Plan for Brett Fattori

Okay, so I'm not booked on a flight yet, but that's coming soon. However, I am going to IGC -- I have the time off. I'll be there, showing off what we've been referring to as "dRacer". It's not really the name we want, but it's catchy and is going to stick as long as we're developing it I guess. What does the D stand for, you ask?? Well, either "development" or "debug" -- take your pick. :-)

I like to think that we have a lot to show off. But that's my personal viewpoint. I have put so much into this game that it feels like there is a lot more. But honestly, it's still just a car driving around a track -- not really even a game yet. It's getting there, and when I recently added a bunch of trees to a level and did some texturing it really started to feel like a game. Even though it was just trees and textures?? Yep... I guess it's the difference between programmer "drop-in" art and real, completed, artist developed art.

There's a ton of new tech in this engine. There's the component system, the track system, the physics system, the updated editor, and more. The funny thing about it is, it's all behind the scenes type stuff. I spent 2 days working on a way to keep track of racer's positions on the track. It ended up growing into a whole "Track Manager" with position determination, total distance traveled, and the lap timers. But still, it's all invisible to the player... It's what makes the game unobtrusive to the player. It's all that stuff that hides behind the scenes and keeps everything flowing so the player only has to have fun.

The editor is a big, beautiful beast. It is both simple and complex, it makes the ordinary, extraordinary. It is my baby... I've spent the most of my time working on the editor. It has been an undertaking that has resulted in enjoyment and anger. It's not that I want to give up on it, by any means, but it certainly produces some serious headaches! I've been working on simplifying everything. The editor, as it ships with TGE, isn't an end-user's tool -- it's a developer's tool. So, I have been charged with the task of making it easy. The italics are meant to sound like "eeeeeezeeee". We want it smoove, we want it tight, we want it simple. And believe you, me... it's getting there.

So, it's gonna be fun. We're going to show off "dRacer" to the masses at IGC. We're going to let people play it and get a feel for it. We're going to get some feedback that will help us in shaping the final product. I'm really looking forward to this -- this is my dream and I'm living it. See you all at IGC...

- Brett

PS: I'd love to leave y'all with some eye-candy... but I'm at work. In case you haven't seen this: Check it out.