Homebrew working on a quick little wii racing game

[newo]

Today since we are still on covid lockdown I am going to work on smoothing out some of the bumps in all the tracks. Of course this will not get rid of the jerkiness on camera 1+2. But it will certainly make transitions from flat to up hill sections smoother. Also moving the health bar to the bottom of the screen as suggested by mr. reaper.

p.s. Anybody have a wii reddit/discord account? please post a link to this thread. just to see if there is anyone interest in beta testing on there.

p.s. what is the best level/track in the game so far?

 

[eyeliner]

Today since we are still on covid lockdown I am going to work on smoothing out some of the bumps in all the tracks. Of course this will not get rid of the jerkiness on camera 1+2. But it will certainly make transitions from flat to up hill sections smoother. Also moving the health bar to the bottom of the screen as suggested by mr. reaper.

p.s. Anybody have a wii reddit/discord account? please post a link to this thread. just to see if there is anyone interest in beta testing on there.

p.s. what is the best level/track in the game so far?

I don't think I can pinpoint a favorite track, actually.

There's a lot of particulars in each, but I certainly dislike one track that has a tunnel kind of thing. Takes a bit of clarity from the track, adding challenge, so that's alright.

 

[newo]

@eyeliner I am glad all the stages didnt turn out all "samey" even though they are all set at night.

Yes, tunnels are certainly scary in their own way. I put emphasis on them recently by making the underground sections gray with more fog. There is even a stage that is 90% undergound. On easy mode I dont think it goes underground at all.

 

[newo]

I need to release anew patch of fixes but right now I am too deep into the code to release anything. I might have even broken the rendering of the game while trying to remove some old code that I created in the early prototype stage of development. Eitherway I just have to compare with backup to see what I may have accidentally removed.

I was also working on adding a new 2x2 sign for the buildings and also removing some of the signs that looked stretched on some buildings. This is what happens when you do multiple hot fixes instead of just working on one thing at a time. You get over lapping bugs that take longer to figure out.

 

[newo]

Update 0.49 is live
- fixed some framerate drops that happened every 15 sec
- stage loading times improved
- added a circle when you are entering or exiting tunnels (may change this)
- there is a new type of 2x2 sign, 6x1 sign, 1x1 sign on top of buildings
- most bumps are now smooth(er)
- added some debug options in the menu
- fixed bug on track 3 on easy where the player would fly off the track
- language menu fixed
- removed some unused code, other optimizations to reduce cpu load.

Download: test build.

 

[newo]

Good day all,

Good some more testing done yesterday and some feedback! Some questionsI got from a tester;

when release?
I plan to release the game on April 14, 2021 - give or take. Which gives me about 2 weeks to create the wiibrew.org page, fix the remaining bugs and polish some of the sharp edges. WiiBrew page created: NewoZero (let me know if there are any errors, I will fix the download link and add it to the release list on the 14th)

where will download?
It will be officially available on Open Shop Channel/HBC and also its wiibrew page. But usually gets copied and published by randoms. it doesnt really hurt the wiibrew scene.

will there be a v2?
There is always a chance that I update it if someone likes it enough to request a feature or we find an annoying bug. Of course this is all limited by time, space and my ability to write the code. Its wii hardware so somethings are just impossible or difficult to code. I do not have nintendo skills.

other songs not playing?
The 1st song is always played first but it does/should go to the next song automatically or if you beat the stage. After the 4th song it should start over. its not work its a bug. It is also possible to set the game to play a random song when the game starts.

 

[newo]

Update 0.51

Got a little work in on it today.
- I tried increasing the mp3 songs loaded into the game to 6 but it crashed the game so I am to re-writing the mp3 handler. The download is now 41mb mostly of 6 mp3 files.
- I cleaned up some of the signs
- added a few more buildings to fill out some sections.
- added a options to disable the flashing signs

 

[Dcep1501]

Hey all! I just did a youtube vid for NEWOZERO for those that want a preview and rundown of the game. Shout out @newo for hooking me up with a pre-release version of the game. Be sure to support NEWOZERO once it’s out!

 

[newo]

Just watched it! I am impressed! Do it live! Well done. Officially the best review i've had so far! And I even forgot to mention that the mp3s in the folder can be swapped out if so desired.

P.s. I think you should play with a classic controller using the analog sticks and camera 4. I thought easy was pretty easy but I guess I have I have been testing my own game too long.

