Game design
I loved rally as a kid — recording the WRC highlights on VHS tape and playing Colin McRae Rally after school. Thirty years later, with two boys the age I was when I first loved rally, I feel increasingly motivated to blend my passion for rally racing with twenty years of experience in professional digital product design to create a game of our own.
To bring this idea to life, I’ve been using Unity to develop a low-poly, stylised rally game, built from scratch using 3D assets created in Blender.
Rally cars
I began by modelling a low-poly version of the 90’s Subaru Impreza WRX in Blender — along with several licensable cars that are currently in development for future implementation.
Environment
I then began creating a rally track environment. I modelled stylised assets in Blender and laid out a 1 km² replica of the English countryside within Unity, aiming for immersive, console-quality visuals that run smoothly at 120 FPS on all devices.
The environment features animated windmills, reflective lakes, cottages and winding roads. Interactive objects like signs, cones, and banners can be crashed into, adding an element of chaos. I also developed a shader for dense foliage — low-poly, animated to blow in the wind, fading with LODs — ensuring performance stays smooth.
Test drive
After importing into Unity, I gave the car controller real-world physics and track-ready tuning. Months of testing refined the traction, handbrake and drift parameters to find a balance between realism and simcade-style fun playability, reminiscent of Gran Turismo and Wreckfest. I want players to be able to perform actual rally techniques, like the Scandinavian flick and controlled drifts with complete control of the car. Controls are optimised for gamepads, keyboards, and touchscreens.
Visual effects — such as stones and dust kicked up by the tires, plus exhaust smoke and backfires — bring the car to life. Audio was then implemented to give the car a tuned engine, throaty exhaust and the unique Impreza anti-lag whistle.
Next stage
A solid foundation is in place and I’m now focused on expanding with timed stages, rally championships, tarmac tracks, and multi-car races. I also plan to incorporate split-screen multiplayer, online leaderboards and more creative levels.
Currently the game runs buttery smooth on the Steam Deck, in WebGL browsers and on Android devices, a playable web version will be available soon. I’ll continue sharing updates as development progresses.
“If in doubt, flat out!”
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