Pod Racing?

So I’ve had this idea for awhile and I’m not sure if it actually works since I’m just a student and don’t know much about coding and all those mumbo-jumbo.
So anyway I’ll just throw it out there, think of the scene in Star Wars Ep. 1 when Anakin was a young padawan and races in the Pod Race. A deadly race to get to the finish line and eliminating others, with weapons or strategic teamwork, to increase your chances of winning.
That’s the game, except, you model your own vehicles/pod racers/jet racers, with customized weapons. That way 3D modellers can at least enjoy / show off their craftsmanship and I think it would be just fun destroying others with your own ship.
The problem’s are:
Coding | not much for the map, but those who can code their own models to fly and do manoeuvres are lucky, those who don’t, aren’t lucky (find someone who can for a cheap price)
Animation | If your good at it you would not have any problem to rig your ship
Map | Volunteers or people who would rather just watch the match in their deathly modeled maps are preferred to model the map
Recognition | Not enough supports, and this idea will probably end up in the deep thread.
But I thank those who took their time to read this. Sorry for any spelling mistakes and long post, I am on a phone and do not have a potato

it sounds fun in theory, but giving people the ability to completely rig their own vehicle would allow them to make unbalanced vehicles. you would need to set up specifications. I personally can not think of the best way to implement this.

completely rig their own vehicle would allow them to make unbalanced vehicles.

All you have to do is impose real-world constraints. THings like adding weapons should drain your ‘power’ and make you have to stop in pits more often, or simply increase the mass of your vehicle so you have poorer acceleration.

Sounds kin-of like a racing robocraft. I like this idea.

-deleted message-

Yes I thought this problem would pop up, but we could have judges inpect their vehicles before the game or make sure the modellers know what their limitations are

Hello fellow geeks / nerds,

So in my last post, I talked about a game idea for 3D Modellers to show of their craftsmanship:
(https://blenderartists.org/forum/showthread.php?411963-Game-Idea-for-3D-Modellers). Now I’m just wondering, is anyone up for it? For all gamers, digital modellers, and coders (?) to unite (well not really, since you’d be blowing everyone else up) in a deadly race to the finish line.
Keep in mind that this game is just an idea, and only requires your time and effort, there is no progression for this game, basically just a contest for digital modellers and who has the better skills at manevouring through the map. Are there anyone out there who would be interested in this competition? Please give feedback and comment and if it gets somewhere I will make another post about this game.

Hmm.

So I think the way this would work, at least initially is to have it a purely racing event, kind-of an ‘open’ class with a judged component.
The score is based on track time, with additional points for awesome looking vehicle and sweet looking flying.

The Things needed to make this happen:

  1. We need a map, one where manoeuvring is more important than anything else (ie few long straight areas). This will negate the effect of really really fast vehicles and put the restriction on human reaction times.

  2. Create several pre-defined ‘logic’ things such as hover-pads (these will act as moderators - applying drag at high speed. Another good ‘locig’ device would be some sort of energy system, such that any time the vehicle wants to apply a force or a torque, it must pass it’s request through some management system that would:

  • Restrict the instantaneous power output (no infinite acceleration)
  • Restrict total output over the race
    With some script cleverness, these could be auto-applied to logic bricks, allowing non-programmers to still enter.
  1. Create some ‘baseline’ rules, such as: No AI autopilots. The easiest way to implement this would be a general ban on anything using raycasts, near sensors or manipulating an object other than through a parent-child relationship.

Obviously, each contestants vehicle and the logic for it, would have to be reviewed before the event to make sure it complied with the rules.

I’ll have a think about this some more as it sounds quite fun.

Perhaps start a thread in the WIP forum for this, and then keep all the posts in one place.

You mean something like this:

I don’t understand exactly what is the point - how we would race?; is it a multiplayer game?; how I will race with my vehicle and noone else will have access to it?; who will define the parameters of each vehicle?; Who will define the physics laws in the game world?..etc.

It is actually a great next-gen gaming idea if it is a multiplayer and everyone can upload its racing model, set its parameters and race with it in a predefined physics world against other custom made vehicles.

