MTM2.com

A number of you may remember me talking about a game called Performance Auto Racing that was in progress not too long ago. Unfortunately, I don't think I'd be up to as big a project as I planned it to be, covering so many types of vehicles.

So I figured I would just stick to one type - which is exactly what you guessed: monster trucks. See the Vales Evo2 forum for more on this. The thing is that if I want it to be a fun game for you guys - which I do - I need your input on what to put into the game.

A default frame for the truck is already in progress, and nearly finished. I also plan to add a very detailed and complex drag race mode, which is kind of like mtm1's drag races except even more realistic. I already have a few sounds (the engine extracted from mtm2), and the physics engine is underway, but I still need some ideas for this game.

Should I add:
-Circuit or rally races?
-MTM2-style UI? Evo2-style UI? Flatout-style UI? A combination of these?
-Individual horsepower and top speed settings for trucks?
-"Sound sample" commentary or text-to-speech commentary? (Probably the latter)
-Summit Rumbles?

You guys could probably come up with better ideas than this. Any thoughts?[/url]

-Circuit or rally races?

Yes.

-MTM2-style UI?

Mtm2 is the only one that counts.

-Individual horsepower and top speed settings for trucks?

I wouldn't.

-"Sound sample" commentary or text-to-speech commentary? (Probably the latter)

Unimportant, to me.

-Summit Rumbles?

People love those things.

Also... CNR, RnR, bomb tag...

Stay away from the rumbles...but a FS mode would be nice

Okay:

-Circuit and rally races along with the vast supply of drags
-UI based on mtm2
-Freestyle mode + practice run mode
-Text-To-Speech commentary - correct volume and tone would do well
-Cale recommends I stay away from rumbles, but I'm guessing he prefers to race while everyone on multiplayer wants him to rumble. Perhaps an offline version powered by AI and the option to hide all multiplayer games that want a rumble.

Any more ideas or thoughts?

at this point, all i want is a game with real drag racing and real physics. i don't even care if the trucks are real. if the truck can do realistic manervers on a realistic track, that's more than enough for me.

All right, you'll love this game then, those two are in my opinion the most important parts of any monster truck racing game.

Whatwhatwhat? You're making a Monster game? Great! Here's what I wanna see:

Monster Jam Freestyle and Racing Stadiums
LOTS LOTS LOTS of TRUCKS!
Judges in crowd hold up boards with your score on them
Arena constructor
Cheering crowd, when you pull big air
Like MTM2, make and import yer own trucks

What format will the game be in?

Interesting. Why should he, especially given their popularity? I'm not a rumbler, but I do play that pariticular form of this game, and I have a great time doing it. Yep, there's definitely skill, technique, and little tricks of the trade one can learn and use to be more competative, but overall anyone can step into a rumble and have a reasonable amount of fun right after installing the game. The same can't be said for racing, not in a competative setting. There are several different things to learn where racing is concerned, to include getting used to your controller (if you use one) and how it responds in the game.

I'm not a dragger/freestyler, but at the same time I acknowledge the fact that there is a demand for those forms of MTM, and as such I say sure - throw those in as well! Heck if people play it, why not make the game as versatile and variety-filled as possible?

Anyway, that's my .02¢'s worth.

if ya ask me do what MTM1 did. Throw in some circuits, and then add some drags and such. I love both kinds of tracks. I have never compteed in a rumble but throw those in as well. Also add in freestyle and stuff like that with real pysics.

OK, well he can put in the rumbles if he wants. I just don't like them because of the wrestling thing.

Mat,

I ain't no computer programmer but here's what I recommend:

- THE NUMBER ONE THING: realistic physics
-Circuits, Drags, and Rallys to keep everyone happy
-A selection of 50 trucks, 25 custom, 25 replica, maybe add some tnt trucks
-As for the trucks, theres some great truck makers in the mtm2 community and i say you use existing trucks, with the makers permission
-A tnt mode is something to consider
-Possibly career mode for circuits and drags

This isn't a list of demands by any means, it's just suggestions like it says in the topic

Hope you do well with this project, it's a biggy, I wish you luck, and offer my services as a track and truck maker if needed. If you want to get in contact just private message me on the forum and i'll get back to you. The Best of luck to you!

Green Out.

@EJD:
1. Never played Monster Jam if that's what you mean, but the freestyle and race stadium sounds great.
2. Now that's a little something I enjoy in people.
3. Cool idea. Speaking of crowd, I was thinking of making simple models of just about everyone in the stadium and assigning simple AI, for a little more realism. The judges would be similar except a little more complex, but possible.
4. I certainly will be including a track editor. It will support arenas, open road tracks, and any scale of terrain - if you need more detail but less room you can shrink the terrain and have better heightmap detail.
5. And a suprised "OH!" from everyone when someone gets into a huge wreck.
6. Yep, the track editor will have a truck making branch, too. All trucks will consist of several deformable models, "deformable" as in mtm2 style except with no deformation limit. Fiberglass bodies can crunch in until they hit the frame.

Models will be in MDL format (vertices, polys, texture mapping) with my own invented MDX format with information such as shaders and global information for all models of the same type. Models will be compatible with Conitec's 3D GameStudio as this is the system I am using.

@SLO_COPE
Those who like rumbles can play them offline too, with a special rumble AI. It would aim for other people on the summit, stay in one place while everyone gets on, and follow specific courses to get back on. CnR and RnR will also be supported.

