Looking for feedback on the racing game that I'm developing

[DragonJam]

Hello everyone!

First let me introduce me since this is my first post at Giant in the playground forum:

My name is Javier, I'm a guy from Spain who's always loved and played games since the 80's. I worked as a QA tester at EA for two years, and finally joined an indie videogame studio. We're an 11 people team currently working on our first game.

The thing is that we really care about our first game and want to make it as good as we can. Since we're an indie studio and also got tired of how big studios care more about hyping their titles, rather than hearing to gamers, we've decided to do right the opposite thing.

We are very interested in hearing people opinion on our game, suggestions, ideas....everything! and take them into account while we develop the game. We're showing our game at an early stage, no tricks! even though we're aware that some people would say that it sucks, cause unfinished games usually looks like crap. We don't care, we think that's the price we gotta pay if we really want to hear gamers opinion from the start.

Don't hesitate to ask anything you feel like, I promise to answer everybody. We are also open to hear any idea, doesn't mind how crazy it might sound. In exchange, I can offer closed-beta access to people interested, just go to our site and sign up and you'll be included in the beta testers list.

So, regarding our game:

Formula Wincars is an arcade karting PC title full of fast-paced races where you will compete online against a whole community of worldwide players!

We implemented lots of online gaming features, specifically inspired by those from MOBA games. That means that strategy and tactics will be important too.

Our latest trailer:



But I must say that in fact it's pretty old and the game looks much better now, it's just that we don't have enough time to make another trailer without stopping the developing of the game. And the game is the priority now. Our closed beta relases within two months approximately so we're working hardly to fulfil that deadline. (not sure if we will be able to do it or finally delay it a little bit)

Our game is intended to be totally oriented to online competition with some features like up to 4000 players tournaments. These tournaments will have real life prizes to winnners, and virtual goodies like car skins to every participant.

We're also running a development blog at our site where we make updates and try to share everything we learn and how we solve the problems we encounter (I don't know if it's allowed to put the link here, but if you're interested just google it). If you're curious about how games are made or you are a game dev student, you can have a look at it.

Some images of the game and its development:

[Anxe]

I like it, but I'm not seeing how its really different from Mario Kart. It's a PC game, but without differentiating significantly from Mario Kart, I don't see it being successful.

So... How is it different on that account?

[DragonJam]

I like it, but I'm not seeing how its really different from Mario Kart. It's a PC game, but without differentiating significantly from Mario Kart, I don't see it being successful.

So... How is it different on that account?

Hello Anxe,

We're all lovers and long-term players of every Mario Kart game in the entire saga (from the SNES title to the latest Wii U one) so, we faced our development as if it were a chance of adding or changing things that we didn't like that much in one of our favorite games.

First and main difference (besides, that ours is a PC title) is that we eliminated the "random" factor that MK has. In MK you get random items while racing, in the opposite, in our game each driver has his own and unique Special Skill. Besides, every time you use it in a race, it upgrades becoming more powerful or lasting, getting back to its initial level with a new race (we were inspired by MOBA games). This makes that strategy and tactics are much more important in our game.

We also went further in the online side: our game has Tournaments included in the game, Rankings, Seasons, etc....we even developed a friends and chat system!

There are more differences, but those are the basic ones. We are also currently developing a 4 vs 4 Teams mode, but it won't be available from the start, so I don't want to highlight that yet.

To sum up, in spite that we're an indie studio and got our limits, we really want to make a solid arcade karting game with its own personality and new game mechanics and not only do a low-spec PC version of MK.

Thanks a lot for your comment!!

[Anxe]

Leveled skills sounds cool. Kind of like Green Shell upgrades to Red Shell upgrades to Blue Shell.

I'm most interested in the team races. There isn't another racing game that's done that satisfactorially for me yet.

Do you have a destruction derby mode too? Those can be pretty cool as well. And probably faster for the people who don't have time for a one lap race (I'n assuming there will be queues for different amounts of laps in the races).

The tournament system also sounds interesting. How are you going to fund real world prizes? Is there a $1 fee or something to enter the tournament?

[DragonJam]

Leveled skills sounds cool. Kind of like Green Shell upgrades to Red Shell upgrades to Blue Shell.

I'm most interested in the team races. There isn't another racing game that's done that satisfactorially for me yet.

Do you have a destruction derby mode too? Those can be pretty cool as well. And probably faster for the people who don't have time for a one lap race (I'n assuming there will be queues for different amounts of laps in the races).

