Time goes by and the prototype of strange races, inspired by the classic “Vanger”, has grown a bit. More cars, locations and gaming features available. Details are in the article.
The first article introduces the course in more detail: Nevanger
version 0.1
Meet - this is the Organic Heretic, the starting machine-mehos. In the first version, only she could interact with interactive level elements, and some other models could only be tried in limited mode.
An important and, I would even say inevitable, innovation of the next version was that I finally taught the machine how to jump. For greater authenticity and similarity to that arcade-voxel experience of the original "Vanger". At the same time, the permeability of the machine increased significantly.
Also in version 0.2, a selected weapon for the Heretic and the ability to shoot from it were added. During deaths or transitions from world to world, weapons are dropped, but they can be raised in the same place again.
The fleet of available mechos was replenished with two more (Vicious Sister and Ohm), and the last location increased (energy bridges appeared there, some of which need to be activated by a shot).
Here's how it looked:
In the third version, the Spiral Daughter burst into the worlds of Nevangerov, bringing with them an additional location - separate rocky sections, interconnected by knotted bridges.
Daughter Spiral
But much more important were the non-visual changes - in this version all the cars could interact with interactive objects - mushrooms, portals and entrances to special shelters. In addition, switching between the cars by the arrow buttons was removed and instead it became possible to switch them when visiting the shelter (at the moment there are two such points in the game, they are in different worlds).
Screen switching mechos in the shelter (escape)
Also in the prototype appeared the effects of traces and dust plume. However, there were still the old brake track shaders, which are no longer in the next version. But I deleted the old scene emergency reset button already at this stage (although it will not always hurt, but the existing one did not work correctly).
Loop creation process
Video with changes:
And so we gradually got to the fresh, fourth version.
Here I decided, firstly, to redesign the starting location into something more spacious. In terms of colors and materials, it should have remained the same, but I removed the site-reference to the original game, expanded the available space and began to fill it with paths, bridges and other elements. There was a lot of places, so access to the bol half of the location was temporarily blocked by the plan, planning to develop and open it in the future. And the removed piece with the reference will most likely return later, in the form of a certain small secret location.
Building bridges
Another thought was to make transitions between worlds not so simple (at least at some levels), namely, to make a scale of energy received from crushed mushrooms. When filling the scale, the charge of energy would become enough to enter the portal.
Spiral Charge Level Scale
At the moment, this function is only partially implemented - when collecting mushrooms, the scale is filled, but the mechos passes through the portal with any amount of energy.
Speaking of mechos, now there are five cars available in the game and another, “secret” one (Ghol, or White Ghost, whose appearance refers to Iron Shadow from the original game), can be found on one of the levels. Subsequently, it is likely that the others will also not be available immediately, but they will need to be found first.
Available mechos: Heretic (top), Addicted, Sister, Om, Daugter, Ghost (bottom right)
At the same time, the Spiral Daughter learned to choose the world into which she goes. Moving between worlds, she finds herself in a special area with a choice of destination. In addition, it is understood that her spiral charge is always maximum and, unlike other mechos, she does not need to pick mushrooms at the levels where it is needed. But other mechos can also have their own interesting properties. For example, Om, who in this version illuminates the space in front of him. Perhaps in the future, he will not be able to do this initially, but he will first need to find some kind of detail-bulb.
Another Chain of Worlds
Ohm's flashlights are very useful at a new level, which appeared in version 0.4 and is a labyrinth of tracks immersed in darkness. True, this level itself is still relatively empty, you can just try to get to its final point, which is highlighted.
Through the mist
As for less noticeable changes - the dust loop has become double, the mouse cursor hides from the screen outside the shelters, some changes that were not remembered before (such as activation of bridges) are saved at the levels, a couple of tips were added during camera switching, a bit of light and shadow optimization, a little Desert level and shelter design changed.
Most of these innovations can be seen in the new video:
Regarding management. In the current prototype, the movement is carried out by WASD, the P button allows you to jump, the O Heretic shoots a weapon with the O button when it is picked up.
Button C allows you to cyclically switch between 5 cameras (in fact, you don’t need so much, more or less the first two or three are enough, but left it so far). The second camera is free, reacts to mouse movements and zoom on the wheel. In this version, I added a special hint on the screen - when the second camera is active, the message “free camera” appears. On the fourth camera, a brief guide to control is displayed, just in case.
You can download the prototype here: nevangers
Application weight 129.9 MB, for 64-bit OS.
Finally, a few more thoughts.
That's what I would like in terms of modifications for the very original, voxel engine, so that this very voxelism is really fully revealed. This could be, for example, a certain version of the game, not in the form of a character car, but in the role of a demiurge, which in real time modifies the world itself - lowers / raises the terrain, destroys and creates objects, or rather objects, but special entity-formulas, which spread and modify the area around them according to their own criteria. At the same time, the cars themselves are traveling around the world and somehow interacting with each other. In a word, something like an old Populous, where you controlled a deity, influencing the world, and the goal was to preserve controlled nationalities and destroy / assimilate the enemy.
By the way, I recommend the fans of “Vanger” to pay attention to the game “Death Rally” (the game is 96 years old, for DOS, from Remedy). It is very likely that the authors of the original were inspired primarily by her, and not by ordinary Micromachines at all.
Death rally
At least here a couple of locations are somewhat similar to Vanger landscapes and one of the music tracks has some similarities.
That’s all for me. Have a nice day.