Mario Kart
BlitzMax Forums/BlitzMax Programming/Mario Kart
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| Having never done a whole lot of 3d programming before, I was curious as to what it would take to make a game similar to Mario Kart. My programming teacher gave me the task of creating a 3d game for her to show the school's principal what the programming class teaches. Is a simple (one level, two racers, just a few powerups, etc..) Mario Kart clone too big of a project? Also, if not, what would be needed? Art will be my last priority -- I'm more concerned about getting the basics down, first. If I do go through with this idea, I'll be using BlitzMax + MiniB3d, and hopefully a physics engine for the vehicles. All advice is appreciated. |
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| Difficult question, really. It depends what you're trying to prove to the principal. My first thoughts would be that he won't notice if it has gameplay or not. You'll probably have to second guess him - do what you think he's expecting you to do. But we don't know a thing about him so its difficult to say... |
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| Try going with just a driving around a track game first, and then add on to it once you get it going. |
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| Gfk: Well, I'm more concerned with how hard the actual project would be than impressing the principal. I've always loved Mario Kart, and so this is something I'd like to complete regardless of whether its assigned. As for the principal... he knows nothing about programming, so I can't imagine it being too hard to impress him ;) My programmer teacher knows, ironically, very little about programming, either. She's normally an accounting teacher. Dynaman: Good idea, thanks! I'll have a go at that, first. One more question (at least until I can think of some more): Are there any free physics engines that would make it easy to add simple(and not entirely realistic) vehicle physics? |
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| Having never done a whole lot of 3d programming before, I was curious as to what it would take to make a game similar to Mario Kart. My programming teacher gave me the task of creating a 3d game for her to show the school's principal what the programming class teaches. Kinda confusing... Are you wanting to show what you have been taught? Or are you wanting to show off what the class could achieve? A 3d dominos would show off simple 3D (with following camera) and a nice physics engine. Having a lot of dominos cascade into the school logo would please anyone in manangement ;-) My opinion would be to show off what you have been taught.. or you programming class may never get the budget it deserves. |
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| Limited functionality coupled with great art assets is the key. By all means, get some basic Mario Kart functionality working. By basic I mean: get a player controlled Kart moving around a track. Add in a few simple competing racers if you must, but fake this - have them following strict waypoint paths. Your principle will never know. But make everything look slick and polished. If it looks fancy then your principle will think that it is takes fancy skills to create. By the way, why would a teacher ask a student with very little 3d experience or expertise to create a 3d game that demonstrates students' 3d knowledge? It seems a bit strange to me. |
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| > By the way, why would a teacher ask a student with very little 3d experience or expertise to create a 3d game that demonstrates students' 3d knowledge? You answered your own question, those with little knowledge don't realize just how compicated programming a game is. |
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| How long does your principal expect this to take? Heed the above words.. |
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| Kinda confusing... Are you wanting to show what you have been taught? Or are you wanting to show off what the class could achieve? What the class could achieve. I could do something easier, but I figure I might as well do a project that I'd enjoy. Limited functionality coupled with great art assets is the key. Yeah, you're probably right. I'll probably be asking a few questions in the future related to art and assets... but not quite yet. You answered your own question, those with little knowledge don't realize just how complicated programming a game is. Exactly. When I asked if I could give her a 2d game to show, she said she wanted something a "more impressive." To be honest, I want to do this project more for myself than for my principal. Like I said, Mario Kart is one of my favorites, and I'd love to make a similar game. |
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| How long does your principal expect this to take? Heed the above words.. A few months, I believe. I'd be happy to continue the project after the deadline, and just make it look nice (in accordance with JustLuke's advice) for the presentation so that my principal is impressed. |
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| A fully fledged, commerical, multiplayer, billion-dollar computer game would be "more impressive" than a 3D game like this, but can you make that? You said yourself your teacher knows practically nothing about programming. What previous game programming experiance do you have? I just don't want you jumping in the deep end before you can swim. And I doubt that the other students in the programming class will be able to achieve this kind of game, even if you can. You are self-learning, they are being taught by someone who doesn't know a thing. |
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| What previous game programming experience do you have? I just don't want you jumping in the deep end before you can swim. I have a good amount of experience, in my opinion. I've been programming for about four years now, mostly 2d games and applications. I figure if I eventually want to start doing more 3d games, I might as well start now. I'm not worried about the programming as much I am about knowing where to start -- what to use for physics, where to find good assets, etc... And I doubt that the other students in the programming class will be able to achieve this kind of game, even if you can. You are self-learning, they are being taught by someone who doesn't know a thing. Yeah, they won't be able to. She gives them a book, and they copy and paste code until they get a result. Unfortunately, she's too stubborn to realize this, so I might as well humor her. If this project wasn't going to be fun for me, I'd probably give her more trouble about it. |
