Back to part 3: Meat of the Code

Little bits of flavouring!

Adding some fluff can really help make a game feel like a game. So let’s fluff it up!

Spin out!

When cars collide take control away for a bit, have them shoot in a random direction and spin. Added bonus makes the collision hazard more of a hazard to avoid; it’ll ruin your chaining.

Nice! Taking control away from the player can be immersive but too long and it becomes annoying. So we tune it down a bit and make them shoot away a bit further. Perfect!

Tire tracks!

Lets add tire tracks! Particles are relatively cheap so we use a transparent dark smudge and project it under every wheel. Fade out over distance. Or better yet, it might actually be faster to code just to have a single sprite with all the wheels on it. Hey presto! Looks amazing combined with a spin out.

Racing start

Cherry on the cake in Wreckless is the start of the race. We spawn active racers on all the starting positions, have them wait until the starting lights tick down, and let all the systems combine into happy little accidents! The player slow little truck bubbles behind them, racers collide and provide the chaotic narrative we need for the game. Perfect!

We obviously planned this. Ha! Haha!

Hazards

Adding some barricades, barrels and pylons that the player can knock over will help the map feel a lot less static, so let’s do that!

Next up: Game Balance and Intuitiveness

Check out other parts here!

Play wreckless-rally here