Beach Buggy Racing™ Speeding to Mobile

Vector Unit Bringing Seat of Your Pants Kart Racing with Split Screen Co-Op to Mobile

San Francisco – June, 24, 2014 – Independent game developer Vector Unit Inc. announced today the launch of its latest mobile driving game Beach Buggy Racing™for Android, iOS and Amazon devices.  The second in the popular Beach Buggy game series, which has had over 30 million downloads worldwide, Beach Buggy Racing pits players against each other in an action-packed world of playful, off-road kart-racing mayhem.

Players race to the finish line around 12 richly detailed tracks, through dinosaur infested jungles, lava-spewing volcanoes, sun-kissed beaches and mysterious swamps.  Tracks are filled with secret shortcuts, and magical powerups that boost, smash, shoot and bounce drivers to the front of the pack.  New drivers can be unlocked and recruited, each with a unique character ability, like teleportation, flaming fire tracks and Tiki spells.  Players can also collect and customize new vehicles for the ultimate thrill ride on sand, ice, fire and more!

“This is the sequel 30 million Beach Buggy Blitz™ players have been waiting for,” says Ralf Knoesel, Vector Unit’s co-founder and CTO.  “Beach Buggy Racing shares the first game’s amazing off-road driving action and totally destructible environments, but now we’ve put all that in a full-fledged racing game with tons of new game modes.”

And what kart racing game would be complete without split screen play?  By connecting two to four Bluetooth game controllers, players can compete shoulder to shoulder to shoulder on a single device in Beach Buggy Racing’s thrilling Split Screen game mode.  Players can also challenge Facebook friends online and earn achievements with Google Play Game Services (Android), Game Center (iOS), and GameCircle (Amazon).

A challenging and addictive kart-racing adventure for all ages, Beach Buggy Racing will be totally free to play on Android, iOS, and Amazon Kindle devices later this summer.  

Attendees can get a sneak preview of Beach Buggy Racing’s split screen mode at Google I/O this week on the 3rd floor at Moscone West in San Francisco!

Vector Unit is cheering on Bruce Meyers, "Father of the Dune Buggy"

Bruce Meyers, "Father of the (Fiberglass) Dune Buggy", is racing in the General Tire NORRA Mexican 1000, a "four-day, 1,300-plus mile on-and-off-road rally featuring vintage cars and bikes." It finishes today!  You can follow the race at http://www.norra.com/live.

Meyers, 88, first invented Old Red, the original Meyers Manx dune buggy, in 1964.  Celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, it is the second vehicle to be placed on the National Historic Vehicle Register after the Cobra Daytona coupe, CSX2287.   

Also cheering for Meyers, the Manx Club will be holding the Big Bear Bash 2014 (and celebrating the 50th Anniversay of the Meyers Manx), July 10-14 in Big Bear Lake, California.  Details can be found at https://www.facebook.com/events/334760869998056/ 

For more information on Bruce Meyers, the Race, and the history of the Dune Buggy, check out:

Bruce Meyers to race in 2014 NORRA Mexican 1000 Rally
http://buildraceparty.com/bruce-meyers-race-2014-norra-mexican-1000-rally/ 

The Father of the Dune Buggy Rides Again
http://www.caranddriver.com/features/the-father-of-the-dune-buggy-rides-again

Bruce Meyers, the Meyers Manx and 50 years of unfinished business
http://www.autoweek.com/article/20140514/CARNEWS01/140519973 

This man invented the dune buggy
http://www.topgear.com/uk/photos/Meet-the-creator-of-the-dune-buggy-2013-12-04 

Things You Should Know About Timm Sewell – Artist Extraordinaire

Despite what she says about “not being that interesting” and remaining mysteriously tight-lipped about her nickname, Timm is an easy conversationalist and quite the adventurer.  One might guess at Tim Burton being one of her inspirations both for name and art style, but while the second part is true… yeah, that’s not right either. 

Originally from Virginia, Timm grew up in Maryland, went to school in Florida, and twice in her life now, has moved halfway across the country with little more than high hopes.  She’s also proof that cold emailing a link to your portfolio can work when job hunting because that’s basically the story of how she came to work at Vector Unit.

