speed. (I won't be adding the shooting stuff though.)
I certainly would like to add the following cars: Porsche Carrera/930, and KITT from Knight Rider. Maybe the Jaguar as well. Thanks for the links to the 3D models! And if you're able to, you can certainly try to draw a car!
I'm about to add fuel consumption in my new game mode: cruising. You'll have to stop at a gas station to add more fuel and perhaps repair it at a garage.
Hi Sk1ds,
I am interested in trying to design a car by converting a number of car images from different angles to pixel art with Photoshop and continue with your car creation tool. Could you please confirm that to run the Turbo Outrun car creation tool .ods I need to install Microsoft office? Another thing do you think that in the future you can add the Road block with police cars or something else, and the only way to proceed is to drive up on a tow truck or trailer at high speed lunching the car into the air?
Hello Magroc, it took me a while to answer, but here it is.
You can also use Open Office. It's free! And awesome that you're trying to make a car!
There are two problems with the suggestion of adding road blocks:
- In order to make the cars jump, I need to write some physics so they jump in a realistic manner. Luckily I was already thinking about the idea of going airborne. Think San Francisco.
- The police road block doesn't sound too bad, just like the passing train, but the conveniently placed truck sounds a bit like a predictable trope of an 80's tv show/movie. And I don't like being predictable, so I'm not sure about this one.
I really like the train though, but I prefer to stay on the ground and just trying to get in front of it.
It looks like that the game changes your resolution. The UI isn't supposed to be blurry. I'm about to add some resolution options in the next update.
I know that the web version doesn't work with gamepads. It has something to do with the way the input system is configured. Consider the web version as a demo. It's to give you an idea what the game is all about.
It's not available yet because I still have to program it. But I'll do my best to add the option in the next update.
It will take a while though. I'm doing this after work and after taking care of my family.
That's very kind of you. Yes, I'm alright! I've been busy working on v0.4.0, after doing a little side project.
I'll tell you what I've been working on:
- First of all: the little bug with the letter p,
- A new game mode: "cruising" where you drive on a randomly generated road. You'll start on the side of a freeway, next to a gas station, but I still have to find a pixel art gas station. I've created what I call the "chain object system", which creates a mesh between objects, so I can add for example guard rails for that freeway, or cables between those poles in stage 2.
This new mode doesn't have a time limit, or an opponent and you can choose if you want damage, or not.
- If you think the corners appear too intense, you can now make them appear less sharp. You still have to brake the same amount though
- I've added a resolution options screen and I've created new gauges that resemble the ones from the original Turbo OutRun, including the temperature bar that you can turn on or off.
- I've stolen the "criminals here" arrow from Chase HQ and put it above your opponent, which you can turn off if you want.
- I've tweaked the rubberbanding so it's less obvious. Now there's no rubberbanding as long as your opponent is within a radius of 300m.
- I've added slipstreaming. Don't expect some magical boost like in the game Slipstream, it's merely a reduction of the air resistance if you drive close to another car. It also works for your opponent.
- You now get a message if something is wrong with your car
- I've already done one new stage: the snowy stage with snow storm. It's not completely finished yet though.
- Music selection and an overview of the current situation (race number, amount of wins, continues)
- Ability to choose a difficulty setting, apart from the transmission. You can now enable/disable ABS and traction control individually. Choosing auto transmission and/or enabling driving aids will lower your top speed by adding some extra aero drag.
- Reworked force feedback for steering wheels
Stuff to do:
- Add more stages and different sceneries,
- Objects that interact with you, like barriers that break
- Add another game mode: same as Original mode, but without damage and a much simpler upgrade system. Basically the original Turbo OutRun. It will have the same stages as the current Original mode. The original mode will have more stages.
- Make the 2 speed transmission more attractive by adding some extra torque in low gear.
So it will take a while before the update will be finished, but I'll post some screenshots/videos soon. 😉
Thank you for the kind words!
I'm probably going to add 2 difficulty settings for the OutRun mode: brutal and slightly less brutal. 😉
I'm also going to make a Super Hang-On mode in the future where you simply drive from point A to point B. You'll be able to choose a set of stages, ranging from easy to hard. And one with all the stages combined like you asked. (And also the choice to go full Super Hang-On: only motorcycles on the road, the red arrows, only 2 lanes, and the checkpoint posts.)
And yes, I think it's best to leave out the drifting, although that means that there is no reason to turn off traction control, apart from the added difficulty/satisfaction and higher top speed.
