Spectre Circuit by Theg

[raw]
made by Theg for Ludum Dare 47 (JAM)

A racing car where you're stuck in a loop of track, forever trying to get ahead of the ghosts of your past.

Changelog (Last update 2020-10-08)

-Fixed rare issue where players could get stuck by not being able to steer -Adjusted audio -Made road collisions more accurate

Ratings

Overall 834th 3.475⭐ 22🧑‍⚖️
Fun 523th 3.579⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 771th 3.368⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Theme 410th 3.95⭐ 22🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 922th 3.425⭐ 22🧑‍⚖️
Audio 966th 2.789⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Humor 777th 2.735⭐ 19🧑‍⚖️
Given 23🗳️ 9🗨️

Feedback

DoctorHummer
06. Oct 2020 · 06:07 UTC
This game is simple, but really interesting! I love the idea behind the ghosts, like you're become more experienced in driving and your next try should be always better than the last. Good job, keep it up!
CocaPasteque
06. Oct 2020 · 07:05 UTC
Nice little game, I like the simple graphics style and look of the car :)
After a few laps the steering of the car becomes really difficult tho
I also didn't rate audio because if I'm not wrong there are no audio in the game, so you should probably opt-out of this category :)
Edit: Nevermind, got my sound settings wrong
ConnorThompson
06. Oct 2020 · 16:19 UTC
nice simple idea and great execution! really like the cute little car model too
Skyeward
06. Oct 2020 · 16:23 UTC
Super minimal, v up my street, weird how easy it is to zen out to. Would really suit a chill soundtrack!
Edalbung
06. Oct 2020 · 16:26 UTC
Cool concept, I think that it is the most clever usage of the ghost in a racing game! The car handling is quite good!
The only cristicism that I can make, it is the lack of music, it would have added more ambiance to the game.
Overall very nice work!
Kaganobik
06. Oct 2020 · 16:37 UTC
I really like the ''racing with yourself'' idea haha! The theme fits well. Good job :)
Peche et Tradition 1867
06. Oct 2020 · 16:38 UTC
cute car
Heho
06. Oct 2020 · 16:47 UTC
great concept that does fit the theme really well.
Los
06. Oct 2020 · 17:44 UTC
Nice idea! I liked the car sound :)
Stefan B.
06. Oct 2020 · 17:50 UTC
cool idea with the changes in car stats. Cool experience to race agains yourself
Mog13
07. Oct 2020 · 10:58 UTC
this was a fun little game and a great idea. After a few laps i suddenly noticed the stats on the right improve and it adds a whole other layer. great job!
Jamison
07. Oct 2020 · 19:24 UTC
Sorry, I like the idea, but I feel like I broke the game. There's no incentive to go fast, just to go *faster than last time*, so if you go as sloooooooooooooowwwwwwlllllyyyyy as possible, you can get a higher score.

I tried again, this time forcing myself to go fast, but I lost on my second lap, which downgraded my turning, but then my steering controls just outright broke and I could no longer turn... like, at all.

The graphics are pleasant, though! The track was really smooth and the 3D car (or pseudo-3D, can't tell) looks really cool.
🎤 Theg
07. Oct 2020 · 20:27 UTC
@jamison What number was your turning at when it just wouldn't work, 50 or 60? there was an issue as you described that I thought I fixed. I agree that there's not too much incentive to go fast other than the slow increase in speed that comes with a winning streak.

The car is actually not 3D but a sprite stack generated from a voxel model that was generated from a standard 3D model and I'm happy with how it turned out.
Jamison
08. Oct 2020 · 02:34 UTC
@theg I'm pretty sure it was 60.

Ah nice, the car turned out great. What was your pipeline for going from 3D -> voxel -> sprite layers?

Btw, I ended up playing a few more times and forced myself to go fast, and it's definitely much more fun that way.
🎤 Theg
08. Oct 2020 · 13:53 UTC
@jamison Magicavoxel can import polygonal 3D and export as slices so it's a very easy process.

I found the problem with the steering. The fix I did was to clamp the stat value above the point that the steering would stop working. The problem was I did the clamping AFTER the stat got applied to the car so it was basically doing nothing. I *think* the rules allow this kind of fix after the deadline so I'll probably update the game.
Moski
09. Oct 2020 · 01:13 UTC
Gotta love racing against the ghost. Too bad I only made it to 8th after a few rounds.

![firefox_UBlNCt0eOf.png](///raw/519/z/39c26.png)

During our brainstorming session, we pitched the idea of racing endlessly in the same track. Not only am I impressed that the idea was easy to come by, but that a game like this actually took it to a far more creative level. I love the theme, and I love how you're your very worst enemy. I feel that I could cheese the game by starting slow and gradually get better, but I felt the game was so fluid that I wanted to go as fast as possible.

Simply put, this game was very good. Nice controls, excellent use of the theme. I'll be sharing it with my friends. Do continue enjoying this rating period!
Zachary Granger
09. Oct 2020 · 01:19 UTC
This was surprisingly fun - such a simple concept but it shows you took time to make the controls feel good. It really clicked once I lost one of my laps and had to crawl back into a win.
Loved the simple graphics too. No fuss, you got right to the point with this game and I love it!
LarrySeinfeld
09. Oct 2020 · 01:22 UTC
Wow, honestly really fun game. Seen a few games where you face your previous life, but this one really clicked with me a lot. I think the use of stats and how they increase and decrease depending on whether or not you beat your ghost is awesome. I got to lap 18! really cool game, with cool visuals and an addictive loop! Awesome job!
Matootsy
09. Oct 2020 · 09:11 UTC
A very classical game, and a very simple use of the theme. But it's clean. I didn't find any bugs. And even if it's a dejà vu, the ghost of the car is welcome to see the loop of the past.