Wheeled Race

Wheeled races are a traditional car race gamemode, based around a checkpoint system. In a wheeled race, players can compete for a podium (first through third place) finish. Tracks are made up of checkpoints through which players must pass to progress; missing a gate will halt race progression until a player passes through the missed gate. There are three types of gates:

Start Gate: this gate indicates the start of the race and must be passed through for a player to initiate the race

Middle Gate: these gates comprise the primary checkpoint system of races. They must be passed through in order for the player to progress through the race.

Finish Gate: this is the final gate in a race and must be passed through for the race to be completed. The Finish Gate appears on the final lap. When the first player passes through the Finish Gate, a countdown [45s] is initiated for all other players in the race. This gate has special VFX to indicate it is the end of the race.

The "Gates Passed" counter only begins incrementing when players pass the first Middle Gate, and it only increments when players pass through the next correct gate in the race. Failure to pass through the correct gate will void the next gate, preventing the player from being able to progress through the race.

Players can respawn at their last checkpoint if they miss a gate or are unable to continue forwards (such as through flipping their vehicle and/or having their vehicle destroyed). Respawning through [R] (keyboard) or (X) (controller) will return them to their previous checkpoint in Ghost Mode. Additionally, players currently alone in a race can restart the race from the In-Match menu by pressing [ESC] and selecting "Restart".

In Ghost Mode, a vehicle is set to 50% opacity and ‘Vehicle to Vehicle Collision’ is disabled for it. After [3] seconds, if no vehicle to vehicle collision is detected, Ghost Mode is deactivated. If after [3] seconds the cars are still overlapping, Ghost Mode continues until the the vehicles are no longer colliding. While in Ghost Mode, a vehicle cannot be targeted by lock-on effects or trigger proximity effects. This includes Proximity Mines, dangerous plants, missile gadgets, or projectiles (which pass through the vehicle). During Ghost Mode, a vehicle can still be damaged by collisions with the environment, as well as being able to damage surfaces and effects _e.g., if another player triggers an explosion and the vehicle is in the AoE, it is still damaged).

If all other players leave during a race, the last remaining player wins by default; however, they must still complete the race in order to receive their awards. Players who win by default will not earn the "Finish in 1st Place" rewards, but will earn all other rewards as usual.

Types of Wheeled Races

There are two primary types of base Wheeled Races: Sprint Races, where players compete in a single lap and the three gate types above (Start, Middle, and Finish) are present; and Circuit Races. Circuit Races have two types of gates:

Middle Gate: the same base function as in Sprint Races, wherein players must pass through them in order to progress.

Lap Gate: this gate serves at both Start and Finish Gate, with Finish Gate VFX appearing on the final lap.

Racing Overview

Starting a Race

When players have launched from the pre-game lobby to the racing lobby, they are able to select their vehicle for the race amongst those in their inventory. In this menu, they are able to see the stats of their vehicles. When a vehicle is selected, they can rotate and zoom their camera to inspect the vehicle. Once a vehicle is selected, the player can choose to ‘Ready Up’ for the race. From there, the player waits for all other players to Ready Up; during this waiting period, they can Unready and select a new vehicle.

Once all players have readied up (or the waiting period expires), the camera turns to front-facing and all other selected vehicles become visible. A 3-2-1-GO countdown is initiated; during this time, players can rev their engines. Upon ‘GO’, the race commences.

Ending a Race

The first player to pass through the Finish Gate on the final lap wins, initiating a [45s] countdown. This timer appears at the top of the screen, along with the count-up timer. All players who finish within this time place and are given rewards based on placement. Passing through the Finish Gate plays a confetti animation and SFX for players.

When a player finishes the race, their car is dissolved into cube VFX . If they place from first to third, their character model is shifted to a podium above the Finish Gate. From here, they can view the ongoing race from above while the Race Position UI overlays their placement and time. When the race countdown concludes, the race is ended for all players; those who do not pass through the Finish Gate receive a DNF (did not finish) and the winners' podium is displayed to all players. In the event that two players have identical finish times, the player who loaded into the map first is awarded first place.

After [10s], the rewards screen and scoreboard are shown to all players, showing the final results. Players who did not finish show as DNF; players who quit from the race are not shown at all. After [30s], all players are returned to the lobby.

A global timer [15 minutes] is started at the beginning of Wheeled Races. At the end of the timer, the race is forced to end to stop server budget being wasted.

Additional Elements

There are several visual and mechanical elements to Wheeled Races that players can utilise to their advantage. Chevrons are holographic arrow displays indicating the lines of the track and where a player should turn. They do not have collision.

The Racing HUD displays important information to the player throughout the race, including their current time in the race, a checkpoint (Gate) counter, their current place in the race, a lap counter, their boost meter, and any warning displays (such as ‘Missed Gate’, ‘Wrong Way’, and ‘Out of Bounds’). When a lap is completed, the player is shown their lap time. A message is displayed with one player overtakes another.

Players may pick up Boost Blocks in a race. These blocks grant the player [4]% Boost Charge. This is multiplied by the Boost Multiplier based on players' positions in races.