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1/18/09

Freeverse Takes Slot Car Racing to a New Level

New game for iPhone/Touch has realistic feeling With review by Vincent Piazza

About SlotZ Racer
Developed by Strange Flavour, the creators of Flick Fishing, SlotZ Racer puts the thrill of realistic 3D slot cars in the palm of your hand. Relive those great childhood memories of building tracks, burning rubber, and racing with your friends and family!

SlotZ Racer lets players race against the computer or friends; a unique control system allows up to 4 people to race on a single iPhone! Compete for laps or against the clock in Time Trials, drive an endurance race, (with simulated days and nights), or play a 'Quick Race' to jump straight into the action.

SlotZ Racer features an intuitive track editor to give the player the ultimate freedom to design their very own courses, and offers a wide selection of cars to race. The game also includes unlockable new circuits, cars, track locations and championship challenges to keep the action exciting and fresh! Players have the option to play with lane changing, or fixed lanes for the racing purists.

About Strange Flavour
Strange Flavour Ltd. is a small UK based independent games developer run by two brothers, Aaron and Adam Fothergill who have over 30 years of combined experience in the games industry. After taking the Mac world by storm with their award winning games Airburst Extreme and ToySight, Strange Flavour have made inroads into console gaming with innovative Xbox 360 titles and are now adding the iPhone to their repertoire. (www.strangeflavour.com)

About Freeverse
Freeverse strives to develop and publish seamless software, with a particular concentration on the Mac and iPhone platforms. Our developed and published titles have been honored with more Apple Design Awards than any other company. Headquartered in New York City, Freeverse draws upon the talents of artists, programmers and sound designers from around the globe.
(www.freeverse.com)

Contact Info

Brian Akaka
Marketing Director, Freeverse
akaka@freeverse.com
212-929-3549

Editor's Note:
I was lucky enough to be a tester for this product, and even had the privilege of a few of my track designs being included in the Released Version.

There are two aspects of this that make it a must have:

1. The driving is quite realistic.

2. This may be the simplist, best, Track Editor that I have ever used. I designed very intricate tracks in just minutes, and they are a blast to drive.


In His Own Words:

Aaron Fothergill - co-designer/coder

"I really enjoyed writing SlotZ Racer as I'm a complete motor racing nut. I was also a huge Scalextric fan as a kid (and had friends with Aurora AFX kits) so it was a lot of fun to be able to see just how much of that enjoyment we could squeeze into the iPhone and keep it authentic for the different types of slot racing"

1. Opening setup screen

2. Track design/build screen

3. Multiplayer (4) Racing

4. Practice Mode

Review
By Vincent Piazza

I have only had the iPhone SlotZ application for a day but thought I would get out as full a review as possible before the price goes to a whopping $2.99. This slot car game, in my opinion, is worth much, much more than that.

Please check out the YouTube videos at toucharcade.com and the custom track creation video at (Right) before you continue. This review will assume you have a basic understanding of what the application is all about. My perspective comes from racing box stock to fray style T-Jets.

So where do I start, How about this statement? I now think of my iPhone as a portable digital slot car game that doubles a smartphone! What makes this such an interesting and exciting game for slotheads in particular is the ability to design sectional track layouts and make adjustments on how the cars perform, much like what we do with real slots. Let's examine the options.