The tournament system also sounds interesting. How are you going to fund real world prizes? Is there a $1 fee or something to enter the tournament?

Hi again!


Yes, the Teams Mode represents a big opportunity! We also think that's something kind of innovative. Besides, it blends in very well with our Special Skills system.

We haven't started yet, but yes, we got in mind something similar to a Destruction Derby mode, it would be called Extreme Battle. So if you have any idea regarding this mode or want us to take something into account when designing it, this is the time!

Exactly, that's it. There will be a small fee to participate in tournaments with real world prizes (we also thought of 1$ what a coincidence!). This will allow you to participate in at least 3 races, and a total of 6 if you do it to the final. In adittion to the chance of winning the prize, all participants will receive a special sticker to decorate their cars. I'm a player too, and I think that it's really fair and realistic what you get for what you pay.

Thanks a lot for your comment!!!

[danzibr]

I'm not much into racing games (other than Mario Karts... and a few old ones which I only like for nostalgia value), but this looks like something I'd play, if I had the time.

I'm curious about the drivers hitting each other. Is this automatic or do you have to push a button? It reminds me of a motorcycle game on 3DO.

[DragonJam]

I'm not much into racing games (other than Mario Karts... and a few old ones which I only like for nostalgia value), but this looks like something I'd play, if I had the time.

I'm curious about the drivers hitting each other. Is this automatic or do you have to push a button? It reminds me of a motorcycle game on 3DO.

Hello danzibr.

Yes, you will have to push a button to hit others players. In fact, you will have two different ways of hitting other drivers, each assigned to a different button.

You will have the Stomp hability, which will make your car perform a "stomp" affecting all cars surrounding yours. You won't be able to use this skill constantly, only when its power indicator is completely charged. And once used you will have to drive thru a charge point to get it ready to another use.

The other hitting action, is the regular hit, which is the one shown in the video as a punch. You can use this as many times as you want, but int he other hand it's less effective than stomp and it will also need a time-specific performing.

Somehow, I must admit that your guess was right, at the moment we made that ol trailer we only had developed the animation of the hit, and not the proper control of the action by player. That's why it looks like it's triggered automatically.

Thanks a lot for the feedback, we really appreciate this!

[DragonJam]

Hello everyone!

Wow!, it’s been a loong time since last time I posted here on our progress. Almost two months of hard and intense work that had its results as you are able to see. First and foremost, our most important news….we change our game’s name!

From now on, our game will be named Wincars Racer!!



Reasons why? In fact, many factors have made us take this decision. First, your opinion. Many of you have said that you didn’t like the name, and truth is that we weren’t completely happy with it either. We put it provisionally, then time went on….and well, you know how these things work. Besides, we had noticed that the game was been perceived as a Formula 1 game, when we’re more into the arcade & karting gameplay adding strategy. Lastly, there were many people who warned us about the risk of facing a legal conflict with Formula 1 trademark, having been previous cases where other titles had been sued for that.

So…new name! We still use the word Wincars cause we are already known for that name and will help people find us in google and stuff like that. 

We’ve algo taking advantage of this opportunity to launch a new image in our website and make a new promo image taking into account all the feedback given by you.



At last, new gameplay screenshots:











We also got made the cards for all circuits which will be displayed when choosing the one to play in.







And finally….the cars! We’ve got now more than 100 different models. In next updates, I’ll explain how different they feel when it comes to drive them and all differences between them, today I’m just going to post some pics to let you see our progress in this and hear what you think about how they look so far:






This is a good example of how changing skins will affect to the same car. These following two images belong to the same car ( a Mignon) but they’re set up with two different skins (we’re developing an internet-based game….there must be cats!!!)





This is a detail that nostalgic racers will sure appreciate!



As always, we’d love to hear your opinión on our work, what you like better and that sort of things. You can ask us whatever that you feel like or thow any crazy idea that you’d like to see in the game. Believe it or not, we take them into account for real!

And don’t forget that you can still sign up for future closed-beta acess in our site at www.wincarsracer.com
Greetings from the dev team at DragonJam!

P.S. I’m going to check if there’s any chance of changing the thread’s title to reflect the change in the game name

[Djinn_in_Tonic]

Interesting. As a 10+ year hobbyist game designer and someone looking to get into the industry either in QA or design, I'm definitely interested in looking at beta games, especially for companies that are actually dedicated to reading and appreciating input.