Timm was in Austin, Texas when she started doing freelance contract work for VU. That turned into a 6-month in-office contract, then a full-time job.  Beach Buggy Blitz feels a lot like “her baby” because it was the first project she really worked on.  Timm loves that it reflects her art style and takes pride in having conceptualized so much of it.  As an artist with such a small team, she enjoys the immense creative freedom she gets, as well as being able to wear so many different (job) hats, that she never gets bored. While modelling and texturing are her favorite parts of the job, she loves being able to see assets go all the way from concept to in-game animation.  There’s also a great level of communication with this awesome team.

As a kid, Timm grew up playing games like Star Fox, Mario, The Legend of Zelda, Pokémon Stadium, and Super Smash Bros. with her older brother, taking turns when necessary.  She attributes her love for video games to him (who got her into video games in the first place), and who is mainly the reason why she enjoys multiplayer gaming and being part of a community.  Her favorite games include the Metal Gear Solid series, Left 4 Dead, and Mario Kart 64. But her absolute favorite arcade game is the classic Sunset Riders. If you find it in an arcade, please let her know since there are only two she knows of in the Bay Area. Also, she heavily supports the idea of a Pokémon MMO.

Aside from video games, Timm has an extensive list of hobbies like watercolor and gouache painting, cartooning, sculpting (can you tell she’s an artist?), sewing, hiking, and playing with her dog (she loves animals in general).  She also loves cooking and would do it more if it weren’t for her currently tiny (and poorly laid out from the sounds of it) kitchen.  That’s okay, she’s moving soon.

In terms of advice for future game developer artists, she says, “Keep learning; don’t stop doing what you love; and keep practicing, even if you can’t find a job. Or at least stop moping.”  

Riptide GP2 Stunt Guide - now available and for FREE!

Hey there, Riptide GP2 fans! We thought you might enjoy this free downloadable Stunt Guide to help you pull off those amazing stunt sequences.  And ... if you feel like sharing (or gloating) with some stunt videos of your own, we'd love to see them!

The Stunt Guide is letter-sized but you can adjust your printer settings if you prefer a smaller printout.

You can download the PDF version here, and the JPG version here.

Things You Should Know About Steve Mariotti, Senior Programmer

Vector Unit Senior Programmer Steve Mariotti is a man of few words, but his professional history speaks volumes about his illustrious career in game development.  He started writing games while in college at the University of Texas at Austin, and says, “Game development found me. There was never any question that I was going to do anything else after I was about 20.”  He’s a bit sheepish now about the Shareware Sinistar clone he’d written back then, but it got him his first gig.

Fast forward, and after shipping over fifteen games later, Steve has held titles such as Technical Director and Lead Programmer at companies like KIXEYE, Nihilistic Software, Stormfront (where he originally met VU founders Ralf and Matt), Activision, and Atomic Games.

As a programmer, the best part about the job for Steve is the variety in working on new and interesting things, and not knowing what’s coming next (in a good way).  At Vector Unit, he enjoys working with an awesome (and incredibly efficient) team.  He also finds it refreshing to be at an indie developer that can be completely autonomous (without publishers, investors, etc.) so the quality of the games is never sacrificed for a schedule or crazy marketing initiative.  He laments one time (at another company that shall not be named) when someone told him that the entire interface was the “wrong shade of green” … three weeks before shipping.  It took him three solid days of working around-the-clock to redraw every bitmap.  There’s none of that at Vector Unit!    

Professional life aside, Steve is a funny guy who will undoubtedly give us funny stuff for our Twitter feed as time goes by.  He’s a self-proclaimed nice guy, father to two girls (aged 15 and 12), loves heavy metal, and plays guitar.  When asked about his band, he says, “Yeah … it’s not really a band.  It’s a concept band called Please Leave.  It’s a band that you hire when you want people to leave your party.  We only know three songs, and they’re really bad.”

His advice to young aspiring game developers, especially programmers, is to dive in and just make games. “If you’re a programmer, always just program. If you want to make games, write your own little ones, download other people’s source code and experiment with it, get involved with the mod community, and read Gamasutra.  For AI programmers, check out AIgamedev.com run by Alex Champandard.”

When pressed for Easter eggs in Riptide GP2, he hints at one but will only say, “It’s more literal than most Easter eggs.”

Steve Mariotti

Riptide GP2 Steam Update #1: Multiplayer Improvements!

We just released our first update to the Steam version of Riptide GP2, which includes a handful of asked-for feature enhancements and a few minor fixes.

All users are strongly encouraged to update to this latest version, since you'll need it to enjoy online multiplayer games on Riptide GP2 going forward.  But also becasue it's awesome.