And also yes, I also wanted to have a slightly higher horizon so you're able to see the road better. 😉
If you want: I've added a test version of v0.4.0 which includes a cruising mode: you drive through a series of random generated stages without a time limit. It's not finished yet: some stages have the start sign instead of a checkpoint and some have some weird transitions, but I think it should work.
I'm glad that you like it! And damnit, I see a mistake. xD There should be tall brown buildings in the first stage.
Haha, that's the plan 😁 I'm probably going to be some kind of end boss. Not sure yet. And my car is already in the game.
Hello,
Thank you for your message and I'm glad that you like my little game!
Ofcourse, more cars are coming, especially the Porsches, but they need a few more sprites. I hope I can find someone who can draw those.
I'm not sure if I can add the truck, because I'm a perfectionist when it comes to car stats. Every car has the correct gear ratios, so the truck should have them too. But they usually have more than 12 gears...
If someone can provide the sprite work I'd like to add custom cars like an F1 car or a Nascar! As long as they are in the same style as the ones that are already in the game.
New tracks/sceneries will come as well!
I'm not sure if I will implement shader stuff. They seem to be pretty easy to add without having to implement them in the game by code.
A mode with an opponent with the same vehicle as you seems fun!
And thank you for the donation!!
That F1 car looks pretty sweet! It might look a bit too realistic in comparison with the other cars, but I'm going to put it in anyway.
I'll test it on my wife's laptop when I get the chance.
How are the volume sliders? I've put them to 100% by default now.
Actually there is only one visible change: the outer lines on the road are wider. It's to accommodate the new line patterns that I'm going to add in the next update.
And ofcourse some bug fixes and the correct first race in the Turbo OutRun mode.
Never mind, the options.txt itself was plain wrong. xD If you delete it, it runs just fine. I'm uploading the corrected zip file.
Ahh, perhaps it's because I've rearranged some pieces of code a while ago. I don't know how it looked before.
Edit: New version with new line pattern on the side of the road. (And I've temporarily reverted a change in the parts menu of the Turbo OutRun mode that didn't seem to work properly.)
Would you like to specify which graphic setting you would like to see? The plain looking road? The multiple LOD's of the trackside objects? Scanlines? Something else?
I'll be adding more scenes/stages in the future, but I'm not sure if it will be the ones from OutRun. Perhaps there is a specific one you would like to see?
Would the helicopter serve any purpose? I won't be able to add Airwolf, because I don't have any sprites of it, unless someone can draw them for me. (I'd like to include KITT from Knight Rider too, but same problem ...)
Oh man, almost. It's a bit too pixelated to blend nicely with the other cars. Also, the perspective is a bit weird. But I'd like to adapt the Corvette to make it look like KITT.
Thank you very much!
I really wanted to put the OutRunners' cars in the game, but I can't rip the sprites, sadly. And I don't want to use the Genesis sprites, because they are too low-res.
And I'm really glad that you like my game better than Slipstream! (I bought it as well, but I don't like the sluggish controls and how every corner feels the same.)
Indeed, I'd like to do the planned updates first and I'll do the Space Harrier thing someday.
Yes, that would be cool. I used to have a spreadsheet to make a custom car (parameter-wise), and combined with custom sprites, you could send that to me and I would but them in the game.
But sadly I usually got sprites that weren't high-res enough to nicely blend in my game.
But perhaps I can take your suggestion: put a template car online with the spreadsheet and and let the game import those files so you can drive the car without having to send it to me. (Unless it's so good that I want it to include it in my game!)
It won't be soon, but I'll try to do it someday!
That's an interesting case. I'll look into it tonight. Does the tachometer go past redline when that happens?
The speedometer's max value is calculated based on the max rpm of the engine, and the highest gear (and size of the wheels.)
Then it's probably a coincidence. The calculation rounds up the result to the nearest exponent of 20, but it doesn't take anything above redline into consideration, because you're not supposed to go into the red zone. You can, thanks to the fact that the turbo disables the rev limiter. So the top speed of the upgraded Countach is probably slightly below 400 without the turbo, so once you use the turbo, it goes faster than 400.
I'll add a bit of buffer to the max rpm in the calculation. That should increase the top speed on the speedometer.
Yeah, just from some recent playing with a fully upgraded Countach, I can go well above 400KPH. It almost maxes out the tachometer to 9000RPM.
