Ok, here's a little demo for you all.
Firstly, screenies for those that haven't seen my other post:
The purpose of this demo is to give people a taste of the handling and get feedback on the handling. The track you're racing may or may not be in the final game.
Things I particularly want feedback on:
-Handling of the ship (Is it good/bad? Too hard, too easy? Too quick, too slow? Fun, boring?)
-Errors in handling (things that seem unexpected - try and explain it as well as possible, and explain where it happened if appropriate)
-The game is limited to run at 60FPS. Did you get around that FPS?
I know the level is a bit bland. There's no need to hark on about level design. This is an engine demo.
Controls:
UP/DOWN (Forward/Backwards thrust)
LEFT/RIGHT (Left/Right Yaw thrust)
Z/X (Left/Right wingtip downward thrust (results in roll left/right control when one is pressed, or downwards force on the back resulting in pitching the nose up when both are press, but the result is only noticable when airborne).
TAB (Down thrust on the nose and right wing tip (Hold this to right yourself when you land upsidedown. Don't use it in flight, else you'll go into a hardcore z/x axis twist).
General tips:
-The craft hovers, which means it has no friction with the ground. It has a spherical friction with the air. This means you can't really change directional velocity (TURN!!!) with LEFT and RIGHT. Don't try turning corners without the powerdown. It won't get you anywhere.
-The DOWN key is a reverse thrust, not a brake. This means, unless you are pointing directly in the direction you are travelling, it will suck you off course. If you're sliding sideways with your back to a cliff edge, don't press DOWN to try and slow down, you'll just power yourself backwards off the cliff.
-Z/X are there for small scale roll control if you take to the air and find yourself out of shape. Use them to correct your z-axis rotation if it doesnt look like you're going to land nicely. If you're going nose first into the ground, you can press both simultaneously to pitch the nose up. Pressing DOWN to reverse thrust will slow your nose dive down and buy you some time.
-The best turning technique for tricky corners is to release the power for a moment, turn to point the nose, put the power back on and keep the nose pointed inwards to effectively powerslide the corner. It is never beneficial to release the power unless you're going to hit the inside of the corner. Because you're hovering, you
have to power round the corner. You are not a plane! Your wings will not turn you.
-Lastly, you can jump a hell of a long way with the jets on, and you can turn in mid air (as you would expect) etc. So, on the last exit before the home straight, keep the power down and you can often fly the entire home straight without touching the ground.
Last note - currently the demo simply exits if you crash off the course (fall off a cliff, or fly up too high). Just restart.
Download 4.8MB here:
http://www.invisiblechainsaw.com/programs/games/HoverRacing.zip
Do a bunch of laps, and do the course in reverse too. Test it out. Let me know what you think.
EDIT: Worked out something for a bit of fun:
On your exit from the tunnel before coming back onto the home straight, hold down the roll controls (Z and X) and key forward pressed until your nose is vertically upwards, then keep Z and X pressed and release forwards to pull off a
backflip.
If you get good at that, this one is damn hard ....
To pull off a twist cartwheel, jump out of the tunnel before the exit. Flip back with Z and X a little if your nose is too level. Use X so your left wing is pointing at the sky. Hold LEFT to rotate around 360 degrees in a cartwheel motion. Remember to release UP when you're pointing towards the ground, else you'll be powering towards it. Level off with Z or X for a 270 degree final twist. Looks ace. When the replays are set up, these will look damn good on camera.
