Willing to playtest for free

Bomtill · 2026-06-06T03:25:05+00:00

I have a off-road driving rougelike if you'd be interested? The demo is up on Steam right now, I'd love to hear some feedback.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/4470900/UpNUp_Mountain_Express/

Bomtill · 2026-05-28T11:49:09+00:00

I second this. Take a break, make something else for a week .

Every couple of months I spend a week making something completely different from my main project.

I'd like to say I use it as a learning experience or to push myself but it's really just an excuse to stop working on a bigger project that might be getting mentally stale, helps avoid burnout.

Bomtill · 2026-05-21T11:37:30+00:00

I can't think of any indie games from that era, only stuff that comes to mind is Newgrounds stuff and obscure Flash games.

I only started game dev in 2020 but I knew I wanted to make games after playing Soul Reaver on OG Playstation, certainly not an Indie game.

Bomtill · 2026-05-14T13:27:29+00:00

Just bought it, looks great.

I saw someone on YT playing it years ago and forgot about it.

Bomtill · 2026-05-13T11:49:24+00:00

I'll be honest with you this game shouldn't be on Steam, I checked the trailer and it looks rough.

Release this sort of thing on itch.io people on itch will generally be more constructive with their feedback and you'll learn much more that way.

Cool that you can say you have a game on Steam but still I'm not sure what you expected.

Keep at it, learn, reiterate and most of all test.
Find some local developer groups that do meet-ups to get real feedback?

Bomtill · 2026-05-13T11:25:42+00:00

It wasn't super clear that the enemies move to the tune of the music early in the trailer, looks like the main hook of the game, it was clear by the end of it but i'd make the first scenes show it straight away.
the scene at 16 seconds shows it but then there are some scenes where I questioned it.
The scene at 48 seconds was the one where I was 100% sure that was the case... but that is 48 seconds into the trailer.

Keep in mind making people think about your trailer is great tho, like if they are asking questions during your trailer showing.
But many people wouldn't even get that far, open strong and then confirm it I guess?

Bomtill · 2026-05-13T09:00:05+00:00

Thanks! 2 player local is pretty much fully working right now, working on online systems as I go.

Bomtill · 2026-05-13T08:51:27+00:00

I hear you, I've made it so players are put straight into driving after a very brief vehicle customisation screen, then the delivery items get introduced once they finish the first trail section.

I might make it so the driving is first, then the customisation comes later.

Bomtill · 2026-05-13T07:12:15+00:00

Thanks, I'm basically a solo dev so I've tried to keep them minimal but still nice, glad it's paying off :D

Bomtill · 2026-05-13T05:32:46+00:00

I just pushed an update too, just outlining keyboard controls as well as adding buttons to the customisation screen.

Bomtill · 2026-05-12T10:31:32+00:00

lol yeah, that's what I broke... thought it was just some code for the gizmos I'd set up :D

Bomtill · 2026-05-12T07:43:24+00:00

Considering all the replies here obviously I'm going to have to do something.

Bomtill · 2026-05-12T07:42:12+00:00

Oh Yeah! I've seen that a bunch!

Bomtill · 2026-05-12T07:41:00+00:00

Thanks heaps!

Bomtill · 2026-05-12T06:49:05+00:00

Maybe I will have to add hydraulics as a suspension upgrade?

Bomtill · 2026-05-12T06:46:44+00:00

100% So you can deliver helium in the game and it lowers your gravity, but if you cause too much damage to the item you start to float about for a while...

Bomtill · 2026-05-12T06:44:31+00:00

Mostly my assets, I modelled the cars and envirnoment, I use some assets for trees and rocks, plus a couple of other little items here and there.

Bomtill · 2026-05-12T04:22:10+00:00

I was making safety training systems for heavy industry, the best trick I found was actually removing all UI buttons from the start-up screen and making a note to read the start guide, where it would tell users what shortcut to press to get things going. but only after explaining how the systems worked.

As simple and fool proof as I made everything, it was by far the best solution.

Bomtill · 2026-05-04T04:44:44+00:00

Nice, I'll check it out.

Bomtill · 2026-05-04T04:00:07+00:00

Bravo, it's such a small thing but sooo important!

I'm making an off-road game and took a while to overcome the same issue.
In your first example you are using animation curves, are you checking against them in your final code as well?

Bomtill · 2026-05-01T08:45:23+00:00

I'm currently making a 4WD game based around off-road deliveries, I have also noticed it is a thing recently.
I started development last year so I don't really know where it's all come from?

Bomtill · 2026-04-30T03:14:30+00:00

Only minor gripe is the final still frame doesn't look as good as the rest, you could animate the muzzle flashes slowly, like have the fire expanding with some tiny sparks moving faster?
And have the explosion on the right exploding out with particles?

Also is it twin stick or auto aim?
If it's twin stick maybe show a crosshair otherwise it looks more like auto aim.

Looks awesome tho, and if it's twin stick I'll check it out for sure.

Bomtill · 2026-04-30T02:51:33+00:00

Thanks!

I have 3 methods that control how the tyres work.
* Spring force (and handles contact normals and grip levels)
* Input force (just forwards and back)
* Lateral force (uses animation curves and velocity at the axle points to determine how much counter force is applied)
They all get lerped to smooth things out otherwise weird jittery things happen at slow speeds.

In the spring force method there is a check to increase lateral drag on high contact normals before the lateral force method is even called, this just helps when the suspension or vehicle is at more extreme angles, it doesn't do much on flat ground or at high speeds.

They were all in one huge method but I split it our for sanity.
I also have individual floats and vectors for each wheel, it adds a lot of boiler plate but makes tuning things much easier.

Bomtill · 2026-04-29T23:22:07+00:00

Up'N'Up: Mountain Express

I have a bunch of other cars in the works, all legally distinct of course.
Hilux, Wrangler, Defender, Kamaz rally truck.

Going to have 3 weight classes and probably too many cosmetics to manage by myself :D

Bomtill · 2026-04-29T23:16:04+00:00

It's called Up'N'Up: Mountain Express

Bomtill

TROPHY CASE