Time Attack Racing Game Concept

Most Recent Update January 30, 2012
Steering is less sensitive, Traction Control is Enabled, Increased traction on both Track and Grass surfaces, Downforce from Wing/Splitter/Diffuser, Competition tires.

Time Attack Racing game concept. It's you against the clock. No AI opponents to contend with. Smooth driving, correct gear selections, and the optimal racing lines will result in fast times. Simple to play, but hard to master.
Fastest Lap is currently at 65.61 seconds. I would like to see what you can do. Post your Lap times here.

Currently, the game is only a demo and a test for the concept. It is definately a work in progress. I would like to be able to post fast times for different circuits and different classes of cars.



Behind the game:

- Physics Engine: Unity Car v.1.2
- Car Model: Modeled in Modo 501 (6070 triangles) and textured in Photoshop by me
- Race track: Modeled in Modo 501 and textured in Photoshop by me
- Lap Timing: Coded in #C by me.

Play the game online with a Webplayer here: http://www.timeattackgame.com

Any constructive feedback is greatly appreciated.

Driving Instructions:

- Forward Controls: Arrow Keys or WASD : Accelerate(W), Left(A), Brake(S), Right(D) **Using Arrows recommended if you are right handed.

- Reverse Controls: Press K to engage Reverse, Arrow Keys or WASD to control. **Must Press K again to go forward.

- Gear Shifting: F key to Upshift, V key to downshift. **Manual Downshifting is recommended for faster lap times.

- Handbrake: Space Bar for handbraking. Only effective during launch. **Handbrake when car is not moving, rev engine, release handbrake.

- Cameras: C key to toggle different cameras
- Reset: Escape key to restart.

Hints for Fast Lap Times:
- Turn 1 (after front straight): 4th gear is optimal.
- Turn 3 (before uphill): 3rd gear is optimal
- Beware of rough patch on back straight... car will become unstable.
- Full throttle on all Turns except for 1 and 3.

 

Wow this is incredible. Car seems like it's driving on ice most of the time.

 

I think the car has pretty good grip. But it does have 650 horsepower, so it will get sideways on you. Don't drive off track. Grass is very slippery.

 

This is cool, I had fun just driving around! I was also spinning out a lot even on the track. You are probably right that this car should behave like that but the lack of analog button for acceleration makes it hard to adjust the speed. Tapping multiple time the acceleration button didn't quite replicate the effect.

 

Driving with keyboard keys is definitely challenging. First time I drove the car from Unity Tutorial with keyboard keys, I thought it was silly. After much practice, I'm actually good at it. I have not tested the game using steering wheel and pedals, but this particular physics engine (UnityCar 1.2) is compatible with Logitech G27. Maybe someone can try driving it with a wheel.

 

Looks cool, feels oookay BUT.. for both, a racing simulation and an arcade racer, there is nothing more important than the physics (my 2 cents).
Sure, it's easier setting up nice controls for a simple FPS game.. I know, but I really just wanna give some constructive criticism.

Are you pushing the car on the ground (AddForce)? - Like Front / Rear wing would do it?
It really feels like the front axle is loosing grip while the rear tires are sticking on the ground.. and then again the car starts to behave unstable and you are loosing control unpredictably.

I am working on my own car physics at the moment, and it really is a pain (in the beginning). The important thing is: Change something (just one thing!) -> Test -> change again -> Test. Never change multiple variables without testing unless you've learned everything about how your physics behave. In the end, you do not want just one setting for only one car that behaves (just) good, but you want to simulate different cars.. And by then at the latest you have to know the physic script you are working with like ...inside out.

Go and play other racing games and look what you like about their physics systems... Test around with those games, try to figure out how this and that has been done, what effects are essential for the player experience you want to achieve.

(Arcade) racing games that target the casual player (keyboard!), should not challenge the player too much. And for me right now, your demo feels a bit frustrating (as I said above: loosing control to fast, unstable ..suspension?)

sorry for english, it's 3:20 am and I am not a native speaker

 

Wow good start in my opinion...physics feel good. I would say maybe needs just a tad more grip on the tires, but I'm no physics expert so I dunno. I do think the audio work is superb, the transitions, shifting sounds, etc. I have to ask if you are willing to share some insight into how your car audio is setup? This is one thing I've always needed help on.

 

I have to agree its a good start. But definitely it is far too discouraging..
Car is barely controllable even on asphalt.

Even on the grass, it should not loose control that fast.

Anyway, the sounds was very good and we can feel the power of the car. You just need to add some squealing tire to make it even better.
Good luck.

 

I'm surprised that grip is the issue. The physics is UnityCar 1.2 from NewLife. I actually added more grip to the car setup he has. I will definitely tune it some more.

@JamesArndt: the sound set up is easy with the soundcontroller in UnityCar. It's all about having good sound files. I'll help you any way I can.

