Pretend Cars Racing
Pretend Cars Racing is an old school top-down racer, featuring 4 car classes, 22 tracks and splitscreen multiplayer.
Features
The game is currently in early access but it is fully playable, with 4 car classes (Mini, GT, Formula and Classic cars), 3 levels of AI strength, 22 tracks (ranging from fantasy tracks to ones based on real venues) and 4 game types:
- Singleplayer race against AI
- Splitscreen race against AI
- Splitscreen 1vs1
- Hotlaps (with ghosts)
Controls
Player one is controlled either with W,A,S,D keys or any controller (tested with Xbox One, PS4 and Switch Pro). Player two can play with the arrow keys.
Space bar selects menu options and you can exit the game or the race with Escape o the Select button on your controller.
In-game Pause can be activated either with Escape or the Start button and music can be stopped with M.
Windows, Linux and HTML versions
The HTML5 version is a demo of the game with limited content. If you like the game, you can purchase the full version that comes as a Windows or Linux executable.
All versions have the same basic features but the Windows and Linux version play more smoothly and have additional details like sounds from rival cars, a crew chief and the ability to play it in full-screen.
If running the HTML5 version, please check if your browser has WebGL enabled, it will make running the game a lot better!
I hope you enjoy playing Pretend Cars Racing!
Purchase
In order to download this game you must purchase it at or above the minimum price of $2 USD. You will get access to the following files:
Exclusive content
Support this game at or above a special price point to receive something exclusive.
Choose a track for the game!
You will be able to choose any real life track to be included in the next version of the game.
Development log
- Version 1.0 is around the cornerOct 12, 2022
- Graphics improvements and the future of PCRNov 29, 2021
- Multi-class races and a random modeSep 20, 2021
- More content and improvements to the new AISep 06, 2021
- A completely new AI brings more exciting racingJul 13, 2021
- 5 new tracks that bring the total to 22!Apr 29, 2021
- Realtime positions and some small tweaksMar 15, 2021
- More content and too many changes to list!Feb 25, 2021
Comments
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I bought the game but i can't use Xbox controller. What should i do ? Thanks
Hi Diggia, sorry to hear that. Let me ask you a couple of questions to diagnose the issue. On the web version does the controller work? If you plug your controller in another usb port, does ir work? Do you have other controller to try?
thanks!
Thanks for your reply Misterakuma. Honestly I didn't try with the wired controller but with the wireless Xbox one one. I try with wired too. Wireless mode doesn't work?
I tested several controllers and found no issues, but I don’t recall if I had a wireless Xbox controller when I did the tests. I’ll try to do some new tests.
On the web version, my Xbox controller works in wireless mode. But i don't know why it doesn't works in the full game downloaded. I ll try with Xbox Series controller too, i have it. Let me know about your tests, thank you in advance
The game is actually a good one. At least, from what I played on the demo anyway.
I don't know if you will be adding more racing disciplines (like Indycar or Nascar), but it's a good game nonetheless. Maybe one day I'll buy the game.
Hi, it seems you improved your game a lot since I visited last time. Good job!
Actually I am also working on my race game (or at least it wil have such racing mode), but for trucks.
I hope these will not competeing so much, so may I have a question: could you please confirm how you are doing your AI driving? Are they following a path or any other method? Thanks in advance.
Hi! Thanks for your comments : )
I started using only paths for their behavior, but some time a go I went for a hybrid of that method and rays that check for collisions to make them avoid other cars and the player. In each step, I check what's near each car and take actions accordingly. It made a huge difference, now AI passes each other and racing is much more interesting! Its not perfect but its way better than using only paths. Good luck with your game!
Thanks for your reply, I plan something similar as an AI. Also with long vehicles there is a chance to stuck and push each other, avoiding collision is better solution instead of trying to escape from stuck situation. :)
Like another itcher says, i love coming to try the game when you bring out updates. i am making my own, different kind of racing game, and you creating such a good package inspires me to work harder at my own project.
please keep up the great work.
Hi Samuel, thank you very much : ) I tried Hellström Racer some time ago and loved its style. I'll do some more races again and leave you some feedback! Long live top-down racers haha
I like to come back to this game every time you update it, I really like games like this. The player's car physics are perfect and amazing! However, you can still completely cut across the Spielberg track as there are only 2 checkpoints and no barriers. I love all the new sound effects and music but the AI racers feel very unfair as they don't skid or accelerate like the player does. The fact they group together so much is annoying as on beginner level they are easy to beat, and on legend, they are often taking every corner perfectly without slowing. I would prefer if these levels were mixed so that I wouldn't just come first or last every time. I also want to point out that once you finish the 3 races in the Demo, pressing lets race again takes you to the final race again, not the first one.
Again, I love this game, you've done such a great job and I am glad you are monetizing it now, but there are a few aspects that don't seem right to me.
