Turn Based Racing

Overview

Turn-Based Racing is a short experimental Unity project developed over two weeks. The game reimagines traditional racing mechanics with a twist: players don’t accelerate forward; instead, they build speed by turning. Set in the neon streets of Circle City, you play as Pearl, a determined racer aiming to outmatch their rival using superior turning. The game is a fast-paced 1v1 challenge where every curve becomes an opportunity for momentum.

Details

This prototype was created in response to the prompt “turn-based racing.” The name inspired a unique mechanic that challenges conventional vehicle movement. Using Unity, I repurposed a vehicle controller from the Asset Store and broke it down to build a fully functional AI rival.

The AI uses a simplified finite state machine with two states:

  • Drive: Follows a series of waypoints across the map.

  • Drift: Executes tighter turns with directional sliding, simulating handbrake behavior.

The entire experience is focused on mastering side-to-side movement, eliminating forward acceleration entirely to create a fun skill based gameplay loop.

Features

  • Unique “turn-to-drive” control scheme

  • Simple Finite State Machine Agent

  • Custom waypoint-based pathing system

  • Deconstructed and restructured car asset

  • Stylized city-themed race track

The Driver Pearl

The Driver Pearl

Let me know

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Let me know -

What Went Right

This game was created under the prompt turn based racing, and the result was surprisingly fun and unique. I opted to use an asset store controller and heavily modify it for the purpose of this prototype. The result was exactly what I wanted. By deconstructing an Asset Store vehicle controller rather than building from scratch, I cut development time significantly and gained direct access to the car's physics logic. This made building the AI controller a natural extension of the existing code. The two agents control under the same math but access the logic in their own ways, easy to break apart and modify. Lastly, the modified AI pathfinding mirrors steering behavior logic making it well documented and easy to code, visualize, and iterate

What Went Wrong

Given the time constraints of Turn Based Racing some things did not come to fruition. I was unable to properly optimize and build the worlds race track, as such when converted into a web-build it doesn’t perform at 100%. I will admit that some amount of jank is involved in getting the AI to properly utilize the movement mechanics of the car asset and as such it would be a pain to add more states. It is because of that very reason the car has no reverse state and can get veered off track and stuck, an oversight that I didn’t have the time to fix. There is also a general lack of polish to the game which I would expect in a prototype such as settings, and proper navigation of menus.