The “Great news everybody! The Martian Express is participating in a space race” Award


Presented by thp to:

Race for the Red Planet (QuikRich)
Race for the Red Planet

This is a space ship arcade racing game with gravity-based physics.  You will need to accelerate to turn and to overcome gravity of the obstacles.  Fly through the checkpoints while avoiding the obstacles to complete a race and then you can try to improve your time, racing against your personal best line/ghost.  We're excited to hear how fast people are able to complete the maps!


Controls

There is a tutorial in game to introduce you to the controls as well.


W - Accelerate Forward

A - Strafe Left (mouse steering) or Turn Left (keyboard steering)

S - Backup

D - Strafe Right (mouse steering) or Turn Right (keyboard steering)

R - Respawn at the last completed checkpoint

Left Shift - Boost (while you have available boost)

Backspace - Open in-game menu/Pause

Up/Down arrows or W/S when in menu - Select menu item

Enter/Return when in menu - Accept menu selection or toggle selection


Dependencies

  • pyglet 1.5+
  • Pillow 9.2+ for faster image loading (optional)


To install dependencies:


pip install -r requirements.txt


Running the game


python run_game.py


FAQ

Q: Game Crashes/Freezes

A: On some platforms (such as Linux and maybe Mac), pyglet's audio library crashes while using OpenAL.  We've included a setting to be able to play the game with audio off.  You should try to toggle the audio in the settings menu in-game to avoid audio causing crashes or freezes


Q: How do I use the menus

A: W/S and Up/Down arrows can change menu options.  Enter/Return may be used to select an option or toggle a setting


Q: What controls are best

A: We really liked mouse controls, and found them much easier than keyboard A/D turning controls.  However, if you're playing on a trackpad, you'll probably want to go into the settings in-game and change to A/D turning.


Q: I get motion sickness from the camera springiness, is there a solution to that?
A: Yes, we included a toggle for that in the settings.  With camera spring turned off, your ship will be locked to the center of the screen.