 

[Dcep1501]

Just watched it! I am impressed! Do it live! Well done. Officially the best review i've had so far! And I even forgot to mention that the mp3s in the folder can be swapped out if so desired.

P.s. I think you should play with a classic controller using the analog sticks and camera 4. I thought easy was pretty easy but I guess I have I have been testing my own game too long.

Ah feel free to add your comments to the Youtube vid so others can see your suggestions

 

[newo]

Ah good night all. Happy Easter!

v0.54
- Mr Repear is debugging the motion controls so I added some debug options to help with that. (forgot about adding tilt forward to accelerate, will add in next build)
- I'm adding a new top down camera angle "5". The reason I have all these camera angles is because I want people to be able to play the game in the style that they like or as a old school top down racing game.
- I am trying to implement 6 background songs but its crashing the game (which crashes the wii) so dont be surprised if that happens. If it doesnt work out by release I will go back to 4 songs. You can help test this by turning on debug text, starting a race and then stopping on the track,. The game should loop through all the songs without crashing. At least 24 times or forever.
- I am always fixing bugs, signs. It is now possible to edit the signs spritesheet in the images folder.

Download: test build.

 

[newo]

v 0.55
- you can drive with the wiimote by tilting it forward if "motion ctrls" option is selected. this means you can steer and drive without holding any buttons. Good luck.
- reduced the traffic on easy and normal mode.
- debug options for motion controls now work. You can crank up the sensitivity on the motion controls by 3x.
- the ship now tilts correctly when going around steep sloping corners
- slowly but surely chipping a way at this game. some people are certainly going to get some enjoyment out of this homebrew game.

Download: test build.

 

[newo]

Omg this issue took like 2 days to debug and I am still not sure if its completely solved but the game crashes on the 6th song that plays. I had to rip out all my mp3 player code but it seemed to be threading related so I dug into the threading code and that was another day of crazy trial and error.

Long story short is that I found something that I could fix. Now I have the game running again and I will leave the wii running for a couple hours to see if the fix work. Dont worry I have lots of ventilation around it. But its the only way to know for sure. Lol. Nuke it from space.

Todo list;
- variable accelaration with motion controls and right analog stick up. Maybe shoulder buttons. - reaper.

New build tommorow if all goes well and the wii is still running.

Edit: The reason why I have to do tests like this is because I dont want someone to set up a wii arcade box only to realise that the game crashes every 20 minutes. I think of these homebrew games as arcade cabinets running all day trying to attract players. Which means no room for random crashing. The game has to be stable.

 

[newo]

So after 4 hours on the title screen its still going - no crash. Wii is slightly warm but nothing extreme. The 6 mp3 files played approximately 50 times. So now I start a level and wait another 6 hours for the in game test. I should have took out my enegry efficient wii for this test.

 

[newo]

Its interesting when a new player doesn't past the first stage. Are they having difficulty adjusting to the controls? I have definitely played the game too much because right now it seems very easy to me. So its hard for me to determine if the difficulty is in the controls or the tracks.

 

[Dcep1501]

Its interesting when a new player doesn't past the first stage. Are they having difficulty adjusting to the controls? I have definitely played the game too much because right now it seems very easy to me. So its hard for me to determine if the difficulty is in the controls or the tracks.

Perhaps a slight speed adjustment with the easy/med/hard modes would help. I tried the game with analog like you suggested and I got the hang of it. A bit of a learning curve but any fast game like f-zero, extreme g, or wipeout is.

 

[newo]

Some would say that if it has no learning curve and no challenge is it really a game?

 

[Julie_Pilgrim]

Holy shit, you got a front page mention https://gbatemp.net/threads/newozero-is-a-homebrew-racing-game-project-for-the-nintendo-wii.586448/

 

[raxadian]

This is cool, thank you.

Some would say that if it has no learning curve and no challenge is it really a game?

Maybe make either a tutorial level or make things slower in the easy mode.

 

[newo]

@Scott_pilgrim With only a week of testing left before a full version 1 release. Lets make the best of it.

Build v0.6
- mp3 long play bug fixed
- fixed a few sound bugs related to starting a new race
- added view culling/frustum
- "thick lines" option added
- Track 5 on hard mode missing wireframe fixed.
- IMHO the best way to play is with a analog stick on a classic or gc controller but the other options are still there.
- added a new building type
- the game is running at a solid 60fps.
- major bugs fixed
- there still is a bit of learning curve but its a fast game


Download: test/beta build. and post a comment with your feedback.