Hi! It’s the first time I’m talking about the development progress of my racing video game publicly! I’ve shared a small devlog to my friends and they were excited for this. So I took the decision to show it to you from now on just so you can see how the game is made (and see me active on social networks).
To make this game possible while creating and updating my plugins I’ll update them along making this game, according to the needs of my game.
What is Project Celerity?
It’s a codename for the racing game of my dreams. I’m still thinking for a name that suits the whole game but I think I’m pretty close to find one. The game will be set in Japan, the country with the richest automotive culture.
It will have sim-arcade car physics, so you’ll be able to feel the car and have fun to explore the big roads of Japan.
It will include RPG elements such as socializing with other characters and drivers and everyone could consider how, what, where and when you drive.
Creativity is key in this game! There will be a free mode where you can freely customize the cars without owning them in the career mode, just like the “My Cars” feature in Need For Speed Most Wanted (2005).
A multiplayer will also be made so you can explore Tokyo, Osaka and Hakone with your friends.
The game will be free on release and will rely on donations -for copyright reasons- on itch.io. With my current pace, I’m aiming for a playable alpha at the end of the year 2023 but only the singleplayer will be available with a few cars.
Start of the project (Devlog #1) – 23rd December 2022
Before making a racing game, you need roads. In November and December 2022, I added 30 road types, 25+ lamposts, 8 barrier types, 5 bridge structures, 2 guardrails and 5 bollards.
My racing game is not optimised yet and the physics are still broken, but some of the assets I’ve made looks promissing (like the lamps and the bridge on the screenshots). I realized it will be a looong task to make a video game, and to optimize and make it moddable will add even more times. I aim for a playable alpha for the December of 2023.
For the next year, texturing, more cars, more props, making the characters, begin the construction of the real roads, make the multiplayer mode and the career mode.
It’s also safe to say that it will include a freeroam gamemode where you can drive the cars you made from the “free garage”. This garage is the equivalent of “My Garage” in NFS Most Wanted (2005) and Carbon where you can freely make a car with all the parts unlocked for free. The game will include 3 areas: Tokyo Bay, Osaka Bay and Hakone. I really want to make the best game where you can really experience the driving on the cities known for their unique car culture.
I’ll share more screenshots on major milestones. If everything goes right, I can make the racing game we want to see 😀
Bridges (Devlog #2) – 28th January 2023
New year, new challenges! I’m making the mega-infrastructures of Japan. I began with the bridges.
First I made the Yokohama Bay Bridge with the pillars, structures, barriers and fences to see the issues of making them, and I made a plugin to build suspension cables on the bridge. This way, you don’t have to modify the 3D object itself but you can adjust them directly in the scene view to make them follow the road generated by EasyRoads3D. The cables themselves are LineRenderers, which can also generate shadows. This plugin can also be used to render electric cables.
After that, it’s pretty self-explanatory, I apply the same workflow for Tsurumi Tsubasa Bridge, a bridge in Yokohama’s docks, two bridges in Daikoku and the famous Rainbow Bridge! I’ve also made a shader for the ocean, it’s still WIP because I’m looking for a better way to render the foam of the water.
The Rainbow Bridge was my favourite bridge to make! The bridge has roads on tops of others and I still managed to replicate those roads. In this game, you’ll drive on roads never seen in any racing games! It’s not finished yet, it still lacks some details but I may be able to finish it just before the end of this month.
And that concludes this devlog! Next time I’ll make the buildings and finish the model of the Rainbow Bridge and make the bridges of Osaka and Hakone. Thank you for reading this and stay tuned for more information about the development this game and the other plugins I’ll make.
Louis-Pierre Aubert 