@g8torsbizktai20
Drags, definitely. I'll have a few circuits as well, maybe a few rallies. Rumbles will be included, and I'm thinking a freestyle race is one of the biggest steps to a great game. Perhaps you can unlock a secret track or truck or something by getting enough points for a good freestyle.

@Cale
I'm not a wrestling fan either, but I seem to like rumbles anyway, specially Hypercube. Probably because it involves monster trucks and crazy actions and stunts.

@Greenday19
1. I think that's important too. I recently saw a few monster truck videos and found that you can't have the right kind of fun if it doesn't have good physics.
2. My thoughts exactly.
3. Okay, that'll be great. Perhaps a few "weird" ones as well to make some good points with people who love weird-looking trucks - like an alien transport monster or something. And TNT trucks - great idea.
4. Dunno if it would really work, since I plan to make all trucks in specific parts (engine parts, body, frame, etc.), as well as animated driver... however I suspect I may be able to replicate them.
5. As in the TNT figure-eight or something like that? Good plan.
6. I'm not really sure how I would implement a career mode with the monster thing, but I will give it a try.

I'll PM you with a link to the track editor when I finish the game. Don't worry about texture misalignments unless the base textures you use don't align from the start. It uses a much more efficient texture system than mtm2.

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Anyway, great ideas guys, I'll post some more pictures as development continues.

Just my thought. I reckon you should focus on just one aspect such as drags and/or freestyle at the initial stage. No, I'm not a person who's attracted to drags or freestyle - and I'm not saying you shouldn't do circuits/rallys/rumbles/CNR/RnR/tag games at all. But in the course of development - and I'm not sure how much of a plan you already have, maybe you've already considered this - but I think it's best to tackle it in stages. The reason I suggest you implement drags or freestyle to start with is because these are things that MTM2 does not provide a framework for, other than through player improvisation, and I'm aware that there are people who want them. So if you built a drag game, you'd be filling a void - by contrast if you started with racing, well, we already have that with MTM2. Once you have a drag module established, polished and working optimally, and with the physics and UI formats underneath, you can expand to other audiences by building in the longer racing formats etc.

My AU$0.05.

Any news of a release date? And will it be online? Some Track Maker suggestions:

1. Pick an object (Car-Van-Car stacks, cars, buses, vans etc.), and place it anywhere (Like Stuntman)
2. You can edit where the AI will go: Draw a simple line, and the AI truck(s) follows it...
3. One thing I forgot to mention: REALLY REALLY FAST DONUTS!
4. Cars etc actually crush and smash
5. Different backgounds and surroundings: Outdoors arena, field, indoor stadium, fantasy...?
6. When you flip, the crowd goes OOH! and if you crash into the barrier, they all run away!
7. An Action button: MTM2 lacks this. For standard trucks, it could be a horn. In, say, Monster Mutt, it would be the tongue panting (like it does in real life)!
8. Flames from the exhaust pipes
9. The whole body can be torn off, with ragdoll physics
10. Wheels can come off
11. Commentary?

@EJD
1. Collections of objects can be placed as individual objects, grouped objects, or vehicles. The latter would be for crunch cars. It would use the realtime deformation system, directly answering #4.
2. Paths will consist of either that or little black boxes (invisible in the game) that act as Traxx course segments
3. Awesome!!!
4. As above, this is another important part.
5. I'll provide a number of preset race locations, and those who own 3D GameStudio can use it to make their own.
6.
7. Maybe three or four action buttons. Some game features are programmable using a bit of C-script written into a text file, that could be one. Objects are connected to the truck via special "skeletons" that can be animated, so the tongue would work.
8. Lol
9. Dunno about the ragdoll physics, I suppose there may be a way. Body will be a separate object, so the "torn off" half of your suggestion would work great.
10. Again, the tires are separate models...
11. I'm thinking text-to-speech tuned the proper way.

@Drive2Survive
Seeing as drags and freestyle is really the one reason why I started this project in the first place (after playing too much mtm1), that should be just fine. You don't know how much I love monster truck drag racing.

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And here's some proof that I really am working on good physics:

http://performanceautoracing.aspfreeser ... ystest.wmv - A round object slides down an incline, falls to the floor, and comes to a stop at the wall.
http://performanceautoracing.aspfreeser ... stest2.wmv - Sorry about the lousy movement on the left, two round objects fall down an incline and the one on the right pushes the one on the left on impact.

Please tell me if any of these don't work.

[ edit ] Please copy the URLs to the addres bar of your browser. If you just want to download it to get it fast right-click it and select "save target as."

Neither links work for me, even when I copy them and paste them in my browser

Thanks, I'll take a look at that.

Any updates on this?

Lol, been a while since I posted anything here.

Production is still going on this project. I just finished one section of a 3-D animated rubber engine belt (spinning in sync with actual RPM of engine). The UI is next. Anyhow, I am trying to come up with a good name for this game. "Performance Monster Racing" just doesn't sound right, like I took a name like Performance Auto Racing and made it into a monster truck game - which I did. So I thought up four possible names. Which one do you think sounds the best?

Monster Truck Finals
Monster Truck Invasion
Monster Truck Racing
Monster Metal Mashers

I plan to make the UI similar to that of mtm2 with a few improvements, thanks to Phin (?) for making that choice for me. Anyway, maybe some visuals coming soon.

how bout Monster Mayhem?