FMP Proposal

Idea

I aim to make a playable minimoto/ go-kart racing/ time-trial game with one race track based on a real-world existing race circuit (Stretton Circuit, Leicester). My main focus for the project will be re-creating the real-world race circuit with a high degree of attention to detail, realism and accuracy as well as the inclusion of an interactive element in the form of using a vehicle (minimoto or go-kart) to explore the race track environment. 

Idea Background

I am a passionate motor-sport/ motor-racing and racing game enthusiast and am particularly interested in motorcycle racing, including British and World Superbikes, the Isle Of Man TT and MotoGP. The first notable racing game I ever remember playing was Codemasters' TOCA Touring Cars Championship in 1997 on the Playstation aged 7, I had my first motorbike at the age of 10 and then began racing Minimoto's when I was 12 years old and in that time have raced a number of times at the proposed Stretton race-circuit. I continue to visit the Stretton circuit time permitting, racing my minimoto purely as a hobby. The circuit itself is known for being one of the most challenging tracks in the UK, with wide, sweeping bends, high speed corners and a total track length of 850m, it is widely regarded amongst the UK club racing community as a 'real racers circuit'.

Me, age 12

Racing games, both realistic and arcade, are an extremely popular video game genre in the current market and have been since games could be played on PC's using floppy-discs. One of the oldest known single-player racing arcade game's is Gran Trak 10, released by Atari in 1974, and is also considered one of the first racing games to include a steering wheel, gear shifter and accelerator and break pedals!.

Gran Trak 10, Atari 1974

A racing video game, is a video game genre, normally playable in the first or third-person perspective, in which the player takes part in racing competition with any number of possible vehicles. A racing game may be based on anything from real-world racing competitions to completely fantastical settings and in general they can be distributed along a spectrum anywhere between hardcore racing simulations and more simplified arcade racing games and can often also fall under the sports games category.

Because of my interest in motor-sport in the real world, I mostly enjoy playing racing games that represent this, games that give me the opportunity to use real-world vehicles in real-world locations and race track's. As with most others who play these games, as well as any other sports oriented games, I admire these games accurate representation of their real-world counterparts and will always look to the games that most closely resemble them. I appreciate these games attention to detail from large details such as race track layout down to minor details such as accurate prop placement. Motor-racing could be called somewhat of a hobby of mine, and as I immerse myself with it in my spare time either watching motor-racing on TV or actually visiting real race circuits to watch motor-racing events, as well as a keen interest in motor vehicles and motorcycles in general I could never pass up an opportunity to experience these things for myself in the virtual world, likewise, due to my knowledge of the area in the real-world, I can also quickly notice if something has been misrepresented.

I think my knowledge in these areas, as well as my strengths in attention to detail in both 2D and 3D subjects will enable me to achieve my goals during this project.