Looking for feedback on the racing game that I'm developing

[DragonJam]

Hello everyone!

First let me introduce me since this is my first post at Digital Press:

My name is Javier, I'm a guy from Spain who's always loved and played games since the 80's. I worked as a QA tester at EA for two years, and finally joined an indie videogame studio. We're an 11 people team currently working on our first game.

The thing is that we really care about our first game and want to make it as good as we can. Since we're an indie studio and also got tired of how big studios care more about hyping their titles, rather than hearing to gamers, we've decided to do right the opposite thing.

We are very interested in hearing people opinion on our game, suggestions, ideas....everything! and take them into account while we develop the game. We're showing our game at an early stage, no tricks! even though we're aware that some people would say that it sucks, cause unfinished games usually looks like crap. We don't care, we think that's the price we gotta pay if we really want to hear gamers opinion from the start.

Don't hesitate to ask anything you feel like, I promise to answer everybody. We are also open to hear any idea, doesn't mind how crazy it might sound. In exchange, I can offer closed-beta access to people interested, just go to our site and sign up and you'll be included in the beta testers list.

So, regarding our game:

Formula Wincars is an arcade karting PC title full of fast-paced races where you will compete online against a whole community of worldwide players!

We implemented lots of online gaming features, specifically inspired by those from MOBA games. That means that strategy and tactics will be important too.

Our latest trailer:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6vi5yTJaSg

But I must say that in fact it's pretty old and the game looks much better now, it's just that we don't have enough time to make another trailer without stopping the developing of the game. And the game is the priority now. Our closed beta relases within two months approximately so we're working hardly to fulfil that deadline. (not sure if we will be able to do it or finally delay it a little bit)

Our game is intended to be totally oriented to online competition with some features like up to 4000 players tournaments. These tournaments will have real life prizes to winnners, and virtual goodies like car skins to every participant.

We're also running a development blog at our site where we make updates and try to share everything we learn and how we solve the problems we encounter (I don't know if it's allowed to put the link here, but if you're interested just google it). If you're curious about how games are made or you are a game dev student, you can have a look at it.

Some images of the game and its development:

http://www.formulawincars.com/content/es/imagen_nota_prensa5.jpg

http://www.formulawincars.com/sites/default/files/arenetorino.gif
http://www.formulawincars.com/content/utils/email/car_skins.jpg
http://www.formulawincars.com/content/Prous2.jpg
http://www.formulawincars.com/content/Prous3.jpg
http://www.formulawincars.com/content/Prous4.jpg
http://www.formulawincars.com/system/files/styles/adaptive/private/montana_0.jpg?itok=uQ-TvPz0
http://www.formulawincars.com/content/cars/Carelle_ClasicRed_512.jpg
http://www.formulawincars.com/content/HangingCliffs1.jpg
http://www.formulawincars.com/content/JurrasicVolcano2.jpg
http://www.formulawincars.com/content/JurrasicVolcano3.jpg
http://www.formulawincars.com/system/files/styles/adaptive/private/Circuit9.jpg?itok=EdKBBNIe

[Tanooki]

I like the look of those cars in that spreadsheet there and they remind me of micro machines. I'm not going to watch the video if it's as out of date as you say it is as it won't give a fair impression at all. I think aiming at physical prizes is a bit ambitious but if you can manage it, go for it, but I think your money will be in having lots of winnable and give away content.

[Emperor Megas]

The Penny Racer style cars are alright, I guess, and the track designs are appealing, but I really don't care for this type of character design. I just never have. It's weird, and probably not a fair assessment, but something about this style of character model always screams C-list, budget game to me. Even if/when a game is good, I can't get past this sort of look enough to enjoy it. This was my problem with Freaky Fliers. I think the original Fusion Frenzy is the only exception.

Hopefully more people appreciate the art style than don't though. Best of luck with your game.

[Tanooki]

I hate to admit it, but he's right about your characters. I was mostly looking at the car models and the track representations, but those people seem like a C-list cast/animation style of some freemium garbage on a tablet/touch phone. Perhaps lose the models and just have a cars or find a better style if they're a must. There's plenty of highly successful car games which you never see the people.

[Greg2600]

The footage of the game looks nice. Looks very good. I think this could be a bit caught in the middle of potential customers. It's not licensed so you've got an uphill battle to get noticed. It's also maybe a bit too upscale for the casual iOS/Facebook gamer, who would play on their phones.

[DragonJam]

I like the look of those cars in that spreadsheet there and they remind me of micro machines. I'm not going to watch the video if it's as out of date as you say it is as it won't give a fair impression at all. I think aiming at physical prizes is a bit ambitious but if you can manage it, go for it, but I think your money will be in having lots of winnable and give away content.

Hello Tanooki!

Yes, the physical prizes was something that we really wanted to be in the game, we'll go for that indeed.

Thanks a lot for the feedback!

[DragonJam]

The Penny Racer style cars are alright, I guess, and the track designs are appealing, but I really don't care for this type of character design. I just never have. It's weird, and probably not a fair assessment, but something about this style of character model always screams C-list, budget game to me. Even if/when a game is good, I can't get past this sort of look enough to enjoy it. This was my problem with Freaky Fliers. I think the original Fusion Frenzy is the only exception.

