Ready... Set... SLOW!!

drewg8 2022-04-05 02:33

This is my favorite application of the theme so far by a lot. Its so clever and fun, and honestly, the initial description undersold how clever it was to me. I like that its an almost tron-like game that becomes more like trying to fill the racetrack space with as little overlap as possible. I would really, really like to see a version of this with more mechanics at some point. I think this is really special and there's so much you could do. If I were to make some critiques though, I would say that the rack is definitely too long. I found myself with an insurmountable anti-lead quickly and wondered how long was left. At this point, the optimal way to play this game, if you were going for a high score or something would be pretty unfun (just zigzaging the length of the track to fill as many squares as possible), but I think there could be interesting solutions should you choose to pursue the idea further. Incredible job though!

infinitycore 2022-04-08 09:28

It controls very well. I imagine that it would be much more fun to play 2 player, but I don't have anyone to play with. It fits the theme (we had a similar idea, but a different way of doing it) very well in a different way. That being said, I can definitely see why racing games are better fast. Multiplayer would lead to shenanigans that would be very fun, but alone it gets pretty tedious waiting for the computer to finish a race.

One idea to add would be to make both players interact with both snail trails. Whether it be that both provide boosts or that the opposing trail slows you down, it would give an extra bit of strategy and chaos to the situation. Also, the game looks great (I've never seen anyone do superFX-style 3D in Pico before), but going with the snail trails, why not make the players snails? could give the game just a bit more charm.

birdwards 2022-04-08 20:56

@infinitycore Wow, I didn't even think of them as "snail trails"! For some reason, turtles occurred to me as an idea, but not snails. For this version of the game, I wanted the player to be something rotationally symmetrical so I didn't have to draw them from different angles (especially motivated by the fact that I had like 90 minutes left for spritework and sound after wasting the vaaaaast majority of the jam time just getting the infrastructure for the boost mechanic in place). As such, I went with hovercraft since they have rotational symmetry and fit the slippery control style I was going for. But snails are a wonderful idea (what else is both slow and leaves a trail?), and if I do a post-jam version of this game, I'm definitely making them snails!

quinn-patrick 2022-04-13 20:48

Excellent use of the theme, and a truly novel and entertaining idea. The main thing that occurs to me to add is a map of the track onscreen, like in Mario Kart, to give more of a sense of how much farther there is to go. A linear progress indicator would probably even be enough.

itooh 2022-04-13 20:50

A PICO-8 entry, yay! That low res mode 7 looks neat.

I don't have any friend to play with, but I love the game-design balance here! It's simple, but the mechanics are here to force you to move forward anyway and look for strategies. Maybe the track is bit long? Playing solo, it didn't ask me too much effort to win, but in actual multiplayer there are way to make the game last for a while! ^^' And it might be more suited for sessions.

Overall it's a very smart "anti-racing" game, a really good take on the theme!

giardi 2022-04-14 01:16

Very funny idea. I'd like to have a friend to play with :(

raptarr8 2022-04-18 17:40

Very interesting take on the theme. I especially like the Mode 7 style reminiscent of Super Mario Kart or F-Zero. Game felt kinda empty with the limited audio. Maybe adding engine sounds would be good?

knexator 2022-04-18 17:43

Great idea & execution. As a fellow PICO-8 dev, I'm amazed by those 3D graphics :) Track could be a bit shorter, but overall a great game

knatt 2022-04-18 21:36

What a clever take on the theme! and props for doing it PICO-8! wonderful submission

clue 2022-04-18 21:47

I had fun with this, and the mechanic is quite novel. Might be nice to add a single player time trial mode.

filipe-leal 2022-04-18 23:17

Good game. Mario kart snes feelings! hahaha

madbarron 2022-04-19 00:01

This is great! Love the mode 7 style graphics. Very clever and works well. Congrats!

hawke-games 2022-04-19 00:21

This game is cool! I really love the interpretation of the theme! The pixel graphics look really nice and the sound effects fit the game well. Unfortunately, I couldn't try the multiplayer but the single player was a little bit long the track could've maybe been a bit shorter). But overall the game is really cool and I wish I had someone to play it with Lol.

herryfabien 2022-04-19 00:22

Really inventive take on the theme ! The poor control only break the "ideal" way to play and give you a bit of chaos that is needed. I can only be sad about the forced multiplayer that feel like you are missing something where a singleplayer that just count time or tile drived on would have been a decent enough challenge!

hawkin 2022-04-19 02:22

Such a great idea from the theme! Definitely something new. I wish I had someone else to play with, but playing as both characters gave me enough of an idea. I'm sure it would be a blast being more competitive with two players. The only thing it was missing was some fun racing music!

animawish 2022-04-19 03:01

This is a fabulous game - a really inspired idea, executed very well, with cool Mode 7 graphics to boot. Very nice work!

evan-minto 2022-04-21 14:40

Really really clever use of the theme and I love the Mode 7-style Pico-8 visuals. It was a lot of fun figuring out strategies to avoid my own trails. The way you get constantly boosted around also reminds me a bit of the chaotic movement of Rocket League (in a good way, since it results in a lot of laughing at myself).