ZeroGear: A kart-racing game using Ogre

[Ruud v A]

Maybe it would be cool to have some kind of shop system. Add even more cool stuff to the outfits, and you can buy them using points. You can then earn those points in races, etc. That would also add some kind of extra goal to the game. It's just a suggestion though.

[FragCool]

WoW

Nice game, just had time to play one race (and finished 3/8 )
I'm impressed, I will give it a bigger try tomorrow (or better this evening ... somewhere between coding and playing Dragon Age

Does this game have Lan Support, when yes it can become one of our Lan Games!

[Murphy]

It does support LAN (and it a blast to play at LANs too, we do it quite often). However, because it depends on Steam's servers for matchmaking, it does require an internet connection to play.

[FragCool]

It does support LAN (and it a blast to play at LANs too, we do it quite often). However, because it depends on Steam's servers for matchmaking, it does require an internet connection to play.

Thats not something I call a LAN modus, it's more the Blizzard Version

No Game in Steam Offline Modus?

[sinbad]

Haha,that's fun. Here's what I came up with:

zerogear_sinbad.jpg

In the main game, I think the tracks could do to be a little 'tighter' feeling - maybe just scaling it down a little relative to the karts might make it feel more intimate; this is my problem with some of the later Mario Kart games too, the earlier ones always felt tighter. Is there a way to use a gamepad too? That was my #1 issue with the controls, I was wishing for an analogue stick and throttle.

On the stadium track I noticed it was possible to accidentally overshoot a corner just before where the semi-covered bridge is, and head out on to the grass. I thought 'aha! a shortcut!' and tried boosting all the way through it to cut through it - however it only let me carry on a little longer before resetting me back on the track. If shortcuts aren't allowed then I think you should block that part of the track off.

I couldn't get anywhere in the football game, spent all my time running about looking for the ball and occasionally hitting it at a glancing angle Probably my incompetence though.

Nice work, it's looking really slick. I think the gameplay needs a little tuning but that's what the beta is for after all!

[marshmonkey]

thanks for the feedback Sinbad! I like your ogre character

[marshmonkey]

4 days after our beta went live we have a new update for everyone! Here is the changes:

1.0.1.0 Change Log

* Kart physics modified, the kart is much heavier now as well as other subtle tweaks
* Air steering is now only engaged by pressing the steer direction after leaving the ground
* Some maps updated to work better with new kart physics
* Camera adjustments, closer to kart, fixed distance, crosshair added to aim mode
* Ice cube will not ice the player who dropped it behind them when it obviously shouldn't
* Win score changed from 500 to 400 in Tag mode
* All players given springs in Target mode and bumpers removed until they are functional again
* Soccer ball/hockey puck larger and easier to hit
* Country code added to the server browser so you can see how close a server is to you
* Rank sorted correctly in the server browser now
* Setting added to enable the screen blur effect on boost as some players were reporting problems
* The game responds to input correctly after closing the settings or server GUI while in game
* The map change timer works correctly in the server settings GUI
* Map name and server name added to the player roster GUI
* Laps/Place GUI is now visible in spectator mode
* The goal GUI now tells the user which goal they need to shoot the ball/puck into
* The signal GUI will warn the user if they connect to a server with a very large ping
* Upon pressing the reset key, a GUI pops up to notify the user they will soon be reset
* GUI is now visible in Skate
* Newb loading screen key layout image simplified
* Music updated and Hyperduck accessory added (quack quack!!)
* Sound errors no longer print out to the log which seems to prevent the game from slowing down over time
* Bug in sound priority system fixed which should prevent more important sounds (music, engine noises, etc) from cutting out on some sound cards
* Fixed the "Failed to find receive data peer" bug that happened sometimes after exiting the game and starting it again quickly

Go check it out!

[FragCool]

Hi,

I must say I love your game. And my wive just also installed the beta
The Ogre Advertising in the Game is great!

But I have one critic point...
The turn radius for a cart is to big, your are not able to make a full turn at once on a track with 5 times the width of your cart.
This is also an issue in the ball games, carts are normaly more agile.

[marshmonkey]

thanks for the feedback! The turning radius of the karts is something that it is hard to please everybody with. We are constantly tweaking it in order to try and find a middle ground everyone can be satisfied with! One thing that really helps to do instead of trying to make full circles with your kart is to just hop in place and rotate with the hop key (spacebar by default).

[FragCool]

Ah yeah,

thats an idea for the normal race tracks, I will try it in the eavning.

But for the ball games, I still would say a smaler turning cycle would speed up the game.
Right now I guess 4/5 of the time the ball is not in view. (The arrow helps alot *thumbs up*)

Maybe you could include some measurement how often the ball is in view to aprove or disprove my guess

[marshmonkey]

I find it vary useful to use the free camera with the mouse to track the ball, then you can keep it on the screen almost constantly.

[FragCool]

That was not my point, what i meant was that you race to the ball, hit it (or not if another hit it 1/10 of a second before) and then make a big circle to reach it again. Normally it's 1 + 1/2 big circle because you must hit the ball from the right direction.
This circling is not so funny.