Hopefully more people appreciate the art style than don't though. Best of luck with your game.

Thanks a lot for the feedback, we'll take your opinion regardind the drivers into account!!

[DragonJam]

I hate to admit it, but he's right about your characters. I was mostly looking at the car models and the track representations, but those people seem like a C-list cast/animation style of some freemium garbage on a tablet/touch phone. Perhaps lose the models and just have a cars or find a better style if they're a must. There's plenty of highly successful car games which you never see the people.

One thing is true, we'll always receive better feedback when showing the cars than when talked about the drivers.

Maybe, it's not a designing or art problem, maybe we could represent them linked to their Special Skill which sure will make them look more interesting. We'll highlight the car models in next promo pics.

Thanks again for your comment!

[DragonJam]

The footage of the game looks nice. Looks very good. I think this could be a bit caught in the middle of potential customers. It's not licensed so you've got an uphill battle to get noticed. It's also maybe a bit too upscale for the casual iOS/Facebook gamer, who would play on their phones.

Hello Greg2600,

If you liked the footage, you will surely love the final game, because it looks much better than that, I'll post here the new trailer as soon as it's done.

And yes, even though our game has a competitive factor, mid-to-casual gamers can also enjoy our game just racing for fun, instead of developing strategies and mastering each car. I'm talking about PC gamers, our game maybe it's a little too much for casual iOS/Facebook players.

Thanks a lot for the feedback!

[Tanooki]

An option maybe would be to just go 90s style with it, and have a headshot in a box, not the full character. No one really is going to care much who they are or some big complicated bio or other drivel. Think of it from like an earlier 90s/mid 90s arcade approach or even what F-Zero X on N64 had where it was a head in a box, a name, and then you had the bars there factoring the A-E scale of greatness on damage, turn, speed, acceleration. It gave someone something to remember by name, but not anything else since it wouldn't detract from the cars or tracks since this is a racer.

I'm just thinking of it from a game developing standpoint as I was in this stuff a long time ago and media after that point for years. If you want to catch more people don't play up the drivers, play up the unique cars, their abilities, the courses and the obstacles. You're no Nintendo, you can't go nuts and have people fall in love with Montana Dom there like you would with Super Mario, it won't happen. Play to the strengths of the game and not the frills because when you get down to it, Montana isn't driving the car -- I am. Perhaps I think Montana looks like some muscle headed redneck douche and that alone would NOT make me want to use that car so I don't have to look at that guy at all. I've seen that complaint a LOT over the years and I'm even guilty of ignoring a good car because it was some idiot behind the wheel.

[DragonJam]

An option maybe would be to just go 90s style with it, and have a headshot in a box, not the full character. No one really is going to care much who they are or some big complicated bio or other drivel. Think of it from like an earlier 90s/mid 90s arcade approach or even what F-Zero X on N64 had where it was a head in a box, a name, and then you had the bars there factoring the A-E scale of greatness on damage, turn, speed, acceleration. It gave someone something to remember by name, but not anything else since it wouldn't detract from the cars or tracks since this is a racer.

I'm just thinking of it from a game developing standpoint as I was in this stuff a long time ago and media after that point for years. If you want to catch more people don't play up the drivers, play up the unique cars, their abilities, the courses and the obstacles. You're no Nintendo, you can't go nuts and have people fall in love with Montana Dom there like you would with Super Mario, it won't happen. Play to the strengths of the game and not the frills because when you get down to it, Montana isn't driving the car -- I am. Perhaps I think Montana looks like some muscle headed redneck douche and that alone would NOT make me want to use that car so I don't have to look at that guy at all. I've seen that complaint a LOT over the years and I'm even guilty of ignoring a good car because it was some idiot behind the wheel.

Yeah, something similar happened to me sometimes!

Well, in our game you can choose car and driver for separate, so you won't have that problem! You will be able to choose any car with the driver that you prefer.

Maybe you're right in your point, I really appreciate your sincerity and how you explain your idea!

[Tanooki]

Just trying to help a bit. I've seen a lot of projects private and big company fail pretty bad due to shortsighted design or bad budgeting. You seem to have a competent and interesting enough looking game on your hands there so I just put it out there as something to think about. It's hard to comment much more on it since the video is unfairly old and you just have pictures.

Also one thing, maybe it's an old image, but the one with the 4 people on it, have you ever noticed the drawing quality of them isn't even? The lady in the background looks noticeably less refined/less quality than Montana there in front. She maybe needing to be re-rendered to be as clean, sharp and professional looking. It's the face, not really the body.

[DragonJam]

Just trying to help a bit. I've seen a lot of projects private and big company fail pretty bad due to shortsighted design or bad budgeting. You seem to have a competent and interesting enough looking game on your hands there so I just put it out there as something to think about. It's hard to comment much more on it since the video is unfairly old and you just have pictures.

Also one thing, maybe it's an old image, but the one with the 4 people on it, have you ever noticed the drawing quality of them isn't even? The lady in the background looks noticeably less refined/less quality than Montana there in front. She maybe needing to be re-rendered to be as clean, sharp and professional looking. It's the face, not really the body.