Hi! You can't imagine how much I appreciate your feedback : ) Thanks for always checking out the progress of the game and your great suggestions. I will fix Spielberg and the race progression for the demo ASAP. Regarding the AI, those are all valid points, which I am trying to solve. I started working on a new approach to the AI, but results are still far from being better that the current implementation. I am making some progress but not as fast as I expected. I hope to have some news soon rather than later. Thanks again for all the feedback!
Sounds good to me, keep up the good work and I'm glad I can help!
I have just published an updated version with a completely new AI, that's aware of the position of other cars and obstacles and uses tow. I think you will find races much more fun now.
I will be tweaking it a little bit in the future but for me at least, I find races are more enjoyable with this new AI. I've also fixed Spielberg (the demo progression bug is coming in the next update).
Thanks for all the feedback!
Really great work! The AI feels a lot more human now! I like how they can drive off the track and they don't just bunch up anymore, fantastic! The only thing that feels missing from them now is tire skid marks and the grass marks too!
I want to add, the music is getting pretty repetitive too, you might want to add some more.
Well done though, I'm loving it!
After many tries I am finally happy with it : ) It still need some finetuning, specially at the beginning of a race, but its getting there. Skidmarks and grass marks should be available again on a future version, with the new AI a lot of things changed behind the scenes and I need to re-implement it.
I agree 100% with the music, I end up silencing it and its not a good sign haha I have some nice loops from a rally prototype that I was working on but they are short and might end up in the same spot.
Very, very well done, this! Easy (and great) to play.
Thanks Samuel for the kind words! It’s great to hear that you like PCR : )
what is the select button on pc
Hi! Use spacebar if you play with keyboard or A with a controller.
Love the game! Well done, I love the artwork. However, I felt like there needed to be some form of progression to keep me engaged. Would love to see more from this!
Hi R-Doman, I'm really glad to hear that you like it! I have just finished implementing, in an internal build, the ability to save lap records locally. This also opens up the possibility to have some progression saved across sessions, so I can say that it's coming soon (TM) : ) I can't promise dates as I am still deciding some key aspects of it and it will need some testing but it should come sooner rather than later.
This is really coming along, I'm very impressed. The career mode is great, really good work. The one thing you might not have considered is making another difficulty that has a mix of AI racers. The reason I say this is sometimes the legends are way too fast and the beginners are way too slow, and the pros just clump together. A mix of them would also mean I would have to really fight for first but also shouldn't come last much. Hope this is useful feedback, keep up the good work!
Hi! Thanks for the encouragement and the feedback, it is really helpful. Today the 3 AIs have different speeds but I will try to make it more pronounced. I intend to add more cars to the field soon, this might also help make the races more interesting and differences more noticeable.
The game is really coming together! Well done! I love all the new cars and the work on the tracks!
One exploitable issue is that on some tracks you haven't put in many checkpoints so it is easy to cut the track to beat the AI.
Great work though, keep it up!
Hi! Thanks for checking again on the game : ) I'll look into that and include it in the next update that should be up next monday (with improved ambient sounds).
The points about the controls being "strange" or "floaty" are valid, especially on tighter, less high speed, such as seaside, pretend track 2, Circuit D- Azur, and highway pass, where full throttle is not possible. However, on all other tracks are very suited the how the car drifts out of corners. My main suggestion is a decrease in the difference in top speed of the A.I. and me driving the car. For that to work, however the intermediate acceleration of the player driving should be increased, as coming out of every corner the A.I gains on you seemingly. Otherwise great game, one I keep coming back to.
Hi, thanks for the detailed feedback! I am working on addressing both things at the moment, I made a test project for the physics, which you can try out here: https://misterakuma.itch.io/pretend-cars-phy Its not finished yet but so far, the feedback on this new approach has been positive. Please try that out.
Thanks again for the feedback, it helps a lot!
The controls are much tighter and more enjoyable in my opinion, although the amount of speed lost in the grass is a little too much.
Glad you liked it! I have just uploaded a new version that tweaks the speed loss in the grass and fixes a small bug with skidmarks.
Nice game. I would have preferred the cars to be less 'floaty', so that the challenge was beating the other cars, rather than just staying on the track.
Hi, thanks for the feedback! Did you have that feeling with all the car types or one in particular?
Looks nice, but the car control is a bit strange for me
Thanks for the feedback tibisoft! Did you try all 3 type of cars? Was your experience the same with all of them?
Thanks, I have just tried out to other two as well, they seemed to be more friendly than the formula one type (maybe I just need a practice :) )
Maybe due to the turning "speed" is always the same, independently from the speed of the car. Just guessing.
I just uploaded a new version with slightly changed physics behavior based on your comment, I think you are going to like it more this way!
Without a doubt the Formula cars need a little bit more practice than the others :)
Thanks again for the feedback, it’s very valuable!
Thanks! I think some practice for me and improvement of physics helped! :)
Just following and looking forward the development.
Glad to hear it!