get REKTorized - My very first self-made AG racing game

[docfo4r]

Hello Pilots!
I would like to introduce you to the very first game I made all by myself and let the trailer take it from here:


This game will be available for free on Steam!
I would be super happy if you would add it to your Wishlist and give it a try upon release! You can also find out more about this game on the Steam page:

Steam page

Below the line you can find a FAQ-section with some further info about my motivations. If you have questions/thoughts/feedback, you can just reply here. I will respond happily 😊

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What is this game about in general?
At the core, the game contains the well-known basics of AG racing: Glide, pick up goodies for protection/advantages or combat, use airbrakes and side shifting to optimize your racing line.

There are two main topics that tell get REKTorized apart from most other AG racers:
First off, we have a heavy focus on action, destruction, and explosions rather than the need to hit the race line pitch perfect to win. Weapons have a bit more RNG, race modes generate explosions and wrecks.

Secondly, this game features a Story mode that consists of several chapters and several race events within those chapters. You can choose to read a bit about each story event or jump right in, but the Story will demand you to resolve unique tasks and even solve some riddles once you made some progress. It has its moments of surprises and I am curious to see who can finish it 100%.

Once you made progress in the story, you will unlock new ships, speed classes, tracks, race modes and AI strengths. You can then fully configure your own races ranging from number of laps and AI ships to choosing which weapons will or will not spawn during the race.

Online multiplayer is also available, read more on it below.

And for those who do enjoy squeezing milliseconds: A race mode for just that [known as Speed Lap in WipEout] as well as online leaderboards are available, too!


There is already BallisticNG, FlashOut, Pacer, RedOut etc. - Why another AG racer for PC?
I started this project many years ago, while some of the mentioned games were not even released back then. Most of these games have one thing in common [which is good]: Speed!
As a kid, I enjoyed games like Destruction Derby a lot and I wanted to create a racer that focuses more on action and explosions rather than super perfect race lines.
So I created get REKTorized, and why not sharing the game with the great Pilots here in the forum and around the world!


Will it only be available for Windows?
Currently, unfortunately yes. I am working on this project all by myself and dont have enough resources to test on any other OS other than Windows.
That said, I do not generally rule out a Mac or Linux build in the future.


This game is completely free?
Yes, you can download it for free on Steam and there is no need to pay anything else for progress or upgrades. Just install and enjoy!


The game has Multiplayer?
Yes, there is a simple Multiplayer mode included allowing you to race against a maximum of 6 other random people or host a private session with just your friends. Several race modes are available, as well as a battle arena mode.

I will be all honest with you: You may experience glitches or desyncs [depending on your connection/distance to servers]. Like I mentioned, it is my very first self-made game so I might be a bit slow in fixing those issues.


What happened to SlipStream GX?
As some of you may know, I used to work on SlipStream GX, which was the very first community-led AG racing project in here starting back in 2011. I gained lots of game dev experience there. The core team of SlipStream GX is still together, and our main programmer zero3growlithe has rewritten lots of code and is actively working on the game! I am super hyped and am looking forward to what will happen to SSGX!

[eLhabib]

Wow, congrats! I really dig the art style you chose, fits very well!

[docfo4r]

Thank you so much!
To be completely honest: I am super bad at creating textures and wrapping them around 3D objects. The art style was mostly also the graphical style I desired but it also comes a bit from "know where your limits are"

While doing some final touches to the game, I will release a few mini videos that explain certain features of the game. I had fun making such kind of videos. So today comes the first one:

[docfo4r]

Here comes the second out of three mini videos
This times, it is about the grid-based Story mode.

[MegaGeeza22]

This looks really impressive!!! I have it on my wishlist and I've been counting down the days. Not long to go now!

[docfo4r]

Thx alot, Mega!
Wishlisting helps alot so Steam will recommend the game a bit more

Hey I remember you sent me a PSN message back in the WOHD times that you liked the videos Cipher and I created from the Bling Brigade events and due to your message Cipher and I created the HD2097 YouTube channel!
Good times! 10 years ago already though, crazy how time flies...

Nice to see you're still around

[docfo4r]

The game is now released. Please give it a try, it's f r e e

https://store.steampowered.com/app/869260

...also I am happy for any kind of feedback, so I can improve for updates or my next game

[Amaroq Dricaldari]

Bug Report: In story mode, I can only change team with the keyboard. There doesn't seem to be a way to map it to my controller.

General Feedback: The game's physics also feel insanely unpredictable (and I'm still not sure whether pitching my craft actually does anything), to the point that it’s just trial and error whether or not I can finish an event. When I get a gold, I don’t feel like I accomplished anything, but rather that I just got lucky.

Edit: Another bug report. In "TimeKiller", when it says "Press Trigger to end session", I’m pressing it and nothing happens.

Edit 2: SemtexMag doesn't seem to fire unless you press the fire button repeatedly.
Edit 3: Same with rockets.

More general feedback: The design of this game is extremely unfair in general. Especially "particle accelerator" on maps with a lot of blind corners and undulations. There have been countless instances where I had to refrain from throwing my controller in frustration.

[docfo4r]

Hey there, thx for your feedback. I will reply to your points:

Change team in story mode: Try pressing left analogue stick. Should work with both PS and Xbox Controller. What controller do you use?

Game physics: Yes, they are not smooth. That's due to the low resolution style. You can feel the bumpiness especially on the first two tracks as they are off-road tracks. However, my beta testers did not mention that they feel unpredictable. How can it be improved?

TimeKiller end session: You drive 99 laps unless you press the trigger, which marks your current lap as the last one. You still need to actually end this lap like ending a race.

SemtexMag + Rockets: Both of them have a charge animation. Rockets are ready when the red part of the body finished sliding forward. It takes around 1 second. SemtexMag's take around 2 secs, you will also get an acoustic confirmation when ready.

Game design: Yes, it's super unfair. That is by intention. If you progress to Story chapter 4 and onwards, you will be asked for pretty unique tasks which you can either resolve in seconds and minutes, or get stuck on for a while.
This game is based on games of the 90s. Those games used to be unfair. Maybe you heard of Fatal Racing/Whiplash: Sometimes one or two of the 15 AI cars decides to drive the wrong way. If they hit you in a looping, your race is basically wasted even if you were the leader. Similar for another game called MegaRace 2.
90's games were dirty and unfair and I chose this approach for my game aswell.
I know that this style is not for everyone. You can play BallisticNG or RedOut to get a more WipEout alike feeling.

Back in the days, I also threw my controller when playing the original Tomb Raider as Lara would just not make a jump. There was no easy way out back then, no internet, no 50 other similar games to choose from. You had to bite yourself through.
However, once you beat everything, it feels very good