Yes, I noticed that, but we haven't had time to make a new ones or correct that, besides, you're the first one who noticed that!! ;)

We're currently working in new promo pictures, and we'll take you advise: more importance to the cars than to the drivers.

We'll post here the results!

Once again, thanks for the feedback!

[PreZZ]

I love karting games, but it seems no one can get it right like Nintendo (or Rare ddkr!), they always end up feeling ''generic''. If you can get awesome track designs and brilliant weapons, I might pick this up, as long as you dont put microtransactions in it or make it ios type of game. I hope you can get it on consoles, pc games of this type dont do really well.

[Tanooki]

Yes, I noticed that, but we haven't had time to make a new ones or correct that, besides, you're the first one who noticed that!! ;)

We're currently working in new promo pictures, and we'll take you advise: more importance to the cars than to the drivers.

We'll post here the results!

Once again, thanks for the feedback!

I'm paid to notice, my job is auditing so I nitpick the crap out of stuff to drive people nuts who have to go back and fix stuff to make it right. :D

Prezz--Sega in its most latest kart racing game rated very well. Also it's a pretty popular suggestion online if you get away from the rabid fanboys that Konami beat out Nintendo with Konami Krazy Racers on GBA as the better game with nicer courses, good weapons, great handling and the presentation value of it too.

[Emperor Megas]

Also it's a pretty popular suggestion online if you get away from the rabid fanboys that Konami beat out Nintendo with Konami Krazy Racers on GBA as the better game with nicer courses, good weapons, great handling and the presentation value of it too.I've never heard of this game before. Do they use Konami characters?

[Tanooki]

That's all it uses. Here's a list off the wiki, I couldn't remember 1/2 of them so I went hunting:



Konami Krazy Racers features a total of 12 characters, each with unique features, including weight, speed, and acceleration.

Goemon - The player character from the Legend of the Mystical Ninja series.
Takosuke - A player character from the Parodius series.
Dracula - The most significant antagonist of the Castlevania series.
Gray Fox - A supporting character from Metal Gear Solid.
Pastel - A player character from the TwinBee series.
Power Pro-kun - A character from the MLB Power Pros series.
Moai - An enemy in the Gradius series.
Nyami - A character in the Pop'N Music series.
Bear Tank - A character from Rakugakids.
King - A character in the Pop'N Music series.
Vic Viper - The player character in the Gradius series.
Ebisumaru - A character from the Legend of the Mystical Ninja series.

I've put more hours on this game than Mario Kart. MK is a nice racer, their last great one to me really, but I preferred the setup/style Konami went with so I logged more hours on it.

There is a sequel to this on Android/ios, but last I looked I think it was one of those dollar download games but it got high praise.

[DragonJam]

I love karting games, but it seems no one can get it right like Nintendo (or Rare ddkr!), they always end up feeling ''generic''. If you can get awesome track designs and brilliant weapons, I might pick this up, as long as you dont put microtransactions in it or make it ios type of game. I hope you can get it on consoles, pc games of this type dont do really well.


Hello PreZZ,

Completely agree with you on that, Nintendo is the best doing karting games, and DDKR was great. I personally also think that Crash Team Racing was a great alternative for Playstation owners.

In fact, that situation sort of inspired us, we saw that there wasn't good karting games with their own personality in PC, best option was to play Mario Kart with an emulator.

Too bad you don't like microtransactions at all, cause our game will be release as a free to play.

I can understand you because I'm also a great retro games lover, and sometimes felt that free to games were incomplete or that always wanted more and more money from me. But truth is that there are also great games under F2P model (Team Fortress or League of Legends for example), and our compromise as players and developers is to keep the races fair, and make the players feel like paying for extra content rather to force them in order to continue playing in equal conditions.

Nobody will obtain any in-game advantage for paying, and every game feature could we unlocked by just playing in an amount of time within reason (just like if it was a classic story mode).

There will be lots of visual customizations like car skins, and some Tournaments with real life prizes (keyboards, headphones, controllers, gaming hardware mainly...) with a 1$ fee inscription. This will allow players to compete against 4000 players in at least 3 races and a maximum of 6 if you make it to the final. Every player who participates in one of these tournament will receive in exchange a virtual item like a sticker to place in the car. There will also be free inscription tournaments, of course!

Lastly, players will have classic options to unlock everything from the start, if they don't want to spend time unlocking it and prefer to go directly to compete.

I think that this way of funding the game is pretty fair to both, players and developers.

Thanks a lot for your comment!

[PreZZ]

Hello PreZZ,

Completely agree with you on that, Nintendo is the best doing karting games, and DDKR was great. I personally also think that Crash Team Racing was a great alternative for Playstation owners.

In fact, that situation sort of inspired us, we saw that there wasn't goo karting games with their own personality in PC, best option was to play Mario Kart with an emulator.

Too bad you don't like microtransactions at all, cause our game will be release as a free to play.

