Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Tube Racer Track Editor Prototype

A tubular track editor for a sci-fi racing game I imagined at the age of 12, and prototyped at 27.  12-year-old me was not disappointed.




Editor Instructions

SPACE + Mouse:  Free-look
SPACE +W/S:  Forward/Back
SPACE +A/D:  Strafe Left/Right
SPACE +Q/E:  Strafe Up/Down

LEFT CLICK:  Left-click on a node to select it.
You can left-click on one of the widget axes and drag up and down to move the selected node.
Alternatively, hold X, Y, Z or C to isolate an axis, then left-click and drag up and down to move the selected node.  Dragging in the direction of the axis hasn't been implemented yet.  Remember this is a prototype!

Yellow Axis / C:  This fourth axis is always aligned with the selected node's arms.  If you want to slide or stretch a node along its axis, this is the control to use.  Also, when using Make Straight, Make Arc and Add Node, this axis points in the direction along the curve that these actions will occur.

CTRL:  Snap-to-grid.  Can be useful in aligning nodes, but Make Straight and Make Arc are more useful, usually.

Make Straight:  Aligns the adjacent node with the currently selected node to make a straight section of track.  The length of the node arm will determine how long the straight will be.  The yellow widget axis points in the direction along the curve that the node will appear.

Make Arc:  Works similarly to Make Straight.  Once pressed, three sliders will appear: Orientation, Length & Radius. Best way to figure them out is by playing around with them.

Add Node / N:  Adds a node in between the selected node and the adjacent node, preserving the curve shape.  The yellow axis indicator will point in the direction of the adjacent node.  Does nothing if no nodes are selected.

Delete Node / DEL:  Does what it says.  This will alter the shape of the curve.

Build Mesh:  This performs the processor-intensive task of translating the bezier curves into tasty drivable tracks.  Make sure you press this before testing the game, or you may find yourself floating in black nothingness.

Test Track:  Drops you into the tube in a jet-car-plane-hybrid-thing. If and when I make this game, expect the vehicle to handle very differently to this.

Game Instructions

UP:  Thrust
DOWN:  Wheel brakes
LEFT/RIGHT:  Steer/Yaw

W/S:  Pitch
A/D:  Roll

SHIFT:  Downforce
SPACE:  Lift

BACKSPACE:  Reset Vehicle
RETURN:  Return to Editor

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