Car Game - Nicotine Stained White Knuckle Ride.

Howdy, (sorry about the post title, couldn't think of anything else to put).

Thought I’d post a video screen capture from a driving game I've been working on...



http://blip.tv/file/get/RobbieDingo-CarGameTest357.mov (Higher Quality)

http://www.youtube.com/v/uywbXRniMhU (YouTube, Low Quality)

Yes it’s still very rough round the edges, I put this together in the demo version time of Unity to test what is possible - probably have to put it on hold now for a while as my demo is about to expire (but going to save up for the pro version then start this game for real from scratch).

I’m completely new to game development, but a quick learner, my experience in 3d/texturing/scripting, etc comes from SecondLife (Virtual World) and off the back of a cornflakes packet.... but had a lot of fun putting this together.

Spent most of my time getting the car physics and weighting right.

With the exception of the last crash clip, this was all captured in real time in one take, I’m using trip-wires to trigger camera angle changes to give a more cinematic feel. There are quite a few soundfiles attached to the car, with different roll-off settings, creating some good engine sound effects as the car flies by...

Anyways, till the next time....

Kind regards.

Rob

 

I am liking it a lot (so far). Looks like you got the physics down very well. I really dig the current state. In my opinion the best "car/driving" thread I've seen so far on here....looks VERY promising!

Thomas

 

Thanks for the comments Thomas, appreciated.

 

Looks pretty good. Looks like you could turn it into a cool car chase type game.

 

Those are some nice physics! What setup are you using (wheel colliders, raycasting...)?

 

Thanks Danny.... I tried both both methods and settled for the raycast to keep the speeds up. The real wheels are invisible, and not exactly where you think they are, but shhhh. Surprisingly similar to vehicle physics in Second Life actually, but there everything is calculated server side so it's all lagged. Unity is amazingly fast.

@ Crockett - aye, great minds. I've tested that out too and it works a treat, basically by storing the player-controlled car transform data to an array and later on, applying the coordinates and rotations to another vehicle (to create a ghost car). Upon car-to-car collision I send the force from the player to the ghost and switch to physics for a bit then attempt to interpolating back to the stored route (ie. the array data). It's almost working, but I'm getting some weird sideways movement in the interpolation stage in some situations at the moment.

- I love ghosting 'cause the gameplay becomes infinite, even if you manage to out run the ghost, next time you have to be better still - when I get me the full version of Unity I'll defo be carrying on with this.

- more to come soon.

 

your physics look really good - maybe just a shade too touchy, which makes the car seem a bit light IMO. very well done though - i'm wanting to see more ; )

 

Madly in content-creation-mode at the moment. Some images showing progress. Need to sleep...

i. Mapping out the Road-Layout (in Flash):
ii. Building the 3d Road-Model (in Carrara):
iii. Importing the Road-Model to test it in Game (in Unity):
iv. Texturing Low-Poly Buildings (back to Carrara):

...the idea here is that these are modular so that different combinations can be constructed from instances of a few parts.

v. And of course, fine-tuning the car movement still:

.... more to come soon. ZZZzzz...

 

That is slick, I love it.

 

hmm.. pics not showing up here.

 

@ drJones. Hmmm that's odd and I don't see the images above any more either, have added the URL links in the above post now tho. Thanks for the feedback.

- and as if by magic the images are back after reposting... Don't touch any thing!

 

ha - now they show up ; )

IMO the car could use a little more poly love, particularly on the wheel wells and front end - but in general things look great so far. nice job on the road textures.

: )

 

Thank you and yeah I agree with you RE: car poly love (ha nice term).

At the moment the car is moving really, really fast, smooth and realistically (for a game) - and I'm not sure of the limitation within Unity at the moment so I'm being cautious with the poly count / frame rate (eg.the buildings will probably remain as nicely UV mapped boxes)

- I will add more detail later if all is cool when the buildings, lighting and padding are added to the scene - but the main objective at the moment is to keep it fast, and slick.

To be honest - I'm making it all up as I go along! Having never done this kind of work before (inc. any real 3d modeling). But I have a good idea of how I want the game-play to work.

Cheers for your comments and support.

 

Hi all,

I'm putting this up for a limited time only...

- a sneak preview (web player) of my car game in progress, it's 8.5MB.

Working Title of Urban Race Star.

<><><>

Arrow Keys = Drive Car.
Spacebar = Handbrake Turn inc. Reverse Steering.

