Block Car Racer (An homage to LegoRacers)

[DrZarqawi]

Hi everybody !
It's been a while ! Hope you've all been well.

So, I loved Lego-Racers as a kid and was really dissapointed by the sequal.
To make up for it i've decided to make an homage to the Original Lego-Racers.
Not a complete clone, but how I imagine it would have been made with todays tech.

So far I've (feature) completed the Car Builder.
I'm no UI artist, or sound artist for that matter. So both the UI and sounds/music needs a loving hand.
But everything is functional.

Features:
- Danish and English localization.
- Save/load/Edit block-cars.
- 66 Blocks in 5 categories to build with. And still many more on the drawing board.
- 2 Base car foundations to start building your car from.
- Full color customization. You can even select how metallic a block is.
- Full Undo/Redo history.

I've included a test-driving range so you can test drive your creations.
But real racing is yet to come.

My point with this game is not to make money. Even though i have done a lot to avoid obvious Lego references i'm still pretty sure this won't hold in court.
This is purely a game made for the sake of recapturing my childhood favourite.
Still though, if you think you can help in any way and want to experience a modern Lego-Racers like I do. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Feedback is also greatly appreciated.

Love.
//formerly DrZarqawi, now DrOffensive. Just don't know how to change profile name.

[Link]

[JonathanTheDev]

Hello DrOffensive!

Wow! What a crazy amount of work this must have been.

I just tried it out and made my first Lego car since I was a child! Awesome stuff!



I love seeing legos in full hd quality with modern lightning and custom colors / shading.
I think you have a great system for building, placing things and moving the camera felt very natural on a keyboard / mouse setup.

When driving i felt the camera was lagging a bit too much behind the car, but still very fun. Might work better on a larger racing track though.

For the build mode i would suggest the ability of showing more bricks at once, or a custom thumbnail size for the bricks.
It would also be nice, if you could scroll with the scrollwhell, when mousing over the brick selector.
Another thing could be the ability to change the active build layer.
(I build the roof before figuring out how to place the character, so I had to delete it again )

Really an awesome piece of work!
Can't wait to see future updates.

- Pizzaernam

[DrZarqawi]

Hello DrOffensive!

Wow! What a crazy amount of work this must have been.

I just tried it out and made my first Lego car since I was a child! Awesome stuff!



I love seeing legos in full hd quality with modern lightning and custom colors / shading.
I think you have a great system for building, placing things and moving the camera felt very natural on a keyboard / mouse setup.

When driving i felt the camera was lagging a bit too much behind the car, but still very fun. Might work better on a larger racing track though.

For the build mode i would suggest the ability of showing more bricks at once, or a custom thumbnail size for the bricks.
It would also be nice, if you could scroll with the scrollwhell, when mousing over the brick selector.
Another thing could be the ability to change the active build layer.
(I build the roof before figuring out how to place the character, so I had to delete it again )

Really an awesome piece of work!
Can't wait to see future updates.

- Pizzaernam

Thank you for the very kind words. And thank you for providing a picture.
Seeing someone elses creation in my game is an awesome feeling !

I'm still in active development with the driving. Nothing there is polished. I only added it to showcase that the cars are drivable and, as you also mentioned, the actual race tracks will be larger in scale.

I am considering a new UI design where the brick selector will be along the bottom of the screen, giving more space for thumbnails. I could decrease their size too, i don't think that would hurt any.
Scrollwheel support for the thumbnails? Done. Hadn't even thought of it.
As for build layers. I think it might get too advanced though. It is a kids game first and foremost.
I see what you mean, but I think I just need to find a better way of letting the player know that the driver is required and how to place him.

Again thank you for the feedback and very kind words. I'll be sure to keep you updated on the progress.

//DrOffensive

[JonathanTheDev]

I think having the bricks at the bottom could work.
If you make the thumbnails smaller, you could even have two rows above eachother.

I see what you mean, but I think I just need to find a better way of letting the player know that the driver is required and how to place him.

Maybe placing the seat first? Sorta like in Kerbal Space Program, where you have to place the main capsule first.

- Pizzaernam

[jonaz.dk]

Regarding name change. It's the User Control Panel. Kind of hidden I know.
https://www.spiludvikling.dk/ucp.php?i= ... eg_details

Remember it will be your new login when changed.


Cute stuff with some block building.

A few quick notes:
- The game flow from the start to building and racing felt a wee bit unintuitive.
- The car controls felt pretty stiff and not super enjoyable.
- No audio at all when racing.
- The car was completely grey.

[DrZarqawi]

Regarding name change. It's the User Control Panel. Kind of hidden I know.
https://www.spiludvikling.dk/ucp.php?i= ... eg_details

Still won't allow me to change my name. I can change e-mail & password. But not name.
I might just be stupid :P

Cute stuff with some block building.

Thank you !

A few quick notes:
- The game flow from the start to building and racing felt a wee bit unintuitive.
- The car controls felt pretty stiff and not super enjoyable.
- No audio at all when racing.
- The car was completely grey.

First three is due to it still being unfinished. Only the builder is "complete".
About the grey car. I've encountered this bug too. I'm not sure what causes it. It seems to happen like 1 in 10 times a car is loaded. It's honestly giving me a lot headache.

[DrOffensive]

Still won't allow me to change my name. I can change e-mail & password. But not name.
I might just be stupid :P

Derp. Turned out I already had a more recently created user by the correct name.
I will discontinue the DrZarqawi account and continue from this one.

[DrOffensive]

I made a short showcase video. Seeing as I lack images with the original post.
Hope you enjoy !

[JonathanTheDev]

I made a short showcase video. Seeing as I lack images with the original post.
Hope you enjoy !

Awesome! Your car looks a lot better than mine :P

You should edit your original post to add the video, so that people will see it when they enter the thread.

- Pizzaernam