Last weekend I was able to show Formula C in the Indie Games Room, for the Adelaide Anime and Video Games Festival (AVCon). Joey helped through the whole weekend and Yachi and our friend David stepped in for a bit as well.
Last year we were extremely unorganised and only made it for the second day after finding out we could go the night before. However, it gave us a good idea of what to expect and this time we were well prepared with two computers set up, one of them with an Oculus Rift and a third screen displaying the trailer.
We had quite a lot of attention, with many people particularly interested in the Rift. The feedback was generally very positive, although a bit mixed when it came to the physics. Some people really liked the slippery track and the gliding, while a few really disliked it. However, as a significant part of what makes this game unique, I'm simply going to try to target the people who do like it.
There was a common concern that the walls would turn the vehicle fairly violently when it touched them so I've already addressed that. But, overall it was very encouraging and seeing how people went with this early version has confirmed for me that it's nearly ready to release in early access. I'll just finish off the first stage of multiplayer support and probably add in a tutorial.
One of the biggest highlights was seeing some people coming back to try again, there was a little Batman who came back quite a few times. Then there was Henry the Storm Trooper who came back so many times that we decided to name him as our unofficial mascot, and not just because he held me at gunpoint (he was a Storm Trooper, it's not like he would have been able to hit me). Thanks for playing Henry, it was really nice to see you enjoying it.
I managed to take a few opportunities to step away and see other things. It was great to play some other indie games and talk to other local developers, although I would have liked to play more than I did. Ice Box was a lot of fun and I managed to out score the D1DLC guys. I also had a go at a board game called Mission Control, which was pretty fun (a friend of mine is working on it and planning to start a crowd funding campaign for it soon).
Then there was the other VR setups, which included one with a Vive and one with the Oculus Touch. I won't bother giving reviews because there is plenty of that around already, it was just great to have the opportunity to give them a go for myself.
Overall it was great to be able to show off my game, meet with local developers and get a little bit of time to experience the rest of AVCon. Now I'm back to working on the game, and I'm well motivated. Stay posted for more updates.