Tunnel Racer lacks a story. This is something I’ve known and intended from the start. Why are we in a tunnel? Why are there giant neon panels that explode? I don’t know! You decide! But I’ve always wanted something there to hint at something more – maybe there actually is a reason we’re down here, racing through a tunnel in all kinds of oddly-wireframed craft.
So in this version I’ve introduced something to run from – a giant explosion. If you sit for too long without picking up a booster, it’ll catch you and kill you. (Suddenly there’s a very good reason to pick up those boosters.) Obviously the effects are early, and there’s absolutely no balance to the explosion catch-up rate (it’s a constant, so it’s easy to outrun), but it’s something I can play with in the future.
This version keeps the level mechanic, but my plan is to remove the individual levels in favor of an “endless” style where you just keep running as long as you can, like any of the “endless running” games out there (e.g., Canabalt). The next version will remove the levels, and I’ll include more detail about how the explosion and everything works in that post.
Aside from that, I’m working on fixing some bugs with the movement. I think I’ve got things sorted (I haven’t been able to reproduce the bugs I’ve been fighting), so I’m hopeful that things are working properly. I like the way it feels right now; the ability to shift back-and-forth between two lanes introduces some new dodging techniques that work really well and make some impossible gaps only nearly-impossible to maneuver through.
There are also a ton of new bugs introduced with the new explosion stuff, but for the most part everything still works fine.
Here’s version 22A: Tunnel Racer v22a
(On a side note, the new startup sequence is causing me some major déjà vu, so somebody needs to tell me what game I’m stealing it from.)