 

@dannolah - Good heads up on the car tutorial script. I am not sure if that solution will work for me or I may have to dumb the script down. I'm using mine for an iOS project and this might be a bit much audio for iPhone. I'm still trying to find a good performing vehicle sound solution.

 

Looking good, dannolah!

I am making a driving game using UnityCar 1.2 too, and here are some things I found.

1. I had to increase the grip coeff. a ton, like up to 4, to get controllable cars.
2. The steering seems too sensitive right now. You can adjust the SteerSteer Time, Steer Release Time, Velo Steer Time, and Velo Steer Release Time to change the sensitivity.
3. I decided to make my tracks really wide so that new players would not drive off the track so often.

Keep up the good work!

 

It's very good, but incredibly difficult to control. Even lighting pressing a turn key makes you spin around and around...

 

@JamesArndt

Hi !
Car audio set up are really simple in my opinion. It is just about pitching an engine sound to simulate low rev and high rev.

How do you calculate the rpm of the engine in your game ? Maybe your code very simple and you don't have any engine at all ?

If this is the case, you can pitch an engine sound based on the speed of your car.
Basically at 0 speed the sound will be pitch to 0.2 or 0.3. Then at your max speed, you can go up to 2.0 or something.


@dannolah
I wish i can show to you my "car engine" for Unity.

I have found good setup recently and driving at high speed is as much enjoyable as low speed.
I may be able to show you some videos a little bit later or even put an online demo if you are interested.

 

IMO for racing games, unity is an awful engine.

 

Hi dannolah,
nice work. Anyway you are missing some important things here, first of all TCS. With a so powerful car you really need the help of TCS, especially using keyboard as input. Turn it on.
Other important thing (as wrote MooseMouse) is steer sensitiveness. Now steer is respond too quickly. Make it slower. In UnityCar demos, Ferrari and Catamount have two different setups, one for PixelActive City (fast steer) and one for Monza Track (slow steer). Even more important is Steer Assistance (limits max steering angle). Now you can turn full left or full right even if you are going 100 mph (insane in real life). Turn on Steer Assistance.
Did you add front and rear wing? they are very important to increase grip with speed.
Which tire are you using? With this car you should have chosen "competition".

With these fixes, you'll don't have to increase grip in order to have a controllable car.

 

Thank you very much to all who left feedback. I updated the demo game.

@NewLife: TCS is now on, steering is less sensitive (used same setting as Ferrari on Monza), steering assistance is on, Downforce from Wing/Splitter/Diffuser, tire is competition setting.

@jujunosuke: I'm very interested in seeing your car engine for Unity

@Moosemouse: I took your advice and increased grip coeff

I learned something that I didn't expect. Everyone has different keyboard driving style. I don't think I can make everyone happy. The previous demo game that everyone thought that it was uncontrollable was actually perfect for my driving style. But, it's not about me, it's about finding a happy medium where many people can enjoy the game.

Let me know what you think...Is it better?

 

hi dammolah,
now is clearly better.
Anyhow i think that the car has too high inertia in changing direction, probably due to too low COG and too high grip (or increased inertia factor).
Try to change these values in order to achieve quicker directions changing.

 

@NewLife: Thank you for the advice. I made small changes based on your suggestions. I think the car is more controllable. It is definitely more mild.

 

Nice
A few questions
What traction values are you using for grass and track ? Is it possible to decrease speed on grass ?

Can you share the LapTime script please ?

Keep updating the project...

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-14Wh4QZXCU&feature=fvst

At the first second i was like "How he did it so arcadish??" and then i notice that TCS is on

imo decrease "steer to center" times, steering have a little too big inertia, it makes driving not that enjoyable as possible.
And keep it! This "start point" looks and drives really good

edit: forgot to say - please, enable mouse, so hardcore simracers will spend some time to compete with you

 

Good game but I hate the controls, they need some fine tuning.

 

Are you going to do any blogging or tutorials on how you got the car to slide out so much? I'm trying to sort out some handbrake or sliding action for my Kart demo.

 

JamesArndt: The car physics engine is UnityCar 1.2. The car slides out a great deal because both traction control and EPS are disabled. Possibly, I will do a little bit of blogging on how I like to set up my cars. Thank you for trying it out.

 

Love these car physics! So much fun to drive!

89.69 was my best time

Keep working on this - it's brilliant!

 

psychicparrot: thank you very much for the encouraging words. I will definitely continue to work on it.

 

83.04, luv how car losing traction on last corner

awesome job, you really know how to deal with this.

 

DEtH_MoroZ: Thank you for checking out my demo. Great lap time.

 

i agree with moroz! nice work GameReady3D.
maybe it would be even better with less inertia at low speed.

If you are interested, contact me on skype or email to receive UnityCar 2.0 LE.
You can test your game with the new arcade mode (now thers a strength factor, so you can change the amount of the effect).
It can be interesting to check if this can help you improve your game.

Let me know,
Michele