I was seeing this on the “Cruising” course, both the first and last segments, and probably others along the way. The fully upgraded Countach is a lot faster than you’re giving it credit for.
And all this is with full assists: automatic transmission, anti-lock brakes, traction control, the whole nine yards. I’d presume much faster is possible if you turn assists off?
Beat the “Original” mode on “Intermediate” or higher. You’ll face a unique opponent that gives you a special prize.
Super Hang-on music is already included.
Hello Korence!
Openroadracer is right. The motorcycle is in the game, including its turbo booster. 😉 You just have to unlock it.
And the music is in it as well.
In fact, many of the roadside sprites are from Super Hang-On. I'm even thinking about making a homage to the game, with the original mode of the Genesis version.
Oops, that's a little mistake. I'll fix it tonight.
I've added some restrictions because people got stuck, not knowing what to do. So once you try to schedule more than you allowed to (time limit/amount of upgrades), it won't get scheduled anymore. UNLESS you've chosen the hard difficulty setting, because I guess you know what you're doing then.
Crap, I knew about this. I had the same problem with shifting. On my system A is shift up, so it always shifted up when I got out of the pause menu.
I never took the time to get a workaround for this problem, but I'll try to fix it.
- Yes, but those Porsches have 2 missing sprites each: the ones facing forward. The Corvette also didn't have those sprites, but because I drew that car many many many times in my youth, it wasn't too hard to draw those sprites myself.
- I'm probably going to add the possibility to add your own music tracks. That way I can keep the file size of the game small, while people can play the game how they want. Perhaps I can add the songs as a separate download.
Ahh yes. I uploaded a version for myself. My wife went away for 2 hours and I had to stay downstairs to look after the baby. So while the baby was asleep I wanted to test/play my game in its current state. I uploaded it so I could play it on my wife's laptop... But I forgot to hide it.
I'll unhide it for you. 😉 But if you make a video of it, would you like to mention that this version is not available for the main public?
Updates are:
- New background layer for clouds
- New tire sounds from Daytona USA
- Bumper cam (press C on your keyboard to change the camera)
- New stage in division 2: OutRun's Gateway stage
I always thought you were improving! I haven't watched the whole video yet, but do you think that the game has become harder?
Yes, I've been tweaking and switching some corners from left to right and vice versa to avoid a long sharp corner at the end of the stage. It's because of a flaw in my pseudo-3D engine.
Alright, this looks terribly wrong. 😆 And I thought it worked pretty much flawlessly on my system.
Edit: It's probably because the way the button is registered is different when I'm using my wheel. And I didn't test it with a controller.
And indeed, I just added one line of code after changing the camera: camViewButtonPressed = false;
It's fixed now.
That's weird. I did notice that the transition from one camera view to the other wasn't always completed. I changed the transition loop and I think it works better now.
Soon I'm going to bind it to the Xbox controller and make it possible to rebind it.
What I did: max amount of throttle is lowered from 97% to 90-95% at intermediate difficulty, but I increased the cornering speed from 90% to 95%. So it's a bit more balanced I guess. I'm not sure if that makes it easier. I usually play on hard setting and then it's all 100%. 😁
Make sure that you use the chase cam. The little ramps are located near the end of the first beach stage on the right side of the road, at the cloudy/rain part. I'm going to tweak it though. You'll notice that the car goes straight ahead while in the air, but I want to see if it's more fun when it's still turning in.
Yes, it's the most important reason why OutRun mode is still a work in progress. In all other modes, stages appear in a linear order, so the ai cars look through the list of road pieces in order to know how many lanes there are and which corner is coming up. In OutRun mode you have branches and therefore the ai cars have to recalculate with each branch the player takes to know in which stage they are driving. They regularly mess this up. They basically think that they are driving in a different stage with 5 lanes instead of 3 and therefore they don't interact with the roadside objects. It's a real pita to program this. 😅 But I'll fix it eventually.
Bumps: Yeah, the car almost react like I want when jumping over multiple bumps, but not quite.
Difficulty: You mean the opponent? Or the time limit? Or both?
Mechanics walking backwards: Yes, I noticed! Really strange. I don't know why that happened.
Hah, deer... I could do that with the new animated objects like the mechanics walking away at the starting line.
Hah, I was already thinking about that. So now you can choose between 10 tracks, but I'm going to add an 11th one that is 100% random and therefore never the same.