I admit the physic in the normal race is ok, and the turning via jumping ok. But maybe you could tweak it a little bit for the ball games, to gain some speed

[marshmonkey]

yea, I have tightened up the steering radius a little bit in the next build.

[FragCool]

cool

[santiainen]

now can beta testers get full game free? XD JK

[FragCool]

I think this is a piece of software worthy to pay for

[marshmonkey]

New build is up on Steam:

1.0.1.1 Change Log

* 65 MS of lag removed
* Increased the network sync time to 30 times a second from 20
* Quick play button added to the main menu which will join the best server or start a local server if there aren't any good servers to join
* Reverse speed increased slightly
* Soccer ball tweaked so it is easier to hit around
* Player karts colored based on their team in Goal mode
* Tag rules modified
* Spring and punch strength increased slightly
* Punchbowl tag map reduced in size and other tweaks
* Some trees removed from downhill part of Chill Mountain
* Min players now defaults to 4 instead of 0
* The score now sorts correctly in Target mode
* Significantly improved the performance of the collision detection code when there are many objects in the world
* Bandwidth usage improved now as time shift wasn't enabled in the last build (oops)
* Going in reverse at the start of Chill Mountain will no longer cause the player to get stuck at the starting line
* The number of bots can be adjusted during play by changing the minimum number of players in the server manager GUI
* The maximum number of player will not be exceeded on a server anymore
* The player list in the server manager GUI now updates correctly when people leaving/join the server
* Pressing connect at the server browser when no server is selected no longer tries to join a local server
* Mouse sensitivity slider added to settings
* New "auto" mouse look mode added as default, the old mode can be enabled in the settings if desired
* Bots ping times in the roster GUI are now listed as "BOT" instead of the real ping time
* Players in result GUI no longer display above other GUIs in Goal and Tag mode
* Kicked players now go back to the main menu after being kicked
* Players with names longer than 32 character no longer cause the server to throw an error
* Exit removed from the key binding list in settings
* XPadder profile added to the Assets directory for the PC XBox 360 controller

Also, you can help show your support for Zero Gear by joining our Steam Group we are slowly climbing the official game groups listing!

[marshmonkey]

Just a few errors from yesterdays build to correct, and a few other things thrown in. Version 1.0.1.2 is now live on Steam.

1.0.1.2 Change Log

* The game will no longer throw error: "OGRE EXCEPTION(10:MyGUIException): ComboBox::setIndexSelected : index number 8 out of range [8]" if the min players is set to 8 in the server settings file
* The game will no longer throw error: "RaceServer.lua: 1042" when resetting at the start of a race map
* Quick Play now defaults to 4 min players and a random map order
* New default camera angle in the garage
* Added another checkpoint towards the end of Chill Mountain
* Red arrow point loss rate decreased from once every 2 seconds to once every 3 seconds, this means you lose less points while in red mode
* Point loss particle effects in tag now show the correct points lost
* Client and server log files added to error report in case of a crash

[marshmonkey]

Here's a short clip of a new pachinko type map that will be in the next build: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uyRws-Y0b1I&fmt=22

[my.name]

Here's a short clip of a new pachinko type map that will be in the next build: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uyRws-Y0b1I&fmt=22

=)))

[marshmonkey]

This weeks update is live on Steam:

1.0.1.3 Change Log

* New Target mode map: PACHINKO!!!
* Experimental gamepad support, only tested with the 360 controller so far, please give feedback!
* Fixed the checkpoint random reset bug, you should no longer be reset while going through the correct checkpoint
* Stunt tracking added, you will gain boost after a sound and particle effect fire off after performing a barrel roll or flip
* Air steer force increased so it is easier to do rad stunts
* Pressing Apply in settings will now close the settings GUI
* Added a button to reset controls to default in settings GUI
* Servers in your country are specially indicated
* Removed ability to color player names so the names are colored according to teams in Goal mode (server names can still be colored)

[FragCool]

1. The Game crashed when I switched from the "Create Server" window to the desktop (on switching back to the game) to take a look at your posting, because I didn't remember the name of the new map
(This can be reproduced)
2. The "Load Selected" Button doesn't work on the "Create Server" screen, there is also no comfort way in changing the prio in the map cycle list. You have to start a Server, then change to another map, if you want to start with an other map, but want to keep the rest of the map cycle.
3. I have a noname gamepad, it works greate! Only the free view, it would be nice if it would be possible to use the second analog stick, not push a button and then use the steering to look around.
4. The biggest problem I have right now is lag, it's almost impossible for me to play on an public server. With an ping of > 150 the game is unplayable, you make 90° turns like a rabbit and start to port around.

[sinbad]

I tried the gamepad support with my 360 controller, but I'm not sure I had it set up correctly. By default you can just control the view with the right hand stick, but not accelerate / brake or turn. I did try just setting it in the controls section, but it didn't work that well - it seemed to be digital rather than analogue and didn't always pick up the turning signals. Is there something I need to do to make this work better?

[marshmonkey]

not until we actually program analog steering.

[marshmonkey]

here is a sneak peek of a map I just finished that will be in the next beta update (hopefully out by the end of the week)