Tech Rider by MrJoshuaMcLean

[raw]
made by MrJoshuaMcLean for LD34 (JAM)
Hop in one of four unique racers and see how quickly you can get through three varied tracks. Can you be the ultimate Tech Rider?

I went with the two-button controls theme: left and right being the buttons.

Currently only available on Windows. Ports for Web, Mac OSX, and Android? forthcoming. See KNOWN-BUGS.txt in the release for a list of known bugs.

Thank you for playing!

Postmortem: https://mrjoshuamclean.wordpress.com/2015/12/16/ludum-dare-34-postmortem/

Gameplay trailer: https://youtu.be/x5WnbBL1YUQ

Update 12/16: I've fixed the nefarious "Crusher Bug" that made the game camera sometimes freeze on start, and released as v0.1.1.

Update 12/17: Web build is up, v0.1.1.

Ratings

Coolness 100% 1
Overall(Jam) 3.24 592
Audio(Jam) 3.41 299
Fun(Jam) 3.17 503
Graphics(Jam) 2.76 832
Mood(Jam) 3.12 594
Theme(Jam) 3.73 463

Feedback

LordKawaii
15. Dec 2015 · 04:48 UTC
Fun little racer, I would love to see this with multiplayer
Monochrome Bears
15. Dec 2015 · 05:19 UTC
Sorry can't check it on my mac :(
Weeping Rupee
15. Dec 2015 · 06:05 UTC
nice use of the two button theme, I am really bad at this though
Acerio
15. Dec 2015 · 06:20 UTC
Pretty fun racing game. I wished the font matched the art style, but it's still a good game.
okeedokeben
15. Dec 2015 · 18:29 UTC
Great game! There are so many great little details here. I love the mechanic of the walls to brake, along with the scraping sound. :) The camera moving out when the speed picks up makes it feel so much faster. It's super hard, but the generous checkpoints help a ton. Great art and music too!
Taffaz
15. Dec 2015 · 19:14 UTC
Cool game, gives me memories of playing F-Zero.
RedBricksStudio
15. Dec 2015 · 21:10 UTC
Fun twist on the traditional racer controls. The unwieldiness somehow makes it fun. However, the control scheme doesn't favor quick reflexes, and with the continuous acceleration of the vehicle, eventually you'll fall into a pit, regardless of the reflexes.
utoxin
16. Dec 2015 · 02:05 UTC
Definitely a fun little racer, as others have said. Iron out the bugs, and tighten up the controls a bit, and you've got a good game. My biggest suggestion would be maybe add some hint as to which way the track is going to go? You can see so little of it that it's really easy to fall off.
Sir Magic
16. Dec 2015 · 20:28 UTC
Interesting little game, multiplayer would make this pretty fun.
skripteriant
16. Dec 2015 · 23:45 UTC
really fun! The Tech Riders all had interesting designs and it was nice to have an unlockable for completing it. I agree with the others that if you fix a few bugs, and maybe add some kind of way to race with others this would be even better.
Didi
17. Dec 2015 · 04:30 UTC
Totally FZero! nice work!
Xanjos
17. Dec 2015 · 23:25 UTC
Really hard but fun game plus the soundtrack is amazing (Also, the first track totally reminds me of F-Zero).
Hot Box Games
19. Dec 2015 · 01:19 UTC
Nice little game, It was really hard but I got the hang of it in the end, good entry! As others have said, definitely reminiscent of F-Zero!
TheMonsterFromTheDeep
19. Dec 2015 · 05:55 UTC
The controls are a little clunky but make you feel like a pro. :P I like the graphics and I especially like the music.
piper82
19. Dec 2015 · 21:04 UTC
i like the fact you can go backwards. good entry.
WeirdMind
19. Dec 2015 · 21:25 UTC
Awesome music and great game. Very funny little game withs imple control and hard tracks. Nice mix. Its an great entry.
wdebowicz
19. Dec 2015 · 22:19 UTC
Addictive audio, I like the falling/destroying animation.
Wevel
20. Dec 2015 · 00:11 UTC
Cool game, and a good use of two button controls, however it feels like the map just repeats which makes it get quite same-ey
ObsessiveNerd
20. Dec 2015 · 00:47 UTC
Nice game! It was a lot of fun even though I was pretty terrible at it.
Anachron
20. Dec 2015 · 04:19 UTC
Fun! Reminds me of Super Laser Racer... would have liked the camera zoomed out a bit more so it's a bit easier
ImYellowFish
20. Dec 2015 · 04:20 UTC
Nice audio and control. Also the levels are quite difficult. And there is one question: how can I possibly fall off cliff in space? hahaha :D
lawendt
20. Dec 2015 · 11:35 UTC
Quite simple, loved the music, but the levels are lacking more orientation, there was a part in sea drive that I couldn't evade the "speed power up" and it lead me right into my death. The only thing now for you to work is in the level design and the multiplayer, 'cause I bet that this will be awesome in multiplayer! Keep up with the good work!
Dmitrix
20. Dec 2015 · 16:13 UTC
Pretty challenging
YinYin
20. Dec 2015 · 21:04 UTC
I loved the menu music and finally playing something fzero like here, but it all ended in frustration D:

Here are the problems:

No rail parts in a track and drop-offs are usually one of the toughest features to introduce in such a game, you outright started with that.

Not being able to skip/hop over those no rail corner drops was very frustrating. Either doing that automatically or adding a hold left+right short hop would have helped the game a lot.

The second track suddenly introduced full turns after I thought this would only go straight (and wondered why you made the vehicle turn rather than move sideways).

I thought the green arrows on the ground would redirect me - having an interactive effect much like boost pads. As a simple decoration to notify me of a corner they were all placed too late (I need to know about the corner before it's coming, not when I'm already falling off behind it - you did get it right on the third track).
MrMordem
21. Dec 2015 · 16:15 UTC
Cool concept, it's nice to have a top down f zero like, it needs a bit of difficulty balance i think, its kinda hard to see what's coming up front, and the track design can be confusing even with the arrows, the game has some strong points however, like the scaling effect when you fall off, the graphics are nice, and the music is cool, good job nonetheless :)
Anshul Goyal
22. Dec 2015 · 17:16 UTC
Cool game!
agilejoshua
29. Dec 2015 · 14:57 UTC
Very nice - a bit difficult to stay on the track since there is no way to know where the track will go up ahead. Camera further away or mini map would probably solve it.
SinclairStrange
04. Jan 2016 · 18:31 UTC
Nice little game, fun and simple! Great work here, enjoyed playing this! :D
Krafty
05. Jan 2016 · 01:32 UTC
Interesting game, but there were a few things that I had trouble with. The ships were a bit hard to control, and it was kind of easy to fall off the edge. You should work on this some more, and it'll be really good! :)