Nitelore

iOS
iOS
iOS
iOS
iOS
iOS
iOS
Apple Watch racing
Android
Android
Android
Android
Android
Android
Icon

Inspiration

Nitelore is inspired by the high-speed futuristic racers of the 1990s, like F-Zero and Wipeout.

Rather than copy their mechanics, I wanted to bring my memories of those games back to life, with blazing speed and neon-soaked scenery, in something that feels totally at home on mobile.

I originally had a different idea for Shipaton, but when I posted a rough prototype of this on Twitter, back when I had one follower, it somehow got a big (for me) response so I went with this instead.

What it does

It's a racing game!

Grand Prix: race five rivals for cups across 12 tracks (3 free + 9 unlocked by IAP)
Time Attack: chase your best laps against your own ghost
Elimination: stay out of last place, because it gets purged every so often
Death Race: bash or shoot your way to last machine standing
Online multiplayer: quick races, or private parties with friends

There are also 3 Offworld expansion tracks, rotating special events, and daily and weekly challenges for bragging rights, sweet coinz and upgrades. You can buy, upgrade, tune and customise your machines.

Tilt to steer is the default and (I think) the most fun, but there's also an on-screen joystick, controller support and keyboard on Mac and iPad. Plus a pacifist mode (no weapons), three cameras (chase, tight, cockpit) and a minimap.

Available on iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV and Apple Watch and Android, with progress synced across Apple devices via iCloud.

Remember, Apple Watch: neon racing on your wrist, steered with the digital crown. Suck it, Rolex.

How I built it

Everything is generated in code: tracks, vehicles, sounds and whatnot. Really, the only bundled assets are the icons.

All five Apple versions are built in Swift with SceneKit, which was deprecated before my very eyes. They sync progress between devices with iCloud, and lean heavily on Game Center and Apple's other game bits for achievements, leaderboards and multiplayer. RevenueCat, of course, handles the in-app purchases - from the full game unlock to coin packs.

For Android, I ported the racing engine and associated guff to Unity.

Challenges I ran into

At first, the only thing to buy was sweet coinz. That was limiting - most players would rather earn them by racing (it's more fun), and pushing coin sales would have made the game worse, so I reworked it. Now a bunch of tracks are free to race, one IAP unlocks the full game, and coins are still there as a shortcut. Revenue went from about £40 to over £400 (ooh).

Other curious challenges:

Shipping a paywall on Android that didn't work, so no one paid.
Being continuously rejected by Samsung for spurious reasons. I am not bitter.
Battling my inherent laziness

Accomplishments that I'm proud of

Mostly, how fun it is. I play it myself all the time, and it feels like a real game.

Also:

Apple featured it in "New Games We Love", plus a full-screen "New Game" placement
Game Report's review called it "F-Zero in your pocket", and Pocket Gamer ran "Nitelore brings anti-gravity racing back to iOS"
Stuff said it was best game that week (and possibly meant EVER, but they can't say that out loud)
It's on six platforms, Apple Watch included, which ticks the quanity box at least

What I learned

Most importantly, that if I put my mind to it, I can use the digital crown in a way that would sicken horologists.

Slightly less importantly:

Free play & unlock vs coinz Players would rather earn coins than buy them. Letting them race for free and selling one full game unlock worked much better than coins alone.
Test the paywall on every platform. Mine didn't work on Android, so it seems important now to check stuff like this
Ask for coverage. The pre-order didn't do much, but pitching the press and nominating the game to Apple led to an App Store feature and 1,000+ downloads a day at its peak. No one threatened to hunt me down like a dog!