Specification

At the beginning of all great journeys, there must be a first step. In the case of this game, the first step is a specification document. This document has a list of desirable features with bullet points and key notes on how the game should function and feel. The purpose of this is to render the vision for the game to a place where it can be tweak and amended as the project dictates. I tend to treat this as more of a ‘loose’ guide that I will use to develop the game with. Many software professionals out there would probably roll their eyes at such a practice; however this has worked for me in the past and I hope it will work for me in this title as well. Some of the key points in this document I have listed under.

• Birds eye view point (aka supercars on the Amiga).
  The games camera will be placed above the action as if you was a bird flying high in the sky looking down, hence bird eye view!. This should give this game a sexy retro feel.

• Easy to pick up and play, game style with addictive quality’s.
  The style of racing will not require ‘twitch play’, but a nice smooth predictable steering feel. Bends will be seen long before they need to be cornered. A desirable aim is to have all corners drivable by steering the car around the bend at max speed without the need to lay off the accelerator. It has never been fun to bump from side to side down a road off every object around. The odd harder corner can be thrown in that will require the player to use there brakes, or preferably an inertia slow down of no acceleration that the mass of the car should provide.

• Cars should be able to react to the terrain (hills!).
  Cars should interact with the gradient of the terrain they are on. They will also be affected by the terrain they are on. For example, sand will cause dust, grass will have tyre marks left on it and ice will cause the cars to slip and slide.

• Weapons (and to a lesser extent other boost like items).
  Missiles, rockets, mines, oil slicks, mist clouds, nitro boosts, chain guns, homing missiles etc. I am sure this list will grow over time!.

• Money that is won from races and in achievements can be spent on upgrading your car.
  Rewards can also be bonus’s pick-ups left on track. Upgrades can be in the shape of improved car abilities or maybe even new cars. New weapons could be placed in the shop between levels and maybe even entry to other race tracks and competitions could depends on an some sort of fee system?.

• Damage on cars.
  As weapons are used, damage from them will need to be shown on the cars. It would be nice if this can show different degrees of damage depending upon the amount of damage for the certain area of the car.

• Damage on the scene.
  Damage on the race track and other scenery will also help with player’s immersion; it will help the player feel like they can affect the game world.

• Shadows.
  All things in the game should cast a shadow, this will help create further immersion for the player and give the game a nice overall graphical polish that will make for some sexy screenshots!.

• Fancy pants collision.
  When cars (and maybe some projectiles) bump off other objects at a shallow angle, they should continue at the correct angle but at a lower speed then when they were travelling towards it!. Hitting something head on will stop the car dead. Think of it like balls on a pool table, bouncing on the cushions.

• Multi-player.
  This could happen via an internet connection, perhaps with players sharing the same computer, or ghost racing other peoples fastest laps. What ever happens in regard to the multi-player aspect, one thing I am sure about is, it has always more fun to play with others!.

I am sure that if the above features were implemented with a single ounce of passion, then the final game would be rather funky and highly desirable. I tried to limit the features on this spec doc to those that would bring value to the overall game, namely in helping creating an immersive world that players can lose themselves in.

posted by Stephen Greener