Zero Gear - an indie multiplayer kart racing game

CONGRATS ZAPH!!!!

ps. it's nice to see that you actually answer questions etc. on the Steam forums, it shows people that you care!

I guess thats a good thing =)

You should check the comments on RPS:

http://%7boption%7d

Some really harsh critics there :\

Congrats on the release zaphod! I tried it for a bit last night, and it's a very polished release.

Here's some feedback to add to the pile :

The circuit racing tracks feel very very big. Since the karts handle so well (small turning radius) the roads are so wide that there's a very small chance of fucking up and going off track, and obstacles such as bombs are super-easy to avoid. So once you're in the lead, there's a good chance you'll never see any of your competitors until the race is over and you've won.

I'd recommend experimenting with scaling down the circuit tracks to 75% or less, making them smaller and tighter, which would hopefully lead to more fuckups and tighter groups of karts.

Also, for circuit races, maybe adding a timer or something which shows how far ahead you are/how far behind the kart behind you is at every checkpoint. That way you know if you're gaining on whoever is in front and what's happening behind you. Since the karts are so small and the tracks are so big, it's hard to judge if you're making any progress at all in catching up.

Oh, and for the ice cube powerup, when you're hit by that thing and sitting inside your cube waiting, it would be cool if you could add some sort of vibration to the cube as it gets closer to cracking, since right now it's very frustrating sitting there waiting without knowing how long until it breaks.

Anyway, congrats again on the release. I'll definetly buy the game and support you, since you're doing something that I hope to do some day in the future!

Been pimping this game to all my friends any chance I got, and I just now bought it. I've had a blast, but mostly playing the fun game modes. I have to agree some of the tracks seem a bit big and eventless, but others are completely fine. Maybe it's a matter of taste. The puck game mode is hilarious, and watching the puck turn on it's side and run around the course by itself after I punchglove punched it was hilarious. There seems to be a bit of lag, and pretty horribly so, but I might have gotten a bad server.

But that aside, the game is awesome Good job.

And I'll continue pimping it out, if only to be able play it at LAN parties. I imagine there'll be shits, giggles and shenanigans.

Can I use my xbox controller for this game? I find the PC controls pretty hard to use ;P

Great game though, I love the actual racing maps because the controls work better for them IMO

Slight bump of the thread here, hope that's ok. I played this game once during the beta and now I just played the demo again. Neither of the times did I like it at all There is something about the controls which makes it feel like you don't really have any contact with the surface at all, your vehicle just seems to be floating along the ground. There did not really appear to be much to the game either; granted I have probably seen half of the features, but what I have seen so far did not seem of much. And worst, driving around was not in any way pleasing and that is kinda concern to me in a racing game.

Now however, I did like an ironic touch such as the Indie-ness factor. And you shouldn't mind my comments anyway, as the game it reminded me the most of is some of the old Mario Kart games, which I also absolutely saw no fun in. Many people however did Also, I see that you are having some quite nice sales on Steam! It has slowed down a bit now, but still you have for weeks been outselling some quite high profile games, I am very impressed by this!

I was wondering, what is your company strategy onwards? I can imagine that the revenue from your iPhone games has almost been able to cover all expenses related to the ZG development thereby leaving you in a favorable position with very little debt (or none) to payoff? But I doubt the revenue of ZG is enough to cover the development cost of your next game?

So will you keep on adding features to Zero Gear and hoping that the sales will continue to be higher than the cost of the continued development? Or just give it basic life support and go develop a sequel, or another game, and then hope that the game has a long enough tail to provide you with liquidity until the release of the sequel? Or try and both expand ZG while developing another game and thereby stretching your already limited developer resources?

You got lots of challenges ahead of you, but you to have proven to have the talent and dedication to take them on. Good luck