OR - It can be something like Robocraft : you make your vehicle from hundreds of predefined parts and race against other players in Starwars like world.

@sdfgeoff - You already have a similar racing game in progress and I think, you are definitely the right person to take care of this idea.

You already have a similar racing game in progress

Uh? I do???

The BGMC entry with the gates and the hovercraft right?

If it is more on a time trial based system you wouldn’t have to set up a multiplayer system (but at the same time that makes it easier to cheat) I do look forward to this, I hope to be a part- I may start designing a racer just for fun (I will post any pictures I have of it)

So I’ve gotten some questions about my Pod Racing game idea for digital modellers and coders, this list of questions are only to answer questions that are mainly involved with the general idea of the game, I will make another post on the more technical problems, so in this post I will answer the general questions as accurately as words can explain:

Questions include such as, does sculpting effect weight/mass, maps, physics, etc etc

  • Maps : As I have stated in my first post about this game idea, preferably people people who would rather watch the race try to get around the deadly modelled map or for those who don’t know much about coding (such as myself) but would still like to be involved. That’s about how the map looks like, also need coders to code in who passes through the finish line or maybe powerups throughout the map (discussable, but i’m not a fan of powerups through the map, feels like mario kart). And yes, the map is not just any ordinary straight bendy road, I’ll leave it at that, just expect the unexpected.

  • Weight / Speed : Sculpting does effect the weight and movement speed of your speeders. For example, the bulkier it is the slower it is but also means it can pack a punch, whereas the smoother and sleeker your speeder is, it’s fast, agile and allows for quick maneuvering actions but that also means your speeder does not deal out much action through firearms. A speed limit is set for all racers, not slow, and not too fast either. After all you’d need time to maneuver around that wall right in front of you :wink: For this part, you may give out your model to “us” to inspect and give it’s base weight and speed so we could discuss about it.

  • Privacy : To those concern of their privacy about their speeders and access to it, don’t worry, the model and script will be kept in a folder with a “supervisor(?)” before we actually code it into the server for the race.

  • Speeders : They can look as however you want them to look like, after all, it is a game for 3D modellers to show off their craftsmanship, just remember that sculpting does effect it’s general actions.

  • Multiplayer : It will be set for the ones who have completed their speeders (rigging, coding) and their will be a map / arena for your test runs.

  • What kind of game is it? : It is a racing-elimination-to-the-finish-line game, BUT there’re other ways to win the match :

  • Last man standing - Eliminate everyone in the race and be the last one alive (tip : for bulkier speeders, choose to eliminate the smaller pesky faster speeders in forms of teamwork | gang up on that | as their base health are not as high)

  • Fastest time within laps : For the smaller speeders, if you can get away from the bigger scarier speeders, avoid getting caught and finish with the fastest time in laps completed (though you will not be respected for not joining any fights, WE WANT OIL AND METAL TO CLASH!). Or for those bulkier speeders who have eliminated the smaller ones or run out of ammo, you have to go through a slow painful crawl to the finish line unless you have something up your sleeve.

These are the general discussions within in the game, keep in mind this game is still only an idea by an amateur, hopefully this game will be live eventually with some help and effort from everyone who are willing to participate. Please give some feedback or post any questions about the game and I will answer them ASAP. As stated, in the next post, it will be more technical. If you have any ideas or feedback please do share them. And hopefully in the next post, I will give a general idea to what a speeder is and a list of its components.

But in the meantime, PUT THAT PEDAL TO THE METAL

So I’ve gotten some questions about my Pod Racing game idea for digital modellers and coders, this list of questions are only to answer questions that are mainly involved with the general idea of the game, I will make another post on the more technical problems, so in this post I will answer the general questions as accurately as words can explain:

​Questions include such as, does sculpting effect weight/mass, maps, physics, etc etc

  • Maps : As I have stated in my first post about this game idea, preferably people people who would rather watch the race try to get around the deadly modelled map or for those who don’t know much about coding (such as myself) but would still like to be involved. That’s about how the map looks like, also need coders to code in who passes through the finish line or maybe powerups throughout the map (discussable, but i’m not a fan of powerups through the map, feels like mario kart). And yes, the map is not just any ordinary straight bendy road, I’ll leave it at that, just expect the unexpected.