I can understand you because I'm also a great retro games lover, and sometimes felt that free to games were incomplete o that always wanted more and more money from me. But truth is that there are also great games under F2P model(Team Fortress or League of Legends for example), and our compromise as players and developers is to keep the races fair, and make the players feel like paying for extra content rather to force them in order to continue playing in equal conditions.

Nobody will obtain any in-game advantage for paying, and every game feature could we unlocked by just playing in an amount of time within reason (just like if it was a classic history mode).

There will be lots of visual customizations like car skins, and some Tournaments with real life prizes (keyboards, headphones, controllers, gaming hardware mainly...) with a 1$ fee inscription. This will allow players to compete against 4000 players in at least 3 races and a maximum of 6 if you make it to the final. Every player who participates in one of these tournament will receive in exchange a virtual item like a sticker to place in the car. There will also be free inscription tournaments, of course!

Lastly, players will have classic options to unlock everything from the start, if they don't want to spend time unlocking it and prefer to go directly to compete.

I think that this way of funding the game is pretty fair to both, players and developers.

Thanks a lot for your comment!

I know free to play is the model for a lot of small indies, but I just cant stand it, id rather pay 10 or 15$ and get the full package. I dont mind paying, but microtransactions are an insult to me as a gamer (games like EA microtransactions are horrible and insulting) and I dont get the younger generation buying that crap. They download it cause its free and they end up buying more than the game should be! Im ok with the tournament idea for 1$ if it happens occasionally (not every hour), I guess its more fun than scratching a cheap loto ticket and doesnt take anything away from the game. Although it wasnt a karting game, speed devils online had a fantastic online mode where you could build up your car for weeks with in game money you won against other players, and you could do vendettas against another racer and the winner would win the car of the loser, i liked that. This game had the best shortcut in history of racing games on the montreal track, nobody knew the shortcut and I won million dollar cars by doing vendettas with my cheap 10K car !! Anyway I wish you the best, good luck on your release

[Emperor Megas]

That's all it uses. Here's a list off the wiki, I couldn't remember 1/2 of them so I went hunting:



Konami Krazy Racers features a total of 12 characters, each with unique features, including weight, speed, and acceleration.Goemon, Moai and Vic Viper in a Kart Racer?! That's hilarious. I have to own this now. :-D

[Tanooki]

It's ignored these days due of course to Mario Kart. It won't cost much at all in however way you want it (loose to CIB.)

[Emperor Megas]

Man, thanks for the mention. I would have never known this. ^_^

[DragonJam]

I know free to play is the model for a lot of small indies, but I just cant stand it, id rather pay 10 or 15$ and get the full package. I dont mind paying, but microtransactions are an insult to me as a gamer (games like EA microtransactions are horrible and insulting) and I dont get the younger generation buying that crap. They download it cause its free and they end up buying more than the game should be! Im ok with the tournament idea for 1$ if it happens occasionally (not every hour), I guess its more fun than scratching a cheap loto ticket and doesnt take anything away from the game. Although it wasnt a karting game, speed devils online had a fantastic online mode where you could build up your car for weeks with in game money you won against other players, and you could do vendettas against another racer and the winner would win the car of the loser, i liked that. This game had the best shortcut in history of racing games on the montreal track, nobody knew the shortcut and I won million dollar cars by doing vendettas with my cheap 10K car !! Anyway I wish you the best, good luck on your release

We also think that the tournaments is one of our most interesting features to both, gamers who can get something vaulable for what they pay, and us, developers who manage to get some financial sustenance. Our intention, as you said, is to keep them as something special and don't celebrate tournaments all of the time. It would also depend on the amount fo player our game had.

And yes, we also like a lot the Vendetta feature of speed devils, we are considering to implement something similar for future updates. The option to challenge a particular player of your race prior to the start and even bet your car or another goodie you might have, like a special skin for example.

Thanks a lot for your comment!

By the way, I also like Static Age, love that Misfits line-up ;)

[DragonJam]

It's ignored these days due of course to Mario Kart. It won't cost much at all in however way you want it (loose to CIB.)

Sure will give a try to the Android version, or if I stumbled upon and original cartridge for the GB Advance would also buy it, cause I still keep mine safe. :)

[Tanooki]

It couldn't hurt to try, may give you an idea or two to exploit for your game. It was successful around the world in the NA and JP market, and did spawn the android sequel which got a global release.

I feel the same too about GBA. I still have my micro around, a GB Player, and a Retron 5 as well with its share of both US, EU and JP games.

[DragonJam]

It couldn't hurt to try, may give you an idea or two to exploit for your game. It was successful around the world in the NA and JP market, and did spawn the android sequel which got a global release.

I feel the same too about GBA. I still have my micro around, a GB Player, and a Retron 5 as well with its share of both US, EU and JP games.

Argh, I tried the Android version of Krazy Kart Racing and it was a pain in the ass because the game crashed every time I passed the second lap of a race. I contacted Konami and told me that it was because it's and old app and they don't provide support to that one now. In my opinion they should stop selling the game in the Play Store if they don't give support for it, besides, they are aware that the game doesn't run properly in newer devices.