No real feedback at this point...but then again, there's not a game to play yet, so my amount to comment on is relatively small.

Two things though. First, a comment on this level in particular:



I feel it lacks the clarity and track distinction that all the other up-to-date screenshots of your game show. Perhaps this is intentional (a section of track that requires skill and repeated playtime to master isn't exactly unusual in the racing genre), but it is a rather major divorce from the clarity of the other screenshots presented here.

Second: The car design is...odd. Some of them (specifically the Formula 1 style racers and many of the high-end sports cars) look almost realistically proportioned. This creates a somewhat awkward contrast with some of your other, more stylized care (like the Mignon you showed us): it's almost like the two styles were developed by separate teams who didn't have a single shared document on the visual theme of the game.

Personally, I much prefer the stylized approach for a game with mechanics like unique racer abilities and car-stomping -- I think the realistic cars will probably end up looking out of place with the cartoon-like gameplay mechanics, stylized drivers, and the bright, high-contrast level design.

[DragonJam]

Interesting. As a 10+ year hobbyist game designer and someone looking to get into the industry either in QA or design, I'm definitely interested in looking at beta games, especially for companies that are actually dedicated to reading and appreciating input.

No real feedback at this point...but then again, there's not a game to play yet, so my amount to comment on is relatively small.

Two things though. First, a comment on this level in particular:



I feel it lacks the clarity and track distinction that all the other up-to-date screenshots of your game show. Perhaps this is intentional (a section of track that requires skill and repeated playtime to master isn't exactly unusual in the racing genre), but it is a rather major divorce from the clarity of the other screenshots presented here.

Second: The car design is...odd. Some of them (specifically the Formula 1 style racers and many of the high-end sports cars) look almost realistically proportioned. This creates a somewhat awkward contrast with some of your other, more stylized care (like the Mignon you showed us): it's almost like the two styles were developed by separate teams who didn't have a single shared document on the visual theme of the game.

Personally, I much prefer the stylized approach for a game with mechanics like unique racer abilities and car-stomping -- I think the realistic cars will probably end up looking out of place with the cartoon-like gameplay mechanics, stylized drivers, and the bright, high-contrast level design.

Hi Djinn_in_Tonic,

First: Well, it's just a screenshot that captures a specific moment, nothing significant. But yes, there's something of that "skill needed" thing that you mention. Take into account that our game is an online multiplayer title intended to have a high level of replay vaule, so it's ok to put some difficulties in the circuits and demand the players to know the roads in order to master them. Otherwise, it would be great to race the circuits for the first attempts but might end up boring when playing it over.

Second Yes, I see your point here. We're aware of that, but in fact, this is an intended thing too. I mean, we know that this is somewhat risky but it can also help your game to stand out over others. I mean, if you do exactluy what's expected from you, you may end up developing a plain and boring game. We're going to try to make things a little different cause we're indies!

Thanks a lot for your feedback, you really took care of every word you write and you know what you're talking about!

Good luck getting into the gaming industry. In fact, I think that trying QA is a very good idea since that's how I started myself! (In my case, At Electronic Arts QA Cert)

[Djinn_in_Tonic]

First: Well, it's just a screenshot that captures a specific moment, nothing significant. But yes, there's something of that "skill needed" thing that you mention. Take into account that our game is an online multiplayer title intended to have a high level of replay vaule, so it's ok to put some difficulties in the circuits and demand the players to know the roads in order to master them. Otherwise, it would be great to race the circuits for the first attempts but might end up boring when playing it over.]

Figured that was the case. My only comment then would be another texture pass on that sign, and maybe a little tweak to make it not so perfect and flat a polygon: you've got a lovely, bright, stylized game, so why not give us a lovely, brighter (at least slightly), stylized arrow? A quick google search of some arrows suggests a few ways to match the theme while making the direction stand out a bit: currently it's a block of dark, relatively featureless lines on an otherwise vibrant screen.

And, again, I understand this is still a work in progress, and changes may be planned and/or already implemented.

Spoiler: Potential Arrow References

Show

Second Yes, I see your point here. We're aware of that, but in fact, this is an intended thing too. I mean, we know that this is somewhat risky but it can also help your game to stand out over others. I mean, if you do exactluy what's expected from you, you may end up developing a plain and boring game. We're going to try to make things a little different cause we're indies!

Interesting. Maybe I ask why you chose this particular approach? I ask because one of the things that I actively look for in a game is whether or not the game is consistent, and, as such, a visual style discrepancy across a single theme (cars, in this case) tends to be a negative quality. As an example: cartoony, cell-shaded robots brawling in a realistic-looking city might be fun, but if one of the buildings is cell-shaded, or one of the robot options is gritty and realistic, I as a player am going to feel like the game is slipping.

Again, it's not a dealbreaker, but I know that it would subtly detract from at least my gaming experience to see a style clash of cars at the line-up without some in-universe explanation of why that's the case (a Mario Cart vs. Lego Racer game, for example, could get away with it -- hence why we don't question Kingdom Hearts, for example), so I have to ask why THIS is a way you decided to break the mold.

Thanks a lot for your feedback, you really took care of every word you write and you know what you're talking about!

Always happy to help! Looking forward to having something playable I can really comment on.

Good luck getting into the gaming industry. In fact, I think that trying QA is a very good idea since that's how I started myself! (In my case, At Electronic Arts QA Cert)

Thanks! Had one major QA interview already, actually: didn't quite get that one, but I was close enough to keep trying! Ideally I'd just manage to wrangle a straight-up design position though -- my resume for that is far stronger.

[DragonJam]

Figured that was the case. My only comment then would be another texture pass on that sign, and maybe a little tweak to make it not so perfect and flat a polygon: you've got a lovely, bright, stylized game, so why not give us a lovely, brighter (at least slightly), stylized arrow? A quick google search of some arrows suggests a few ways to match the theme while making the direction stand out a bit: currently it's a block of dark, relatively featureless lines on an otherwise vibrant screen.

And, again, I understand this is still a work in progress, and changes may be planned and/or already implemented.

Spoiler: Potential Arrow References

Show

Interesting. Maybe I ask why you chose this particular approach? I ask because one of the things that I actively look for in a game is whether or not the game is consistent, and, as such, a visual style discrepancy across a single theme (cars, in this case) tends to be a negative quality. As an example: cartoony, cell-shaded robots brawling in a realistic-looking city might be fun, but if one of the buildings is cell-shaded, or one of the robot options is gritty and realistic, I as a player am going to feel like the game is slipping.

Again, it's not a dealbreaker, but I know that it would subtly detract from at least my gaming experience to see a style clash of cars at the line-up without some in-universe explanation of why that's the case (a Mario Cart vs. Lego Racer game, for example, could get away with it -- hence why we don't question Kingdom Hearts, for example), so I have to ask why THIS is a way you decided to break the mold.


Always happy to help! Looking forward to having something playable I can really comment on.

Thanks! Had one major QA interview already, actually: didn't quite get that one, but I was close enough to keep trying! Ideally I'd just manage to wrangle a straight-up design position though -- my resume for that is far stronger.

Hey!

First, sorry for my delay in the response. It's been quite busy days around here!

Mmmmmm, there isn't something like a solid argument that would convince you about our decision on how the cars look. I mean, our bet is diversity and make things our own way. I completely see your point, but I don't share your opinion in games like ours.

I love it when something stands out with a different artstyle within a game, sometimes it's some kinda easter egg, but we want to give the players their own choice to build their personality as players via choosing how they're gonna be seen by others.

Regardin the arrow....



Good news, we're working on it! ;)

Thanks fot the feedback!

[DragonJam]

Hi again…

…we’re thrilled to show new Wincars Racer game footage! :D :D



We really wanted to show some “in-movement” stuff where you can appreciate how the game is getting better as the development goes on.

This video is part of a blog post to be shared tomorrow where you will be able to know more details about the handling and feel of each of the 4 car series present in the game.

New game images:

This is one of the fake ads than will be placed in certain spots of the circuits whose intention is to give a real-life feel to the game’s universe. We’ve even made some of them featuring the game’s characters as media stars announcing commercial products like soda and stuff like that….



A close-up shot at the Dawn Of the Racers brand new car skin (all these skin names are still provisional, so we’d appreciate some feedback on them… and you can even suggest your own ideas to name them!)



The Wild One car skin for Carelle model. Personally, my favorite among all skins we’ve made so far….





A gameplay screenshot that will help you to get a quick overview of how racing trying to avoid giant rolling stones will be in Isla Aventura



Finally, Bradley using Rocket Rush Special Skill in its higher level, which is basically three huge turbines on full throttle giving your racer an extra boost. Using it wisely in the right moment will allow you to change race positions completely.




We’d really appreciate if you could leave your opinion about this update, both the video and the images. Ideas & suggestions are much welcome!!

If you like the game so far, you can go sign up at our site and you’ll have future closed-beta access guaranteed so that you will be able to be the first ones to play it and help us with the testing and balancing the game.

Greetings from the entire dev team!

[DragonJam]

Hello everyone!

It’s been a month and a half since last update so today there is a lot of new stuff to show you.






More than 100 new skins appear in the game!



Up to this point, for the development tests, we just used one skin of each of the eleven car models. So it was time to finally introduce the special models.

We are tripping!

Here you can see a few real screenshots so you can have an idea of how they look and the current state of the game:












New cover!






At last an image that truly presents the game.

The challenge was to create a cover that conveyed the emotion of the races while presenting the pilots and the cars in an attractive way. Truth is we think we have succeeded in doing this and we are very happy with the result.

We want to say a big thank you all for the feedback that you have given us on the temporary images that we have been using previously, it has helped us a lot when it came to visualizing the final version.



Final web design



We are working on the website’s facelift which has been a development blog up to now, and which will be, from this point on, an integral part of the game.

This way it will become the fundamental tool in order to download the game and also the meeting point to Racers worldwide.



Checking that everything works fine


If we talk about functionalities, as you can see in the picture, these sections have already been added: News, The Game, Gallery and Community, and inside this last one, you’ll find the awaited Forum. Social media have more weight too, adding the Facebook widget in the side bar.






Rear view



As soon as the game started working as we wanted it to work, and the races started being fun, balanced and frantic, we realized that it was time to work on the rear view mode.

Although we still have to assign it to a definite button and work out a few details (remove certain particles and camera effects which don’t make sense for the rear view), the first tests have been a complete success, and have added a lot of value to the gameplay.






Turbo particles



We have improved its particles and truth is it’s amazing. We are very proud of the visual feel that you get when using the Turbo. You can see it in this image:






Introducing the drivers



Same as with the game cover, it has been decided to present the pilots in individual illustrations using their exclusive special ability.

At this time we have started working with Montana Dom!





That’s all, we’re really happy with the idea of sharing our progress here in the boards and listen to opinions, ideas and suggestions directly from you.

Greetings to everyone here at Giant in the Playground boards!

[Gandariel]

Hi!
I'll drop some quick comments, possibly elaborate when I have more time.

I highly recommend you don't do the "big tournament with small real money fee" thing.
It feels more akin to gambling than gaming, and this concept doesn't work with games like this.
Take any competitive game. You play, you get matched up with people near your skill level. You improve, you achieve a higher rank and tougher enemies. Ideally though, your Winrate is still around 50/50.

The point is, there will always be better players than you (unless YOU are among the best), but it doesn't harm you, because you play only with your equals. And good players only wanna play against other good players.

Now introduce real money. You'd have good players who want to play, bad players who obviously don't.
Have real money games still "divided" by skill level? Good players will smurf or purposefully tank their score to play easy games and win cash.

All in all I feel this is a bad idea.

I'll comment more when I get a chance :) and good job! Your game looks pretty fun!

[DragonJam]

Hi!
I'll drop some quick comments, possibly elaborate when I have more time.

Hi Gandariel!

Let's talk about your point of view on this!

I highly recommend you don't do the "big tournament with small real money fee" thing.
It feels more akin to gambling than gaming, and this concept doesn't work with games like this.
Take any competitive game. You play, you get matched up with people near your skill level. You improve, you achieve a higher rank and tougher enemies. Ideally though, your Winrate is still around 50/50.

Well, lots of stuff here to discuss! :)

I agree with you on your statement about how matchmaking should work "you get matched up with people near your skill level" in fact, that's how our game works.

BUT, I think you're wrong with your statement about tournaments. I mean, It's like you assumed that one game can only use one of two different systems. Yeah sure, in that case you would be right.

We'll use the matchmaking based on players' ranking for regular races, but we'll do tournaments with no matchmaking system for competitive tournaments. That's the way it should be when it comes to competitive, otherwise, you would be penalizing best players making them race together on first rounds and lowering their chances to get to the final.

There's one solution to this problem: Tournaments where you need to have a certain range to be able to play them. This way, you guarantee that the players' level is at least similar, and once they're allowed t play it, the best one wins. No tricks.

The point is, there will always be better players than you (unless YOU are among the best), but it doesn't harm you, because you play only with your equals. And good players only wanna play against other good players.

Yeah, sure.

Now introduce real money. You'd have good players who want to play, bad players who obviously don't.
Have real money games still "divided" by skill level? Good players will smurf or purposefully tank their score to play easy games and win cash.

All in all I feel this is a bad idea.

You can overcome that problem using different "points system" in the game (which is what in fact, we do). Yes, you can get some things faster by spending real money in the game, but you can't get experience points by using money. You must play the game and that's the only way you get to unlock some features.

Regarding some player grinding in the game: "Good players will smurf or purposefully tank their score to play easy games and win cash"...

Well, yes that's gonna happen in games like these always, it's difficult to absolutely eradicate it. In the other hand, you can lower its impact easyly. If a high-ranked player beats a lower-ranked player...he will get a very small amount of points, thus he won't perceive that making it so can be a good

I'll comment more when I get a chance :) and good job! Your game looks pretty fun!

Cool! Thanks A LOT for your comment!!

[Gandariel]

Again, i'll post more stuff when i can.

Just a quick answer to this:

Regarding some player grinding in the game: "Good players will smurf or purposefully tank their score to play easy games and win cash"...

Well, yes that's gonna happen in games like these always, it's difficult to absolutely eradicate it. In the other hand, you can lower its impact easily. If a high-ranked player beats a lower-ranked player...he will get a very small amount of points, thus he won't perceive that making it so can be a good

"You can lower its impact easily"?
I mean sure, there *are* ways of doing that.
but the thing is, i'm pretty sure most people would have the same exact reaction as me when first being introduced to this:
as a newbie "no way i'm playing this for real cash, i'll surely lose to some OP guy tanking his score. I'm not even good enough to beat other newbies".
then when i get better "Huh, maybe i should try one. I am doing pretty well in my races."
"Aand i lose to a guy who was clearly better than me. Never again".

This is what will happen. To 99% of the players, at least.
Either they will try once, most will be scared by the loss and won't try again, or they just won't try imagining the result.

Maybe my vision is pessimistic, but honestly i don't believe this is a good thing to introduce.

If this all worked with fake money (the currency you earn in the game) (which can be bought for cash) i would be much more open to the idea. There's a pretty big mental hole between betting real money and betting not-real-money that you just earned by playing.


And another small note: I see you alredy have a ton of skins and cosmetics.
As a general rule, you should be focusing much more on the actual mechanics, and only then starting with skins etc.
As a rough figure, i'd release the game with 4-5 skins per car (or less) and then start adding more.

The thing is, you can always make more skins that a player may or may not like. You only get one chance at first impression with the mechanics.
Also, continually adding content (even in the form of cosmetics) is one of the best ways to keep the playerbase active.

[DragonJam]

Again, i'll post more stuff when i can.

Just a quick answer to this:


"You can lower its impact easily"?
I mean sure, there *are* ways of doing that.
but the thing is, i'm pretty sure most people would have the same exact reaction as me when first being introduced to this:
as a newbie "no way i'm playing this for real cash, i'll surely lose to some OP guy tanking his score. I'm not even good enough to beat other newbies".
then when i get better "Huh, maybe i should try one. I am doing pretty well in my races."
"Aand i lose to a guy who was clearly better than me. Never again".

This is what will happen. To 99% of the players, at least.
Either they will try once, most will be scared by the loss and won't try again, or they just won't try imagining the result.

Maybe my vision is pessimistic, but honestly i don't believe this is a good thing to introduce.

If this all worked with fake money (the currency you earn in the game) (which can be bought for cash) i would be much more open to the idea. There's a pretty big mental hole between betting real money and betting not-real-money that you just earned by playing.


And another small note: I see you alredy have a ton of skins and cosmetics.
As a general rule, you should be focusing much more on the actual mechanics, and only then starting with skins etc.
As a rough figure, i'd release the game with 4-5 skins per car (or less) and then start adding more.

The thing is, you can always make more skins that a player may or may not like. You only get one chance at first impression with the mechanics.
Also, continually adding content (even in the form of cosmetics) is one of the best ways to keep the playerbase active.

Hi again Gandariel,

I've been thinking about your opinion, and truth is that you really got a point here. We'll really consider allowing to "pay" the tournament fee using driving credits (earned only by playing). We'll let you know any progress on this.

And yes, I agree with you about working on the mechanics, we're also doing that of course! In fact, this is a team of developers, and artists can't help much at programming or polishing the code and gameplay, so they keep working on skins, the UI and stuff like that.

