StreetRally revolutionises racing for Facebook: "Casual click-based games have started to die"

In our first look at the browser-based social driving game scene we focused our attentions on Car Town, a cutesy car showroom of sorts that gained mass appeal on Facebook from both hardcore and casual car collectors alike. But in terms of gameplay there’s no actual driving to speak of, so you could hardly classify it as a racing game - more a micro-management point and click game where the aim is to fulfil jobs in your custom-built garage. In other words, it’s Farmville with cars.

Despite the racing genre’s increasing implementation of social networking features over on the consoles, there’s still a complete void when it comes to racing games on Facebook. Enter StreetRally, a new top-down racer currently played by 40,000 monthly users and independently developed by Hypester, an Estonian studio who are determined to go above and beyond the conventional point-and-click genre that has become synonymous with Facebook gaming.

Currently in beta form, you could argue that StreetRally is the first true racing game on Facebook. We spoke to Hypester’s Martin Tüvi to gain further insight into the development of StreetRally and what the future could hold for browser-based driving games on Facebook.

StreetRally plays as a top-down checkpoint racer where players complete challenges across a variety of tracks loosely based on real-world locations, including Miami, Los Angeles, Tokyo, Rome and, erm, Newcastle - not what you’d call a prime video game location unless you count the original Driver’s hidden level set in the developer's hometown of Newcastle, but we’re certainly not complaining when it’s such a rarity for the UK to be honoured as a video game location.

Each setting features 12 challenges to complete and unlock, and there’s a strong variety of events to avoid repetition – one minute you’re in a high stakes race against a rival, the next you’re performing extended drifts in special stunt events.

In addition, Skill Tracks provide precision driving tasks where you must stay on the marked line throughout the course of the track while avoiding conveniently placed barriers and cones, and a few police chases are thrown in for good measure. Meanwhile, you’re constantly trying to set the best possible lap time to earn a spot on the leaderboard.

StreetRally wasn’t originally intended to be quite as broad, however. “At first we planned to make a simple drifting game in the new version of flash but then the concept got bigger - we generated new ideas and started adding new features step by step up to create the version we have live now,” Martin explains. “The main idea was to create a game that was realistic, fun to play and different from the other racing games.”

We particularly like the track designs - while they’re not particularly long, there are plenty of twisting turns and surprise sharp corners that require skill and concentration, and the urban street locations mean you’ll often find yourself navigating through treacherous narrow parks and careening across beaches. A future snow track is also confirmed to be in the works, as is a new location based in India. 

It all adds to the challenge, which is one of StreetRally’s best attributes – you get a sure sense of accomplishment if you can successfully navigate a track without bumping into a wall, and the AI opponents are often tough to beat, though it can be frustrating when you lose a race because of a time penalty inflicted by missing a checkpoint, even if you beat your opponents.

While the cars will experience mechanical damage which affects your performance and can be repaired, there isn’t any visual damage to speak of, disappointingly, which is particularly apparent during StreetRally’s road rage events where the objective is to repeatedly ram a target car. Martin confirms that cosmetic damage is a future possibility, however.

Twenty cars are currently available in StreetRally spanning a variety of classes that are designed to look similar to their real life counterparts, from modest superminis such as the Fiat 500 and Chevrolet Aveo to more beefy beasts such as a Dodge Charger and Ford Mustang, to plucky hatchbacks like the Volkswagen Scirocco and Alfa Romeo MiTO. Cars influenced by the Japanese designs of the Mitsubishi Lancer, Subaru Impreza and Nissan GTR are also being prepared to roll off the assembly line next month.

Twenty cars may seem a little light, but the developers are endevouring to add more to the rosta soon – “We have been concentrating on developing the game and to test the boundaries of what can be done in Flash, so because of that have had to set some priorities. Now though we have resources to continuously start bringing in new cars to the game”, says Martin.

Remaining cars are unlocked by accumulating credits from race wins, an aspect which Martin describes as one of the biggest challenges to implement into StreetRally. “We had many meetings about how to keep the earning and spending of coins in balance for all players. We didn’t want to end up in a situation where everyone has too many coins and doesn’t have an idea what to do with them, or too few coins in which case they won’t advance quickly enough to stay interested.”

Every car you own can also be heavily customised in StreetRally's garage. There’s a satisfyingly vast array of tuning options, comprising of new engines, suspension, transmissions, brakes, exhausts and tires as well as nitrous branded by Nitrous Express, along with a slew of paint options. New features such as vinyls, new rims, spoilers, wings and sideskirts are also on the list to be added, but we wouldn’t be surprised to see a Forza-esque marketplace that allows you to sell custom cars to other players, considering StreetRally is built with social networking in mind.

Adding to StreetRally’s challenge is the decidedly drifty, weighty handling. While the cars may seem a tad erratic at times, StreetRally’s car physics make powersliding round corners an absolute joy once you master it, leaving the track completely shrouded in skid marks. And if it proves to be too daunting to the casual player, a flick of the traction control will soon keep you on course.

According to Martin, finding the right balance between arcade accessibility and realism was a hefty challenge as the developers went to great lengths to perfect the handling model: “The goal was to make it as realistic as possible but at first it made it very difficult to drive the car. We then modified every parameter slightly to make the cars driveable. These modifications are also in use now.”

“We considered many parameters when developing the car handling such as rolling resistance, air resistance, braking, torque, car and tyre dimensions and weight, weight distribution, transmission efficiency, gear ratios, drive axle, etc.”

While the cars may not look quite as dazzling as the well-rendered showroom models imply when viewed in-game, StreetRally certainly looks impressive for a Facebook flash game. Granted, there are graphically superior browser-based racing games available to play online elsewhere in 3D, but for a 2D racing game StreetRally looks the part, thanks to its vibrant visuals and detailed environments.

We therefore asked Martin why the developers opted to stick with an archaic 2D perspective: “There are many racing games that appeal to their players purely with 3D graphics and stunning visual effects. We wanted StreetRally to be visually appealing as well but didn’t concentrate on competing with the games that rule the market with top graphics and visual effects.”

“Instead we wanted to offer our players a different kind of experience. We concentrated on creating a game that offers a little bit of everything, is fun to play and is a bit different than most other racing games. That’s also why we decided to choose the top down view – to differ and stand out from other games. If you roam around the internet you won’t find many games that have connected the car dealership, car tuning, social racing, multiplayer and top down racing feature into one game.”

We only wish the sound effects were a bit more sophisticated – for better or worse, both the engine and tyre screeching effects sound like Grand Theft Auto circa 1997, though it does admittedly complement StreetRally’s retro style.

Of course, being a Facebook game StreetRally has been adapted for the social networking market. All the features we’ve come to expect are present and correct: you can challenge friends to beat your times, but it's the timed League races that will keep you coming back. Here 15 racers per league are given 3 tries within 24 hours to beat each other's time on each track, with the best times appearing on the online leaderboads and the best drivers promoted to higher ranked leagues. Leagues therefore add a welcome layer of competition and depth to StreetRally outside the admittidly short career.

For the past few months however, the developers have been hard at work testing a feature that could potentially revolutionise Facebook as an online gaming platform that puts it more in line with its console counterparts – real-time multiplayer.

While this may not sound particularly ground-breaking in a world of XBLA and PSN, in Facebook it’s completely new territory and therefore fraught with technical challenges, but one the developers are clearly excited about unleashing. “The difficulties occurred because the game is in Flash,” Martin reveals. “Our flash developer had to develop a completely new system for the multiplayer feature and faced many problems while doing that. There aren’t any other games that have managed to create a multiplayer racing game in Flash with this quality.”

It has since gone live in beta form, and works with a traditional lobby system where up to four players can race against each other in any of the game’s tracks. We tried out a few games and found it worked smoothly without a hitch, though not many games were available to join at any given time. Currently only standard checkpoint races are in place, but team racing is also said to be in the works.

StreetRally is still under constant development, with  new features being continually added. We’re told that next month will see some significant updates that will enhance StreetRally’s social mechanics, including a new fully customisable garage that displays your cars from an isometric viewpoint. And as if that didn’t already sound like an obvious attempt to compete with the colossal Car Town, there is also a future possibility of hiring friends as mechanics that will repair your car before a race. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, right?

It’s clear that Facebook games are starting to evolve from the rudimentary point and click games of the past, a genre which Martin believes is showing decline. But will browser-based games ever evolve to the standard of console games? Martin believes it’s a possibility.

“We think that anything is possible and are also developing our game according to that belief. The only thing that holds back all kinds of mind blowing solutions is the technical side but this won’t be a permanent problem because the technology develops on a daily basis.”

“The fact is though that casual click-based games on Facebook have started to die. That’s why we didn’t even think about creating one that would be like that. Instead we added elements that current Facebook games aren’t using and by doing that differ quite a lot to them.

The more the technology improves, the more new possibilities will open for game developers in all environments. The question is whether they will catch the right moment. We are quite confident that we have.”

Strong words indeed, but at this stage StreetRally needs to be fleshed out with more tracks, cars and challenges if it is to replicate the success and staying power of Car Town – something the developers are all too aware of, and are acting accordingly.

Nevertheless, we’re left impressed by StreetRally. With its fun driving model, extensive car customisation and revolutionary multiplayer, StreetRally is a pioneering achievement when you consider the limitations posed by Flash and Facebook, and one we heartily recommend.

As Martin sums up, “StreetRally connects an arcade game (buying and tuning cars and racing in the Career), a social game (challenges with other players and the Multiplayer) and also a management-type game (the Leagues system). There aren’t many games in Flash that offer all of these features together with the same quality as we do. ”

Whereas Car Town caters for the casual crowd, StreetRally sets the standard as a core competitive racing experience that's been sorely missing, and has the potential to become Facebook’s defining racing game. So lay down your Farmville plough, close up your Car Town garage and take StreetRally for a test drive at http://apps.facebook.com/streetrally or visit the official website at www.streetrally.com.

Driving Games Pro will be taking one last look at browser-based driving games very soon – this one is rather special and could be considered a “revolution.” That was a massive hint right there, but we’ll leave you to guess what it is.

Words by Martin Bigg (Twitter: @drivinggamespro)

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