Well I guess that I'll focus on the GBA version :)

[Tanooki]

Wow that's sleazy. I'd demand a refund and if they don't, copy and paste that conversation to Google in a mail and see if they'll do it and pull the game since it won't work.

[DragonJam]

Wow that's sleazy. I'd demand a refund and if they don't, copy and paste that conversation to Google in a mail and see if they'll do it and pull the game since it won't work.

I demanded the refund to Konami, then they told me I had to demand it to Google, and it bored me to the point of giving up. The time I'm gonna spend demanding the refund is more worthy than the $2 I would receive LOL

[Tanooki]

Well yeah it is ridiculous, but if you found someone at google to pull it and use that email you got from Konami I think they might. The fact Konami knows it is broken and is still selling it to hose over people with no support isn't right.

[DragonJam]

Hello everyone!

Wow!, it’s been a loong time since last time I posted here on our progress. Almost two months of hard and intense work that had its results as you are able to see. First and foremost, our most important news….we change our game’s name!

From now on, our game will be named Wincars Racer!!

http://www.wincarsracer.com/content/promo1.jpg

Reasons why? In fact, many factors have made us take this decision. First, your opinion. Many of you have said that you didn’t like the name, and truth is that we weren’t completely happy with it either. We put it provisionally, then time went on….and well, you know how these things work. Besides, we had noticed that the game was been perceived as a Formula 1 game, when we’re more into the arcade & karting gameplay adding strategy. Lastly, there were many people who warned us about the risk of facing a legal conflict with Formula 1 trademark, having been previous cases where other titles had been sued for that.

So…new name! We still use the word Wincars cause we are already known for that name and will help people find us in google and stuff like that. 

We’ve algo taking advantage of this opportunity to launch a new image in our website and make a new promo image taking into account all the feedback given by you.

http://www.wincarsracer.com/content/promo2.jpg

At last, new gameplay screenshots:

http://www.wincarsracer.com/content/gameplay1.png

http://www.wincarsracer.com/content/gameplay2.png

http://www.wincarsracer.com/content/gameplay3.png

http://www.wincarsracer.com/content/gameplay4.jpg

http://www.wincarsracer.com/content/gameplay6.jpg

We also got made the cards for all circuits which will be displayed when choosing the one to play in.

http://www.wincarsracer.com/content/poster1.jpg

http://www.wincarsracer.com/content/poster2.jpg

http://www.wincarsracer.com/content/poster3.jpg

And finally….the cars! We’ve got now more than 100 different models. In next updates, I’ll explain how different they feel when it comes to drive them and all differences between them, today I’m just going to post some pics to let you see our progress in this and hear what you think about how they look so far:

http://www.wincarsracer.com/content/coches.png

http://www.wincarsracer.com/content/skin1.jpg

http://www.wincarsracer.com/content/skin2.jpg
This is a good example of how changing skins will affect to the same car. These following two images belong to the same car ( a Mignon) but they’re set up with two different skins (we’re developing an internet-based game….there must be cats!!!)

http://www.wincarsracer.com/content/skin3.jpg

http://www.wincarsracer.com/content/skin4.jpg

This is a detail that nostalgic racers will sure appreciate!

http://www.wincarsracer.com/content/skin5.jpg

As always, we’d love to hear your opinión on our work, what you like better and that sort of things. You can ask us whatever that you feel like or thow any crazy idea that you’d like to see in the game. Believe it or not, we take them into account for real!

And don’t forget that you can still sign up for future closed-beta acess in our site at www.wincarsracer.com
Greetings from the dev team at DragonJam!

P.S. I’m going to check if there’s any chance of changing the thread’s title to reflect the change in the game name

[Greg2600]

P.S. I’m going to check if there’s any chance of changing the thread’s title to reflect the change in the game name

What would you like it to be?

[DragonJam]

What would you like it to be?

Sorry, there's no need to change the thread's title since I didn't mention at all the old name of the game. I just noticed now, I feel an idiot. :embarrassed:

Anyway, thanks a lot for trying to help!! :bigmac:

[DragonJam]

Hi again…

…we’re thrilled to show new Wincars Racer game footage! :D :D


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z20KXJ2xykI

We really wanted to show some “in-movement” stuff where you can appreciate how the game is getting better as the development goes on.

This video is part of a blog post to be shared tomorrow where you will be able to know more details about the handling and feel of each of the 4 car series present in the game.

New game images:

This is one of the fake ads than will be placed in certain spots of the circuits whose intention is to give a real-life feel to the game’s universe. We’ve even made some of them featuring the game’s characters as media stars announcing commercial products like soda and stuff like that….

http://www.wincarsracer.com/content/Cavallo-Prous.jpg

A close-up shot at the Dawn Of the Racers brand new car skin (all these skin names are still provisional, so we’d appreciate some feedback on them… and you can even suggest your own ideas to name them!)

http://www.wincarsracer.com/content/Dawn-Of-The-Racers.jpg

The Wild One car skin for Carelle model. Personally, my favorite among all skins we’ve made so far….

http://www.wincarsracer.com/content/The-Wild-One.jpg

http://www.wincarsracer.com/content/The-Wild-One-back.jpg

A gameplay screenshot that will help you to get a quick overview of how racing trying to avoid giant rolling stones will be in Isla Aventura

http://www.wincarsracer.com/content/Jurassic-Volcanoe.jpg

Finally, Bradley using Rocket Rush Special Skill in its higher level, which is basically three huge turbines on full throttle giving your racer an extra boost. Using it wisely in the right moment will allow you to change race positions completely.


http://www.wincarsracer.com/content/Bradley-Rocket-Rush.jpg

We’d really appreciate if you could leave your opinion about this update, both the video and the images. Ideas & suggestions are much welcome!!

