TGB Kart Kit Now in Developer Store!

Huzzah! That's what I say today. For the TGB Kart Kit has been released unto the masses!




In all seriousness, I am super happy to see this kit out and ready to get into developers' hands. First and foremost, it's easily the fastest way to get a racing game onto the iPhone (or PC or Mac) now. From prototype to art to polish, I don't think there's a faster alternative. Considering that a kart racing game, Crash Bandicoot Nitro Kart, is the highest selling app of all time, I think there's a lot of potential for this little kit.

To take a step back, many folks don't know where the "mode7" term comes from. If you're like me and in your late 20s or early 30s and owned an SNES, however, odds are you saw it in marketing material for F-Zero, Super Mario Kart, NCAA Basketball, Pilot Wings, etc.


In short, mode7 makes 2D games look 3D. You get depth, scaling, a skyline, and so forth while still avoiding the added work of doing true 3D: modeling, texturing, lighting, et al. In fact, in the Kart Kit, the entire track is just a single scroller. How can making a racetrack be simpler than that?

Mode7, however, applies to more than just racing. It can be used to add some variety to an otherwise typical 2D game. For example, Turtles in Time for the SNES was a port of a 2D arcade beat-em-up. Multiple levels used mode7 to mix up the play and keep the game from feeling too repetitive. In the pic below, the arcade version is on the left, the mode7 version on the right.


See how a little depth makes the game more interesting? I decided on a kart racing example because I felt it exercised the new functionality the most: "3D" objects, powerups, looping track, etc, etc. You can read about it on the product page. Point being, with the kit you're now setup to make a wide variety of games with a little cleverness.

I've got a bunch of ideas I'd like to implement and share. I'm looking forward to seeing what people come up with!