  • Weight / Speed : Sculpting does effect the weight and movement speed of your speeders. For example, the bulkier it is the slower it is but also means it can pack a punch, whereas the smoother and sleeker your speeder is, it’s fast, agile and allows for quick maneuvering actions but that also means your speeder does not deal out much action through firearms. A speed limit is set for all racers, not slow, and not too fast either. After all you’d need time to maneuver around that wall right in front of you;) For this part, you may give out your model to “us” to inspect and give it’s base weight and speed so we could discuss about it.

  • Privacy : To those concern of their privacy about their speeders and access to it, don’t worry, the model and script will be kept in a folder with a “supervisor(?)” before we actually code it into the server for the race.

  • Speeders : They can look as however you want them to look like, after all, it is a game for 3D modellers to show off their craftsmanship, just remember that sculpting does effect it’s general actions.

  • Multiplayer : It will be set for the ones who have completed their speeders (rigging, coding) and their will be a map / arena for your test runs.

  • What kind of game is it? : It is a racing-elimination-to-the-finish-line game, BUT there’re other ways to win the match :

  • Last man standing - Eliminate everyone in the race and be the last one alive (tip : for bulkier speeders, choose to eliminate the smaller pesky faster speeders in forms of teamwork | gang up on that | as their base health are not as high)

  • Fastest time within laps : For the smaller speeders, if you can get away from the bigger scarier speeders, avoid getting caught and finish with the fastest time in laps completed (though you will not be respected for not joining any fights, WE WANT OIL AND METAL TO CLASH!). Or for those bulkier speeders who have eliminated the smaller ones or run out of ammo, you have to go through a slow painful crawl to the finish line unless you have something up your sleeve.


These are the general discussions within in the game, keep in mind this game is still only an idea by an amateur, hopefully this game will be live eventually with some help and effort from everyone who are willing to participate. Please give some feedback or post any questions about the game and I will answer them ASAP. As stated, in the next post, it will be more technical. If you have any ideas or feedback please do share them. And hopefully in the next post, I will give a general idea to what a speeder is and a list of its components.

But in the meantime, PUT THAT PEDAL TO THE METAL

i have that mentioned pod racing game, but to bad it doesnt work on new computers. ill definitely be up for this. :cool:

ill be experimenting with a pod racer setup in the near future, and be back with my findings!

Re-opened at OP request

it does exist, a racing robocraft:
https://crossout.net

#edit
old reopened topic, didn’t see.

You know, it’s always sane to try your hand at coding before throwing around ideas without any form of understanding of how complex it would be to implement less than half of your planned features.

My opinion? Define the behaviors for different types of vehicles and weapons and let players choose what group their models should belong to. It’s a simple solution that doesn’t require too much extra work. Otherwise you need to make mass and speed relative to size, which means you need to specify maximum and minimum size, and then further down the road you’ll just wind up setting up RULES for the custom models themselves, and no one is interested in that.

Also, what if my speeder has some fancy animation? What if my cannons shoot upwards and back, but not forward? What if instead of cannons, I want to equip myself with a laser blade or some sheez? And what if I use mangos as ammunition? I could go on, but you get the point. Too much player freedom is a pain in the arse.

thats a good advice, that may be the only solution. And with all the weapons, i would like to keep it free where players can model their creative weapons and I was thinking maybe have a judge to if the weapons are allowed. Also a new thread about this project has been posted in the WIP Forum, do check it out.

It looks more of a realistic robocraft game but with more story into it. Pod racing, well the name speaks for itself, this is more of a jet race, there is no capture point.

How the object looks is irrelevant, we care about how it functions. The system needs to know what a weapon is before a player can just stumble by and upload their own model for it. Otherwise you’re just depending on the people that play the game to write the code for you, and that’s not going to happen.