Antigraviator is a fast-paced futuristic head-to-head racing game.
After I graduated from university, some members of the original team finished developing it and published it on steam.
Here are some of the things we accomplished while still studying:
- Antigraviator was previewed in a 5-minute demonstration on Belgian TV on the 27th September 2016. You can watch the episode in Dutch HERE.
- We were nominated for and attended the INDIGO 2016 game award - hosted by the Dutch Game Garden.
- We have also been nominated for the Indie Games Play 7 award on the 24th and 25th of October 2016
- We were interviewed by Gamer.nl and covered by fok.nl.
My part
I was mainly involved in programming the gameplay for this project. Here is a video of the development up until now:
Movement
- I created a physics model of the vehicles that is based on real world concepts like PID controllers. This is achieved by relying on rigid bodies, joints, linear forces and torque. The movement of vehicle components relies on code sensitive to the context instead of animations. As a result, the movement feels more natural.
- I prototyped multiple input schemes for both controllers and keyboards, and developed the one that is in the current build.
- I did most of the work on the smooth camera movement.
Pickup and Trap mechanics
I created boostpads and pickups. When collected by the player, pickups can be either used for a short speedboost or to sabbotage the track in front of the opponent with the trap system I created.
Currently there are three types of traps:
- A stack of cubes that explodes onto the track from above or from the side and blocks the way, potentially causing the opponent to collide and explode.
- Meshes that partially collapse and block the way similarly to the cube stack, specifically inplemented in the game are collapsing tunnels.
- Turrets that shoot homing missiles at the opponent. The missiles hunt the opponent down and either slow them on impact or explode after a certain time. They are balanced in a way that the opponent can escape them by consuming pickups for one or two well-timed speed boosts.
The trap system relies on polymorphism, so it is easily extendable with new features.
Other Mechanics
I was responsible for creating the in-game sound system that plays back both SFX and music. I was also responsible for creating the "lively crowds" that bob up and down in the finishing-line area and make "mexican waves" as the players pass.
Original Team:
Team Cybernetic Walrus - Programmers: Mike Coeck, Robert Lindner - Artists: Dovydas Budrys, Johan Goessens