The largest enhancement is an improved Online Multiplayer QuickMatch Mode:

• Allows you to see who else is in the Lobby with you. 
• Allows you to join a Match that's in progress at the next Race start. 
• Shows you the status of each racer while you're waiting. 
• Allows up to 6 players to race simultaneously!

These improvements and others should make it a LOT easier to join multiplayer matches, and to get matches going with 4, 5, and 6 players.

Highlights - Update 1 (Apr 7, 2014):

• Added Multiplayer Waiting Room for Quick Match 
• Fixed Cloud Sync issue for save data. You can now sync properly on multiple machines. 
• Increased MP Stability 
• Graphical enhancements 
• Art improvements 
• Economy tweaks to rider progression 
• Various other bug fixes

Full Changes - Update 1 (Apr 7, 2014):

• Waiting Room Screen for matchmaking 
• Cloud Sync fix 
• Added fresnel term compute to jetski paint shader 
• UI focus state bug fixes 
• Removal of unnecessary UI text 
• Helmet tweak 
• Rider female model tweak for shoulder and groin 
• Rider Shoulder texture and mesh tweaks 
• Updated Display Settings 
• QuickMatch now tries to join you in lobbies with people from your friends list, if found. 
• Render state cache bug fix and performance improvement 
• Attract mode camera target bug fixed 
• Adjustments to the starting grid 
• Cross-version incompability enforcement added

Thank you!

Thank you for all the great feedback! We maintain a prioritized list of issues that are reported by our players so don't hesitate to hit is up for fixes, changes, etc. in the Steam Riptide GP2 Official Game Group Discussion Forums!

Riptide GP2 Announced for Xbox One & PS4

Our flagship racer Riptide GP™2 will be coming later this spring to Xbox One and Playstation 4.  

Like the Steam version, this enhanced version of RGP2 features improved graphics, online multiplayer, split screen multiplayer, ghost racing (VR Challenge), and of course all the excitement you know and love in Riptide GP2.  We'll also have full support for Xbox Live and PSN features like leaderboards and achievements/trophies.

Oh, and did we mention it runs at a silky smooth 60fps at 1080p on both consoles?

The Xbox One version was revealed at GDC this week.  In particular, players and press reacted positively to one amazing feature -- split screen multiplayer with six -- count'em, six! -- simultaneous racers.  Riptide GP2 is actually the first 3d racing game EVER to support 6 player split screen.  You have to see it to believe it.

Dan Hsu from Gamesbeat tweeted this pic and comment regarding the 6-player mode:

A six-player split screen racing game for Xbox One! Ran smoothly. Devs shooting for 60 frames per second for each. pic.twitter.com/B93FEwCvSD

— Shoe (@DanShoeHsu) March 18, 2014

Humble Mobile Bundle 4...Now with More Riptide GP2!

We here at Vector Unit love us some Humble Bundle.  Pay what you want for great games, and a bunch of the money goes to charity!

And we are very pleased to announce that Riptide GP2 is one of the games included in the newest Humble Mobile Bundle for Android!  Humble Mobile Bundle 4 features six unbeatable games:  Pay what you want to receive the legendary strategy game Catan, the free-running parkour-inspired chaser Vector, the stunt-filled hydro jet racing game Riptide GP2 and the apocalyptic sharp-shooter Zombie Gunship. If you pay more than the average, you'll also get to experience the atmospheric side-scroller action adventure game, BADLAND and form your squad in the advanced tactical combat of Breach & Clear.

Use the widget at the top of this post to buy your copy of Humble Mobile Bundle 4 today!  No, seriously, don't wait too long -- the Bundle is only available until March 18, 2014!

Riptide GP2 Coming to Steam March 7

Vector Unit is excited to announce the Steam Powered edition of our flagship racing game, Riptide GP™2, will be available on Steam March 7! 

This is the most polished, feature-rich version of Riptide GP2 currently available on any platform. It's got the full career mode with a brand new, never before played "All Star" series. It's got support for 6-player online MP. It's got split screen MP for up to 4 players. Ghost racing. Trading cards. The list goes on, and I haven't even mentioned the improved visuals and screaming-fast framerates!

Check out the  Riptide GP2 on Steam homepage for screen shots and other details.  

Update on 2014-03-07 19:14 by Vector Unit

Oh, hey!  The game is live now AND it's on sale 30% off for the first week.  Here's a sweet widget you can use to buy directly: