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Distance = Wipeout + San Francisco Rush + Tron. ...and CliffyB (KICKSTART IT PLS)

epmode

Member
I know you, GAF. I know that you love futuristic racers like I love futuristic racers. But oh god Nintendo hates us so no F-Zero and Studio Liverpool was murdered so no Wipeout and everything is falling apart and nothing is right in the world.

But there is hope! We can Kickstart yet another dead genre!







Distance Kickstarter*
Goal: $125,000
$15 for full game + beta

Distance is a futuristic racing game with a futuristic car. The car can stick to walls. The car can fly or glide or something. Most importantly, the car has a rad LED roof which is used to display lap timers. LOOK AT IT:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-OWRBdhHQg

Gameplay videos - Watch these:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2ztiIe9cPY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7OZEn4b69eM

So Distance plays like San Franscisco Rush, looks like Tron 2.0 and sounds like Wipeout. It even has a bit of free running, what with the multiple paths through a track.

*For Windows, Mac and Linux
*LAN + Internet + Splitscreen multiplayer with several modes
*Level editor + mod tools

Perhaps you feel that this is too much for a brand new developer! Then you should know that these guys also created Nitronic Rush at DigiPen. You can play the it here: http://nitronic-rush.com/



I know what you are thinking, GAF. "How is this game so potentially awesome? What is the catch?"

The catch is that this game may not be made at all! The Kickstarter ends in 5 days and it's $45,000 short! So give, GAF. SAVE FUTURISTIC RACERS



*Please note the savvy inclusion of GAF favorite Clifford Bleszinski in the pitch video. And that guy from San Franscisco Rush!
 

xJavonta

Banned
Nitronic Rush eh? That game was actually pretty fun, I'll probably Kickstarter this.

I was hoping for a "clone" of F-Zero though.
 

Zia

Member
This, and the recent Sportsfriends Kickstarter, are good examples of how important reward tiers are. Both are known, fantastic games, or sets of games, that seem to be struggling a bit because they don't do a good job of incentivizing higher pledges. Whereas you have unproven stuff like Drifter (which is still a shell of a game), which easily met its goal really quickly because he gave away a bunch of crap.
 

gurudyne

Member
Limbo, Journey and Half Life? Hahahaha. Okay.

If it's got weapons like Blur I'm probably in.

Maybe he's legally prevented from stating the obvious (Tron)?

This KS sort of reminds me of the old 90's Johnny Quest episodes where for some reason, people went into virtual reality and raced holo bikes on a futuristic sky highway system and fought other users.

All in all, I'm unimpressed with the videos. They're pretty and the game looks like an arcadey racer, but the freedom of movement seems like more of a gimmick than a mechanic--the majority of the time, the cars are on the typical track and when they aren't, they're making quick jumps from one track to another in very linear fashion. It's less about flying than quick hops if that's the case and takes the appeal out of flying altogether, for me at least.
 
STEx-torpedo.JPG
 

gururoji

Member
Thanks for calling attention to this: Rush 2049 is one of my favorite games of all time, and one that I'd pay inhuman amounts for a proper sequel to. This looks to be very much inspired by it, so it's a must-back for me...hopefully I can convince them to add something similar to Rush's coins!
 
Much better thread title than the last thread! Hopefully it helps the game somehow sneak up to its goal... it deserves it, so badly.

Thanks for calling attention to this: Rush 2049 is one of my favorite games of all time, and one that I'd pay inhuman amounts for a proper sequel to. This looks to be very much inspired by it, so it's a must-back for me...hopefully I can convince them to add something similar to Rush's coins!
Nitronic Rush looked a LOT like Rush 2049 (particularly in car design), but the gameplay's not like it at all -- it's point-to-point survival driving stuff, not Rush 2049 lap racing. It is an amazing, amazing game, and one of my favorites released last year, but it's not really Rush 2049, beyond the visuals and the stunt mode.

This, and the recent Sportsfriends Kickstarter, are good examples of how important reward tiers are. Both are known, fantastic games, or sets of games, that seem to be struggling a bit because they don't do a good job of incentivizing higher pledges. Whereas you have unproven stuff like Drifter (which is still a shell of a game), which easily met its goal really quickly because he gave away a bunch of crap.
Good point. The $25 tier is probably worth it at least, though.
 

The M.O.B

Member
Yeah, it looks fresh enough to kickstart. I'm really picky about who I give money to but this is a peculiar genre I like.
 

LiK

Member
i like the TRON look and the music is kickass in the gameplay video. i also agree that i wish it was faster. can they make it go faster like F-Zero GX?
 

Splint

Member
SF: Rush 2049 was one of the best racing games I ever played. 2nd would be the original Burnout games before going open world.
 

abasm

Member
I wanted a cross between Ridge Racer and Star Fox, something really tight. Right now, it just seems too loose for me.
 
i have not. wait a min, they're offering it for free on the KS page right? will check it out.

It's already free, always has been.

"Slow" and "loose" are words that do not apply to it in the least.

For what it's worth, the above poster who mentioned similarities with Trackmania is much more on point than the Wipeout comparison in the title.
 
Wipeout music!

Trackmania is a good comparison though.

Actually, that's a very good point and it completely slipped my mind.

Many parts of the advanced tracks in Nitronic reminded me of the Trackmania platforming segments from Nadeo's older games, only taken to a higher level of execution and design. Which has made it my go-to comparison when trying to explain the thing to some of my friends.

Fuck me, I haven't played Nitronic in a few months but I'm probably going to reinstall it tomorrow, now. Gah.
 

epmode

Member
I'd rather have that than some Motorola phones with exhaust pipes.

Pledge $5,000 or more
1 backer Limited (4 of 5 left)
CUSTOM VEHICLE: We'll work with you to create a completely custom vehicle of your design, and put it in the game! Your name will be featured prominently in the game and you get everything at the $500 tier.
 
Will support only if I can change the display units to kph.



All that motion blur... 6mph.
All speed is measured in kilometres per second. Swag.

This actually looks good, but I have two main issues: one, the flying looks like it makes no fucking sense and doesn't have the kinetic charge of the racing and two, once you do a flip-a-do your car immediately switches back to front facing mode. There should at least be a second or two where you can get that feeling of "holy fucking I'm driving like a mother fucker" before bringing your orientation into a bit more friendly circumstances. as it stands it flips over immediately and negates all the benefits of the shift.

Otherwise looks neat, hope for the best for now.
 

Slavik81

Member
Alright. The visual design is cool. Linux support, DRM-free and I can grab the sound track with it? Backed for $25.
 

Haunted

Member
Pledge $5,000 or more
1 backer Limited (4 of 5 left)
CUSTOM VEHICLE: We'll work with you to create a completely custom vehicle of your design, and put it in the game! Your name will be featured prominently in the game and you get everything at the $500 tier.
TheHomer.jpg
 

Raide

Member
Looks pretty cool but way too slow for my tastes. Also the tracks are lacking in anything that makes them remotely fun to play. I saw lots of straight lines in those videos, with only a few tricks here and there. Hopefully they have some more hidden depth for the tracks.

Would rather have a new TrickStyle. :D
 

Azriell

Member
Looks cool and fun, but if it's not going to be ported to consoles it's something I'll probably never play. Also the environments are cool looking until you realize it's all pretty much the same thing, and that gimmick wears off.

Also while I appreciate the trick mechanic, what really drew me into RUSH was looking for keys. I loved key hunting. The secret areas were blended right in with the rest of the environment, making it a real challenge. I feel like this art style would make that subtly very difficult.
 

epmode

Member
Looks pretty cool but way too slow for my tastes. Also the tracks are lacking in anything that makes them remotely fun to play. I saw lots of straight lines in those videos, with only a few tricks here and there. Hopefully they have some more hidden depth for the tracks.

Yeah, it's still pretty early. Here's a few of the of the harder tracks from Nitronic Rush: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZnEbnBZ9FYY

Stunts are not as simple as pressing a single button. Especially if you want good times.
 

blurrygil

Member
I enjoyed Nitronic Rush, twas a fun lil game. However I have to agree with some of the posted cons. Lack of sense of speed, very plain-jane models/terrain, etc.

And they do kinda look like smartphones on wheels, not that it matters. :)

I really like the tier offerings. But I'm afraid there just isn't enough there in the game for me to want to pull the trigger man. I wish them the best, but I don't think they're gonna make it.
 

twinturbo2

butthurt Heat fan
I hope they get funded, and if they don't, I hope WB Games hires everybody and puts them to work on an XBLA/PSN port of Rush 2049. Make a PS Vita version based on the Dreamcast version, the PS3 and X360 versions a port of the Special Edition arcade release, and YOPO the Ps3 and Vita versions. I'll buy the hell out of that.

If Distance gets made, I'll buy the hell out of that, too.
 
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