MiLE HiGH TAXi: March 13th 2023 Release Confirmed!
Official Release Date Announcement
I am thrilled to officially announce the release date for my game - March 13, 2023. MiLE HiGH TAXi players will soon have the opportunity to take on the role of the ultimate scifi hover taxi driver. The game is a fast-paced race against the clock in a vibrant, futuristic city reminiscent of "The Fifth Element" with arcade-style gameplay found in classics like "Crazy Taxi", "Simpsons Road Rage" and more.
Upgrade Complete - Wishlist Goal Achieved
That's not all - I am also overjoyed to announce that I have achieved my personal goal of attaining 20,000 Wishlists for the game on Steam! This is a significant milestone for any game developer, solo or otherwise, and I could not have done it without the support and excitement from fans of the game and community.
To celebrate these announcements, I created a new trailer
I want to take a moment to express my sincere gratitude to everyone who has supported me throughout the development of this game over the last 3 years - including my now 6 year old beta testing daughter! Whether you've been following my progress on social media, added the game to your Steam Wishlist, or shared your excitement with your friends and family, your support has been invaluable to me.
I am proud of the hard work and effort that I have put into the development of this game, and the achievement of 20,000 Wishlists on Steam is a clear indication that my game concept is being very well-received. I think nostalgia plays a huge role here :) It's also an indication of the trust and support that the community has in me as a developer and in my game.
I Still Need Your Help!
Now is the time for one final push. I'm asking you once again to help raise awareness for MiLE HiGH TAXi, be it in your personal interactions or on your social media accounts. Let's see if we can get to 30,000 or even 50,000 wishlists by March 13th.
As we count down the days until the release date, I encourage players to add the game to their Steam Wishlist and join me on social media to stay up-to-date on the latest news and developments leading up to the release.
Once again, I want to express my gratitude to all the fans, wishlisters and community for the support and encouragement. Without you this would not have been possible. It's with your support that I am able to bring this game to life and I look forward to seeing you all enjoy the game on its release day.
With the release of MiLE HiGH TAXi just a few short months away, I'm nearing completion of development. There's still enough time to add one last play mode (that will make 4) or feature, but I need your help deciding which one it will be!
The Contestants
Here are the features I'm considering adding for the release date. But before I get to that, if the play mode you vote for isn't the winner, don't worry! I intend to add the others after the game's release. For now, I'm just trying to lock-in the final mode to be available in the game at release day.
I'll just say it: my personal preference is #1. But winner takes all!
1. Race Mode
What better way to learn the city and get a handle on the hover car controls than by racing other hover cars? Players will race through city courses, performing laps. My hope is to have 3 tracks/courses ready for launch.
2. Police Chase
This one isn't a game mode, it's just a feature of regular game play. Unknowingly pick up a wanted passenger and find yourself being chased by police. Avoid capture or you'll not only lose your fare you'll lose the game. Drive fast and lose the cops, or learn some of the best hidden areas of the city and lose them that way.
3. Ride Share
Get 2 passengers into your taxi instead of just 1. Take a gamble and pick up two passengers and drop them at different locations. Why is it a gamble? Because you never know how far apart their drop-off locations will be and you risk running out of time!
4. First Person View
Not much to say about this one - play from a first-person view. I've wanted it and others have asked for it.
In recent months, Steam has been placing more emphasis on compatibility with their Steam Deck hand-held gaming console. Some time ago, I put in a request to receive a development deck, but those are in very short supply. Instead, it would seem, Steam reviewed MiLE HiGH TAXi for Deck compatibility. I'm happy to announce the game received "Verified" status yesterday.
You Spoke, I Listened. Enhancements Coming to MiLE HiGH TAXi
Lessons from Steam Next Fest
Last week's Next Fest games festival told me a lot about you, your expectations, and where to focus my efforts on improving MiLE HiGH TAXi. Given the massive numbers of festival demo players, I can see the game attracts a larger audience than I expected. This is fantastic! But given all the constructive feedback, there's still lots to be added or improved.
Here are just some of the things I've fixed-up, changed, or improved in these last 2 weeks.
Changes I've Made or Am Working On
Tutorial Section
Yes, I hear you. You don't like being forced into the tutorial, you don't like its pacing, or you feel it's completely unnecessary for a veteran gamer. And you're right!
What I've Done: I have changed the game so that the tutorial must explicitly be selected from the main menu, rather than automatically starting. Once the tutorial has started you can now skip out of it by pressing Start.
What I'm Working On: The tutorial needs a bit more work, like referencing the elevation indicator! (how did I miss this?) I'm also looking at ways to make the tutorial quicker to get through - more concise.
Game Controls
"The controls are too sensitive", "controls suck", "controls need work". Yes, I hear you and agree with you! The controls in the demo left many of you frustrated. I'm fixing that!
What I've Done: There are two things I've already changed to improve the controls (not yet in demo builds).
Changed the camera movement to allow the player to perform better, meaning less time bouncing back and forth off walls. It also helps when going around a blind corner.
Improved the controls. Things feel a little less loose now, more responsive to intent and less sensitive overall, faster reverse, and better speed control at close proximity to name a few.
What I'm Working On:
Ongoing adjustments to the controls and how they feel.
