The Project Statement:
To explore the emotional challenges players are faced with from playing rage-inducing games. My project aims to explore why we play these games. Is it the promise for something at the end? Is it the feeling or anticipation of achievements for completing the goal? Interestingly, why driving? Whatever it is, this project aims to present humor and fun within the torturous experience of driving upwards.
Restating the Mechanics:
The core game mechanic for the game is steering while driving a physics-based vehicle with your mouse. The player uses their single hand to control and steer the wheel of the vehicle, which also causes the car to drive. The player's hand is being controlled by the mouse cursor to the screen which they will then drive by clicking and dragging. The player must try and drive up this mountain regardless of the obstacles.
MVP:
As much as I want to fix the UI to screen effect, the initial project needs to try and get players from point A to point B in a terrain that is suited for vehicles. In other words, the terrain should influence the player's driving method and the vehicle itself. Players will be thrown into an imitation of the bottom, middle, or top of the mountain which includes vehicle-altering obstacles. I will also be adjusting and testing a new form of interaction with the steering wheel. Which means I will be making up to three different types of landscapes filled with physics altering triggers, slopes, bridges, ice, rocks, bumpy roads. However the goal for players will always be to get to a destination and every time they fall they will always be able to get back up and try again based on the layout of the terrain.
Response: At this point, I had fixed the UI to screen effect and it now works properly. It is important that the players experience the relationship between car and environment, how rocks will make the car feel bumpy, like how ice will make the car slip and slide, or being able to almost feel the surface below them. Although the game doesn’t completely follow the laws of an actual driving experience, it is important to have some sense of realism. To give off this feeling, I will be combining the use of Unity’s pro-builder tools with terrain maps. Pro-builder will be used to shape and create unique looking structures that mimic natural, environmental forms. Another thing I did not mention here was the importance of sound. Driving sounds will become an impactful asset to the project.
Thoughts: I would like feedback on how the driving feels based on the kind of environment it is in as well as the concept of constantly diving even with your hand off the wheel.
During the playtest, I expect players to aimlessly drag their mouse left and right, as well as drive into things.
Note for Above: Through past playtesting sessions this has been a common habit I have been witnessing from players. I had actually now managed to limit the wheels rotational looseness compared to previous versions of the build. However, this does not make me think players will not drag the mouse rapidly. Based on my own experience, new drivers will always struggle to steer a car on a road and because this is a video game, our natural instinct is to go wild with the wheel.