I am happy to announce that the first alpha of Hoverbike Joust is done and has been uploaded to IndieDB. 
Controllers with analog sticks and triggers are strongly recommended. You can play with a keyboard or pretty much anything else, but your mileage may vary. More details about that in the readme.
Current Features:
-Single player or split-screen multiplayer with up to 4 people, along with bots.
-One track for racing, and one arena for jousting.
The AI still needs a bit of work. They currently all have the same specs and capabilities as a real player because they use the same control-script, but I might have made them a bit too good at racing. I can barely keep up with them most of the time.
Also
, the desert track that's included is probably on the more difficult end of the scale that will be in the final game's tracks. I'll probably include an easier track in the next free alpha. I'm kind-of just rambling now because I'm nervous... Never released anything before... There's a lot of info in the readme, but you should probably just get in there and play! The readme and I are here for you if you have questions.
Wait, was I supposed to start a Greenlight campaign?
Just downloaded the demo! This is great fun. Just like you said: easy to learn but difficult to master.
Two suggestions for a hotfix though
- option to mute music (gets anoying really quick)
- A respawn button (sometimes I fall of the track and then have to no chance of getting back on)
Aw man, you don't like my music? =P Yeah, they're definitely too short/repetive, I just wanted to get something in there to find the sound I want for the soundtrack. And of course I know it won't be everyone's cup of tea in any case. I think in the end I want to have longer loops and make them dynamic based on the player's speed or what's happening in the race, etc.
I'm not sure if I want to have a respawn button, but I will add more triggers along those areas to make you crash if you fall off the track.
I'll get a patch out with both of these changes as quickly as I can. (Not sure if I just re-upload the same file? Or add a new download like 0.0.1b? Anybody know?) Thank you for playing and for taking the time to give feedback! =]
I'd suggest a new download 0.0.1b, just because it is cool too look back and see the different release >:D
No mac download? :( Alas, crossovers will have to do for now!
Don't worry I haven't forgotten about you! I'm going to try to synchronize releases for Win, Mac and Linux starting with the next update. Just need to take the time to do some tedious stuff with the input configurations in Unity to make them all work correctly with Xb360 controllers by default. What controller(s) do you use?
I use PS3 controller. However, when playing today i didn't have it with me, and the controls aren't so bad with the keyboard. Having boost as 'enter' is a bit atypical. I rebound the keys for space to go, and shift to boost. I'd suggest using enter to select the levels and whatnot, and rebounding the kets for easier access.
And also, theres a small bug. When opening up the menu you cannot immediately click enter (what ever key is bound for it). I have to go down and then back up to start the game.
And also, just for kicks a fall off the bike button would make for some fun situations. And it will help when you fall off the track (as sometimes its quite tough to get back, not to mention the length of time) However, falling off the track and not immediately dying is nice as the games mechanics make for nice joyriding around (so long as times of no issue).
I swear this is my last comment on your reply :3
I lied, if you use boost to go into the air and use the normal thrust, you slowly rise. Gravity is weaker than the rear thruster...
Notice that did you? ;] You can climb quite high if you point the bike up and use your full tank of turbo. I like doing that then doing flips and stuff while falling back down.
Turbo is also mapped to left-alt by default. The reason it's also mapped to enter is due to the menu-submit and turbo buttons being the same on a gamepad. Should be easy to fix. Or maybe just move turbo to a diff button by default?
For the thing where you have to move around on the menu before can submit, I noticed this too. I'm using Unity's brand new GUI system and it appears to be a bug with that. I'll reach out to them to see if there's a work-around or fix.
A voluntary crash button sounds like fun and a nice compromise. I can do that!
PS, I was able to use my PS3 controller with the default config but I had to run DS3 Tool since I'm on Windows 8.
I can't use my ps3 controller through CrossOvers, sadly, but there is a workaround if anyone is really wanting to figure it out. You might be knocking the keyboard a bit too much :D Unless using the controller is almost buttery smooth :)
Had great fun playing this, found I was my own worst enemy in the arena, flipping myself and crashing into those mushroom things surprisingly often. It's damn hard hitting the bots - they seem such small targets and zip by so fast, but I'm sure I just need more practice! Here's my LP video: Youtube.com
Wow! That's quicker than I expected to see anyone post a video. =] Thanks so much! I'm having some great laughs watching this right now. And you are absolutely correct about Charlie! His colors were coincidental, but I'm a diehard Always Sunny fan. XD Frank is there too. Dee is not, because she looks like a giant bird.
And idk if starting a green-light campaign this early would be in your best interest. What i've seen/heard so far is that there is a large influx of people up-voting at the beginning of the campaign and then towards the end there is another jump. The game is great now, but it won't attract enough people to get a large chunk taken out of the group sum. \
But hey, what do i know :p i'm just a silly teenager.
Made some quick .gifs of me playing around in the arena!
Links:
Starting off and nailing a back flip:
I1374.photobucket.com
The best (maybe?) way to turn around:
I1374.photobucket.com
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AWESOME! The game clearly has some controlling issues though, but that's expected from Unity (I work freaking hard on that too). I thought you should make a horizontal turn left/right button + vertical turn/rolling button instead of a kind of mix between the two, because that renders the bike almost uncontrolable when in the air.
As stated from other people, there are performance issues, like when in the cave section, even at 0 AIs, the framerate drops below 30, maybe even 20. That could mostly be my not so good PC though.
The physics are awesome, pretty different from Jet Moto, but they got their charm and unique original style, I like it!
I used my PS4 controller (with DS4Windows) to play it and configured the controls to be like Jet Moto. It works very well! Controls are awesome!
Keep this AI difficulty as an advanced mode, I remember Jet Moto 2 being much harder than that, so it's good to have something challenging! Good work!