I'm going to re-map the controls. Plenty of you have said the control mapping is too different from other driving games you've played - which mostly use the same mappings. I'm following suit.
A few other controls I took off the table a long time ago are back. If I can get them right, they'll be in the game. Barrel rolls* are one example.
Keyboard/Mouse. A bunch of you let me know that if it doesn't work with your keyboard and mouse you won't touch the game. While I personally refuse to play any game that requires keyboard/mouse, I'm not you - nor the average gamer. So I'm going to be adding in keyboard/mouse support!
"Where Am I Supposed to Go???" - Navigation
I watched a few live streamers play and noticed a lot of confusion about where to drop passengers off. Some people repeatedly smashed into the same wall, expecting a different result, relying exclusively on the direction arrow to navigate. It lead to a poor experience.
What I'm Working On:
Adjusting the NavCom AI at the bottom-left to serve two purposes instead of just one
Indicate the position of potential passengers (already present)
Minimap that shows a GPS-like path to the destination
Route-based navigation arrow instead of direction-based. In other words, the arrow will point like a car GPS to the next street the player should take, based on their current position. Only once the player gets close enough will it then point directly to the destination.
Other General Enhancements
Here's a few other random things I'm improving on.
More vertical space and a more friendly notification when the player is leaving their vertical employment zone
Ability to fly at a steeper vertical angle when heading both up or down
More hovercar traffic
Cleanup to the voice dialog volumes. It can be hard to hear the passenger, player, or dispatcher when there's a lot of background pedestrians talking.
There's more in progress beyond this list. It's a lot of work and if I need to delay the game release a little in order to get it right I'll be sure to provide you an update.
I look forward to implementing more of these and other improvements to make this game as fun as possible!
* Some enhancements may not make it into the final game if they don't deliver better game play.
I'm Looking For Your Feedback and Ideas
Something Not Right?
Have you already tried the demo but found something to be ... not quite right? Do you have an awesome idea for a small change that will deliver a big impact? Struggle with the controls or finding passengers? Or maybe something else? Now is your opportunity to let me know. Please be sure to check the bottom half of this page first to see what I'm already working on.
Why now? Because the flood gates will be open in just a few days when Steam Next Fest begins, and I expect the number of demo users will go up significantly.
Why you? Because you showed an interest in MiLE HiGH TAXi before anyone else! You have either Wishlisted and played the demo, or simply found the demo and gave it a try.
I found this during Next Fest. Can I still offer my feedback? Yes of course you can. I'm happy to receive all constructive criticism and feedback. I just wanted to give my early adopters first crack on their ideas - which is why I've posted this before Next Fest.
How do I reach you? There are 4 primary ways, depending on what you're comfortable with.
Here's a few of the things I'm already adjusting, based on user feedback.
These may not be in the public demo builds yet.
Faster stopping. The "go-stop-go" wasn't quite feeling fast enough on the "stop" side of things. Now the brakes are awesome!
More intuitive direction arrow. Right now the arrow points at the exact destination rather than the route to take. I'm working on making it point out the route instead.
Better controls while going slow. It can be frustrating when you're 10ft away from a passenger but keep overshooting them because of the acceleration. I'm working on making controls better while close to a pickup or dropoff.
I look forward to implementing suggestions and improvements to make this game as fun as possible!
Free Demo at Steam Game Festival
Don't miss your chance to try MiLE HiGH TAXi for free at the next Steam Game Festival, starting October 3rd 2022. There will be a free playable demo and I also plan on doing a couple of live streams throughout the festival.
More information about the exact dates will follow, so stay tuned. I'm VERY excited to share this first public release with the community! Help me by spreading the word!
Oh, and make sure to Wishlist the game so you don't miss it!
Cheers, Cassius
AMA - DEVELOPER LIVE STREAM - Next Fest October 2022 Edition
MiLE HiGH TAXi - it's "The Fifth Element" meets "Crazy Taxi"
Hello there. I'm Cassius John-Adams, creator of MiLE HiGH TAXi. I will be playing and live streaming for about an hour, as well as doing an AMA as part of the Steam Game Festival 2022. Be sure to come by and watch me play and ask your questions.
Steam Next Fest runs from October 3rd to 10th 2022.
See you Friday, October 7th, 11:00PM EDT (8:00PM PDT)
DEVELOPER LIVE STREAM - Next Fest October 2022 Edition
MiLE HiGH TAXi - it's "The Fifth Element" meets "Crazy Taxi"
Hello there. I'm Cassius John-Adams, creator of MiLE HiGH TAXi. I will be playing and live streaming for about an hour as part of the Steam Game Festival 2022. Be sure to come by and watch me play.
Steam Next Fest runs from October 3rd to 10th 2022.
See you Friday, October 7th, 11:00PM EDT (8:00PM PDT)
DEVELOPER LIVE STREAM - Next Fest October 2022 Edition
MiLE HiGH TAXi - it's "The Fifth Element" meets "Crazy Taxi"
Hello there. I'm Cassius John-Adams, creator of MiLE HiGH TAXi. I will be playing and live streaming for about an hour as part of the Steam Game Festival 2022. Be sure to come by and watch me play.
Steam Next Fest runs from October 3rd to 10th 2022.
See you Monday, October 3rd, 9:00PM EDT (6:00PM PDT)
