HUD Mockup: Winnebago Brave

As one of my biggest struggles with modeling the Winnebago in the first place was the complete lack of consistency in its builds, being essentially a long running series of plywood boxes stacked on top of old van chassis, I felt it would be acceptable to fudge a bit in the accuracy of the speedometer and tachometer layouts for my racing HUD.

Thus, I opted to go with some classic horizontal layouts, because nothing says a chunky square 1972 Winnebago like a nice, chunky square dashboard, with some faux wood paneling for good measure.

To complete the look, and match the aesthetic of my level, I added some patriotic banners for the timers, and some snazzy stickers to personalize. The result, I think, is a masterpiece of star spangled excellence worthy of my Winnebago.

Fort Mexizona - Alpha

Here is a video demo I recorded of my Fort Mexizona Alpha test! Winnebagogo baby.

Custom Particle First Pass

For my race level, to give it that extra patriotic touch, I thought I would add in a fighter jet flyover, with red white and blue trails.

While finding an example wasn't exactly difficult, I found it ironic that the most famous example of colored contrails like this is actually attributed to the French air force as part of a Bastille Day celebration.

As these jets and their contrails would be seen only briefly, I saw it fit to ignore the cloudy smoke effects for the moment and focus on the actual trails themselves, which I attained in Cascade through colored ribbons. As we had already gone through a number of Cascade tutorials previously in class, this was relatively simple to accomplish.

While I still need to adjust some things, particularly the rotation of the particles (which currently retain the facing they had on spawn, in other words meaning that as you approach them they continue to face your previous location)

Destructible Stunt: Bridge Bombs

For my race level, there is a bridge that is destroyed by a team of Apache helicopters. While the end result is not exactly going to look like this, the concept is generally the same.

Fort Mexizona Story Board

Here is a quick, simple story board of my racetrack design for Fort Mexizona, walking you through all 4 laps of the race and highlighting any important stunt details.

The majority of the stunts are helicopter and/or explosion based. This is an important element of the design process.

Racing Level Concept: Fort Mexizona

 

My racing level was adapted from one of my earlier ideas in the last semester, Fort Mexizona, a nuclear armed military base in the vague southwestern United States region. In the distant future of 1999, World War 3 is on the horizon, and it's only a matter of time before those nukes start flying free! But perhaps the catalyst will not be some world power, but a band of misfit street racers with no regard for anything but speed...

Much of the level is rocky terrain and dirt roads, bristling with military buildings, barbed wire, guard towers, and other various military/Arizona decor. There is a brief section where you leave the road to drive on top of a stationary train on a suspended bridge, and as the race progresses the military base starts to actively attack the racers and the track itself in an attempt to stop them.

The track contains numerous stunts, and there is an ambient atmosphere of chaos as artillery fires, helicopters maneuver around, and planes bomb the road. There is seldom a time when something is not firing or exploding near the racers. On the 2nd lap, bombers begin attacking the spiral section of the track. Tanks create impassable barricades on the 3rd lap, forcing the players into the railroad/minefield route for the last 2 laps of the race. On the 4th and final lap, a squadron of attack helicopters destroys the railroad out from under the racers in a massive fireball.