DevLog #102: October 2024

Hi everyone! Time for the (slightly late) monthly DevLog 😁

Super Night Riders S1

Here's a preview of the new in-game UI 🙀

• Analog Inputs: Now, both acceleration and brake are analog (before, only steering was analog).

• Gear Shifting: Vehicles now have multiple gears with automatic shifting, fixing that "vacuum cleaner" engine sound from before 😅

• Scoring: The score updates in real-time now and is more precise, rather than updating every second.

I've also fine-tuned the vehicle handling, so drifting and braking feel a lot smoother.

There's now a circular cut around the player at the farthest distance.

Here's a look at the draw distance on Ultra quality preset.

The game has hit my performance target!

On my high-end Windows PC, it now runs natively in 4K at 120 FPS on Ultra.

Quality presets range from Very Low to Ultra, with more custom options available in the advanced settings.

Backgrounds

The far-off backgrounds are actually multiple 2D layers, pre-rendered from 3D models in Blender under different lighting conditions.

This may sound like a downgrade from the 2016 real-time 3D backgrounds, but they actually look and perform better!

A few more screenshots from the current build.

Throwback

A long time ago, in a country far, far away (2006, Algeria), I dreamed of becoming a manga artist.

Here's a glimpse of that journey:

• A few realistic digital paintings from 2008.

• Some anime-style illustrations from 2009.

• 2012: My only ever released "manga", a 2-page (!) sample for my reader app "Nekollection".

  Download it in the attachments!

• A few Chibis I made for an app called "Smart Kanji" in 2013.

• 2013: A few pencil drawings, digitally colored.

  You might recognize some characters...

By 2013, I realized my path was games, starting with the release of "Night Riders" on Android, and working with actual artists 😅

But around 2018, I picked up drawing again, using 3D references in Blender, which helped (a lot) with proportion, structure and perspective.

Bonus

Lately, I've been experimenting with manga-style art in Clip Studio Paint.

Here are a couple girls from Light Fairytale ❤️

Best viewed in 4K to preserve the tone effects, available to download in the attachments.

What's Next

Currently aiming to release Super Night Riders S1 in early December - between the November and December Steam seasonal sales.

Oh, and I turned 42 this month 🎉

That's all folks 😁

As always, thank you so much for sticking around! See you next time 😊