MSXdev’18 – 12th entry: XRacing

Category: MSX classic
Name of the game: XRacing
Game Size / RAM requirements: 48KB ROM / 16KB RAM
Game genre: Car racing
Name of the group / individuals: Brain Games (Santi Ontañón)

Having been announced last month, finally XRacing has made it before deadline and it is available for download.

Santi Ontañón, winner of the previous edition’s MSX Classic category returns to the contest with a fun mix of arcade and simulation. Race in different kind of tracks and championships as you climb the ranks to become an authentic champion.

To reach the top you must manage your budget, carefully choosing the best options on each case. Try to be the best driver but also pay attention to the advices from your agent. And don’t forget to drive fast but safe!

Releases history

v1.0

v1.0.1 (not submitted to the Contest)

This is a bug fixing release:

fix the smoothness of the Trantor track
beefed up the 3rd f1 car
tweaked the house graphic
skip agent’s text with space
race is finished when all the opponent cars complete 4 laps (to prevent some bugs after waiting too long, thanks Juanje for reporting! 🙂
First attempt to fix the joystick controls (thanks Juanmi for figuring out what the bug was!)
reset the fastest lap to 9:59:99, so that if you don’t finish a single lap, that’s what is shown
in some races, if you backed up at the start, there were graphic glitches due to the way scroll is handled. So, I limited the amount you can back up on races.

v1.0.2 (not submitted to the Contest)

A few more bugs fixed:

Second attempt at fixing the joystick input bug (I think this time I got it)
Fixed the waypoints in the “Metropolis” track, where enemies were crashing very often
Fixed a bug in the race position tracking code, which resulted in incorrect standings if you overtook more than one car in one go

v1.0.3

Fixed a major bug that made the game display the GAME OVER screen, rather than the ending sequence when completing the game!
Many difficulty adjustments (bumping against the fences makes you lose less speed, and also added some rubber banding in case the enemies are too far ahead)

v1.0.4

Tried to improve compatibility with more MSX models (thanks to @pipagerardo for reporting a problem with Sony F500P)
Fix some graphic glitches in a couple of races
Made the game a bit easier by allowing you to tie for 1st place at the end of the season to promote to the next car category