Blog Post 5: First Playable
This is our game, titled X-Treme Car Escape (the X makes it sound cooler). I am the designer, and am responsible for all the art used in the game and some of the behind-the-scenes organizational aspects such as receiving emails from play tests. With the art, I took a more semi-realistic approach and made my car resemble a Dodge Viper, which I feel plants the game in the mid-90’s era stylistically as at the time you couldn’t play a single racing game that didn't feature that car.
Our play tests went well, players overwhelmingly liked the art which I was really proud of. They also liked the controls and straightforward gameplay. We did run into some issues where some players were able to break through the invisible wall keeping you on the main road, circumventing the point of the game altogether. I also managed to reproduce the glitch in a personal playthrough. In addition I had another glitch where the stage never ended, and I was stuck on an endless highway with no obstacles.
My main focus right now is the completion of the art assets for the rest of the obstacles — since all we currently have finished up is traffic. In addition, if time permits, background art for the next two stages. Finally, the gameplay could be varied a little further by allowing players to move vertically as well as horizontally, much like Spy Hunter did back on the NES. In addition the later levels will be more difficult with more obstacle density and hopefully a faster driving experience.
