Space Race Run

I really like the art, especially that previously mentioned "claymation" quality. And the running animation looks very "mad dash to the finish" to me. We too are using 3D assets for a 2D game, though without the crisp lighting that your assets seem to have. Just out of curiosity, do you mind sharing what 3D engine you are using?

Poser. I know it is looked down upon by the 3D community, but it is easy to use. Most of the lighting is single or two-point light sources to minimize shadows and give more of a "cartoon" feel to it.

why does the head tilt so much up and down in the run animation? Seems unnatural to me since the face stays pretty much the same when running (speaking of real life).

It is representative of a space suit. I figured trying to run really fast in that kind of garb would cause the helmet to bob.

I have found this project very intriguing. It brings up something that I have not thought of before - 3 game modes with the same race but different mechanics. One of the modes is against an AI opponent. So I am try to build the game based off of the other two modes first and then incorporating the AI. It is quite interesting trying to view this game from the computer's perspective because much of what the computer does will be off screen. Basically, the entire computer's side of the game has to continue being simulated in real time without the player even knowing.

Attached is a little picture of the powerup orb.

Here is a very early version of the gameplay. The AI is really dumb right now. I am just testing ways to keep track of locations. So if the AI is 200 distance from the player, the Ai's "screen" is then -200 to 760. While the player's continues to be 0 to 960. To incorporate that fact, I have the computer traveling with a sliding screen limit. His borders are based on x and y attributes and his movement is shifted along the x depending on the AI's location in the race minus the player's location in the race. I just need to spawn the track in such a way that the AI will recognize what is going on.

... Basically, the entire computer's side of the game has to continue being simulated in real time without the player even knowing.

I thought about this for a moment, because I wasn't sure how necessary that is. I'm assuming the computer opponent can't modify the world--only react to it. In that case, you could reduce what happens off screen to a simple probability--e.g. in any given time frame, there is a 5% chance the opponent will catch up by X seconds, 50% chance it will fall X seconds behind, etc. If you pick the probabilities to fit the AI's level and the current surroundings, I don't think the player can accuse it of cheating, and won't know the difference.

Once the opponent catches up, the real-time simulation can resume.

... Basically, the entire computer's side of the game has to continue being simulated in real time without the player even knowing.

I thought about this for a moment, because I wasn't sure how necessary that is. I'm assuming the computer opponent can't modify the world--only react to it. In that case, you could reduce what happens off screen to a simple probability--e.g. in any given time frame, there is a 5% chance the opponent will catch up by X seconds, 50% chance it will fall X seconds behind, etc. If you pick the probabilities to fit the AI's level and the current surroundings, I don't think the player can accuse it of cheating, and won't know the difference.

Once the opponent catches up, the real-time simulation can resume.

That is a great idea. Unfortunately it won't work. Here is an example of why - if the computer is 960 distance ahead of the player, that would put the AI completely off of the screen. Any obstacles or powerups that the player would see would have already been passed by the computer. This include the AI hitting a powerup that speeds him up (putting him further ahead) or one where the player would speed up (bringing the AI back on the screen). The same with meteor obstacles, the AI would need to dodge a meteor that could hit the player a couple of seconds later.

The client wants this to be a real simulation, as if the AI was another player and seeing what the other player would be seeing on their screen (say if it was split screen play).

New powerup graphic is in. We also decided to take the practice mode in a different direction. In my opinion, it is a better direction because an AI in a racing game is very difficult to balance. You don't want it to be too stupid or the player wins every time. You don't want it to be too smart or it will win each race flawlessly.

Here's the first tweaked version. I like what I did with the player speeding up/slowing down. The background and all objects change their speed based on your speed.

New screenshot. This new version is starting to get crazy. There will be sun-lava tunnels or something. It is going to be a wild ride.

Surely they will complain of difficulty. If the player does not win always, they always say that the game is bad. And they will complain also that it is slow.

Moreover, besides trying to dodge the balls is easier to follow always straight.

Finally, being quite sincere, the game experience is more annoying than fun for me.

But, if the customer wants it, it's what he wants.

How is a prototype is still possible improvement these things.

You can try create an game experience like this game, that many like.
http://www.kongregate.com/games/juicybeast/burrito-bison

The client wants a one-hit kill. I thought it would be better if you slow down instead... Like you said, do whatever the client wants

I have the tunnel generation programming done. I just need to finish tweak the graphics a little to make them smoother.

I finally made a graphic for the asteroids. They are sized randomly from 40% to 100%.

Alrighty, complete overhaul of the entire game #4

So I was finding it very cumbersome to create an infinite game with pre-designed encounters. I kept trying to explain that infinite games are usually randomly generated because you cannot have the entire level spawned at the beginning (since it is infinite, the game would crash). He still wanted to have a designed level that was random and infinite. I was looking at it in terms of create huge chunks of gameplay at a time (lasting ~45 seconds each). Having all of that spawn at once, I felt like it would cause lag...

So yesterday I thought of an idea to has each of the huge chunks be a separate scene that could be internally randomized. Today I found the sweet spot where the transition can seamlessly occur. This new version is showing two areas (not finished) that just keep rotating.

<a href="http://static.stencyl.com/games/34284-0.swf" target="_blank" class="new_win">http://static.stencyl.com/games/34284-0.swf</a>

There is another aspect that I had to start working on. There is supposed to be a trophy room where you can win trophies as achievements or buy them in the in-game store as decorations. The neat part of it is that the "trophies" are actually pieces of a solar system. I started with a mostly blank solar system. I began adding in a bunch of the planets, etc., that I had previous made. Then I created a bunch of new planets. Here is what I am thinking for a list of trophies:
1. Galaxy Nucleus
2. Sun
3. Meteor
4. Constellation
5. Huge gas giant
6 Small red
7. Four small fringe planets
8. Gas planet with 4 moons
9. Other galaxy
10. Planet with rings
11. Blue planet
12. Orange-maroon planet near the sun
13. Greenish-brown planet
14. Earth-like planet with moon

You will start with the grayed-out version and fill in each spot.