The custom "user" tracks as they are labeled, can be black slotted sectional; no slots; high visibility red; or grey routed. Yeah, can you believe it, your own routed track for less than a pair of pickup shoes! You can create and store 16 user tracks, and choose from 16 different track table colors. The tables have retaining walls to keep de-slots off the floor unless you get silly and don't release the throttle at the end of a long straight. So where do you race? Choose from either a spare room, the local club or a sports hall. The sports hall is the only option when you want to create your own super huge tracks, otherwise they will not fit in the spare room. The user tracks can be as large as you want (now you build a track as though you had a 100' long room!) to the point where the fixed camera position can't even see the whole track, that's right, there are different camera positions. You can opt to view the track as though you were a 4' 2" tall youngster and positioned at the far end of a table or you can float over the table at ceiling level or be anywhere in-between, as the cameras' distance, rotation and tilt are independently variable. There is a camera view option called "trailing". This is sweet, as you get a view of your car from the perspective of tailgating it in a van. I made use of the trailing camera when I created what seemed like a 200' oval. The fixed camera could not fit the oversized oval in it's view, but the trailing camera made blasting down the long straights all fun. The third camera option labeled "moving", hovers above the general area of your car and follows it around the track, but during fast paced racing modes this view makes it difficult to predict what section of the track is coming up next. It seemed to work best with simple layouts and with slower top speed options selected.
There are two scales to choose from, HO or 1/32nd. You can choose to use barrier fences or not. The program does not allow the use of fence rubbing when on the outside lane, as we all know we can, and no matter how hard I tried I could not nerf or be nerfed. The collision option, which is pretty disruptive at fast speeds, collides cars on chicanes, and creates havoc on lane changing track sections. I found this option distracting at best. One more non-slotcar observation: holding down your throttle while waiting for the "power to come on" at the start of the race will cause your car to burn rubber in position.

There is a throttle adjustment that mimics the feel of a 60 ohm to a 150 ohm controller. How cool is that? The throttle touch screen controller can be set up as a analogue sliding "trigger" or a digital single button control. Using the analogue setting, (if your right handed) you can use the side of your index finger in the same motion as you would a parma trigger. Yet for our "senior" members, it works just as well with a thumb. There is a realistic coast programmed to the cars forward motion when you let off the throttle. And just like a real controller can, the car responds to fluttering of the throttle. (Maybe Dave Lockwood of DBL Racing can figure out how to make an iPhone touch screen into a controller for real slots - why do I think Dave will actually consider it?)

You can select a quick race, (a wonderful option that places you in cars and on tracks that you otherwise have to earn the right to use by amassing trophies) a single player race or a multiplayer race. There is practice mode, championship mode and single race mode. Room decor includes ad placement items like empty track and toy boxes, and a skateboard. Practice mode has the tracks partially on a rug and the wood floor, just as though we were twelve years old. The program allows the insertion of racer names. Times, laps and best lap time are displayed.

The racing is fun. Like any good video game, you are drawn into its' world and time stops as your are absorbed into the action. Cars look okay considering that they moving! In terms of HO cars, they look more like modern day magnet slot cars than anything resembling T-Jets or AF/X cars. Slot sound audio is a weclome change to the noisy rumble of real car motors. The de-slot sound in "slot car audio mode" makes the sound of screeching tires. I'd prefer to hear a plastic body slot car tumble.

Car choices for either scale:
- GT SPORT / (4 trophies to unlock) yellow
- GRAN PRIX / (8 trophies to unlock) blue
- STOCK CAR / orange, green white or red
- QUARK SPRINT CAR / green, blue, yellow or red

Even though the quick race feature can get you racing on some of the cool tracks and into the other style cars, you'll want to acquire all 45 trophies. There are 15 each for the three levels of difficulty: easy/normal/difficult. De-slotting cars are "marshaled" in a fair time and your car can end up on the table or the floor depending on the severity of the de-slot.

The game allows these race parameters to be modified:
-race type: race/time limit/endurance/night race
(Endurance includes some night racing. Night racing mode is fun. Headlights give off the same silly little glow just in front of the cars and that's exactly what you end up racing - the glow. Well done)
-laps: 1-100
-cpu cars: 0-3 (max of 4 cars)
-simulation: none or fuel usage
-music volume: 0-100 (music interferes with the variable feedback that is possible from the slot or car sound effects, different slot sounds would be welcomed)
sound effects volume: 0-100

Here is one of the games greatest asset. It is possible to create ANY mass produced sectional track layout. I use the term "mass produced" to clarify the limitations of the curve sizing. The program is more than a drag and drop program. Once you have selected a track piece you can modify it's length and/or radius within reasonable sectional track limits. Many of us have spent countless hours using Adobe Illustrator or even lesser programs to design or even just render a sectional track we already race on. Yet here is a $2.99 application that can replicate any sectional track, the beloved Aurora TUB and that track you still have in your memory from childhood. Just think racers, once you re-create a real track from your club, you can spend any spare time (at work) memorizing the layout doing thousands of laps! Excellent preparation for a real race.
Using the iPhones screen shot capability, gamers can send each other pictures of the tracks they have created. (Gee, if only we could send other gamers the actual track layouts to race and compete on!?)

