Bumperacer | Devpost

Explore a sandbox world featuring 4 unique bumper car gameplay loops!
Go head to head in an epic bumpy race to score the best lap time!
Battle it out in the arena! 3 hits and your bumper car is totalled!
A 1V1 grudge match...the last driver left on the platform wins!

What is this game?

Bumperacer is an all new party game centred around driving bumper cars! Players will use an innovative control scheme to pilot their bumper car and bump their way to victory across 4 unique gameplay scenarios. From racing to score the best lap time to battling it out with friends in an epic battle arena, the world is designed to showcase the equal bumpy potential of manic fun and precision driving!

Inspiration

We really strived to create a world that emphasised multiplayer fun. Our previous worlds have mainly centred around single player adventures so with Bumperacer - all gameplay has been designed from the ground up to make best use of fun and competitive multiplayer.

We also happen to be huge kart game fans! The idea of being able to create a world full of systems and tools that were simple yet robust enough to allow other creators to easily make their own tracks and gameplay loops was extremely exciting. We also love the concept of sabotage in games and that really shines with Bumperacer!

How we built it

We built Bumperacer using the Meta Horizon Desktop Editor. Nailing a control system that was equally fun and precise but also simple to understand took a ton of iteration. After 14 different prototypes made using typescript - we feel we achieved our goals! The entire process involved both of us working simultaneously in engine, one focusing on programming and the other on level design. We also carried out daily testing to make sure the feel of the bumper car when driving/bumping felt right.

Challenges we ran into

Creating the core driving mechanic was quite a challenge! We had 2 main objectives with it; to feel hectic and fun when bumping into things but to also feel precise when focusing on speed and maneuvering. Normally this would involve lots of paper clips and glue fixes behind the scenes but since the focus was on allowing other creators to easily jump in and remix the world - we worked hard to achieve a modular, easily adjustable driving system. It took lots of late night discussions and 100s of type script tweaks!

Scope was also a challenge. We wanted to create a world that was extremely fun and somewhere players would be able to spend lots of time in but also one that showcased the possibilities of gameplay that remixing the world could lead to. This meant balancing the level design to include examples of potential gameplay loops with full sized race tracks.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

The core driving controls are something we're very proud of. Its incredibly simple and yet allows for really precise movement during steering. The decision to have the bumper cars set to auto drive means players can completely focus on steering and bumping. Its led to gameplay that feels very welcoming to players of all levels and we've found non-gaming family members have found it easy and fast to get used to!

We're also extremely proud of the modular nature of the mechanics of the world. The bumper cars core driving mechanics are all exposed. From speed and torque all the way to 'bounciness' - vehicles can easily be remixed to suit lots of different gameplay styles. This is also true for other mechanics like power ups and health systems. Everything has been designed to make the world highly modular and for new gameplay loops to be easily implemented.

The open sandbox nature of the world is also something we're very proud of. Players can tackle different gameplay events at their own pace. This means all players within a lobby have the option to engage with different parts of the world at different times. Those who want to race and be competitive can, at the same time those who are looking to have some manic fun can do that too - all within the same lobby!

What we learned

Creating this world has lead to many learnings about best practise in terms of setting a world up. Designing with other creators in mind forced us to create gameplay that is much more modular. The intention was to create a world where systems and mechanics would be easily understandable to other designers and developers whilst minimising prior knowledge requirements. We learnt this isn't just powerful for other creators as it also allowed us to iterate and playtest much faster. We also realised that if something is truly fun to test and a significant amount of time is being used just to playtest and engage with the editor - you should build on it and really emphasis that magic before developing additional features.

What's next for Bumperacer

Bumperacer is a sandbox world that showcases various flavours of bumping gameplay. It demonstrates how robust and unique the mechanics are and we're hopeful it will inspire other creators to remix these mechanics further. In terms of next steps for us, we've found developing Bumperacer has been so much fun that we're fully committed to expanding the world. Over the next few months we're planning on introducing 3 additional race tracks that make more use of verticality and we'll be creating an extra battle arena full of new powerups including homing missiles! We also want to expand the U.I and make winning events to feel more impactful.

We feel like Bumperacer is a genuinely fun world. It's a space where players can hang out and create hilarious memories with each other. We can't wait for other creators to not only use our modular systems but also expand on them to create even more epic bumper-based gameplay!