'r' = Restart the level if stuck.

'1' = Normal Follow Cam
'2' = In Car Cam
'3' = Heli-Cam.

<><><>

I'm now getting ready to add the main gameplay, but for the time being I've just added a few camera angle changes and a ghost-car in this one to interact with / chase.

Takes a little while to get used to the car-control, but it handles well once you do.

- Try a bit of hand braking at speed round the corners... watch out if you do this at the top of an incline...

http://web.mac.com/digitaldouble/digital_double/UrbanRaceStar/UrbanRaceStar.html

- have fun!

[Edit: URL changed to point to my Website]

 

first impression: it does handle really good... the car goes where it's directed, and it feels like it's under positive conterol... not too much overdone physics reactions...

i also like the headlights and the way the lights illuminates the road and objects ahead...

this looks really nice...

--Mike

 

Great car handling! Feels good.
Remembers me of GTA..

 

Nice game man! It reminds me of playing Driver back in the playstation 1 days. I really like the "cinematic" camera angles you got in some areas, but they can confuse the driving a little too.

Now put in some ragdolls and make it a bit brighter, then we can start talking

Keep it up!


.. funky music too! cool!

 

Thanks.

ya, will make that an optional preference, only in the follow view, and not happen on silly corners.

going for a dawn/dusk feel here, but I have indeed noticed a distinct difference in the brightness across a couple of machines, it looks OK my end but was it really *too* dark for you? - guess this could easily be made a prefs option too.

Thanks for the comments guys, i've got a few neat ideas for the gameplay that I'm experimenting with - that will hopefully make this more than your standard race driving game... more to come soon.

 

I really like it.
The controls are good, but it seems as though the car is a bit too light. Here's why:

1. When you go really fast, jump a bit und turn, the car flips over.
2. When you drive head-on into a wall at full speed the car jumps back _a lot_.

Other than that, great feel overall.
And I agree, the music is very funky.

Can't wait to play this with some game-mechanics!

 

Cheers.

1. I know what you mean about the car flipping at the top of an incline/ramp when at speed. I can make it cling to the ground easy enough but it's a fine balancing act - the car needs to feel light enough to get some air in places and also give the feeling that taking a corner too hard at speed is going to cause you troubles (like it would in reality!). I kinda find it fun to try to find the sweet spot on the corner...

I've spent about a month on the physics and weighting so far to get it to this stage, but it's not quite there yet -I'll keep on fine-tuning, there must be a happy medium but it's a difficult call.

2. Agreed. I'm using bouncy material there at the moment. It's not quite right without it though - again it will probably be the middle man.

3. Game-mechanics will be in progress shortly (I've got a neat little idea if I can pull it off). But first, I need to do some tidying up and add a bit more scenery padding - I'm going to move to a more serious approach now, with 'propa' development notes to keep the project (and the car!) on track.

Thanks for the feedback dude - always appreciated.

 

That was really cool. Physics are great, the fixed cameras really give it a cinematic feel, though they can be slightly disorienting. Nice work!

 

Nice job. I have to ask one little question though. How do you get your car to sit on the ground properly? Not asking for a script, just curious.
Any hint would be appreciated.

 

@ Ayce, see http://unity3d.com/support/documentation/Components/class-WheelCollider.html

 

Thanks, I'll take a look.

Ah, yes, I was looking at that in the docs, and I tried to use them on my car. No effect.
I did a post in support, but other than Eric, I had no help. Maybe 'cause I'm only using the demo, and maybe that's why, not sure. Could be a messed up model, too. No biggie, I'll wait till I can get the full indie license.

 

Nice work.

Be proud.

(I did notice that some trees were solid, and others were not...)

Like the music.

So far, one of the best car game driving experiences yet to be posted on Showcase.

^_^

 

Awesome job! I love it

The car handling is great ... I assume that you're using raycasting for the suspension, no? I couldn't get results like this from wheelcollider anyways!

I love it ... any clues on what the game is going to be all about?

Can't wait to see more! Keep up the great work.

 

Now that was Lots of Fun!
I managed to project myself off a crate up onto a roof and was lying sideways with wheels pointing away.
keep up the great work.

 

Hey Robbie, I jumped a bit when I saw your username. Great stuff. :]

I heard you were working in Unity 3D as well though I didn't get a chance to speak to you after the UH presentation (which could have gone better I admit).