If you like the game so far, you can go sign up at our site (http://www.wincarsracer.com) and you’ll have future closed-beta access guaranteed so that you will be able to be the first ones to play it and help use with the testing and balancing the game.

Greetings from the entire dev team!

[DragonJam]

Hello everyone!

It’s been a month and a half since last update so today there is a lot of new stuff to show you.


http://www.wincarsracer.com/content/updatejulio/an-update-packed-with-new-stuff.jpg



More than 100 new skins appear in the game!



Up to this point, for the development tests, we just used one skin of each of the eleven car models. So it was time to finally introduce the special models.

We are tripping!

Here you can see a few real screenshots so you can have an idea of how they look and the current state of the game:


http://www.wincarsracer.com/content/updatejulio/wincars-racer-screenshot.jpg


http://www.wincarsracer.com/content/updatejulio/wincars-racer.jpg


http://www.wincarsracer.com/content/updatejulio/wincars-racer-picture.jpg



New cover!



http://www.wincarsracer.com/content/updatejulio/wincars-racer-cover.jpg


At last an image that truly presents the game.

The challenge was to create a cover that conveyed the emotion of the races while presenting the pilots and the cars in an attractive way. Truth is we think we have succeeded in doing this and we are very happy with the result.

We want to say a big thank you all for the feedback that you have given us on the temporary images that we have been using previously, it has helped us a lot when it came to visualizing the final version.



Final web design



We are working on the website’s facelift which has been a development blog up to now, and which will be, from this point on, an integral part of the game.

This way it will become the fundamental tool in order to download the game and also the meeting point to Racers worldwide.


http://www.wincarsracer.com/content/updatejulio/testing-game-website.jpg
Checking that everything works fine


If we talk about functionalities, as you can see in the picture, these sections have already been added: News, The Game, Gallery and Community, and inside this last one, you’ll find the awaited Forum. Social media have more weight too, adding the Facebook widget in the side bar.


http://www.wincarsracer.com/content/updatejulio/wincars-racer-website.jpg



Rear view



As soon as the game started working as we wanted it to work, and the races started being fun, balanced and frantic, we realized that it was time to work on the rear view mode.

Although we still have to assign it to a definite button and work out a few details (remove certain particles and camera effects which don’t make sense for the rear view), the first tests have been a complete success, and have added a lot of value to the gameplay.


http://www.wincarsracer.com/content/updatejulio/rear-view-mode.jpg



Turbo particles



We have improved its particles and truth is it’s amazing. We are very proud of the visual feel that you get when using the Turbo. You can see it in this image:


http://www.wincarsracer.com/content/updatejulio/turbo-particles-effect.jpg



Introducing the drivers



Same as with the game cover, it has been decided to present the pilots in individual illustrations using their exclusive special ability.

At this time we have started working with Montana Dom!


http://www.wincarsracer.com/content/updatejulio/montana-dom-concept-art.jpg


That’s all, we’re really happy with the idea of sharing our progress here in the boards and listen to opinions, ideas and suggestions directly from you.

Greetings to everyone here at DigitalPress!

[Tanooki]

Cool option would be to use some screen space and have a rear view mirror default or as a choice instead of losing focus ahead by having full screen behind. Or you could go the Super Mario Kart route and split screen it, but that eats up a lot of space.

[DragonJam]

Cool option would be to use some screen space and have a rear view mirror default or as a choice instead of losing focus ahead by having full screen behind. Or you could go the Super Mario Kart route and split screen it, but that eats up a lot of space.

Yeah, Mario Kart 7 does the split screen option, but it's a game for 3DS which makes sense. Not an option for us.


Mario Kart 8 for Wii U makes the same thing that we made. We'll add a mini-map option too in the main screen. ;)

thanks for the comment!

[Tanooki]

I know it's not practical really, which is why I started off mentioning a rear view mirror. All you need at the top of the screen is a small rectangle letting the player see what is behind them to try and block someone passing or to hit them with an item.

[DragonJam]

I know it's not practical really, which is why I started off mentioning a rear view mirror. All you need at the top of the screen is a small rectangle letting the player see what is behind them to try and block someone passing or to hit them with an item.

The problem with that choice, is that you're displaying two different cameras at the same time and it consumes much more resources from your PC, making it run the game slower.

We considered it once but that's the reason why we went for the full screen rear view.

[Tanooki]

Well what kind of PC are you developing for? A small picture in a picture display for what's behind you shouldn't be that much of a drag at all. You're not really rendering two tracks persay, you're just showing what has already passed your eyes on the main view area instead of dumping it out of memory. I'd think anyone with a half decent dual core or quad core PC from 7-8 years ago with a 1-2GB of RAM video card that does DX9 or nicer should be more than sufficient for a racing game as you're not after hyper realism there.

