I've been thinking of creating a side scrolling racing game much like the old NES Excitebike game. I was wondering what kind of player interest this type of game would bring? I personally loved the old nes game. I used to play it a lot. Creating my own tracks, trying to beat my old times on each track, it was challenging and fun. How does the TA community feel about the Excitebike genre? Would you download or purchase a game that was like that on your phone or tablet? What do you think a mobile Excitebike style game should have? Currently, I was thinking of doing a premium release with an early adoption price. Say 99 cents for initial release that would include time trial and player vs AI racing. Then I'd like to add a Career mode and bump up the price. That way, early adopters get the new feature without the extra cost and new buyers will help pay for the feature. The other element was the Level Editor. It was a huge part of the Excitebike experience and I feel like you couldn't make a game like that without it. The question would be as a developer how to a provide a feature like that. How cool would it be, to make your own race track and send it, along with a challenge, to a friend? Would this feature be an IAP as a DLC or treat it like the Career addition? Early adopters get it for free, and new buyers pay the added price point. What are everyone's thoughts on this idea? Does the game sound cool and fun? Does the pricing seem crazy or totally worth it?
I loved excite bike when i was a kid. I like the idea of a premium game. There are too many crappy free games out there. Not sure how will IAP does in premium games though.
If you do a search for "Excitebike" on the App Store, you will find numerous games along those lines, many of which look pretty decent, and most of which are free. You should take a hard look at the competition. If you don't think you can both exceed the quality of everything out there and communicate that well in your Store assets, then going premium might be very challenging. Additionally, use other services like AppAnnie to try and get a read on what the download and financial performance of these similar games is to give you an idea of the market appetite.
Alright!!!... this thread got some replies! I'm glad to hear I'm not the only out there that is looking for a solid Excitebike type game on the App Store. I've done quite a bit of research on the App Store and even Google Play Store and have only come across a handful of games that are "kind of" close to Excitebike. There is one that is a straight rip off of art and charges $2 for it... which is absurd (MotoCross Extreme Bike Pro- Best Motorcycle Game For Girls & Boys) and has horrible reviews. The others that are "similar" to Excitebike are just that... similar... but nothing takes true Excitebike 4-lane racing to where I think it could be. Here are the list of ones I've found that did something close, but still not close enough: Giant Moto, Motocross Challenge, MadSkillsMX, and Joe Danger. These are motorcycle games, but none get quite close enough for my taste. Giant Moto is probably the closest, but still the art could be much better. MadSkillMX has decent gameplay, but still feels too realistic and not arcade like enough. Are there any others out there I have yet to see? Please shout them out if there are. I still like the idea of the game... I've been working towards a prototype level that will demonstrate gameplay. It just takes some time since I'm only one man. but... here's a little screenshot from Unity... what do you think? Headed in the right direction? As for the iAP stuff... I think I've decided against this. I'd rather do a Premium one-time purchase... then if the game gets bigger the new players will end up paying the upgraded price point. Thanks again for replying to the thread. If it seems there is a decent amount interest in this game, I'll keep dev'ing and keep posting.
Do it! If you make an accurate replica, I would def shell out a few buck for it. I loved excite bike! I am just getting back into developing after a few year hiatus. And I thought about recreating it as well. Don't worry I don't think I'll be much competition for a while yet
I'm on it! That's awesome andrewm2211! Welcome back to the dev game Good luck on the future project and getting started! If you make another Excitebike style game I'd love to see it. I think there is definitely room for more of those type of games in the mobile market. Currently, I'm just chipping away on the project. Doing some work on the art... going for a "soft 3D" look... and doing some code for the base prototype. I've got the bike driving and jumping, plus mud pits and grass area. I'm thinking I'll re-create the first level of the original NES Excitebike for the prototype level. Should be fun.
Update Here's a small update to the prototype image. I added some hay bails, mud pits, and worked up a finish line. Next, I'm thinking of starting work on the bike.
4 Bikes are Racing! w00t! I got 4 bikes racing each other across 3 laps now! It's actually starting to feel like a game. I can now create any level and make it with 1-5 laps. So far it's been a lot of fun, and super rewarding. Next up, a better bike model and some smarter AI behavior. Right now they just drive in a straight line unless they crash! lol
Quick update of the game in a moving gif! All four bikes are racing and jumping. The CPU bikes are not very smart yet, but it's still fun.
So do you race the other three bikes then, or will it be time based? This would definitely be a huge and possibly unamanageble increase in scope, but having async multiplayer would be really cool. To beat your friends times etc..
Well, the original was timed based, but started with racers at the start gates. Then they just kind of faded into the background, while other random racers would come into view as obstacles. So, I'd rather do something similar to this for the Arcade aspect of the initial release. This is EXACTLY what I want to do!! It's in my design doc now... lol On top of that even, could you imagine being able to design your own level, race it and set your time, then send that to a friend to try and beat! How cool?!?
Update Completed the dirt bike and added it to the game. Also got the bikes crashing when getting cut off.
