River City Racer is my fifteenth #onegameamonth game (my seventeenth game overall). The theme this month was “Finish Line,” so of course it’s a racing game.
I teamed up with Richard on this one because he offered to do the programming if I would do the level design. I had lost a lot of sleep working on Factory Escape, so it seemed like a good idea to work on a game together where we could both play to our strengths. If you’re familiar with our previous works, it should be pretty clear which aspects of the game are mine and which are his.
Teamwork is hard, so it was a few days late, despite the fact that I have back-dated this post to make it look like it was on time (for reasons of my own sanity).
I would give up three of my side thrusters for a retro thruster.
I see a progression here: normal racing levels – tricky racing levels – levels that aren’t really race tracks at all – just playing around – that ice rink that I hate. This is why the month limit is good, because given enough time you would have made the pool table level, but on ice.
Hate to be that guy again, but there does seem to be a bug: whenever I finish the last level, it freezes and does not go back to the level select.
There was originally going to be a retro thruster, but Richard nixed it because, and I quote, “I hate the players and I want them to suffer.” Okay, he didn’t say that. For what it’s worth, you can reverse (slowly) by alternating between your side aft thrusters.
The actual level progression was all about introducing the button mechanic. Two “normal” racing levels, then it introduces the button. Then it introduces more than one button. Then it shows you that buttons sometimes need to be weighed down. Then we get to the really fun stuff, but apparently you hate fun. Sad face. (Though I guess we already knew that about you, didn’t we?)
For your information, I would not have made an icy pool table. I did originally plan to have a level in space, though. If you don’t like low friction, imagine no friction (and no borders!). I did not plan to have buttons in that level, though, because that would just be sick.
Bonus Tip: Finding a level frustrating? Open your browser’s console and type
window.backgroundMusic.stop();and hit enter. Then open this in a new tab.
Richard and I have diagnosed your bug, by the way. You’re not going to like it. When you complete a race, the game stores a “ghost” of your run. If you take too long to win, the ghost data gets too big and crashes the game.
Yes, the game should handle that situation more gracefully. I’ll tell Richard to work on that, but let’s call this what it is: you need to step up your game.
EDIT: (If you are reading this and thinking, “Wow! He is so mean to his commenters,” be advised that this guy is a close personal friend of mine, and that is why I am being so ridiculously rude to him. Don’t be afraid to comment on my site; I am much more polite to strangers.)
Wow! You are so mean.
So if I can’t beat the game in under three minutes, the moon crashes into the planet and I lose? I don’t know how 1337 you are at the game, but three minutes is more than respectable for the hockey or billiard levels. The game would have benefitted from a button config menu. At least, that’s the excuse with which I’m sticking.
Also, I did not click that second link. After the pony face, there was no telling what manner of rick-rollery you had in store.
I don’t know if it’s fair to expect you to be that 1337 or not, but these aren’t even my actual best times. I had managed to shave my Pool Party time down to 38 seconds, but then Richard implemented ghosts and all the scores got reset. Still, this should give you a general idea of the playing field. Maybe under a minute is beyond your reach, but under three? No way. If you can beat ADOM, you can do this.
It wounds me, by the way, that you don’t trust me enough to click my links. It’s especially devastating because that particular link was one I genuinely thought you would enjoy. In fact, I expect the entire “bonus tip” would be quite to your liking. Seriously.
This link, on the other hand, might frighten you. Be warned.