Game Impressions This morning, I had the opportunity to play (never played the original) and I was extremely impressed. The game reminds me of Draw Race 2, but it's hard to explain why. If you have the hardware that supports this game, it is definitely worth a free download. I am pretty sure this will make the New and Noteworthy today. I hope that Slotz Racer does not end up being a sleeper hit. You at least owe it to yourself to download and try one race...
I downloaded it and tried it out. To me it feels like more of the same. I don't really see any big differences, although maybe they are there and I'm just not remembering how the original was, because it has been a while. Which is not to say that it isn't a good game. It is.
The only problem with the original IMHO is no retina/native iPad resolutions. We still play it (although that might be changing soon! )
That's part of the difficulty with updating a game people already like If you compare the two side by side though, apart from the upgraded graphics and sound, I've completely reworked the editor (especially on the iPad) to make it easier to build tracks and add scenery and the track manager/browser that we experimented with in the otherwise ill fated external SlotZ Racer Track Editor (an app which just caused confusion as people assumed there wasn't a track editor built into the actual game when there was) is now built into the game, with an online track server. I've avoided messing with the gameplay and controls too much, other than adding features for newer car types like bikes etc. so they can wheelie and have different cornering characteristics from the cars but we completely reworked the championships, added in a trophy points system (and decals for winning races) and of course added all the Game Centre bits (and iCloud). One other minor feature that was requested a lot in the original is that you can now mix car types in a race. F1 cars vs bikes and a commuter car? no problem. Very handy for balancing against skill levels when playing friends who are just a bit too good There's also the Car Editor and Pro Tunes options too of course. Essentially, my main task with the 2.0 build was to relaunch the game so the fans of the original could still play it and new players could join in. Hopefully you're all still enjoying it as there's more to come
Here's a short track editor tutorial I've prepared for you all http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXHiESbjExs&feature=player_embedded
I agree, it goes so fast as default that it might put some people off. And with it being hidden inside options, player options, advanced. There's going to be people delete it without even figuring out how to lower the speed. I'm loving it so far though, just about to start making a track today. I can't stop playing quick race, all I've done so far is the first three championships and loads of quick races.
Thanks to a player emailing us to let us know, we've fixed a glitch that could cause a problem with the Caterham Pack. If you buy it on its own, without the Race Pack, you unlock the cars, but not the extra features such as the Car Editor etc. If you've bought the Race Pack, or you've got SlotZ Racer, the other features will already have unlocked. The good news is I've eliminated the little blighter and I'm testing an update now that fixes that, as well as a couple of minor tweaks. Firstly, I've managed to trim 1mb off the download size Secondly, I've added a button for "Relaxed" mode. This changes the car speeds, grip and acceleration to something similar to what oooooomonkey has been using so the cars are all a bit slower and slippier (and it's on the main page of Game Options, not an advanced option I've moved Player Setup to the "more settings" page to make room on the iPhone/iPod). I'll be submitting the new version tonight after some very intense testing and then I'll be taking a step back to plan the first proper feature update. Thanks for the input and feedback everyone!
Championship mode? How can you play in the Championship mode?? Every race (including the first three Junior ones that are needed to advance) are greyed out. It'd be nice if this info was included in the game. CT
They're grey if you haven't won them yet. If you tap on them, they should pop up a panel where you can set a difficulty and start that championship. One other minor bug that's getting fixed in tonight's update is that on the iPhone 5, the hit zones around the buttons can be a little offset, so you have to tap around them a little (one of those last second UI tweaks that backfired), so if you're playing on an iPhone that might be the issue.
Sounds like a good update. I'm going to try and play some of the tournaments tonight, then try making a track.
I'd like to see a Reset button in the customization section. Sometimes when messing around with various decals, wheels, paints, etc it would be cool to get the car back to its default. As a kid, I had a slotless set that let you do jumps and switch lanes... any chance something like that could be added at some point? Thanks!
You can put lane changing pieces in already (and the cars automatically change lanes to overtake) We actually tested having a change lane button in the original but it just wasn't fun Jumps are on the cards though. I've done a couple of tests with ramp track pieces and they're a chuckle. They need a bit more work though. Also like the idea of the reset button, so that's on the list too Other more crazy track pieces like loops etc. I probably won't be doing. They're less about racing and the amount of work and modification required to put them in needs to be spent in other areas of the game first (like Party Mode and network play ). Having done the flying car, I'm still tempted by the set of fighter planes as racers though New version has been submitted to Apple now, so fingers crossed for a quick approval
What? Been playing this and enjoying so far. I bought one of the car packs, now I have some questions: Where are the cars I bought? How do I choose one of my new cars for a race? It said I won some decals, but where are they and how do I put them on? Can I use a new car in the tournaments? Thanks for any help.
When you select a single player race and pick your track and car you can swipe left/right on the car selector to go through all the cars you've unlocked or bought or double tap on the car to bring up a page of them to pick from. Decals are used in the Car Editor which is meant to be unlocked with either pack (or if you have SlotZ Racer 1) but if you've only got the Caterham pack at the moment there's an annoying bug that means the car editor doesn't unlock. There's an update going through Apple approval at the moment that fixes this. I'm going to do a tutorial video for the car editor too. Each championship uses specific cars, but when you buy the car packs they each come with a set of new championships that use the new cars. They should show up on the championship selector.
On the iPad, some of the textures look lower-res than others. Will that be fixed at some point? Thanks, having fun so far!
It depends on the textures. We're aiming to keep the game under 50mb so it can still be downloaded over a cellular connection but we've still got a couple of mb to play with. The scenery textures should be getting a bump fairly soon, but even those are already pretty big.
Oddness. I'm assuming you're not in sandbox mode (ie after testing other games for devs). In theory you should have scores on any of the leaderboards you've run the time trial on. If they're not posting reliably, that's a worry. If you pm me on the forums here I can friend you on gamecentre and we can run a couple of tests if you want?
The good news is Oooomonkey hadn't actually played any of the leaderboard races, so all is well To get on the leaderboards, have a go of the Time Trial races. You have to drive as fast as you can over 10 timed laps with any cars you have unlocked.