Thanks a lot for your feedback and sorry for the delay on my response (it's been quite busy around here lately!)

Cheers!

[DragonJam]

Hello everyone....

Time has come!



We're thrilled to announce that tomorrow, Thursday 3rd starting from 13:00 Pacific Time to 15:00 Pacific time (20:00 UTC to 22:00 UTC) Racers from all around the world will measure their skills playing Wincars Racer for the very first time!

If you are interested in taking part of this, here are the instructions to download the game: http://bit.ly/1LFmXjb

Once the test is finished you'll receive a survey via email to share your thoughts on the game so far and give feedback. Of course, you can also post a message here in the Forum!

See you at the races!

[DragonJam]

Hi again,

Last weekend, we showcased the game at Madrid Games Week and truth is that it was an absolute success:Wincars Racer was awarded as Best Debut Game!





Undoubtedly, this award belongs to you too. You who helped us with the Alpha tests, who usually give us feedback on the game's progress and all of you who just read this thread on a regular basis.

Congratulations!

There's a new post in the devblog featuring lots of pictures of all the action that happened these days at the fair: http://bit.ly/1huig0U

Besides, the new trailer released for Madrid Games Week is now avalaible to watch online!

As always, feedback is much appreciated!!

[DragonJam]

Hello everyone,

Today, we're thrilled to announce that...


You can play Wincars Racer Beta now!




How to Download the game


It's fairly straightforward if you already signed up at our site. Just log in at Wincars Racer site and download the game.

http://www.wincarsracer.com


Otherwise, you need to sign up and redeem a Beta Key, though, there will be a Beta Key for everyone here at Giant in the playground forum who asks for one!

That's our way to express our gratitude to everyone who gave feedback or just followed the game progress in this thread. *



Check out the new game trailer released to announce the Beta. It's the best we've done so far!




Thanks for everything and see you at the races! ;)

[Gandariel]

Sure, i'll hop in!

[DragonJam]

Sure, i'll hop in!

Great, check your inbox I've just sent you a Key!

[DragonJam]

Hello everyone!

We are aware that it has been a little bit difficult to find players online to race against these first days of Beta. Thanks a lot to everyone who wrote to us explaining this situation and suggesting us to set up official scheduled playing times.

So here they are. If you want to race against real players, these are the recommended times to launch the game!






Launcher issue FIXED!


Some of you experienced this annoying bug that even got to prevent players from playing the game at all. The good news is that we fixed it! Most of players who have tried the new one didn't suffer the bug (so far...fingers crossed!).

If you encountered this bug, please download the new client from here:

http://download.wincarsracer.com/Win...tallerV2_2.exe

That's all, see you all behind the wheel at the next official playing time on Sunday 6th!

[DragonJam]

Hi!

Long time no news, here we go!




Steam

Yes, Steam. Probably one of the most repeated suggestions we've heard since we started asking for feedback about our game. It's been a year and a half of reading "Will the game be released on Steam? So, we listened to you and are currently setting a Greenlight campaing so that you are able to play Wincars Racer on Steam.

I will announce the campaign once its released and see if we can make it to the store!



Drift button.

Another point where we used all feedback given to us. In fact, at first we didn't want to include this, We thought that it would be better to develop a system where you could make the car drift by just turning the wheel at maximum.

We were wrong.

We implemented the new drifting system and the game just got BETTER. As simple as that. It still needs some adjustments, but clearly, this is the way yo go. We're eager to see you get your hands on it!




Wincars Racer testing showroom event

We are hosting an event next 11th February in Telefonica Flagship Store (Madrid, Spain), sponsored by Pure Gaming and being part of ElZeroUno (a series of game meetings and conferences) where you will be able to play the game running in top-notch gaming set-ups.

I know that it's quite difficult that someone reading this in here could be in Spain those days, but... hey if that's the case, we'd love to see you and drink some beers together!


We've made tons of other corrections, improvements in the circuits, graphics performance, etc... but we'll leave that behind today and try to surprise you next time you play the game!

Greetings from everyone here at the studio!

[DragonJam]

Hi everyone,

It's here! :D

Wincars Racer Greenlight campaign is now live!


Now, it's in your hands if the game will be available on Steam or not. You can vote for it in this link:

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfile.../?id=619988052

We'd really appreciate you sharing the link with your friends on the internet, help us spread the word!