I look forward to seeing more of your work.

 

Hey Zante, yea, you'll find me lurking in many a strange forum! heh.

PS. UH presentation was great!

 

Howdy all

Latest update... now happy-ish with the general environment for the first level, this will probably be my last post here now until I have some gameplay elements nailed...

enjoy!

Webplayer link from this page: (weighing in at 8.8mb).

http://web.mac.com/digitaldouble/digital_double/UrbanRaceStar/UrbanRaceStar.html

<><><>

WHAT’S NEW? - DEVELOPERS RELEASE NOTES
 
<><><>

Version A1.3 - significant environment enhancements (21 July 2008)
[webplayer size = 8.8mb] - reduced by 0.2mb from previous version

• Environment

Enabled real-time shadows;
Deployed simulated 24hr day/night cycle;
Edited building textures materials to include illuminated window lighting;
Added physical cones, w/auto reset and sleep (2 seconds);
Added physical UK-style ‘Sulo’ bins, w/auto reset and sleep (5 seconds);
Added traffic light props, w/illuminated lighting;
Added speed camera props;
Added miscellaneous road signs, poles and other scene padding;
Unrestricted/Re-opened level;

• Camera

Included 2 further tripwire cinematic locations;

• Player Car (p-car) Ghost Car (g-car)

Added rear-light meshes to the car models, w/illuminated lighting;
Added illuminated lighting to head-light meshes;
Added illuminated lighting to numberplates;

 <><><>

Version A1.2 - testing possible cinematic effects (12 July 2008)
[webplayer size = 9mb] - reduced by 2mb from previous version

• Environment

Have temporarily limited the level to only 1 street;

• Camera

‘Tripwire-Cam’ (used for cinematic views) now displays using a sepia color and a gradually speeding slow-motion effect - this may or may not be used;

• Player Car (p-car) Ghost Car (g-car)

Uses a slow-motion effect upon hard wall collision;

 <><><>

Version A1.1 - headlight meshes and groovy numberpates (10 July 2008)
[webplayer size = 11mb] - reduced by 4mb from previous version

• Camera

‘Tripwire-Cam’ (used for cinematic views) is now only triggered when using ‘Follow View’ (key ‘1’). Tripwires are ignored when using ‘In-Car’ or ‘Heli-Cam’ views (keys ‘2’ or ‘3’) as this was disorientating.

• Player Car (p-car) Ghost Car (g-car)

Added car headlight meshes to the car models (and groovy number plates);
Refined headlight light, now uses a gel so appears as if 2 lights are used;

• Other

Adjusted the Webplayer position on the webpage screen - now no longer covers the title in IE (Thanks Si.)

<><><>

Version A1.0 - logging the work done so far (9 July 2008)
[webplayer size = 15mb]

• Environment (scenery, sound, music, preferences, level changes etc).

26/06/08 GUI widescreen bars added;
22/06/08 Basic scene lighting + sun and flare effect implemented;
Skybox added;
21/06/08 Rebuilt final model city, road, building and tree layout;
20/06/08 Designed road-track layout in Flash;
01/06/08 Early Tests, modeled various basic road and building layouts;

[To Do - Known issues and planned future developments:]

- Overlapped buildings causing z-plane distortion in some places (repositioning required);
- Visible gaps between curb and road in some places (fix/edit model required);

• Camera (views, cutscenes etc.)

26/06/08 Additional ‘Tripwire-Cam’ implemented (auto-triggered by p-car position);
21/06/08 Additional ‘Heli-Cam’ view implemented (key ‘3’);
20/06/08 Additional ‘In-Car’ view implemented (key ‘2’);
01/06/08 Early Tests, ‘Camera-Follow’ view implemented (key ‘1’);

[To Do - Known issues and planned future developments:]

‘Tripwire-Cam’ should only kick in if in standard follow view;

• Player Car (p-car)

09/07/08 Blob-shadow added under car;
26/06/08 Added g-car collision detection, + collision effect and sound.
21/06/08 Added building collision detection;
20/06/08 Significantly enhanced car physics;
Added car engine snd fx;
Handbrake turn, skid-marks and skid snd fx (key ‘spacebar’);
Added car headlight light;
01/06/08 Early Tests, created basic player car and simple driving physics;

[To Do - Known issues and planned future developments:]

- Add car headlight mesh to the car model;
- Physics refinement - car flips a bit too easily in places;

• Ghost Car (g-car)

09/07/08 Blob-shadow added under car;
26/06/08 Added switch to physics upon collision with p-car;
20/06/08 Basic transform controlled car implemented (uses p-car data at the moment);
Added car engine snd fx;
Added car headlight light;
15/06/08 Early Tests;

[To Do - Known issues and planned future developments:]

- Add car headlight mesh to the car model;

• Gameplay (waypoints, goals, various, etc)

01/06/08 Early Tests, added restart level (key ‘r’);

[To Do - Known issues and planned future developments:]

- Everything!
[/u][/i]

 

Rob, that's fantastic!

