NextGen Racer - Intro

As my second year project, we had to implement a racing game in C++ and OpenGL with a Java interface using JNI. As someone who loves making games and implementing awesome software I was stoked! Sadly though, during his presentation of the project the teacher seemed to insinuate that our game wouldn’t be a fun one, but rather an academic exercise to integrate the knowledge we’ve gained since the start of our Bachelor’s degree and to learn important project management skills. Challenge Accepted! I set out to complete all the requirements of the project, on time (this was a 3 month project), but with the awesomeness cranked to 11.

Now this project, for which I was the engines tech lead, was to be done in teams of 6, but sadly two of our members didn’t think working was part of the coursework, which meant the rest of us had to tighten our belts accordingly.

The following articles will discuss in greater detail some of the extras I decided to add; a particle engine, an OpenGL rendering engine I built from scratch with Pixel Perfect Lighting, the integration of a 3D physics engine, very accurate and fast friction data for the wheels. Also as a small Easter egg, in the last week of the project I added animated billboard fans that you could squash in a gruesome way (with blood splashing) as you were barreling down the track. I don’t think the teacher approved haha.
I really enjoyed this project as it let me design and implement a complex game architecture. I really love software design, and to have the opportunity to design a game engine from the ground up was quite fun!