A first update for Top Down Racer is online with the following changes:
- New camera movement, which means that you see more of what is in front of your car
- Changed default gamepad settings to more common buttons
- Your setting for the zoom mode will be saved (it wasn't before)
- The start button containing the version number now (see picture below)
Let me know if you have any questions or if there are any issues.
Have a great day
Thomas
Full Version Released!
The full version of the game is out now. Jump in your car and take up the challenge.
Don't hesitate to contact me if you have questions or any issues.
Have a great day
Thomas
Final Touches - Full Release In A Few Days
Hello everybody,
It's time for a last Early Access Update because the most work is done and only a few tweaks are left before the full release.
A lot of things have been changed and were added to the game and the most of your suggestions are included.
Here are the largest differences between Early Access and Full Release:
- AI Behaviour (improved weight feeling and drifting)
- Leveling System
- Controller Support
- New Elements/Obstacles (let yourself be surprised)
- High Scores (time rankings for every single track)
- And, of course, a lot more Tracks (60) and Cars (6)
A Screenshot of the control menu with a lot of settings for you:
(click for full size)
Ingame screenshot with new terrain:
(click for full size)
Give me a few more days. The release of the full version will be during the next week.
Have a great weekend!
Thomas
Update About The Current Status
Hey there, I'm pretty busy, not only with the game but with all other stuff in life ... you know. ;)
But now I have time to work on all the things that are still not finished:
- Additional cars (behaviour, sounds, AI's behaviour)
- Tracks (integration)
- Making and adding some features to the tracks
- Building a leveling system
- Adding High Scores for every track
Finally, see what I bought recently:
Of course, that means I will try to get the game working with controllers. :)
Let's see how far I can get with all of that within November. I will let you know, not later than early December.
Have a great time!
Status Update and more Previews
Hi :)
I just want to let you know about the current status of the game and show you some more pictures.
So far I finished the graphics for more than 50 of the 60 tracks. Have a look:
A medium sized track:
Another medium sized track (some rocks will be added):
And finally the new terrain type on a small test track:
Integrating those tracks will take some time and there are some more things to work on, for example controller support.
I will regularly report on the current status, always letting you know how far everything is. :)
Thanks for reading and have a great time!
Contest Winners!
The contest is over and we have our 18 winners. Congratulations! Well done. :)
Here are all the great drivers:
LucaSP14
Kilgor
xGladux
hrazdira.honzicek
Szymekoculus
nckoff
Yes_nt
TurtleBoi
S u p r e m e
RacerBest
El_WaKa
Feliplex
Hurk
AnthonyCZ95
Andocas
Caito
Syzygyn
@(^_^)@tontonbynight07@(0_o)@
I send an invitation to all winners. Please accept it. Otherwise I can't send you your key, when the final version will be released.
The next steps with the game:
I'm working on the tracks and have a few other things on the list that I want to do before the final release. It's hard to say how long everything will take but I try to finish the work within the next 6-8 weeks.
Previews of New Tracks - Contest (11 Days left)
I'm pretty busy at the moment, making all the tracks for the game. Here are some previews (not final) of small and medium size tracks. Some larger ones are still in progress.
The Contest
We have 11 days left for the contest! 257 people have 3 or more medals. If we reach 300 people we will increase the number of winners by 5. We can do it. Give gas. :)
By the way: I know of one more player that had an advantage because of the bug that happened in the first days after the start of the Early Access. Therefore the current number of winners increases to 18!
For more details about how the contest works and why we have that number of winners, please read these two older News:
Two things to talk about: More winners and a new update.
We will have more winners!
Our total number of winners increased to 17 because more than 200 people played the game long enough to win 3 or more medals. Thank you all! :)
For more details about how the contest works and why we have that number of winners, please read these two older News:
And as you know, we may have more winners at the end of the contest. It depends on how many people play the game and will have 3 or more medals total. If you want to help spread the word, here are some links to share:
Remember: If we reach 300 players with 3 or more medals total then all winners of the full version of the game will get an additional surprise.
