Van Tourisimo - Retro Game competition entry

STEVIE G · January 20, 2018, 17:42:37

Quote from: Steve Elliott on January 20, 2018, 17:06:31
No, not when the lights start the sequence - the wait before that is a bit long. At first I thought the game had crashed

Why not have the lights on immediately, and go out to indicate a start.

I'm not sure what you mean, if you don't press the accelerator then the delay is .... forever. There is a max of 1 sec between you pressing your accelerate button and the first beep - why would you think the game had crashed? Do you think I should skip waiting on the accelerator to be pressed?

Steve Elliott · January 20, 2018, 18:07:23

Yes skip the accelerator. The van skids forward awkwardly like it's not supposed to be pressed.

Just start the sequence straight away and off racing!

TomToad · January 20, 2018, 18:18:50

The Beeps are about 2-3 seconds apart. I tried doing windows-key + up-arrow, but I think Windows10 uses that sequence for something as all that happens is the windows gets messed up. I assume that this keyboard shortcut was suppose to bring up debug info?

STEVIE G · January 20, 2018, 18:52:54

Quote from: TomToad on January 20, 2018, 18:18:50
The Beeps are about 2-3 seconds apart. I tried doing windows-key + up-arrow, but I think Windows10 uses that sequence for something as all that happens is the windows gets messed up. I assume that this keyboard shortcut was suppose to bring up debug info?

Nah, in Windows 7 it maximizes the current window. I guess you could just click on the maximize button, top right - same thing really.

I think I might know the issue with the weird speed. I was doing 2 x vwait's , basically vwait and then flip (which defaults to true). Might be causing it. I've removed the extra wvait added an option in the ini file "VSYNCH" which can be set to (1=true) or (0=false). I really do appreciate you taking the time to check this. Do you mind checking this latest upload one last time and see if either VSYNCH options work for you? You'll need to run the game and then quit first to get the new ini file.

Quote from: Steve Elliott on January 20, 2018, 18:07:23
Yes skip the accelerator. The van skids forward awkwardly like it's not supposed to be pressed.

Just start the sequence straight away and off racing!

I like to get my bearings before everything kicks off. I've added an option which can be changed in the .ini file. See SKIP START = 0 and change to 1. Can you please check the latest upload and see if this suits?

https://stevieg.itch.io/van-tourisimo

TomToad · January 20, 2018, 19:23:22

The new version runs much better. about 2-3 seconds after pressing up before countdown begins. About an additional 5-6 seconds for the countdown to complete. Vans run much faster now also. Seems they are actually racing now, instead of running at school-zone speeds. For some reason, on this latest version, turning on or off VSYNC makes no difference, runs full speed either way. It's possible that the time between the two vwaits() was slightly longer than the video refresh on my computer, causing the program to wait for an additional vsync, but when you modified it to add the VSYNC option, something was changed to make it just fast enough to catch the second vwait() in time. My monitor is running at 60 hz, if that helps things.

STEVIE G · January 20, 2018, 19:32:06

Quote from: TomToad on January 20, 2018, 19:23:22
The new version runs much better. about 2-3 seconds after pressing up before countdown begins. About an additional 5-6 seconds for the countdown to complete. Vans run much faster now also. Seems they are actually racing now, instead of running at school-zone speeds. For some reason, on this latest version, turning on or off VSYNC makes no difference, runs full speed either way. It's possible that the time between the two vwaits() was slightly longer than the video refresh on my computer, causing the program to wait for an additional vsync, but when you modified it to add the VSYNC option, something was changed to make it just fast enough to catch the second vwait() in time. My monitor is running at 60 hz, if that helps things.

Cool - thanks again for checking. I removed the first vwait which seems to have caused it. I thought that it may have missed 2 x full synchs - doh!! My monitor is 100hz so probably just got away with it myself. It probably rendering so quickly the vsynch on/off makes no difference. I haven't programmed for a wee while so a bit of a school boy error on my part

Thanks again. I think I'm done now

therevills · January 21, 2018, 03:51:57

Great game! Reminds me a bit of Iron Man and of course a certain "skidmarks" game

Nit picking:
* Some tracks are way too easy even on hard mode, the player's car can accelerate past the pack and I was mostly half a lap in front sometimes lapping the CPU
* Colours are bit muted

What is the game programmed in and how did you do the graphics?

STEVIE G · January 21, 2018, 08:19:06

Quote from: therevills on January 21, 2018, 03:51:57
Great game! Reminds me a bit of Iron Man and of course a certain "skidmarks" game

Nit picking:
* Some tracks are way too easy even on hard mode, the player's car can accelerate past the pack and I was mostly half a lap in front sometimes lapping the CPU
* Colours are bit muted

What is the game programmed in and how did you do the graphics?

On hardest mode, the AI will start to challenge you after 3-4 races even if you're a decent player. Some tracks are designed to be harder than others - some are best with higher speed, some with higher acceleration or tires/traction. The next track should influence your Upgrades so you need to try and remember what is coming up. I like to cater for all capabilities - as soon as the hazzards start appearing and you miss a few wrenches it gets tough. 15 races in hardest is my record so far.

I used good old Blitz3d. All graphics are done in code . I used a 3d render for the vans and some track tiles but almost all graphics, including the track itself, were drawn using 2d commands and extruded based on a layered heightmap. Shadows were created from these heightmaps. Pretty painstaking really.

Steve Elliott · January 21, 2018, 10:56:49

Quote
I've added an option which can be changed in the .ini file. See SKIP START = 0 and change to 1. Can you please check the latest upload and see if this suits?

Works well

STEVIE G · January 21, 2018, 11:29:28

Quote from: Steve Elliott on January 21, 2018, 10:56:49
Quote
I've added an option which can be changed in the .ini file. See SKIP START = 0 and change to 1. Can you please check the latest upload and see if this suits?

Works well

Cheers for checking

therevills · January 21, 2018, 22:00:16

More I play this the more I like it!

If you have time after the comp maybe add some skidmarks!

STEVIE G · January 21, 2018, 22:49:35

Quote from: therevills on January 21, 2018, 22:00:16
More I play this the more I like it!

If you have time after the comp maybe add some skidmarks!

Yeah, there was quite a few things I'd have liked to add - some opening and closing gates, jumps, underground tunnels, an inbuilt editor, more tracks, more pickup items, better AI. Just wasn't physically possible in the timescale - strangely

I did do some stuff today - fixed the AI to be more competitive, added some of the later .ini file hacks into the options menu and fixed the crossroad track arrows hack to be automatic

Hopefully add a few more things post comp.

Good luck BTW!

Conjured Entertainment · January 22, 2018, 00:23:08

I like the steering. (lapped all the cars on most tracks)

GaborD · January 22, 2018, 05:16:57

Fantastic entry. Captures the retro feel really well.

iWasAdam · January 22, 2018, 08:05:42

Very nice. vans felt a bit icy - they floated around, I would have liked a bit more traction on the track. Very good music and sound