The controls are a mess.
Author Comments
If the game doesn't detect your controller, try reconnecting it with the game open.
Programming - QuietBenchZen
- Website - QuietBenchZen.com
Music and Sound Design - Austin Blau
- Instagram - @Austin_Blau_
- Website - AustinBlau.com
Game and Level Design - Jhifara
Tileset - RPG Urban Pack by Kenney
- Some supplemental tiles and sprites were added by Jhifara
Font - Hknaki by Psy Zo Lab
Created for Weekly Game Jam 178 "Birthday Gift"
I plan to upgrade my most promising game jam games to full games in 2021, so I'd really appreciate any feedback to help decide which games are most worth upgrading and what should be fixed, improved, and added in the upgraded versions.
For this game in particular, the controls could be better and I actually tweaked them a bit since my original jam submission. I know they're still not as good as they could be but I'm not sure what knobs I should be tweaking to make them feel better. I'd really appreciate specific feedback re control scheme changes or car parameter changes (stuff like acceleration, max speed, steering power, etc) you think would make the game feel and play better.
Is there a maximum steer? Sometimes when I steer, it just stops steering in that direction. Also, why W&S and Left and Right arrow keys? Why not just WASD? Or when not just arrow keys for that matter? It seems odd to keep them apart. I honestly cannot get anywhere while playing this as it seems to only let you turn left or right once.
The perspective for the cars is also odd. The buildings are all classic but the cars look like only one sprite that is flipped and it’s distractingly obvious. It also makes knowing which way is ‘forwards’ for the car very difficult, which doesn't help the already bad steering problems.
If you really want to fix the controls and make it feel better, my advice is to copy what works already, then work from there, adding your own spin as you go. The original GTA, which shares the perspective of your game, has very fluid controls that you can try to emulate. It is also free to download from the Rockstar site.
QuietBenchZen responds:
Thanks for the feedback. Yeah its 4 direction global direction to turn towards, not 2 direction local steering of the car. Def should have made that more clear. I have local turning also coded in already, I should probably make a control screen to let you toggle between the two modes and clearly explain them. I'll check out the original gta, thanks for the recommendation.