The game is definitely intended to run with a better FPS than what it manages (probably shadows, somehow), the difficulties are shoehorned when the game is very clearly designed for challenging or crazy, the track design is fine but unengaging, excepting the narrow section with the building which is just kind of bummy, the AI are suicidal but are fun to compete against barring the whole Win Game By Pressing E button thing.
Thanks for the honest feedback. As I stated, this is still an early prototype and a ton of work remains to be done. But I align with all you said. To be more precise:
> The game is definitely intended to run with a better FPS than what it manages (probably shadows, somehow)
I haven't started focusing on optimization yet given that I still rewrite code a lot and still am figuring out an architecture that I am satisfied with (basically no premature optimization). But that's something I have in mind in my design and architectural choices.
> the difficulties are shoehorned when the game is very clearly designed for challenging or crazy
I still don't know if I'll keep the two first, right now they serve more as a testing ground for different speeds. That being said I still want a very low barrier of entry. The current test track is just way too long for that speed.
> the track design is fine but unengaging, excepting the narrow section with the building which is just kind of bummy
This is a test track that will likely be scrapped. I am still figuring out the core mechanics and do not focus much on level design right now.
> the AI are suicidal but are fun to compete against
It is part of the things I want to rewrite not only for that reason but also because it doesn't allow for them taking shortcuts and is resource intensive as-is. The path itself isn't very precise as-is but it still needs an overhaul in all cases.
> barring the whole Win Game By Pressing E button thing.
Bots still can't use items, it goes within the rewrite above. I also plan many more items, but needed a simple one to setup the item system. By itself, having this one all the time while bots can't use it is indeed overkill and something I am aware of.
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More generally, I shared the game to have somewhere to point to to follow the development in a more focused way, and to distribute alphas more easily. But the game is very far from being in a satisfying state, let alone a playable state. But I still appreciate the feedback, as it confirms my current intuitions and feelings.