Atlas, if only the cruve radiuses could be made larger than traditional sectional track, then even FRAY style routed tracks could be re-created. Imagine the possibilities if your thinking about purchasing or a new routed track? You could now race on a track of your own creation, or one that replicates the track you want to buy. Most importantly, you could work out the layout problems, and rest assured that you are doing the right thing as you hand over large amounts of money as deposits and final payments. Yes I know, Slotz is not a CAD program that could be uploaded to your track vendors CNC cpu, but it certainly blows away most hand sketches, and nothing could be better than racing it before you buy.

Bob your were right! If this app was only relegated to track building, it would still sell itself, even if it is currently set up for mass produced sectional tracks only.

Onto the tracks pieces which at first glance do not seem like enough to build with, yet it's all that is required as the turn radius and straight lengths of each piece are continuously variable within limits. Here are the pieces to select from:
- straight: adjustable length within mass produced scale
- hump: adjustable length within mass produced scale
- chicane: adjustable length within mass produced scale
- lane swap: adjustable length within mass produced scale
- 90 degree turn: adjustable radius within mass produced scale
- 45 degree turn: adjustable radius within mass produced scale
- 45 banked turn: adjustable radius within mass produced scale
- 22 degree turn: adjustable radius within mass produced scale
- bridge overpass" adjustable length

The provided track layouts are varied and some of them, thanks to SlotcarBob Marketos, are outright heavenly lock and joiner madness.
- Basic Oval
- Under and Over
- Fast Eight
- Simple Eight
- Hockenburg: 1 trophy to unlock
- Rockingford: 1 trophy to unlock
- Monzola : 2 trophies to unlock
- Brands Thatch: 2 trophies to unlock
- Yokoyama Test Ground : 4 trophies to unlock
- The River: 5 trophies to unlock
- Funiji Speedway: 5 trophies to unlock
- Mondoza: 5 trophies to unlock
- SlotZ: 5 trophies to unlock
- M93: 5 trophies to unlock
- Paperclip: : 5 trophies to unlock
- Frantic: 7 trophies to unlock
- Linden Mill: 7 trophies to unlock
- Internatos: 7 trophies to unlock
- Dimmington: 7 trophies to unlock
- Eau Blank: 7 trophies to unlock
- Sunset Loop: 7 trophies to unlock
- Curva Millia: 8 trophies to unlock
- Mulsanity: 8 trophies to unlock

One track in particular that spells out the name 'SLOTZ" in it's configuration, looks much like Johnny Venza's Four Lane Routed ThunderLoop Raceway in Port Jefeerson Station , NY.

The program allows these setup parameters to be modified:
-scale speed: 0-100
-tire grip level: 0-100 (smart thinking here)
-acceleration level: 0-100

(Keep all three of the above under 15, set your throttle under 20, and it's like racing fish-tailing box stock skinny tire T-Jets!...even the de-slot style changes over to the typical 360 degree spin-out. Set these parameters all at 100, including your throttle, and it's like unlimited modified magnet cars on crack)

-tire smoke: on/off (looks more like a flame trail)
-engine noise: slots/real cars (slots sounds like jet engine white noise)
-crash penalty: 0-5
-collisions: on/off (acts more like a video game feature)
-curve fencing: on/off (do not experience the cars being able to make use of a fence rub)
-chunky mode: on/off (this increases the size of the the cars and track for better visibility on large tracks in the fixed camera mode)
-scale: 1/32 or HO (cars in fixed camera mode on large HO tracks are difficult to see)
-throttle control: digital or analogue
-throttle adjust: 1-100

Well, hope all of you slotheads with iPhones understand that this game/application is a must have. And you thought iBeer and iFart were the best apps you downloaded so far!


Regards,
VinnKnee
Team GearMesh
Pound Ridge, NY