Hello again! I saw you made an update after our chat on YouTube, so I checked it out really quickly. I won't repeat all of those details, but will just give my top of mind review thoughts. Very quickly:
- first of all, very cool first game project, hands down
- the gamepad controller can be used to start the game from title screen, but then becomes unresponsive
- full screen single player is great, but the option to allow this is hidden in the options; I would make the request front & center, almost like arcade games that make you choose Auto or Manual, one screen to make it clear
- I really wanted to use the gamepad, but could not, so then I scrambled to use the keys, and I had no idea which keys were which until the game started playing. Here's a classic UX gem: allow the player to control the car before it starts. Even AAA games don't do this, and spin the car in view, revving the engine -- instead let the player do this! In your game, if I pressed the gas key, it should rev, if I press the brake, it should light up -- even while sitting there in neutral. It gives me sense of control, and would allow me to discover the correct keys before watching the entire pack leave me in the dust
- Support WASD, arrow keys, num-pad keys, and any standard gas/brake and turn keys. Up and down is not standard for gas and break. But CTRL, ALT, Space, Enter, comma, period -- these keys would work well.
- I know I can key remap, which is awesome, so take my comments as lowering barrier to entry; people don't read instructions, manuals, options, they should be able to "press A" until the game starts, every screen that A should be a sensible default, and then when in game, whatever keys they grab, should just work.
- ESC does not work to quit a menu, you force the player to find the Back selection each time. It's best to allow ESC, and then when you reenter the menu, it remembers the item you were on, then you can enter, change it, quit, then reenter, adjust again, and quit -- all without ever changing the menu item selection even if it is several menus deep.
- 6 laps default seems too much.
- The car does not turn well. These are F1, Indy, Aero cars that should ride on rails. Going down a straight means a slight adjustment would make you zoom left and right. Surely what is happening is the pseudo 3D physics, where you are only impacting left/right drift on a 2D-style road to simulate 3D. This means as you go faster, you can turn less sharp, meaning you literally turn less on a straight during adjustments. The solution could be to have an understanding of angle or direction on that 2D (pseudo 3D) road, making the game far closer to real 3D physics. I really struggled with this for my Full Tilt game demo (way back in the 1990's). I would concentrate on this. This is your gameplay. You already have everything else (menus, options, multi-player, career I think, etc.)
- I think many of the turns are too long. I think the courses themselves are too "large" in this sense. Take a view of some F1 or IndyCar laps on your favourite tracks, and then compare. I would say your tracks feel about 2x maybe even 3x too large/long, in this case. I also think the tracks are wider than they need to be, but I understand this makes it easier to play.
- The full screen resolution still does not feel pixel perfect. I think it is a smaller resolution that is blown up, and made blurry as a result. I'd rather play it at 1:1 pixel resolution, or perhaps even better, to allow a lower resolution mode under that 1:1 pixel, like 2x, 3x, 4x, or 5x pixels, all the way down to the 320 or 256 pixel wide screen buffers of the day. That would be wicked.
In any case, good job, and I hope this helps.