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| Ok :) |
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| You could have a Mario Kart clone up and running in Blitz3D in a few hours. The landscape is incredibly easy because it's completely flat and uses a smallish square texture - place this onto a cube or quad and then all you need is a single sprite representing the kart. Add some very simple physics for this (just acceleration, braking and turning) and you could drive around. There would be no sliding the kart, but that doesn't matter I think. Add some simple AI paths around the track (just arrays of points) and you can easily add a few AI karts that whiz around. Again they won't be reacting to the player etc... but it will look pretty good. The Matio Kart level graphics and sprites are all available online so you could borrow those : Sprites: http://tsgk.captainn.net/index.php?p=showgame&t=sy&sy=8&ga=344 Backgrounds: http://vgmaps.com/Atlas/SuperNES/index.htm scroll down to the Mario Kart section...  |
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| Thanks Vorderman! I'll probably end up with an actual 3d model for the kart, rather than the sprite, just to be more in line with the actual game. Hopefully I'll add some simple vehicle physics in there to make it more realistic, too. I've decided on using Klepto's version of MiniB3d, for the added physics library. Thanks again! Edit: Oops. I wasn't sure what I was looking at in that picture until I went to the site. Looks cool, but I was thinking more of MarioKart 64 -- I didn't even know there was a Super MarioKart. |
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| I didn't even know there was a Super MarioKart OH GOD!!!! Please tell me you are joking???? Mario Kart 64 is just a pale shadow of the brilliant SNES original, which is one of the best games ever created. If you've never played it I would suggest you get a SNES and try it, and experience Mario Kart as it was meant to be. It really is a superb game, far far better than MK64. |
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| OH GOD!!!! Please tell me you are joking???? Well, actually... I thought about it, and I do seem to remember playing one quite a few years ago -- I have a slight memory of a battling level on ice. I could be thinking of a different game, though. I'm a tiny bit too young to have ever really been interested the SNES, though -- it came out a good number of years before I started playing games. |
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| omg. I think you just made a whole lot of us feel really really old. At least I do now. FWIW, super mario kart is absolutely classic. Time for you to get zsnes, and start playing people over the net. |
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| it came out a good number of years before I started playing games. Wow, how old are you? 8? I feel like an old man now :( I suppose you've never even heard of the ZX Spectrum and Commodore 64 then? They were probably around before you were born. Do you know what an Amiga is???? I remember playing getting my SNES when I was at school, Mario Kart was glued to the cart port for ages. You really should get a SNES (or at a push an emulator) and play some of the classic games it had - Mario Kart, Starwing, Contra3 / Probotector, Super Mario World etc... The graphics may look dated (although I far prefer the simple sprite style of Mario Kart over the shinier 3d look of MK64) but the superb gameplay remains just as good today. |
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| Lol, yeah, how old are you man? Hey, if you want 3d, you could just use the above as a texture on a heightmap.. ;-) |
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| I wonder what Mario Kart would be like with 8 or 16 or even 32 human-controlled karts whizzing around? Probably absolute mayhem with all the shells and bananas, but I bet it would be fun. Or the battle arenas, with the players divided into 2 or 4 teams..... ooohhh the possibilities.... |
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| I suppose you've never even heard of the ZX Spectrum and Commodore 64 then? They were probably around before you were born. Do you know what an Amiga is???? I've heard of them all, but I've never used any of them. I'm 17. I suppose the SNES was popular for a bit with kids my age, but I never had a console or played video games when I was younger. You really should get a SNES (or at a push an emulator) and play some of the classic games it had - Mario Kart, Starwing, Contra3 / Probotector, Super Mario World etc... I'll give it a try... I'll check out the local stores to see if I can find one. |
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| <3 amiga <3 |
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| I've heard of them all, but I've never used any of them. Ah, so you've never experienced the joy of waiting for games to load from cassettes.... Don't know if that's a good thing or not - on the one hand it teaches you to be patient and appreciate the game when (or if) it finally loaded, on the other hand it was boring as hell. |
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| When I was little it seemed to make sense that if I loaded the first half of one game, switched tapes, and loaded the second half of another, I'd end up with a fantastic hybrid game that mixed together the best bits from both of them. I tried this a few times with my Spectrum. Shockingly, my Jet Set Willy/The Hobbit plaform adventure game never loaded correctly. I just dont know where I went wrong. |
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| Because when you loaded the code from the second tape, the objects it tries to reference hadn't been created with New. Obviously. |
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