Okay. I’ve set my deadline. The plans are in place. It’s now a matter of getting it done.
The Goal
A futuristic racing game. Similar to F-Zero. No weapons, no powerups, just racing. But I want it done by the end of October. Impossible, you say? Probably. But I’ve gotta try. And trying is the first step towards failure. Or something.
The Obstacles
I’m doing the whole thing myself. No artists, no musicians, no sound people, no budget. But I’m picky, so it still has to look good. I’m not very good at programming physics or AI, so I’ll have to brush up on those before I’m done. Textures will probably be mostly digital camera pictures edited to tile.
Components
- Graphics
- Terrain/Track
- Foliage
- Sky/Starfield
- Clouds
- Ocean Water
- Vehicles
- Shadows
- Optional stuff, given time (HDR, motion blur, etc, etc)
- Not to mention all of the modeling and artwork
- Physics
- Vehicle handling/control
- Sticking to the track (even in loops/upside down areas)
- Collision/Collision Response with track
- Collision/Collision Response with other vehicles
- AI
- Getting AI to drive along track
- Getting AI to avoid other vehicles
- Advanced steering behaviors (skids, etc)
- Sound
- Doppler Effect
- Environmental effects (echo, reverb, etc)
- Background music
- Input
- Make Mouse/Keyboard control not suck
- Enable joystick/wheel control
- Network play (Given time)
- Generic input structure to get input from AI, keyboard, or network sources
- Research how to handle network play
Okay…that’s good enough for now, I think. This journal has helped me get a grasp on exactly how much I have to do. I definitely have my work cut out for me.
Side note: I don’t have internet access at home for the next few days, so updates will be less exciting than I would like for the next little bit.