Danger on the wheel
New driving game by Oriol Gómez

+Introduction

Have you ever wanted to be the blindy on the wheel? well now you can!

This is a game about cone knocking, strategy, fuel and bomb exploding fun. Are you ready to try out your new car?

+Installation and execution

Installing the game is very simple. In fact, it does not require an installation. Simply download the zip file from the website or extract the update anywhere on your computer and run the file called game.exe.
This game uses your screen reader to speak some of its prompts. Though it is entirely optional, it is highly recommended. The game automatically includes the necessary file to use NVDA, and most other readers do not need anything else. If you have problems with your screen reader, please let me know.
In the case that a screen reader is not detected, the game will use the microsoft speech API.
If the main menu comes up, you have done everything correctly. It contains the following options:
Survival mode: Starts the game in survival mode (see below).
Time trial: Starts the time trial mode (see below).
Learn game sounds: allows you to listen to the different sounds used in the game.
Send score to oriolgomez.com: Only appears if you have played during this session, and lets you send your score to my website to see how you did in comparison with other players.
Exit: Self explanatory

+How to play

The concept of the game is simple enough. You are driving a car which can go either forwards, backwards, left or right. You are in a grid full of cones, and you must knock down all the cones to advance to the next level.
There are walls around this grid, which will make you lose a life if you hit them. When you hit a wall or lose a life due to any reason, you automatically go to the center of the field again.
The car is constantly moving, which means it cannot be stopped. You need to keep track of how fast your car goes in order to ensure that you go where you really want to go (i.e: Target a cone, avoid a wall or a bomb, etc).
The secret to keeping track of your speed is your forward and backward movement. If you keep moving in one direction, your speed will increase as well as the car's engine pitch. To go back to your starting speed, hit the opposite arrow key (down if you are moving forward, up if you are moving backward).
To steer, use the right and left arrow keys. Steering in this game means moving your car specifically left or right, which means that your car will not move forwards or backwards as you steer. If that were the case, it would be nearly impossible to target anything on the screen. As soon as you let go of the right or left arrow keys, your car will go back to moving vertically in the last direction you were moving.
Each cone has an associated score. Most will give you points, but some will also take them away! You will learn to distinguish their sounds as you play, as I won't reveal them to you.
When you clear the grid of cones, you will advance to the next level and gain an extra life (more on levels below).

++The survival mode

The survival mode is where most of the fun takes place. You are in a 30 by 30 grid with walls around them. You will occasionally hear bombs which are placed around you at random times, and they will make you lose a life if you are near them when they explode. Losing a life also clears all bombs, to protect you from double explosions and other nasty disasters. Bombs appear only at level 2 and above.

In addition to everything else, you will also have to keep track of your fuel. You start with 200 gallons of fuel (yes, a bit unrealistic for a car) and the fuel gets lower as your car runs. The faster you run, the faster your fuel will deplete so keep track of it by using the f key!
When your fuel is 25 or below, you will hear a warning, though I recommend you to keep track of it sooner as you will need to find and activate the correct recharging switches in order. Scattered About the center of the screen there are three letter switches which spell the word gas (g, a, s). You will need to run over these switches and memorize whichwas the last you hit in order to recharge your fuel by 200. When you do this, you will also gain an extra life for your efforts!
If you don't hit the switches in time and you run out of fuel, you will lose a life.

++time trial

The time trial is very fun. It has no bombs, no fuel, a grid which is half the size of the normal grid (15 by 15) but its still very fun.
In this game, you start with 30 seconds to knock down all the cones on the level. If you succeed, you will advance to the next level with one more cone and one less second. This goes on until you don't manage to collect all the cones.
The scoring system changes here, and each cone gives you one point and there are no ways to lose points or lives. Hitting a wall will still make you go to the center of the screen, use this to your advantage in your strategies to rack up as many points as possible!
Are you ready to send your score and conquer the scoreboards?

++keyboard reference

Up, down, left, right arrow keys: move your car
s: Check score
F: check fuel (survival mode)
t: check time left in time trial
enter: check number of cones remaining
l: check number of lives remaining
Tab: check current level
home: lower music volume
end: raise music volume
escape: quit game

++Conclusion

I hope you enjoy the game! If you have any questions or concerns, please use the contact options on my website
The music comes from Andre Louis's dropbox folder of royalty free music.
If you enjoy my games, consider making a donation. It is a great motivation to keep creating games and it would be of great help, as sound libraries are expensive.
You can find a donation button on my website.

Oriol Gómez
http://oriolgomez.com