Posted June 23, 2025 by Bertha Digital
Updates may be few and far between but at least they are meaningful!
The previous version goes back to the new year and a lot has changed since then. It all started when I brought a build at work for a round of playtests. It confirmed some of my fears, and brought up new issues. I compiled a long list of feedbacks, that I immediately started to not address and work on other irrelevant stuff instead!
The engine sound is now so much better! Those machines had a very distinctive straight-8 sound and I know aficionados will appreciate any effort I put into it. Quality footage is rare, but I could find some. I ended up making a sound-only prototype before changing the system. I could say I rewrote the entire sound model, but it still is just a bunch of loops with varying levels and pitches. The main difference is that I moved from having both load and pitch bound to RPM, to a more progressive load, bound to the gas pedal. That and some smoothing curves gives a better roaring effect. On top of that, I also added a "farty" tailpipe noise layer, which gives an extra oomph. Fun bit: I made that sound out of the (free and excellent) BBC Orchestra VST's brass section! Other details include a contrast pass on the volume curve to put emphasis on change of state while reducing overall ear fatigue. It's still a far cry from the real thing, but it's still a major improvement.
New tracks: Monza and Reims-Gueux. I also tried a Monaco, but some features like the hairpin are impossible to repro. And the end-result is neither fun nor recognizable. Speaking of which, every track in the game is inspired by a classic circuit of the era. But it doesn't mean a thing if you don't even realize you're changing track! I already had one track on sand with palm trees and one on snow, but all he others shared the exact same background. Easy fix! So I set out to research the different locales, both in representation and actual photos. Ends up most of western Europe looks the same, who knew! Now who do you turn to, when you want the most cliché, the most "average collective imagination" representation of something? Generative-AI, indeed! Yup, I finally found a use for them! Needless to say, I didn't use any of it directly, but it helped complete my mood boards.
I still had the same character frames that were hand drawn and scanned and redrawn in a hurry. Time has come to dress those little guys up a little! This was a pretty good test for my new tablette!
Lots of tweaks here and there. Race lengths were reduced to improve pacing, and to put more focus on upgrades as well. Some tests were also done with keeping the car centered and shifting the track instead, but then the camera feels actually more limited. Plus you lose some of the dynamism. And due to popular request, I added indicators for approaching opponents—much cheaper (and less headache-inducing) than rearview mirrors! Some effort has also been put into a functional pause menu and other presentation improvements.
I'm not done with that game yet! But I was due for an update, so here it is. Thanks for reading, and go play that game already!