Great texturing and layout of the city, I'm sure this would make the showcase section easily if you wanted to put it up there. I'm pretty certain you could start selling it too.

I don't know if you're aware of it but there's a plugin for 3D studio max called greeble, it's free. Simply put, it extrudes cubes from faces procedurally (based on a few inputs). It's great for creating urban environments quickly provided that you add in a little detail afterwards.

There's a great tutorial on it here:
http://www.3dtotal.com/team/Tutorials/schlorb_greeble_part1/schlorb_greeble_01.asp



The above image is from:
http://digitalurban.blogspot.com/2008/04/road-network-bringing-3d-greeble-cities.html

You can download the greeble plugin for 3Dsmax here:
http://www.cgindia.org/2006/11/download-greeble-r9-plug-in-for-3ds.html

 

Webplayer link from this page: (weighing in at 8.9mb).

http://web.mac.com/digitaldouble/digital_double/UrbanRaceStar/UrbanRaceStar.html

<><><>

WHAT’S NEW? - DEVELOPERS RELEASE NOTES

Version A1.4 -moving towards a gameplay 31 July 2008
[webplayer size = 8.9mb] - increased by 0.1mb from previous version

• Camera

Fixed camera issue appearing after software upgrade, related to destroying glow effect (in cinematic cam) - Thanks Eric ;

• Player Car (p-car)

Implemented compass - pointing to next waypoint / game objective (currently using a rough placeholder model);

• Gameplay (waypoints, goals, various, etc)

Implemented simple waypoint / game-objective (currently using a rough placeholder model);

Implemented car collision detection on game-objective (game-objective respawns at a random location following a collision OR a timer time-out);

Implemented text-based GUI info (dynamically updates and displays distance between car and objective [in feet “] and counts down the remaining time to get to the objective [duration is based upon initial distance between car and objective]);

Implemented graphical-based GUI info (interprets and displays the text based GUI info as above using progress bars percentages, green for distance, red for timer);

 

Nice controls, very arcade-y. Pretty good style going, too.

You should know that the 3d arrow mechanic is patented, so you can't use it if you're ever planning on making this a commercial project. At least not unless you're going to license the patent from the publisher. A Simpson's Xbox game even used it and they got sued; they lost the suit and had to fork over millions.

Did I mention I hate those that secure a software patent and then sue others over it? That's as evil as it gets right there.

I hope Nintendo never enforces all of their 3d platformer software patents...

 

looks great robbie. the music makes me chuckle every time i play - i feel like i should be driving a tricked out el camino ; )

seriously!?! i was going to use something similar for my racing game as well - freakin' lame...

 

some info here (scroll down to legalities section):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crazy_Taxi_(series)

retarded...

thanks for noting that torncanvas.

>>now wondering how the hell i'm going point to objectives without actually pointing to them<<

end hijack ; )

 

Isn't the patent on the whole Crazy Taxi concept rather than just the arrow? I thought they sued because Simpsons Road Rage was a complete rip off of Crazy Taxi? I'm sure that the device of an arrow above your car pointing to the destination has been used legally in many commercial games without the need to license it from Sega.

 

I always thought that the Simpsons suit was because the game was a complete copy too.

 

both you and Charles are right that the simpsons game got nailed for being more of a complete copy, nevertheless:

there's more that connect to and from those items but i think that about says it right there IMO. you can see the whole patent here:

http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-...50&s1=6200138.PN.&OS=PN/6200138&RS=PN/6200138

you are right about other games using it i think, i'll have to research more when i have the time. but still...

: )

 

Is it just me, or is that patent written incredibly repetitively? I mean, come on. A movable object that can be moved in movable movement space, pointing to an object of objectiveness that is the objective to which the movable moving object will point.