[DragonJam]

Well what kind of PC are you developing for? A small picture in a picture display for what's behind you shouldn't be that much of a drag at all. You're not really rendering two tracks persay, you're just showing what has already passed your eyes on the main view area instead of dumping it out of memory. I'd think anyone with a half decent dual core or quad core PC from 7-8 years ago with a 1-2GB of RAM video card that does DX9 or nicer should be more than sufficient for a racing game as you're not after hyper realism there.

Mmmmm, the idea is to make the game run on as much PC's as possible! But honestly it's difficult to optimise the game when you develop it using Unity as game engine. There are lots of thing that could be done but the engine does not allow you to control them.

Anyway, we'll take into account your suggestion just in case we consider changing it later on!

Thanks for the feedback and sorry for the delay on my response! (it's been quite busy around here lately...)

[DragonJam]

Hello everyone....

Time has come!

http://www.wincarsracer.com/sites/default/files/racing-game-alpha-testing_0.jpg

We're thrilled to announce that tomorrow, Thursday 3rd starting from 13:00 Pacific Time to 15:00 Pacific time (20:00 UTC to 22:00 UTC) Racers from all around the world will measure their skills playing Wincars Racer for the very first time!

If you are interested in taking part of this, here are the instructions to download the game: http://bit.ly/1LFmXjb

Once the test is finished you'll receive a survey via email to share your thoughts on the game so far and give feedback. Of course, you can also post a message here in the Forum!

See you at the races!

http://www.wincarsracer.com/system/files/styles/large/private/Wincars-Racer-circuits.jpg?itok=dXW1p96e

http://www.wincarsracer.com/system/files/styles/large/private/Wincars-Racer-Car.jpg?itok=bdCdimk_

[DragonJam]

Hi again,

Last weekend, we showcased the game at Madrid Games Week and truth is that it was an absolute success:Wincars Racer was awarded as Best Debut Game! :D :D :D

http://www.wincarsracer.com/sites/default/files/best-game-debut.jpg

http://www.wincarsracer.com/system/files/styles/large/private/Feedback-jugadores.jpg?itok=l3_N2Spx

Undoubtedly, this award belongs to you too. You who helped us with the Alpha tests, who usually give us feedback on the game's progress and all of you who just read this thread on a regular basis.

Congratulations!

There's a new post in the devblog featuring lots of pictures of all the action that happened these days at the fair: http://bit.ly/1huig0U

Besides, the new trailer released for Madrid Games Week is now avalaible to watch online!

As always, feedback is much appreciated!!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-KAmGbuqsw

[DragonJam]

Hello everyone,

Today, we're thrilled to announce that...

You can play Wincars Racer Beta now!

http://www.wincarsracer.com/content/betalaunch.jpg



How to Download the game



It's fairly straightforward if you already signed up at our site. Just log in at Wincars Racer site and download the game.

http://www.wincarsracer.com


Otherwise, you need to sign up and redeem a Beta Key, though, there will be a Beta Key for everyone here at Digitpress who asks for one!

That's our way to express our gratitude to everyone who gave feedback or just followed the game progress in this thread. *




Check out the new game trailer released to announce the Beta. It's the best we've done so far!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TT15-20k1W0



Thanks for everything and see you at the races! ;)

[DragonJam]

Hello everyone!

We are aware that it has been a little bit difficult to find players online to race against these first days of Beta. Thanks a lot to everyone who wrote to us explaining this situation and suggesting us to set up official scheduled playing times.

So here they are. If you want to race against real players, these are the recommended times to launch the game!


http://www.wincarsracer.com/content/playingtimes.jpg



Launcher issue FIXED!


Some of you experienced this annoying bug that even got to prevent players from playing the game at all. The good news is that we fixed it! Most of players who have tried the new one didn't suffer the bug (so far...fingers crossed!).

If you encountered this bug, please download the new client from here:

http://download.wincarsracer.com/WincarsRacerInstallerV2_2.exe

That's all, see you all behind the wheel at the next official playing time on Sunday 6th!

[Tanooki]

Perhaps the game also needs a single player mode? That would help a lot with working out the problems and make it fun for a wider audience.

[DragonJam]

Perhaps the game also needs a single player mode? That would help a lot with working out the problems and make it fun for a wider audience.

Well, now it has the Training mode which is basically a Time Attack mode, but the truth is that the game is more focused on online gaming, both for fun and competition.

Anyway, we take note of your feedback and will consider to increase single player game modes and options if most of players ask for it!

[DragonJam]

Hi!

Long time no news, here we go!


https://partner.steamgames.com/public/images/Documentation/Logo_Steam.jpg

Steam

Yes, Steam. Probably one of the most repeated suggestions we've heard since we started asking for feedback about our game. It's been a year and a half of reading "Will the game be released on Steam? So, we listened to you and are currently setting a Greenlight campaing so that you are able to play Wincars Racer on Steam.

