Can You Drift Like A Pro? Project Boost Racer!

[JoeyFatz]

I just finished the project boost course and I decided to go a little different route with my Project Boost game and turn it into a heist getaway/drifting game. I felt like the floaty mechanics fit well with the drifting concept. I still have several features that I would like to add such as, a timing system with a leaderboard for competing with friends and collectables within the level. I would also like to add a star rating system for finishing in a good time and getting all of said collectables. However, I need a stronger understanding of menus before I get to that part.

This is the first game I’ve ever made and I really looking forward to returning to this one as I learn more through the course. Any feedback on the level design or current gameplay would be greatly appreciated. You can play the demo here:

Project Boost DEMO

Controls:
Space = Accelerate
Left Arrow = Turn Left
Right Arrow = Turn Right

[Rob]

Hi Joey,

What a fantastic and unique take on Project Boost, well done, I really enjoyed playing this and seeing something fresh, it reminded me of playing Super Sprint on my old Atari back in the day…

Your ideas for additional features are good, before reading about your suggestion of a timing system I was going to say the same, the game is literally screaming out for a “How fast can you complete this level” timer.

Some items of feedback for you;

• gravity - it feels, and looks, a little odd when the car isn’t receiving any acceleration and then just slides down the screen
• lighting - possibly because of quality settings for the WebGL build, but it looked like there was a light under the car, as opposed to perhaps having headlights. If it doesn’t have headlights, I think it would look really good with them, at the moment I tend to see large illuminated squares as I move around the scene, these may be blocks you have used to construct the scene and as such are reflecting the light separately.
• engine - as soon as I stop accelerating there is no engine sound for the car, this struck me as a little odd, you could consider perhaps having an idling engine sound at the beginning and when the goal is reached, in between, perhaps the acceleration audio could keep its pitch at whatever point the space bar is released, and then slowly lower with the drop off in velocity until getting back to an idle.
• police cars - how about adding some flash reds and blues on the top of these? and, perhaps as the player gets close to them sirens are audible?

I really enjoyed playing your game, the above are just minor things but I thought I’d mention them.

One final thought, using the police car as an obstacle in one of the levels was a nice touch, it made me wonder whether there was scope for pedestrians, these could be added along with your timer, so, the objective becomes “Complete the level as fast as possible without killing anyone!”, perhaps the player receives a penalty, for the number of pedestrian that they have killed/injured, it would give the ability to have other obstacles than just the police cars.

Off for another play of your game now!

@Rick_Davidson / @ben - check out Joey’s take on Project Boost

[Rick_Davidson]

So awesome! Well done also on creating the trailer. This is all pretty epic portfolio ammunition, well done.

And great feedback Rob!

[JoeyFatz]

Thank you Rob for the amazing feedback! Playing with the Web build again I can really see the lighting issues that you mentioned. With the headlights, I was trying to get them angled where they were visible on the road in front of the car instead of just straight ahead in the distance and although it seemed to have worked in the Unity editor it does seem to add an odd effect in the final build. I’ll take that as a lesson when building lighting in the future and make sure to adjust it.

I’m absolutely thrilled that you enjoyed it and am VERY grateful for the critiques. I will look into each of these and hopefully I can make it an even better game as I go through the course. Thank you again!

[Rob]

With the headlights, I was trying to get them angled where they were visible on the road in front of the car instead of just straight ahead in the distance and although it seemed to have worked in the Unity editor it does seem to add an odd effect in the final build.

You could try the following, add spots lights coming out of the car, pointing downwards slightly, put then also place spotlights pointing directly down to the location where the round part of the light would form. You would parent these to the car GameObject obviously. You may need to tweak the intensity of the lighting on these as it will probably be more noticeable than that which is pointing out of the front of the car.

As you can see from the following I have superior artistic skills! but hopefully you can visualise what I’ve tried to describe;

it seemed to have worked in the Unity editor it does seem to add an odd effect in the final build

Is the ground made up of multiple parts, e.g. many cubes aligned together? If so, try to have just the one base for the floor and see if that improves the issue. Also, check the Quality Settings, these are configurable per platform, so you may find that lighting for WebGL is lower than for Windows etc.

I’m absolutely thrilled that you enjoyed it and am VERY grateful for the critiques.

It was a pleasure playing your game and you are very welcome

I will look into each of these and hopefully I can make it an even better game as I go through the course.

Please do let me know if you release an update for this game, I would like to see any changes you make, you can tag me via @rob in a post if you want to catch my attention directly etc

[JackDraak]

What an ingenious take on Project Boost! This is terrific work (including the powerful video skills) and you will certainly go places if you stick with it. I look forward to seeing it progress and seeing whatever you decide to do next!

About the gravity issue, have you tried going zero G, but cranking up the drag?

[JoeyFatz]

Thank you! I hadn’t thought about using the drag to balance the anit-grav. I will definitely play with those settings and see if I can give it a more natural feel. Thanks for the feedback!

[StandUp_Gamer]

Yea ! Also reminded me of my Super Sprint arcade days in the dim distant past.

Rob’s covered all the changes you could make with his feedback.
I thought it was interesting how the first couple of levels were flat-out crazy ‘gotta go fast’ then it got more puzzle-y.
Really good job.

[Velcronator]

Love the music as well.

[Zuinfibe]

You’re a Genius
It took me a while to figure out that gravity was still on, but the idea is great !
Really thinking out of the box here!
Really fun game!
Cheers!

[JoeyFatz]

Thank you! My main goal is to nail the fast, drift-y, getaway driver feel through the early levels but then increase the challenges as it goes. Ideally I’d like to design more levels where there’s an initial puzzle-y challenge, but with enough work players can master any level in one smooth flow, just like the early levels. Thank you for the feedback!

[JoeyFatz]

Thank you!

[JoeyFatz]

You are too kind! Thank you! I’m really glad you enjoyed it. The gravity issue seems to be a common response and I’m currently taking in all the feedback and looking at ways to keep the feel while turning the gravity off. (Guess it’s time to step away from the blueprint and really make this my own. LOL) Thank you so much the feedback!

[Kimset]

Looks really cool and original. My only thing is, ditch the upright-ness. I could tell right away this is just a project boost with different models due to if you thrust and stop you car begins to drag down back towards the bottom, what you would see with gravity pulling an object back to earth.

[JoeyFatz]

Thanks! This seems to be a common point of critique. I’ll definitely be moving a gravity-less control scheme to the top of my to-do list. I appreciate the feedback!

[Dragon_Sentinel]

Outstanding,I gotta get this game!

[JoeyFatz]

Thank you! I’m planning to come back and give this one my full attention once I finish the course and hopefully make a full game out of it. I’ll keep you updated!