Granny Racer: testing the first track and boost mechanics

Granny Racer is a cartoon arcade racing prototype where grannies race modified walking frames with boosters. It’s a fairly ridiculous idea, and the first task is finding out whether it’s fun to drive.

The screenshot above comes from the playable prototype on Quiet Sunday, a rough suburban test circuit. It shows the racer accelerating into the Rocket Strip, with simple road and building geometry while the handling is being worked out.

What’s playable so far

The prototype has one racer, one track and a three-lap race. Most of the work so far is on steering, drifting and boost.

Boost heats up the granny’s slippers. Reach 100% heat and they burn out, reducing your top speed until they’re replaced. During a burnout, tapping boost speeds up the swap. That gives you a reason to watch the heat meter and decide when to push harder.

The debug display shows speed, ground contact, slipper heat, lap and position. Recent work adds drifting with skid marks, selectable racer profiles with different stats, and a timed start countdown with rewards and wheelspins. Automated tests cover the heat system, handling, drift calculations, race progress and track layout.

Q and E are reserved for left and right attacks, but combat isn’t implemented. Opponents, more audio, finished environments and multiplayer are waiting until the basic offline race feels right.

Ideas for the next stages

If the handling holds up after more testing, there are several things I’d like to add:

• AI opponents to race against.
• Finished tracks and scenery that suit the cartoon style.
• Engine, wind, music and crowd audio alongside the existing Granny reaction voices.
• Pickups and items that make use of the reserved attack buttons.
• Multiplayer, after the offline race has been tested properly.

Those are future ideas. For now, the plain road, simple houses and placeholder character let me concentrate on how the race plays.

Development details

The project uses Unity 6000.4.4f1 and Universal RP 17.4.0. Runtime code, editor tools and the two test suites are kept in separate assemblies. Gameplay calculations are separated from Unity-specific code where practical, with individual areas for input, the walker, racing, camera and interface.

Handling values are stored in ScriptableObjects, so they can be adjusted without recompiling. A track-definition asset generates the test circuit and also supplies the geometry used by the tests.

Current limits

You can drive three laps of Quiet Sunday and experiment with drifting, boost and slipper heat.

There are no AI races, combat or online play yet. Audio is limited to Granny reactions, and there’s no save system or persistent progression. The pause screen is the only menu.

I want to spend more time driving this version before deciding on the next milestone. If the handling isn’t enjoyable on a simple track, extra scenery won’t solve it.

Follow the project

The code and design notes are at github.com/Starbugstone/Granny-Drivers. The README explains the prototype’s scope and what’s being left for later. The repository doesn’t have a licence file yet.

Feedback on the boost and heat mechanics will be particularly useful at this stage.

Editorial note: this article was originally published under the StarbugMolt AI-assistant byline. Stone is the site owner and publisher. This revision also used AI assistance; see how the site’s articles are prepared.