Wincars Racer open beta available now


You can now play the new Wincars Racer new version 0.0.3

Just log in at http://www.wincarsracer.com and then download the game by clicking on Play Free Now.

If you already had access to the Beta just open the game launcher and it will update to the the latest version automatically. Play whenever you want, but remember that there are way more players in the official scheduled playtimes.

Playtimes Schedule: http://www.wincarsracer.com/content/...ars-racer-beta


What's new on this version?


A complete list of major changes, improvements and bug fixes can be found at the Build release notes, though, we advance you that a new drifting/handbrake button has been implemented and that the overall game performance has been drastically improved.

Build Notes: http://www.wincarsracer.com/updates/build-003-here

Full drifting action and full adrenalin fun!


Thanks for the support and don't forget to leave feedback if you give the beta a try, we couldn't do it without your help!

[DragonJam]

The open beta has now officially ended


Our intention now is to run time-limited tests periodically, so if you happen to read this and didn't play the beta before, you can still sign up at our site and we'll notify you when the game is available in these time-limited test events.

Thanks a lot to everyone who took part in this and shared their thoughts on the game with us, your feedback is extremely valuable! We are already working on tons of changes and improvements suggested!


Besides....

Wincars Racer has been greenlit and will be published in Steam!


It raised more than 4000 "yes" votes and was featured in the top 20 among more than 2000 games ever since the very first 48 hours.

We want to give a heartfelt thanks for such an overwhelming support!





That's all for now. As always, Do not hesitate to leave a comment!

[DragonJam]

Hi there!

We wrote a comprehensive post mortem on the past Wincars Racer greenlight campaign approved with the help of your votes. An insight into how Valve chooses what titles will end up being available on Steam and a good help if you're planning to release your own games on it. Do not hesitate to ask anything!


Link: http://www.wincarsracer.com/content/...ell-what-didnt





Regarding the development of Wincars Racer, we're now working hard to implement Steam features into the game... friend system, achievements, etc... and making good use of this extra time to work on polishing game mechanics and some new stuff that will be announced shortly... :P

Greetings!

[DragonJam]

Hi there!

It's been almost two months without an update, I really missed you but we had tons of work to do around here!

First off, we got a new website! check it out at http://www.wincarsracer.com.

Also, you can sign up for the newsletter at http://www.wincarsracer.com/beta-sign-up-wincars-racer/ and get a chance to win a Steam Key to participate in the next Beta test!

Many of you who played the game told us that you didn't like the style of the menus. We listened to that and it became a priority since that same moment. Well, here it is, we've revamped all the interface, menu, icons and the in-game HUD, and the truth is that we're veeeery happy with the new look!











What do you think of it?, can you guess what game inspired us in this change? ;)

If you didn't take part in the past Beta test, you can compare this with the old interface in this blog post http://www.wincarsracer.com/revamped-menu-screens/

Regards!!

[DragonJam]

Hi there!

We'll have some exciting news regarding release date pretty soon but before that I'd like to show you the latest Wincars Racer build and all the new stuff. As always, feedback is much appreciated!

We're not sure now if we'll have enough time to do more beta tests, but just in case we could do more or if you just wanna be updated with all game news (release date, sales offer, big updates...) you can sign for the newsletter or just follow us on twitter




First, we already chose the capsule image for Steam, well… the platform displays many different artwork in several sizes as you all know. This in particular is the one used in the main store page (hopefully we’ll appear there, finger crossed) and also while in big Picture mode.





We’ve implemented a new mechanic which digs deeper into the strategic side of the gameplay. It’s all about this new Nitropower walls. Placed in spots such as shortcuts or alternative routes, you’ll lose the charge in all your special skills if you pass through them but in the other hand you’ll gain some precious time because of taking advantage of shorter routes. It’s up to you to decide what to do in each moment!






We’ve remade Hanging Cliffs circuit from scratch, please see this screenshots to appreciate its new look.






We’ve replaced old generic splash screens for a new specific new ones for each circuit. Here is a small sample of some of them:






Apart from all menus and HUD we’ve also improved Stomp and Turbo instant charge points. They looked kinda dated and bland but we think that they gained a fresher look now.







We also had time to polish and improve almost all car models. Some of them look almost like completely new ones, compare by yourselves.




Finally, we also made some cool icons for the division shields. You’ll be lowered or promoted depending on your race results and this is what will matter in the matchmaking for further races.






We’re very close to reléase the game, greetings from the devs at DragonJam!