I will announce the campaign once its released and see if we can make it to the store!

http://www.wincarsracer.com/content/drifting.jpg

Drift button.

Another point where we used all feedback given to us. In fact, at first we didn't want to include this, We thought that it would be better to develop a system where you could make the car drift by just turning the wheel at maximum.

We were wrong.

We implemented the new drifting system and the game just got BETTER. As simple as that. It still needs some adjustments, but clearly, this is the way yo go. We're eager to see you get your hands on it!


http://www.wincarsracer.com/content/gaming.jpg

Wincars Racer testing showroom event

We are hosting an event next 11th February in Telefonica Flagship Store (Madrid, Spain), sponsored by Pure Gaming and being part of ElZeroUno (a series of game meetings and conferences) where you will be able to play the game running in top-notch gaming set-ups.

I know that it's quite difficult that someone reading this in here could be in Spain those days, but... hey if that's the case, we'd love to see you and drink some beers together!


We've made tons of other corrections, improvements in the circuits, graphics performance, etc... but we'll leave that behind today and try to surprise you next time you play the game!

Greetings from everyone here at the studio!

[brainerdrainer]

looks cool to me. Keep it up!

[MachineGex]

The event looks fun. I might charter a plane just so I can steal one of those official looking Wincars Racer shirts. Seriously, looks like a really fun event.

[DragonJam]

Hi everyone,

It's here! :D

Wincars Racer Greenlight campaign is now live!


Now, it's in your hands if the game will be available on Steam or not. You can vote for it in this link:

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=619988052

We'd really appreciate you sharing the link with your friends on the internet, help us spread the word!


http://www.wincarsracer.com/content/racing-game-greenlight.jpg


Wincars Racer open beta available now


You can now play the new Wincars Racer new version 0.0.3

Just log in at http://www.wincarsracer.com and then download the game by clicking on Play Free Now.

If you already had access to the Beta just open the game launcher and it will update to the the latest version automatically. Play whenever you want, but remember that there are way more players in the official scheduled playtimes.

Playtimes Schedule: http://www.wincarsracer.com/content/official-scheduled-times-play-wincars-racer-beta


What's new on this version?


A complete list of major changes, improvements and bug fixes can be found at the Build release notes, though, we advance you that a new drifting/handbrake button has been implemented and that the overall game performance has been drastically improved.

Build Notes: http://www.wincarsracer.com/updates/build-003-here

Full drifting action and full adrenalin fun!


Thanks for the support and don't forget to leave feedback if you give the beta a try, we couldn't do it without your help!

[DragonJam]

Hey!

Finally, the Open beta will be closed next Monday 29th.

As a farewell, one last final hours test will be held next Sunday 28th at 12:00 PST (20:00 UTC) We the devs will also be playing the game in this event, so it would be a pleasure if we happen to run into the same race with any of you :D

http://www.wincarsracer.com/content/endofbetaeventforum.jpg


If you give the beta a try or if you have any technical issue that doesn't let you play the game, we strongly encourage to drop us a line, we love getting mails from testers!


http://www.wincarsracer.com/content/surveys.jpg
These all are completed surveys by buddies who played Wincars Racer at Japan Weekend Fair. The green fellow is a Teenage Mutan Ninja Turtle, a guy you can trust.


See you on Sunday!

[DragonJam]

The open beta has now officially ended


Our intention now is to run time-limited tests periodically, so if you happen to read this and didn't play the beta before, you can still sign up at our site and we'll notify you when the game is available in these time-limited test events.

Thanks a lot to everyone who took part in this and shared their thoughts on the game with us, your feedback is extremely valuable! We are already working on tons of changes and improvements suggested!


Besides....

Wincars Racer has been greenlit and will be published in Steam!


It raised more than 4000 "yes" votes and was featured in the top 20 among more than 2000 games ever since the very first 48 hours.

We want to give a heartfelt thanks for such an overwhelming support!


http://www.wincarsracer.com/content/greenlit.jpg


That's all for now. As always, Do not hesitate to leave a comment!

[Tanooki]

Now add a single player mode. :)

[DragonJam]

Now add a single player mode. :)

xD

We take note of it!

[DragonJam]

Hi there!

It's been almost two months without an update, I really missed you but we had tons of work to do around here!

First off, we got a new website! check it out at http://www.wincarsracer.com.

Also, you can sign up for the newsletter at http://www.wincarsracer.com/beta-sign-up-wincars-racer/ and get a chance to win a Steam Key to participate in the next Beta test!

Many of you who played the game told us that you didn't like the style of the menus. We listened to that and it became a priority since that same moment. Well, here it is, we've revamped all the interface, menu, icons and the in-game HUD, and the truth is that we're veeeery happy with the new look!


http://www.wincarsracer.com/pics/newmenu1.jpg


http://www.wincarsracer.com/pics/newmenu2.jpg


http://www.wincarsracer.com/pics/icons.jpg


What do you think of it?, can you guess what game inspired us in this change? ;)

If you didn't take part in the past Beta test, you can compare this with the old interface in this blog post http://www.wincarsracer.com/revamped-menu-screens/

Regards!!