That's weird. And to what resolution do you want to set it?
I've just tried it on my system and it seems to work. Not sure why it doesn't work on yours.
Eventually I'm going to expand the low res mode where you can also choose a resolution. That way the UI stays sharp while the road and stuff becomes pixelated.
I'm afraid not. But you want to change the refresh rate? I believe changing the resolution merely changes the look of the game, not the actual resolution of the screen. So my best bet is to change it in your system settings for the moment.
I'll add an option in the future to actually change the resolution on a system level.
Are you using Windows? Or Mac?
Thanks! Yeah, the horn will be actually functional. Not only for challenging other cars in Cruisin' mode, but also for something else:
I've programmed the AI cars, especially traffic cars to not swerve into your lane when they want to overtake someone. It's something that I don't like about other games, where they intentionally seem to do that. But my system isn't watertight. That's where the horn will come in handy. When they swerve into your lane, blast the horn and they should go back where they came from. At least that's the idea. :D Now I have to program it... And add the sound effect.
By the way: I've just uploaded a b-version. It fixes some bugs here and there. For instance: with a controller you quickly had to release the a-button when you went to the upgrade screen in Turbo OutRun mode, or you accidentally chose the engine upgrade. Oh and that's when the mechanics walked backwards.
Oh, I get it. It looks like the rival is using the turbo more often. Usually, when easy or intermediate is chosen, the rival only activates the turbo on the long straights after passing a checkpoint. Now they’re also using it just before the end of a corner. Not sure why. That's something I’ll look into tomorrow.
I’m also experimenting with a new type of rubberbanding. I already had a rubberband mechanic that adjusts the rival’s max speed through corners: the farther ahead they are, the slower they go through corners, and vice versa. Now, I’ve added a rubberband that adjusts throttle. The farther ahead the rival is, the less throttle they use. When set to zero, they won’t get much more than 200 meters ahead of you.
Once I fix the turbo usage, I’ll upload the new version.
Yes and no. They follow the same rules as you do: overheat the engine and the turbo won't be available. But those bastards immediately start with an L3 radiator.
However, I've found the problem. It's something that I changed a while ago. I reverted it and now they only use the turbo on long straights.
I've also rebalanced the ai difficulty. Easy and intermediate are now easier.
With the "slow"car i drove?
gonna try it.
btw.someone mentioned on my last upload that the Car does not dip , nor ascend when going down/up hill.
Dunno if you knew it allready,also dunno if it takes lotsa work to add those animations to make the game even more Beautifull.
Here's what missing,still i see the nose of the car dip when switching to bumperview
Yes, I know. The car animation itself shouldn't be too difficult. I've even experimented with it in the past, although I'm not entirely sure how I'm going to implement it. Should it stay in the upward position as long as you're going uphill, or should it only stay upward while the road is curving upward? Those are the questions I'm grappling with.
However, animating the occupants in the car is a real pain in the ass. xD
Ripping them is the easy part; positioning them in the car is the hard part. They're a separate sprite sheet with their own animation: the hair flowing in the wind. So I can't just stick them in the car—they have to be placed in via code. I believe I've already done most of the heavy lifting for the Redhead, so I might try tilting the car up and down.
For the DX40, there are separate sprites again because of that damned spoiler in the way.
Hah, this saves me a lot of work! I can't use the sprites directly, but I can use this as a reference when I want to set the coordinates for the driver and passenger. (Still a lot of work though.)
Thanks!
I see... the AI driver cannot handle the Madonna F1...
Time to practice then, Just got the bike with the Testa- oops! I mean the DX110. Also may I suggest a way to make the game run smoother on low end machines? A cousin of mine likes the game but he has a "meh" laptop for school and wants to play it during breaks but he has to lower the resolution way low and even then frame rate does not go over 40 fps. (I noticed on your to-do you want to lower road textures.)
Either way... I'm off to practice with the bike and beat the game with the other cars (On easy of course because I got the bike on Inter with the DX110)
Hah, in the next update opponents will recover faster after they hit another car, so they won't crash into roadside objects that often. Aaand I'm probably going to revert it for easy and intermediate settings because it makes the game much harder.
Not sure how I'm going to get more fps out of the game. Graphics-wise it's not that heavy, but code-wise there is a lot of stuff going on. I'll experiment with some stuff and I'll see what I can do.
Good luck with the motorcycle!
Hey Man,why not put yourSelf in the game as "Rival"?