Todays Game Update
A bunch of changes were made to the game and released today. All changes are tested but nevertheless bugs and mistakes happen. So please let me know if you have any strange behaviour or an error in the game.
List of all changes:
Changed description in the Racing Mode (it led to confusion that you first win a bronze medal when you win a race against opponents. That is because you won against some not so fast opponents. If you race again the opponents will be faster and you win silver if you finish as the first. After silver your opponents will be really fast and you will get gold if you win a third time).
Russian language added – Many thanks to the translator: Nickolay Orekhov!
The game now should identify the language you set in the game settings/Steam and change automatically to your setting. Nevertheless there are still buttons in the main menu to change the language.
Screenshot function added – You may use the F12 key or whatever you defined in the Steam settings to make a screenshot.
Some small adjustments to text sizes.
Start button adjustments (it did not appear on some display resolutions).
Added shadows to the cars.
In Racing Mode and while racing the texts „Two Laps To Go“ and „One Lap To Go“ did not fade away correctly. That should be solved.
New Music added. There are different songs playing randomly.
Sounds and Music are seperated. You may turn on and off both independent of each other in the main menu.
Volume buttons added. You may change the volume of sounds and music as you wish. For both, sounds and music a volume bar was added to have the current volume setting visible.
Your sound and music settings will be saved and should be the same when you leave the game and enter it again the next time.
Short jingle added to the start screen.
Small adjustments to the graphics of the scroll buttons in the High Score menu.
Thanks for reading and have a nice weekend. :)
More Winners & More Work
Hello everybody,
This News is a bit longer but important things and headings are highlighted. Just jump to what is interesting for you.
The focus will be on two things:
First: Increased number of winners in the contest
Second: Things to change and add to the final version of the game
First of all, the important thing: The number of winners increased to 12 and the chances are very good that we will have more than 12 winners.The reasons:
There was a little bug in the calculations of the game that led to an advantage in the racing times for a handful of people with specific hardware. It's just my fault that some had that advantage, it's not their fault and, of course, it's not the fault of all people who didn't have that advantage. Therefore the number of winners increased by the number of people who had the advantage of the bug. That's 7 by now plus the original 5 = 12.
The bug is fixed and I apologize for the circumstances.
We are close to 17 winners because the rules of the contest says that for every 100 players who have at least 3 medals total we will have 5 winners. We are close to 200 people with 3 medals and if they are reached we will have 17 winners! :)
Things to change and add to the final version of the game
There was a lot of feedback and I added all suggestions to my own list and split it into three categories:
Sure: I will work on this things before the release of the final verison
Not sure: things I want to have in the game but not sure if I have enough resources (time, money, knowledge) to add them. They may be in the final version, added afterwards or won't be included.
Won't be included: what the final version will not be or have
Sure:
More obstacles
More and larger maps → those available at the moment are only appetizers
More vehicles
Tweaked car handling
Leveling system to unlock cars and maps
Different music and music while racing (with options to turn off sounds and music independent of each other)
Adding screenshot function
Improved feeling and behaviour of the AI cars
Not sure:
Integrate controller
Objects on the road to smash
Adding current highscore place/time for every single track to the track menu
Power ups → I'm not sure if this fits to the game but I have ideas for similar things that could be a good compromise
Online play → I have no idea if this is realizable with my possibilities but if there is time I will investigate on this
Offline multiplayer → same as above
Platinum medals → low priority because it's not really necessary
More AI (cars) → same as above
Customisation → I'm not sure if the game needs it and I'm not sure if it's realizable with my possibilities
Won't be included:
Pixel Art → I will tweak the current style but won't change to Pixel Art
Weapons → That's not what I want to have in the game
That's it ... or do you have other suggestions or any questions? Just let me know. :)
Small Update
Hi there, only short news for the moment. I made some minor changes to the game, which are:
- deleted some useless code fragments
- added sounds when hitting rocks with a car
- tweaked steering at the second (small) car
- made some changes to the timer (only in the background, but please tell me, if you have any strange behaviour)
I will write a longer news in some days (approx. at the end of next week), talking about some issues, addressing all suggestions and things that will be changed or added to the game in the future.
