Karma Riot v1

Date:
2009-2010
Contributors:
Mike Daly, Paul Spychala
Download:
/downloads/games/karmariot_100111.zip

Karma Riot is a kind of re-imagining of the classic SNES game Super Mario Kart. I was initially intrigued by the idea because I thought that making racing AI and a procedural course builder would be interesting challenges and even more interesting when combined. I also thought a decent simulation could be created relatively easily.

However, there are a few things I wanted to do to intentionally deviate from the classic formula. The thing everyone loves about Mario Kart is that it’s very easy for anyone to jump in and feel like they have a chance. However, the game accomplishes this by assigning better random items to the players that are farther behind. This can be frustrating for skilled players because you feel like your skill doesn’t contribute to whether you win or loose. I think this reduces the gratification when less skilled players win because they didn’t necessarily deserve it. Mario Kart is a series where you can never really tell whether the sequels are better because they keep introducing random items and hazards that seem to take away from the experience.

In Karma Riot, players that get behind are given a chance to catch up, but instead of doing it through chance, they are given the opportunity to catch up using their own skill. The farther behind they are, the easier it is to perform this maneuver and the more benefit is gained from it. Additionally, instead of random items, each player has a fixed set of moves, so what another player might do to you and what you can do in defense is totally predictable. I feel that this removes a lot of frustration from the game while giving players a sense of satisfaction for doing things well.

Currently, the game pretty much requires wired 360 controllers. The controls in a nutshell are:

Requirements:

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