Car Racing Game, Still going...

I'm still going with the car racing game.

I've been beating my head on the table for a few days and wasted a lot of paper trying to work things out, regarding the AI movement, and how I am going to create the tracks,.

The computer car movement still needs to be improved, but it does look like I'm getting somewhere with track creation:

My two initial options where either to create the track as a flat 2D image, which would have been the easiest, yet least visually appealing option, or create a 3D track.  I've finally decided to go with the 3D track option and have made several attempts to create an initial track, that I can work with in this demoing phase, although I haven't added hills or trackside objects such as barriers.  But this means that I hopefully can add elevation to the track and give the game more options and possibilities for the future, such as I could have an American banked-oval style circuit or the Eau-Rouge section of the Spa F1 circuit?, that's if the game changes from being a BTCC/WTCC touring car based arcade racing game.

Touring Car Arcade Racing Game, Update of Afternoon 5

Seems like I get most work done on Tuesdays and Thursdays, as the last 5 entries have been on the nights of these days, interesting to know!

I'm still working away on my game. I call it a 3D arcade touring car racing game.  Im thinking of two possible names for it using abbreviations:

1. TCAR (Touring Car Arcade Racer)
2. TC-CAR (Touring Car - Championship Arcade Racer)

What do you think?

#Progress

As the screenshots below, I've added barriers to the game, I do this by driving to the start and end point of each race track straight and recording the position and angle of the car.  I store this in a textfile under the circuit name, and then the game loads the barrier positions and works out how many sections of barriers can be fitted between the start and end positions that I recorded.  I've also added trees, which are automatically created a certain distance behind the barriers.

It's not perfect, as it's only working properly down the x-axis at the moment, but that's a small fix to make in the future, the important thing is that the system is in the game. 

I've also created the sky dome  Which draws a graphic representing the sky on the inside of a giant 3D sphere that surrounds the whole game, this means that the sky is different in each direction.  The current sky graphic has been borrowed from Google images, and I'll eventually replace it with my own. 

#Fixes and Improvement

• Better checkpoint detection
• Improved the cars initial grid positions so they start all lined up in a 'zig-zag' way down the road as in top motorsport racing. (I still need to add the graphics to show the grid lines)
• Fixed a problem with the game creating too many checkpoints.
• Fixed a problem with the game increasing the car's current checkpoint at the start of the race before the car has reached that checkpoint.

#Latest Screenshots:

3D test, still going...

I've had a bit of a frustrating day learning 3D, but I have made progress.

I've managed to get some temporary targets (the red, white and blue objects) and for the ship to follow them, the ship can also be moved using the keyboard or a touch screen on a mobile.

Grand Prix Super Manager, Update

I'm back working on my F1 management game.
Unfortunately, progress has been very slow again, as I've been very busy. To be honest, I can't say when this will be finished as I don't have a lot of time to work on it, and there's a long way to go.

I've been working on the race simulation part, and mainly the overtaking, updating the car condition and the transition between the qualifying and the race.  As well as the in-race messaging system, which will provide text updates of what is happening in the race to the user (although the graphical display of the text isn't complete).

The screenshot shows a race in progress and some temporary output in the debug console.

Rocket Croc, now available for Android !

I've released a fun little game called Rocket Croc.  

The description:

Croc is about to blast-off to the sky in search of food!
Welcome to the future of the animal kingdom.! As the last remaining crocodile, you must charge-up your rocket pack and blast-off to the skies in search of food. All the fish and aquatic life have found technology to upgrade themselves and escape to the sky, away from the predators of the water. As Rocket Croc, try and eat as many animals as you can on each flight to conquer your hunger before you fall back to earth. But beware, you are not the only predator from the oceans and rivers who has found the power of flight!
 


It's now available from the Google Play App Store for Android phones and tablets:

The Full Version: Google Play Download Link
The Ad-supported Free Version: Google Play Download Link

I appreciate your download!

Twitter or blog for tiny Updates?

I'm not sure whether I should continue to post on my blog for tiny updates to the Grand Prix Super Manager game or just on my twitter account:

https://twitter.com/sionco

My theory is that in a time like this, when I haven't had time to do major work on the game, I'd still like to keep the blog looking active, as this helps to attract new people and also to show anyone who is kind enough to follow the blog that I am still continuing the game.  However, I don't want to release too many blog posts which only reveal a tiny update.  Any opinions are welcome...

Anyway, I've only had 2 hours to work on the game, so I've fixed a couple of small issues today, and also added a value for the teams public reputation (as shown by the green bar on the team select screen below):

This statistic will affect things such as which sponsors and drivers are willing to talk to your team.    Your teams reputation rating will be affected by things such as your race results and championship position, breaking contracts, sponsor and marketing days, the drivers you sign and any fines. 

In the future I'd also like to introduce a media/journalism section, where the player can release stories to the press about the team, drivers, other teams, which could affect the teams reputation either way.

small update: Season results

As mentioned before, I'm still busy with my real life job, so I'm only able to work on the game for a little time each week until Christmas.  But, even though development has slowed for the mean time, it does allow me to work on and complete the little parts of the game.

Today, I've added a basic season race-by-race table to the stats screen:

One thing I need to do, is to sort the drivers who haven't scored points by the results and also add the points to this screen.

One step back, two steps forward (hopefully)

I've was working in my real job last week, so I didn't have anytime to update the game.

But this week I'm back to work.

I've completely changed how the different screens or sections (such as drivers screen, R&D screen) are setup by making the code more modular and this has also saved a nice of bit of memory when the game runs.

The theme of the game is now easily editable so I can easily change the colours or GUI in the future, if I think they need improving.

Also, I'm now started to redo the R&D in the game. Changes and Ideas:

• There are now 9 different parts that can be improved.
• You will be able to set how much of the budget is for this years car and how much for next years.
• For both this years parts and next years, you can set how conservative or radical you want to be with design.  A conservative approach means steady progress depending on the budget and team size.  A radical approach means a bit more of a gamble, in that the new part/car may turn out to be a massive improvement or simply may just not work.
• an improvement in reliability comes with either going to test sessions or taking part in each session in a Grand Prix weekend.  So there will be more failures at the start of a season.   (I'm also considering small improvements in reliability depending on the technical facilities a team has, but this is only a maybe).

I'm still considering how to show all this data, but the current R&D screen is here (but as always, it'll probably change sometime before I 'hopefully' finish this project)

Abramovich's Job. My second weekly Android game.

I've created a fun little arcade game for this weeks weekly game.
It's called Abramovich's Job.  In the game you play the part of Roberto di Matteo, and you must try and win a contract as Chelsea Football Club manager.

To win a contract you must guess the order in which Roman Abramovich want's you to win the competitions.  It's a take on the classic board game Mastermind, where you put the trophies in order, and then Abramovich tells you how many trophies are in the correct position, and you must use this to try and guess again.

It features five trophies: The Premier League, The FA Cup, The Carling Cup, The Champions League and the Club World Cup.

Available to download here:https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.sionco.givemeajobambramovich

Grand Prix Race Manager (PC day 5 & Android Day 11) Update

Today, I've spent a few hours on both the PC and Android Versions of my (hopefully) up and coming Formula One Grand Prix Management game.
I've spent the day working with the championship tables, making sure they work with no problems and include drivers that are sacked / fired half way through the season.  I've also had to redo the development of new parts for the android version.



A screenshot from the current state of the PC Version:

Hopefully, soon I will have a 'current development' version for Linux and Windows PC's.  I might also let people keep upto date with an android development version.


Current Development Comparison:
Here's the current functionality of the game:
 Select team to manage (PC - YES) , (Android - YEs)
Fire and renew your drivers contracts (PC - YES) , (Android - Yes)
Sign other teams drivers (PC - YES), (Android - Yes)
Sign free drivers, (PC - YES), (Android-Yes)
View car part development ( PC - YES) ,(Android -YES)
Develop new parts, (PC- YES) , (Android- YES, more basic)
Increase engineering team (PC - No), (Android - YES)
Work out lap times depending on diver skill /car / engine, (PC - YES), (PC - YES)
Basic lap by lap race, (PC - NO), (Android - yes)
Give points depending on race result, (PC - YEs), (Android - YES)
Show updated championship tables, (PC - YES), (Android -YES)
Advance time onto next grand prix, (PC, YES), Android -YES)

F1 PC Manager Game, Day 4

 I haven't had much time to work on the game.   (current working title: GP Race Manager)

I've added a few things to the PC version, and it is nearly at the same stage as the android version.  I've added free drivers, and the development of parts.






















Here's the current functionality of the game:
Select team to manage (PC - YES) , (Android - No)
Fire and renew your drivers contracts (PC - YES) , (Android - Yes)
Sign other teams drivers (PC - YES), (Android - Yes)
Sign free drivers, (PC - nearly), (Android-Yes)
View car part development ( PC - YES) ,(Android -YES)
Develop new parts, (PC- No) , (Android- YES, basic system)
Increate engineering team (PC - No), (Android - YES)
Work out lap times depending on diver skill /car / engine, (PC - YES), (PC - NO)
Basic lap by lap race, (PC - NO), (Android - yes)
Give points depending on race result, (PC - NO), (Android - YES)
Advance time onto next grand prix, (PC, NO), Android -YES)

Mobile F1 Management Game (Days 8+9)

Wow, yesterday afternoon, I spend my first afternoon on starting to create the racing 'Grand Prix' part of the game, but after a few hours of frustration and not getting anywhere, I decided to leave it.  I was pretty down, and felt that maybe I should give up now on the project...

But, boy! what a difference a good nights sleep makes.  Today, I woke-up with some new ways of working out the problems and started the racing code from scratch.
It's still not finished, but I'm pleased with my progress.  This is really the  critical 'do or die' part of the project, which will mean that I can finish the project or it ends up as yet another unfinished project on my hard-disk, but so far, so good.

Recent Progress:

Qualifying

• Three timed qualifying periods as in F1
• All the computer cars go out and qualify (at this moment they do only 1 lap, and that's there best possible time).  
• The user can choose which tyres to use (soft, hard, wet) and this affects there qualifying time.

General &  Race

• The cars lap times, depend on the car and driver rating.
• The cars tyre and amount of fuel affect the lap times
• Positions are automatically updated

I still need to:

• Work out the tyre wear each lap
• Implement overtaking (now the cars just change position automatically depending on their lap times)
• Implement team orders, eg: go fast/save tyres/...
• Add Pitstops
• Implement rudimentary AI, such as choosing tyres, deciding on pitstops, qualifying such as the top teams use hard tyres for Q1
• Add weather to the circuits
• add chances of accidents, depending on commands, tyres, weather

Android F1 Manager Game (Day 7)

I haven't had much time again.  But, I've finally completed the drivers signing/sacking section of the game, with todays updates bringing the ability to sign drivers from other series or unsigned drivers.  I still want to improve the look, such as to sort the drivers somehow, but I'm relatively pleased.

I've also made a start on what will be the hardest part, the race screen, calculating the car's and driver's level of performance, and displaying the players two drivers stats at the bottom of the screen, as well as the top ten drivers, positions to the left of the screen.  


Finally, if I manage to get this released for Android, I'd love to make a version for Windows and Linux PC's, and I've been testing various, visual basic style GUI programming languages, such as Lazarus and Free Pascal and wxWidgets.  But, I've decided that I'll use my old favourite BlitzMax, and have started making my own gui library, so in the future I can quickly create the layout and buttons, and worry more about the game programming.

However, at this moment a PC version is just a thought, as the mobile version is hell of challenge, and I'll concentrate on that at the moment, as a PC version would have to be even more detailed, and maybe futile for a one-man team.

F1 managament Game for android, (Day 6)

For the first time, I'm starting to feel that this big project might actually be possible. But, from past experience, I know that the hardest part will be simulating the races, and that is where this project will succeed or fail. Anyway, as I said I'm feeling quite positive and today I've focused on getting a basic system for improving/developing new car parts.

The screenshot shows the new garage/factory screen so far. I've added the ability to decide on the size of the workforce, (a bigger workforce meaning that work gets done quicker and the possibility of larger improvements).

Also, a different part (as shown in the screenshot) can be selected to be improved. Improvements are shown after each race weekend.

I've also fixed a few things with signing and sacking drivers. I've added a button that allows you to re-sign a driver for next year.

Finally, I've previously been planning the game bit by bit as I've been going on, as I have been being pessimistic about the chances of finishing the game. But, with two sections (drivers and development) having their basic functionality completed, I'm being optimistic, so have started to plan all the tasks that I need to do in a spreadsheet, rating them by time/importance and difficulty. Which will help me to decide on which part of the game to focus on depending on how much time I have and how tired I am. So, if I have only 30 minutes I can pick a smaller task and complete that. I will go on adding to the spreadsheet everyday, and if I can complete the most important tasks, I can then decide which of the less important tasks I should do before releasing the game.

mobile F1 management game (day 5)

Today, I've been working on some actual code that makes the game interactive (previously, I've been focusing on displaying the drivers and teams, making sure the points system and race calender progress and work). The game now has a basic 'hiring' and 'firing' system, where the user can fire their drivers, and also hire another teams drivers. However, drivers from a bigger team will not join a smaller team immediately, but may agree to join at the end of the season, if the team isn't too small). The screenshots below show today's progress:

1. Fire a driver. 2. Search for and hire a new driver. 3. Your new team look is complete.

Select for which car you want to hire the driver.

If your team is a smaller team, drivers from bigger teams won't join

F1 Race Manager, Day 4 - Screenshot update

I still continue on this big (maybe too big) project. I have just started today's few hours of work on the game (an F1 Management game for Android mobile phones). But I think some screenshots will demonstrate better, to where I am upto (very early)

The first screenshot shows the team selection screen.

The second screen shot shows the current state of the 'home screen' from where the player can reach most other screens. I intend to add screens for : sponsorship, finance and testing.

This screen shows the 'garage' which shows the stats of the car, and also where the user can set their mechanics to build/upgrade new parts.

This screen shows the driver information screen, where the user can see the stats of their own drivers, and eventually will be able to hire and fire drivers.

F1 mobile management Game, day 3

I've had even less time to programme today, but I'm pleased with what I got done. The home screen now has 2 more options (4 in total), which are a screen to show the teams current drivers along with all their stats (and to browse other teams), I hope this screen will allow for firing/hiring new drivers in the future. The second new thing I've added is the start of the garage screen, where currently the player can see the condition of their two cars, as well as stats. This screen will eventually be where the player can build/upgrade new parts for their cars. I'm always thinking of new things that would have to be in the game, and the project seems to get bigger and bigger. So, I'll have to write a list of things that are important, and things that aren't necessary. My plan is to have basic functionality at first, yet a working game, such as a basic race, and basic management options, such as hire/fire drivers, improve car parts.

Android Game 3: Pixeloids

Here are the beginnings of my next android game, there are 240 objects moving smoothly on my average android mobile phone.

I'm currently trying out Processing as a language to make games.