RASCAL RIDER - superbikes meet cyberpunk

Hi

My name is Adam, from cameleon-labs, and what we want to share here is: RASCAL RIDER. And because everybody likes images....



This is the first screenshot that we have just made public. It's all Unity, no post-processing at all. We will still work on qulity, details and overal richness of the textures, lighting and environments, but this shows the art style that have chosen for the game.

In RASCAL RIDER you will take part in a motorcycle racing series specially designed to entertain millions with its unforgiving and violent rules. Being on track you and all of your opponents will be allowed to use different kind of weaponry to claim your place at the finish line. From melee attacks to shooting rival riders in the back - everything is allowed. The high-tech protective suit and medical bots standing by the track will keep you in one piece during the race, as long as you can stand the pain of getting trashed over and over…

The game will feature both single player and a cross-platform multiplayer modes. In both modes you will have a choice of allowing the use of the weapons with or without restrictions to create your preffered mix of racing and combat. With the handling model balancing between spectacularity and physics Rascal Rider gameplay provides fun and rewarding racing experience.

We are going utilize Unity cross-platform capabilities, and deploy RASCAL RIDER for PC, Mac, Linux, and mobile platforms, which will of course need some tricks to keep gameplay compatible, while puting more impact on visuals or on performnce, depending on the build.

We are also preparing a graphic novel, that will explain the world of RASCAL RIDER, and that's why our story teaser looks like that:

[video=youtube_share;AIPqChQ61L4]http://youtu.be/AIPqChQ61L4

You can have a look at some concept arts here:






or listen to the Main Theme from the soundtrack here:
[video=youtube_share;mAygCOZcWgM]http://youtu.be/mAygCOZcWgM

And if you are interested in the project you can find it and follow, besides this thread, in the place of your choice:
Facebook: http://facebook.com/cameleonlabs
InidieDB: http://www.indiedb.com/games/rascal-rider
Twitter: https://twitter.com/cameleonlabs
Steam Greenlight: http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfile.../?id=165407555

All kind of questions and feedback are very welcome. We are currently working on both the gameplay experience and visual style, both needing polishing so we really hope to get some feedback as post more and more stuff

 

Looks great, I like the artwork!
Brings back fond memories of Namco's Cyber Cycles...

 

Thanks, I'm glad that you like it
And it's great how many different associations people do have with this concept, with Road Rash being obviously the most common. But we are happy every time someone mentions something new, this way we know that people do actually pay attention to different aspects of the world and design

 

Yes I was just thinking about Road Rash, so glad to see this type of game get back into the mix again. It looks amazing! Very professionally done

 

thx, we are doing our best, which includes realizing that there is no link to the HD version of the screenshot
so here it is:
http://cameleon-labs.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/rascal_rider_artstyle_screenshot.jpg

so have a look at it now guys, and tell us what do you think about this style

 

Looks cool

 

Wow this game looks great!

But I guess you're here for some feedbacks, so I'll try to get you something pertinent. I'm no artist (I'm a programmer in fact) so I may not be the best one listen to for that kind of feedback, but your main screenshot (the first one) looks weird to me. I think it has something to do with the overall amount of details. The entire picture looks somewhat flat with a lot a gradients everywhere. I kind of like that. I like the red rider too. The problem is that they do not match together. It feels like the environment and the character have been made by 2 different persons and they didn't talk together that much, or they didn't have any artistic direction. I guess the easiest solution here would be to flatten the rider, remove most of the grains on his cloths and also remove the reflection on his mask.

The story in the first video is the main reason why I'm interested in that game.

Another foot note: I didn't do any racing game myself, but I work with a guy who did few ones for clients. Getting the controls right on a racing game is highly difficult. I'm pretty sure it's going to be the biggest challenge your coders will have to overcome. Do not under-estimate this challenge. Gameplay is more important than the story (in most situations).

 

thx for feedback guys

The thing you are noticing about the difference between characters and environment DDP, may be caused by the fact that they simply use different shaders and lighting (lightmaps vs light probes). The environment is highly optimized for performance, and the characters are bit more fancy. Getting them to work perfectly together still needs some work. Different shots and animated sequences with more in-game camera views will show how much of a problem it is.

As for the controls, all I can say is that you are right. Add some fighting mechanics and it gets even harder

 

A few screenshots from Rascal Rider pre-alpha. Pure unedited screens. Using lightmapping, light probes and single directional light plus camera effects.

We will be really greatfull for feedback. We are getting ready for crowdfunding and all opinions are welcome.

If you like our work please consider heading to our FB page (https://www.facebook.com/cameleonlabs) and giving us a Like. Maybe someone you know will notice

 

We have just put together a sneak peek at the first game location. Still a WIP and searching for feedback.

[video=youtube_share;79IhBKNIZV0]http://youtu.be/79IhBKNIZV0

 

Very nice rimau. Love the music

 

A cross-platform multiplayer test: PASSED

Everything works just fine. Why is there so little cross-platform games? It really works. Of course you need to have a certain type of gameplay etc... but it works.

[video=youtube_share;5GtDP-PGN6E]http://youtu.be/5GtDP-PGN6E

 

Wow guys, I'm really liking what I'm seeing here! I mean, you guys blew me away with your initial concept, but I'm so used to seeing most projects end at just that. They are or have a great artist on their team, get people interested, but never commit. Glad to see you guys held your word, you are professionals through and through and I can see you going places!

And now innovative ideas coming out of your company such as trying cross-platform games. The only reasons I could think of that Cross-Platform games would be a bit of an issue would be hardware/performance issues (I:E phone vs PC Master Race ). Big monitors for computers, little ones for phones. But it's good that there is the option at least. Keep up the excellent work guys! All hail the future of Road Rash meets Maximum Road Kill!

 

Thx for your support

As for the cross-platform... it isn't easy with steering, balance, etc... you need to choose your genre right, you need to design the game for cross-platform from the very beginning. It takes extra effort, but it can be done and in our opinion it's worth trying

 

So here we go with an update... or two updates in fact:

1. We have prepared a short, pre-alpha gameplay video:
[video=youtube_share;c7jZ18zF_E4]http://youtu.be/c7jZ18zF_E4

2. We did this as a parto of our crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo.
http://igg.me/at/rascalrider/x/3895139
So wish us luck, and spread the word maybe?

I will also be very greatfull for any feedback regarding the Indiegogo page. We tried to keep it clean and simple, not to overload it, but if there is stuff that you think is missing, please let me know.