Hello Jibb!
As I was on vacation I could not test your new version of KarBOOM (and then admittedly forgot about it) but now I've caught up on it.
An honest critique:
I've liked your old version (KarBOOM 0_3b from Oct 2011) better, not because it was still using acknex but because the gameplay is better, the handling of the cars, it's just more fun to me. Please fire up one of your old versions and compare the handling of the cars (tried middleweight and heavy cars), I don't even know what it is, maybe that the cars right now react too directly.
A few more points: Where is the boost-meter? The boost effect and in general the explosions looked better in your old version but maybe this is because of limitations of your Unity edition, I don't know. Adding multiple bots is a little cumbersome right now, maybe you could add a button that adds a (randomized?) bot or remember the "bot" type when I add additional AI cars. Hm I thought I had one more point about the HUD but nevermind.

Hey Superku!

Yeah, I have noticed the change in handling. Before moving to Unity I hadn't played KarBOOM in a while. Then I gave it a go and, to be honest, was shocked at how unresponsive kars were. This was something I'd noticed new players in my dorm struggling with, as well, and so it's quite intentional that kars react more directly.

Boost-meter... I keep forgetting about that. Yeah, I need to re-implement that for Unity. Players' eyes are usually on their kars rather than their score cards at the bottom, so I'm entertaining the idea of a boost-meter that follows each kar rather than sitting it below player scores - especially since some game modes don't give all the kars score cards.

Good point about adding bots being cumbersome. It is, and that's feedback I've received a few times already. My first response was to say, "Well, KarBOOM's really best played with other people anyway, and I want to discourage players from filling every slot up with bots, as the current levels and game modes aren't designed for that." But that doesn't stop people - it just makes them more annoyed while they do it. So I'm thinking I'll replace the "+" icons for adding kars with a human icon and a bot icon, side-by-side. They'll still be able to be switched between bot and different keyboard players as they currently are.

The explosions -- yeah, they previously depended quite a bit on the bloom effect I was using. There are other changes I've made to the effect to make it more efficient, and better display the intended colour without the use of bloom, but that's a fair criticism that I'll keep in mind if time permits me to address those kinds of details later on.

Thanks for your honesty. Do let me know if you remember the point about the HUD.

Cheers!

Hey everyone!

I'd love to have your support to get KarBOOM on Steam Greenlight! It'd be absolutely amazing to see KarBOOM get on Steam sooner or later. Meanwhile, KarBOOM will be released on Desura, FireFlowerGames.com and ShinyLoot.com on October 29th, and if KarBOOM does get Greenlit, customers who've already bought KarBOOM will get Steam keys.

A new demo is out - kind of. It can be played in your browser at KarBOOM.net, and is awaiting approval on IndieDB and Desura. I've added boost meters (thanks for the reminder, Superku), tweaked the appearance of the explosions (still not as good as GS KB, but better than before), and made a bunch of tweaks to the UI, the game defaults, the bots, and so on.


(Not in the demo)

The boost meter is very well implemented!
I did not find a level selection but I guess this is because of the demo?

You got my vote on Greenlight but sadly I have to say I don't enjoy the game that much anymore, and that's simply because of the new Kar handling, it's way too direct for my taste. I remember playing an early version of your game with a friend of mine some years ago in front of my PC when we should be doing stuff for university, and the fun and especially the tension arose just because of the drifting and general handling of the cars.
What I would suggest for you is to keep your movement right now for concrete/ asphalt grounds and implement the GS handling for your default mud/ ground levels. Simplicity in terms of direct handling is IMO not a good thing, that's like making the movement in a jump'n'run/ side-scroller less interesting on purpose.

Anyway, I wish you good luck with KarBOOM!

Hey Superku,

Yes, there's no level select in the demo, but the full version will have it.
I'm going to leave the responsiveness as-is. The charged boost adds complexity to the game and is already quite difficult for new players to use safely.

Thanks again for your honest feedback, though, and for voting for KarBOOM anyway

KarBOOM is coming out next Tuesday! Oh deary me that is soon! How exciting!

The final demo is up on IndieDB!

• Improved AI
• Improved tumbling physics and collision models
• Quicker bot toggling options and slicker UI
• "Trainer" mutator dumbs down the bots
• Tie-breakers make sure no non-showdown game ends in a tie

Get the latest demo on IndieDB, or play it in your browser.

And again, any votes on Greenlight would be very much appreciated!

I've tested the demo (on Windows obviously) and the game's screen positions itself on my two monitor setup in the middle of the virtual screen, i.e. one half of the window on each screen. It does have the resolution of my primary monitor and fullscreen is toggled on but of course not active.

I know you've already stated that you will keep the handling as is, but what about a "classic feel" or "rally handling" or "pro (mode)" mutator or something like that which emulates the old behavior?

That's weird about the window. Did that fix up once you clicked the fullscreen button?

I just looked through most of the original KarBOOM thread and was hit by a lot of nostalgia, and I guess some sadness that KarBOOM as it's currently being released is missing a few of features I was so excited about at the beginning: online play, level editor, and replay mode.

Replay mode is something I'd like to re-implement for a post-release update, and I'd like to explore a better implementation of online play.

In terms of a rally mutator, yeah, I'll explore that Not in time for the release - distributors already all have KarBOOM 1.0, but I will experiment with that for a future update.

Thanks for your support and feedback over the years!

Now it starts in fullscreen correctly. AFAIR I had to switch fullscreen off first, then click it again to get a fullscreen application.
Indeed, it's pretty sad that there's no online play right now, you should definitely add that, sooner than later!

As I've already said in my PM, good luck with the launch!

Much appreciated

There's no telling how much longer KarBOOM would've taken to make if I wanted to have online working well - especially since the engine switch means it'd need to be re-implemented from scratch. But maybe one day!

My tentative post-release schedule is:

• Bugs and complaints addressed + simple new mutators
• Fix up the AI system to accommodate more interesting arena layouts + (hopefully) a couple more interesting arenas
• Re-explore online. Which could take a while, so maybe roll out some cool new arenas during that experimentation to keep people engaged.