Author: 0x71c99d7e593e4e2b07d17feba2d080cbffe832cb
Update Status: On Time
Project Health: 
On Track
Introduction
In the last month both on the design and the development side we made a lot of progress. On the 3D side, we created more road modules and a variety of environment assets and improved the cars interior and exterior as well. On the development side of things we got an MVP game engine up and running and implemented that in the practice mode of the reference game and we are testing that on different machines to ensure the best possible user experience.
Highlights
For the 3D development we have a few updates this month:
- We created a wider variety of road modules, encompassing three different environments: desert, forest, seaside + the modules that blend from one environment to the next.
- The cars have received futuristic and minimalistic interiors to go along with their initial exterior design.
- We started to think about how the dashboards would look and how they can be integrated with the code to display the information properly in 1st person view.
- In anticipation of the event we’re planning, The Metaverse Trackdays, we created three racetrack variations that players can choose to race on.
On the development side
- We introduced lap handling with a start lap and end lap event so we can start to score lap times and race times.
- We added the concept of checkpoints to a track to allow scenes to ensure a lap can only be completed if the player goes through the whole track.
- Ghost cars have been added to the NPM package to save the player’s best previous attempts while in the scene so the users can race against a ghost car with their best score in the next lap on a given track.
- Default UIs have been created for Speed, Time, Current Lap / Total Laps and a scene is able to provide a minimap image for each track showing track checkpoints and players current position
- We have designed the scoring logic for practice and competition mode for the reference game
- Steering wheel and brake lights animation have been added
- Programmatic Car control established and utilised in the ghost car which means cars can be programmatically controlled over time
- Car Movement can now fully be specified in the scene with the scene being able to control/declare: AccelerationF / AccelerationB / Deceleration / MaxSpeed / MinSpeed / Steerspeed / Mass / Grip
We developed practice mode MVP with 3 track options, added the car models Voxel Architects created and implemented lap handling, check points and ghost cars. The reference game is currently being tested on different machines, in browser and on the client as well.
Blockers
We have no blockers.
Next steps
For the 3D development, next steps are:
- UV unwrapping and texturing the cars exteriors and interiors. Adding a few decals to make the cars look more like they belong on the racetrack
- Populating the tracks with racetrack-specific decorative assets, such as road marks, speed marks, red lights, etc.
- Creating the final UI for the reference game
On the development side our next steps are:
- Implementing the 1st person mode UI that will show time and lap on the dashboard
- Adding racetrack decoration designed by Voxel Architects to create different environments for the Metaverse TrackDays event
- Allow users to select which car they are driving
- Implementing the core game loop which:
- Gives a progression through tracks by allowing users to access the next track only when they have reached the qualification time on their current track. This means they must complete practice mode in XX:XX and then when they have achieved that, Track1 is unlocked.
- In the reference game, we will introduce a system of personal bests, so that players are racing against their ghost car in each track which represents their best time, and if they beat the ghost car they record a new personal best and earn points.
- And the leaderboard will show the player’s best score on each track, and show an overall result based on their best time for each track.
- Tuning the different car models using the development panel to establish 3 complementary car specifications.
In addition to the above mentioned points, our QA process led to a decision to another iteration of work on the track design, with the main change being to widen the tracks - which brings it inline with the sort of experience we’ve observed in other racetrack based driving games.
Apart from finalising the reference game, updating the NPM package and documenting everything we are also preparing for Metaverse Trackdays where we will introduce the game to the community. The event will take place in March, the exact date will be announced in February.
Additional notes and links
Screenshots can be viewed here - a video showing the reference game will be added to this folder as well: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1vuSTY-jaV8ZagOJKtk8GwrQI2io-QEWX?usp=drive_link